'Incredibly Rare' Roman Horse brooch found in Lincolnshire – The 'Leasingham Horse'

The Leasingham Horse

A very rare roman brooch dating back to the dawn of the Roman conquest has been found in a field near Sleaford by a metal detectorist.

The colourful Horse brooch was unearthed in a field near Leasingham by metal detector enthusiast Jason Price (48) from Grantham, and has, according to a local expert, rewritten the understandings around Roman brooches.

Veteran Jason found the brooch during a 'Detecting for Veterans' weekend. He said: "It was the last field of the weekend and it was heavily ploughed – so I didn’t hold out much hope of finding anything. You can imagine my surprise when my detector started buzzing.

"About eight inches down I found something caked in mud. At first I thought it was a piece of litter, but as I cleaned it off, my jaw dropped open. There it was – a horse brooch. I was shaking. I've found things like coins before, but never anything like this. Absolutely amazing!"

Dr Lisa Brundle, the Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "This brooch is an exciting and rare discovery. It depicts a fairly realistic horse with an outstanding level of detail and is in remarkable condition – it even has the pin still attached!

"The horse would have originally appeared gold-like and the recesses probably once contained bright red, blue or yellow enamel. It would have been a spectacular sight on someone's robe.

"This type of Roman horse brooch is incredibly rare in Britain – and is the second only to have been found in the UK. The only other one is in the British Museum and is decorated differently - with spots of enamel only. The Leasingham horse, however, is in a league of its own with its pin situated below the legs and the realistic depiction of a saddle."

The brooch will be on display at the Collection Museum in Lincoln later this year.

For more information on the latest finds in Lincolnshire follow us at @HistPlacesLincs on Twitter or Facebook at Lincolnshire Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Look up other interesting finds in your local area on the PAS website www.finds.org.uk

Leasingham Horse

Leasingham Horse close up

 

 

Published: 28th February 2020