Find Spot record 6990 - Bronze Age Palstave, Northgate Street

This find is a bronze palstave labelled "Cheshire, Chester, Priory wall, Northgate St, 1840". "Priory wall" possibly refers to the wall of St Werburgh's Abbey that bounds Northgate St. But note a comment by J H E Bennett: "there were numerous ecclesiastical properties abutting on Northgate Street but none of these appears to have been owned by a priory. The most probable solution of the matter seems to me that the wall in question must be that enclosing the hospital of St John. The head of this institution was a warden, but in the early days was often called a prior. There was a considerable wall bounding the Northgate Street extent of the Abbey of St Werburgh and a careless writer might possibly call the abbey a priory.". The object is probably of North Italian origin, and is on permanent loan to Grosvenor Museum by the Somerset Archaeological Society at Taunton c1953 (1).

<1> n/a, 1953, Miscellanea, p 63 - 64 (Article in Journal). SCH5730.

<2> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, 1/102 Longley D 1987 (Book). SCH3556.

<3> Davey P & Forster E, 1975, Bronze Age Metalwork from Lancashire and Cheshire, No.168 (Monograph). SCH488.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW4/1963 (Index). SCH2487.

<5> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, /no.327 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.