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123-595: Traprain Law is a hill 6 km (4 mi) east of Haddington, East Lothian , Scotland . It is the site of a hill fort or possibly oppidum , which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha (40 acres). It is the site of the Traprain Law Treasure , the largest Roman silver hoard from anywhere outside the Roman Empire which included exquisite silver artefacts. The hill, about 220 m (720 ft) above MSL,

246-567: A hoard of silver plate. The hoard is known as the Traprain Treasure, or Traprain Law Treasure . Consisting of over 24 kg (53 lb) of sliced-up Roman-era silver , the discovery was made in a pit within the boundary of the settlement earlier uncovered. Four Gallic coins were discovered with the hoard; one of the emperor Valens (reigned 364–378), three of Arcadius (reigned 383–408) and one of Honorius (reigned 393–423), which dates

369-609: A Christian monogram cross or Chi-Rho symbol, and sometimes, also with the Greek letters alpha and omega (an appellation for Jesus , who is described as the alpha and omega in the Book of Revelation ). Three sets of ten spoons, and several other spoons, are decorated with such Christian symbols. As is often the case with Roman silver spoons, many also have a Latin inscription on them, either simply naming their owner or wishing their owner long life. In total, eight different people are named; seven on

492-590: A Roman officer's uniform. It had originally been thought that the objects had been brought back from a raid abroad, as the objects had been split up ready for division. Later finds such as the Mildenhall Treasure found at Mildenhall, Suffolk and the Hoxne Hoard from Suffolk , showed that silverware of this nature was certainly in use in Roman Britain. A further suggestion is that it had been brought back on

615-409: A Roman pound). The fineness of a solidus in this period was 99% gold. The total weight of the solidi in the hoard is almost exactly 8 Roman pounds, suggesting that the coins had been measured out by weight rather than number. Analysis of the siliquae suggests a range of fineness of between 95% and 99% silver, with the highest percentage of silver found just after a reform of the coinage in 368. Of

738-399: A brush. The size of these would be appropriate for cleaning the teeth or applying cosmetics, among other possibilities. The average purity of the silver items is 96%. The remainder of the metal is made up of copper and a small amount of zinc , with trace amounts of lead , gold, and bismuth present. The zinc is likely to have been present in a copper brass used to alloy the silver when

861-638: A building on the High Street that was the birthplace of the author and government reformer Samuel Smiles and is marked by a commemorative plaque. John Knox was probably born in Haddington and Knox Academy , the local high school, is named after him. Haddington is located predominantly on the left bank of the River Tyne , and was once famous for its mills. It developed into the fourth-largest town in Scotland during

984-457: A deliberate attempt to maintain a stable ratio between gold and silver coins, or an official attempt to provide a new source of silver bullion while maintaining the same number of coins in circulation. The huge number of clipped coins in the Hoxne Hoard has made it possible for archaeologists to observe the process of coin-clipping in detail. The coins were evidently cut face-up to avoid damaging

1107-460: A double track. Passengers from Haddington were required to alight at Longniddry and change trains in order to travel to Edinburgh. The Haddington branch line and station were damaged during the flood of 1948 and though both passenger and freight services were reinstated, British Rail opted to remove rail services to the public due to competition from bus services and dwindling passenger numbers. Passenger services ended on 29 December 1949. The use of

1230-490: A hill. Before that, it is found on old maps as Dunpendyrlaw. This name appears on a map printed in 1630. An alternative spelling 'Dounprenderlaw' was used in 1547, when a signal beacon was placed on the hill to warn of an English invasion . Locally, and particularly amongst fishermen who use it as a landmark, it is still referred to as Dunpelder. This name seems also to be etymologically Cumbric, cognate with Welsh din 'fort' and pelydr 'spear shafts', thus meaning 'fort of

1353-451: A jug or lamp; four pepper-pots ( piperatoria ); a beaker; a vase or juglet (a small jug); four bowls; a small dish; and 98 silver spoons and ladles. The beaker and juglet are decorated with similar leaf and stem patterns, and the juglet has three gilded bands. In contrast, the small bowls and dish are plain, and it is presumed that the owners of the Hoard had many more such items, probably including

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1476-886: A larger number of gold coins was the Eye Hoard found in 1780 or 1781, for which there are poor records. The largest single Romano-British hoard was the Cunetio Hoard of 54,951 third-century coins, but these were debased radiates with little precious-metal content. The Frome Hoard was unearthed in Somerset in April 2010 containing 52,503 coins minted between 253 and 305, also mostly debased silver or bronze. Larger hoards of Roman coins have been found at Misrata , Libya and reputedly also at Evreux , France (100,000 coins) and Komin , Croatia (300,000 coins). The gold solidi are all close to their theoretical weight of 4.48 g ( 1 ⁄ 72 of

1599-402: A mechanism in the base to rotate an internal disc, which controls the aperture of two holes in the base. When fully open, the containers could have been filled using a funnel; when part-open they could have been shaken over food or drink to add the spices. Piperatorium is generally translated as pepper-pot , and black pepper is considered the most likely condiment these were used for. Pepper

1722-465: A minuscule fraction of the wealth of a family that was incredibly wealthy. The appearance of the names "Aurelius Ursicinus" and "Juliane" on items in the Hoxne Hoard need not imply that people by those names owned the rest of the hoard, either at the time of its burial or previously. There are no historical references to an "Aurelius Ursicinus" in Britain in this period. While a "Marcus Aurelius Ursicinus"

1845-554: A number of notable buildings but the Abbey of St Mary and 16th Century town defences have left little to see on the ground. They are being researched by Haddington's History Society. St Martin's Kirk also remains one of the towns oldest and most prominent buildings. Amisfield House was located east of Haddington, south of the River Tyne. Designed by architect Isaac Ware and built of Garvald red freestone for Colonel Francis Charteris , it

