The Chatteris Rapier's Biography

The Chatteris rapier was found inside a dug-out log boat in 1871. The original label says: “Found at the bottom of an old canoe between the peat and clay near Chatteris Cambs.” We can only guess that both the items were intentionally placed in what was then a river or flooded channel and sunk beneath the water as an offering to their gods. The handle and scabbard had disintegrated and no other remains, human or otherwise, was found with them. The boat was luckily preserved in the clay. Similar finds were made at Warboys, 's Flag Fen and Must Farm and at Clifton near Nottingham.

The Chatteris Rapier -1,500 to 1,150 BC [3,500 to 3,150 BP.] Photo, courtesy of The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

All we know of the site is that it was near Ferry Hill. It was probably on the route of the ancient river called the West Water and its tributaries. The river had run from the eastern edge of Chatteris island to skirt the southern edge, at Ferry Hill and followed the western edge before turning off north toward Doddington and south to Somersham. All that remains of the river is now the course of the very windy road from Chatteris to Somersham and the canalised Fenton Lode.

The map reference TL3830 8370 is an approximate point for guidance. There seems to be no newspaper report on the find yet it is well documented and repeated in local guides, academic reports and topographical writings from the 1870s to the present day. It could have been found during repair work on the railway line built between and St Ives in 1847. Historic Environment Record 03777 refers.

There are around 65 examples of this type of rapier found across Fenland. It is internationally classified as the Wandsworth type after discovery of a small number during dredging work to the River Thames in during the early 1800s. The Thames is the only other place in where lots of rapiers [now 129,] have been found cast into the water as a sacrifice to deities. Academic study of the type has identified a number of variants to what is described as “among the most aesthetically striking and technically competent achievements of the British rapier series.” There is a Cambridge variant with 16 known examples and this one, the Chatteris variant with 10 known examples. Described as “characterised by a ridged centre section and a small less well formed trapezoidal butt.” This specimen is recorded as:- “Rapier* with trapezoidal butt having two rivet-holes; arched hilt-mark; fine but laminated gold water patina with some purple patches; upper part rougher and more pitted.” Many weapons of the type are in excellent condition and must have been as good as new when they were placed in these rivers. It is of copper alloy, i.e. bronze, it is 38.6 cm long, 5.7 cm wide and 0.6 cm thick. The date of casting is from the middle bronze-age, 1,500 to 1,150 BC.

It was acquired sometime in the late 1800s by Sir John Evans, a respected Victorian antiquarian, geologist and collector of archaeology, especially of the earliest man made implements and coins. His son, Sir Arthur Evans, a renowned archaeologist, bequeathed his father's collection to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford when he became its curator in 1884. It was given the accession reference AN1927.2353. The rapier has been examined and written about by a number of eminent bronze-age specialists but has mostly been kept in storage. It is in an excellent state of preservation but has lost its perishable handle. In June 2014 Chatteris Museum applied to the Ashmolean trustees for the loan of the rapier. At their meeting in November 2014 a three year loan was agreed.

*The Dirks and Rapiers of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 7 - Colin Burgess and Sabine Gerloff, 1981‬

A replica of the Chatteris rapier with a handle and scabbard to show what the original would have looked like. Made for Chatteris Museum by Neil Burridge, a renowned specialist in reproductions.

Ian Mason – May 2015.