Monday, 18 September 2017

Caretaker Searches Employer's Property


Google earth
A primary school caretaker with a metal detector discovered a hoard of 128 silver Medieval-era coins, which were buried underneath the playground at the Warkworth Church of England Primary School in Warkworth, England The  silver coins of  the 15th and early 16th centuries include groat and half-groat coins of  Edward IV and Henry VII, plus nine coins from the 1460s associated with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (Kirstin Fawcett, 'English School Caretaker Discovers Medieval Coin Hoard Buried in Playground Mental Floss 14th Sept 2017).
As the ChronicleLive reports, the caretaker of a primary school in Northumberland, England used his own electronic device to find a stash of Medieval-era silver coins buried underneath the school's playground. [...] The school sits near a well-preserved medieval castle, which was once owned by the House of Percy, a powerful noble family. [...]  "The collection was found in the playground by the caretaker who had asked to metal detect and was granted permission," Fred Wyrley-Birch, director of Newcastle auctioneers Anderson and Garland, who will auction off some of the coins, told Mental Floss. "The hoard was then declared a treasure trove, and was valued and authenticated by The British Museum." [...] Together, they're worth £11,000 (nearly $15,000 US).  [...] The British Museum didn't opt to purchase the silver currency, so the primary school caretaker and the landowner, the Diocese of Newcastle, agreed to split the buried treasure. On Wednesday, September 13, Anderson and Garland will sell 66 coins at auction, all of which belong to the Diocese.
and the schoolkids all got a lesson in selfish greed. What about the other finds the caretaker made? Were they made when the man was being employed to look after the property? What has happened to them? What kind of 'care' is it when somebody 'looks after' a property by walking over it with a spade looking to see what can be taken from it?  Does this metal seeker sell off bits of copper wire from defunct electrical systems too?

Google Earth
 Meanwhile, from Google earth we see that the grounds of the school are a bit of a tip. Maybe a shool caretaker should take a bit more care of the surroundings in which Warkworth's kids learn rather than spending time on the property filling his own pockets with the town's history.


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