Who hid the Cheapside Hoard? A Goldsmiths’ Row mystery resolved

by Dr Rosemary Weinstein FSA

A  spectacular find of early 17th century jewellery was unearthed in the summer of 1912 during the destruction of the whole block of buildings on the western corner of Cheapside and Friday Street, just east of St Pauls Cathedral. The discovery under a cellar floor was the chance find of what became known as the ‘Cheapside Hoard’. It turned out to be the most important cache of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery ever recovered from British soil. A few of the later jewels date to the 1630s and it is believed the Hord was buried at the time of the Civil War. Recent research supports this view.

Why was it hidden so securely under a cellar floor about 16 feet (4.9 metres) below present-day street level? The question is answered by examining leases from the goldsmiths company archives. These reveal the name of a jeweller working for the court. A royalist, he escaped from London in 1642 to join the Court to Oxford. Declared a delinquent by Parliament, his Cheapside property was sequestered; he was never able to reclaim it…

The Hoard will be going on display at the new London Museum in Smithfield in 2025.

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This event will be both in person at Burlington House and online. Please select the appropriate ticket below.

Attendance at Burlington House:

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