Very Rare Medieval - Steelyard Weight

In February 2017 I was invited to Wiltshire as part of a detecting road trip in my campervan.

- Stuart Flett

The landowners occupied a lovely c.1560 Tudor farmhouse and were keen to find out what historical artefacts might lie hidden under the soil of their 80 acres of pasture. So with a cold front arriving from Siberia, I loaded the van and embarked on the 300 or so miles journey full of excitement and anticipation.

The weather was not ideal, but thankfully my trusty detector, a Minelab CTX 3030 is designed to cope with these types of conditions. There was an expectation that I’d unearth Tudor period artefacts, which would be commensurate with the age of the property. However, I was also determined to find artefacts predating the property.

The first day was spent checking the area and I was pleased to find a number of mostly Victorian and Georgian coins, and also a Roman Maximinus I sestertius. Things were certainly looking promising. On day two I therefore made an early start. Within an hour of searching I had unearthed what is possibly my favourite find to date.