Find Spot record 2373/0/0 - Congleton Coin Hoards

<1> National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 1992, Coin Hoards from Priesty Fields, Congleton: Survey and Documentary Research (Client Report). SCH4160.

Four separate hoards of 16th and 17th century silver coins were found in close association by metal detectorists in April and May 1992. The four caches of coins, each contained in a pottery vessel, had been deposited in a steep, 10-metre high, natural bank alongside the Howty Brook on the outskirts of Congleton. The hoards contain a total of 3,409 coins which range in date from Edward VI (1547-53) to Charles II (1660-85), with the majority originating from the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I. The pottery vessels are of late 17th/early 18th century form and the latest coins in the caches date to 1646-9, 1670, 1670 and 1660-2 respectively. It is thought likely that at least hoards 2-4 were deposited shortly after the latest coin date (1660-2 and 1670), in the post Restoration period, although hoard 1 could have been buried earlier possibly during the troubled period of the Civil War.

There appears to be a close relationship between the four hoards in terms of the similar date of coinage, the close location of deposition (hoards 3 and 4 were almost touching), and the similarities of the pottery vessels in which they were buried (two lidded jars and two earthenware bottles). These similarities indicate a link between the hoards and possibly that that one individual or family was responsible for their deposition. In the early 1670s the field was owned by John Walker, a prominent and wealthy Congleton business man, three-times mayor and a Royalist, who died in 1675. The initials of 'J:CW' appear on the vessel of hoard 2, they may represent the name of John Walker and his wife.

<2> Chester Archaeology, 1992, Four Coin Hoards from Congleton: Report on the Pottery (Report). SCH8027.

<3> Cheshire County Council, 1992, Congleton Coin Hoards: Catalogue (Report). SCH8026.