Continuing free display of the 7th-century Anglo-Saxon boar-crested helmet, one of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, in the 'Beneath Your Feet' gallery at Weston Park Museum.
The Benty Grange Helmet is on continuing display at Weston Park Museum, one of the most significant objects in Sheffield's museum collections. It's a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon helmet, and it's the first one of its kind ever found. It was dug out of a tumulus at Benty Grange farm in Monyash, western Derbyshire, by the antiquarian Thomas Bateman in 1848. The museum bought it from Bateman's estate in 1893, so it's been part of the city's collection for over a century.
It's made of iron and horn plates, designed to be both protective and ornate. There's a silver cross on the nasal and a boar on the crest, and it's one of only six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, alongside those from Sutton Hoo, Coppergate, Wollaston, Shorwell and Staffordshire. The boar crest isn't just a fancy detail, either — the epic poem Beowulf mentions boar-crested helmets five times, so this is a real-world look at something that comes up again and again in the literature of the period.
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You'll find it in the 'Beneath Your Feet' gallery, displayed alongside a modern replica that shows how it would have looked when it was first made, which is a handy way to see the original and the reconstruction side by side. The museum is at Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TP, and entry is free, though they ask for a £5 donation to help care for the collections. It's open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm, closed Mondays including Bank Holidays.