1968-430: A number of theories about why the hoard was buried. One is that the hoard represented a deliberate attempt to keep wealth safe, perhaps in response to one of the many upheavals facing Roman Britain in the early fifth century. This is not the only hypothesis, however. Archaeologist Peter Guest argues that the hoard was buried because the items in it were used as part of a system of gift-exchange, and as Britain separated from

2091-472: A part of the wealth of its owner, given the lack of large silver serving vessels and of some of the most common types of jewellery. The Hoxne Hoard contains several rare and important objects, such as a gold body-chain and silver-gilt pepper-pots ( piperatoria ), including the Empress pepper pot . The hoard is also of particular archaeological significance because it was excavated by professional archaeologists with

2214-499: A pendant, and which may have been a family heirloom . Body chains of this type appear in Roman art, sometimes on the goddess Venus or on nymphs ; some examples have erotic contexts, but they are also worn by respectable high-ranking ladies. They may have been regarded as a suitable gift for a bride. The Hoxne body chain, worn tightly, would fit a woman with a bust-size of 76–81 cm (30–32 in). Few body chains have survived; one of

2337-516: A picture of Lawes with his metal detector. The full contents of the hoard and its value were still unknown, yet the newspaper article claimed that it was worth £10 million. In response to the unexpected publicity, the British Museum held a press conference at the museum on 20 November to announce the discovery. Newspapers lost interest in the hoard quickly, allowing British Museum curators to sort, clean, and stabilise it without further disruption from

2460-518: A raid by the Votadini across Hadrian's Wall . Furthermore, it has been suggested that the silver was in payment for mercenary service to protect weaker tribes from the inroads of the Scots , Picts , and Angles , the silver being split up as bullion due to lack of adequate coinage. Further excavations were made in 1939 by Cruden and in 1947 by Bersu . The collection was restored where appropriate and sent to

2583-483: A reign. So the latest coins in the hoard, of Western ruler Honorius (393–423) and his challenger Constantine III (407–11), can be demonstrated to belong to the earlier parts of their reigns as they correspond to the lifetime of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius , who died in 408. Thus, the coins provide a terminus post quem or earliest possible date for the deposition of the hoard of 408. The siliquae in

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2706-416: A retired gardener and amateur metal detectorist, to help look for it. While searching the field with his metal detector, Lawes discovered silver spoons, gold jewelry, and numerous gold and silver coins. After retrieving a few items, he and Whatling notified the landowners ( Suffolk County Council ) and the police without attempting to dig out any more objects. The following day, a team of archaeologists from

2829-577: A spoon from the Thetford Hoard , but whereas the Thetford Hoard spoons have mostly pagan inscriptions (e.g. Dei Fau[ni] Medugeni "of the god Faunus Medugenus [the Mead begotten]"), the Hoxne Hoard does not have any inscriptions of a specifically pagan nature, and the hoard may be considered to have come from a Christian household (or households). It often is assumed that Roman spoons with Chi-Rho monograms or

2952-401: A structure. However, no structural features of the Roman period were detected. The coins discovered during the 1994 investigation were spread out in an ellipse centred on the hoard find spot, running east–west up to a distance of 20 metres (66 ft) on either side. This distribution can be explained by the fact that the farmer carried out deep ploughing in 1990 in an east–west direction on

3075-860: A wealthy Roman family of the late fourth century, and includes several large items, including the "Casket of Projecta". Most of the Esquiline Treasure is in the British Museum, as are bowls and dishes from the Carthage Treasure which belonged to a known family in Roman Africa around 400. The Mildenhall, Kaiseraugst, and Esquiline treasures comprise large items of tableware. Other hoards, such as those found at Thetford and Beaurains , consist mostly of coins, jewellery, and small tableware items; these two hoards probably are pagan votive offerings . A hoard from Traprain Law in Scotland contains decorated Roman silver pieces cut up and folded, showing regard for

3198-428: A wooden chest, made mostly or entirely of oak , that measured approximately 60×45×30 cm (23.6×17.7×11.8 in). Within the chest, some objects had evidently been placed in smaller boxes made of yew and cherry wood, while others had been packed in with woollen cloth or hay. The chest and the inner boxes had decayed almost completely after being buried, but fragments of the chest and its fittings were recovered during

3321-484: Is a mainly fourteenth-century castle about 5 miles (8 kilometres) east of Haddington. This castle, which has a fine riverside setting, belonged to the Hepburn family during the most important centuries of its existence. Since 1926, it has been the subject of a state-sponsored guardianship agreement, which is now under the auspices of Historic Scotland. It is open to the public without charge at all reasonable times. Haddington

3444-547: Is a town in East Lothian , Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian. It lies about 17 miles (27 kilometres) east of Edinburgh . The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon , dating from the sixth or seventh century AD when the area was incorporated into the kingdom of Bernicia . The town, like the rest of the Lothian region, was ceded by King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in

3567-407: Is carefully decorated on her back, but her underside is "quite perfunctorily finished". Her stripes are represented by two engraved lines, with a black niello inlay between them, in most places not meeting the engraved lines. Neither her elongated body, nor the distribution of the stripes are accurate for the species; she has a long dorsal stripe running from the skull along the spine to the start of

3690-649: Is home to East Lothian Amateur Boxing Club, the East of Scotland football club Haddington Athletic , Haddington cricket club who are in east of Scotland division 3 and Haddington RFC , currently playing in Scotland Premiership division 3. At the end of March 2012, the town's library relocated to the John Gray Centre in Lodge Street, an extensively reconstructed and restored complex of historic buildings including

3813-434: Is not specifically Christian, but it sometimes occurs in an explicitly Christian context, for example, together with a Chi-Rho symbol. The jewellery may have represented the "reserve" items rarely or never used from the collection of a wealthy woman or family. Some of the most common types of jewellery are absent, such as brooches, pendants, and earrings. Items set with gems are notably missing, although they were very much in

