Metal Detecting The New Poaching

Briarquest

Well-Known Member
Hi,
a couple of weeks ago I bought a metal detector. I have found it marginally easier to find land than it is to obtain shooting permissions but you really do hear some horror stories. People trespassing on land wearing head torches to metal detect and steal whatever they find. I have contacted more than one farmer in the past week who has said a firm no because of this happening on their land.

Others have found out that having given permission and signed a 50/50 split contract with the detectorist have found out that said detectorist has found something of value, sold it and denied all knowledge to their face.

I know that there are farmers and landowners on here and want to point out that although I am only new to metal detecting, I know from some of the contacts I have had so far that we are not all the same. People that I am in contact with and myself included are doing this for the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of holding an artifact of coin that was held hundred of years before.

If anyone knows of a farmer in the north of England who would appreciate their land being searched with a metal detector to discover items of historical interest or of value then please send them my way. With a background in shooting I am respectful of farmers, their land and their livestock as well as any sporting activities that may take place on their land.

Regards

Ian
 
Ian

Don't go to deep you will end up opening wistow mine again.

bob.

plenty of fields there to have a go at have you been out that way yet.

Not rung any farms around there yet. Most responses are favourable and everyone is even more polite than when you call for shooting. I will give them a try tomorrow,

Cheers

Ian
 
Case in point. If only they came down on poachers in the same way.

For the first time in England, two metal detector users have been given a suspended custodial sentence and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) by the court for carrying out illegal metal detecting activities on a protected site.




Peter Cox, 69, and Darren West, 51, both from Northamptonshire, were sentenced by Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, December 19, to one year imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to stealing artefacts from and causing serious damage to a scheduled monument at Chester Farm, near Irchester.


This is the result of an investigation by a heritage crime partnership involving English Heritage, Northamptonshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the British Museum.


The sentences also included 150 hours of community service, a curfew, confiscation of metal detecting equipment, compensation for damage caused to the scheduled monument, and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders that restrict use of metal detecting equipment.


The scheduled monument at Chester Farm, owned by Northamptonshire County Council (NCC), includes Iron Age and medieval settlement remains but is most significant for its surviving remains of a Roman walled town that includes roads, temples and many other buildings. The site has long suffered from trespassers, and a Grade II* listed 16th and 17th century farm house on the site was seriously damaged by arson in 2010.


Northamptonshire Police launched an investigation after two English Heritage officers witnessed the two men metal detecting on the scheduled monument last July. Damage had also been caused to the scheduled monument by the excavation of trenches, which had been illegally dug in search of artefacts.


The police responded swiftly, arrested the men and conducted a raid at their homes. A large amount of Iron Age, Roman and medieval coins, metal artefacts and pottery, along with metal detecting equipment and documents relating to the scheduled monument were recovered.


Experts from the British Museum helped to identify and date the archaeological finds. English Heritage submitted a heritage impact statement that highlights the national importance of the site and the irreversible damage caused by Cox and West.


Mike Harlow, governance and legal director of English Heritage, said: “The sentence today sets an important watershed in the combat against illegal metal detecting and acknowledges its true impact on society.


“These are not people enjoying a hobby or professionals carrying out a careful study. They are thieves using metal detectorslike a burglar uses a jemmy. The material they are stealing belongs to the landowner and the history they are stealing belongs to all of us. Once the artefacts are removed from the ground and sold the valuable knowledge they contain is lost for ever. This is a notoriously difficult crime to prosecute and convict. We are very grateful to the police and CPS in this case whose partnership working is an example we would wish to see elsewhere.”


Mark Holmes, senior crown prosecutor and heritage crime co-ordinator for CPS East Midlands, said: “This practice of illegal metal detecting and stealing artefacts from the ground has been a growing problem, which the Crown Prosecution Service takes seriously. Often carried out by so-called ‘enthusiasts’, this kind of activity has retained a veneer of respectability which it just does not deserve. Land is being damaged; the theft of ancient artefacts robs us of important information about our heritage and the artefacts themselves are lost to the public.


“This case is the largest scale operation we have prosecuted for this type of crime. It should serve as a warning to anyone else involved in this activity that it is a crime and if you are caught you face prosecution and a criminal record. The CPS will continue to work closely with our partners in preventing heritage crime and ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice.”


Chief Inspector Nick Lyall, Northamptonshire Police, said: “After an extensive joint investigation between many agencies we are happy with today’s court result. It will send a clear message to those that want to disrupt historic sites in the future. ”


Councillor Heather Smith, Northamptonshire County Council’s cabinet member for customers and communities, said: “As a scheduled ancient monument, Chester Farm is of exceptional national importance, so these offences were extremely serious. This court case sends out the message that the county council will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who interferes with the site and Northamptonshire will not tolerate anyone who contemplates a crime against heritage. It saddens me immensely that we will never know the full extent of the damage caused by these criminals, to a site of such cultural importance.”
 
My trail camera has caught more than 1 unauthorised metal detector wielding trespasser... Not sure they shared their finds with the land owners...
 
This became, even in the 1970s, such a serious problem at the site of the Waterloo battle in Belgium that the authorities there seeded the field with old nuts and bolts. So that metal detector users enden up with so many useless 'contacts" as to make it a wasted exercise.
 
My girlfriends dad let someone on his farm when he was still alive - the guy found a roman coin horde worth £thousands (Oving, West Sussex)... never gave her dad a penny! I can see why some people are reluctant :)
 
Friend of mine has a lad come detecting, he found a ring last year, solid gold valued at £10k,
he finds early coins each time he comes,

all 50 / 50 share.
 
We've had them over our place. Last spring I found quite a few shallow holes roughly filled back in in a couple of fields.
 
I don't think it's the new poaching,it's been going on since they were invented,have you got round wheels yet :D
 
We get nighthawks round here. There is a chap who works on my shooting ground who is a legitimate detectorist. He finds activity all the time. He says many of them are on the dole. They get dropped off at night and picked up later so there is no vehicle to spot and there are dealers who buy finds for cash. He wants to see a ban on cash sales of artifacts and all dealers licensed as has been done with scrap. Don't know how that would work but I can see his point. It is theft after all, and vandalism.
They don't like having the lamp on them. They bolt like rabbits.
 
I walked the dog early Sunday morning around one of my permissions near my house and there was 4 guys in high viz jackets milling around a very large burger van and I thought they were something to do with a long distance charity horse ride that happens occasionally round here.

Nope.

Metal detectorists and 100+ were expected (some from Holland :eek: ) for an organised day (all agreed with the land owner).

Probably inspired by recent well publicised valuable finds?

New one on me.
 
I walked the dog early Sunday morning around one of my permissions near my house and there was 4 guys in high viz jackets milling around a very large burger van and I thought they were something to do with a long distance charity horse ride that happens occasionally round here.

Nope.

Metal detectorists and 100+ were expected (some from Holland :eek: ) for an organised day (all agreed with the land owner).

Probably inspired by recent well publicised valuable finds?

New one on me.

Yep, apparently it happens. We are a sad bunch :)


Ian
 
On a kind of related note, my uncle was metal detecting on former military grounds and found a grenade. He phoned the police and asked what to do, they said just put some string around it and someone will be up in a few days to deal with it. I was astonished at how casual the police are down there.
 
as already said its called night hawking i used to do a bit of detecting myself a couple of years ago, in all fairness it is actualy quite nice to find some of the stuff old coins old bullets and musket balls and all sorts of things you pick up but i never found any of these roman hoards that seem to litter the countryside
 
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