I found a news a few month ago about Archbishop's treasure found in river. The treasure found by two diver, brothers Gary and Trevor Bankhead, in the River Wear in Durham. A haul of 32 artefacts, including gifts from Pope Paul VI and a commemorative medallion presented to the bishop for the Queen's coronation in 1952. They had been in the possession of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, who spent part of his retirement in the northern city where he served as bishop.
The underwater survey commenced in April 2007 and took two and half years to complete. The objects, some solid gold, have been discovered by amateur divers Trevor Bankhead, 40, and his brother Gary, 44, a fire service watch officer, over the past two and a half years. They conducted 300 dives and believe there are no objects left on the river bed after their last find. It is their belief belief the items could have been put into the water deliberately as a “gift” to the city by Lord Ramsey. The dives were carried out under licence from Durham Cathedral which owns both banks of the stretch of river.
It is not known how Mr Ramsey's belongings came to be in the river, but there is no record of his former home, on South Bailey, being burgled. One theory is that he may have cast the items into the water himself at various times, having a reputation for eccentricity before his death 21 years ago at the age of 83. Another suggestion is that they may have been stolen before being discarded by thieves for some reason as they crossed Prebends Bridge. The former Bishop of Durham Michael Ramsey lived in the city after retiring as Archbishop in 1974. He died in 1988.
Their first find was an ornate silver trowel presented to the Archbishop for laying the foundation stone of an Indian church in 1961. The brothers have since retrieved over 30 other items linked to Ramsey, along with hundreds of medieval and Saxon artefacts. Among them are gold, silver and bronze medals struck to commemorate the second Vatican council, which must have been presented to Ramsey, who was the most senior cleric in the Church of England from 1961 to 1974, when he met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1966. It was during the same visit the Pope gave Ramsey his episcopal ring which the Archbishop wore until the day he died and is now kept at Lambeth Palace. Other items discovered include a solid silver coin from the Greek Orthodox Church and a solid gold coin, likely to have been presented when Ramsey met Nikkyo Niwano, president of the Japanese Buddhist movement, in 1973.
Photo by Telegraph.co.uk: Micheal Ramsey
What a great treasure find by this brothers. Some will eventually go on display at Durham’s 11th Century cathedral. Even before the discovery of the items, the cathedral was planning an exhibition relating to Ramsey's life in 2010, a new stained glass window will also be dedicated to him.
Source: BBC News, Telegraph.co.uk and wikipedia.
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