Digging Up History
The discovery of the Middleham Jewel is a story of the ages. Found completely by chance in the 1980s, it is the sort of tale that is made for TV. BBC spoofed it in their comedy The Detectorist—but here’s the truth about that incredible jewel.
An Impressive Find
England has a rich history, and with that history comes many buried artifacts. Over the years, many things have been dug out of the earth. However, few found in Yorkshire are as important as the Middleham Jewel.
What Is The Jewel?
The most obvious question right now is: What is the Middleham Jewel? The simple answer is that it’s a pendant. The more complicated answer explains what that pendant is made of.
Fingalo Christian Bickel, Wikimedia Commons
What Is The Jewel?
The Middleham Jewel is a work of pure craftsmanship. Made of gold, it features a 10-carat blue sapphire inlaid on its face. Both sides of the pendant are covered with engravings of religious scenes. That may not seem all that impressive, but we’re not done yet.
Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia Commons
What Is The Jewel?
Anything with engravings is an impressive work of art. However, the smaller the item, the more skilled the engraving is. The pendant only measures about 6.4 cm across. That’s roughly the size of a thumb or pinky finger.
THE MIDDLEHAM JEWEL!!!, YO1 Radio
What Is The Jewel?
The side that bears the sapphire, presumably meant to be the front of the pendant, has an image of the crucifixion on it. Around this is a Latin inscription that translates to “Behold the Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us”.
Photographed by: York Museums Trust Staff, Wikimedia Commons
What Is The Jewel?
On the opposite side of the pendant is a depiction of the Nativity. Around the border on the back are the faces of 15 different saints.
Fingalo Christian Bickel, Wikimedia Commons
What Is The Jewel?
These images all seem to relate to birth. As such, it is believed that this impressive jewel was likely owned by a woman, one with wealth and nobility. But if you think that we’re done with the discoveries that came with this piece, you’re wrong. The Middleham Jewel holds one last secret within it.
The Jewel’s Secret
The back of the piece slides away from the front, revealing a small compartment within. This on its own would have been a fascinating secret for the jewel to hold, even if the inside compartment had been empty. It wasn’t, of course.
Birmingham Museums Trust, Teresa Gilmore, 2014-10-13 13:13:31, Wikimedia Commons
The Jewel’s Secret
Inside the Middleham Jewel are three silk disks. All of these disks have been embroidered with gold thread. What could have been the significance of these pieces? Why were they hidden inside of this jewel?
Thomas Quine, Wikimedia Commons
The Jewel’s Secret?
It is believed that these pieces of cloth were believed to be fragments of the cloth of a saint. This means that this discovery wasn’t just made of valuable metals—it contained rare holy relics!
How Old Is It?
So, we know what it looks like, what it was made out of, and what was inside of it. We also have a guess about who might have owned this piece. However, the biggest question with a discovery like this is always how old it is. The short answer is old. The long answer…
János Donát, Wikimedia Commons
How Old Is It?
Thanks to modern technology, the Middleham Jewel has been dated back to the 15th century. It is thought to have been made by one of the finest goldsmiths that medieval London had to offer. Though, who was the pendant made for?
Who Owned It?
We know that it likely belonged to a noblewoman, probably one with some standing, but could it have belonged to a noblewoman that history still remembers? According to historians, the answer is yes, it very well could have.
Who Owned It?
As the name suggests, the Middleham Jewel was found close to Middleham Castle. This castle was the childhood home of Richard III. Therefore, the leading theory is that it could have belonged to one of three women.
Who Owned It?
The first woman that it could have belonged to was Anne Neville. Anne Neville was Richard III’s wife and the Queen of England. She spent much of her childhood at the castle.
William Henry Mote, Wikimedia Commons
Who Owned It?
Another option is Richard’s mother, Cecily Neville. As is often the case of history, Cecily Neville was also Anne Neville’s great-aunt.
AnonymousUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Who Owned It?
The final woman that it is thought could have owned this jewel is Anne Beauchamp, Anne’s mother and Richard’s mother-in-law. Beauchamp’s late husband, Richard Neville, was referred to as Warwick the King Maker.
The Discovery
Now that we understand what an amazing find this piece of history is, let’s get back to the real story: how a lone man found this chunk of history with nothing but his medal detector.
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The Discovery
Ted Seaton was just an average bloke and a hobby metal detectorist when he went out toward Middleham Castle with his friends. He had no idea what he was about to discover—it was an accident.
