Today's find - a first for me

[The Doc]

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

[Kev]

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

[borderfox.1495]

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

[Gadget(Ian)]

well done peter annother one ticked of the list mate.

[hedgehog]

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 

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

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

[altinkum]

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

[The Doc]

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

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.

[silky]

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

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

Thanks very much Peter 

[mole]

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

[Al.Thepastfinder, ( Alan )]

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

[DIG IT! (ADIE)]

Stunning peter WELL DONE !

[PHIL YNYSBOETH]

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

[Neil]

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