Find Spot record 6824 - Lews Castle Hoard

hack silver hoard found by metal detector, Mr Austin Hepburn of Inverness, 13 July 1988, ' at the base of a tree, near the entrance to the gardens at the back of the castle'. The finds were made at three times, with three further fragments located the following July (1989), and in December 1990, when two more fragments were found. These latter were deeper and further away, and may possibly not have been part of the original hoard.

Weight 262.97 g
Deposition date c. 990-1040

Graham Campbell 1995, 147-152

The recent discovey of a Viking silver hoard near Lew;s Castle is a reminder of the norse presence on the island . The silver hoard weighed 263 g and was composed almost entirely of 'hack silver' (silver arm rings cut into smaller pieces to be used in exchange transactions), wrapped in cloth and burried in a cattle horn. No Norse settlements have been discovered to date, and most finds have been concentrated along the western part of the island.Stornoway, however, possessed all the attributes that Viking settlements required- a safe anchorage protected by a sand bar and beaches to drag their boats up onto and fresh water from the Bayhead River. It is therefore a distinct possibility that Viking Age archaeological remains may be discovered here some time in the future.'(E.Dennison and R.Coleman,1997,51-52)

Kieron Niven, 2003, Viking Age Hoards in Scotland (Unpublished document). SWE41051.