The Trewhiddle Hoard image : Wikimedia Commons
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The Trewhiddle Hoard

The Trewhiddle style of art takes its name from the Trewhiddle Hoard which found in 1774 near Trewhiddle, Cornwall.

The hoard contained a number of objects, including Anglo-Saxon coins, which enabled the hoard to be dated to the ninth century.

The hoard also included a silver flail, a silver chalice, silver mounts and several small silver objects.

Decoration on some of the objects showed carved silver, with niello inlay. The motifs included animal and plant interlace and geometric patterns.

The Trewhiddle Style

The decoration on the silver mounts
from: Wilson, D. M. and Blunt, C. E. (1961). “The Trewhiddle Hoard. The Circumstances and History of the Find”. Archaeologia. 98: 73–122. fig 1

The Trewhiddle Style was principally used for metalwork. Much of the jewellery was produced in silver, including a number of Late Anglo-Saxon circular brooches, although finger rings and sword fittings in gold have also been found.

The style is represented by intricately carved decoration, mostly in the form of plant and animal motifs, although the Fuller Brooch makes use of decoration in the form of humans.

The Fuller Brooch – Image: British Museum