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3936-514: Is only one of a number of expensive, high-status spices which these vessels might have dispensed, however. The piperatoria are rare examples of this type of Roman silverware, and according to Johns the Hoxne finds have "significantly expanded the date range, the typology and the iconographic scope of the type". The trade and use of pepper in this period has been supported with evidence of mineralized black pepper at three Northern Province sites recovered in

4059-454: Is owned by East Lothian Council and is used by walkers, cyclists and horse-riders in the section of the line between Longniddry station and the St Lawrence area of Haddington. The eastern terminus of the line is occupied by industrial units and scrub vegetation. A campaign to reopen Haddington's railway service is led by the group RAGES (Rail Action Group East of Scotland). Since the closure of

4182-584: Is recorded as being a Jacobite prisoner. Art and artists associated with Haddington include: Stephen Baillie, John Guthrie Spence Smith, William Darling McKay, Colin Thoms, William George Gillies , Daisy R. Sharp Robert Noble , Shirley M. Maud, Walter Dexter , and Haugh. Films which have shots of Haddington include: Hoxne Hoard 52°20′33″N 01°11′15″E  /  52.34250°N 1.18750°E  / 52.34250; 1.18750 The Hoxne Hoard ( / ˈ h ɒ k s ən / HOK -sən )

4305-539: Is recorded in the Praetorian Guard in Rome in the period 222–235, a soldier or official of the late fourth or early fifth century would be more likely to take the imperial nomen Flavius, rather than Aurelius. This leads Tomlin to speculate "The name "Aurelius Ursicinus" might sound old-fashioned; it would certainly have been more appropriate to a provincial landowner than an army officer or government official". There are

4428-530: Is the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, and the largest collection of gold and silver coins of the fourth and fifth centuries found anywhere within the former Roman Empire . It was found by Eric Lawes, a metal detectorist in the village of Hoxne in Suffolk , England in 1992. The hoard consists of 14,865 Roman gold, silver, and bronze coins and approximately 200 items of silver tableware and gold jewellery. The objects are now in

4551-438: Is used to emphasise many details. She is holding a scroll in her left hand, giving the impression of education as well as wealth. Other pepper-pots in the hoard are modelled into a statue of Hercules and Antaeus , an ibex , and a hare and hound together. Not all such spice dispensers held pepper — they were used to dispense other spices as well — but are grouped in discussions as pepper-pots. Each of those found in this hoard has

4674-530: The A1 dual carriageway linking Edinburgh to London . The town is currently served by the bus companies Borders Buses , Prentice Coaches, Eve Coaches and East Coast Buses . These buses facilitate travel to Edinburgh , Berwick-upon-Tweed , and several other towns and villages in East Lothian . Since the withdrawal of many First Scotland East services in June 2012, the contracts for the 121 Haddington to North Berwick and

4797-607: The British Museum in London, where the most important pieces and a selection of the rest are on permanent display. In 1993, the Treasure Valuation Committee valued the hoard at £ 1.75 million (about £4.5 million in 2023). The hoard was buried in an oak box or small chest filled with items in precious metal, sorted mostly by type, with some in smaller wooden boxes and others in bags or wrapped in fabric. Remnants of

4920-531: The High Middle Ages , and later was at the centre of the mid-eighteenth century Scottish Agricultural Revolution . In 1641, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Scotland to encourage the production of fine cloth, and in 1645 an amendment went through stating that the masters and workers of manufactories would be exempt from military service. As a result of this, more factories were established; these included

5043-412: The Mildenhall Treasure . It is unlikely that anyone would have possessed the rich gold and silver items found in the Hoxne Hoard without owning items in those other categories. Whoever owned the hoard also would have had wealth in the form of land, livestock, buildings, furniture, and clothing. At most, the Hoxne Hoard represents a moderate portion of the wealth of someone rich; conversely, it may represent

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5166-648: The National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh and now is in the care of the National Museum of Scotland . In legend, Traprain Law was the cliff from which Thenaw , the mother of Saint Mungo , was thrown when her father, King Lot or Leudonus, discovered she was pregnant by Owain mab Urien . Saved by divine providence, she was transported by boat to Saint Serf 's community in Culross , where she gave birth to Kentigern , later also known as Mungo. Up to 1891 Traprain Law

5289-601: The Romans recorded the Votadini as a British tribe in the area, and Traprain Law is generally thought to have been one of their major settlements, named Curia by Ptolemy. They emerged as a kingdom under the Brythonic version of their name Gododdin and Traprain Law is thought to have been their capital before moving to Din Eidyn ( Castle Rock in modern Edinburgh ). In 1938 an area of

5412-403: The siliquae , 428 are locally produced imitations, generally of high quality and with as much silver as the official siliquae of the period. However, a handful are cliché forgeries where a core of base metal has been wrapped in silver foil . Coins are the only items in the Hoxne Hoard for which a definite date and place of manufacture can be established. All of the gold coins, and many of

5535-457: The vivas in deo formula are either christening spoons (perhaps presented at adult baptism) or were used in the Eucharist ceremony, but that is not certain. There are also a number of small items of uncertain function, described as toiletry pieces. Some are picks, others perhaps scrapers, and three have empty sockets at one end, which probably contained organic material such as bristle , to make

5658-549: The "Great Dish". The Water Newton Treasure from Cambridgeshire is smaller, but is the earliest hoard to have a clearly Christian character, apparently belonging to a church or chapel; the assorted collection probably includes items made in Britain. The Kaiseraugst Treasure from the site at Augusta Raurica in modern Switzerland (now in Basel ) contained 257 items, including a banqueting service with sophisticated decoration. The Esquiline Treasure , found in Rome, evidently came from

