Buckinghamshire

[One to sigh and shake your head at]

Rare bronze-age treasures were sold on eBay for £205, a coroner heard yesterday. Five bids were made and the axe heads were shipped over to Dutch collector Jeroen Zuiderwijk, who paid just a fraction of their real value. Luckily however, the archaeologist, an experimental metallurgist at a theme park, got in touch with UK museum authorities. The find was described by expert Ros Tyrrell as only the second ever bronze-age collection to be found in the Buckinghamshire area.

The series of 15 axe heads was believed to have been dug up using metal detectors by a couple known as Stuart and Tracey, from the Milton Keynes area of Buckinghamshire. When the couple moved to France in 2004 they gave the find to friends John Couchman and Lorraine Ayton who promptly put them up for sale on eBay.

“It would have been such a waste if they had been sold individually,” Ms Tyrrell told the inquest in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. “Now the hoard will stay together and will be available to see if people want to study it. You can only study what is available and this will be a valuable addition to our collection.”

The axe heads, held by the British Museum, are set to be handed to the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury. Yesterday at the treasure trove inquest, Milton Keynes coroner Rodney Corner formally declared that the treasure belonged to the Crown. Since the 1996 Treasure Act, finders are no longer keepers and must report any objects more than 300 years old. However, the coroner heard that a lot of treasure was never handed in by unscrupulous metal detectors known as “night hawks” who only operated under cover of darkness.

“We are very grateful to Mr Zuiderwijk. He could have kept quiet and we would never have known. We would have lost our ability to study them,” Ms Tyrrell added. “These axe heads were high-tech in their day. They looked really swanky with their gold colouring.”

edited from the story by Fred Attewill at
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2450782005

From the BBC News site
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/3651467.stm

Archaeologists believe they have unearthed an ancient fortified settlement at a hilltop paddock in Buckinghamshire.
A dig on the site of a new £30m Thames Water main near Taplow has uncovered finds thought to date to the Bronze and early Iron Ages.

Pieces from Roman and mediaeval times have also been found. The finds suggest it would have been a settlement on a key route to the centre of the country between 700BC and 400BC. But despite the fortifications, experts called in by the water company believe the site would not have had a military purpose.

Project manager Mark Collard from archaeological contractors Cotswold Archaeology said the settlement, although itself previously unknown, fitted into a pattern of farms enclosed by fortifications. “It’s not particularly military – it would have been more to say ‘This is our bit of land’, it’s more a sort of status symbol than anything else.”

The team was called in ahead of construction work because evidence from nearby sites indicated the area was of historical interest. But although there is a cluster of other prehistoric sites in the vicinity, the latest find came as a complete surprise to the archaeologists.

“It was totally unknown before work started, Thames Water commissioned a whole series of surveys, it’s a success for the system. Basically it was a green field before the work started, if they hadn’t decided to put a pipeline there we would never have known it was there.”

The finds will now be taken away for more detailed study expected to include radio-carbon dating and examinations of the changing styles of pottery to give a clearer picture of their age. Mr Collard said: “Any discovery of a prehistoric site is significant particularly one that it relatively well preserved and extensive.” Thames Water is keeping the exact location secret to prevent any interference at the site but Cotswold Archaeology will eventually produce a full report and register the findings with the Sites and Monuments Records Office so that other archaeologists will know the location.

By James Young – Bucks Free Press

A bumpy ride for cyclists, horse riders and walkers could soon be over as plans to improve one of Britain’s oldest road gather pace. The Ridgeway National Trail, which runs through Princes Risborough, has been damaged in recent months by rain and illegal vehicles driving along it. Details of a consultation held in November, where local people expressed their views over the best way to improve the 23-mile eastern stretch of The Ridgeway, were released this week. A number of people from Risborough and Chinnor told of their anger over the poor condition of the trail at the meeting. Suggestions being considered by the Countryside Agency include the banning of vehicles along The Ridgeway and using volunteer groups to help maintain the quality of the surface.

Countryside officer Hazel Fleming said: We are hoping we will be able to repair the surface of The Ridgeway in the near future to make the experience of using it much more pleasant for people. Vehicles are allowed to use The Ridgeway at certain points but the main problems involve illegal vehicles driving on it. The Countryside Agency is looking to work with local police to stop unlicensed vehicles such as quad bikes with no number plates from disturbing the surface of the trail. Landowners could also be asked to help maintain the trail by finding alternative routes for their vehicles off the trail route.

Section Four of The Ridgeway winds its way through the Chiltern Hills from Chinnor, through Princes Risborough and Tring, ending at Ivinghoe Beacon.
It is a popular trail for walkers and forms a major part of the area’s natural beauty and heritage, including the Whiteleaf Cross archaeological site.