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The Cuerdale Hoard is a hoard of over 8,600 items
including silver coins and bullion. Discovered on the 15th
May 1840, on the bend of the River Ribble in an area known
as Cuerdale on the outskirts of the City of Preston,
Lancashire. The hoard is the largest Viking silver hoard
ever found outside Russia, and exceeds any hoard found in
Scandinavia or other western areas where the Vikings
settled. The hoard was found by a group of workmen
repairing the embankment of the river. It was contained
within a lead box, which shows evidence of the hoard having
been parcelled into small bags or packages. After discovery,
it was quickly recovered by the landowner's bailiffs,
ensuring it remained together, though the workmen managed to
keep a coin each. The remainder was declared a treasure
trove and handed to Queen Victoria as the Duchy of
Lancaster. The Duchy passed it to the British Museum, where
the bulk of it remains today.
It is believed the coins were buried between 903 and 910
AD. At this time the Ribble Valley was an important Viking
route between the Irish Sea and York. The presence of large
numbers of newly minted Norse coins from York and large
amounts of Irish Norse bullion leads experts to believe this
may have been a war chest belonging to Irish Norse exiles
intending to reoccupy Dublin from the Ribble Estuary, though
there have naturally been many other theories regarding its
ownership and purpose.
Other theories include that the silver was intended for a
casting works in the vicinity. Remains of fortifications and
moat suggest that a larger building once occupied the
present site of Cuerdale Hall. A third theory is that the
silver was buried by Sir Thomas Molyneux several hundred
years after the minting of the coins. Sir Thomas raised an
army of 5,000 men to escort the Duke of Ireland to Richard
II. Thomas Molyneux occupied Cuerdale Hall and was Constable
of Chester Castle and Sheriff. He was killed at the Battle
of Radcott Bridge. The silver may have been brought from
Ireland as an intended war chest to support Richard II of
England.
The existence of the hoard may have been known long
before its eventual rediscovery: a local Preston-Lancashire
tradition said that anyone who stood on the south bank of
the Ribble at Walton-le-Dale, and looked upriver to
Ribchester, would be within sight of the richest treasure in
England.
The presence of the Vikings can be seen today in Preston
through numerous place names. The Cuerdale Hoard is an
example of the rich archaeology that exists around the
Preston area and includes evidence of prehistoric and
significant Roman history.
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuerdale_Hoard
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