Buried “Treasure” Found at Fallsington Friends Meeting
Recently, Friends at Fallsington Meeting were approached by someone who wanted to sweep their historic property with a metal detector, to see if he could unearth any interesting artifacts. The meeting, which was established in 1683, has had numerous meetinghouses built on the land over its 300-year history, and there was certainly something to discover buried beneath the soil. And while nothing of great monetary value was found, something of great historical value was – a well preserved bronze plaque engraved with “SOLEBURY ESTD. 1806,” and a well-worn fork and spoon.
Commemorative plaque
These items aroused the curiosity of member Jonathan Snipes, who began doing a little research into their possible origins. He soon figured out that they were all part of an event held in 1933 to commemorate the meeting’s 250th anniversary.
The celebration included a picnic on the front lawn – that explained the fork and spoon. Another part of the celebration was the planting of fourteen trees on the property – one for each of the monthly meetings in Bucks Quarter. Each had their own bronze plaque identifying the meeting it represented, and the year that meeting was founded. The Solebury plaque was found under the very first tree as you enter the driveway. That solved the mystery of the plaque.
Jonathan speculated that over time, the plaques were either removed or perhaps had fallen and become buried and forgotten by subsequent generations. He hopes that there may be future excavations to see if there is more buried “treasure,” just waiting to be discovered.
Current Fallsington Friends Meetinghouse