5781-589: The 123 Gifford Circle passed back to the Haddington-based firm Prentice Coaches. The nearest rail station is at Drem, four miles (six kilometres) to the north, which is served by regular Edinburgh to North Berwick trains. Haddington was once served by its own railway branch line which carried passengers for over a century from 1846 to 1949. There have been proposals to reopen or extend a railway line to Haddington to ease road congestion, but nothing has come to fruition in regards to this. The Haddington railway line

5904-536: The 1990s, and from the Vindolanda tablets which record the purchase of an unspecified quantity of pepper for two denarii . Archaeological sites with contemporary finds have revealed spices, including coriander , poppy , celery , dill , summer savory , mustard , and fennel . They just couldn't get enough of it, wars were fought over it. And if you look at Roman recipes, every one starts with: 'Take pepper and mix with ...' (Christine McFadden, food writer) When

6027-531: The Ballagan Formation of the Carboniferous period. During quarrying, large xenoliths of sandstone and shale have been found and recorded in detail. Detailed optical and chemical analysis have revealed the presence of small quantities of Sodalite , Olivine and Apatite . Haddington, East Lothian The Royal Burgh of Haddington ( Scots : Haidintoun , Scottish Gaelic : Baile Adainn )

6150-627: The Hoard were struck mainly at Western mints in Gaul and Italy. It is unknown whether this is because coins from further East rarely reached Britain through trade, or because the Eastern mints rarely struck siliquae . The production of coins seems to follow the location of the Imperial court at the time; for instance, the concentration of Trier coins is much greater after 367, perhaps associated with Gratian moving his court to Trier. Almost every silver siliqua in

6273-459: The Hoxne Hoard: dishes, jugs and ewers, bowls and cups, some plain, but many highly decorated. Two other major hoards discovered in modern East Anglia in the last century are from the fourth century; both are now in the British Museum. The Mildenhall Treasure from Suffolk consists of thirty items of silver tableware deposited in the late fourth century, many large and elaborately decorated, such as

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6396-559: The New Mills. This factory suffered during the Civil War with the loss of its cloth to General Monck . A new charter was drawn up in May 1681, and major capital invested in new machinery, but the New Mills had mixed fortunes, inevitably affected by the lack of protectionism for Scottish manufactured cloth. The Scots Courant reported in 1712 that New Mills was to be "rouped" (auctioned). The property

6519-539: The River Tyne, beside the twelfth century Nungate Bridge. The present building (built with red sandstone from nearby Garvald ) was started in 1375 (an earlier St Mary's Church having been destroyed by the English in 1356), and consecrated in 1410, despite building work not being finished until 1487. The church was partially destroyed during the 1548-49 Siege of Haddington that followed the Rough Wooing of Henry VIII , and on

6642-483: The Roman Empire, they were no longer required. A third hypothesis is that the Hoxne Hoard represents the proceeds of a robbery, buried to avoid detection. The Hoxne Hoard comes from the later part of a century ( c . 350–450) from which an unusually large number of hoards have been discovered, mostly from the fringes of the Empire. Such hoards vary in character, but many include the large pieces of silver tableware lacking in

6765-434: The Roman period with a pendant , but no pendants were found in the hoard. The three rings were originally set with gems, which might have been natural gemstones or pieces of coloured glass; however, these were taken from the rings before they were buried, perhaps for re-use. The rings are of similar design, one with an oval bezel , one with a circular bezel, and one with a large oblong bezel. There were 19 bracelets buried in

6888-503: The Romans came to Britain they brought a lot of material culture and a lot of habits with them that made the people of Britain feel Roman; they identified with the Roman culture. Wine was one of these – olive oil was another – and pepper would have been a more valuable one in this same sort of 'set' of Romanitas. ( Roberta Tomber , British Museum Visiting Fellow) So regularly filling a large silver pepper pot like ours would have taken its toll on

7011-494: The Suffolk Archaeological Unit carried out an emergency excavation of the site. The entire hoard was excavated in a single day, with the removal of several large blocks of unbroken material for laboratory excavation. The area was searched with metal detectors within a radius of 30 metres (98 ft) from the find spot. Peter Whatling's missing hammer was also recovered and donated to the British Museum. The hoard

7134-568: The Visigoth attack, the Western provinces were left defenceless against Suebi , Alans , and Vandals who crossed the frozen Rhine in 406 and overran Gaul. The remaining Roman troops in Britain, fearing that the invaders would cross the Channel, elected a series of emperors of their own to lead the defence. The first two such emperors were put to death by the dissatisfied soldiery in a matter of months, but

7257-530: The advice of John Knox , it was restored "frae the tower to the West door". Thus the nave became the church and the choir and transepts were left ruined until the whole church was restored in the 1970s. The Lammermuir pipe organ was built in 1990. A set of eight bells hung for full change ringing was installed for the Millennium . Haddington War Memorial stands at the west entrance to the churchyard. Hailes Castle

7380-418: The chest and fittings, such as hinges and locks, were recovered in the excavation. The coins of the hoard date it after AD 407, which coincides with the end of Britain as a Roman province . The owners and reasons for burial of the hoard are unknown, but it was carefully packed and the contents appear consistent with what a single very wealthy family might have owned. It is likely that the hoard represents only

7503-468: The demolition of Bothwell Castle and its dovecote in 1955, the land now forming part of Hardgate Park. Today the whole town centre is a conservation area with a high proportion of listed buildings, some dating back to the C16th, and the redevelopment and infill schemes undertaken since the 1950s have largely been in a sympathetic vernacular style which has maintained the town's historic character. The town has

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7626-501: The designs executed in pierced-work, whereas two others are in repoussé . One bracelet is the sole gold item in the hoard to carry an inscription; it reads: " VTERE FELIX DOMINA IVLIANE " in Latin , meaning "Use [this] happily, Lady Juliane". The expression utere felix (or sometimes uti felix ) is the second most common inscriptional formula on items from Roman Britain and is used to wish good luck, well-being, and joy. The formula

