A 1,000-year-old sculpture which was used in recent years as a tombstone for a cat has been bought by a museum for £150,000.
The Anglo-Saxon limestone relief depicting St Peter was originally discovered at a quarry in Somerset by Johnny Beeston, a stonemason.
He took it home and used it to mark the grave of his tabby Winkle, whom he had adopted as a stray, at the bottom of his garden.
But when Mr Beeston died, a historian examined the monument and realised that it was in fact a rare artwork dating back to the 10th or 11th century.
Anglo-Saxon sculpture unknowingly used as a tombstone on a cat's grave is bought for £150,000
A stonemason found the carving in a quarry and used it as a tombstone
After he died, a historian realised that it was in fact a rare sculpture of St Peter dating back 1,000 years
The well-preserved carving may have come from a church in Somerset
It has now been bought by a local museum for £150,000 after a decade in private ownership
By Hugo Gye for MailOnline
14 January 2015
Daily Mail
A 1,000-year-old sculpture which was used in recent years as a tombstone for a cat has been bought by a museum for £150,000.
The Anglo-Saxon limestone relief depicting St Peter was originally discovered at a quarry in Somerset by Johnny Beeston, a stonemason.
He took it home and used it to mark the grave of his tabby Winkle, whom he had adopted as a stray, at the bottom of his garden.
Discovery: This Anglo-Saxon carving was used as a gravestone for a cat before its significance was realised
Inspiration: Historian Chris Brewchorne spotted the carving and told its owner what it was worth
But when Mr Beeston died, a historian examined the monument and realised that it was in fact a rare artwork dating back to the 10th or 11th century.
It was bought by a private collector 10 years ago - but now it will go on public display after it was acquired by the Museum of Somerset for £150,000, with half of the money coming from a lottery grant.
No one knows exactly where Mr Beeston found the stone, but it is thought to have come from a local church such as Muchelney Abbey, which is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.
Experts have suggested that it could have been part of the church's architecture, perhaps mounted next to the altar.
The work would originally have been painted, and the deep holes in the figure's eyes imply that they would once have been filled with blue glass or a similar material.
Purchase: The monument, which shows St Peter, has now been bought for £150,000 by a local museum
Home: For years it was located in the garden of this house, where it marked the grave of a pet cat
Local historian Chris Brewchorne was the first person to appreciate the carving's value when he passed the home where Mr Beeston's widow was living.
'I was walking past the house one day and saw it in the front garden and knew immediately I was looking at something special,' he said.
'I knocked on the front door, spoke to the owners and told them, "I think you've just won the lottery."'
The artwork was originally sold at Sotheby's 10 years ago for £175,000 to Stanley J. Seeger, an American collector.
After Mr Seeger died in 2011, the carving came up for sale again - and this time the museum was able to raise the funds to buy it.
Snapped up: The sculpture will now live in the Museum of Somerset, based in Taunton Castle, pictured
The Anglo-Saxon limestone relief depicting St Peter was originally discovered at a quarry in Somerset by Johnny Beeston, a stonemason.
He took it home and used it to mark the grave of his tabby Winkle, whom he had adopted as a stray, at the bottom of his garden.
But when Mr Beeston died, a historian examined the monument and realised that it was in fact a rare artwork dating back to the 10th or 11th century.
Anglo-Saxon sculpture unknowingly used as a tombstone on a cat's grave is bought for £150,000
A stonemason found the carving in a quarry and used it as a tombstone
After he died, a historian realised that it was in fact a rare sculpture of St Peter dating back 1,000 years
The well-preserved carving may have come from a church in Somerset
It has now been bought by a local museum for £150,000 after a decade in private ownership
By Hugo Gye for MailOnline
14 January 2015
Daily Mail
A 1,000-year-old sculpture which was used in recent years as a tombstone for a cat has been bought by a museum for £150,000.
The Anglo-Saxon limestone relief depicting St Peter was originally discovered at a quarry in Somerset by Johnny Beeston, a stonemason.
He took it home and used it to mark the grave of his tabby Winkle, whom he had adopted as a stray, at the bottom of his garden.
Discovery: This Anglo-Saxon carving was used as a gravestone for a cat before its significance was realised
Inspiration: Historian Chris Brewchorne spotted the carving and told its owner what it was worth
But when Mr Beeston died, a historian examined the monument and realised that it was in fact a rare artwork dating back to the 10th or 11th century.
It was bought by a private collector 10 years ago - but now it will go on public display after it was acquired by the Museum of Somerset for £150,000, with half of the money coming from a lottery grant.
No one knows exactly where Mr Beeston found the stone, but it is thought to have come from a local church such as Muchelney Abbey, which is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.
Experts have suggested that it could have been part of the church's architecture, perhaps mounted next to the altar.
The work would originally have been painted, and the deep holes in the figure's eyes imply that they would once have been filled with blue glass or a similar material.
Purchase: The monument, which shows St Peter, has now been bought for £150,000 by a local museum
Home: For years it was located in the garden of this house, where it marked the grave of a pet cat
Local historian Chris Brewchorne was the first person to appreciate the carving's value when he passed the home where Mr Beeston's widow was living.
'I was walking past the house one day and saw it in the front garden and knew immediately I was looking at something special,' he said.
'I knocked on the front door, spoke to the owners and told them, "I think you've just won the lottery."'
The artwork was originally sold at Sotheby's 10 years ago for £175,000 to Stanley J. Seeger, an American collector.
After Mr Seeger died in 2011, the carving came up for sale again - and this time the museum was able to raise the funds to buy it.
