Thousands call on Culture Secretary to help ensure treasures have their home in Kirkcudbright – near to where they were buried 1,000 years ago
Vikings joined campaigners at the Scottish Parliament to call for 1,000-year-old treasures to be returned to Galloway where they were found and not kept in Edinburgh by the National Museums.
The Galloway Viking Hoard (GVH) Campaign wants to see the finds finally displayed in a dedicated exhibition space at a new gallery in Kirkcudbright where they would have pride of place, while boosting tourism in the area.
Online and paper petitions have attracted more than 5,000 signatures and there have been hundreds of messages of support from across the country and from overseas.
A letter backing the campaign has been signed by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KBE, Dame Barbara Kelly DBE FRIAS, Sir Alex Fergusson, Sir Malcolm Ross GCVO, Sir John Thomson GCMG, Richard Arkless MP and Professor E J Cowan FRSE.
The petition calls on Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP to help ensure the hoard returns home to Galloway.
Cathy Agnew, Chair of the GVH Campaign, said: “The message from Galloway, Scotland and around the world is very clear – the hoard was buried in Galloway for safekeeping 1,000 years ago and that is where its home should be.
“We have huge support from the general public, academics, politicians of all parties and many others. It would be a travesty if their voices were ignored.
“Having the hoard in the secure and dedicated space specially designed for it in the new Kirkcudbright Art Gallery is the right thing to do in terms of history, context and archaeology.
“It is also really important for the economy of an area which has suffered badly in recent years and where the Scottish Government has already pledged to act to boost tourism.
“If the hoard goes to the enormous national museum in Edinburgh, already packed with treasures, it will completely undermine the spirit of 2017 as Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”
The hoard was discovered at an undisclosed location in Galloway by a metal detectorist in 2014.
It includes more than 100 gold and silver objects, some already old when they were hidden.
Among them are a unique gold bird-shaped pin, an enameled Christian cross, decorated Anglo-Saxon brooches, armbands and an engraved Carolingian silver vessel. The items are thought to come from across Europe – there are even fragments of Byzantine silk.
The hoard provides an important window on the 10th century, a fascinating and little understood time in Galloway’s history, and shows that it had links around the Irish Sea zone and beyond to Europe and the Mediterranean.
A vital meeting takes place on 23 March at which the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP) is due to make its final recommendation on the two bids for the hoard – one for its home to be in Kirkcudbright and the other for it to be held by National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.
The GVH Campaign is firmly supportive of the bid from Dumfries and Galloway Council. While this would see the hoard given its rightful home in Kirkcudbright it would also allow it to be displayed from time to time elsewhere, including Edinburgh.
It is confident that the council has access to all the necessary expertise required for fundraising, conservation, research, education, merchandising and marketing. Its plans would save the hoard for the region and the nation.
Information provided by NMS to Dumfries and Galloway Council to date, is still very unclear and raises serious concerns. It contains no clear fundraising strategy and is extremely vague about other key aspects of the hoard’s future.
While stating that it would allow the whole hoard to be displayed in Galloway on certain occasions, this appears only to be for a few months once conservation is completed and when the relevant area of the national museum is shut for building works. In addition it is suggested that a representative selection would be “loaned” to the area it came from on, a long-term basis.
A recent meeting of the council’s Communities Committee saw members of all parties reject the current NMS proposals.
A letter to the GVH Campaign group from committee chair Councillor Tom McAughtrie, says:
“When asked, NMS officers stated they were not in a position to provide any further definition of the ‘significant and representative proportion’ nor to clarify how often or for how long NMS would close their gallery for re-development.”
However the GVH Campaign would warmly welcome further talks with all parties in the hope of reaching a compromise joint agreement.
Find out more on the GVH website at gallowayvikinghoard.com
