Digging for buried treasure is a nearly universal make-believe activity for kids. But for a four-year-old in Essex, England, it became a reality. In May 2009, James Hyatt was playing with his father’s metal detector when the machine began furiously beeping. What they found when they dug deeper into the earth was a priceless golden reliquary, believed to have been made over 500 years ago in the 16th century.
James’ father, Jason Hyatt, recounted that they were walking around a field in Hockley when “all of a sudden [they] got a buzz from the metal detector, quite a strong buzz.” Hyatt went on to say that they “dug six to eight inches down and lo and behold…a flash of gold.” After moving the dirt around, they brought this flash of gold up to the surface, revealing it to be a beautiful, diamond-shaped locket. It was inscribed with images of Christ and a female religious figure (possibly Mary or St. Helena), as well as the names of the Magi.
The crafted details of the Hockley pendant weren’t immediately decipherable at the time of its discovery nor was the locket mechanism functional. After an inquest, the pendant was officially declared treasure, and the British Museum acquired it in 2012, in keeping with the Treasure Act of 1996. The locket was speculated to have a worth of up to 2.5 million British pounds.
Conservation work by Marilyn Hockey of the museum later revealed more insight into the mysterious locket. Weighing in at about a third of an ounce, with a gold content of up to 73%, the pendant was likely “worn by a wealthy individual as a discreet statement of piety” and “reveals the dual nature of religious jewelry in the early 16th century, as a decoration and a holy amulet,” according to an object entry authored by the British Museum. The pendant features engravings of holy imagery and names, and would have likely been filled with colorful painted enamel.
Through Hockey’s conservation efforts, the locket was also opened again for the first time in centuries. All that remained in the back panel’s cavity was some fibers of flax, but the size of the locket would have ostensibly allowed for some fragment of a relic to reside within, perhaps a piece of the True Cross. The True Cross is believed to have been the actual cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, and is thought to have been transported to Constantinople from the Holy Land by St Helena.
The Hockley Pendant now lives in the British Museum’s permanent collection, and was featured in a couple exhibitions since its acquisition in 2010. According to the rules of the Treasure Act, James Hyatt and the owner of the land that this priceless locket was found in shared in a percentage of the sale. What started as a four-year-old’s game of treasure hunt ended with a real-life golden find fit for a museum: proof that sometimes, childhood dreams really do strike gold.
In 2009, a four-year-old-boy was playing with his father's metal detector in a field in Hockley, England, when the device began to buzz.
James and Jason Hyatt dug less than a foot into the ground and found real-life buried treasure: a diamond-shaped golden locket.
Photo: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Believed to be worth up to 2.5 million British pounds, the pendant was acquired by the British Museum in 2012 and underwent conservation efforts.
Photo: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The locket features religious images and names engraved on its surfaces, and is believed to have housed a fragment of the True Cross.
Photo: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sources: reliquary; pendant entry by the British Museum; The Hockley Pendant; Boy, four, unearths 16th Century gold pendant in Essex
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