Snapped up: The sculpture will now live in the Museum of Somerset, based in Taunton Castle, pictured
Steve Minnitt, head of museums for the South West Heritage Trust, said: 'We were keen at the time to acquire it for the museum, but the price was beyond us.
'So when it recently came up for sale again we were determined to raise the money if we could.'
It will go on public display in the museum, based in Taunton Castle, from this Saturday.
Historians say that despite the fragmentary nature of the sculpture, its high price tag is explained by the fact that few comparable carvings are in as good a condition.
Dr Victoria Whitworth, from the University of the Highlands and Islands, told MailOnline that the depiction of the saint was characteristically English.
'The carving is very fine, depicting a typically Anglo-Saxon image of St Peter, in that he is beardless and tonsured - a convention paralled in many Anglo-Saxon manuscripts but unknown on the Continent, where he is bearded,' she said.
'St Peter would usually have a key, but here he has a book - perhaps this is why his name was added to the image.'
She suggested that the sculpture could once have been 'flanking the altar with the Virgin Mary on the other side', adding: 'His upward gaze perhaps is intended to guide the viewer's eyes towards Christ in Majesty.'
Dr Helen Gittos of the University of Kent added: 'It's important because it's such high quality, and because comparatively little Anglo-Saxon sculpture survives from Somerset and the South-West generally - despite there having been many important Anglo-Saxon churches there.'
At the time of the original sale, a Sotheby's spokesman said: 'The relief is made from Oolithic limestone and is incredibly rare, as few reliefs of this period have survived, time normally having worn the surface detail away.
'The carving is believed to have originally been a section of a cross shaft, or part of a larger panel - the figure of St Peter is clearly visible.
'It is a rare survivor of English stone carving at its best and draws strong parallels to the ninth and 10th centuries.'
The sculpture dates from around the time of the Viking invasion of England, when Alfred the Great was forced to hide in the Somerset marshes before rallying his troops and taking back his kingdom.
HOW CHANCE FINDS IN THE GARDEN CAN BE WORTH THOUSANDS
'So when it recently came up for sale again we were determined to raise the money if we could.'
It will go on public display in the museum, based in Taunton Castle, from this Saturday.
Historians say that despite the fragmentary nature of the sculpture, its high price tag is explained by the fact that few comparable carvings are in as good a condition.
Dr Victoria Whitworth, from the University of the Highlands and Islands, told MailOnline that the depiction of the saint was characteristically English.
'The carving is very fine, depicting a typically Anglo-Saxon image of St Peter, in that he is beardless and tonsured - a convention paralled in many Anglo-Saxon manuscripts but unknown on the Continent, where he is bearded,' she said.
'St Peter would usually have a key, but here he has a book - perhaps this is why his name was added to the image.'
She suggested that the sculpture could once have been 'flanking the altar with the Virgin Mary on the other side', adding: 'His upward gaze perhaps is intended to guide the viewer's eyes towards Christ in Majesty.'
Dr Helen Gittos of the University of Kent added: 'It's important because it's such high quality, and because comparatively little Anglo-Saxon sculpture survives from Somerset and the South-West generally - despite there having been many important Anglo-Saxon churches there.'
At the time of the original sale, a Sotheby's spokesman said: 'The relief is made from Oolithic limestone and is incredibly rare, as few reliefs of this period have survived, time normally having worn the surface detail away.
'The carving is believed to have originally been a section of a cross shaft, or part of a larger panel - the figure of St Peter is clearly visible.
'It is a rare survivor of English stone carving at its best and draws strong parallels to the ninth and 10th centuries.'
The sculpture dates from around the time of the Viking invasion of England, when Alfred the Great was forced to hide in the Somerset marshes before rallying his troops and taking back his kingdom.
HOW CHANCE FINDS IN THE GARDEN CAN BE WORTH THOUSANDS
Digging around in the back garden is not just a relaxing hobby - for some lucky collectors, it can be extremely lucrative.
Two years ago, a couple from Northumberland realised that the stone trough they used to plant flowers in was in fact a Roman coffin (above) valued by experts at £100,000.
More Roman remains were discovered in the garden of an archaeological school in Kent in 2012, and turned out to be a theatre which would once have been able to hold 12,000 people.
Last year, Nicola and Paul Walling were shocked to find human skeletons (above) in their Hampshire garden while they were building an extension - and even more surprised to learn that they were the bodies of French POWs captured during the Napoleonic Wars.
There have also been a number of 20th-century finds - in 2012 a homeowner in Somerset found a 6ft-deep air raid shelter buried underneath his garden, and the next year a family realised that the oldest surviving garden swing in the world, dating back 90 years, was located in their back yard.
Perhaps the most bizarre discovery of all came in October 2013, when John Lambert was told that a large bone he'd found in Ipswich belonged to a 250million-year-old pliosaur, a sea creature related to dinosaurs.
Two years ago, a couple from Northumberland realised that the stone trough they used to plant flowers in was in fact a Roman coffin (above) valued by experts at £100,000.
More Roman remains were discovered in the garden of an archaeological school in Kent in 2012, and turned out to be a theatre which would once have been able to hold 12,000 people.
Last year, Nicola and Paul Walling were shocked to find human skeletons (above) in their Hampshire garden while they were building an extension - and even more surprised to learn that they were the bodies of French POWs captured during the Napoleonic Wars.
There have also been a number of 20th-century finds - in 2012 a homeowner in Somerset found a 6ft-deep air raid shelter buried underneath his garden, and the next year a family realised that the oldest surviving garden swing in the world, dating back 90 years, was located in their back yard.
Perhaps the most bizarre discovery of all came in October 2013, when John Lambert was told that a large bone he'd found in Ipswich belonged to a 250million-year-old pliosaur, a sea creature related to dinosaurs.