Lucky fresher unearths Anglo-Saxon jewels worth £50,000

A Landscape History fresher made a rare discovery when he unearthed a pendant worth an estimated £50,000.

Plucky Tom Lucking, 23, was metal detecting on a field in a south Norfolk farm when he made the shocking find.

The pendant was discovered around 50 miles from Sutton Hoo, home to one of the biggest Anglo-Saxon hoards in England.

He said: “I don’t think anyone who metal detects ever thinks they’ll find anything like this.

Tom has been a keen archaeologist from a young age and had been on several digs before he found the seven centimetre gold pendant.

When he made the discovery he quickly contacted the Historical Environment Service team, who then came to excavate the site.

“I hadn’t really found anything amazing beyond pottery, flints, bone etc. from rubbish pits and ditches, so this was a real step up,” he said.

Time Team star and Anglo-Saxon artefact expert Dr Helen Greake said: “This is the single most exciting discovery I have ever been present at.”

It’s been suggested the pendant was owned by someone of significance, possibly someone of royal blood.

The coins found in the grave date to 630-650 AD.

Tom said: “It’s the quality of the workmanship that sets it apart.

“We knew there was something in that area of the grave because we’d checked it with a metal detector before digging, but no one was expecting something that amazing to appear.”

The pendant will most likely be declared treasure, which means that it will pass to the authorities, where it can then be acquired by museums.

Tom wants the Norwich Castle Museum, who are currently interested, to display the item alongside its collection of local artefacts.

The money from the sale of the pendant will then be split between the landowner, Tom Lucking, and his friend Stuart Isaacs, who also worked the site.