Ayton Local History Society
and
Ayton Heritage
====== Ayton Berwickshire ======
Metal detecting around Ayton
For many years a local metal detectorist has been detecting in the fields around Ayton. Many of the finds have gone to the National Museum of Scotland where they have been retained due to their importance. Many others have been returned and retained and we are fortunate that he has supplied these photographs for the society's website so that they can be shared.
Household Section
Buckles
Copper alloy buckles dating from 1250 – 1720. The buckles on the bottom row are the oldest.
Candle snuffers
The smaller one has been flattened and may have had a chain attached to the top.
18th century
Finger rings
18th century rings made of copper alloy
Cricket badge
Cricket badge or buckle plate made of pressed copper alloy, probably early 1900s
Clay pipes
Clay pipe bowls and stems. The pipe bowls date from around 1650 - 1710 and the stems are from later pipes.
The enlarged photo below shows two of the bowls which carry makers marks on the heel. These have not been identified.
Clasps & buckle chape
Made of copper alloy.
Napoleonic period
Pocket watch keys
18th - 19th century
Silver dental plate
18th century
Net weights
Lead net weights of unknown date. Found some distance from the river, it is possible they were used on long nets for poaching rabbits, partridges and hares as well as on fish nets. The largest of the weights is around three inches long.
Love tokens
Silver love tokens. These love tokens have all been made from worn William III sixpences, late 17thC. Love tokens were given by a young man to the girl of his choice to demonstrate his affection for her. If the young woman kept the token, it meant she returned his affection. If not, she threw it away.
The coin in the bottom of the picture is a William III sixpence of the type which would have been used for bending into a love token
Lead bale or bag seals
Top row: Russian flax seals. Late 1700 dates.
Middle row, from left
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Russian, Sevastopol seal.
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Russian, Narva Flax seal.
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Polish flour bag seal.
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Polish flour bag seal Danzig.
Bottom row, from left
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French Customs seal, Lorient.
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Russian Archangel bale seal dated 1849.
Church token
Front and rear of a lead church token dated 1771 and with AC initials probably refers to Ayton Church.
Mr AD most likely refers to the Rev Alexander Dickson of Wallace Green Church in Berwick who preached in Ayton at the baptism of a child of a member of his Burgher congregation. A large company heard him and as a result a congregation was set up in 1771 by the Presbytery of Kelso. In 1777 the Edinburgh Burgher Presbytery agreed to a request from Ayton to provide sermons and this was done. A church with seating for 295 had been erected by 1782, more or less contemporaneously with Springbank Antiburgher Church.
Spindle whorls
Lead spindle whorls which would have been fitted onto the bottom of a stick and used to spin wool. Spindle whorls have been in use for centuries but these ones are probably late medieval in date.
Barrel tap handles
Two barrel tap handles from beer barrels. 18th/19th century.
Bottle tops
Glass bottle tops dating from the late 1600s to 1750
Bronze key
Racing club badges
Racing club badges from Kempton Park 1927 and Lothians racing club 1935.
Buttons Section
Buttons
Two North British Railway buttons, 19th C.
Buttons
Small decorated buttons from the 18th - 19th C
Buttons
Buttons made of Tombac (copper and zinc). Mainly 18th C.
Eyemouth and Ayton Volunteers buttons, The Ayton button dates 1798-1801 . The other two buttons are Royal Artillery 1795 and a Naval button. Napoleonic period.
Volunteer buttons
Buttons
Selection of military buttons
Buttons
Top: Livery button for the Bishop of Kilmore (Ireland) 1876 - 94.
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Middle row: Two lots of unidentified livery buttons.
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Bottom row: Two livery buttons, the one on the left is for a family named Hopper, The one on the right is for Lord Elphinstone, Tyninghame.
It’s quite likely these men were guests at Ayton Castle and the buttons will have been lost by their servants
Buttons
Front and back of three livery buttons possibly originating from Ayton Castle. They carry the Mitchell Innes crest – a hand holding a garland of laurel and motto Deo Favente (with Gods favour).
