The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is fundraising to hold on to a nationally significant Bronze Age treasure trove

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery has launched an appeal to raise £150,000 to acquire a rare Bronze Age gold artefact discovered in Ellastone, Staffordshire, in 2023.

The treasure is a 3,000-year-old dress fastener, expertly worked from a single piece of gold. Only 20 similar objects are known in the UK, and this is the first found in Staffordshire.

Joe Perry, the museum’s curator of local history, described it as “the most significant item of treasure” offered to the museum in the past decade. He emphasized that keeping the artefact locally would allow the public to access a nationally important object and enrich understanding of the region during the Bronze Age.

If the appeal is successful, the dress fastener would join Staffordshire’s other major treasures, including:

The Staffordshire Hoard – over 4,000 Anglo-Saxon gold and silver items discovered near Lichfield in 2009.
The Leekfrith Torcs – three Iron Age gold neck torcs and a smaller bracelet, discovered in 2016, likely belonging to high-status individuals.

Sir Peter Luff, Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, described the Leekfrith Torcs as “absolutely exquisite”, highlighting the significance of Staffordshire’s archaeological heritage.

This new find promises to transform understanding of the Bronze Age in Staffordshire and strengthen the county’s nationally important collection.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is actively fundraising to acquire the rare Bronze Age gold dress fastener found in Ellastone, Staffordshire, in 2023, with the museum temporarily closed for renovations and set to reopen in spring 2026.

The museum’s renovation—a £5 million reimagining project funded by Arts Council England—aims to modernize exhibits and enhance visitor experiences. Council cabinet member Sarah Hill said acquiring the fastener would strengthen the museum’s offering and give visitors “yet more reason to come and explore our area’s history.”

Fundraising is already showing promising progress:

£60,000 pledged by Art Fund, conditional on the remainder being raised.
Friends of the Potteries Museum are aiming to raise £15,000 through public donations.
Additional bids will be submitted to other external funding bodies.

Peter Wilson, Chair of the Friends group, highlighted the significance of the artefact as “a very special example of our local history” that will complement the museum’s rich archaeological collections, joining Staffordshire’s other major treasures like the Staffordshire Hoard and Leekfrith Torcs.

If fully funded, this acquisition would cement Staffordshire’s status as home to some of the UK’s most important gold treasures, further enhancing the museum’s national profile.