Find Spot record MDO1837 - Bronze Age axe found whilst cutting out The Osmington White Horse in 1808, Osmington

A flanged bronze age axe was found whilst cutting out The White Horse of Osmington in 1808. It is of Megaw and Hardy's Class III and Harbison's Type Derryniggin.

(SY 71508431). A Bronze Age flanged axe of Megan and Hardy's class III, was found during the cutting of the hill figure on Osmington Hill (in 1815 - see SY 78 SW 48). It was formerly in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W Sparrow Simpson, and passed on to the British Museum Collections in 1875. (Acc. No. 75 4-1- 6). <1>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1978, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1976, 63-64 (Serial). SDO76.

'An Instrument from the Equestrian Figure of Osmington Hill
Among the few surviving antiquarian papers of Sir Richard Colt Hoare now housed in the Wiltshire County Record Office at Trowbridge is the following letter, addressed to the Baronet at Stourton (sic) House, Wilts;
Library Weymouth,
19th Aug 08,
Sir,
To one of your taste, and knowledge as an antiquarian, I flatter myself that the annexed exact size and representation of an instrument (whether of British, or Roman Antiquity) will not prove unacceptable.
It is said to be of Copper, but it has more the appearance of Brass, or rather of a composition like Bell metal; it is but little corroded; Particularly on one side; probably from the soil where found, being Chalk; it was discovered in cutting out an Equestrian figure of the King in the side of Osmington Hill in this neighbourhood not far from Sutton Points, where the range, or line of Tumuli, commences and extends to the neighbourhood of Bridport, along the ridge of hills.
Should any further discoveries be made in this way, I shall feel happy and proud to communicate the same to you Sir, if agreeable: and here permit me to solicit the favor of your opinion on the present article in question, at your leisure, and for which I shall ever hold myself particularly obliged and in the interim am respectfully
Sir,

Your very Obd: Servt
John Wood'
History does not relate whether or not Colt Hoare was agreeable: no comprehensive letter books are preserved and the surviving diaries are of little help in ascertaining information about his correspondence. The fate of the axe illustrated by the 'annexed draft' (Fig. 7) is fairly easily determined. From its known movements, we may conjecture that Colt Hoare probably never even saw the implement.
This flanged axe of Megaw and Hardy's Class III and Harbison's Type Derryniggin is now well-known. Its distinctive decoration is gilt-impressed into the front board of the buckram binding of Sir John Evans' Ancient Bronze implements of 1881, whilst the figure presented in the text (no. 15) confirms that the axe was indeed from 'Dorsetshire' (Fig. 8). Having formerly been in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Sparrow Simpson, the axe passed into the British Museum collections in 1875.
The site of the White Horse of Osmington is also well-known (O.S. SY 717 853).
John Wood's letter therefore provides a more precise provenance for the axe, placing it alongside the examples from the Plymstock, Devon, and Westbury-upon-Trim, Gloucestershire hoards as only the third of its type with a Southwestern provenance. ‘

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 454463 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 22 2023 1:47PM