Date: 5 October 2026

From public campaign to national award: Yorkshire Museum celebrates Melsonby Hoard success 

The Yorkshire Museum’s Melsonby Hoard exhibition, Chariots, Treasure and Power, has been named winner of the Exhibition, Display or Interpretation Project category in the Society for Museum Archaeology Awards for Excellence. 

The award marks another major milestone in the remarkable story of the Melsonby Hoard, recognising outstanding work of the Yorkshire Museum in museum archaeology.  In 2025, more than 1,000 people backed a major public fundraising campaign to help secure the internationally significant collection for the nation, enabling it to remain in Yorkshire and go on public display at the Yorkshire Museum. 

The judges praised the Yorkshire Museum team’s ambition in bringing the extraordinary Melsonby Hoard to public display so soon after its discovery, allowing visitors the rare opportunity to see the objects in their pre-conservation state while research into the internationally significant find continues.   

They also highlighted the exhibition’s exploration of the wider archaeological process, from metal detecting and excavation to conservation, display and ongoing research and the importance of building public understanding and support for archaeology.   

Senior Curator at the Yorkshire Museum, Glynn Davis, commented, “This award means a great deal to all of us here at York Museums Trust. The team are incredibly proud of this award, and we are grateful to the Society for recognising the importance of our partnership work, involving archaeologists and academics to the residents of Melsonby themselves. We decided to display the Melsonby Hoard in its pre-conserved state to show the journey of this incredible find from discovery, through the acquisition and research phases that is not commonly seen in museum spaces. The exhibition also invites visitors to share their thoughts and suggestions about the burial to help us decipher this intriguing mystery.”   

“The scale of the hoard was totally unprecedented, the type of objects and the way they were buried is like nothing we have seen before. The exhibition currently only presents around 20% of the 900 objects found, partially because some of these objects were too large and others were not stable enough to go on display. This is why the next phases of fundraising and conservation are so important for helping to stabilise the objects and display them safely.” 

The Society for Museum Archaeology is a leading Subject Specialist Network for British museum archaeology, bringing together museum professionals working with archaeological collections across the UK.   

The recognition comes as York prepares to welcome the Society for Museum Archaeology and Portable Antiquities Scheme annual conference in 2027, hosted by the Yorkshire Museum and Hospitium, marking 30 years of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.   

Chariots, Treasure & Power  is currently on display at the Yorkshire Museum until summer 2027. 

ENDS

Acquisition partially funded by the National Heritage Memorial Fund  

About National Heritage Memorial Fund  

As a funder of last resort, the National Heritage Memorial Fund exists to save the UK’s most exceptional heritage. We’re building a public collection that serves as a memorial to those who have given their lives for the UK and belongs to everyone. Our work is funded by the UK government and together we’ve awarded grants to some of our most loved heritage. From paintings, archives and industrial landscapes to historic artefacts, houses and ships – we save heritage that otherwise could be lost forever. This includes Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Mai, Skokholm Island, George Orwell’s early archive, the mill village of New Lanark and a group of seven historic motorcycles that represent Northern Ireland’s road racing tradition. MemorialFund.org.uk @NationalHeritageMemorialFund #MemorialFund