A museum is fighting to avoid a “tragic loss” and keep a rare Anglo-Saxon treasure in the region.

The Novium Museum in Chichester is aiming to raise £9,000 to purchase an Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet pyramidal mount, which was found by a metal detectorist near Stopham, a few miles from Pulborough, in 2022.

The piece dates to AD 600-700 and is only the second of its kind found in West Sussex.

The only other example of this type of pyramidal mount found in West Sussex was acquired by the British Museum in 1981. That example was incomplete, making the Stopham mount a “very rare and incredibly important find for the local area”.

Historians are unsure of the exact purpose of pyramidal mounts, but it was likely attached to a strap which helped secure a sword to its scabbard (sheath).

Although the museum has support from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund as well as a donation from the landowner, it still needs to raise additional funds. It is calling on the public to help them raise £9,000 to purchase the artefact so that it can be kept within the county of its discovery.

“If we’re unsuccessful in raising the funding required to purchase the Stopham mount the British Museum will be given the opportunity to acquire it for their collection,” the crowdfunding page reads.

“If they decline, there is a real possibility this important find could be sold privately, which we believe would be a tragic loss for our local heritage.”

The fundraiser is on the crowdfunder.co.uk website.