Massive coin hoard worth thousands of pounds found in Cotswolds

Archaeologists working near the town have discovered coins and iron spearheads, as well as miniature bronze shields and spearheads, at the major ‘votive’ site dating back to the late Iron Age in around 100BC to 43AD.

The site was first discovered by a metal detectorist in 2020 when a hoard of more than 150 silver and bronze coins and metalwork - now acquired by the Corinium Museum in Cirencester’s Park Street - was uncovered.

Further archaeological work, conducted by the Royal Agricultural University (located in Cirencester’s Stroud Road) as part of a training excavation for the university’s Master of Science students, has revealed the scale and national importance of the site.

Working with the original finder, and in collaboration with the landowner, archaeologists were able to relocate the original hoard pit and place it in its historic context.

The excavations were run by Professor Mark Horton, the RAU’s pro vice-chancellor for research, who is also director of the university’s Cultural Heritage Institute which offers MSc programmes in archaeology, cultural heritage and historic building conservation.

“Our archaeologists found the hoard had been inserted into a sacred precinct marked out by a large area of cobbled pavement,” Professor Horton said.

“These stones were worn flat by extensive wear, which suggests some form of mass processional activity took place around the central area of the sacred site.

“During our excavations, we also discovered multiple spears which had been inserted - often vertically - into the soil to ‘protect’ this central area.

“Some were iron, but others were miniature spears, sometimes less than an inch in length, made of bronze.

“Model swords and scabbards, daggers and shields, also made of bronze, were found scattered around this central deposit.

“These would have been used as ritual offerings, known as ‘votives’, and many of these had been deliberately broken into pieces to signify they were offerings to the gods and were not to be recovered and reused.”

The site rested over a series of small pits cut into the local Cotswold limestone and filled with a fine soil which the archaeologists believe had been introduced to the site.

These pits were completely empty of any artefacts, and the researchers think these holes may have been deliberately cut into the bedrock to plant trees or bushes.

“This is a major find,” Professor Horton said.

“We know so little about Iron Age or Celtic religion beyond the literary sources, written by the classical authors.

“Here we have direct archaeological evidence of religious practices at the very end of the Iron Age, on the eve of the Roman invasion.

“The many coins found show the site belonged to the Dobunni tribe, whose capital was at Bagendon, just a few miles away from our dig site.

“Our newly-discovered site was likely a natural place, or possibly a grove of trees, where offerings were made to the Celtic gods.”

Many of the coins from the hoard feature a distinctive three-tailed horse motif, which is believed to be typical of the Dobunni tribe.

The original hoard of coins, officially declared treasure under the Treasure Act, has been secured by the Corinium Museum, which raised £13,250 for its acquisition.

The Museum now needs to raise £25,000 for the objects’ conservation and display, and a fundraising campaign is being led by the Friends of Corinium Museum.

The aim is to get the hoard on display to the public sometime next year.

To protect the site, the excavation site has now been refilled.

However, Professor Horton hopes the RAU will be able to undertake another excavation next year.