Museum room renamed in honour of local detectorist

A room has been renamed at Swaffham Heritage museum in honour of a loyal volunteer who passed away last year.

The Archaeology Room in the museum was renamed The Monique Slaven Gallery in recognition of Slaven’s work as a detectorist for 30 years.

Her daughters Isabel and Jane unveiled a nameplate at the museum last Saturday with members of their families also in attendance.

They then enjoyed a morning with friends and visitors to the museum.

Working in the fields of Sporle, Monique unearthed well over 1000 objects in the village.

These artefacts ranged from Stone Age flint tools to twentieth century earrings, making them of interest for the museum’s collection.

A spokeswoman for the museum said: “She [Monique] was always adamant that the items she found belonged to the people and donated them to Swaffham Heritage some years ago as the Sporle with Palgrave Collection.

“Amongst the artefacts was a large collection of coins from Saxon to modern, including the Mid Norfolk hoard of medieval silver coins.”

Monique was also a well-appreciated steward at Swaffham Heritage for many years until shortly before her death last year.

Sharing her stories of her detectorist hobby was often a talking point with visitors to the museum.

She died peacefully in hospital in September with donations being collected for Swaffham Heritage at her funeral at St Mary’s Church, Sporle, in October.