launch of the conserved ‘Fenwick treasure’ in London

On Monday (19th October), Trust director Philip attended an evening reception in the jewellery department of the Fenwick department store in New Bond Street in London, for the launch of the conserved ‘Fenwick treasure’. Philip says that the treasure was beautifully displayed in a special environmentally-controlled display case. Hugo Fenwick gave a speech in which he was kind enough to praise the Trust and other contractors for our work on the redevelopment of the Williams and Griffin store (owned by Fenwick) in Colchester High Street.

The Trust discovered the treasure during our archaeological excavation at the Williams and Griffin store in summer 2014. The treasure was then conserved at the laboratory of the Colchester Museums Service. The excavation was funded by Fenwick.

The treasure consists of five gold finger-rings, a silver armlet, a silver bracelet, three gold bracelets, a glass intaglio of a panther, two pairs of earrings, a small box, and a bag of mostly silver coins. The treasure had been hidden for safety under the floor of a Roman house during the Boudican revolt of AD 61, when native Britons rebelled against the Roman occupation of Britain. The Britons burned the major Roman towns of London, St Albans and Colchester to the ground and massacred their inhabitants. The treasure was never retrieved by its owners and lay hidden until the Trust discovered it during our excavation in 2014…

The treasure is on temporary display at the Fenwick store. Fenwick have generously donated the treasure and the display case to Colchester Castle Museum, and it is hoped that the treasure will be on display in the museum in spring 2016.

The image shows the ‘Fenwick treasure’ in its special display case during the reception on Monday.

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