One of the metal detector finds from the Garsdon area, now on permanent display in the Museum, is a beautiful, late medieval ampulla. The growth in the hobby of metal detecting has increased the number of medieval ampullae found across the country and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
This small trinket sheds quite a lot of light on the religious, social and cultural aspects of medieval life. Made from lead, they are often found in cultivated fields, as was the ampulla in the Museum.
Most ampullae have been deliberately damaged with the top ripped off perhaps in order to scatter the contents, probably holy water, onto a field to encourage a good harvest.
Ampullae were made as souvenirs, mass produced very cheaply to be bought and collected by pilgrims all across Europe, much like the ubiquitous fridge magnet today. They formed part of the medieval cult of saints whereby people would visit a shrine and want to take home with them a memento of their visit. The most common type of decoration is the shell, a design long associated with St James. The floral motif was also very popular, as was any design associated with the Virgin Mary such as the lily, the heart or the crown. The ampulla in the Museum has a four-petal flower on one side and a crown on the other suggesting homage to the Virgin.
Imagine the original owner of the ampulla spreading the contents onto the field in the hope of a bountiful harvest over 500 years ago…