Rights Holder: Danielle Wootton
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PILGRIM BADGE
Unique ID: DEV-482427
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
A Medieval silver gilt pilgrim's badge commemorating St George, dating from the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. The badge depicts St George wearing fifteenth century style armour (Robinson, 2011) on horseback with a curving sword in his right hand raised above his head. The horse is advancing right with front legs raised. The dragon lies defeated at the feet of the horse. On the reverse is a circular loop for attachment to clothing. The badge is in good condition; most of the gilding remains intact on the surface and finer details such as St George's armour and the horse's reins are still visible.
M. Lewis (2015) notes other examples of St George wielding a sword (rather than a lance) including badges from Appleby in Cumbria (LANCUM-619B37), Tong in Shropshire (WMID-0BD8C0) Totworth in Avon (GLO-BECDA3) and York in North Yorkshire (DUR-84E7D7).
Notes:
The cult of St George grew in England during the Crusades in the 11th century, and further developed after Henry V's victory at Agincourt in 1415, when St George's feast day became a major festival (Lewis, 2015). During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, thousands of Pilgrims visited St George's Chapel at Windsor, where in addition to the remains of John Schorne and Henry VI and the cross of Gneth, several relics of St George were kept, including a leg and heart. It is possible that this badge originated from St George's Chapel and was subsequently brought to Devon by a pilgrim who had visited the chapel at Windsor.
Under the Treasure Trove laws in place when the find was made in August 1994, it is highly unlikely that this find, as a single object with no evidence of having been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery, would qualify as Treasure Trove.
Danielle Wootton
Devon Finds Liaison Officer
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Treasure item found pre 1997, so undergoing Treasure Trove
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2014T357
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1475
Date to: Circa AD 1530
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 20.41 mm
Width: 18.45 mm
Thickness: 2.76 mm
Weight: 3.59 g
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Treasure case number: 2014T357
Materials and construction
Primary material: Silver
Completeness: Complete
Surface Treatment: Gilded
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Devon (County)
District: Teignbridge (District)
Parish or ward: Dawlish (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SX9680
Four figure Latitude: 50.6104142
Four figure longitude: -3.47119765
1:25K map: SX9680
1:10K map: SX90SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis, M. | 2014 | Saints and their badges: Saints' Lives and Medieval Pilgrim Badges | Witham | Greenlight |
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Timeline of associated dates
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