'Very rare' post-medieval lead doll found in brook

Sarah Brackstone (right) contacted Megan Gard (left) about the find

A "very rare" lead doll found in a brook near the home of a Leicestershire mudlarker is believed to be the only complete find recorded in the country.

Sarah Brackstone, 47, found what is thought to be a post-Medieval lead doll while out with her metal detector close to her home in Long Whatton.

Ms Brackstone said it took nearly 20 minutes to "wrench" the item out of the water back in February.

Michael Lewis, head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), described the doll as "a fantastic survival".

Michael Lewis said the loops near the figure's arms suggest it could have been used as a puppet to entertain children

Ms Brackstone has found the torso of a similar doll in the past, but finding one complete is "very rare", according to Mr Lewis.

He said: "It's quite interesting it survives because it's made from lead, a metal that is quite likely to be broken.

"[It is] probably important to say that the survival of lead objects is more common in watery contexts."

Ms Brackstone said she emailed Megan Gard, the finds liaison officer (FLO) for Leicestershire and Rutland, who is based at Rutland County Museum.

Ms Gard said the doll "caused such a ruckus" amongst staff at the museum as there are just a "handful" of parts of dolls of a similar kind recorded on the PAS database.

'Holy grail' of dolls

Ms Brackstone has mudlarked regularly for five years and said she has "always picked up bits and bobs".

She has found hundreds of items including skulls, teeth, a Tudor spoon and a 500-year-old beehive thimble but nothing as "amazing" as the doll.

She added: "To be the person that found that is quite special because it's like the holy grail of dolls."

Ms Brackstone plans to loan the doll to the British Museum and said there has also been international interest, with some collectors in the USA enquiring about purchasing it.

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