Metal Detecting
Not so much a contribution more of a request. Can anyone within the group assist me in an attempt to find suitable areas within Hadleigh and Thundersley to carry out my developing hobby? I have written to Salvation Army Farm to seek their permission to prospect on their land without response.
Are there any members of the group who are indeed prospectors themselves? I am a registered member of the NCMD and as such fully insured. Hoping that someone can help me in my quest.
[Editor’s note: NCMD is the National Council For Metal Detecting. NCMD membership requires each member to adhere to the NCMD Code of Conduct. Among other things, this requires the reporting of all unusual historical finds to the landowner, and acquaintance with the NCMD policy relating to the Voluntary Reporting of Portable Antiquities in England and Wales. Such reporting would be through the Portable Antiquities Scheme by telephone or through their website at https://finds.org.uk]
Comments about this page
Add your own comment
Coincidentally, I just bought a cheapo metal detector on impulse from “the middle of Lidl” last week.
If a local group is formed, I’ll be very interested!
{Ed: note the advice in a previous comment: “I would encourage all those wishing to be involved in local metal detecting to join either an archaeological club or a metal detecting club who could co-ordinate such activity and ensure that proper identification and location of any significant artefacts found takes place.”
Back in the early ’70s I was into bottle searching with a spade. One such place I went to was down by the railway line at Hadleigh Castle. At the turn of the 19th Century there was a track out to the Thames for horses and carts to access the barges. Where these carts crossed the railway line there was a red bricked bridge, long since demolished; the elevation was created with, so I was told, rubbish from up the line; here I found buried artefacts such as pottery, bottles and pieces of clay pipe, mostly broken but still interesting at the time.
Trying very hard to achieve this. Hopefully will be able to join what appears to be the nearest group, based in Hockley but this is by no means certain. I wish to be able to carry out my Hobby safe in the knowledge that what I do is legal. So if anyone has any contact with local landowners who may be willing to help, I would be pleased to hear from them.
As the Secretary of the local community archaeology group, AGES Archaeological & Historical Association, I welcome people who are keen to responsibly unearth local heritage. Unfortunately, a number of early metal detectorists received bad press as “treasure hunters” who never reported the location of their finds and forever destroyed any chance of providing dating evidence to areas of undisturbed past occupation. With so few local archaeological digs, such information could have been very valuable in understanding how our area developed.
I would encourage all those wishing to be involved in local metal detecting to join either an archaeological club or a metal detecting club who could co-ordinate such activity and ensure that proper identification and location of any significant artefacts found takes place.
If anyone has found items locally, please submit an article to the Archive with a photo and an identification so that the rest of the community can share your findings.
Add a comment about this page