Wiltshire has been named one of Britain’s top three treasure hotspots after hundreds of gold finds were recorded across the county.
The county, famous for prehistoric landmarks including Stonehenge and Avebury, came third in a nationwide study of 85 counties and historic areas across Britain.
Research by gold investment platform BullionVault placed Wiltshire behind only the Isle of Wight and neighbouring Dorset.
Wiltshire recorded 758 gold Treasure finds, equivalent to 21.8 discoveries per 100 square kilometres.
However, researchers also considered the concentration of scheduled monuments, which are protected sites considered to be of national archaeological importance.
Read more
Popular Wiltshire attraction named the best in the UK
Huge excitement as world famous locomotive stops at station
Crumbling riverside wall finally reaches next stage of repairs
Wiltshire has 1,360 scheduled monuments, giving it a concentration of 39 per 100 square kilometres.
That was the third-highest concentration recorded in Britain and helped push Wiltshire towards the top of the overall rankings.
The county finished ahead of Midlothian, Hampshire and North Yorkshire.
The research suggests Wiltshire’s archaeological significance stretches beyond its most famous prehistoric attractions, with recorded discoveries providing another insight into the history beneath its fields and countryside.
Dan Jay, director at BullionVault, said: “Britain has an extraordinary history beneath its feet, but looking only at where the most treasure has already been found gives us a very incomplete picture.
“We wanted to look at two sides of the story: where treasure discoveries have been concentrated and where the landscape shows particularly strong evidence of historic human activity.”
The research was carried out to mark International Archaeology Day on October 17, with data accessed in September 2026.
Researchers ranked each area separately according to the number of recorded finds and scheduled monuments per 100 square kilometres.
The two positions were then added together, with the area receiving the lowest combined score taking the highest overall position.
Where areas received the same combined score, their total number of recorded finds was used to decide their ranking.
Figures for England and Wales were based on British Museum gold Treasure records.
Full access to all of our articles online and on the app, fewer adverts, a better reading experience, exclusive competitions and more - all for less than the price of a cup of coffee. ☕️Subscribe now! - https://t.co/t7A1ayW7mR pic.twitter.com/Dk1fvaFm1K
— Wiltshire Times (@wiltshiretimes) April 13, 2026
Scottish figures instead used recorded coin finds and are therefore not directly comparable with those from England and Wales.
The ranking gave equal weight to find density and the concentration of scheduled monuments.
For Wiltshire, the findings place a county already renowned for Stonehenge and Avebury among the richest areas in Britain for both recorded archaeological discoveries and its concentration of nationally important historic sites.
Share