A tiny medieval locket, made of copper alloy and bearing the famous heraldic crest, has come to light after it was found late last year by metal detectors in Wormleighton, Warwickshire. Dating from the 12th century, the locket was designed to hang from a horse’s harness, with its motif set in red enamel and gold. Medieval horse harness pendants are not rare and often appear in excavations, but they tend to be very worn, according to archaeologists. Instead, “the condition of this object is quite remarkable and it is very rare to see a locket like this from an archaeological context in such a good state of preservation,” said Dr Dawn McLaren of Connect Archaeology. Most of the red enamel and some of the gilding are still present, particularly in areas of the object that were less likely to be damaged while in use. Archaeologists suspect that the object, just 2 centimeters across, may have become detached from its attachment during use and was quite new when it was lost. The three lion motif has been associated with the arms of England since King Henry II (1133-1189) added a lion to the two previously displayed by William the Conqueror, possibly to represent his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. The heraldic symbol – strictly, in this case, ‘gules, three lions passant guardant’ – was used by the Crown between 1189 and 1340, and has since been associated with the English throne in various forms. The Football Association has used the symbol of the three lions (most commonly with the lions in blue) since the late 19th century. a version of it is also used by the cricket ECB. The locket, although medieval, was found near a series of Late Iron Age and Romano-British enclosures excavated as part of the ongoing HS2 development. The site is close to the important medieval settlement of Wormleighton (“Wimelstone” in the Domesday Book) and archaeologists believe the find is almost certainly related to the agricultural activity of that period. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am An HS2 spokesman said: “The whole country is behind the England women’s team and we hope this great find will inspire the Lionesses to create their own piece of history on Sunday.”
