Public helps Yorkshire Museum buys 2,000-year-old jewellery

The public’s generous support means the two thousand-year-old gold bracelet - or torc - will stay in Yorkshire.

In September the Yorkshire Museum, York, made an appeal to reunite the torc with a similar one already in its collections.

Both were found at Towton, near Tadcaster and together they represent the first gold Iron Age jewellery ever found in the north of England.

Now, thanks to donations from the public and funding bodies, the full £30,000 has been raised to make sure the iconic piece of jewellery stays in Yorkshire.

Natalie McCaul, curator of archaeology, said: “It is wonderful news that the funds have been raised to keep this fantastic piece of jewellery.

“We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the public and without their help we may have seen the bracelet enter a private collection.”

The Victoria & Albert Purchase Grant Fund donated £7,000 to the appeal, while the rest of the funding came from charitable funding bodies and individuals who wish to remain anonymous.

Both torcs are now on public display in the museum’s reception area.

The two torcs were found by metal detectorists separately, in 2010 and 2011, within metres of each other but experts believe they were almost certainly buried at the same time.