Metal detectorists find 700-year-old ring in field near Oswestry
A metal detector enthusiast has unearthed a gold ring in a field in Oswestry which is thought to date back to 1300AD.
Will Barker and his friend Chris Langstone had spent hours in the field at the weekend.
Despite the field being the site of a deserted medieval village their detecting had been in vain.
Will, 33, had become frustrated by several bleeps from his detector which turned out to be false alarms.
They were hot rocks which set off the detector due to the minerals within them.
Then, just as they were giving up the machine emitted another signal.
"I really wasn't expecting what happened next," he said.
"I was ready to call it a day.
"We decided to head back towards the car as the sun was going down, and low and behold another 'Hot rocky' signal and I thought, do I dig it or just leave it."
He decided to dig and found what looked like a washer.
"As I rubbed the soil off the 'washer' I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing - a gold ring."
"We were both gobsmacked and pretty much in shock as we stared at what appeared to be medieval ring." Will contacted Shropshire's finds liaison officer, Peter Reavill, who is based at Ludlow Museum.
"He seems to think it's high Medieval 1150AD – 1300AD which would sit nicely with it being found at an abandoned medieval village.
However others think it may be Roman.
"It is just exciting to have found something so old that has lain their for such a long time."
Will, who has being a metal detector for a year, and Chris will take the ring to the museum in Ludlow for recording and further analysis, in the new year.
