TREASURE FIND: The brooch found in a farmer's field
HISTORY detective Brian Leslie unearthed
part of the medieval past of a
small North-East village when he discovered
a silver brooch dating back to the
14th Century.
The 47-year-old, who is a bricklayer by
day and a metal detector enthusiast in
his spare time, has passed the brooch to
the British Museum for display.
Yesterday, a treasure trove inquest was
held in Hartlepool Coroner's Court to decide
whether the 21mm brooch was a
treasure. Coroner Malcolm Donnelly
said that as the brooch consisted of more
than ten per cent silver, and was more
than 300 years old, it did qualify.
However, he said the British Museum
estimated the brooch only to be worth
about £450 - although Mr Leslie said it
was worth much more than that to him.
He said last year he was given permission
by farmer Peter Jenkins to search
some of his fields in the Hart area - and
weeks later he came up trumps.
"I have been doing a search of Hart for
eight years and this is just a part of the
village's history," he said.
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"Hart goes back to the Beowulf saga,
which was in the 600s, so it's a very interesting
place to search.
"Normally, I find things and I just keep
them as part of an artefact collection I
have. They are not worth very much, but
I will keep them together and than hand
them to a museum.
"However, I was very shocked when I
found the brooch. I knew instantly what
it was, and knew it was worth hundreds,
rather than thousands, but I thought one
of the museums might want to keep it."
He said the British Museum was contacted
about its authenticity and curators
have decided to keep it.
The £450 that the museum will pay for
the brooch will be split between Mr
Leslie and Mr Jenkins.
"I know the history of Hart, so I was
not too surprised when Brian found
something," said Mr Jenkins.
"My grandfather, who had the farm in
the Seventies, found a stone Saxon cross,
which is on display in the village church,
so there is obviously a lot of history
there."
Mr Leslie, who lives in the Clavering
area of Hartlepool, has been attempting
to detect forgotten treasures for years.
Previous finds of his include a Roman
villa in the Helmsley area of North Yorkshire,
which he found along with three
Roman bronze, gold and silver jugs, dating
back to the 2nd Century.
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