Bedale Hoard

{{Short description|Treasure hoard found in North Yorkshire, England}}

{{infobox artefact

| name = Bedale Hoard

| image = Bedale Hoard Group YORYM 2014 149.jpg

| image_caption = The Bedale Hoard

| material =

| size =

| writing =

| created = 850–900 AD (deposited)

| period = Viking

| discovered_date = 2012

| discovered_place = Bedale, North Yorkshire

| location = Medieval Gallery, Yorkshire Museum, York

| id = [https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/collections/collections-highlights/the-bedale-hoard/ YORYM: 2014.149]

[https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/504460 YORYM-CEE620]

}}

The Bedale Hoard is a hoard of forty-eight silver and gold items dating from the late 9th to early 10th centuries AD and includes necklaces, arm-bands, a sword pommel, hacksilver and ingots. It was discovered on 22 May 2012 in a field near Bedale, North Yorkshire, by metal detectorists,{{cite web |last=Foster |first=Mark |date=12 December 2014 |title=Viking Hoard revealed in all its beauty |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11664045.Viking_hoard_revealed_in_all_its_beauty/ |access-date=15 December 2014 |publisher=Northern Echo}} and reported via the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Following a successful public funding campaign, the hoard was acquired by the Yorkshire Museum for £50,000.{{cite web |last=Laycock |first=Mike |date=12 December 2014 |title=Bedale Hoard back on display at Yorkshire Museum |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11665280.Bedale_Hoard_back_on_display_at_Yorkshire_Museum |access-date=19 May 2025 |publisher=Northern Echo}}

File:Viking silver hoard from Bedale area, North Yorkshire.jpg

The hoard contains 48 items of silver and gold and was declared "treasure" under the Treasure Act 1996.{{cite web |last=Ager |first=B.M. |date=26 September 2012 |title=Hoard, Unique ID: YORYM-CEE620 |url=https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/504460 |access-date=19 May 2025 |publisher=Portable Antiquities Scheme}} In addition to 29 silver ingots, the hoard contained an iron sword pommel inlaid with foil plaques, four gold hoops or bands from the hilt of the sword, six small gold rivets, four silver collars and neck-rings (one cut into two pieces), one silver arm, one fragment of a "Permian" ring, and one silver penannular brooch.

=Sword fittings=

File:Sword Pommel from the Bedale Hoard YORYM 2014 149 1-1.jpg

The large, iron sword pommel survived along with the guard, four gold hoops from the hilt and six gold rivets. The pommel is broadly triangular and is inlaid with plaques of gold foil decorated with incised animal interlace with nicked edges in the late Anglo-Saxon Trewhiddle style, which can be dated to the late 9th century. The form of the pommel is typical of Petersen's late-9th-century type L.Petersen, J. 1919. De Norske Vikingesverd. En typologisk-kronologisk studie over vikingetidens vaaben Kristiania. 112–116 Silver is far more usual as a decoration on sword pommels of this date and the extensive use of gold foil on the present find is unique.

=Neck-rings=

File:Large silver necklace from the Bedale Hoard YORYM 2014 149 37.jpg

The largest neck collar from the hoard consists of four twisted cables of silver, each a different size, hammer-welded together into flat terminals. The outermost cable consists of six thick, plaited rods and the inner three "hollow" ropes each consists only of three coiled strands of double-twisted rods. Whilst the individual components of the collar can be paralleled, this "West Viking" variant is unique. International trade associated with this hoard is best demonstrated by the "Permian"-style ring fragment,{{cite news |date=12 December 2014 |title=Beauty of hoard is revealed as rare Viking treasures displayed |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/beauty-of-hoard-is-revealed-as-rare-viking-treasures-displayed-1828578 |access-date=19 May 2025 |newspaper=Yorkshire Post}} a type imported from Russia during the early part of the Viking period.Graham-Campbell, G. 2011. The Cuerdale Hoard and related Viking-Age silver and gold from Britain and Ireland in the British Museum. London: British Museum. 88–89 Two complete six-plait cable neck-rings are also present in the hoard, as is a triple-strand neck-ring cut into half and used as hacksilver.

=Ingots=

Twenty-nine ingots of silver (with a variety of minor alloys) were found with the hoard, many of which have testing-nicks. Three have crosses incised upon them. They range from {{convert|40|to|146|g}} in weight.

Significance

The hoard represents the scale of international connections in the early medieval period, with Russian and IrishTownend, M. 2014. Viking Age Yorkshire. Pickering: Blackthorn Press influences among the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian elements. The lack of coinage in this hoard shows the bullion-weight economy in use in the late 9th century AD. It is earlier than both the Cuerdale Hoard and the Vale of York Hoard.

Public display

The hoard was first placed on permanent public display in the Yorkshire Museum in 2014. From 2017 it formed part of a touring exhibition titled 'Viking: Rediscover the Legend' and is displayed alongside the Vale of York Hoard and the Cuerdale Hoard, with the tour starting at the Yorkshire Museum and subsequently including Atkinson Art Gallery and Library in Southport, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Norwich Castle Museum, and the University of Nottingham.{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Stephen |date=12 May 2017 |title=Face to face with the Vikings |url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/15282835.Face_to_face_with_the_Vikings/ |access-date=19 May 2025 |publisher=York Press}}