The South West Heritage Trust announces that the
Alfred Jewel - one of the most celebrated treasures from Anglo-Saxon England - will be on display at the Museum of Somerset, Taunton, from 31 January -28 February 2015. This is the first time that the Jewel, found near North Petherton church in 1693 and normally housed in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, has visited Somerset in 300 years.
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The Alfred Jewel on display in the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford. Wikipedia image by
Richard M Buck, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
According to the
Ashmolean's object description, current opinion is that the Jewel - made of rock crystal and enamel in a gold filigree setting, is the decorative handle of an
aestel, a pointer used to follow the text in a Gospel book. The inscription AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN - "Alfred ordered me made" - reflects its sponsorship by King Alfred the Great.
See the Museum of Somerset website - The Alfred Jewel - for further background.
