Information on Loughborough

Official Opening of Harborough Museum Treasure Gallery by Trustee of British Museum

Posted on 21/10/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Community Services

16 October 2009

Official Opening of Harborough Museum Treasure Gallery by Trustee of British Museum

Photo opportunity: Representatives of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Art Fund, MLA / V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the British Museum are amongst the guests coming from all over the country to witness the official opening of the Treasure Gallery at Harborough Museum on Tuesday 20th October at 6pm.

Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE will be unveiling a plaque to mark the opening. He is a Trustee of the British Museum as well as the Professor for European Archaeology at the University of Oxford. More than 50 people from the many organisations that are funding the treasure project, as well as some of the original excavators of the Treasure, British Museum experts, Museum volunteers and councillors will gather to hear the Professor speak. Leicestershire County Council, Chairman Roger Wilson, will also be saying a few words to commemorate the occasion.  

The Southeast Leicestershire Treasure is the archive of material produced by several stages of archaeological work undertaken by local community archaeologists and University of Leicester Archaeological Services. The site proved to be an internationally important ritual site dating mostly to the generations before and after the Roman Conquest of Britain in the first century AD.

Roger Wilson, Chairman of Leicestershire County Council, said:

“This is is a way to recognise all of the many people involved in the Southeast Leicestershire treasure project – from the major funding partners such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, the academic support from the University of Leicester,  the British Museum; through to the excavators themselves, both professional and volunteers without whom this wonderful archaeological treasure would never have been found.  The treasure is a truly remarkable find for Leicestershire and the new gallery will display it in a way so that everyone can enjoy it.”  

Harborough Museum is administered in partnership by Leicestershire County Council, Harborough District Council and the Market Harborough Historical Society.

The £290,000 refit is part of the Southeast Leicestershire Project to bring The Hallaton Treasure to the region. The whole project is funded with grants from The Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund - the UK's leading independent art charity, The MLA/V&A Purchase Fund, the DCMS Wolfson Foundation, Renaissance East Midlands, and The Headley Trust with local contributions from the Friends of Leicester and Leicestershire Museums, the Leicestershire Museums Fieldwork Group, and Leicestershire County Council as well as private individuals.  Harborough District Council and The British Museum are also supporting the project.

Harborough Museum is open Monday to Saturday 10.30am to 4.15pm.  Admission FREE.  The Museum's entrance is in Fox Yard just off Symington Way on the first floor of the Council Offices.  Lift access is available.

  • To contact Harborough Museum phone (01858) 821085 or email harboroughmuseum@leics.gov.uk
  • To contact Hallaton Museum phone (01858) 555305

http://www.leics.gov.uk/harboroughmuseum

Notes to the Editor:

The purpose of the project is to purchase, conserve, interpret and promote the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure.  The cost of the project is £933,872 which includes purchasing the finds, conserving the finds, displays at Harborough Museum and at Hallaton Museum, two touring exhibitions, web based resources, workshops for schools and community groups, and events for the public.

The project is supported by grants of £650,600 from The Heritage Lottery Fund, £100,000 from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, £35,000 from the Museums and Art Galleries Improvements Fund, £35,000 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Fund Grant, grants from The Headley Trust and Renaissance East Midlands, and local contributions from the Friends of Leicester and Leicestershire Museums, the Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Group and the County Council, as well as private individuals.  The support of Harborough District Council is also gratefully acknowledged.

Harborough Museum Development Sponsors