Collection

Archaeology

Delve into Derbyshire’s past in our Archaeology Gallery, full of fantastic finds from earliest prehistory to the 18th century. Chance finds and excavations have unearthed a wealth of evidence about the people who lived here long ago.

Collection Highlights

About the collection

Prehistoric peoples, Romans, Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Tudors all feature in the gallery – let the finds fire your imagination and connect to our distant past.

What can I see?

You won’t be able to miss our huge Bronze Age logboat, made 3,400 years ago from a single 10m long tree trunk. Other highlights include hefty hand axes made by the earliest humans, jewellery and other finds from Derby’s Roman settlement, grave goods belonging to Derby’s earliest Anglo Saxon settlers, the Anglo Saxon St Alkmund’s coffin, a Viking warrior’s sword, and the Codnor Castle medieval gold coin.

What can I do?

You can explore how different materials have changed the lives of Derbyshire’s earliest people and discover some of the amazing places in Derbyshire that have helped us learn about the past.

What can I learn?

Learn about the earliest inhabitants of Derbyshire. Discover how Derby developed over the centuries from the earliest Roman military settlement, through Anglo Saxon and Viking power bases and the medieval trading centre.

Portable Antiquities Scheme

Derby Museums hosts the Find Liaison Service for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland as part of the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme. You can find out more about this here.