When Ken Wallace and other members of the Hallaton Fieldwork Group discovered Iron Age and Roman pottery in a field near the village of Hallaton, south-east Leicestershire, at the turn of the millennium, little did they realise that they had recovered the first pieces of what would become known as the Hallaton Treasure (see CA 188), an intriguing collection of finds that continues to captivate those who see it two decades later.
The group went on to investigate the hilltop site alongside archaeologists from University of Leicester Archaeological Services, and across three excavations the team uncovered more than 5,000 Iron Age and Roman gold and silver coins, a unique silver bowl, silver and bronze ingots, the remains of an Iron Age tankard, and animal bones representing hundreds of pigs. It was an amazing array, but the most intriguing find was a pit containing an ornately decorated Roman cavalry helmet and parts of at least three more (CA 202, 233, and 236).
In 2008, the Hallaton Treasure was acquired by Leicestershire County Council Museums (for which I am the Archaeology Curator), and an associated project was launched to learn more about its contents and to put some on public display. Grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Art Fund, the Museums and Art Galleries Improvement Fund, the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Headley Trust, and local funding bodies supported additional micro-excavation, conservation, and restoration work on the helmet assemblage itself, and also enabled the creation of the Hallaton Treasure Gallery at Harborough Museum in Market Harborough.
