1,400 years later a little treasure reappears at Ballyalton

1,400 years later a little treasure reappears at Ballyalton

7 May 2014

THE discovery of a rare Anglo-Saxon gold fish in a field in Ballyalton has raised hopes of other rare treasures under foot.

At just six centimetres in length, the shiny fish shaped object looks almost as good as new but it is in fact a seventh century treasure.

Fisherman Barry Shannon, from Ardglass, took a metal detector to land belonging to his aunt Jean McKee last March as part of a new hobby. Four days later he heard a beep, and after digging down a foot found the fish, which is thought to be part of an ornate early medieval belt buckle.

At Belfast Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, where a treasure trove inquest was held to determine the item’s significance, Mr. Shannon said he was initially unimpressed with the mud covered fish.

“I’m a fisherman and it looked like a spinner you put on the end of a line to catch a fish,” he told Coroner Suzanne Anderson.

“I actually offered it to my cousin and asked him if he wanted it, but he told me to keep it as I’d been out there all day.

“I only started four days previously and that was only my fourth time at it.”

Ms. Anderson joked: “This was beginner’s luck then?”

Mr. Shannon went on to say he had shown the item to a number of people over the next few days and then realised it may be important.

Giving her evidence, Ms. McKee said the field where it was found was known locally as the Standing Stones field.

“There have been no other finds but there is a burial mound in that field, though not at the location (where the fish was found),” she said.

Ms. McKee took the item to Down County Museum but experts in Ireland were unsure of what the discovery was, as nothing similar had ever been found here.

The court heard that a specialist from Cambridge University was called in and the find turned out to be Anglo Saxon in origin. With the Anglo Saxons never settling in Ireland, Dr. Greer Ramsey, curator of Armagh Museum, said there were a number of possibilities for it ending up in a field near Downpatrick.

Strong associations with early Christianity in the area and the movement of clerics travelling back and forth across the Irish sea in an effort to spread the faith, trade networks between Britain and Ireland, two Anglo-Saxon raids in Ireland in the late 600s, or later Viking raids in the area could all be responsible he said.

“In this case there isn’t a conclusive answer,” said Dr. Ramsey.

“The tantalising thing is as this is quite rare, perhaps this points to something even more attractive existing in Ireland — perhaps even the belt buckle itself.

The fish consists of gold foil shaped over a copper alloy core, domed on one side, flat underneath. It is almost identical to another one that was found on an elaborate Anglo-Saxon gold and silver belt buckle in Crundale, Kent, which is now in the British museum.

“This was found in 1861 in a male burial from Crundale in Kent,” Dr. Ramsey explained. “Buckles like these were fashionable in 7th century Anglo-Saxon England, reflecting the tastes of settlers from Europe who had arrived several hundred years earlier.

“Although the fish had already become a symbol of Christ by the late second century, the occurrence of the fish in earlier times may be related to pagan Anglo-Saxon mythology and its similarity to a pike suggests a strong and aggressive protector.”

Dr. Ramsey said both the age of the item and its content of precious metal — 85% gold and 12% silver — meant it constituted an item of treasure under the Treasure Act, and this was confirmed in the coroner’s ruling.

Appearing impressed with the find, Ms. Anderson suggested this opened up an interesting opportunity for Mr. Shannon.

“Are you going to go out and look for the rest of this belt and buckle?” she asked him.

“Hopefully someone else will do it for me,” he replied.

The gold fish will now go to the British Museum for valuation and the court heard it would likely end up in display in the Ulster Museum.

After officially declaring it treasure, Ms. Anderson said she hoped a wider audience would be able to enjoy the artefact.

“I congratulate you on a wonderful find,” she said to Mr Shannon.