Bronze age knife found on beach on Isle of Wight

Christopher and June Preece were walking along Sandown Beach on the Isle of Wight when they found an historic item which is thought to be from the Bronze Age.

Being a keen metal detectorist, Chris has been using his gear to find objects along the shoreline when they stumbled upon the artefact.

The couple, from Oxfordshire, then took their finding to the Isle of Wight visitor centre where staff passed on the items to be analysed.

Isle of Wight Council's finds liaison officer Frank Basford has now confirmed under the Portable Antiquities Scheme that the item is a small knife thought to date from the Bronze Age and was made about 1000 to 800BC.

The knife is made from copper alloy and was most likely a leather working tool.

Another of the finds is of a button dating from the seventeenth century.

Chris said: "We love searching for items with our metal detectors and were walking on Sandown Beach when it buzzed and we noticed that the objects looked unusual.

"I have a keen interest in history and immediately thought they were very old, because the knife has a green colour which is often found on old copper. The shape also gave me an indication it was an historical artefact.

"We decided to take it to the visitor centre in Newport so that it could be passed on and identified."

June added: "To be told the knife is several thousand years old is just incredible. We never thought what we found was so old.

"As it was found on the Island, we are very keen for residents and visitors to enjoy it and were happy to donate it to the council's museum's service so it can go on display."

The Bronze Age knife is now on display at Newport Roman Villa, along with a button which Chris also discovered.

Councillor Shirley Smart said: "This is a wonderful discovery for the Isle of Wight and I want to personally thank Christopher and June for not only making the finds but also kindly donating them to us so that people can enjoy them."