Sevenoaks Finds

Sevenoaks Finds

By J. A. Pyke

A gold object (fig. 1) was recently found in a private garden in Amherst Road, Sevenoaks. The object measured 60 mm wide, 96 mm long, and 20 mm thick and was made of thin sheet gold weighing 24.7 grams. It would appear that the gold had originally been wrapped around another object to decorate it, and the scene shown in fig. 1 was repeated on the rear surface.

Fig 1. A gold object (fig. 1) was recently found in a private garden in Amherst Road, Sevenoaks. Credit: JAP.

The object was taken to the British Museum where it was examined by Mr. John Cherry, Deputy Keeper at the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities, who suggested it might be a gold dagger chape of possibly Indian origin, dating to the 17th or 18th century. Analysis of the metal showed it to be 99.6% gold with slight impurities of silver and copper.

The chape was subsequently considered at a Coroners Inquest at Tonbridge on 3rd November 1981, with Mr J. Cherry present. The Jury decided that the object did not constitute Treasure Trove and it was returned to the owner of the land Mr B. Bishop.

There may be some significance in the fact that Lord Amherst, who owned much of the land in the area in the 18th and 19th centuries, had been Governor General of India from 1823-1828.