The York Helmet heads for London
Why are regional museums sending their treasures down south?
Alfred Hickling
March 6, 2007
Capital stuff... MPs got to handle the most expensive helmet in Europe - the 1200 year old Anglo-Saxon helmet that was probably owned by a warrior named Oshere, King of the Hwicce kingdom. Photograph: York Museums Trust
The Yorkshire Museum's new exhibition about scientific dating (Discover the Age of Everything!) is a model of what modern regional museums are supposed to be about - interactive, family-friendly, with loads of buttons to push and a dazzling light show by the design team behind the Kylie Minogue show at the V&A. It is also, according to the new orthodoxy of regional museums, remarkably hands-on: there are lots of friendly facilitators happy to dispense information and white cotton gloves if you fancy giving the exhibits a fondle.
They draw the line, however, at the museum's ultimate treasure - the world's most perfectly preserved example of an Anglo-Saxon helmet, unearthed by a mechanical digger at York's Coppergate site in 1982. This is one item for which the old no-touching rules definitely apply. Unless you happen to be an MP, that is.
Until last week, the York helmet had left the city only once since a warrior, possibly known as Oshere, dropped it some time around AD 775. That was when it travelled to the British Museum for conservation. Yet on February 28, it was packed up and transported to the House of Commons so a select group of MPs and peers could try it out for size.
Travel costs for the helmet, including insurance and a curator who had to remain with it at all times, were more than £25,000, which is a pretty pricey away day. But it was the star exhibit at the Commons reception designed to boost the funds and the profile of collections in the north of England.
The event attracted more than 70 members, who rifled through an extraordinary bric-a-brac stall. Alongside the helmet was the orange ball from the 1966 World Cup Final (courtesy of the National Football Museum in Preston), a Turner painting, a turtle soup tureen and Kim Philby's confiscated passport from the Leeds archives.
John Healey, financial secretary to the Treasury and host of the event, enthused that the reception provided "a showcase for the cultural treasures that attract people to live, learn and work in the north of England", which sounds just a little patronizing. How many people really say: "Let's move to Leeds - I hear they've got Kim Philby's passport there."
Yet Andrew Morrison, curator of archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, is convinced that the three days and two sleepless nights guarding the helmet were worthwhile, reporting that as soon the MPs came into the room, they immediately turned into excited little kids, even asking to try it on.
Morrison does not readily give in to such requests. The York helmet travels in its own custom-made display case, containing hydrometers that continually monitor humidity levels and atmospheric changes. But having taken a quick reading, Morrison discovered that the temperature and humidity within the case almost precisely matched the atmospheric conditions of the House of Commons dining room. So out it came.
Like many regional institutions, the Yorkshire Museum received a huge boost in 2002 with the Renaissance funding programme, which will have invested £150m in collections outside the capital by 2008. The Commons reception was a gentle reminder to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in advance of the spending review next year.
The helmet is now safely back at the Yorkshire Museum, hopefully having done its bit to secure the financial future of the institution for the next several years. And you can - if you are absolutely determined - persuade Morrison to take it out. Although you'll need a scientifically valid reason to handle the helmet. And a pair of kid gloves, naturally.
Boriswulf: How bumbling Tory MP Boris Johnson would look wearing this priceless treasure.
dailymail.co,uk
------------------------------------------------------
Multicultural York: the Anglo-Saxons (AD400-866)
Oshere: a mystery prince
Series of details of decorative brass strips showing interlaced animals and foliage, and an inscribed prayer
One afternoon in the summer of 1982 a construction worker hit a round metal object with his digger and stopped. He took one look and went for help. Later that evening after hours of careful excavation an amazing Anglo-Saxon helmet had been found.
How was the helmet lost?
Late one evening, as the noise of fighting in the city grew closer, a hunched figure spread the last bit of soil and rubbish across the opening of a small well and hurried off. He muttered 'It's safe now' - he'd be back for it when things had quietened down. As he turned down a dark alley he froze, hearing soft footstep. He fell to the ground. He never even saw the blow which killed him..... [Make up your own story about how the helmet was lost]
The helmet had been carefully buried with the chain mail neckguard folded inside as if someone expected to return for it - but it was never recovered until the digger driver caught the edge of it.
The helmet belonged to an Anglo-Saxon called Oshere. The writing on the brass strips on the crest of the helmet is a prayer for the protection of the wearer: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God; and to all we say Amen. Oshere"
The helmet itself was probably made around AD 750-775 and is a copy of Roman guard helmets of more than three hundred years earlier. There are similar ones in Sweden and four others have been found in pagan Anglo-Saxon burials in England. The most famous is that found at Sutton Hoo which is a hundred and fifty years earlier. We know that the owner of this one was a Christian because of the prayer.
Such a fine helmet must have belonged to an important warrior, perhaps a prince. Only someone wealthy could afford to order a skilled craftsman to make such a beautiful object. This craftsman depicted animals and scroll-like patterns in a way which was popular in England, Scotland and Ireland at the time.
But who was Oshere? Old documents cannot solve this for us. These were turbulent times in York and many different families ruled for short periods. In the 130 years between 737 and 867 there were 13 different kings ruling Northumbria from York. They didn't do too well:
http://www.mylearning.org/jpage.asp?journeyid=191&jpageid=696
Why are regional museums sending their treasures down south?
