This curious looking copper alloy object, recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme as SUR-9302E5, has a lopsided convex subrectangular body, four tapering projections and a rough, unworked surface. It is called a casting jet and comprises a solidified lump of the metal retained in the opening (gate) and channels of a two-piece stone mould, which …more
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Livery Buttons and Famous Names
Livery buttons were made from polished, gilded or tinned brass and once adorned the jackets and uniforms of staff and retainers working for large households in the later 18th and 19th centuries. A common type of detecting find, they were designed to demonstrate status and wealth and bore distinctive crests derived from the heraldry of …more
A unique farthing token from the Thames
The third quarter of the 17th century saw a serious deficit of circulating copper small change caused in part by the English civil wars of the 1640s and the cessation of the royal (rose) farthing coinage of Charles I. With everyday transactions desperately in need of usable currency, local and regional traders, craftsmen, civic corporations …more
Commios or Tincomarus? An Iron Age coin quandry from Surrey
Of all the finds recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the one specific group which probably has the potential to contribute to archaeological and historical knowledge more than any other are Iron Age coins. These date from a period when the only extant written records were those of Roman writers who often viewed the peoples …more
A Medieval Floor Tile from Newark Priory, Surrey
The Portable Antiquities Scheme for the most part records metal finds, as a consequence of the ever-growing hobby of metal detecting. We do however frequently encounter interesting objects which are not metal and which also have really interesting stories to tell. This find, recorded on the PAS database as SUR-9A7323, is a fragment of a …more
A Rare Survival of a Medieval Textile Girdle from Betchworth, Surrey
Found in the environs of the Betchworth estate, Surrey and recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme as SUR-1CD215, this trapezoidal copper alloy plate was one of a pair which flanked a forked spacer element as part of a late Medieval strap end of composite type (Egan and Pritchard, 2002: p140-146). In of itself, this is …more
An Early Medieval Architectural Censer Cover from Guildford
A censer, also known as a thurible, was a container which was swung from chains to produce scented smoke during church services. It comprised a metal vessel containing incense, ignited with burning embers or charcoal, with an openwork cover which allowed the resulting smoke to disperse. These covers were often highly decorative objects, but today …more
Hidden Objects and Old Buildings
The artefacts recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) can help illuminate all sorts of mysteries from the past – including long forgotten traditions and strange superstitions which were once a part of ordinary domestic life. Sometimes these finds can turn up in situations more commonly dealt with by other heritage specialists – such as …more
A late Bronze Age Socketed Axehead from a Surrey Hillfort
Whilst the vast majority of metal objects recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (www.finds.org.uk) come from detectorists, every so often a more unusual method of discovery results in a find coming our way from people out enjoying the countryside. A good example is this socketed axehead (SUR-F51EA5) dating to the late Bronze Age (c 1100-800 …more
Surrey FLO weekend sessions, Autumn 2019
The schedule of weekend drop-in finds sessions (typically held from 11am until 1pm) in Surrey for the rest of 2019 is as follows: Saturday September 14th – Guildford House Gallery, High St. Guildford.Sunday September 15th – Surrey Arch Society Research Centre, Abinger (as part of their open day).Saturday October 5th – Addlestone Community Centre, Addlestone. …more
