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Staffordshire Hoard

2009 archaeological discoveries2009 in England7th-century works7th century in England8th-century works
8th century in EnglandAnglo-Saxon archaeologyAnglo-Saxon artArchaeological sites in StaffordshireHoards from Anglo-Saxon BritainMerciaMetal detecting finds in EnglandTreasure troves in EnglandTreasure troves of Medieval EuropeUse British English from November 2012
Staffordshire hoard annotated
Staffordshire hoard annotated

The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments, amounting to a total of 5.1 kg (11 lb) of gold, 1.4 kg (3 lb) of silver and some 3,500 pieces of garnet cloisonné jewellery. It is described by the historian Cat Jarman as "possibly the finest collection of early medieval artefacts ever discovered".The hoard was most likely deposited between 650–675 CE, and contains artefacts probably manufactured during the 6th and 7th centuries. It was discovered in 2009 in a field near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. The location was in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia at the time of the hoard's deposition. The hoard is of "radical" importance in Anglo-Saxon archaeology. The artefacts are nearly all martial in character and contain no objects specific to use by women.: 9  The average quality of the workmanship is extremely high and especially remarkable in view of the large number of individual objects, such as swords and a helmet, from which many of the fragments in the hoard came. The hoard was purchased jointly by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery for GB£3.285 million under the Treasure Act 1996.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Staffordshire Hoard (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Staffordshire Hoard
Watling Street, Lichfield

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Wikipedia: Staffordshire HoardContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 52.655277777778 ° E -1.9066666666667 °
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Watling Street

Watling Street
WS8 6LT Lichfield
England, United Kingdom
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Staffordshire hoard annotated
Staffordshire hoard annotated
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Hammerwich railway station
Hammerwich railway station

Hammerwich railway station is a disused station on the South Staffordshire Line. It opened in 1849. It closed as part of the Beeching Axe in January 1965. The station was built and served by the South Staffordshire Railway, which later became London, Midland and Scottish Railway (through amalgamation of the London and North Western Railway). This was one of the three closed stations on this route that remained open beyond the closure of the South Staffordshire route as part of the Burton-Wolverhampton line that fell, also as part of the Beeching Axe, less than a year later. Goods traffic continued to pass here until March 1984, when the line was closed to through traffic. The section through here remained open to serve a Charringtons fuel oil terminal at Anglesey Sidings (near Brownhills) thereafter, until it also closed in 2001 - since then the line has been mothballed and officially marked 'out of use' by Network Rail. It is being preserved for the future re-opening of the railway line between Walsall and Lichfield. The old station platforms have been demolished, but the station house still stands and is used as a private residence. The station footbridge is also accessible to the public and safe to use.The station served the village of Hammerwich and was also the nearest station for Burntwood which is under 2 miles away. And also served the small village of Muckley Corner which was only half a mile east. In 2019, a local group named the Burntwood Action Group made a bid to convert the disused line into a leisure greenway to connect to Chasewater and link up with the recently opened greenway at Brownhills. However, the bid was rejected by Lichfield District Council due to lack of clarity.