A UNIQUE Anglo-Saxon sculpture is to go on display at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton after the museum raised £150,000 to acquire it — including a grant of £78,600 awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The sculpture, which depicts St Peter, was found by a Somerset builder who used it in his garden near Ilminster to mark the grave of a pet cat.
Not until 2004 was it recognised as a nationally- important object, dating from about AD 1000.
Steve Minnitt, head of museums for the South- West Heritage Trust, said: “We were keen at the time to acquire it for the museum but the price was beyond us.
“So when it recently came up for sale again we were determined to raise the money if we could.”
The sculpture is on a limestone panel about 45cm square and shows St Peter as a bishop with his right hand raised in blessing.
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