Monday 19th March 2018 - Dr. Richard Hobbs
‘The Mildenhall treasure: fine dining in Roman Britain’'
The Mildenhall Treasure is a large hoard of Roman silver tableware from the 4th century AD, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain.
It was found at West Row, near Mildenhall, Suffolk. It consists of over thirty items and includes the Great Dish weighing over 8kg alone. , made famous by Roald Dahl’s story of its discovery, the largest surviving treasure of late Roman dining silver known from Britain.’ Ploughman Gordon Butcher, along with his employer Sydney Ford, an agricultural engineer who collected local antiquities, unearthed the Mildenhall treasure in 1942. Ford took the finds to his home, where he displayed them on the sideboard. Dr H.A. Fawcett, a local amateur antiquarian, visited Ford in April 1946, and was reluctantly shown the hoard which Ford had concealed for more than four years.
Dr Richard Hobbs is Weston Curator of Roman Britain at The British Museum. He is a specialist on the material culture of Roman Britain as well as coins, particularly of Iron Age Britain and Pompeii.
‘The Mildenhall treasure: fine dining in Roman Britain’'
The Mildenhall Treasure is a large hoard of Roman silver tableware from the 4th century AD, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain.
It was found at West Row, near Mildenhall, Suffolk. It consists of over thirty items and includes the Great Dish weighing over 8kg alone. , made famous by Roald Dahl’s story of its discovery, the largest surviving treasure of late Roman dining silver known from Britain.’ Ploughman Gordon Butcher, along with his employer Sydney Ford, an agricultural engineer who collected local antiquities, unearthed the Mildenhall treasure in 1942. Ford took the finds to his home, where he displayed them on the sideboard. Dr H.A. Fawcett, a local amateur antiquarian, visited Ford in April 1946, and was reluctantly shown the hoard which Ford had concealed for more than four years.
Dr Richard Hobbs is Weston Curator of Roman Britain at The British Museum. He is a specialist on the material culture of Roman Britain as well as coins, particularly of Iron Age Britain and Pompeii.