Calls have been made for one of the country’s greatest treasures to be placed on display in its home town.

Delyn AM Hannah Blythyn has called for the Mold Cape, a solid sheet-gold object dating to the European Bronze Age, to be brought back to the town.

It was discovered in Mold by workmen in 1833.

In a question to First Minister Carwyn Jones on Tuesday, she said: “As part of the Year of Legends, we are awaiting with great anticipation the winning design for our new Welsh Government-supported installation at Flint Castle.

“I’m sure everybody in the community is looking forward to this latest legend descending on the shores of the castle, but there was another local legend of old that the constituency and particularly the community of Mold are rightly proud of.

“The Mold Gold Cape was found in 1833 by workmen quarrying for stone in a burial mound, and is currently part of the British Museum collection in London.”

She added: “It’s previously left the British Museum to be temporarily exhibited in Wrexham, but it’s never actually made it back to Mold to be temporarily exhibited in the town where it was found.

“First Minister, as we commemorate and celebrate the Year of Legends, do you share the view of many of my constituents that it would be great to see the Gold Cape return to be exhibited in the town where it was discovered?”

Mr Jones agreed that it would be great to see a return of the cape.

He said: “The Gold Cape is famous, of course, and I’m sure the people of Mold would like to see the actual Gold Cape there, rather than it being commemorated in the name of a pub.

“The difficulty at the moment, of course, is that there’s nowhere in Mold for the cape to be exhibited, and that is what needs to be resolved first. In order for that to happen, the local authority in Flintshire could look at taking the lead and talking with us as Welsh Government to see what could be done in order to provide a facility with the right atmosphere, in terms of the atmospherics, and in terms of the right security in order to provide a home for the Gold Cape, even if temporary, in the years to come.”

Mr Jones said he was happy to work with the authority on such an idea.