Not many English villages can trace their history back to the Ice Age but, thanks to the discovery of ancient flint implements here by John Frere in 1797, Hoxne has given its name to the Hoxnian Interglacial period, a warmer phase around 400,000 years ago which followed a period in which the ice had reached as far as north London. The former Banham’s brickyard on the Eye road, where the flint tools were found, is an archaeological site of international importance.
Hoxne is also famous for the discovery of the Hoxne Hoard in 1992, the largest hoard of Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain - 14,865 Roman gold, silver and bronze coins from the late fourth and early fifth centuries and around 200 items of silver tableware and gold jewellery including the famous pepperpot which Neil McGregor included in his History of the World in 100 Objects. The most important items from the hoard can now be seen in the British Museum in London, where they are on permanent display. The hoard includes spoons decorated with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol showing that there were Christians in Hoxne as early as the first century AD.
The village is also of course the traditional site of the martyrdom in 869AD of St Edmund, the king of East Anglia, the first patron saint of England.
Page last updated: Saturday, 28th September 2024
