Time is running out to help the Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum acquire an extraordinary Iron Age hoard discovered by a metal detectorist near Henley five years ago.
The registered charity is halfway towards raising the £10,500 needed to allow Oxfordshire County Council’s museum service to purchase the collection, which includes a rare horse harness brooch more than 2,000 years old.
The fundraising campaign closes at noon on Monday 06 October, leaving only days for donors to support the effort via the crowdfunder’s webpage.
Experts from the British Museum and the University of Oxford have highlighted the hoard’s significance. Dr Sophia Adams, first millennium European and Roman conquest period collections curator for the British Museum, said:
“This is an intriguing hoard of beguiling objects marking a personal and powerful moment of burial. The harness brooch is a magnificent example of a rare type of object that formed part of the harness for a pony pulling a chariot. It is unusual to find this buried with a dress brooch, a coin and the other items together in a pot.”
Emeritus Professor Gary Lock, from the University of Oxford’s School of Archaeology, added:
“This is a very important collection of objects that throws light on life in the late Iron Age/early Roman periods in Oxfordshire. Each item is interesting in its own right but to be found together in this way gives them added significance and rarity, raising all sorts of questions about their original use and why they were buried in this way.
“This hoard needs to be displayed within the context of Oxfordshire’s past and a local museum is the best way of doing that.”
The hoard, discovered in the parish of Rotherfield Peppard in August 2020, was buried in a pottery urn sealed by a quern stone. It contained a copper alloy horse harness fitting, an enamelled patera handle, a brooch, one silver Roman coin and a lead weight.
Classified as treasure under the Treasure Act, the county museum service has the first opportunity to acquire it before it is lost to 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.”
So far, 94 people have donated through the crowdfunder or museum donation boxes. Donors giving more than £20 will be invited to a special viewing if the campaign succeeds.
The Friends of the Oxfordshire Museum, a registered charity, supports the museum service in safeguarding the county’s heritage through acquisitions, education and fundraising.
