A TOWN council and country estate are in battle over a Bronze Age bracelet that has been in the guardianship of the council since the 1960s when the last private owner of the house gave it on loan for mayors to wear.

Richmond Town Council has had the plain gold bracelet, known as a torque, since 1965 when Bridget Talbot, the last private owner of Kiplin Hall handed it to the council on loan, “for as long Richmond had a mayor or mayoress.”

However trustees of Kiplin Hall, between Scorton and Northallerton, now want the torque back so it can be displayed as an exhibition and looked after by professionals.

A torque, which can also spelled torq or torc, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together.

At a Richmond Town Council meeting on Monday, September 29, Marcia McLuckie and Dawn Webster from Kiplin Hall attended on behalf of the trustees in a bid to convince councillors to return the ancient jewellery.

Ms McLuckie said: “The torque does belong to Kiplin Hall though it has been on loan – which was not in perpetuity.

“It belongs to the trustees of Kiplin Hall, because the hall was passed to them by Bridget Talbot when she died – and now we want it back.”

The torque is currently being held by the British Museum in London. It was brought to the museum's attention in 2012 when a similar bracelet found in the same area of the Kiplin Hall estate was handed in.

The museum requested to see the torque to determine whether or not it was treasure trove, so the town council took it to London in May last year.

A coroner has since ruled that it is not treasure trove – defined by the coroner’s rules as something that is at least 300 years old and has a metallic content of which at least 10 per cent is precious metal.

Councillor Stuart Parsons told the meeting the council should take legal advice on the matter.

“It has been on loan to the town council to be worn by the mayor until there is no longer a mayor in Richmond.

“It should be back here and we can reconvene when we have had legal advice.”

Ms McLuckie said: “The bracelet has been changed by the way it has been treated – it has been polished and not looked after properly.

“Kiplin Hall is an accredited museum and we have a curator who will look after it and it will be back in Hambleton – where it was found.”

Councillors voted to defer the matter until the torque is returned from the British Museum.