Boy finds Bronze Age spearhead beside famous lake in Lake District

A Bronze Age artefact might not be the first thing you expect to come across when strolling along the shore of Windermere on your holiday. But for George Hughes, aged eight at the time, a day out by the lake ended up revealing the Lake District’s fascinating ancient past.

George, from Manchester, was adventuring near Waterhead beside Windermere with his mum, Kate, when he found the spearhead in November 2024. George said: “I was digging and having fun and I saw what looked like a ring, so I pulled it out and it just kept on going. I didn’t know it was a spearhead, so when I found out it was very fun.”

The Lake District National Park Authority was part of the recording process, adding the spearhead to the Historic Environment Record to assist in future research into the prehistoric Lake District.

At first, the spearhead was believed to be Roman, but Theodore Muscillo, Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, inspected the object and found that the basal loops at the bottom of the spearhead strongly indicate Bronze Age origins. The loops would have been used to attach the spearhead to a wooden shaft to make a spear and used to hunt animals like deer, wild boar and even wolves.

This spearhead is particularly special. Marnie Calvert, Graduate Historic Environment Assistant for the Lake District National Park Authority, said:

“Metal in the Bronze Age was a magical material created from melted stone into gleaming molten liquid. This process would have made objects such as the spearhead very valuable in Bronze Age society and indicated a person’s status. Because it was found near water, this spearhead was likely given as a votive offering, which was the act of purposefully returning the object to the land as a type of sacrifice.”

Once its amazing history had been discovered, George took the spearhead into safekeeping, protecting it from damage by wrapping it in bubble wrap and keeping it in a bag made by his grandma.

The rich cultural landscape of the Lake District National Park and World Heritage Site has many indications of Bronze Age history. During the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (2,500-1,500 BC), settlers in the Lake District built monuments such as stone circles in prominent places such as those found on Burnmoor near Eskdale.  However, the Bronze Age is defined by the rise of the individual, and so we see more individual burials taking place in cairns, such as those found on Aughertree Fell. These burials were often accompanied by grave goods such as special ‘beaker’ pottery, weaponry and jewellery.

To allow others to enjoy seeing his interesting find, George and his mum Kate got in touch with the Armitt Museum in Ambleside and have agreed to display the spearhead at the museum. It can be seen at the Armitt throughout 2027.

Find out more about history in the Lake District with our timeline.

The spearhead was found beside Windermere, England’s largest lake

The basal loops on the spearhead indicate Bronze Age origins

George keeps the spearhead in a bag made by his grandma