DetectingWales.com

Was out in the Vale of Glamorgan on some pasture this afternoon dodging the showers and in general not doing very well, when this came up - a first for me and something that's been near the top of my wish list for ages.

It's a 15th century lead pilgrim's ampulla :)

The pictures are of each side, I didn't find two ;D

lovely artifact would love to find one of those.really nice well done ;)

well done peter, found my first pre 1947 florin yesterday regards john

well done peter annother one ticked of the list mate.

That's really nice Peter, rare to find a complete one too, what do you make of the scratch marks on the back, wonder if they were put there for some reason?
Your wish list must be quite small with the items you have found  :D

Peter what is it? Size and whats it used for ?

well done pete. as ampulla's go thats has complete as your going to find one

It's about 2 inches long.

Ampullae were made to contain a small amount of Holy water and were dispensed as relics from shrines and holy wells to be worn suspended by the lugs around the neck. Miracles and cures of all kinds were attributed to them and the ampullae from Canterbury supposed to contain the watered down blood of St Thomas Becket "was reputed to have cured practically the whole range of disorders and disabilities then known to man."


Many later ampullae are unattributable to any known shrine and their fairly common occurence in rural areas (and less so in urban) has led to the belief that the contents of some may have been scattered during the annual religious festival of ’Blessing the Fields’ to ensure good crops, after which the container would be discarded.

nice one peter ,still on my wish list ,a tidy find 8)

Thanks very much Peter  ;)

Nice find Peter  ::) have.nt found one myself would,nt mind one though ;Dmole

NIce find Peter, worth going out for hey.
 didn't they used to bury them in corners of the field for good luck in the havevest too.
Alan

Stunning peter WELL DONE ! ;D

Well done Peter !

Very nice whole example mate ;0)

There was an hoard of Pilgrims Ampulli found down the Vale Few years ago, Found by RARE members dont quote me on the figure but it was around 20/30 it was thought that they was collected maybe to be melted down and recycled.

There was a few paged in the Searcher/Treasure Hunting I,ll post more about it if i find my copy

all the best
Phi

Nice one Peter - any idea what shrine its from. You see a lot of Thomas Beckett and St Peter ones on another detecting site.

An ampulla has been and sadly still remains high on my wish list. One day maybe. ::)

Cracking find
Neil

wow.... thats more knowledge in my arsenal.... religous too.   do you know what it is made of peter.... looks like lead! ???

nice find pete dont see them to often not that good anyway ;)

yeah, it is made of lead flipper,

I envy you Peterh, I've yet to find one of those!

Well done mate  :o

Burp

Lovely find Pete, :) well done.

hi peter that must have made your day a fab find mate

Nice that Peter,i'm still waiting to find one  :)

Well done very nice find. :D :D

Well found Pete, now go find some of there coins  ;)

What size is it? I just wondered how much water they were supposed to hold as I believe the Pilgrims used them to bless there crops?

Mickey

what a great find well done

Lovely find peter well done

Great find Peter, something we'd all like to dig up.  :) :)

I have had a hammered  (Edward I) from the same field a couple of years ago ;D

The ampulla is just a couple of inches tall and a bit over an inch wide. I don't suppose they could have held much more than a tablespoonful of water?