Page 50 - br-june-2021

June 2021

BERE REGIS HISTORY SOCIETY

FILIGREE MOULD FOUND AT BARROW
HILL

Since the intense searching of the story of Barrow Hill at
Bere Regis began in 1998, a huge number of surprising
finds have been made. Neolithic napped flints, Bronze
Age artefacts, Iron Age pottery and Romano-British burial
pots by inference in their
thousands and Mediaeval
pottery associated with the
Boys' School and its
surroundings.
Something very strange was
found in 2008 and it was some
time before it was discovered
what it was. It is a small piece of
a moulding, made of carved
jet which was once used to
cast gold into a filigree banding
hich was sewn into jackets for
royalty to make them shimmer
and shine.

This particular example was broken, which might explain why it was thrown away.
The pattern of the moulding is intricate and beautiful at the same time. It is
blacker than black due to the material used, but just visible in the photo is the
pattern in which the gold would have been cast, probably some time in the very
early Mediaeval, or perhaps the twelfth century.

When you respond to advertisers, do please tell them you saw
their advert in this magazine - it helps them monitor the
effectiveness of their advert and helps us generate more

advertising revenue!!

50