You Viking beauty
Scot to get £2m for amazing hoard he unearthed using metal detector
A MAN who discovered the UK’s richest ever Viking treasure hoard is set to receive a £2million reward.
Derek McLennan uncovered the jewellery with his metal detector in a field in Galloway in 2014.
The 10th-century hoard includes silver bracelets and brooches, a gold ring, an enamelled Christian cross and a birdshaped gold pin.
The Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (QLTR) – who rule on ownerless goods – say the 100 or so items should be allocated to National Museums Scotland, who must pay the retired businessman from Ayr £1.98million. The amount has been set to reflect the market value of the find.
Rules on discoveries in Scotland mean only the finder receives payment. In the rest of the UK, awards are split with the land owner.
NMS director Dr Gordon Rintoul said: “The Galloway hoard is of outstanding international significance.
“We have six months to raise £1.98million to acquire this unique treasure for the nation and ensure it can be enjoyed by future generations at home and abroad.”
Most of the hoard is silver jewellery but it also contains textiles and an “outstanding range of exceptional precious metal and jewelled items”.
There’s a rare gold ingot, beads, crystals and a silver-gilt cup thought to be of Byzantine origin.
NMS said other finds around Britain or Ireland have been exceptional for a single type of item.
But the Galloway hoard is “unique” in bringing together objects “hinting at previously unknown connections” between people across Europe in the 10th century.
The Galloway Viking Hoard campaign group want the items to be displayed near where they were discovered.
NMS said they will work with Dumfries and Galloway Council to have some of the hoard there.