7749-464: The edges of the original open triangular medieval market place, divided by a central island of buildings developed from the 16th century onwards on the site of market stalls. To the north and south the medieval rigg pattern of burgage plots can still be observed with narrow buildings fronting the main streets and long plots behind stretching back, originally to the line of the old town walls, accessed by small closes and pends . The historic importance of

7872-587: The excavation. The main objects found are: The Hoxne Hoard contains 569 gold solidi , struck between the reigns of Valentinian I (364–75) and Honorius (393–423); 14,272 silver coins, including 60 miliarenses and 14,212 siliquae , struck between the reigns of Constantine II (337–40) and Honorius; and 24 bronze nummi . It is the most significant coin find from the end of Roman Britain and contains all major denominations of coinage from that time, as well as many examples of clipped silver coinage typical of late Roman Britain. The only find from Roman Britain with

7995-420: The find to some point in the fifth century AD after the Romans had left Britain. The quality of some of the items suggests that they may have come from as far afield as Rome , Ravenna , or possibly Antioch or Constantinople . Most objects had been crushed and hacked to pieces, and only some were left intact. A great deal of the find was table silver, but there were also early Christian items and remnants from

8118-531: The finder or have previously been disrupted by farm work rather than excavated. The Hoxne organic finds included bone, wood, other plant material, and leather. Small fragments were found from a decorated ivory pyxis (a cylindrical lidded box), along with more than 150 tiny shaped pieces of bone inlay or veneer, probably from a wooden box or boxes that have decayed. Minuscule fragments of wood adhering to metal objects were identified as belonging to nine species of timber, all native to Britain; wood traces associated with

8241-449: The former Sheriff Court complex . The town centre is home to a wide range of independent retailers including: a bookshop, a sports shop, a saddlery and country goods specialist, two butchers, a hardware shop, cookware shop and several gift shops alongside several pubs, restaurants and cafés. Nationwide retailers with a presence in Haddington include: Tesco , Home Bargains , Boots , Aldi and Co-op Food . Besides retail and administration,

8364-411: The front, the chains have terminals in the shape of lions' heads and the plaque has jewels mounted in gold cells, with a large amethyst surrounded by four smaller garnets alternating with four empty cells which probably held pearls that have decayed. At the back, the chains meet at a mount centred on a gold solidus of Gratian (r. 375–383) which has been converted from an earlier use, probably as

8487-409: The future. Soil was removed in 10 cm (3.9 in) spits for analysis in the area 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) around the find spot, and metal detectors were used to locate metal artefacts. This excavation recovered 335 items dating to the Roman period, mostly coins but also some box fittings. A series of late Bronze Age or early Iron Age post holes were found which may have formed

8610-439: The gold jewellery is about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), and the average metal content of the jewellery pieces is 91.5% gold (about 22 carat ), with small proportions of silver and copper in the metal. The most important gold item in the hoard is the body chain, which consists of four finely looped gold chains, made using the "loop-in-loop" method called "fox tail" in modern jewellery, and attached at front and back to plaques. At

8733-512: The grocery bills. And the household that owned our pepper pot had another three silver pots, for pepper or other spice – one shaped as Hercules in action, and two in the shape of animals. This is dizzying extravagance, the stuff of bankers' bonuses . But the pepper pots are just a tiny part of the great hoard of buried treasure. ( Neil MacGregor , British Museum Director) The tigress is a solid-cast statuette weighing 480 grams (17 oz) and measuring 15.9 cm (6.3 in) from head to tail. She

8856-464: The hill was leased to the district council for use as a quarry for road stone, causing substantial disfigurement to the landscape. This hill was only known as Traprain Law from the late 18th century, taking its name from a local hamlet . This is etymologically a Cumbric name cognate with Welsh tref 'farm' and either pren 'tree' or bryn 'hill'. Law comes from the Old English word hlāw , meaning

8979-461: The hoard had its edge clipped to some degree. This is typical of Roman silver coin finds of this period in Britain, although clipped coins are very unusual through the rest of the Roman Empire. The clipping process invariably leaves the imperial portrait intact on the front of the coin but often damages the mint mark, inscription, and image on the reverse. The possible reasons for clipping coins are controversial. Possible explanations include fraud,

9102-409: The hoard was carried out in late 1992 and early 1993 by Cowell and Hook for the procedural purposes of the coroner's inquest. This analysis used X-ray fluorescence , a technique that was applied again later to cleaned surfaces on specimens. All 29 items of gold jewellery were analysed, with silver and copper found to be present. Results were typical for Roman silver in hoards of the period, in terms of

9225-512: The hoard, including three matching sets of four made of gold. Many similar bracelets have survived, but sets of four are most unusual; they may have been worn two on each arm, or possibly were shared by two related women. One set has been decorated by corrugating the gold with lateral and transverse grooves; the other two sets bear pierced-work geometric designs. Another five bracelets bear hunting scenes, common in Late Roman decorative art. Three have

9348-413: The iron fittings of the outer chest established that it was made of oak. Silver locks and hinges were from two small wooden boxes or caskets, one made of decorative cherry wood and one made of yew. Some wheat straw survived from padding between the plain silver bowls, which also bore faint traces of linen cloth. Leather fragments were too degraded for identification. The initial metallurgical analysis of

9471-402: The items largely undisturbed and intact. The find helped to improve the relationship between metal detectorists and archaeologists, and influenced a change in English law regarding finds of treasure. The hoard was discovered in a farm field southwest of the village of Hoxne in Suffolk on 16 November 1992. Tenant farmer Peter Whatling had lost a hammer and asked his friend Eric Lawes,

