Hammer head likely to go on display at Museum of Somerset

TREASURE that was found on an estate near Ilminster last year is likely to go on display at the Museum of Somerset in the near future.

A hammer head which dates back to the Bronze Age was discovered by metal detectorist Ron Lines on the Dillington Estate in Whitelackington last November.

It was the second historical artefact that Mr Lines had found on the land in the space of four years. In 2011, he found a pall stave that also came from the Bronze Age within 25 feet of where he later detected the hammer head.

The hammer head was passed onto East Somerset coroner Tony Williams by the British Museum following its discovery, and at an inquest at Taunton Registry Office on Thursday, he concluded that the item could legally be classed as treasure under the Treasure Act 1996.

The Somerset County Museum has expressed an interest in acquiring the hammer, and under existing treasure laws, they will have the opportunity to purchase it at a price that will be set by the Treasure Valuation Committee.

Mr Williams said: "I have to consider whether the hammer head and the pall stave that Mr Lines had previously already were deposited together, and whether both items are pre-historic.

"Based on precedent and my experience of dealing with such cases I believe it is highly probable that these items were deposited as a load of several items, and as both items date from the Bronze Age, which is more than 300 years ago [the minimum age a find must be to be declared as treasure], I have no concerns about that either.

"On that basis, this item qualifies as treasure."

Julie Shoemark, finds liaison officer for Somerset at the South West Heritage Trust, which acquires items for the Museum of Somerset, said: "Bronze Age hammers are very unusual. They appear in hordes occasionally but not nearly as often as you find axes, which are much more common from that era.

"It is a nice unusual item, and it's the first Bronze Age hammer that I personally have ever come across. There is a large collection of Bronze Age items at the museum already and this would be a nice addition."

(pic & source: www.westerngazette.co.uk/Treasure-Dillington-Estate-near-Ilminster-likely/story-27800741-detail/story.html )