There are just a few days left to sign the online petition to keep the the magnificent Galloway Viking Hoard in Kirkcudbright before campaigners deliver it to Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP.
Cathy Agnew, Chair of the Galloway Viking Hoard (GVH) Campaign and Guthrum the 10th-century warrior, joined forces to urge people to show their support and to thank the thousands from all round the world who have already sent letters, emails and put their names to the petition.
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 two bids – one for its home to be in Kirkcudbright and the other for it to be held by National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.
Ms Hyslop is being called on to help ensure the hoard is displayed locally – in the area where it was buried for 1,000 years to keep it safe.
With a population of around 150,000 people in Dumfries and Galloway there must be people who still haven’t signed yet, Lets get as many D&G folk and people from beyond our borders to help the fight to keep the Hoard where it was found, Just click HERE to sign the GVH Campaign petition.
Mrs Agnew said: “Our campaign, and the council, have had hundreds of messages of support and around 3,000 people have already signed the online petition. We are calling for one final push before we deliver the petition in Edinburgh next week.
“The Galloway Viking Hoard is an important treasure and we want it saved for the region and the nation by giving it a secure home in a dedicated exhibition space which has been planned for the new art gallery in Kirkcudbright.
“We hoped that could be a joint partnership agreement with NMS but they seem determined to have sole ownership, only allowing the whole hoard to come to Dumfries and Galloway for short periods – such as when they are closed for building works.
“We strongly support the council’s decision to continue to negotiate for a fairer partnership deal with NMS.”
The hoard was discovered at an undisclosed location in Galloway near to Kirkcudbright 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 enamelled Christian cross, decorated Anglo-Saxon brooches, armbands and an engraved Carolingian silver vessel. The items come from across Europe – there are even fragments of Byzantine silk.
If the hoard is given a home in Kirkcudbright GVH is keen to see agreements reached for it to be displayed at other times in the NMS in Edinburgh and beyond.
But an update from the council suggests that NMS would only let the whole hoard come to Kirkcudbright for seven months after restoration and “when the relevant gallery at the National Museum is closed for re-development”. In addition they say a proportion would be loaned long-term, but have failed to explain what this means.
A letter to the GVH Campaign group from Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chair of the Communities Committee at which members of all political parties rejected the NMS proposals, 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.”
