A case has been lodged at the Court of Session against metal detectorist Derek McLennan, who unearthed the hoard in 2014.

The National Museum of Scotland paid almost £2m for the treasure, a share of which the Kirk claims it is entitled to.

Mr McLennan had been given permission by the church to search the area.

He said at the time: “I unearthed the first piece, initially I didn’t understand what I had found because I thought it was a silver spoon and then I turned it over and wiped my thumb across it and I saw the Saltire-type of design and knew instantly it was Viking.

“Then my senses exploded, I went into shock, endorphins flooded my system and away I went stumbling towards my colleagues waving it in the air.”

A Church of Scotland spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland have raised an action against Derek McLennan.

“As that is now a matter before the court it would be inappropriate for us to provide any further commentary at this time.”

Dr Andrew Steven, senior lecturer at Edinburgh Law School and former Scottish Law Commissioner told SLN: “In Scotland, unlike England, treasure trove is matter for the common law rather than statute.

“It is settled that such property falls to the Crown, although the precise legal basis is not entirely clear.

“There is a non-statutory Code of Practice drawn up by the Queen and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer.

“In terms of this, an ex gratia payment may be made to the finder from the museum to which the property is allocated. It would appear that the dispute here is over this payment.”