Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/445

 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS A'PLE reasons for the marked absence of Anglo-Saxon remains dating from the Pagan period in Cornwall may be found in the political history of the county ; but a remarkable memorial of King Alfred's time must here be specially mentioned. In the year 1774 some miners who were searching for tin in a stream-work near St. Austell, in the manor of Trewhiddle, found, about 17 feet below the surface, a silver cup and a number of coins and ornaments, most of which were presented to the British Museum, in 1880, by Mr. J. J. Rogers, M.P. 1 The cup had been placed in a heap of loose stones, the refuse of an old tin-working, and covered with a common slate. It was evident that the objects had been intentionally deposited where they were found, the cup containing the rest of the hoard ; but after being so deposited, the metal had been considerably crushed by the collapse of the covering slate, and the cup has only been recently restored to its original shape (fig. i). a It was, however, at once recognized as a chalice, and had been made in three pieces, the baluster stem being separate and somewhat thicker than the bowl and domed foot. Though devoid of ornament or inscription, it can be accu- rately dated by an examination of the silver pennies found within it. A detailed list of these, in the possession of Mr. Philip (and subsequently of Jonathan) Rashleigh, is given by Mr. Rogers, 3 which may be summarized here: one each of Offa (757796), Coenwulf (796-822), and Beornwulf (823-825), nine of Berhtwulf (839853), thirty-nine of Burgred (853874), and one of Ceolwulf II (874), the last king of Mercia ; a silver penny (not as usual a styca) of Eanred, probably the king of Northumbria (807-841), two of Ecgbeorht (802-838), six of Ethelwulf (838-858), two of Ethelred I (863-871), two of Alfred (871-901), five of Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canter- bury (833870), and a single specimen of Louis le Debonnaire, king of the Franks (814840). As many as 1 14 pieces were found altogether, but they passed into several hands, and only two or three are now preserved with the other articles, one being an unpublished variety of Ethelwulf, struck at 1 The donor exhibited the find to the Society of Antiquaries in that year (Proceedings, viii, 313), but it had been already illustrated by the Society in 1788 (Arch, ix. 187, pi. viii). An account is also given in Arch. Journ. xxi (1864), 183. 2 The illustration in Arch, xi, pi. vii, is now seen to be unsatisfactory. 3 Journ. Roy. Inst. of Cornwall, ii (1866-7), 2 95- 375