A NEW exhibition celebrating the most amazing historical discoveries by local people is set to open at The Oxfordshire Museum.

The display, '20 Years of Treasure - The Portable Antiquities scheme in Oxfordshire', marks two decades since the Treasure Act was introduced to ensure significant archaeological finds in the UK were preserved.

Featuring objects from ancient pottery and gold coins to Iron Age jewellery and Elizabethan rings, the exhibit showcases the huge influence of the 1996 Act on the understanding of Oxfordshire’s history.

All of the objects have been found by local people and metal detectorists across Oxfordshire.

They include treasure finds and also items that have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme – set up at the same time as the Treasure Act - to record details of finds that did not class as treasure.

Oxfordshire 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.

The exhibition opens on Saturday at The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock.