Welsh items held in the British Museum should be returned to Wales, according to an MP.

The call comes after “close to 2,000 artefacts” were allegedly stolen from the museum in London.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru‘s MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said there was a suitable location in Cardiff for the exhibits with Welsh origins to be displayed.

Ms Saville Roberts said the Mold gold cape, which is around 4,000 years old, and the Moel Hebog shield, which is believed to be from sometime between the twelfth and tenth centuries BC, were among the items with a Welsh connection.

The British Museum said the Mold gold cape had been on loan to museums in Cardiff and Wrexham in the last 10 years.

“We have a national museum in Wales which has a large building in Cardiff but also works with other smaller museums all over Wales,” Ms Saville Roberts told Sky News.

“So we have a location in our own capital city, but it would also be possible for some of these items to be on loan temporarily, or permanently, closer to the places where they were discovered.”

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‘London not best place’

Ms Saville Roberts said, in light of recent events, the argument that items were safer in London “no longer holds water”.

“London is not necessarily the best place just to store things,” she said.

“These items belong to everyone but they belong especially to us in Wales and we have the means for them to play a part in the way we interpret our history.”

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Returning items such as the Mold gold cape to Wales would “bring tourism” to the country, Ms Saville Roberts argued.

“The one which disappointed me most was the Moel Hebog shield…this beautiful artefact and it stays in a storeroom in London. There is so much more we could do,” she said.

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‘Star piece’

A British Museum spokesperson said: “The Mold Gold cape has been on loan to both Wrexham Museum and National Museum Wales in Cardiff in the past 10 years, and it has been loaned internationally, as recently as 2021 to Halle in Germany.

“Six million people visit the museum each year to experience this world-class collection, and the Mold Gold cape is on display to them all, for free, where it is a star piece in our Europe and Middle East Gallery.

“The collection empowers visitors to navigate and understand the complex relationships between empires, nations and peoples whether through trade, conquest, conflict or peaceful exchange.”

Greece has recently renewed its call for the Elgin Marbles – also known as the Parthenon sculptures or marbles – to be returned to the country.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there were “no plans” to change the law to allow that to happen.

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The British Museum’s director resigned earlier this month following the allegations and an independent review of security has been announced.

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