Mystery Beneath the English River: Dozens of Religious Artifacts Unearthed Reveal a Hidden Ancient Secret
This was not done without care or planning. Bankhead claims that Joan Ramsey separated the items into plastic bags, then weighed them down with stones to ensure that they sank. Heaton was instructed to be careful and discreet in her mission. Specifically, she was told to get rid of the objects while walking her dogs early in the morning and late at night — and to make sure that no one saw her do it.
Gary BankheadAn assortment of the relics found in the River Wear by Gary Bankhead.
“The objects were not randomly dispersed,” Bankhead tells Fox News. “Items relating to Greek Orthodoxy were found together in one location, Vatican-associated objects in another, with the remaining material arranged in distinct clusters beneath the four different bridge abutments.”
Bankhead further stated that Heaton was troubled by these actions. Heaton’s niece claims that throwing the pieces into the river made her “extremely upset” and that, per Bankhead, “she recognized that they had real historical and monetary value, and struggled with the idea of throwing them away.”
Now, many of these pieces have been retrieved. Some are being held in a cathedral safe, per the Guardian. Others can be found in Durham University’s Museum of Archaeology.
If you’re interested in more unexpected discoveries, learn about how a pair of metal detectorists stumbled across the largest hoard of Viking coins ever found. And for more stories of treasure with debated origins, learn about the mysterious $10 million Saddle Ridge Hoard.
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