Museum still needs donations to keep Iron Age hoard

The hoard includes a horse brooch thought to be more than 2,000 years old

A final £5,000 is needed by a museum to acquire an Iron Age hoard found in a field by a metal detectorist.

Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum want to buy the hoard found in a sealed pottery urn in Rotherfield Peppard near Henley-on-Thames in August 2020.

Excavated by archaeologists the pot contained a 2,000-year-old brooch from a horse harness used to pull a chariot, a dress broach, a coin and an enamelled handle from a shallow bowl.

Declared treasure, the county council's museum service has the first chance to buy the items for £10,500. If the money is not raised by midday on 6 October the hoard could be put up for sale.

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

The hoard is thought to have been buried in AD 50-150, shortly after the Roman invasion.

The museum wants to keep the items for public display and avoid the hoard falling into private hands.

Angie Bolton, curator of archaeology for the Oxfordshire museum service, said: "This Oxfordshire hoard, buried nearly 2,000 years ago, really belongs to all of Oxfordshire residents.

"Getting the hoard into the Oxfordshire museum service archaeology collection will enable all residents of Oxfordshire to come see it, enjoy it and be inspired by it for the next 2,000 years.

"If you can chip in and support us, no matter how small your donation, we will care for it on your behalf."

A Roman coin was just one of the objects discovered inside a pottery urn buried in an Oxfordshire field.

To date the Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum, a registered charity that supports the Oxfordshire Museum, has raised £5,853 towards the target of £10,500 since it started the appeal in July.

The charity said donors who gave more than £20 would be invited to a special viewing of the hoard if the fundraising campaign was successful.