If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)

Summary

In 1919 a large group of Bronze Age finds were brought to Leicester Museum, said to have been found in Welby Parish during gravel digging. The hoard included a sword, three axes, a spearhead, harness fitting, mounts, handle attachments and a cup.

Additional Information

In 1919 Mrs OC Hocart deposited in Leicester Museum a large group of Bronze Age metalwork said to have been found in Welby parish during gravel digging. It was recovered by her father, Mr W S Barnes, from a small foundry in Melton where it had been brought for melting down. Powell notes a field called Gravel Hole Field at SK723214. Another possibility is Gravel Pit Close marked on the Tithe Map at SK718208. The hoard contained a sword (4 fragments), 3 socketed axes, a spearhead, a double-looped harness fitting, a perforated disc mount, 5 disc mounts with circular slides, 2 cruciform handle attachments and a cup.

<1> The Archaeological Journal, Vol 105 (1948), p26-40 (Journal). SLE2994.

Part of a late bronze age hoard consisting of three socketed axes, a spearhead, a sword, a bronze cup, harness mounts and cauldron handle fittings, found c1875 and deposited in Leicester Museum in 1919 by a Mrs Hocart.
Mrs Hocart, writing from Australia in 1949, stated that the surviving objects together with many more, were discovered by a farmer when digging "a trench" in a field in the parish of Welby. Her father, W S Barnes, had salvaged the objects from a foundry where they were being melted down.
According to the Museum Records the farmer found the hoard whilst digging for gravel in Welby parish, and Powell deduces a probable find spot at SK 72282143, in a field known as 'Gravel-hole field', gravel deposits being apparently unknown elsewhere in the parish. But Mrs Hocart's letter (only able to be noticed in an addendum after Powells article had already gone to press) with its reference to a trench, reduces the probability of his deduction somewhat.

<2> 2016, National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) accessioning (Website). SLE4981.

SUMMARY: "Hoard, including a bronze bowl and cauldron fittings, found at Welby in 1875"
URL: 'https://nrhe-to-her.esdm.co.uk/NRHE/RecordDetail.aspx?pageid=45&he_uid=321498', accessioned 04/12/2023.

<3> Field Investigators Comments, F1 BHS 21-APR-72 (Website). SLE3488.

If the find was made in gravel digging, Powell's siting is almost certainly erroneous. No 'Gravel-hole field' occurs on the tithe map but there is a 'Gravel Pit Close' centred SK 718 209, and surface evidence of former gravel digging is very evident there. Powell's siting is to a small pond in a field that shows no trace of former gravel diggings.

Sources

Associated Finds

• CUP (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• HANDLE (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• HARNESS FITTING (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• HOARD (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• MOUNT (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• SOCKETED AXEHEAD (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• SPEARHEAD (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)
• SWORD (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 801 BC)

Designations

None recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.