The 22 pieces are in the distinctive Irish sea style. Photo National Museums Liverpool
A collection of Viking treasure found in 2004 is set to return to the north-west where it was found.
A Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £45,000 has enabled National Museums Liverpool, Grosvenor Museum in Chester and Cheshire Museums Service purchase the Huxley Hoard, named after its finding place near Chester.
It consists of 22 silver Viking objects, mainly bracelets, in the distinctive Irish sea style and date from around AD850-950 and will form the centrepiece to the Magical History Tour opening at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in July 2007.
Merseyside and the north-west have strong Viking connections. Norse expelled from Ireland in AD902 settled Wirral and Sefton. The legacy continues to this day with many Norse place names, like Thingwall, Meols and Raby, and evidence of Viking DNA in some local residents.
The hoard is currently in the British Museum and will head to the north-west in early 2007. It will join a selection of silver finds from the large Viking hoard from Cuerdalem Lancashire, already in National Museums Liverpool’s collections.
