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The Staffordshire Hoard
3 November 2009 – 17 April 2010 / Room 37 / Free
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever
found.
Find out more about the
Staffordshire Hoard
Press release of
valuation
Buy
the appeal book: The Staffordshire Hoard £4.99
The first pieces of the Staffordshire Hoard were found in early July 2009 by Mr Terry Herbert while he was metal detecting in a field in southern Staffordshire.
An archaeological excavation followed, funded by English Heritage and Staffordshire County Council and carried out by Birmingham Archaeology. Over 1,500 complete artefacts and fragments were discovered.
Finds included sword fittings, part of a helmet and three gold Christian crosses. Most of the complete objects are made of gold. Some are decorated with pieces of garnet, a deep red semi-precious stone, others with fine filigree work or patterns made up of animals with interlaced bodies.
Current thinking dates the hoard to the later 600s or earlier 700s AD. However, there are still many questions yet to be answered about this astonishing find.
Forty objects and fragments from the hoard
are now on display
in the Museum.
Image:
A selection of objects from the Staffordshire Hoard
© Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery