On a fateful day in 1831 a resident of the Isle of Lewis discovered that a sand bank had collapsed, revealing a large chest of buried treasure. Inside the chest were ninety-three carved chess pieces that are today known as the isle of Lewis chessmen. The haul contained what are believed to be pieces from five different chess sets – sixteen kings & queens, fifteen bishops, fifteen, knights on horse back, twelve castles and nineteen pawns. One of the most loved quirks of these pieces are the expressions on the faces of the characters – the queens, knights and rooks have almost comical looks on their faces.

It is thought that these amazing pieces were hand carved in Norway from whales teeth and walrus ivory around 1150 AD and remained buried for hundreds of years after they were either lost or hidden. Some have speculated that the pieces may have been lost whilst sailing from Norway to Viking settlements in Ireland.