In 1921 the British Museum acquired a 7th century Anglo-Saxon gold pendant found in 1916 by Mr R. Mills, a gravel digger, in a pit about a quarter of a mile from Milton Parish Church. A few years later the British Museum purchased from Mr E. Ealden six A.5 silver sceattas and two more gold pendants, accession numbers 1926, 4-10, 1-2 and 2-8,apparently found at the same time. They were published by R. Smith (1) who assumed them to have come from a single grave. In 1958 D. M. Waters, a great-nephew of Mills, sold to Maidstone Museum 14 silver sceattas which R. H. M. Dolley linked with the six sceattas already held by the British Museum, and which Rigold (2) published as a hoard of 20 coins dated c. 695-705. In 1962 Waters sold to Maidstone Museum the balance of his great-uncle's collection, namely, two gold pendants, a gold pectoral cross, 32 Anglo-Saxon glass beads, a bronze buckle and plate and a miniature pottery jar. Considerable research by Mr L. R. A. Grove, curator of Maidstone Museum, in contact with the quarry owners and relatives and former workmates of Mills, has established the find spot as being just to the N. of Cooks Lane, at approximately TQ 9049 6477, an area now largely built over. (1) [TQ 9049 6477] Grave-goods from 7th century Anglo-Saxon burials, destroyed by gravel digging, were found in 1916 by R. Mills, an employee of Messrs. Wills and Packham, Builders Merchants and Brick Manufacturers, of Sittingbourne. The find spot, just north of Cooks Lane, Milton Regis was identified by the firm's records and consultation with G. Mills, finder's cousin and J. Bunting, workmate. A 7th century Anglo-Saxon gold pendant found by R. Mills in 1916 "in a field about a quarter of a mile from the old parish church at Milton" was presented to the British Museum by Sir Hercules Read, Accession No. 1921, 10-20, 1. Six Anglo-Saxon silver sceattas, Accession No.s 1926, 4-10, 3-8, and two more gold pendants, Accession No.s 1926, 4-10, 1-2, from the same site, and apparently found at the same time, were purchased from E. Ealden. They were published together by R. Smith (1) and assumed by him to have come from a single grave, but there is nothing in the original record to justify so definite a statement. Fourteen silver sceattas were purchased by Maidstone Museum in 1959. Accession No 9, 1959 (5) from D. M. Waters, whose great-uncle, R. Mills had found them some 40 years before. R. H. M. Dolley, British Museum, deduced that the 20 coins had originally formed a small hoard and they have been published as such by S. E. Rigold (2). A miniature pottery jar, a bronze buckle and plate, an oval gold cloisonce pendant, a circular pale gold pendant, a gold pectoral cross and 32 glass beads were purchased by Maidstone Museum in October 1962 from D. M. Waters - the last remaining items from his great-uncle's collection. (2)(3) Incomplete detail wrongly included with Huggins Fields Inhumation Cemetery (TQ 96 SW 27) (4)(5)

<1> Ant J 6 1926 photo 446-7 (R Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE33215.

<2> Two Primary Series of Sceattas - reprint from British Num Journal 30 1960 46 (S S Rigold) (OS Card Reference). SKE50687.

<3> Correspondence notes sketch drafts etc held at Maidstone Museum (OS Card Reference). SKE39307.

<4> F1 CFW 26-JUN-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42773.

<5> Inventory of British Coin Hoards 1956 No 269 103 (J D A Thompson) (OS Card Reference). SKE44501.

<6> Arch Cant 78 1963 22-38 illust (S C Hawkes and L R A Grove) (OS Card Reference). SKE35640.

<7> Arch Cant 73 1959 230 (L R A Grove) (OS Card Reference). SKE35538.

<8> Gaz of Early Anglo Saxon Burial Sites 1964 129 (A Meaney) (OS Card Reference). SKE43499.

<9> Arch Cant 85 1970 1-18 figs (S E Rigold and L E Webster) (OS Card Reference). SKE35798.

<10> Num Chron 6 ii 1943 45ff (C H V Sutherland) (OS Card Reference). SKE47724.

<11> Corpus Anglo Saxon Pottery I 1977 92 II 1977 fig 46 (J N L Myres) (OS Card Reference). SKE39235.

<12> BAR 128 Sceattas in England and on the Continent 1980 256 (D H Hill and D M Metcalf) (OS Card Reference). SKE37497.

<13> Field report for monument TQ 96 SW 54 - June, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4990.