Funding secures Iron Age Melsonby Hoard for the nation

A groundbreaking discovery of Iron Age artefacts found by a metal detectorist has been saved for the UK.

The Yorkshire Museum has received £192,096 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, along with public donations, to acquire the Melsonby Hoard, which dates back 2,000 years.

Discovered in a farmer’s field near the North Yorkshire village in 2021, the site gave up more than 800 Iron Age artefacts including chariot wheels, cauldrons and horse bridles.

The variety of objects led archaeologists to make important breakthroughs in their understanding of Iron Age society, including how power and wealth were not exclusively held in the South.

Detectorist Peter Heads made the find and reported it to the proper authorities, and a team of Durham University archaeologists, with advice from the British Museum, took great care to excavate the hoard from two ditches.

The Iron Age artefacts were intricately detailed and were found in two ditches (Gareth Buddo/Yorkshire Museums Trust/PA)

Thanks to the National Memorial Fund, a public crowdfunder and other donations, the find has been secured by the Yorkshire Museum, based in York.

This will allow more research, conservation and analytical work to be carried out.

Kathryn Blacker, chief executive of York Museums Trust, said: “Thanks to the incredible support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, as well as generous donations from members of the public, the hoard will remain here in Yorkshire, to be made available for everyone to see and to enjoy.

“We remain committed to researching and conserving these unprecedented finds to improve our understanding of our shared past and securing them for future generations.”

Simon Thurley, chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said: “The Melsonby Hoard throws bright new light on Iron Age life in Yorkshire and beyond.

“We are pleased to support this acquisition which will keep the hoard intact, in the county in which it was buried and enable research to take place to gain a deeper insight into its origin and history.

“The memorial fund exists to save the UK’s most outstanding heritage and make it publicly accessible, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK.

“We are delighted to count the Melsonby Hoard as part of the growing and timeless collection of UK heritage that belongs to all of us forever.”