9594-426: The large decorated dishes found in other hoards. Many pieces are gilded in parts to accentuate the decoration. The technique of fire-gilding with mercury was used, as was typical at the time. The pepper-pots include one vessel, finely modelled after a wealthy or imperial lady, which soon became known as the "Empress" pepper-pot . The woman's hair, jewellery, and clothing are carefully represented, and gilding

9717-592: The large number of new houses that have been built on the west side of the town from 2016 onwards. Secondary school pupils attend Knox Academy at Pencaitland Road. The Compass School, an independent fee-paying primary school and nursery, is located on the West Road. Historically, the Burgh schools mostly had a good reputation, an exception being under Rev. William Whyte who retained his office despite reports of violence and even death due to his brutal discipline. Thomas Donaldson

9840-572: The middle of the town is the Haddington Town House , completed in 1745 based on a plan by William Adam . When first built, it contained markets on the ground floor, and an assembly hall on the first floor to which improvements were made in 1788, and a spire was added in 1831. Nearby is the corn exchange (1854) and the county courthouse (1833). Other notable nearby sites include: the Jane Welsh Carlyle House; Mitchell's Close; and

9963-466: The most complete is from the early Byzantine era, found in Egypt, and it also is in the British Museum. One of the necklaces features lion-headed terminals, and another includes stylised dolphins. The other four are relatively plain loop-in-loop chains, although one has a Chi-Rho symbol ( ☧ ) on the clasp, the only Christian element in the jewellery. Necklaces of similar lengths would normally be worn in

10086-454: The next decade, Saint Jerome described Britain after 410 as a "province fertile of tyrants", suggesting the collapse of central authority and the rise of local leaders in response to repeated raids by Saxons and others. By 452, a Gaulish chronicler was able to state that some ten years previously "the Britons, which to this time had suffered from various disasters and misfortunes, are reduced by

10209-481: The objects were made, and the lead, gold, and bismuth probably were present in the unrefined silver ore . The iron objects found in the hoard are probably the remains of the outer wooden chest. These consist of large iron rings, double-spiked loops and hinges, strap hinges, probable components of locks, angle brackets, wide and narrow iron strips, and nails. Organic finds are rarely well documented with hoards because most coin and treasure finds are removed hastily by

10332-448: The old St Mary's RC Primary School in early-2009, the pupils temporarily attended makeshift classrooms at King's Meadow Primary School until the building was deemed safe again around mid-2009. In April 2011, East Lothian Council decided to build an entirely new school, because both schools would still be left with major problems even after substantial upgrades. A third primary school started construction at Letham Mains in April 2019, to serve

10455-579: The parish of Haddington was drawn up by the Rev. Dr. Barclay, and published by the Society of Scottish Antiquaries in 1785. James Miller published Lamp of Lothian a history of Haddington in 1844. A new edition was reprinted in 1900 under the name Lamp of Lothian: or, the history of Haddington, in connection with the Public Affairs of East Lothian and of Scotland, from the earliest records to 1844 . A goat appears on

10578-494: The part of the field where the hoard was found. The farmer had ploughed in a north–south direction since 1967 or 1968, when the land was cleared for agricultural use, but the absence of coins north and south of the find spot suggests that the ploughing before 1990 had not disturbed the hoard. The hoard is mainly made up of gold and silver coins and jewellery, amounting to a total of 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb) of gold and 23.75 kilograms (52.4 lb) of silver. It had been placed in

10701-438: The portrait. The average level of clipping is roughly the same for coins dating from 350 onwards. All the jewellery in the hoard is gold, and all gold items in the hoard are jewellery, other than the coins. None of the jewellery is unequivocally masculine, although several pieces might have been worn by either sex, such as the rings. There are one body chain, six necklaces, three rings, and nineteen bracelets. The total weight of

10824-551: The power of the Saxons". Exactly who owned the Hoxne Hoard, and their reasons for burying it, are not known, and probably never will be. However, the hoard itself and its context provide some important clues. The hoard evidently was buried carefully, some distance from any buildings. The hoard very likely represents only a portion of the precious-metal wealth of the person, or people, who owned it; many common types of jewellery are missing, as are large tableware items such as those found in

10947-412: The presence of copper alloyed with the silver to harden it, and trace elements. One repaired bowl showed a mercury-based solder . The large armlet of pierced gold ( opus interrasile ) showed traces of hematite on the reverse side, which probably would have been used as a type of jeweller's rouge . This is the earliest known and documented use of this technique on Roman jewellery. Gilt items showed

11070-405: The presence of mercury, indicating the mercury gilding technique. The black inlay on the cast silver tigress shows the niello technique, but with silver sulphide rather than lead sulphide . The settings of stones where garnet and amethyst remain, in the body chain, have vacant places presumed to be where pearls were set, and show elemental sulphur as adhesive or filler. The Hoxne Hoard

11193-505: The press. The initial cleaning and basic conservation was completed within a month of its discovery. A coroner's inquest was held at Lowestoft on 3 September 1993, and the hoard was declared a treasure trove , meaning that it was deemed to have been hidden with the intention of being recovered at a later date. Under English common law , anything declared as such belongs to the Crown if no one claims title to it. The customary practice at

11316-413: The railway line for freight continued until March 1968. The larger Victorian station building was demolished; a smaller older building, parts of the platform structure, and embankment walls remain. These are recognisable by their distinctive red-brick appearance, and can be seen from West Road, Somnerfield Court, and the industrial area south of Hospital Road. The land occupied by Haddington's railway line

11439-512: The seal and on the coat of arms of Haddington. John Martine wrote Reminiscences of the royal burgh of Haddington and old East Lothian agriculturists in 1883. On 5 September 1618 a debt collector from Edinburgh, Thomas Allan, was attacked by Isobel Addington and 60 or 80 other women who beat him and then dragged him by the feet out of her house. People who have received the Freedom of the burgh of Haddington include: There are several churches in

