Henry VIII s links with Leicestershire include a pub, a piece of treasure and a long-lost body
He is one of our history s most enduring figures
06:00, 8 MAY 2021
History Illustration circa 1520, King Henry VIII (1491-1547) who reigned 1509-1547 (Image: Popperfoto /Getty Images)
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Detectorist finds 400-year-old silver coin in his back garden I got into being a detectorist due to lockdown because it’s one of the few things you can do
Updated
Jim believes the coin is approximately 400 years old (Image: facebook)
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Inspired by the Carey Mulligan Netflix movie The Dig? Then discover treasures found all over Britain
Who hasn’t been inspired by Netflix hit The Dig, which dramatises the discoveries at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk?
A helmet from 1,400 years ago found at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk is on show at the British Museum, London
Anglo-Saxon jewellery, discovered in Leeds in 2008 and 2009, is now on display at Leeds City Museum
Treasure hunter finds piece likely to have been part of crown of Henry VIII
Kevin Duckett with his metal detector. (Credit: Courtesy to Crux.)
Kevin Duckett was near a pond close to the English town of Market Harborough with his metal detector when it began to buzz like mad.
LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Kevin Duckett was near a pond close to the English town of Market Harborough with his metal detector when it began to buzz like mad.
It was 2017, and the landowner had only recently allowed the use of metal detectors on his property, which was near the site of a pivotal battle in England’s Civil War.
A field in Northamptonshire may not sound like promising stomping ground for Tudor art enthusiasts, but, as recently reported in the
Sun, in 2017 Kevin Duckett proved otherwise. Buried a few inches beneath the surface he uncovered a solid gold, enamelled figure of a king, two and a half inches high. The object has been at the British Museum since 2018, and is now undergoing further research before it goes to the Treasure Valuation Committee that advises the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. So far, according to a British Museum spokesperson, an expert ‘has examined the piece and identified it as dating from the late Middle Ages’, but some have suggested that the piece may be the sole surviving part of Henry VIII’s crown. Whether or not this turns out to be the case, the figure is still an astonishing find, providing a glimpse of one of the most significant and spectacular art forms of the 16th century: gold-smithery.