12/11/2009 01:49:00

A hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure, recently discovered in Staffordshire, is hoped by the British Museum to remain in its West Midlands home.

The collection of 1,600 items such as processional crosses, sword pommels and parts of helmets, much of which was forged in gold and dates back to the 7th Century, was found in a farmer's field by amateur treasure hunter Terry Herbert.

Under the Treasure Act of 1996, Mr Herbert and the landowner will receive cash to the value of the hoard to split between them. Already, the British Museum in London is valuing the collection and some experts have speculated that it is worth a seven figure sum.

The British Museum has stated that it is keen to keep the trove in the West Midlands, where it was found, so people in the region could view it more easily. In order to raise the money needed to keep it in its Staffordshire home, various organisations are collaborating to get the cash together to pay Mr Herbert and the landowner the appropriate sum.

Included in the collaboration are the Heritage Lottery Fund, officials from the Department of Culture Media and Sport, council leaders from across the region and representatives from Advantage West Midlands, a regional development agency.

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

"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells."