Herefordshire Hoard to be loaned to Viking museum

The coins and jewellery were found in Herefordshire by two detectorists who did not declare the treasure

A collection of Viking treasure, which was once at the centre of a court case, is to go on display in a Yorkshire museum for a limited time.

The Herefordshire Hoard has been loaned to York Archaeology and will go on show in the JORVIK Viking Centre from February.

The coins and jewellery were found in Herefordshire by two metal detectorists who did not declare the treasure.

After their trial, £776,250 was raised in 2022 to buy the collection from the British Museum and keep the items in the county under Hereford's Museum Resource and Learning Centre, part of the council.

George Powell and Layton Davies uncovered the treasures, thought to have originally included about 300 coins, in 2015 in Eye, near Leominster, and sold them to dealers instead of formally reporting the discovery.

They were jailed in 2019, with the court told most of the hoard - valued at anywhere between £3m and £12m - was still missing.

Two others were also jailed for their part in concealing the find.

The Herefordshire Hoard will be temporarily displayed at the JORVIK Viking Centre from February 2024

The remaining hoard comprises 29 silver coins, one silver ingot, a beast's head gold bracelet, a rock crystal pendant and a gold ring.

It would have been buried around AD 878, and represented the first evidence of the Great Viking Army in Herefordshire.

Christine McDonnell, head of collections for York Archaeology, said: "We are incredibly grateful to be able to share this with visitors to Jorvik Viking Centre.

"We will never know why these precious objects were buried – perhaps as a way of keeping them ‘safe’ as the owner went off to battle – but they reveal new information about politics in the south in the late 9th Century."

Damian Etheraads, Herefordshire Council’s museum and art gallery lead said: "The Herefordshire Hoard is an amazing collection of objects which throw light on a little known but significant episode in English history.

"Loaning objects like the hoard to other museums is an important way of raising the profile of Herefordshire and encourage people to take a new look at the area."

The hoard is also due to be displayed at Hereford's Museum and Art Gallery when it reopens in 2025.

There will also be an opportunity for people in Hereford to see the hoard in January 2024 before it goes on loan.

Select objects will be on display in the Temporary Library at the Museum Resource and Learning Centre on Friars Street between 9 and 17 January.