PREHISTORIC artefacts from the district’s ancient past will go back on display at the Bracken Hall Countryside Centre in Baildon.

Visitors to the centre will have the opportunity to get up close to a decorated cinerary urn recently dated to between 1688 and 1527 BC.

The ancient urn, which held the remains of a man estimated to be around 25 years old was found just over the hill on Baildon Moor along with a bronze knife and a small barbed-and-tanged flint arrowhead.

Lack of marks on the bones lead museum professionals to believe the man died from natural causes rather than a violent death.

The urn, and especially its contents, is of particular interest because it marks a period of transition from stone to bronze age technology.

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The urn will be displayed alongside another important Baildon find – the Heygate Stone, a ‘ cup and ring petroglyph’ a stone picture created by carving or picking away the rock surface. These cup and ring stones appear across Europe and the Middle East but the meanings of the patterns carved in the rocks remain a mystery.

Other items to go on display include an iron age sickle found on Baildon Moor in the 1920s, a Neolithic stone axe head unearthed on Dobrudden Farm in the 1940s, and several flint tools including knives, arrowheads and scrapers discovered on Baildon Moor in the 1920s.

Two Roman coins will also be included, one of which was found in Shipley Glen very close to the centre.

All the items have been loaned by Bradford Museums & Galleries.

Museum staff have worked with Bracken Hall Countryside Centre to ensure these objects, that are local to the Baildon area, go back on display as they form a rich and important part of local history.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Healthy People and Places Portfolio Holder, said: “These items give a fascinating insight into what local life was like thousands of years ago.

“We are delighted to be working with Bracken Hall Countryside Centre to allow local people to connect with our incredible heritage.”

Councillor Joe Ashton from Baildon Town Council, said: “After an absence of several years, it is really pleasing and exciting to have the items found on Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen returning to public view in our local visitor centre.

“I would like to thank the Bradford Museums and Baildon Town Council staff, as well as our volunteers, for enabling this to happen."

The items will go on display from November and be available to see until late 2024.

The Bracken Hall Countryside Centre is open Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 4pm. Admission is free.