The Dragon Slayer’s Guild
Those metal detectors have come up trumps again. A 600 year old gold ring with an engraving of St George and his foe the Dragon has been found by a local treasure hunter in Norwich. Experts have dated the ring to around 1350 and 1430 and believe it may have been linked to a guild devoted to the patron Saint of England. In Medieval times guilds were formed by groups of people who would pay a weekly sub, get together to celebrate a particular saint, say prayers for dead guild members and help provide for the sick. The ring shows St George spearing a dragon and it is thought to have originally been enamelled and brightly coloured. What is known is that the ring has now been officially delcared treasure at a tribunal in Norwich and is set to be acquired by Norwich Castle Museum, handing the finder a handsome windfall.