Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent are celebrating today following the announcement that the £3.3 million to acquire the Staffordshire Hoard has been secured a month ahead of schedule – but the fundraising continues.
The announcement comes after news that the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) has approved a donation of £1.285 million that will meet the initial target of £3.3 million needed to acquire the joint ownership of the Hoard by Birmingham and Stoke museums.
The joint owners of the hoard are now focussing their attention on raising a further £1.7 so that the full story of the hoard can be told with a Mercian trail and special displays. But before this can happen money is needed for essential conservation work to take place.
The Hoard was discovered, by a local metal detecting enthusiast, in a field in Burntwood, West Midlands last July. It was declared Treasure in September and valued at £3.3million by the Treasure Valuation Committee in November 2009. The fundraising appeal fronted by the Art Fund was launched on 13 January 2010 with historian Dr David Starkey, to keep the Staffordshire Hoard in the region.
Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure Sport and Culture said: “It is great achievement to secure the hoard for the West Midlands Region. Not only have we managed to raise the necessary £3.3 million to return the hoard to its rightful home a month ahead of schedule but a staggering £800,000 of this has been raised by personal donations.
I have been overwhelmed by the public response and can’t thank enough everyone who has given and supported our campaign in helping us bringing the Hoard home.”
A selection of 59 items from the Staffordshire Hoard are currently on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. Details on how to contribute to the fundraising campaign are available on the Museum’s website at www.bmag.org.uk/support-us. For further information on Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, please visit www.bmag.org.uk.
A documentary programme on the Staffordshire Hoard by National Geographic will be broadcast on Nat Geo UK on Sunday 28 March at 8pm. It will be repeated on Monday 29 March at 2pm and 7pm.It will also be broadcast on Channel Four on Monday 12 April, at a time to be confirmed.
Jason Lewis: 0121 303 4266, jason_lewis@birmingham.gov.uk
Related posts:
- Anglo-Saxon hoard to be unveiled
- Rare communion silver saved for Birmingham
- See the Staffordshire Hoard
- Hoard returns to Birmingham
- Hoard fundraising plans to be announced
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Excellent. Well done everyone. The finder,the landowner,the museum staff and all the clever people who raised the money to keep this historic collection here in the Midlands.
This is great news and just shows what the enthusiasm from everyone involved and the Midlands public can achieve.
The gold as surfaced 1300 years later and caught the imagination of the whole region.
Well Done to everyone involved.
Watching the Ch4 documentary, seems people don’t understand why the gold was stripped and buried and the steel blades, etc., taken away. Seems obvious to me. The victors were Christians, and they buried the “treasure” as a sign of contempt.
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.