Shannen HeadleyWest Midlands
Rugby Borough Council
The medieval chape has been declared a ‘find of note’ by the British Museum
A metal detectorist who discovered a 1,500-year-old scabbard chape in a field has recalled the “thrill” of a find giving “connection to lives lived centuries ago”.
Kathy Bonehill found the decorative copper-alloy piece, which dates back to between AD400 and AD600, on the edge of a farmer’s field in Kings Newnham in Rugby.
Scabbard chapes were used in medieval times to protect the sheath of a dagger or tip of a sword. The British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, which keeps a record of archaeological finds in England and Wales, declared the one in Rugby a “find of note”.
Ms Bonehill has donated the possibly Viking-used item to Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, where it is on display.
Reliving her discovery earlier this year, she said: “I’ve been metal detecting in the Warwickshire countryside with a regular group for a couple of years, uncovering some fascinating items along the way, yet nothing compares to this stunning dagger chape.
“At first, it was clagged with dirt, its beautiful detail hidden beneath layers of grime.
“Only after an hour of patient work with a wooden cocktail stick did the design begin to emerge – and I realised I was holding something truly special, perhaps even unique.”
Experts said the chape’s decorative design featured a human face flanked by a pair of birds – possibly representing Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology, and his ravens, Huginn and Muninn.
Ring-and-dot motifs run along the lower edge of both birds and vertically through the “body” of the human form.
Rugby Borough Council
Kathy Bonehill, pictured right, with Rugby Art Gallery and Museum’s Catherine Shanahan, said the find was “thrilling”
Weighing just nine grams, the chape measures three-and-a-half centimetres in length, two-and-a-half in width and just under a centimetre in thickness at its widest part.
Ms Bonehill added: “There’s a thrill in moments like this.
“The slow reveal of craftmanship long buried, the sense of connection to lives lived centuries ago.”
Councillor Neil Sandison from Rugby Borough Council thanked Ms Bonehill for her donation.
He said: “What a marvellous find. We had been aware Vikings had been active in the Rugby area and this now provides evidence of them being present in medieval Warwickshire.”