The Galloway Hoard was discovered by a metal-detectorist in 2014 on what is now Church of Scotland land at Balmaghie in Kirkcudbrightshire (Nicholson 2014). It was declared Treasure Trove and allocated to National Museums Scotland in 2017. Archaeological features, interpreted as evidence for a building around where the hoard was buried, were recorded in a short phase of work immediately after discovery. The first mention of a church in the vicinity is in Bagimond’s Roll in 1275 Kirkanders Balimeth with Kirkandrews – the church of St Andrew – perhaps reflecting links to the Northumbrian church and Hexham as an important centre for the Cult of Saint Andrew. The formation of the name uses Old Norse kirk but the order and how it is used to form church-names is Gaelic – what Gilbert Markus refers to as a multi-cultural hagio-toponym (Markus 2019) – with a range of influences we see reflected in the material of the hoard. There is currently no evidence for an earlier church and further investigation of the immediate site context for the hoard is also required. What follows can only be an interim statement as at the time of writing both conservation and research of the hoard are ongoing and have been substantially disrupted in 2020–21.

Buried around the end of the 9th century, the Galloway Hoard contains a variety of materials and objects from diverse cultural backgrounds, some originating from as far away as Asia. The hoard was buried in two layers with four separate parcels, a structure which gives a rare insight into how the collection was brought together.

The upper layer

Silver bullion made up of three intact Hiberno-Scandinavian broad-band arm-rings (Sheehan 2011) and eight hacked arm-rings and eleven ingots formed the upper layer of the Galloway Hoard as recovered on the day of discovery (Nicholson 2014). The intact ornaments have never been shaped to be worn and seem to have been buried as bullion. Silver bullion was also recovered from the surrounding area before the hoard was discovered (TT 36/14) and during topsoil stripping in the days after. Some pieces may have been displaced from the hoard, but others seem more likely to be from activity on the site.