David T Craggs

The Peakdale Abbey Treasure David T Craggs

Way back in the 16th Century King Henry VIII decided to rob the country's abbeys and churches of all their riches to finance his army. Peakdale Abbey, in North Yorkshire, was very rich, with lots of items made of gold, silver and precious stones which were used in the daily services that took place in the abbey. Abbot Saxton was forewarned by a friend who worked for Henry that the king's henchmen were on their way to rob his abbey. He quickly organised the burial of the valuable items, leaving some less valuable ones on display for the henchmen to take, which they willingly did.

The location of the buried treasure was known to only a handful of people, all of whom were unfortunately killed by the collapse of the roof when the abbey was struck by lightning during a Sunday morning service. Amongst the dead was Abbot Saxton himself. As a result the location of the treasure was lost to the world. Although it was searched for in the following years, more recently with the use of metal detectors, it was never found...until a small group of children from a local primary school started to dig up parts of a local farmer's field.