Bronze age gold jewellery stolen in raid on St Fagans museum in Cardiff

Raiders have broken into one of Wales’s most beloved museums and stolen gold jewellery from the bronze age.

Staff at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff said its “Wales is …” gallery was specifically targeted in the burglary, which was discovered in the early hours of Monday.

Neither the police nor the museum have detailed exactly what was taken but the gallery has been home to important finds of artefacts including bracelets and a lunala – a crescent-shaped piece of jewellery.

In a statement, South Wales police said: “At around 12.30am this morning, a report was received of a burglary at the museum.”

DI Bob Chambers said: “We believe that two suspects forced entry to the main building, where several items, including bronze age gold jewellery, have been stolen from a display case. An investigation is ongoing, and we urge anyone with information to contact us as soon as possible. Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation.”

A museum spokesperson added: “We are saddened by the events in what was a targeted attack on St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. The objects presumed stolen are examples of bronze age gold jewellery and were on display in the ‘Wales is …’ gallery.

“We would like to thank south Wales police for their cooperation in this investigation and their prompt response when they were alerted in the early hours. We are also very grateful to the staff members who were on duty overnight, followed protocol and who were thankfully uninjured during the incident.”

The museum stands in the grounds of St Fagans Castle and gardens, a late 16th-century manor house donated to the people of Wales in 1948. More than 50 historic buildings from all over Wales have been recreated at the museum including a Victorian school, a medieval church and a workmen’s institute.

Last year a Cardiff pub, the Vulcan Hotel, opened at St Fagans after being moved brick by brick from its location in the city.

Upcoming events include a family day celebrating Somali heritage and Christmas carols in the chapel. A statement on the museum’s website on Monday said it had closed due to storm damage.

The St Fagans burglary comes after a haul of antique pocket watches dating from the late 18th century and an early 19th century blunderbuss were stolen from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter.

Two suspects are believed to have forced entry into the museum on Queen Street in September and stolen 17 watches and the gun, which is likely to have been used to defend mail coaches.

Some of the watches were made by Charles Frodsham, a renowned 19th-century clockmaker.

Devon and Cornwall police said the suspects – believed to be men – were dressed in black and riding bicycles, and spoke with Liverpudlian accents.

The watches taken ranged in date from 1775-1907. One was made close to Exeter in Tiverton, while others, including a musical repeating watch, came from as far afield as Switzerland.

Three were by London-based Charles Frodsham & Co. By the mid-1850s Frodsham had established himself as one of the period’s most eminent horologists – maker of clocks and watches – renowned for producing high-quality precision timekeeping instruments. One has a lunar disc that shows phases of the moon with a calendar on the reverse.