It is described in the Lofts - Interim Report 1981-83 (Heading HOARD)

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First sight of hoard

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Start of excavation

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Items recovered on site

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Items recovered on site after conservation at Colchester

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Hoard excavated en block

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Block Xrayed at Maldon hospital then taken to Colchester

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Ring from block excavated at Colchester

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This discovery was made by using a metal detector in advance of a ring ditch excavation - LFN301. It was just below the topsoil and may well have been missed altogether without the advanced warning.

The 'V' shaped fragments were first thought to have been sword chapes because of their similarity to some Roman types. Discoveries from other sites now allow us to identify the fragments as the metal edging of Iron Age hyde-shaped shields. They were approximately elliptical in shape but with the top and bottom turned inward to form a point in each 'corner'. The seven or so 'V' shapes from the Lofts Farm hoard represent the remains of at least two such shields.

The decorated ring is too large to fit a finger so is commonly recorded as a toe ring.