Digger operators discovered a 12th cent. sword while dredging a pond at All Saints Hotel, Fornham St Genevieve, Suffolk in eastern England.
The town is the site of the 1173 Battle of Fornham where forces loyal to Henry II drove the rebel Earl of Leicester’s mercenaries into a marsh and killed them. The sword was sent to a conservator who cleaned it and found engravings of words, birds and animals inlaid in silver. The artefact is complete with parts of its scabbard. Previously one of the diggers found only coins and old bottles.
(after Suffolk County Council & Bury Free Press)