Responsible metal detecting

Many of the hoards on this site were found by metal detectorists, and the best of those finds are known in detail because the finder stopped, reported and let archaeologists finish the job. The worst are known only from the few pieces that surfaced after the rest had been sold. The difference is not luck. It comes down to a handful of habits that are either required by law or set out in an agreed code.

In England and Wales that code is the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting, revised in October 2017 and endorsed by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Historic England, the National Council for Metal Detecting, the National Farmers Union, the Country Land and Business Association, the Council for British Archaeology and others. The Treasure Act Code of Practice says that a finder who ignores it can have a reward reduced.

All land has an owner, including parks, public open spaces, beaches and the foreshore. The 2017 code asks detectorists to get the landowner's permission before they start, and notes that a tenant can only grant it with the owner's agreement too. Because finds that are not treasure normally belong to the landowner, it recommends agreeing in writing beforehand what will happen to anything found.

Permission is also a condition of any treasure reward. The Treasure Valuation Committee can reduce or refuse a reward where it believes the finder was trespassing, or knew that whoever gave permission had no right to do so (Treasure Act Code of Practice). In Scotland the Treasure Trove Unit likewise expects land-manager permission, and says this includes public parks.

Using a metal detector on a scheduled monument, on a monument in state or local-authority guardianship, or in a designated area of archaeological importance in England without the written consent of Historic England is a criminal offence under section 42 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Removing an object found that way without consent is a separate and more serious offence. Wales now has the equivalent offence in section 60 of the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023, and in Scotland consent must come from Historic Environment Scotland.

The 2017 code adds other places where detecting is restricted: Sites of Special Scientific Interest, military aircraft crash sites, sites with human remains, and land under some agri-environment schemes. Boundaries are not always obvious on the ground, so it advises checking with the landowner, the local Finds Liaison Officer, the Historic Environment Record or the official heritage maps before going out, and taking extra care near protected sites.

Treasure must be reported within 14 days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Everything else is voluntary in England and Wales, but the 2017 code asks detectorists to record all archaeological finds, metal or not, with the Portable Antiquities Scheme through the local Finds Liaison Officer, so that the information reaches the local Historic Environment Record. Recording leaves ownership unchanged and the published findspot is blurred to protect the site.

Scotland is stricter: finders must report all archaeological finds to the Treasure Trove Unit at the National Museum of Scotland, and in-situ finds such as hoards should be left in the ground, covered over and reported at once. Taking finds over 50 years old out of the UK needs an export licence.

Galloway, 2014. A detectorist searching Church of Scotland land in Kirkcudbrightshire found a silver arm-ring, reported it, and helped the county archaeologist excavate. A second layer of the hoard lay beneath the first, including a lidded vessel still wrapped in cloth. Because the vessel was lifted intact, conservators could X-ray it before opening it and study textiles that would otherwise have been lost; the National Museum of Scotland now stresses that the careful burial preserved rare organic materials such as silk. A wider excavation followed and the field was scheduled (Wikipedia).

Frome, 2010. A detectorist in Somerset found the top of a large pot full of Roman coins, stopped digging, and called the Finds Liaison Officer. Archaeologists lifted the 52,503 coins in layers over three days (Wikipedia). That patient work showed that about 85 per cent of the coins of Carausius, the latest in the pot, lay in one layer, evidence that they had been tipped in as a separate batch, and that the pot had probably been set in the ground before it was filled (Current Archaeology). None of that would be known from a heap of coins on a kitchen table.

Hoxne, 1992. A detectorist looking for a farmer's lost hammer in Suffolk found late Roman gold and silver, and the county archaeological unit excavated the hoard the next day. They recorded that the coins, jewellery and tableware had been packed by type inside a wooden chest, and fragments of the chest and its fittings survived. That arrangement is now one of the most informative things about the hoard (Wikipedia).

Nighthawking means detecting without permission, usually at night, often on protected sites. It is trespass at the least and frequently theft, and on a scheduled monument it is a further offence. It robs landowners, who are normally entitled to half of any treasure reward, and it destroys the context that makes a find meaningful.

The cost is clearest in the Herefordshire hoard case. A Viking-age hoard found near Leominster in 2015 was not reported, and most of it was sold to dealers. Of an estimated 300 coins only 31 have been recovered, with a few pieces of jewellery and an ingot. In 2019 two detectorists and a dealer were jailed for theft and concealment. The missing coins, and whatever they could have told historians, may never be seen again.

The 2017 code asks detectorists who see illegal detecting to call the police on 101. Responsible detectorists have every reason to do so: nighthawks damage the reputation of the hobby and the goodwill of the landowners it depends on.