The HLF grant, made possible by National Lottery players, will see a permanent home at Tamworth Castle for 18 items from the Staffordshire Hoard and will form a key part of the Staffordshire Hoard Trail in the West Midlands alongside exhibits at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and Lichfield Cathedral.

Battle and Tribute Project

To be known as the Battle and Tribute Project, the new gallery will explore many exciting aspects of the Staffordshire Hoard including themes of battle, Kingship and warrior culture in Anglo-Saxon Mercia. Following extensive consultation and visitor surveys the exciting new exhibition will be designed to be interactive and family-friendly to suit a range of audiences.

Visitors can expect to see a Battle film experience, a Mead Hall or Saxon Palace and an interactive battle touch-table game. Displays will help link the story of the hoard to everyday Saxon life and culture of the Mercian Kingdom, while examining the battle connections between the hoard pieces and the warring tribal communities that settled around Tamworth and started to form the Kingdom of Mercia.

Conservation work to the castle building will be carried out, while the project will work in partnership with Tamworth Town Guides and Tamworth schools to develop accompanying activities including education workshops, living history characters, a Saxon Town Tour and an Anglo-Saxon festival to launch the new gallery.

The Staffordshire Hoard Trail

Vanessa Harbar, Head of HLF West Midlands, said: “We are delighted that money raised by National Lottery players has enabled us to support this project, which will create a permanent gallery for objects from the Staffordshire Hoard at Tamworth Castle. This is a fantastic addition to the Staffordshire Hoard Trail and will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep.”

More information can be found on the Staffordshire Hoard website.