11562-625: The seventeenth century, and it is now the seat of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon . The Parish Church of St Mary's is today part of the Church of Scotland , but includes an Episcopalian chapel, the Lauderdale Aisle , containing the mausoleum of the Maitland Earls of Lauderdale . It is the longest parish church in Scotland and is in regular use for worship and musical events. It is directly adjacent to

11685-696: The silver coins, bear the names and portraits of the emperor in whose reign they were minted. Most also retain the original mint marks that identify where they were minted, illustrating the Roman system of regional mints producing coins to a uniform design. The coins' manufacture has been traced back to a total of 14 sources: Trier, Arles and Lyon (in Gaul ), Ravenna, Milan, Aquileia , Rome (in modern Italy); Siscia (modern Croatia), Sirmium (modern Serbia), Thessaloniki (Greece), Constantinople , Cyzicus , Nicomedia , and Antioch (modern Turkey). The coins were minted under three dynasties of Roman emperors. The earliest are

11808-450: The southern edge of the town centre and Letham Mains is in the Letham estate on the western outskirts . Prior to October 2012, Haddington Infant School was two separate buildings; the main building (built in 1897) and the annex (built in 1965) was located at Victoria Road/Meadowpark and the old St. Mary's Primary School was located at Tynebank Road. Following the discovery of structural defects at

11931-595: The spear shafts'. Dun may also be derived from the Scottish Gaelic word dùn meaning 'fort'. It is as 'Dunpeldyr', the capital of King Lot of Lothian , that Traprain Law appears in Mary Stewart 's Merlin Trilogy. A team led by Curle and Cree began the first excavations in 1914 and continued them until 1923, finding layers of fragmentary stone and timber houses under the turf. In 1919, Alexander Ormiston Curle recovered

12054-404: The spoons, and one on the single beaker in the hoard: Aurelius Ursicinus, Datianus, Euherius, Faustinus, Peregrinus, Quintus, Sanctus, and Silvicola. The most common name is "Aurelius Ursicinus", which occurs on a set of five cochlearia and five ladles. It is unknown whether any of the people named in these inscriptions would have been involved in hiding the hoard or were even alive at the time it

12177-508: The station in the 1940s (isolated as it then was at the western extremity of Haddington), the town has since expanded significantly. Between 1951 and 1981, the population of the town grew by 54%. It remains to be seen whether further expansion of the town will lead to a reinstatement of Haddington's railway line, since there are congestion issues on both the East Coast Main Line and at Edinburgh Waverley railway station . An account of

12300-571: The successors of the Constantinian dynasty , followed by the Valentinianic emperors , and finally the Theodosian emperors . The collegiate system of rule (or Consortium imperii ) meant that imperial partners would mint coins in each other's names at the mints under their jurisdiction. The overlapping reigns of Eastern and Western emperors often allow changes of type to be dated to within part of

12423-670: The summer house, walled garden, ice house, chapel, and gates. The world's earliest surviving records of a lodge of free gardeners come from Haddington, in 1676. Lennoxlove House , a historic thirteenth-century house and estate, lies 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 metres) south of Haddington. Built by the Giffards of Yester , it was originally named Lethington . It was once home to the Maitland family, notably Sir Richard Maitland , and his son William Maitland of Lethington , Secretary of State to Mary, Queen of Scots '. The Maitlands left Lennoxlove in

12546-406: The tail, which is typical of tabby cats rather than tigers. The figure has no stripes around her tail, which thickens at the end, suggesting a thick fur tip as in a lion's tail, which tigers do not have, although Roman art usually gives them one. The large collection of spoons includes 51 cochlearia , which are small spoons with shallow bowls and long, tapering handles with a pointed end which

12669-415: The taste of the day. Catherine Johns , former Senior Curator for Roman Britain at the British Museum, speculates that the current or favourite jewellery of the owner was not included in the hoard. The hoard contains about 100 silver and silver-gilt items; the number is imprecise because there are unmatched broken parts. They include a statuette of a leaping tigress, made as a handle for an object such as

12792-407: The tenth century. Haddington received Burgh status, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of David I (1124–1153), giving it trading rights which encouraged its growth into a market town . Today, Haddington is a small town with a population of about 10,000 people, but during the High Middle Ages it was the fourth-biggest town in Scotland (after Aberdeen , Roxburgh and Edinburgh). In

12915-538: The third, who would declare himself Constantine III , led a British force across the English Channel to Gaul in his bid to become Roman Emperor. After scoring victories against the "barbarians" in Gaul, Constantine was defeated by an army loyal to Honorius and beheaded in 411. Meanwhile, Constantine's departure had left Britain vulnerable to attacks from Saxon and Irish raiders. After 410, Roman histories give little information about events in Britain. Writing in

13038-535: The time was to reward anyone who found and promptly reported a treasure trove with money equivalent to its market value, the money being provided by the national institution that wished to acquire the treasure. In November 1993, the Treasure Trove Reviewing Committee valued the hoard at £1.75 million (about £4.5 million in 2023), which was paid to Lawes as finder of the treasure, and he shared it with farmer Peter Whatling. The Treasure Act 1996

13161-754: The town is also home to various law firms and has industrial capacity in the works beside the Tyne at the Victoria Bridge (PureMalt), and around the site of the old station (Lemac), and various smaller industrial units and garages. Haddington is also home to the offices of the local newspaper the East Lothian Courier . There is a farmers' market held on the last Saturday of the month in Court Street. The town centre largely retains its historic street plan with Court Street, High Street, Market Street and Hardgate defining

