The Cridling Stubbs hoard (also known as the Womersley Hoard or Womersley I)is a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of more than 3,300 coins in a large, ceramic jar.

Discovery

Parts of the hoard was discovered by Mr W Frost, a farmworker at Lodge Farm,

Cridling Stubbs Cridling Stubbs is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire. It is near the town of Knottingley. It 2011 it had a population of 152. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was par ...

, on 8 October 1967. The site was subsequently excavated by RM Butler and

Jeffrey Radley Jeffrey Radley (13 October 1935 – 22 July 1970) was a British archaeologist and poet. Career Radley was an archaeologist, particularly interested in Prehistoric archaeology. He was also a poet, having a collection of poems published posthu ...

of the

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

on 16 October 1967, where further discoveries of coins were made. The jar was positioned upright in the ground and covered by part of a

grey ware Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

jar and a stone. The hoard did not count as treasure under the

Treasure Trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the he ...

law at the time, so ownership returned to the landowner, who sold the container and 447 coins to

Leeds Museums & Galleries Leeds Museums and Galleries is a museum service run by the Leeds City Council in West Yorkshire. It manages eight sites and is the largest museum service in England and Wales run by a local authority. Visitor attractions *Abbey House Museum *Ki ...

for £300. The purchase was supported by a grant from the

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

The hoard comprises a ceramic jar of a calcite-gritted fabric dating to the 4th-century AD and over 3,300 bronze coins. The coins include denominations of Roman Emperors from

Tetricus I Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo-Roman nobleman who ruled as Augustus, emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274 AD. He was originally the (provincial governor) of Gallia Aquitania and became emperor after the murd ...

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

. Fourteen of the coins were minted before AD 324, with the earliest dating to AD 270–275. the majority of the coins were struck between AD 330 and 346.

Public display

The hoard was on display in

Leeds City Museum Leeds City Museum, established in 1819, is a museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Since 2008 it has been housed in the former Mechanics' institute, Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Squar ...

from February to July 2018.

Notes

:1. Cridling Stubbs is in the parish of Womersley and it is given this name in the report by Pirie. Note that a second hoard of 4th-century coinage from this parish, found by metal detectorists in 2011, is named as Womersley II.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cridling Stubbs hoard 1967 in England 1967 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in North Yorkshire Hoards from Roman Britain Coin hoards

Discovery

Contents

Public display

Notes

References