Last year Neil Packenham-Walsh, Charlbury resident and keen metal detectorist, received permission from the Thomas Gifford Trust to survey The Playing Close. Over many months Neil systematically searched the area, turning up many fascinating items. For centuries the Playing Close has been used for fairs, fetes, religious gatherings, animal markets and town meetings so inevitably people attending these events lost small objects which then became buried.
Among the objects Neil unearthed were coins, badges, keepsakes and buttons. One find that initially puzzled him was a small metal object in the shape of a closed fist. This turned out to be a skirt lifter, used by Victorian ladies to hitch up their long skirts when climbing steps. A Royal Artillery brooch was a reminder of how young men would give brooches to their sweethearts before going off to fight in the Second World War.
Neil has kindly donated these finds to the museum and they are on display in a special case beside our exhibition on the history of The Playing Close. Earlier finds, including an Elizabethan silver sixpence, musket balls and a lovers’ silver coin, are also on display for you to browse through. Neil’s finds have been notified to Ed Caswell, Oxfordshire Finds Liaison Officer, and are entered on the British Museum Portable Antiquities Database. The museum is very grateful to Neil for donating these valuable additions to our collection.
