Flasby Hall Iron-Age sword and scabbard in The Craven Museum.
NGR: SD 942 563. In 1848 a well-preserved late Iron-Age sword and scabbard were dug up in the grounds of Flasby Hall, near Skipton, North Yorkshire. This ancient antiquity was said to date from the 1st Century AD. The Victorian edifice of Flasby Hall, dating from about 1843, is a couple of miles to the northeast of Eshton and some 3 miles to the southeast of Winterburn. It is thought that the iron sword belonged to a Celtic warrior or chieftain of the Brigantean tribe who lived at a nearby settlement, possibly the one at Sharp Haw, and around the time when the Roman army was marching north and eastwards through the Dales in order to consolidate their grip on the north of England and, ‘put down’ the Brigantes tribe, who had held sway here. But did this Celtic warrior bury his sword here in order to retrieve it at a later time? or was it just thrown into a pit maybe as an offering to some pagan god? That we will probably never know.
The sword and its scabbard were kept for many years at Flasby Hall by Captain Preston, but then in more recent times it was donated to The Craven Museum, Skipton, where it is still on display in a glass cabinet along with the Malham Pipe (flute) from the Seaty Hill tumulus, and also a Celtic stone-head. According to the ‘Out of Oblivion’ website’ “The scabbard is made from beaten and cast copper alloy, lined with wood and is decorated in typical ‘celtic’ style. The sword itself is of iron. Such a sword would have been the prized possession of a local Iron Age warrior and an important symbol of his status. It is similar to several others found in the area occupied by the tribe known as the Brigantes.” See ‘Out of Oblivion’ and ‘Wikipedia’ websites, below.
Sources & References:-
http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk/record.asp?id=311
https://www.cravenmuseum.org/archaeology/fact-sheets/the-flasby-sword/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flasby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craven_Museum_%26_Gallery
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=35748
© Ray Spencer, The Journal of Antiquities, 2019.
The Journal Of Antiquities 
September 7, 2019 at 10:53 am
The sword was “found” in 1848 in the grounds of Flasby Hall, built as you say in 1843-4. Not being provided with provenance, the date of the artefact has to be assumed to be 1844-8.
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September 7, 2019 at 10:47 am
The sword was ‘found’ in 1848 in the grounds of Flasby Hall, built, as you say, 1843-4. The date of the sword therefore has to be 1844-8. Metal isn’t dateable and there appears to be no provenance.
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