Thought to date from around the 7th century, the Staffordshire hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Now an appeal has been launched to raise £3.3million, in order to keep the collection from being sold and potentially broken up
In terms of what will be learned from the hoard, through careful study over many years to come, it's value is incalculable. But it has another value, which is perhaps even greater: this is one of those very few, special finds which captures the imagination of the general public.
As re-enactors, we know well how challenging it can be to get people interested in Anglo-Saxon England. There is no Pyramid or Parthenon to visit. Many of our most remarkable artefacts are hard to appreciate at first glance. Swords and armour are often corroded or broken. Books and tapestries have to be studied and understood. In the period still known as the dark ages, people too often imagine brutes wrapped in a bearskins. Now we can picture warriors richly adorned in gold and jewels, shaped by master craftsmen at the pinacle of their art.
...a thousand winters they waited there. For all that heritage huge, that gold of bygone men, was bound by a spell, so the treasure-hall could be touched by none of human kind
This is one of those few displays that has the power to amaze. It is treasure. Not just one piece, but more than a thousand. The skills to make them did not come out of nowhere. We can look at the hoard and see a culture full of skill and artistry. All found by an ordinary member of the public. These things make for a display that people want to see.
What's more, there's a story behind it - a mystery at that. Why were these fantastic items taken, and buried together in the ground somewhere in the heart of Mercia? We will never really know, but we can wonder.
And wonder we should. To split up such a trove, or to remove it from the area where it lay for over a thousand years would be to lose a big part of it.
You can find out more about the Staffordshire hoard and the appeal at http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/
