TREASURES found buried beneath the soil in Oxfordshire are to go on display in a new exhibition.

Metal detectorists have dug up some sparkling finds over the past two decades.

The display, 20 Years of Treasure - The Portable Antiquities scheme in Oxfordshire, will open at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock on Saturday.

The exhibition marks two decades since the Treasure Act was introduced to ensure significant archaeological finds were preserved for the nation.

Featuring objects from ancient pottery and gold coins to Iron Age jewellery and Elizabethan rings, the displays demonstrate the influence of the 1996 act on historians’ understanding of the county’s history.

Objects on display include treasure finds and also items that have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The county council’s cabinet member for cultural services Lorraine Lindsay-Gale said: “Our knowledge of Oxfordshire’s past has been greatly enhanced and the museums service collections enriched by the many objects found by local people and metal detectorists over the last 20 years.

“We now have an extraordinary resource for exploring our past and this exhibition is a great opportunity for visitors to come and see some of the very best of this.”

Finds include a rare late-Roman technical drawing instrument discovered by metal detectorist Tim Moody from Charney Bassett near Wantage.

A closing date for the exhibition has not yet been set.

For more telephone 01993 811456.