Stroud News
Viking axe found in Slimbridge gives historical insight
10:24am Tuesday 7th February 2012
AN axe head found by accident at the bottom of a Slimbridge garden has helped shed light on the area’s Viking past.
The discovery was made more than four years ago by local naturalist Ian Darling.
He said: "I live in a very old house so I’ve always got my eyes peeled. I was just at the bottom of my garden one day and it seemed to be lying under the hedge. It must have been there a long time."
At the time a team of archaeologists from Bristol University were working at Berkeley Castle.
Mr Darling showed his find and was encouraged to seek further expert advice.
Mr Darling took the axe head to both Gloucester and Stroud Museums, and eventually it was sent to a specialist conservation firm based in Wiltshire where it was X-rayed. It is now believed to be of Viking origin.
Peter Ballard, vice-president of Slimbridge Local History Society, believes the find supports theories that Cambridge, which is less than a mile away, was the site of a significant Viking battle.
"There has always been a story that there was a battle in Cambridge in 894AD which the Saxons won," said Mr Ballard.
In 894 AD, before the death of King Alfred, a large Viking band is known to have sailed up the River Severn and fought a bloody battle, when three Viking princes were killed.
Historians believe the battle may have taken place over a wide area of the Berkeley Vale and for over a century archaeologists have speculated where the Vikings could have moored their ships.
Mr Ballard said he hoped this most recent find might lead to other artefacts coming to light.
He said: "We might just jog families’ memories, families who have lived through the vale, to tell us of times when their families have unearthed anything like swords, shields or axe heads.
"There was reportedly a sword found in Slimbridge near the River Cam 80 years ago but it has since been lost. That could have supported the view that the battle happened in Cambridge."
The Viking axe head is now at Stroud Museum but will be returning to Slimbridge on Tuesday, February 21 (7.30pm) for a special evening being held at Slimbridge Village Hall to highlight the importance of the find.
Speakers will include David Mullin, curator of Stroud Museum, and Tony Roberts from Bristol University, who is studying for a Phd on the subject of Vikings in the Severn Estuary.