A hoard of 103 silver Roman coins was found buried at Keyfox Farm near Petworth on 24 November 2008.
The find was made by 43-year-old Malcolm Douglas of Kirdford using a metal detector. He first started searching the fields at Keyfox Farm over a year ago. He stated "It is nice to find a hoard, but it makes you wonder – the last person to see those coins was the person who buried them nearly 2,000 years ago. Looking at statistics, 99 per cent of detectors never find a hoard."
A piece of Roman pottery was also found buried in the same spot. The coins, which are equal to about 4 months wages of a Roman soldier, each weigh approximately three to four grams and date from the third and second century BC to the Hadrian period of 132 to 148AD.
 
Chichester museum has shown interest in acquiring the coins.
 
 
Not far from Petworth is the Roman Villa at Bignor
Visit the remains of the Roman Villa, Bignor
 
 

It’s not really a museum. It’s a house that has been restored, redecorated, furnished and equipped as if it were 1910. Mrs. Mary Cummings was the tenant from 1901 to 1930. Mary came to Petworth when her husband, Michael Thomas, left the army. He had been a Farrier Sgt. Major and came to work as a farrier on the Leconfield Estate. Their home is an example of what Lord Leconfield, provided for his workers in 1910.
The reconstruction takes account of the living memories of Mary’s time here, her Irish Catholic background and her work as a seamstress at home and at Petworth House.
Thousands have visited since it first opened in 1996, most finding it very nostalgic or very educational....depending on age!