Community excavations at Old Hall in Erpingham, Norfolk, United Kingdom, the birthplace of Sir Thomas Erpingham, commander of King Henry V’s longbow archers at the Battle of Agincourt 1415, led to discovery of Medieval coins.

The excavations were a part of a fund raising campaign to buy the field next to the village hall where his manor house, complete with moat, once stood. As well as purchasing the land, the volunteers hope to run an educational programme to celebrate the village’s links with Sir Thomas Erpingham. Excavations conducted at the location of Old Hall, built by Sir Thomas Erpingham’s family and the place where Sir Thomas was born, revealed two large coins, bearing a design which appears to be the “shield of France”.

Initial research by experts suggests that they are French Jetton coins from late 14th or early 15th century. It is believed that the find was used as currency and left over after supplies for men and horses had been purchased, or maybe simply plundered, and dropped upon Sir Thomas’ return home to Norfolk. Of the Old Hall a section of the outer wall can still be seen in the field today and the moat survives in one corner of the site as an L-shaped pond.


(after Eastern Daily Press & Ally McGilvray)