The Beeston Tor Treasure is an Anglo-Saxon jewelry and coin hoard discovered in 1924 at Beeston Tor in Staffordshire. The treasure consists of forty-nine coins, two silver brooches with Truchyddle decoration, three rings and various fragments. The coins date the buried treasure to about 875 AD.
The Beeston Tor treasure trove was discovered by Rev. H. Wilson of Chorlton-cum-Hardy , England, in 1924. The treasure was found in a cave known as St. Bertram's Cave on the limestone rock of Beeston Tor in Staffordshire, England. The proximity of the treasure to the Viking army that was stationed at nearby Repton in the winter of 873-874, suggests a possible connection between the treasure and the Viking invasion. The find consisted of 49 Anglo-Saxon pennies, three gold rings, two silver brooches, and various fragments.
Wilson wrote about the treasure in his book "The Caves and Rocks of Pickland" and "Cave Hunting Holidays in Pickland" which was published in 1926. In addition to coins, brooches, and rings, Wilson described the finds of various fragments and strap ends. He also described the discovery of treasure items scattered among the traces of leather or leather, and suggested that the jewelry and coins may originally have been in a bag or purse.
The treasure consists of forty-nine Anglo-Saxon pennies dating from the ninth century, with the most recent coins dating from 875 AD. Twenty of the coins were issued by King Burgred of Mercia (853-874) and Alfred the Great of Wessex (871-886). Of the remaining nine coins, seven were minted by Ethelred I, King of Wessex (865-871), one by Archbishop Keonolt of Canterbury (833-870) and one by Ethelwulf, King of Wessex (839-858).
The two silver brooches found in the hoard are representative of the 9th century Truchiddle style in Anglo-Saxon England . The style is characterized by the use of silver, inlaid inlaid ink, intricate carvings, as well as intertwining of animals, plants and geometric patterns. Each brooch represents a different style; the smaller one belongs to the class of intricate openwork brooches with zoomorphic motifs, while the larger one is characterised by more simple, flat disc brooches with abstract patterns.
The smallest brooch has an openwork pattern with a black background. The outer rim, embroidered with beads, contains a central cross with extended ends, each of which contains a projection (convex ornament). Three of the five protrusions, located in the center of the brooch, connect the pin head to the base of the brooch. The brooch decoration includes motifs of animals with beaked heads. The zoomorphic designs on the brooch are unequal, and are mixed with interlaced and ivy scrolls. The second, larger brooch, is a flat brooch in the form of a silver disc, simply decorated with abstract motifs. The brooch design contains four intersecting circles with nine small protrusions (one missing), equidistant from each other and connected by pointed oval spaces. The ornamentation includes a simple interweaving of plant and geometric symbols.
Among the treasure objects were three finger rings. One gold ring with a diamond-shaped cross-section and two copper wire rings, one broken, were found by Wilson. A bundle of copper alloy was also found. It consists of a deformed sheet with a border edging tapering toward the rounded end. The terminal contains one rivet; the other two rivets are located on the bundle at the point where the part tapers.