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Clavering man's treasure find
A MEDIEVAL brooch unearthed in a field has been at the centre of Hartlepool's first treasure trove inquest.
The ancient relic is also believed to be the first treasure reported to have been found in Hartlepool.
The 14th century brooch was found by part-time historian Brian Leslie while using a metal detector in a field in Hart village.
Mr Leslie and the owner of the land are now in talks with the British Museum, which is intending to buy the item for 450 and put it on public display.
The brooch, which is just under one-inch in diameter and has inscriptions on both sides, is believed to be the first item of its kind found in Hartlepool.
Hartlepool coroner Malcolm Donnelly held a special hearing to decide whether the item was treasure.
His decision would decide the rightful owner of the brooch and whether or not the finder and landowner would receive a reward.
Mr Donnelly said: "We are breaking new ground here, for 11 years I have never done a treasure inquest.
"There haven't been any treasure inquiries in Hartlepool at all in my knowledge.
"To think that it has been something like 600 years since someone handled it is an amazing thought."
Mr Leslie, who lives in the Clavering area of Hartlepool and has been interested in archeology for more than 30 years, has previously found items including three Roman bronze jugs in a field in the Helmsley area of North Yorkshire, before going on to discover a Roman Villa on the site.
The 47-year-old bricklayer found the brooch in May, last year, after studying the Hart area for around eight years.
The brooch was around four-inches deep in the ground and was discovered after Mr Leslie had been searching the site for two months.
He said: "I was very shocked when I found it. I knew it was something straight away.
"You can get a lot of artifacts that are silver gilded, so they are not treasure, but I knew this was silver."
Mr Leslie says he and the land owner will get half of the cash from the sale, before it is put on display at Hartlepool Museum.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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