Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history
of north Devon
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A Short Bleep! on Metal Detecting - David Grenfell (newsletter No 8 2004)
My fascination with the hobby of metal detecting began
36 years ago, a couple of years before metal detectors first appeared
on sale in the UK. At that time you had to obtain a pipe finder’s
licence before you could legally use a detector. My first machines were
home made, first a BFO (beat frequency oscillator) model which was crude,
but it worked; then a much more sophisticated model using the IB (induction
balance) principle. This was so successful that I received commissions
from friends and constructed another five. The profit from these enabled
me to import an American,, factory-built, state of the art machine, a
Garret Groundhog. It incorporated such luxuries as all metal or non-ferrous
discrimination and a target identification meter. Buy one today and it
will be light to handle and bristling with digital enhancements, such
as an LCD screen that purports to tell you what your find is, where it
is,
and how deep it is! Of course, it comes at a price!.
Today detecting is a hobby enjoyed by an estimated 35,000 enthusiasts throughout the UK. Most are members of the many county metal detecting clubs. There are two dedicated magazines and two large national organisations offering their members help, advice and £5m pounds’ worth of public liability insurance (provided they adhere to the organisations’ code of conduct).
The new Treasure Act of 1996 means that detectorists, and any other member of the public now have to report a treasure find or risk imprisonment for up to three months, a fine of up to £5,000, or both. The widespread awareness of this new law has resulted in many more finds, including important and rare artefacts, being acquired by national and local museums. Detectorists now also know that they will receive a fairer reward for any properly reported treasure item than they would probably obtain from a dealer.
However, determining what finds qualify as treasure is not as straightforward as it used to be. The guidance offered by the new Treasure Act Code of Practice has 5 separate and somewhat complicated, categories. But basically treasure is any metallic object, other than a coin, containing more than10% by weight of gold or silver and at least 300 years old.
Another new Government initiative that affects anyone finding something of historical interest is the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Since 1997 a national network of Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs) has been established throughout England and Wales. To date more than 63,000 finds, the great majority from detectors, have been submitted and deemed important enough to be displayed and detailed on the PAS web site.
The FLOs are the main point of contact for reporting a treasure or any other metal or nonmetal find including lithics, that might be historically or archaeologically interesting. The web-site is now a substantial, categorised, database, providing information for students, researchers, archaeologists and anyone interested in the nation’s history. Most of the FLOs are based at County museums. Nicola Powell the FLO for Devon can be contacted at Exeter Museum and also holds regular Finds Days, on the 1st Tuesday of each month, at Barnstaple Museum, where, in her absence, I as a museum volunteer, act as her North Devon Area assistant. Nicola is actively seeking and obtaining the confidence and support of local detectorists via these Tuesday and occasional Saturday Finds Days.
The last decade or two has seen increasing co-operation between detector users and archaeological groups. For many years the benefits of metal detector pre-dig site surveys, open trench ground scanning and spoil heap searches have been appreciated and utilised by archaeologists. Countless independent and club based detectorists, including myself, have been delighted to assist archaeologists in this hands-on way. Just like you, the readers of this magazine, most detectorists have a thirst for knowledge of the past and covet the opportunity to be involved, via any or all of the above legal methods with our country's history.