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The Discovery
Seaton and his mates were out in a field near Middleham Castle passing time using their favourite hobby. Seaton was the last of his friends to finish that day, and he forgot to turn his detector off as he trudged back to the car.
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The Discovery
It was dark by this time, and Seaton wasn’t thinking of making a discovery. He was thinking of getting home—but then his detector started to beep.
Kyösti Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Discovery
Surprised to hear the noise, Seaton’s curiosity was piqued. He began to dig at the spot until he eventually found something. He had no idea what it was, literally.
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The Discovery
Due to the darkness, Seaton couldn’t easily identify his find. He presumed that he’d found something average, like a make-up compact. He dropped it into his bag and didn’t make much of his find to his mates.
Detectorists - Lance finds GOLD!!, O9K
The Discovery
Seaton didn’t even give his find a second thought once he got home. It’d been a long day; he was tired. He went to take a shower. It was his wife who made the proper discovery.
JovanCormac, Wikimedia Commons
The Discovery
While Seaton was in the shower, his wife decided that she would clean up his latest find. Imagine her surprise when she realized that this thing her husband had found wasn’t junk at all, it was gold.
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Finders Keepers?
Now, this is where things get interesting. If you are a “detectorist” yourself, then you may already know. The rules regarding discoveries are interesting, and they were more so in 1985.
Finders Keepers?
Essentially, at the time of Seaton’s discovery, the rules were as follows: If your find had been hidden, then it belonged to the crown, sorry. However, if what you found had merely been lost, well then, it’s the age-old adage, “finders’ keepers”.
Jaroslav Moravcik, Shutterstock
Finders Keepers?
Now, this unsurprisingly leads to a fair bit of gray area. Generally, if you found a “hoard” (a whole collection of items), it was deemed to have been “hidden” and became crown ownership. A single find like Seaton’s was a little different.
Cecil Beaton, Wikimedia Commons
Finders Keepers?
The first thing you need to know is that there is a Treasure Trove Court. Second, generally, individual items are found by this court to be owned by the finder. Seaton’s discovery went to the court which held his fate in his hands.
Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Wikimedia Commons
Finders Keepers?
The Treasure Trove Court found that Seaton’s discovery qualified as having been “lost”. He was therefore the owner of this rare jewel. The question now was what he was going to do with it.
User:Kaly99, Wikimedia Commons
The Sale
In the end, making a little bit of cash was what Seaton decided to do with it. By this point, his find had generated a fair bit of attention, and Seaton decided to capitalize on that.
The Sale
Seaton sold the Middleham Jewel at auction. It was bought by a private client through Sotheby’s for 1.4 million pounds. This translates to about 5 million pounds in today’s money which is close to 6.6 million US dollars.
ajay_suresh, Wikimedia Commons
The Mysterious Buyer
This is when the piece could have been lost again. The buyer, who has never been identified, wanted to move aboard and take the piece with them. However, it wasn’t a simple transaction.
The Mysterious Buyer
The Middleham Jewel is considered a piece of National Heritage. This means that anyone wishing to move abroad needed a special license to take such a piece with them. In this case, it was never granted.
The Mysterious Buyer
Now the secret buyer had a jewel on their hand that they couldn’t take with them wherever they were going. In the end, they decided to sell it too, for a whopping 2.5 million pounds.
Where Is It Now?
The jewel was bought at that price by The Yorkshire Museum in 1992. To this day, the Middleham Jewel still resides in the museum for anyone to see. However, the jewel had one more story to tell.
Tim Green from Bradford, Wikimedia Commons
The Fall Out
You see, Seaton had made a deal with his friends before he found that jewel that day. They had agreed that they would split anything they found in that field equally. Seaton now had a lot of money, but was he going to share it?
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The Fall Out
Ted Seaton was a man of his word. He split the 1.4 million pounds with not just his two friends who’d been in the field that day, but also the person who owned the field they’d been in. Though, there was one more glitch.
Detectorists - Lance finds GOLD!!, O9K
The Fall Out
Seaton and his mates had a fourth friend who sometimes joined them. However, he hadn’t been present that day. He felt he deserved a share as well, but Seaton didn’t agree. They went to court.
Harrison Keely, Wikimedia Commons
The Fall Out
Unfortunately for the friend, they lost their case. Seaton and his wife took what remained of their winnings and moved to Spain.
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