Galloway Hoard return home sets visitor record

The Galloway Hoard is back in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, where it was found by detectorist Derek McLennan in September 2014. It is on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries until 10 July 2022 where it has proved to be a big attraction; it has already been seen by more than 30,000 people, making it the most popular event since the venue opened in 2018.

Dr Chris Breward, NMS director, said he was delighted by the success it had enjoyed “It has been a pleasure to work with our colleagues at Kirkcudbright Galleries and we look forward to continuing our collaboration around the Galloway Hoard for many years to come“

The exhibition is part of a tour across Scotland; they move to Aberdeen Art Gallery from 30 July.

Controversy

The hoard has been the subject of some controversy.

Where to display it

The permanent home of the hoard is the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) but that was only decided upon after a lengthy legal battle. NMS is now fulfilling the commitment it gave at the time to temporarily bring the items closer to find site.

Reward

Scottish law allows the finder to keep the reward for Treasure finds, in this case £1.98 million. The Church of Scotland, the landowner, believed there was an agreement for the reward to be shared with them and in 2019 launched a legal action against Derek McLennan.

Research

National Museum of Scotland have conducted an extensive research and restoration project on the hoard. Kirkcudbright Galleries have been hosting a series of talks on this research Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard: A series of online talks. There is a final talk in the series on 21 June by by Dr Adrián Maldonado who will be summarising the main findings from this seminar series, addressing some recurring audience questions, and discuss the gaps in our knowledge which still remain about the Galloway Hoard. You can register for free here.