We wondered if these metal-detectorists had been inspired by that fabulous find, the Vale of York Viking Hoard, found, rumour has it, in these parts. Our finds whilst tending our garden amount to not much more than a patchwork of blue and white china fragments.
and one small, puzzling object
We know it looks rather like a pile rabbit droppings, but these are five tiny balls of clay, hand rolled, pressed together and then fired.
Possibly a Roman gaming piece? Whatever it is, it doesn't compare with the Viking silver once buried in this beautiful pot.
Inspired by their efforts we forgot about prosaic pots and other such ordinary, old ornaments, packed a picnic and set off in search of the medieval and mysterious, for a change...
...wending our way through picturesque Studley Royal Park until we came to the ruins of Fountains Abbey.
Enter if you dare!
We found the ghosts of Gothic lettering...
...and heard echoes of saintly footsteps.
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Hello:
ReplyDeleteStudley Royal Park, unknown to us, looks a delight with shades of Stourhead and Rousham transported into the depths of the Yorkshire countryside. And Fountains Abbey, with the ever present enigmatic figure, looks equally impressive and somewhere to be visited.
As for your clay balls, they really do look as if they could be Roman, but that may of course be wishful thinking. We do like the way you have displayed them and with the map surrounded by shards of blue and white, treasure trove from the garden. In our gardening days we too used to collect up similar finds but they were then consigned to a box and forgotten. Now long since dispersed.