Roofer finds medieval gold cross with detector, sells it at auction for hundreds of thousands

The so-called Throckenholt cross from the detector find was heading to auction with a maximum estimate of £8,000. But in the end, the gold medieval cross sold at auction for much more than anyone had estimated.

The 31mm-long cross dates from the 11th to 12th centuries, is of an Orthodox Greek type and may have been related to the Hanseatic trade between the countries of central Europe and the Baltic. It was found by thirty-eight-year-old Jason Willis, from Norwich, during a detector search in a field in Sutton St Edmund, Lincolnshire, back in April 2019. After going through the process of being examined, valued and declared a treasure, the cross was returned to its finder due to lack of interest from local museums.

Searching with a metal detector is a hobby for Mr Willis, which he pursues with other friends: 'When I came across the cross and rubbed the mud off it, I knew it was something special. I knew immediately that it was gold because of its bright yellow colour. I handed it over to our local PAS finds liaison officer. After two years of going through the treasure approval process, the cross was returned to me and I was told I could now sell it privately."

Head of Jewellery and Deputy Director of Dix Noonan Webb Auction House, Mrs Frances Noble, said: "The pendant recreates a form associated with medieval Greek Orthodoxy in the Eastern Baltic. A very similar artefact was discovered in Denmark. King's Lynn on the north Norfolk coast just 20 miles from Sutton St Edmund was an important trading partner for the Hanseatic League. This trade connection may offer a possible explanation for these two very similar cross-pendants," she concluded.

The auction house's artefacts and antiquities consultant, Mr Nigel Mills, raised the possibility that the cross could be related to the medieval hermitage and chapel at Throckenholt, which falls within the parish of Sutton St Edmund and existed until at least 1540.

The finder and father of three from Norwich commented on the auction result: 'I am a roofer and I was working today so I watched the sale on my phone while sitting on the roof. As I have just moved house, the money will go towards new things for the house," said a happy Mr Willis after the successful sale, who will share the proceeds with the owner of the field. The find of a lifetime fetched them both a really interesting sum - the gold cross was auctioned for £12,400, or about 368,000 crowns.

Roman Nemec
Sources: bbc.com, thenorthernecho.co.uk