The back mark on the button dates it to 1875. William Mitchell Innes died in 1860 so presumably the buttons would have been used or made for his son Alexander.
Buttons
Lead/pewter buttons dating to the 1600s.
Buttons
J&W Scott Ayton.
James and William Scott were drapers in Ayton. They are listed in the Rutherfords Southern Counties Register of 1866 and in the Post Office Directory of 1886. Their shop is believed to have been next to the Red Lion, on the south side (ref 1881 census).
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Military Section
Musket items
Musket Flint, Bayonet Frog, Base of brush used for cleaning musket vent hole of black powder. Napoleonic period.
Lead musket and pistol shot
dated between 1550 and 1850
Musket flints
Musket flints which would have been used with flintlock weapons between 1600 - 1900.
Chape
Small sword or rapier chape (the fitting on the base of a sword or knife sheath)
17 - 18th Century.
(identified by the National Museum of Scotland)
Coins Section
Copper coins
Worn copper coins from the last four hundred years. They include bawbees, turners and bodles which are all Scottish coins from the reign of Charles I and Charles II (1625 -1685). Bawbees were sixpences and turners or bodles were two pence.
Georgian copper half pennies are the next common coin finds from 1714 - 1820.
Coins
Georgian copper coins
Milled silver coins
Top: George III Shilling and Victoria Shilling.
Middle: George III Sixpence and Victoria Sixpence.
Bottom: Queen Anne Fourpence and William IV Fourpence.
obverse
reverse
obverse
Scottish coins
Scottish turners and bodles of Charles II and William II.
Top row: Scottish turners/ twopences 1663.
Bottom row: William II bodle 1695, Charles II bodle 1677-79 and a William and Mary bodle 1691-94.
Between 1663 and 1668 the Scottish mint issued over twenty three million turners making these little coins the most common coin found along with turners of Charles I. They are very rarely in good condition due to being very worn through a long circulation period or badly corroded by acidic soil conditions.
reverse
Coin weight
Bronze coin weight for 21 shillings which = 1 guinea. Dated 1765.
Coin weights are weights which were designed to weigh coins in order to assure their quality
Coins Section
Copper coins
Worn copper coins from the last four hundred years. They include bawbees, turners and bodles which are all Scottish coins from the reign of Charles I and Charles II (1625 -1685). Bawbees were sixpences and turners or bodles were two pence.
Georgian copper half pennies are the next common coin finds from 1714 - 1820.
Coins
Georgian copper coins
Milled silver coins
Top: George III Shilling and Victoria Shilling.
Middle: George III Sixpence and Victoria Sixpence.
Bottom: Queen Anne Fourpence and William IV Fourpence.
obverse
reverse
obverse
Scottish coins
Scottish turners and bodles of Charles II and William II.
Top row: Scottish turners/ twopences 1663.
Bottom row: William II bodle 1695, Charles II bodle 1677-79 and a William and Mary bodle 1691-94.
Between 1663 and 1668 the Scottish mint issued over twenty three million turners making these little coins the most common coin found along with turners of Charles I. They are very rarely in good condition due to being very worn through a long circulation period or badly corroded by acidic soil conditions.
reverse
Coin weight
Bronze coin weight for 21 shillings which = 1 guinea. Dated 1765.
Coin weights are weights which were designed to weigh coins in order to assure their quality
Finds by other people
Mitchell-Innes livery button
Found in field at the top of Tower Road in August 2022 by Paul Smart while out walking.
Ayton Volunteers button.
​Found in field alongside A1 to north west of Ayton Village in August 2022 by Mark Stewart, metal detectorist. 17mm (11/16") diameter.
Military Uniform button
Believed to be 1871-1901. Rampant lion and unicorn with Queen Victoria's crown. Found in the garden of Christies in Main St Ayton by Tom Cooksey April 2022. 24.5 mm diameter.