The Burtley Estate in Buckinghamshire (formerly part of the Dropmore Estate) is a relatively new addition to the Portman Estate, having been purchased in 1948 by Gerald, Viscount Portman. However, it includes ancient woodland as well as pasture for livestock.
In February 2020 a small and beautifully formed bronze bull was discovered on the Estate in Boveney Wood. The man who uncovered it kindly donated it to The Portman Estate where it takes pride of place among other archaeological finds. The report from the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) dated it to between 100 and 300 AD and described it as made of copper alloy, similar to other small bulls found at Cirencester, France and Germany. The Burtley Bull is very finely fashioned with the hairs on the tail and mane clearly marked. It is only 87mm in length and 75mm high yet weighs 258g.
Unlike other broken pieces of jewellery or pot more often found in such places, the bull’s weight and fine carving suggest it was unlikely to have been just accidentally dropped. It is possible that it was a votive offering , deliberately placed there as part of a religious act. The cult of Mithras was popular at the period the bull was made, particularly among Roman soldiers, and a bull was one of its symbols. No other Roman artefacts such as coins or pottery have been reported here nor is a known Roman site nearby, so how or why it came to be there remains a mystery. Interestingly the area has a long historical association with cattle rearing which continues to this day at Portman Burtley.
