Cash raised for Anglo-Saxon hoard
The Staffordshire Hoard is to remain in the West Midlands after the £3.3m purchase price was met.
The Anglo Saxon treasure was found in a field in Staffordshire by a metal-detecting enthusiast last July.
A grant of £1.285m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) has been added to the money raised by a campaign led by Stoke and Birmingham councils.
The Memorial Fund grant stops the collection from being divided up and sold to private collectors.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of NHMF, said: "The Staffordshire Hoard is an extraordinary heritage treasure.
"It is exactly the sort of thing the National Heritage Memorial Fund was set up to save."
"The Staffordshire Hoard provides us with vital clues to our ancient past and now we can set about decoding them"
David Starkey
The haul, described as the UK’s largest find of Anglo-Saxon treasure, comprises 1,600 items including sword pommels, helmet parts and processional crosses.
More than 40,000 visitors saw it when it went on show at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in September.
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, in Stoke-on-Trent, had to closes queues to visitors early due to the popularity of the display in February.
The value of the treasure was set by a committee of experts.
The money will be split between Terry Herbert, 55, of Burntwood, in Staffordshire, who found it, and Fred Johnson, who owns the farm where it was discovered.
Historian David Starkey said: "The Staffordshire Hoard provides us with vital clues to our ancient past and now we can set about decoding them.
"I’m delighted that all the other funding bodies and the generous public have helped save these breathtaking treasures for posterity." </p
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