Heraldic and Decorated Metalwork and Other Finds from Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

Abstract

Between 1919 and 1931 a large amount of medieval pottery, objects of metal, jet, and bone, and coins and jettons were found at Rievaulx Abbey in the course of clearance by H.M. Office of Works (now the Ministry of Public Building and Works). The collection includes two examples of heraldic metalwork and a decorated strip which are sufficiently remarkable to merit detailed publication. The pendant (pl. xxi a) was found in 1922 at the east end of the Church, in the filling of the second from the south of the five chapels in a row against the east wall. The mounting and roundel (pl. xxi b–d) were found in 1924 in the filling on the west side of the Frater, south of the flight of steps leading to the pulpit. The third object, the metal strip with inscription (pl. xxi e), was found in 1925 between the Frater and the Reredorter. No significance can be attached to these findspots, since small objects were found in nearly every part of the abbey. No doubt some were lost during the period of occupation, but the majority seem to have been scattered about by despoilers at the time of the Suppression in 1539.