Notice of the Discovery of a British Dagger found at Woodnook, near Wakefield

T. Wilson, Esq., Vice-President of the Society, read a “Notice of the discovery of an ancient British Dagger at Woodnook, near Wakefield.” The dagger was found in the year 1842, in the valley of the Calder, about five miles north-east of Wakefield, in the township of Altofts. Not far from the point where the Midland Railway crosses the river Calder, and on the west side, may be seen a lock, by which the new line of navigation re-enters the river. While the workmen were excavating this lock, at a depth of twenty-four feet from the surface, they came to the shale which forms the upper portion of the original rock of the district. Over this they had passed through alluvial matter; the alternations of which the author described. A section of the spot gives the following:—SoilSandGravelSilt and Sand with Black OakRed GravelBlack Bind} 24 feet.The circumstances detailed imparted to the relic a geological, as well as an antiquarian interest. It was found lying flat, and covered by a layer of sand, in which there were pieces of black oak, lying right above it, precluding the notion that it could have sunk into that position, and indicating rather that the whole of the alluvial matter found above it must have been deposited since. It is of a beautiful yellowish bronze colour; and its elegant form and workmanship indicate a very high state of the arts necessary to the manufacture of weapons of this kind.