Alfred Hickling
March 6, 2007
Capital stuff... MPs got to handle the most expensive helmet in Europe - the 1200 year old Anglo-Saxon helmet that was probably owned by a warrior named Oshere, King of the Hwicce kingdom. Photograph: York Museums Trust
The Yorkshire Museum's new exhibition about scientific dating (Discover the Age of Everything!) is a model of what modern regional museums are supposed to be about - interactive, family-friendly, with loads of buttons to push and a dazzling light show by the design team behind the Kylie Minogue show at the V&A. It is also, according to the new orthodoxy of regional museums, remarkably hands-on: there are lots of friendly facilitators happy to dispense information and white cotton gloves if you fancy giving the exhibits a fondle.
They draw the line, however, at the museum's ultimate treasure - the world's most perfectly preserved example of an Anglo-Saxon helmet, unearthed by a mechanical digger at York's Coppergate site in 1982. This is one item for which the old no-touching rules definitely apply. Unless you happen to be an MP, that is.
Until last week, the York helmet had left the city only once since a warrior, possibly known as Oshere, dropped it some time around AD 775. That was when it travelled to the British Museum for conservation. Yet on February 28, it was packed up and transported to the House of Commons so a select group of MPs and peers could try it out for size.
Travel costs for the helmet, including insurance and a curator who had to remain with it at all times, were more than £25,000, which is a pretty pricey away day. But it was the star exhibit at the Commons reception designed to boost the funds and the profile of collections in the north of England.
The event attracted more than 70 members, who rifled through an extraordinary bric-a-brac stall. Alongside the helmet was the orange ball from the 1966 World Cup Final (courtesy of the National Football Museum in Preston), a Turner painting, a turtle soup tureen and Kim Philby's confiscated passport from the Leeds archives.
John Healey, financial secretary to the Treasury and host of the event, enthused that the reception provided "a showcase for the cultural treasures that attract people to live, learn and work in the north of England", which sounds just a little patronizing. How many people really say: "Let's move to Leeds - I hear they've got Kim Philby's passport there."
Yet Andrew Morrison, curator of archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, is convinced that the three days and two sleepless nights guarding the helmet were worthwhile, reporting that as soon the MPs came into the room, they immediately turned into excited little kids, even asking to try it on.
Morrison does not readily give in to such requests. The York helmet travels in its own custom-made display case, containing hydrometers that continually monitor humidity levels and atmospheric changes. But having taken a quick reading, Morrison discovered that the temperature and humidity within the case almost precisely matched the atmospheric conditions of the House of Commons dining room. So out it came.
Like many regional institutions, the Yorkshire Museum received a huge boost in 2002 with the Renaissance funding programme, which will have invested £150m in collections outside the capital by 2008. The Commons reception was a gentle reminder to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in advance of the spending review next year.
The helmet is now safely back at the Yorkshire Museum, hopefully having done its bit to secure the financial future of the institution for the next several years. And you can - if you are absolutely determined - persuade Morrison to take it out. Although you'll need a scientifically valid reason to handle the helmet. And a pair of kid gloves, naturally.
Boriswulf: How bumbling Tory MP Boris Johnson would look wearing this priceless treasure.
dailymail.co,uk
------------------------------------------------------
Multicultural York: the Anglo-Saxons (AD400-866)
Oshere: a mystery prince
Series of details of decorative brass strips showing interlaced animals and foliage, and an inscribed prayer
One afternoon in the summer of 1982 a construction worker hit a round metal object with his digger and stopped. He took one look and went for help. Later that evening after hours of careful excavation an amazing Anglo-Saxon helmet had been found.
How was the helmet lost?
Late one evening, as the noise of fighting in the city grew closer, a hunched figure spread the last bit of soil and rubbish across the opening of a small well and hurried off. He muttered 'It's safe now' - he'd be back for it when things had quietened down. As he turned down a dark alley he froze, hearing soft footstep. He fell to the ground. He never even saw the blow which killed him..... [Make up your own story about how the helmet was lost]
The helmet had been carefully buried with the chain mail neckguard folded inside as if someone expected to return for it - but it was never recovered until the digger driver caught the edge of it.
The helmet belonged to an Anglo-Saxon called Oshere. The writing on the brass strips on the crest of the helmet is a prayer for the protection of the wearer: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God; and to all we say Amen. Oshere"
The helmet itself was probably made around AD 750-775 and is a copy of Roman guard helmets of more than three hundred years earlier. There are similar ones in Sweden and four others have been found in pagan Anglo-Saxon burials in England. The most famous is that found at Sutton Hoo which is a hundred and fifty years earlier. We know that the owner of this one was a Christian because of the prayer.
Such a fine helmet must have belonged to an important warrior, perhaps a prince. Only someone wealthy could afford to order a skilled craftsman to make such a beautiful object. This craftsman depicted animals and scroll-like patterns in a way which was popular in England, Scotland and Ireland at the time.
But who was Oshere? Old documents cannot solve this for us. These were turbulent times in York and many different families ruled for short periods. In the 130 years between 737 and 867 there were 13 different kings ruling Northumbria from York. They didn't do too well:
- Murdered
- Abdicated
- Expelled
- Killed in battle
- Forced to become a monk
- Fate unknown
http://www.mylearning.org/jpage.asp?journeyid=191&jpageid=696
Last edited: