hoard – Friends of Leeds City Museums

04/25/201208/25/2012

The Hoard remains in Leeds

A Display of the West Yorkshire Hoard © Leeds Museums and GaAlleries

Leeds Museums and Galleries have successfully acquired the West Yorkshire Hoard, and it will now stay permanently in Leeds!

Along with our contribution, generous grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund, The Headley Trust, Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and the Goldsmith’s Company, as well as almost £14,000 in public donations, ensured that these amazing finds will now stay in their home museum.

A huge thank you to everybody who donated to the appeal, it really made a huge difference and without your help these nationally significant finds would not have been saved for the public.

You can still see the West Yorkshire Hoard on temporary display in The Leeds Story gallery in Leeds City Museum.

What happens now?

Now the objects are staying in Leeds, the museums service are working on developing a new permanent display for the objects within The Leeds Story gallery. They will be involving partners such as the Institute for Medieval Studies at Leeds University to develop ongoing research which will feed into the interpretation of the finds. Leeds Museums and Galleries also hope to develop a small publication on The West Yorkshire Hoard by the end of the year.

If you want to find out more, Curator of Archaeology, Katherine Baxter, will be giving a free half-hour lunch time talk on the hoard in The Leeds Story Gallery as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, on Tuesday 24^th July 12.30-1pm.

11/15/201108/25/2012

The National Heritage Memorial Fund Steps in to Support

A £95,000 grant from The National Heritage Memorial Fund has been awarded toward the acquisition of The West Yorkshire Hoard.

The NHMF was set up to save the most outstanding parts of our heritage at risk of loss to the nation, as a memorial to those who have given their lives for the UK.

The West Yorkshire Hoard is of national importance and is at risk of being sold at auction if the money is not raised, so the NHMF deemed it worthy of such a generous grant.

There has been such a positive response to the appeal and supporters have been so generous in their giving and general support, however, there is still a shortfall and all of the stops are being pulled out to reach £170,000 the Hoard has been valued at by experts at the British Museum. The total left to raise for the appeal is just short of £15,000 – we are so close!

Donations are still being accepted to the appeal as with this news, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have agreed to extend the loan of the Hoard until 15th December 2011 while the remaining money is raised. The Hoard will stay on display in Leeds City Museum until then.

11/14/201108/25/2012

Results of grant applications imminent as deadline looms

Niello Finger Ring © Trustees of the British Museum

We will find out the results of fundraising applications tomorrow. These decisions will determine whether the purchase of the West Yorkshire Hoard is within reach of acquistion for Leeds and West Yorkshire.

Continued thanks to all of those who have and continue to donate to the appeal. Should these grant applications be sucessful, there will still be a small shortfall and we are still actively fundraising – so please continue to donate.

Watch this space for news of decisions and running totals!

11/09/201108/25/2012

6 days and counting – a big final push is needed!

Cabachon Ring © Trustees of the British Museum

There are just six days left before the resting place of the West Yorkshire Hoard is determined.

At 11am this morning, thanks to grant giving and personal donations, the total raised towards the purchase of the Hoard, which was found in Leeds, is £44,982.50.

Should further grant applications that are awaiting decision next week be successful, the remaining funds that we need to raise are just under £21,000 – we are so close!

A fantastic £1,770 was raised at the preview evening at Leeds City Museum, led by the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and the Friends of Leeds Museums. Many thanks to all that attended and we hope you enjoyed the event.

Online donations raised to date are £1,478.75 (incl. gift aid).

Cheques sent in to the appeal total £1,733.75 (incl. gift aid)

Sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to this appeal. A list of which is on our supporters page but doesn’t list the very generous donations made by supporters who wish to remain anonymous who we sincerely thank.

Remember the Hoard is currently on display at Leeds City Museum until 15th November!

10/26/201108/25/2012

The Hoard visits Leeds City Museum

Entry facade at Leeds City Museum the event locations

The West Yorkshire Hoard will be on temporary loan to Leeds City Museum for a limited time in November and the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society are hosting a special event for members to preview the treasures on Wednesday 2 November from 7:00 – 8:30pm.

This is a unique opportunity to see the newly-discovered, Anglo-Saxon, West Riding Hoard, at a preview before its first public showing. This event will also launch a public appeal by the Friends and the ‘Phil & Lit’ for funds to purchase the hoard for the Leeds City Museums.

The event will be held at Leeds City Museum on Millennium Square in Leeds and will include a reception with wine and ‘nibbles’, to be followed by short talks about the discovery, context and significance of the hoard. If you wish to help purchase the hoard for Leeds, please bring your cheque book – and a pen!

Read more about the Hoard and how to donate in advance of the event.

Leeds Museums and Galleries have been offered first refusal to purchase the hoard as the local museum service. Grants towards the purchase of these items have been awarded by organisations like ours, The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and The Art Fund – but we are still well short of the of the required sum. We have until 15th November to raise the remainder. If we fail, the objects are likely to end up in a private collection and be lost from the public sphere

An entry charge of £5:00 per head will be made towards the cost of refreshments. More information and information on how to make donations is available on this website.

For further information about this event and to book, contact Dr J E Lydon: Secretary, Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, Faculty of Biological Sciences, The University, Leeds, LS2 9JT

E: j.e.lydon@leeds.ac.uk

T: 0113 3433036 (daytime) 0113 2785596 (evenings)