DetectingWales.com

The greatest hoard of Civil War coins ever found in Wales have gone on display for the first time in the county in which they were discovered. Gold and silver coins dating back to the 1640s are the centrepiece of an exhibition at Scolton Manor Museum near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

The exhibition, entitled The Tregwynt Hoard: Coins, Cromwell and Cavaliers, highlights the importance of the hoard as well as explaining the impact on Wales and Pembrokeshire of the Civil War.

The story of the Tregwynt hoard is fascinating. A local legend believed that buried treasure, connected to the French landing of February 22nd, 1797, lay in the grounds of Tregwynt Mansion near Fishguard in North Pembrokeshire.

Worried guests attending a ball, frightened by the news that the French had landed at Carreg Wastad, buried their valuables in the grounds of the mansion before departing. Although this legend was well known, nothing was ever found to prove it.

That was until one day in 1996 when a local metal detector enthusiast, Roy Lewis, uncovered a large hoard of gold and silver coins not from 1797, but in-fact belonging to the Civil War of the 1640s.

The then owners of Tregwynt Mansion, Mr and Mrs Sayer, were carrying out extensive ground work and invited Roy in to search the disturbed earth.

After some unsuccessful searching, intuition told him to carry out a sweep with his metal detector underneath trees in the grounds.

Immediately, a positive signal resulted in the discovery of a hammered silver half-crown of Charles I (1625-1649), followed by hammered sixpences of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The lost treasure of Tregwynt had been found.

Over the next few days the significance of the hoard revealed itself.

More and more coins were unearthed from the ground, and reported to Edward Besly, Assistant Keeper of Numismatics at the National Museum of Wales, and the Pembrokeshire Coroner, Michael Howells.

In total 500 coins were recovered from the site at Tregwynt, along with shards of pottery and a piece of lead thought to make up the container and lid of the vessel housing the coins. A fine gold posy ring, engraved with the words, 'Rather death then falce of fayth,' was also found.

The coins cover the reigns of Henry VIII (1509-1547), Edward VI (1547-1553); Philip & Mary (1554-1558), Elizabeth I (1558-1603), James I (1603-1625) and Charles I (1625-1649).

It is thought the collection was most likely to have been buried in 1648, the year of rebellion in Pembrokeshire, one of a number of uprisings known as the 'Second Civil War'.

The Governor of Pembroke Castle, John Poyer, who had always served Parliament loyally through the first Civil War, rebelled when told he was to be replaced. This brief uprising was put down at St Fagans, near Cardiff. Cromwell chased the rebels back to Pembrokeshire and laid siege to Pembroke Castle.

The hoard was bought for the nation with the help of Heritage Lottery Fund and housed at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff. The Pembrokeshire exhibition runs until October 31st 2008.

Another Gem Neil

I went with an ex girlfriends once to buy a kitten off a farm near LLancarvan years ago now and the farm where we bought it had a barn where a regiment of Cromwells new model army had rested for a few days he showed me what he,d found over the years very interesting
It wa sthe days before puters if i got time i,ll have a look in keywords see what i can come up with

History Junky
Phil Jones

Fantastic!.......great read.