In November 2001 Cliff Bradshaw, a metal detectorist, discovered a gold vessel buried at a depth of c. 0.4 m in fields at Ringlemere in Woodnesborough. The cup was buckled inwards, squashed by the ploughshare which had caught it. It had been deliberately buried in a mound, built within an earlier henge, and dates from c.1800-1600BC. The henge, probably built in the 4th millennium BC, was a special place set aside for ceremonial use. As the millennia passed, the area remained so; Bronze Age burial mounds (barrows) clustered nearby and Anglo-Saxon burials were made some two and a half thousand years after this.

The cup is about 11cm high, with a handle on one side. It is remarkably similar to a gold cup from Rillaton in Cornwall, which was found in 1837. The shape of the gold Cornish and Kentish cups is reflected in cups fashioned in other materials such as silver, amber and shale from north-western Europe. Both are now in the British Museum

Description from record MKE71545:
Cup with conical body tapering to an omphalos base; the rim is flaring; a riveted strap handle links the rim and upper body. The rivet plates are lozenge shaped and the handle has decorative ridges parallel with its edges. The rim bears a row of dots punched from the outer surface and is otherwise plain; between this plain zone and a further plain zone at the base the cup is corrugated. The cup has been crushed, particularly on one side; this might have resulted from a single blow from agricultural machinery. Dimensions and metal content: In present condition: maximum height (excluding handle): 112mm; maximum width: 105mm; thickness at rim: a little under 1mm; weight: 183.7g. X-ray fluorescence analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate gold content of 82 per cent.
Date: from Circa 1700 BC (Certain) to 1500 BC
Period: Bronze Age
Broad Period:
Length: 112 mm
Width: 105 mm
Thickness: 1 mm
Weight: 183.7 grams
OS GridRef: TR335585
Easting: 633500
Northing: 158500
Date found: 04 November 2001
Methods of discovery: Chance find during metal detecting
Primary Identifier: Gillian Varndell
Subsequent action: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure

English Heritage, 2003, Woodnesborough, Kent: Report on Geophysical Surveys January 2002 (Unpublished document). SKE16158.