Museum group fundraises to keep Iron Age hoard

A rare horse brooch from the find is thought to be over 2,000 years old

A charity has launched a fundraiser to secure the future of an Iron Age hoard.

Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum needs £10,500 so the museum can acquire the find, discovered in 2020 in Rotherfield Peppard, near Henley-on-Thames.

It includes a 2,000-year-old horse brooch, and is officially classified as treasure.

The museum hopes that by buying the hoard it can keep it on public display and avoid it falling into private hands.

The hoard was found in Rotherfield Peppard near Henley-on-Thames

Discovered in a pottery urn, the find also included an enamelled patera handle, a silver Roman coin and a lead weight.

Archaeologist Dr Wendy Morrison, who later excavated the site, was contacted by the detectorist who had made the discovery and wanted to know what it was.

"Seeing that picture come in on my phone I leapt off the sofa in excitement," she said.

"I knew immediately that this was a significant find".

The photo in question was of the horse brooch, an extremely rare item believed to be buried in AD50-150, just after the Roman invasion.

Chilterns National Landscape said it is the best-preserved such object discovered since Somerset's Polden Hoard in the early 1800s.

Councillor Neil Fawcett, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "This is an exceptional opportunity for our county council museum service to acquire a fascinating collection of objects that tells us so many stories about our iron age forebears from so long ago."

Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum Chair Edward Dowler said, "We hope the campaign will inspire the many people who want to see Oxfordshire treasures kept in the county and displayed in its museum to donate."