What do you think about when you hear the word “treasure”? A chest full of gold coins or a box of rare and precious gems?
We use the term “treasure” to describe something of value, but how we measure that value need not only be in monetary terms – treasures can also have sentimental, cultural, aesthetic, religious or historical significance.
Because of its worth, treasure is something we hold on to and often guard closely. Treasure is frequently “discovered”. Objects are hidden and then found or revealed.
During the 19th century, growing interest in archaeology and in the uncovering of ancient antiquities and relics in countries such as Britain, France and Germany, prompted new archaeological investigations across Europe and beyond. Rare “treasures” unearthed from the ground or removed from previously unexplored archaeological sites changed the contemporary understanding of ancient cultures and provided the foundations for the modern practice of archaeology today.
Winchester was not beyond this sphere of interest and members of Chapter at this time were equally curious about the possible recovery of historic treasures hidden from public view in the walls and crevices of the building.
Canon George Frederick Nott (1768-1841), in particular, used opportunities in the wider architectural changes to the Cathedral during the early 19th century to conduct his own archaeological enquiries, including the opening of certain historical tombs. This practice was not uncontroversial during the 19th century and today, modern clergy and archaeologists remain conscious of the sensitivities and ethics in disturbing sacred burial sites for archaeological purposes.
The ring shown above was removed by Canon Nott from the tomb of Bishop Stephen Gardiner (1483-1555) in the first half of the 19th century. Nott was a scholar as much as a clergyman – a keen collector of books and an author to several more. In a later account of the event published in 1919, John Vaughan describes how Nott, during his tenure at Winchester, “opened the coffin of Bishop Gardiner and, just lifting the lid, took the episcopal ring from the bishop’s finger. At the same time, one of his assistants put his hand into the coffin and drew out a handful of black hair.”
The ring is made of gold, set with an oval green agate gemstone engraving, or intaglio, of a warrior wearing a helmet. The intaglio has been dated to the 1st century AD.
In 1868, several objects were similarly removed from the tomb located today in the centre of the Quire, now believed to belong to Bishop Henry of Blois (c.1096-1171), but formerly thought to have belonged to King William II (1060-1100), also known as William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror.
The opening of the tomb was recounted in a report to the Society of Antiquaries by the Rev. James Gerald Joyce in 1870. Joyce describes how “the coffin was entirely emptied of its contents” and included, among other things, “a small carved ivory head […] the purpose of which it is hard to divine; it has a socket-hole scooped in it at the end, and places for a rivet to pass through it, so as to fasten it”.
This exquisite miniature ivory head, still in the Cathedral’s collections today, is that of a creature, with folded ears and large eyes. Possible theories for its use include the decorative tip of a knife or pin, or else the terminal of a crozier.
