A tiny gold ingot that was found on a farm in Wookey has officially been classed as treasure at an inquest today (August 19).

The ingot is believed to be Anglo Saxon and from the seventh century, and was found by Simon and Michael Hasnip, back on April 17 2017.

The duo were metal detecting on Wookey Farm, which is run by Ian and Sarah Davies, when they made the find.

The Museum of Somerset in Taunton has expressed an interest in acquiring the gold ingot, which is why an inquest has been held to determine whether the find is officially treasure or not.

Senior coroner for Somerset Tony Williams conducted the inquest, which heard that the tiny gold ingot is 15.5mm in length, 6mm in width and 3mm in depth, and has hammered ends.

The British Museum had been informed of the find, and its curator of Viking collections, Gareth Williams, stated that it was likely to be from Anglo Saxon times, some time in the seventh century.

To be classed as treasure, a find has to be more than 300 years old and have a rare metals content above 10 per cent, and this was confirmed to be the case.

Therefore, the inquest was concluded with a ruling that the ingot was treasure, and it will now be valued and, if sold, the money will be split between the finders and the land owners.

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