24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
Builder Finds Anglo-Saxon Gold Ring During Tea Break
By David Prudames
14/02/2003
Image: Shows the gold Anglo-Saxon ring.
Left: yet another treasure from the past, happened upon by chance. Image courtesy of Nigel Himpson.
An Oxfordshire builder went to a friend's house to help dig a patio and came away having uncovered a 1,400-year-old gold ring.
Decorated with a cross and four glass beads, the Anglo-Saxon ring has now been declared as Treasure by an Oxfordshire coroner and is awaiting valuation by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
An experienced metal detectorist, Nigel Himpson recognised his find as Anglo-Saxon and reported it. Experts at the British Museum were able to identify it as having belonged to someone of a high rank during the seventh century AD.
"I've been doing it on and off for 15 years, you get a few grotty bits and coins, but never anything like this," Mr Himpson explained. "Never in a lifetime will I ever find anything like it again. When you see something like that you know it's special straight away."
Speaking to the 24 Hour Museum Mr Himpson described how he came across the ring while helping his friend Terry Woodward dig a patio at his home in Abingdon.
Image: Shows the gold Anglo-Saxon ring.
Right: it just goes to show, make a builder a cup of tea and who knows what might happen. Image courtesy of Nigel Himpson.
"He had an extension built and started digging a patio and I went over there and said I'd give him a hand with it. I'd done one wheelbarrow full of earth and in the second one I noticed something a little bit shiny."
"I picked it up and all I could see was the back of it and it looked quite plain - I thought it was an old gold cufflink, I asked Terry about it, but as soon as I saw the stones I thought this is no cufflink."
"Abingdon is one of the oldest towns in the country so it is a great bit of local history."
Under the Treasure Act 1996, any finds containing a substantial proportion of gold, silver or other valuable elements must be reported to the local coroner within 14 days.
If, after identifying an object, a local museum - or national if the find is deemed of national importance - wishes to acquire it, an inquest will determine whether or not it is treasure. If it is a reward is payable to the finder and in some cases the landowner.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH, Oxfordshire, England
Open: Tues-Sat 1000-1700
Sun 1200-1700
Closed: Every Mon
Christmas and New Year
British Museum
The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG, England
T: +44 (0)20 7323 8299
Open: Museum opening hours:
Saturday - Wednesday 10.00-17.30
Thursday - Friday 10.00-20.30
Great Court Opening Hours:
Sunday - Wednesday 09.00-18.00
Thursday - Saturday 09.00-23.00
Reading Room Opening Hours:
Saturday - Wednesday, Friday - 10.00-17.30
Thursday 10.00-20.30
Closed: Closed 1 January, Good Friday and 24-26 December every year.
Related Articles
Titian secrets revealed as Cupid and the lion become public property
Hallucinatory trip through Indian subcontinent in Gardens and Cosmos at The British Museum
Curator's Choice: James Robinson of The British Museum picks the Royal Gold Cup
Teaching China: free conference for teachers and students
Innovative museum partnership creates inspirational online learning resources
Shah 'Abbas remakes Iran at the British Museum
Portable Antiquities Scheme moves to allay fears over nighthawking
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Royal Cornwall Museum celebrates historic inventions
Culture24 scoops web accolade at Nominet Best Practice Challenge
Gormley's Plinth Project ready for kick-off as human statues prepare to perform
Sir John Soane's Museum project aims to restore original design
Experts hold summit to unravel mystery of rebel Roman fortress in Norfolk
Government drops Heritage Bill again
Manchester's threatened Palatine Buildings put forward for listing by Victorian Society
£10 million clean-up to improve UK waterways
Nene Valley Railway to relive the days of the Royal Mail lineside pick up
Pigeons show eagle-eyed taste for fine art
Tate Britain unveils new Duveens Commission by Eva Rothschild
Record event numbers announced as Britain gets set for nationwide archaeology bash
Art Fund poaches Tate Britain Director as new top dog
Famous Egyptian mummy returns to Ulster Museum
Dino teeth discovery could unlock mysteries of dinosuar eco-systems
The turnips are ready for thinning at Cregneash Folk Museum
Nunnington Hall auctions Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rides on eBay
Culture24 Recruitment Opportunity: Technical Producer
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.