Stolen Herefordshire Viking hoard to 'come home' after fundraiser

The treasure will initially be housed at the Hereford Museum Resource and Learning Centre from Saturday

A hoard of Viking treasure has been bought by a council's museum service.

The so-called Herefordshire Hoard will be housed in the county after a successful fundraising campaign.

Much of the hoard, found in 2015 by metal detectorists, is still missing after being illegally sold to dealers.

Hereford Museum said it was "thrilled" what has been recovered to date would be displayed near where it was originally buried more than 1,000 years ago.

The collection will be displayed at its temporary home in Hereford's Museum Resource and Learning Centre before it is re-housed in a new museum.

Most of the estimated 300 coins believed to be part of the hoard are still missing

Detectorists George Powell and Layton Davies were jailed in 2019 after stealing the hoard and selling it to dealers without declaring it.

The court was told most of the hoard - valued between £3m and £12m - was still missing.

The collection includes a 9th Century gold ring, a dragon's head bracelet, a silver ingot and a crystal rock pendant.

Among the hoard was a crystal pendant that dates to around AD600

A successful four-month endeavour to buy the recovered items, valued at £776,250, ended on Saturday, said Herefordshire County Council.

Grants were awarded by national funding bodies including Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Its chair, Simon Thurley, said it was "fitting that the hoard will 'come home' to the place where it was buried 1,100 years ago."

"The story of this extraordinary treasure, which lay undisturbed for over 1,000 years only to fall into the wrong hands, cannot fail to fascinate," added Jenny Waldman, from Art Fund.

"Hereford Museum and Art Gallery is the best possible place to share these evocative objects with as many people as possible."

The council said there would be "plenty of opportunities" for the public to see the hoard with £8m funding approved to refurbish the museum.