Visiting the Staffordshire Hoard

Looking along the table where the entire hoard was laid out -
in the foreground are its 86 sword pommels, with other sword
fittings behind, followed by decorative and religious items.

Sometimes being a journalist is a real boon for this little history nerd, getting me access to places I would never normally see. Until recently the pinnacle of this was being invited to attend the press conference where they announced that the human remains excavated from beneath a Leicester carpark in 2012 were those of Richard III, 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

But last week I experienced something that, for an Early Medievalist, was even more exciting: a top-secret trip to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to see the Staffordshire Hoard, England's largest collection of Anglo-Saxon metalwork, assembled in one place for the first time since its initial discovery in 2009.

Why, if it was that exciting, am I blogging a week after events? Because until today we few journos, we happy few, who had been summoned to come and see the hoard, had been under strict embargo - such were the security concerns surrounding this unique group of objects that we were forbidden from breathing a word about it until it was safely split up among its normal four homes once more.

An astonishing assemblage

The hoard had been temporarily reunited for a major research project, allowing Anglo-Saxon expert Chris Fern to carefully examine every piece and group together matching fragments, and sword fittings that belonged to the same weapon - and as a single collection, spread out across a black tablecloth, the newly-cleaned and conserved pieces of gold and silver were an astonishing sight. It was actually rather moving to see this extraordinary assemblage with my own eyes, having read so much about it - though less than helpful to be struck speechless at a press conference!

Experts have now
matched sword fittings
from the same weapon

Piecing together the hoard physically has allowed researchers to begin to piece together its meaning, and a wealth of new information has already emerged - we now know that the items were collected over a period of some decades, and that they were probably made in a number of different regions of Britain. This helps to narrow down the hoard's purpose.

The enigmatic 'Mystery Object'. Now
reassembled, the jury is still out on
the intended purpose of this item.

Since its discovery, three main theories have been debated: that it was the war chest of a powerful Mercian chieftain; that it is a spectacular votive offering; or, less likely, that it represents the wares of a virtuosic but ill-fated artisan who stashed his stock for safekeeping but was unable to return to reclaim it later. Now it appears that these items, mostly made up of sword fittings roughly stripped from the weapons they adorned, were plunder, gathered from multiple battles with multiple peoples.

Decorative mount shaped like a bird of prey

What has also become evident, now the items have all been painstakingly cleaned (a delicate task; conservators have been using natural thorns instead of metal tools, to avoid damaging the soft gold), is the extraordinary artistic skill of their creators. Garnets barely 3mm across have been shaped into delicate curves, while some items are decorated with filigree (metal wires soldered onto a plate base) curls so fine that three of them are still not quite the length of a grain of rice.

Sword pyramid, boasting delicately
carved garnets barely 3mm in diameter

There is much still to find out about the hoard, but it is extremely exciting to see its secrets beginning to emerge - and even more so to hear about these developments in person. I'd reckoned on being at the museum for an hour... almost three passed before I could tear myself away.

The hoard team have a fab website here, with lots of photographs, as well as blogs and videos giving behind the scenes insights into their work. You can find out more about visiting the hoard here.

All images copyright Birmingham Museums Trust