Barrow in Furness Viking period Hoard

A Viking treasure hoard of silver coins has been unearthed in the Furness countryside and is being billed as 'the missing link' by experts who say it is the long-awaited significant evidence of 9th and 10th Century AD material culture of the settlers upon the peninsula.

Furness bristles with place-names whose origins are Norse, for example Barrow, Yarlside, Roa and Ormsgill. In 2006 a solitary merchant's weight, thought to be Viking or a little earlier, was found in farmland between Barrow and Dalton, which sparked local interest. But this new discovery surpasses all previous Viking discoveries for the region. It is the first time that such a significant amount of Viking numismatic material has been recovered from the Furness soil. This discovery indisputably links the area with the Norse mariners, and local history stands to be amended as a result. Previous Viking discoveries reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Cumbria, include the Cumwhitton burials (excavated in 2004 with help from English Heritage).

The 92 silver coins and artifacts (several ingots and one near-complete silver bracelet) were discovered and brought to the surface in May by a locally-based metal detectorist using a White’s Classic 950. Amongst the coins is a pair of Arabic dirhams - silver currency which circulated in 10th century Europe.

It is thought that the silver was put into the ground sometime around 955 AD when the Viking invaders had established footholds in the north of England. While the size of the Furness hoard is smaller than the 10th century Vale of York Hoard is by far the largest amount of Viking treasure ever found in this area. Since its discovery, the hoard has been kept at Barrow's Dock Museum where curator Sabine Skae described it as 'very exciting for Furness’ and the Dock Museum hopes to be able to acquire it permanently.

Dr Gareth Williams, Viking expert at the British Museum, said: On the basis of the information and photographs that I have seen so far, this is a fascinating hoard. By the mid-950s, most of England had become integrated into a single kingdom, with a regulated coinage, but this part of the north-west was not integrated into the English kingdom until much later, and the hoard reflects that. It is a good reminder of how much finds like this can tell us about the history of different parts of the country.

Author: Barrow Council (modified for content)