Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia, an ambitious new exhibition in the City of Stoke-on-Trent’s Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, sets The Staffordshire Hoard in the context of everyday life-and-death in the days of the Mercian Kingdom.

As well as featuring 200 pieces of the now world-famous Staffordshire Hoard, the exhibition includes objects the Anglo-Saxons used in their daily work, and items they buried with their dead to provide for them in the afterlife.

Visitors are also able to experience the atmosphere of a mead-hall, and watch a new animated film, The Last Dragonhunter.

One of the highlights of the new exhibition is the replica of a real burial site at Stapenhill, near Burton-on-Trent, which was excavated by the Burton-on-Trent Archaeological Society in 1881. The body is that of a middle-aged woman who was buried with a glass and amber necklace, a clay pot, two bronze brooches, a spindle whorl, a belt buckle and a belt-hook for hanging keys or other precious items.

The 7th century mead hall setting - where early kings would have held court - is adorned with Anglo-Saxon artwork, and groups 180 Hoard artefacts in a way they have not been displayed before.

Items are ranged across five display cases, the centrepiece of which is a newly commissioned replica of a sword hilt in gilded bronze and yew wood, ‘exploded’ so that the individual components can be viewed by visitors to what is arguably one of the boldest exhibitions ever created by The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.

The mead hall theme is enhanced by wood-smoke smells from a replica fire pit, replica shields and boar and deerskins.  And the entrance to the exhibition is guarded by two mystical creatures, created by award winning ceramics artist Katharine Morling, who took her inspiration from the treasure.

Displays also focus on everyday Anglo-Saxon life and death, with other ancient materials from the period on show that have been excavated from the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border.  There is a timeline putting the Anglo-Saxon period in the context of the life of the country, and a newly commissioned map showing the kingdom of Mercia.

The new exhibition coincides with the appearance of a Mercian Trail for visitors to Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Lichfield, Tamworth and other parts of Staffordshire.  Contained in a 16-page full colour guide, the new trail follows the full story of The Staffordshire Hoard, and encourages anyone interested in this story to visit places museums and attractions such as The Potteries Museum & art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Lichfield Cathedral, and Tamworth Castle.

The name Mercia itself derives from Mierce - the people of the march, or border (with Wales).  The Kingdom first started to take shape once the Romans lost control of Britain, and at its height it stretched from Wales to the east coast, north to the Humber and south to the Thames.  King Offa, who built the famous dyke to protect Mercia’s border was the best-known Mercian king.  Tamworth was his capital and he was buried at Swinfen near Lichfield.

The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia exhibition at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is located on the ground floor of the museum, next to The Spitfire Gallery.

Visitors are advised that Staffordshire Hoard artefacts will be removed from the exhibition in February in order for further research - to unlock its secrets and to shed more light on the Dark Ages.

The exhibition at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is open daily, and can be accessed free of charge.  Further details can be found at http://www.visitstoke.co.uk/Staffordshirehoard.

Information about the new Mercian Trail is at http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk.

And for all other tourist information from Stoke-on-Trent and The Potteries, including places to stay, visit www.visitstoke.co.uk.

For further information, and images, please contact:

Sam Hall Tel: 01782-232817 E-mail: tourism@stoke.gov.uk