England · Artefacts · Bronze Age · 21 Sep 2026

Gold ribbon unearthed in Norfolk field could end up in Castle Museum

A rare Middle to Late Bronze Age gold ribbon fragment, discovered by metal detectorist Paul Davis near Hilborough in September 2025, has been officially declared treasure at a Norfolk inquest. Dating back to between 1400 BC and 700 BC, the 4.26-gram hammered gold strip is thought to be part of an ancient penannular bracelet or ribbon torc worn over 3,000 years ago. Following the ruling under the Treasure Act 1996, Norwich Castle Museum has expressed interest in acquiring the piece to add to its archaeology collection and put it on public display.

Reported by Eastern Daily Press. The full report is linked below.

Editor's note

The weight is the detail worth sitting with. Four and a quarter grams of hammered gold, spread thin as a ribbon, is a whisper of a signal — the kind of faint, scratchy, non-repeating tone that most of us have walked away from on a windy afternoon, and the kind that a thousand people had almost certainly walked over before Paul Davis stopped and dug it. That is really what separates a find like this from a blank day: not the machine and not the permission, but the willingness to investigate a signal that does not sound like anything. What came out is a fragment of something larger, most likely a penannular bracelet or a ribbon torc, and at somewhere between 1400 and 700 BC it was a personal ornament in a farming society that had no coinage and used gold to say who you were. Note the timing too. Found in September 2025, declared treasure at inquest a year later, and only now is Norwich Castle Museum in a position to acquire it. A year between the dig and the ruling is normal, not a delay.

Approximate location52.57, 0.70View on map

Source: Eastern Daily Press

Before you dig

Finding things is the easy part. These are the people who make a find count for something.

The Code of Conduct NCMD — permission in writing, backfill your holes, report what matters
Find your Finds Liaison Officer PAS — the person who records your find properly, free of charge
Search the PAS database Over a million recorded objects, and a good way to identify your own
National Council for Metal Detecting Advice on permissions, landowner agreements and insurance

Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland

Those four are for England and Wales, where the Portable Antiquities Scheme records finds and the Treasure Act decides what must be reported.

Scotland runs its own system, and every find is reportable there — not only treasure. Treasure Trove Unit ›

The Republic of Ireland is different again, and severely so. Searching for archaeological objects without the Minister’s written consent is a criminal offence carrying fines or imprisonment, and the definition is broad enough to cover coins, buttons and buckles of almost any age. Do not assume British rules travel with you. The law, from the National Museum ›

Northern Ireland is stricter still. The Treasure Act applies and finds go to National Museums NI within fourteen days, but any searching that involves digging — metal detecting expressly included — needs a licence, and licences are only granted for archaeological projects. National Museums NI ›

This site covers discoveries from all over the world, and so does the variation in the law — from a recording scheme that thanks you, to a criminal offence. Wherever you are searching, find out what applies there before you go, not after.

Found something? What to do next › · Buying or selling a find? What is legal to sell, and where ›

Gold ribbon unearthed in Norfolk field could end up in Castle Museum

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