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Monument details

HER Number:	TQ 75 NW 38
Type of record:	Findspot
Name:	Late Bronze Age gold torcs (7) found at Aylesford

Summary

Seven torcs in nine fragments, possibly found at different times, were discovered in the River Medway at Aylesford. They are believed to have been deliberately broken and to have been used as votive offerings. The exact locations of the finds are unknown but they were probably found at about the same time and near the 4 armlets found in 1861.

See TQ 75 NW 27

Images

Middle bronze age gold torcs from the River Medway at Aylesford © Kent County Council

Grid Reference:	TQ 72 57
Map Sheet:	TQ75NW
Parish:	AYLESFORD, TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT

Monument Types

FINDSPOT (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Finds

TORC (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

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Seven 'golden armillae' briefly mentioned as 'more recently discovered in the same district and at the same time [as four LBA torques found in a box in the Medway below Aylesford in 1861] - see TQ 75 NW 27 in Kent Arch Soc Mus. (1) Add ref to authority 1 but 'the precise details as to the localities of all the finds is not given.' (2) Two broken torcs and a broken armlet found in the river near Aylesford were almost certainly a votive offering. (Illustration is captioned 'Gold ornments of the Bronze Age, probably found in the Medway, near Aylesford'.) (3) The finds are in Maidstone Museum. The seven torques are in nine fragments. (4) Two torcs and an armlet, all deliberately broken, dredged from the river Medway are almost certainly votive offerings. (5)HE arcvive material: OS59/F45/6 L.B.A.GOLD MEDWAY TORQUES FROM AYLESFORD.

L.B.A.GOLD MEDWAY TORQUES FROM AYLESFORD. (Photograph). SKE1447.

<1> Arch Cant vol 9 1874 1 ff illus (C Roach Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE36440.

<2> VCH Kent vol 1 1908 325 334 (G Clinch) (OS Card Reference). SKE51192.

<3> Arch of Kent 1930 112 plate X (R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE36871.

<4> Oral: L R A Grove Curator Maidstone Museum 25 5 59 (OS Card Reference). SKE48033.

<5> F1 ASP 26.05.59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42298.

<6> SE Eng 1970 136 (R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE49421.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 75 NW 38 - May, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3900.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref.	Source description
---XY	Photograph: L.B.A.GOLD MEDWAY TORQUES FROM AYLESFORD.. OS59/F45/6. Black and White. Negative. [Mapped feature: #19930 find, ]
<1>	OS Card Reference: Arch Cant vol 9 1874 1 ff illus (C Roach Smith).
<2>	OS Card Reference: VCH Kent vol 1 1908 325 334 (G Clinch).
<3>	OS Card Reference: Arch of Kent 1930 112 plate X (R F Jessup).
<4>	OS Card Reference: Oral: L R A Grove Curator Maidstone Museum 25 5 59.
<5>	OS Card Reference: F1 ASP 26.05.59.
<6>	OS Card Reference: SE Eng 1970 136 (R F Jessup).
<7>	Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TQ 75 NW 38 - May, 1959.

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