A theft of Bronze Age gold jewelry from the National History Museum at St Fagans (near Cardiff, Wales) occurred on the night of October 6, 2025, at around 12:30 a.m. Individuals entered the main museum building and targeted a window in the “Wales is…” gallery. Two suspects were arrested Tuesday afternoon.
The operation lasted only four minutes. The authors targeted specific objects without being interested in the rest of the collections. “You could tell they knew exactly where they were going. They didn’t even glance to the right or left.”observes Jane Richardson, general director of Museum Wales, the museum network on which St Fagans depends. The alarm triggered by security personnel allowed a rapid intervention: a police helicopter arrived on site in less than five minutes, but the thieves had already fled.
The investigation, based on the analysis of video recordings and technical records, led to the arrest of two suspects aged forty-three and fifty in Northamptonshire, several hundred kilometers away. Inspector Bob Chambers confirmed: “We believe the two suspects forced entry to the main building, where several items, including Bronze Age gold jewelry, were stolen from a display case. »
The stolen items date from the Early Bronze Age (2300 to 800 BC) and include bracelets, ingots and a lunula (crescent-shaped necklace). Jane Richardson points out: “These items are priceless and cannot be replaced. »
Opened in 1948, the St Fagans National Museum of History is a museum which brings together more than forty reconstructed historic Welsh buildings, including a medieval church, a Cardiff pub and a Victorian school. The archaeological collections are kept in a 16th century manor house and in the park buildings. Both the castle and gardens had been donated by the Earl of Plymouth. The establishment is among the busiest in the country, with more than six hundred thousand visitors in 2023.
Archaeologists fear the artifacts will be melted. Frank Olding, archaeologist and former curator, warns: “The worst that could happen would be that they would be melted down for their gold value. They would then be lost forever, and the information they contain about our past would be destroyed. » This is what happened recently in Egypt with an ancient bracelet.
The museum has temporarily closed its main building and interior galleries, increased surveillance across all its sites and is cooperating closely with the police. The Welsh Government has called for increased security across the Museum Wales network. Speaking in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday, MP Heledd Fychan recalled: “We have had several discussions here regarding the security of national collections. Warnings were issued about budget cuts, indicating that the security of collections was at risk. I would like to know what measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the rest of the collections and support the museum. »
