South Wales PolicePolice have released images of artefacts dating from the Bronze Age which were stolen from one of Wales’ national museums last month, as a police investigation into the burglary continues.
South Wales Police said the gold jewellery was stolen from a display case in St Fagans National Museum of History, in Cardiff, at approximately 00:30 BST on 6 October.
Gavin Burnett, 43, and Darren Burnett, 50, both from Northampton, were charged with burglary last month and remanded in custody.
Det Insp Bob Chambers, from South Wales Police, said the investigation was “very much continuing” to locate the missing stolen items.
South Wales Police“While two men have been charged, the investigation is very much continuing,” Det Insp Chambers said.
“We are focused on locating the outstanding stolen items so they can be returned to their rightful home.
“We urge anyone with information to please contact us as soon as possible.”
Officers are still trying to locate the following artefacts:
- Hoard of four Middle Bronze Age gold armlets from Llanwrthwrl, Powys,
- Hoard of five Middle Bronze Age gold items Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire,
- Hoard of three Middle Bronze Age gold items from Heyope, Powys,
- Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd.
South Wales Police
South Wales PoliceFounded in 1948, St Fagans is one of seven national museums under the curation of Amgueddfa Cymru.
The museum’s Bronze age collection includes gold ingots, bracelets, and a lunula necklace.
Jane Richardson, chief executive of Amgueddfa Cymru, described the stolen items as “invaluable and irreplaceable items that are part of Wales’ history, heritage, and culture”.
“I’d like to encourage anyone who may have any information about their location to come forward to the police so that they can be returned to their rightful home within Wales’ national collection, for everyone to access and enjoy,” she said.
A 45-year-old woman from Northamptonshire, who was also arrested as part of the investigation, remains on police bail.
What is St Fagans museum?
St Fagans National Museum of History, located in a village in the leafy outskirts of Cardiff, is one Wales’ most popular heritage attractions.
More than 40 buildings, representing different eras of Welsh history, have been re-erected in the grounds of the museum.
The museum’s main building, where the robbery took place last month, was redeveloped in a £30m overhaul in 2018, adding three new galleries and helping the museum clinch the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year award in 2019.
Speaking at the time, the chair of the judges, called the museum “a truly democratic museum” that “lives and breathes the culture, history and identity of Wales”.
