Coin hoard, 7 staters issued 1st century BC, found by metal detector inside a flint during landscaping work at Sandford Farm, near Kingsclere, Hampshire.
Today, the area around Sandford Springs, near Kingsclere, is occupied by a golf course and attendant hotel. In prehistoric and Roman times it seems likely that the springs were the focus for religious and ritual activity, probably involving a temple or shrine.
When work began on landscaping the golf course in the mid 1980s, archaeological monitoring took place, although features were few, being limited to a shallow gully and patches of burning. The practice of the then landowner, to always have his metal detector at the ready, resulted in a spectacular find, however, when he discovered the ‘Kingsclere crock’.
As one of the grading machines was smoothing the contours, a large flint nodule detached itself from the soil and rolled obligingly down to his feet. A pass over it with the detector resulted in a loud signal and removal of a clay ‘plug’ revealed seven Iron Age gold staters, neatly filling a natural cylindrical hole. The coins were subject to a Coroner’s Inquest (the flint wasn’t – although it would be today) and declared to be Treasure Trove. Hampshire County Council was happily in a position to acquire them.
