15TH-CENTURY PILGRIM BADGE

Pilgrim badges like this were made in vast numbers and sold as souvenirs at the many shrines that pilgrims visited. More of them have been found in the Thames than anywhere else in the country, leading some to speculate that they were tossed into the river by returning pilgrims as thanks for a safe return. This little badge was thrown in almost 600 years ago by a pilgrim returning from a 200-mile round trip to the shrine of St Osmund in Salisbury.