Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found

LONDON. The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire.

Experts said the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size and worth at least £1 million.

It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown.

Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of". It may take more than a year for it to be valued.

The Staffordshire Hoard contains about 5 kg of gold and 2.5 kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5 kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: "This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries.

Herbert, 55, of Burntwood in Staffordshire, who has been metal detecting for 18 years, came across the hoard as he searched land belonging to a farmer friend over five days in July. The exact location has not been disclosed.

BBC correspondent Nick Higham said the hoard would be valued by the British Museum and the money passed on to Herbert and the landowner. Duncan Slarke, finds liaison officer for Staffordshire, was the first professional to see the hoard which contains warfare paraphernalia, including sword pommel caps and hilt plates inlaid with precious stones. He said he was "virtually speechless" when he saw the items.