Hoards: gold lost, wonders discovered

Hoards: a hidden history of ancient Britain

a torc from the Leekfrith Hoard

A British Museum and Salisbury Museum Partnership Exhibition

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

Saturday 13 April to Sunday 16 June 2019

Preview: Saturday 13 April, 2–4pm

Discover buried treasure in an exhibition that focuses on hoards in ancient Britain and the stories these finds tell us about life and adventures in the past. Why did people hide precious objects in the ground? Why they did not retrieve them? The exhibition brings together

Coins from the Reynard's Kitchen Cave hoard

finds from the British Museum and Salisbury Museum, including spectacular Iron Age gold torcs and recent discoveries from Wessex. There will also be hoards from Derbyshire and the Peak District including additional material from Beeston Tor

Treasure is coming to Buxton Museum. Or rather, treasures new to us but old in their making, are coming to the Museum. A walk through the Wonders of the Peak today unfolds marvels and things that are indeed treasures – at least for me. There are hoards of bones, skull wonders and prehistoric tool magnificences. But for most people “hoards” means treasure that glitters, gold that gleams, gems that shine, jewellery that glows.

a brooch from Beeston Tor

Silver coins spilling from a pot, an old bag, worn thin by the centuries pours coins across a cave floor, a brooch and brooches hidden a thousand years ago come back to light and wonder…..Buxton Museum is hosting Hoards…..

https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/tours_and_loans/uk_loans_and_tours/current_tours_and_loans/hoards.aspx

Disappointed that tadpoles don’t usually count as “hoards” (but almost certainly as hordes!), Creeping Toad, all the same, is coordinating part of the lively events programme that will go with the Hoards exhibition. There is a lot of activity here and I’m going to separate it into several posts….

think of a hoard as "something precious"

Getting you started!

make your own treasure

The events programme as a whole includes a Finds Day, talks by museum experts, a weekend with a moneyer making coins the old-fashioned way, and useful advice from Citizen’s Advice Bureau on managing whatever hoard you have (or don’t have). The Toad events will be aimed at families but are open to anyone and everyone who would like to join in. The link below will take you to a list of all these events. I’ll post more details about the Toad ones over the next couple of weeks

LINK: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton-museum/events/buxton-museum-and-art-gallery-events.aspx

There will be a thread running through the Toad events: an invitation to build your own Hoard, where you can answer the following questions (you don’t need to do every event – just join us for one would be great!)

a lost glitter among the stones

Finding gold: A Golden Day, Curious Coins events

Where would you hide your Hoard? Tricky treasure maps event.

What would you hide your Hoard in? Silk Purses and Sow’s Ears, Treasure Chests, Pottery Piggies events

How would you keep your Hoard safe? Here Be Dragons and Giants, Dragons and Terrible Traps events

Then there will be (more sensible?) sessions that will include

• A Finds day
• A visit from a Moneyer – how coins used to be made
• Information sessions will offer advice on modern finances
• Morning Talks will explore Viking conquest, understanding hoards and the wonderful Leekfrith Hoard (only found in 2017!)

I hope this has whetted the long sharp knives of your excitement and you will join us for some Hoarded adventures over the spring!

Phot credits:

Leekfrith c/o Stoke Museums

Reynard's Kitchen Cave hoard: National Trust

Beeston Tor and other Brooch: Buxton Museum

other photos: G MacLellan 

Hoards: a hidden history of ancient Britain is a British Museum and Salisbury Museum Partnership Exhibition, generously supported by the Dorset Foundation
Supported by Museum Development East Midlands