The Warminster Jewel is an Anglo-Saxon jewel of exceptional importance to the history of Wessex, England. The jewel is an aestel — a manuscript pointer — made at the order of Alfred, King of Wessex (871-899 A.D.).

The jewel consists of a flattened rock crystal mounted in a beaded wire frame of gold with a convex cut unfastened gem of lapis lazuli or blue glass in the center. The object is pierced with a gold rivet affixed on the reverse to a gold disc lightly incised with a cross.

An aestel is a manuscript pointer and would have been placed on a wood or ivory shaft. The crystal would be dragged across a manuscript text and would indicate the words to be read aloud. The Warminister Jewel is only the fourth example to have been discovered and is unique in Wiltshire.

Alfred's aestels
The Jewel is one of what is believed to be a set of aestels which were dispersed to the dioceses of Alfred, King of Wessex, to accompany his translation of Pope Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care. Pope Gregory's document was a set of spiritual and intellectual precepts for ecclesiastical and secular offices. Under Alfred, a spiritual renaissance took place in Britain, even to the point of inviting scholars from the Continent to assist in the translation of religious tracts from Latin to English.

The Jewel's sale — confounded!
Discovered in a field in 1997 near Warminster in Wiltshire, the Jewel became available from Christie's auction house at its April 1999 "Important Antiquities" sale. The estimated value was set at 250,000 to 300,000 British pounds.

The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum have a keen interest in preserving local archaeological artifacts and when the jewel failed to sell at auction it was entered into a private treaty sale (which secures a tax remission benefiting the vendor and purchaser alike). The price of 102,000 British pounds was agreed upon.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the  Museums and Galleries Commission/Victoria & Albert Purchase Grant Fund agreed to assist the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum in the purchase.

Ironically, although the museum is registered as an independent charitable trust, it did not qualify under government rules to participate in private treaty sales.

The Council makes the deal
However, the Wiltshire County Council does qualify and became the focal point for the purchase. To help complete the sale, money was granted by the Skaggs Foundation. The magnificent jewel can now be seen at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.