Unearthed: The 1,700-year-old Roman child's coffin found in Leicestershire that could be an early Christian burial

• An expert believes the lead coffin would have cost the equivalent of about £200,000, showing it belonged to a wealthy Roman family
• It was found four feet underground in a Leicestershire field by a metal detecting club, around two miles away from the site of a Roman settlement and fort

A rare child’s coffin thought to be around 1,700-years-old has been found in a field by treasure hunters.
It is believed the lead coffin contains the remains of a child from a wealthy Roman who lived in third century Britain.
Members of a metal detecting club made the find when they were searching a field in west Leicestershire, about two miles away from where a Roman settlement and fort that is known to have existed.

A 1,700-year-old lead coffin, thought to contain the remains of a Roman child, has been found by a metal detecting club in a field in Leicestershire. The exact location of the burial is being kept a secret to protect the rare coffin from grave robbers

The location of the site is being kept secret to protect it from looters and it is thought that the coffin could be the earliest example of a Christian burial in the county.
The coffin was discovered by Chris Wright, 30, a surveyor.

 

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He said: 'I cannot describe how it feels to find something like this. You spend hours walking around fields, sometimes with little reward and then you find something this.
'It is incredible, it makes all the hours worthwhile, it makes you feel so good.