Mercian treasure to remain in Mercia

[Eoin666]

Staffordshire Hoard saved for the West Midlands

The Staffordshire Hoard is to remain in the West Midlands after the £3.3m purchase price was met.

The Anglo Saxon treasure was found in a field in Staffordshire by a metal-detecting enthusiast last July.

A grant of £1.285m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) has been added to the money raised by a campaign led by Stoke and Birmingham councils.

The Memorial Fund grant stops the collection from being divided up and sold to private collectors.

Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of NHMF, said: "The Staffordshire Hoard is an extraordinary heritage treasure.

"It is exactly the sort of thing the National Heritage Memorial Fund was set up to save."

The haul, described as the UK's largest find of Anglo-Saxon treasure, comprises 1,600 items including sword pommels, helmet parts and processional crosses.

More than 40,000 visitors saw it when it went on show at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in September.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, in Stoke-on-Trent, had to closes queues to visitors early due to the popularity of the display in February.

The value of the treasure was set by a committee of experts.

The money will be split between Terry Herbert, 55, of Burntwood, in Staffordshire, who found it, and Fred Johnson, who owns the farm where it was discovered.

Historian David Starkey said: "The Staffordshire Hoard provides us with vital clues to our ancient past and now we can set about decoding them.

"I'm delighted that all the other funding bodies and the generous public have helped save these breathtaking treasures for posterity."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8583162.stm

[big_les]

Great news - not so much that it's staying in the region (after all, it's of national importance and could justifiably be in the British Museum) but that it will stay in the country at all given the recession. Worst case would have been parting it out to rich collectors.

[JCR]

A relatively new phenomenon worldwide in Archaeology.
Previously, archaeological findings would most likely have gone into a large central museum in a national or regional capital.
Now they try to keep in as close as possible to the site in order to promote tourism.
A good thing for the region where the treasure was found.
The celtic "sky disc" of Nebra in east germany is another example. 20 years ago, it would've ended up in Berlin, now it is the centerpiece of an on-site museum.

No archaeological treasure legally found in Europe will go to private collectors nowadays. What ends there is from illegal digging or from objects museums are not interested in.

[Blackcatnursery]

Fantastic news, I just hope they build somewhere to house it properly in Staffordshire.

I took a rare day off work in September to go and see the items that were being displayed and they are truly wonderful. Something very very special.

Also I am very proud of the finder and the landowner for handing everything over and keeping the hoard together.

I will defiantly go again to see it once it has a permanent home.

[wotsnext]

Fantastic news, I just hope they build somewhere to house it properly in Staffordshire.

I took a rare day off work in September to go and see the items that were being displayed and they are truly wonderful. Something very very special.

Also I am very proud of the finder and the landowner for handing everything over and keeping the hoard together.

I will defiantly go again to see it once it has a permanent home.

Hanley museum?

[Blackcatnursery]

Hanley museum?
No I wanted to go an see it there as well but didn't get a chance, I think they may have displayed some more items as well?
Saw it in Birmingham, it was in the Museum and Art Gallery.
Very busy and felt a bit hurried (probably just me) but will defiantly go and have another look when it gets a permanent home because I want to see the enamel work again