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William of Worcester's Chronicle of England

William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.

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Macehead

Macehead is in Prehistoric Artefacts.

Wiltshire Museum. DZSWS:STHEAD.130. 1 polished stone macehead of greenstone, ground to an oblong oval shape and pierced by a small, almost central, hole (unfinished), from material in Bowl Barrow G13 Winterbourne Stoke [Map], excavated by William Cunnington.

Bush Barrow aka Normanton 158 aka Wilsford G5 [Map] is a Bronze Age Round Barrow. In 1808 Bush Barrow [Map] was excavated by William Cunnington. It contained a male skeleton with a collection of funerary goods that make it one of the richest burials in Britain. The grave goods include a large 'lozenge'-shaped sheet of gold, a sheet gold belt plate, three bronze daggers, a bronze axe, a stone macehead and bronze rivets.

All the following items are in the collection of [Map] and normally on display. The photographs and information is sourced from Devizes Museum website.

Bronze flanged axehead with traces of coarse cloth visible on the blade, found with a primary male inhumation (near the shoulders). Length 159 mm; width 67 mm; height 10 mm.

Gold lozenge-shaped breast plate made of thin gold covering a wooden plaque and decorated with four nested lozenge-shaped bands of four engraved lines each, the central one of which contains a chequered design with a zigzag design between the outer two bands, perforated at both ends, found with a primary male inhumation (over chest). Length 184 mm; width 156 mm; height 5 mm.

Polished oval macehead made from a fossil coral, perforated through the middle and containing traces of bronze. Found with a male inhumation (by right side) and possibly forming a sceptre. Length 100 mm; width 44 mm; height 40 mm.

Miniature gold lozenge-shaped ornament decorated with three nested lozenge-shaped lines (engraved), found with a primary male inhumation (by right side). Length 31 mm; width 19 mm; height 2 mm.

Copper dagger (Amorico British Class 1a) with a small tang, six rivets and parts of a wooden sheath adhering to the blade (originally with a handle inset with thousands of gold pins), found with a primary male inhumation (near right arm). Length 272 mm; width 80 mm; height 21 mm.

Gold belt hook decorated with four nested rectangular bands of three engraved lines, found with a primary male inhumation (near right arm). Length 77 mm; width 71 mm; height 16 mm.

Bronze dagger (the largest found in Wiltshire) with 6 rivet holes (three remaining) and parts of a wooden sheath adhereing to the blade, decorated with a rounded ridge. Length 330 mm; width 65 mm; height 20mm.

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