page_title: Trewhiddle style
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Trewhiddle style / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Trewhiddle hoard items, 9th century
context_page_description: Trewhiddle style is a distinctive style in Anglo-Saxon art that takes its name from the Trewhiddle Hoard, discovered in Trewhiddle, Cornwall in 1770. The most outstanding metalwork produced in ninth century England was decorated in the animated, complex style. Trewhiddle ornamentation includes the use of silver, niello inlay, and zoomorphic, plant and geometric designs, often interlaced and intricately carved into small panels. Famous examples are: the Pentney Hoard, the Abindgdon sword, the Fuller Brooch, and the Strickland Brooch.
context_section_description: Trewhiddle style is named after the Trewhiddle Hoard found in 1774 near Trewhiddle, Cornwall. The treasure contained a number of objects, including Anglo-Saxon coins, a silver chalice, and other gold and silver pieces. The artefacts can be dated to the ninth century. The animal ornamentation of some of the Trewhiddle Hoard items became a focus of study by Anglo-Saxon art historians and archaeologists in the early twentieth century. Sir Thomas Kendrick was the first historian to illustrate the  uninterrupted use of Anglo-Saxon animal ornament, from the last days of Roman Britain to the early Anglo-Saxon period. Danish archaeologist, Johannes Brøndsted, acknowledged the historical importance of the lively decorative elements of the hoard by naming the ninth century style, the "Trewhiddle style".
  Trewhiddle style is most likely the outcome of evolving Anglo-Saxon art forms. The Animal style decoration and complex patterns that were found in early England, continued to develop over time. According to David M. Wilson, "If we look at the animal ornament on the metalwork of any period between 450 and 950, we can see the same traditions at work. The animal on the Faversham brooch, the animal on the Sutton Hoo clasps, and the animal on the horse trappings of Källby are in a sequence that leads up to Trewhiddle and beyond." 
  Art historians have recognized important similarities between Trewhiddle art and Irish art, yet no historian has proposed that Trewhiddle art was influenced by Irish art. It is most likely that the animal art of the Trewhiddle objects originated in England and to a small degree was influenced by Continental art from the Mediterranean, Francia, or Celtic world.
  Earlier scholars have theorized that the Trewhiddle style was confined to the ninth century. The style has been difficult to date given the lack of independent dating evidence associated with Trewhiddle finds. It has been suggested, as more Trewhiddle artefacts continue to be found, that the birth of the Trehiddle style may have occurred in the eighth century. It has also been suggested, given more recent excavation of  Trewhiddle style artefacts, including those found at Anglo-Saxon sites in Yorkshire in the 1980s and the late 1990s, that the Trewhiddle style continued to be produced in Northern England into the tenth century. Until more information becomes available to Trewhiddle scholars, the style continues to be dated to the ninth century.
caption: Items of the Trewhiddle Hoard, British Museum
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