The Gosbecks Mercury

This is a bronze figurine of the Roman god Mercury. It was found in 1945 by Bert Beales, while ploughing at Gosbecks a few miles to the south west of Colchester town centre. Not realising its importance he kept it in his garden shed until, two years later, experts recognised it as a Roman statue of the god Mercury. It is widely considered to be the finest bronze statue to have survived from Roman Britain.