28th May 6.00 pm in The Priory

The Crystal Sphere of the Herefordshire Hoard Darcy Holland (Regent’s Park College, Oxford) explores the meaning of these objects owned by elite women in Anglo-Saxon England, and Hilary Norris (Leominster Priory) reveals a new theory linking this exceptional treasure with Leominster Priory.’

Darcy Holland Master’s research in Medieval History (Oxford) examined the roles, lives, and experiences of women in early Anglo-Saxon England, approached through a material-cultural lens. Her undergraduate dissertation, Crystal Balls in Early Anglo-Saxon Female Burials: Their Meaning, Purpose and Significance (2022), explored this relatively understudied group of objects, which includes the crystal sphere discovered with the Herefordshire Hoard. In this talk, Darcy will trace the story of these crystal balls — where they have been discovered, the women with whom they were buried, and the possible meanings and functions they may have held.

Hilary Norris, Director of Music at Leominster Priory, has been researching the Herefordshire Hoard as part of her preparations for developing the events for ‘Vikings at the Priory’. This extensive research, with help from staff at Cardiff University, Hereford Museums and Galleries,  the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and members of the Woolhope Club, has led to some interesting questions about this item of the hoard in particular, and how the whole may relate to Leominster Priory.