FOUR items discovered in Monmouthshire have been declared as treasure by the senior coroner for Gwent.

The inquests were heard at Newport Coroner’s Court on Thursday, February 22, with the finds discovered by metal detectorists from the region, with the ruling made by Wendy James.

The pieces of treasure, the oldest believed to date back to the 13th century, could remain in Welsh museums, with the items adding to Wales’ historical tapestry from the late Middle Ages and early modern periods.

The items discovered were: a medieval silver brooch found in Llanhennock; a Tudor silver gilt cap-hook and a post-medieval gold thimble from Gwehelog Fawr and a silver cufflink located in Goetre Fawr.

The medieval brooch has a short ‘stirrup’ to prevent cloth snagging and the hoop is decorated with inlaid patterns, using black niello - a black metal alloy used as an inlay on etched metals.

Dr Mark Redknap, head of collections and research at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, said: “The Llanhennock brooch is a good example of a medieval annular brooch form within a widespread distribution across England and Wales.

“Examples of this brooch type can be found from Kidwelly Castle, Laugharne Burrows, Carmarthenshire; Glyn Tarell, Powys and Cardigan Community, Pembrokeshire.

"Similar short ‘stirrups’ occur on niello-inlaid annular brooches from Cowbridge (Vale of Glamorgan) and Llanfaes (Anglesey).”

The 16th century silver gilt cap-hook is in the form of a pointed pentafoil-shaped - five petal - flower.

The item belongs to a category of badges and ornaments that would have adorned the hats of the male Tudor nobility, in a similar fashion to how dress-hooks would have been worn by the female elite to display their wealth.

The 17th or early 18th century gold thimble is a recognisable post-medieval – the Jacobean or Stuart era - thimble type.

Its typical short, squat profile features a repetitive pattern of annulets, or ring-shaped mouldings, or indentations across the outer surface, a panel (typically plain or decorated) containing the owner’s initials engraved into it (in this case ‘E P’) and a band of cabling (rope-shaped metal moulding) near the opening.

The single cufflink is decorated with a pair of hearts side-by-side which are placed on top of a large arched crown with a central cross.

This motif is widely believed to commemorate the marriage of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza in 1662.

However, it continued to represent faithfulness in marriage until the early 1700’s and it has been argued that the design may have held royalist or Catholic connotations, fading from fashion by 1714.

Abergavenny Museum hopes to acquire these treasure items once they have gone through the independent treasure valuation process to determine how much the items are worth.

Grant support will be provided by the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories Project funded via the Collecting Cultures Programme of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Rachael Rogers, of Monmouthshire Museums, said: ”It’s extremely important that these objects are acquired by a local museum as they add essential pieces to the puzzle of the local history in Monmouthshire and can help the community to connect with their past.

“We hope, through the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories project and the Heritage Lottery Fund, to be able to obtain these artefacts and find out much more about them, all the while adding to the wider picture of Welsh history and the distributed national collection.”