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Today I travelled down the A12 to Chelmsford to attend the inquest at Chelmsford Coroners Court into my wee gold find in the rather grand Council Chambers.
I was met by a very friendly Mr Parfrey , the Coroners Officer who spent some time with me explaining the proceeding and what would happen in the Inquest. He told me how the number of Treasure Finds now coming through inquest had risen since the Treasure Act was implemented. He is the chap who does all the liaison with Caroline McDonald , the FLO for Essex and is rightly proud of how quickly he processes these cases through inquest rather than have them sitting around waiting. Well done Mr Parfrey!
I had to wait some time in the waiting area as there were two inquests before mine – it is very sobering to sit and witness families of road traffic accident victims waiting for their turn in the Chambers – and put my wee find totally into perspective.
Once I was called into the Chamber , the Coroners Officer read out the details of the find and the report from the British Museum and the Coroner, (Mrs C Beasley-Murray) declared it to be Treasure. She has a number of forms to sign which will be sent off to the FLO, me, the landowner, British Museum, DCMS.
That was it!
