Find Spot record 2373/4 - Congleton coin hoard 4

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

One of four separate hoards of 16th and 17th century silver coins 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. 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.

Hoard 4 was found in close association with hoard 3, with the two pottery vessels almost touching. It consisted of 641 coins ranging in date from 1551-1662 and comprising 2 sixpences of Edward Vil; 1 shilling of Philip & Mary; 225 sixpences and 65 shillings of Elizabeth I; 30 sixpences and 40 shillings of James I; 29 sixpences, 226 shillings and 17 half-crowns of Charles I; and 6 shillings of Charles II. The coins were placed in an earthenware bottle with mottled glaze of late 17th/early 18th century date and probably from Staffordshire. The vessel was inscribed with the letters 'FR' and its neck was broken off and sealed with a lead cap.

<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.