Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has announced a series of exclusive, guided access sessions to see one of the most celebrated Anglo-Saxon treasure hoards in the world, ahead of its full reopening to the public later this year.

Visitors are invited to explore the Staffordshire Hoard gallery during a limited number of free, one-hour group sessions from 19 July to 30 August, when a member of the museum team will be on hand to share insights into the hoard’s history and significance and to answer questions.

The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found, anywhere in the world. It contains just under 4,000 objects and broken fragments, most of which are war-gear.

The quality of the workmanship is extremely high, which is remarkable in view of the large number of individual objects, such as swords or helmets, from which the elements in the hoard came.

The hoard was buried in the 7th century (AD 650-675). It was discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield in Staffordshire, in 2009 by local metal-detectorist Terry Herbert.

Advance booking for the guided access sessions is essential due to limited group sizes. Tickets are available through the Birmingham Museums website.