Sir John Evans's Collections of Artefacts
Cuerdale Hoard
Country of Origin: Britain
Description: Buried in a leaden chest, the Viking treasure from Cuerdale is the largest of its kind ever found in England. Among its 40 kilos of valuable were 7,500 coins and 1,000 ingots, ornaments and cut fragments of silver. The treasure contained Anglo-Saxon and Viking coins, as well as coins from the Middle East, Italy and the Frankish kingdom. There was also bullion from Ireland and loot from the continent. Coins dating to AD901-905 give a terminal date for the hoard.
Dimensions:
Object Period: Viking
Provenance: Cuerdale Hall, near Preston, Lancashire
Museum Accession No.: AN1909.519-551
Aquisition History: Found by workmen in 1840 on the embankment of the River Ribble by Cuerdale Hall. These fragments were acquired by Sir John Evans and presented to the Ashmolean by Sir Arthur Evans in 1909.
Other Information: The hoard was dispersed to more than 170 recipients soon after its discovery; other significant parts survive in the British Museum, London and the National Museums, Liverpool.
Further References / Links:
J. Graham-Campbell, Viking artefacts: a select catalogue, (London 1980), pp85, 87, 262, no. 301.
J. Graham-Campbell (ed), Viking Treasures from the North West: The Cuerdale Hoard in its context, Selected papers from the Vikings of the Irish Sea Conference, National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside (1992).
Richard Hobbs, Treasure: Finding our past, ( London 2003), pp 116-7.
E. Roesdahl and D.M. Wilson (eds), From Viking to Crusader: Scandinavia and Europe 800-1200, Exhibition Catalogue (New York, 1992), p323, no. 361.
The British Museum's website also has information on the Cuerdale Hoard (www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk).