13284-512: The town's former granary. In addition to the lending library the Centre comprises East Lothian Council's Historical Archives, Local History Collections and Reading Room, a new museum of East Lothian (with a temporary exhibition gallery), a computer suite and community room. The Centre is named after a local minister whose bequest of books and money in 1717 gave the town one of the earliest community libraries in Scotland. Haddington sits 1 km south of

13407-676: The town's relatively unaltered medieval plan and significant survival of historic buildings was recognised as early as the 1950s, with Haddington subject to an Improvement Scheme, Scotland's earliest, which saw many period properties rehabilitated by the Town Council (under the leadership of Frank Tindall as Director of Planning) and a pioneering town colour scheme developed, resulting in the distinctive and colourful townscape seen today. Some comprehensive redevelopment did occur, chiefly around Newton Port and Hardgate to allow for widening of these narrow streets to improve motor traffic flow. This included

13530-745: The town. These include: Kenny MacAskill , Depute Leader of the Alba Party has served as the MP for East Lothian since 2019 . Paul McLennan of the Scottish National Party has served as the MSP for East Lothian since 2021 . There are four councillors for Haddington and Lammermuir. Haddington has three state primary schools; the first being Haddington primary school,the second being St. Mary's RC Primary School and third being Letham Mains primary school. Both HPS and Saint Mary’s are located adjacent to Neilson Park at

13653-496: The vicinity. A follow-up excavation of the field was carried out by the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service in 1994, in response to illegal metal detecting near the hoard find. The hoard burial hole was re-excavated, and a single post hole was identified at the southwest corner; this may have been the location of a marker post to enable the depositors of the cache to locate and recover it in

13776-467: Was a branch from the East Coast Main Line at Longniddry and terminated at Haddington railway station and freight depot in the area between West Road and Hospital Road. The line was 4 + 13 ⁄ 16 miles (7.7 kilometres) in length and had stations at Coatyburn Siding and Laverocklaw Siding before terminating in Haddington. The line was opened on 22 June 1846. The branch had only a single track, though bridges and embankments were built to allow for

13899-525: Was already a place of burial by around 1500 BC, and showed evidence of occupation and signs of ramparts after 1000 BC. The ramparts were rebuilt and realigned many times in the following centuries. Excavations have shown it was occupied in the Late Iron Age from about AD 40 until the last quarter of the 2nd century (about the time that the Antonine Wall was manned). In the 1st century AD

14022-531: Was buried during a period of great upheaval in Britain, marked by the collapse of Roman authority in the province, the departure of the majority of the Roman army , and the first of a wave of attacks by the Anglo-Saxons . Attacks on Italy by the Visigoths around the turn of the fifth century caused the general Stilicho to recall some Roman army units from Rhaetia , Gaul , and Britannia . While Stilicho held off

14145-445: Was buried. Although only one of these inscriptions is explicitly Christian ( vivas in deo ), inscriptions on silver spoons comprising a name followed by vivas or vivat usually can be identified as Christian in other late Roman hoards; for example the Mildenhall Treasure has five spoons, three with Chi-Rho monograms, and two with vivas inscriptions (PASCENTIA VIVAS and PAPITTEDO VIVAS). The formula vir bone vivas also occurs on

14268-412: Was concentrated in a single location, within the completely decayed remains of a wooden chest. The objects had been grouped within the chest; for example, pieces such as ladles and bowls were stacked inside one another, and other items were grouped in a way consistent with being held within an inner box. Some items had been disturbed by burrowing animals and ploughing, but the overall amount of disturbance

14391-463: Was described in The Buildings of Scotland as "the most important building of the orthodox Palladian school in Scotland." John Henderson built the walled garden in 1783, and the castellated stable block in 1785. The park in front of the house, possibly landscaped by James Bowie, is today entirely ploughed. A victim of dry rot, the house was demolished in 1928. All that remains of Amisfield today are

14514-427: Was designed to be soldered onto some other object as its handle; traces of tin were found beneath her rear paws, which have a "smoothly concave curve". She looks most aesthetically pleasing when the serpentine curves of her head, back, rump, and tail form a line at an angle of about 45°, when the rear paws are flat, allowing for their curve. Her gender is obvious as there are six engorged teats under her belly. She

14637-467: Was later enacted, allowing the finder, tenant, and landowner to share in any reward. The Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service surveyed the field in September 1993, after it was ploughed, finding four gold coins and 81 silver coins, all considered part of the same hoard. Both earlier Iron Age and later mediaeval materials were also discovered, but there was no evidence of a Roman settlement in

14760-476: Was low. It was possible to determine the original layout of the artefacts within the container, and the existence of the container itself, due to Lawes' prompt notification of the find, which allowed it to be excavated in situ by professional archaeologists. The excavated hoard was taken to the British Museum. The discovery was leaked to the press, and the Sun newspaper ran a front-page story on 19 November, alongside

14883-415: Was sold on 16 February 1713 and the machinery and plant on 20 March. The lands of New Mills were purchased by Colonel Francis Charteris and he changed their name to Amisfield. As the county town of East Lothian, Haddington is the seat of East Lothian Council with offices located at John Muir House behind Court Street. This building occupies the site of Haddington's twelfth century royal palace and adjoins

15006-543: Was the origin (meridian) of the 6-inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of East Lothian . After that year the East Lothian maps were drawn according to the meridian of The Buck in Aberdeenshire . Traprain Law, together with nearby Berwick Law and Bass Rock, is an example of the unusual rock type Phonolite . It was intruded around 350 million years ago as a laccolith into sandstones, siltstones and dolomitic limestones of

15129-416: Was used to pierce eggs and spear small pieces of food—as the Romans did not use forks at the table. There are 23 cigni , which are much rarer, having large rather shallow spoons with shorter, bird-headed handles; and about 20 deep round spoons or small ladles and strainer-spoons. Many are decorated with abstract motifs and some with dolphins or fanciful marine creatures. Many of the spoons are decorated with

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