Paying farmers £1,000 for access isn’t the only new metal detecting innovation. In Essex the “charity rally” wheeze has been improved. Local freemasons have been persuaded to approach farmers instead of the detectorists (presumably to lend a greater air respectability to the proposal). However, let no-one doubt who the intended winners of the proposal are: “Finds with a potential value of under £500 would remain the sole property of the finder”.
It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if all the conservation bodies warned farmers that those nice, charitable freemasons are unaware that:
1.) Rallies, whatever their form and whoever proposes them and whether for charity or not, are likely to damage heritage.
2.) The vast majority of finds found will be worth under £500 so almost everything that is ever found, despite belonging to the farmer and totalling millions of pounds a year, will go to neither the farmer nor the charity but will be pocketed by the detectorists.
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The Heritage Journal 
13 comments
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25/11/2017 at 08:52
John Morton
Or it can stay in the top few inches and be destroyed by modern farming machinery until the items are just a few smashed up fragments. I think people forget that many important historical discoveries have been made with metal detectors. Generally the finds are in the plough soil and they are saved from further damage. Most detectorists on an organized dig spend far more on the dig fee and the cost of getting there than any potential find would be worth, in fact the vast majority go home with very little. The majority of metal detectorsists are NOT in the hobby for financial gain, if they are they will be very disappointed.
25/11/2017 at 09:16
heritageaction
“The majority of metal detectorsists are NOT in the hobby for financial gain”…
Yet it is they, not the landowners or the charities who walk away with millions of pounds worth of artefacts every year.
Q.E.D.
25/11/2017 at 11:35
John Morton
Millions of pounds every year – I think you are misguided and deluded. But we are all entitled to an opinion and as you have done make a wild stab and guess at a number without any supporting evidence. There are of course a few high profile finds and hoards that would make up the vast majority of any numbers you may have. The individuals finds are generally very nice to find but of little monetary value, The charities do very well and they need additional funds, maybe you might need the support from one of them in the future, possibly assisted by some funds from metal detecting. Metal detecting has helped to rewrite history with some of the important discoveries made over the past few decades. Many of these finds would have NEVER been found or destroyed.
25/11/2017 at 12:02
heritageaction
“Millions of pounds every year – I think you are misguided and deluded. But we are all entitled to an opinion and as you have done make a wild stab and guess at a number without any supporting evidence.”
24k detectorists (per Dr Sam Hardy) X 30 small finds each per year (per 3 official and one detectorists’ surveys) worth say £15 = £10,800,000 per year.
Statistics beat wishful thinking and well-worn platitudes. Please don’t bother to reply with the latter two or insults.
25/11/2017 at 12:56
John Morton
Ok so its all about the money as far as your thoughts are on this. The fact that items found by metal detecting are saved from destruction by modern farming processes and chemicals and preserved for all to see with many historical and important items displayed in museums. – its all about the money somebody may possibly get as a reward for finding it ? preserving our heritage, if this was your aim, surely shouldn’t matter who finds it . The fact is that probably 99.999% of items found by metal detectorsists would NEVER be discovered as they are casual or individual losses – therefore lost forever or smashed to pieces is not important to you?
25/11/2017 at 14:08
heritageaction
I can assure you that when clauses like
“Finds with a value of under £500 would remain the sole property of the finder”
are removed from every finds agreement you can start to convince people detectorists are in it for public benefit. But until then you certainly can’t. Please, don’t try to kid people any more.
28/11/2017 at 16:26
rossminton
I started detecting last year as I needed a hobbit to help with some disability physic. plus I love history.
I have struggles to find permissions in Shropshire seems most farmers are sceptical. I’m a fisherman, raised in the countryside and seem to get on well with most landowners until I mention I detect. some honestly think your making £££ a day. for some perspective. last week the owners of very old stately home/hall (I will keep the owners privacy) let the club I’m in run a charity rally literally in the front garden. there were 30 of us and 4 hammered coins were found. probably worth £10-£40 each. me and my son left with a musket ball and a new 2017 pound coin. we all paid £15 and had a raffle and all the money was given to charity.
Yes there are bad detectorists, theres good and bad in everyone, in every occupation (including farming I’ve seen it first hand.)
but please don’t write us all off, I’m a former scout leader, I’ve never been in trouble with the police and would happily give all my finds away, or buy them from the farmer, just for the chance to get out and detect. but instead i hear no, no, no and the artefacts will be eventually destroyed is fields that are ploughed etc every year.
Hope this offers a little more context. all the best,
Ross
30/11/2017 at 17:05
Julie Argent
You can’t argue with people like you. You’ll always think your opinion is the right one. You sound just like that other bloke Paul Barford.
Detecting is the best hobby in the world. Thousands of special things get found and declared every year. But you only care about the minor things people keep. Farmers don’t have to agree to these terms? But they are happy that ultimately it’s the charities that benefit. Plus yes, they do get values of things over £500 split with them.
My husband has found 2 beautiful artefacts saved from the plough that now sit in museums to be enjoyed by all. But if people like you had their way, every field would be scheduled.
You need to open your eyes that what we do is a good thing. Often we cleanse land of all metal contaminates. (it’s not all about treasure, it’s mostly shot gun cartridges, cow medicine tubes, ring pulls, musket balls and tin can)
But yet you think that’s worth millions…
Looking after the countryside by collecting rubbish is priceless.
01/12/2017 at 18:13
heritageaction
“you only care about the minor things people keep.”
I don’t think you understand. Those minor things add up to millions of pounds that the rightful owners, the farmers, ought to be given. Why should people who proclaim “we’re only in it for the history” deprive them of it?
Also, those “minor things” number millions and are the real basis of history, detailed pages of culture, yet aren’t reported so are ripped from outr collective story.
Before you say how much detectorists do for society join an amateur archaeology society and give not take. Then you’ll be listened to.
01/12/2017 at 20:25
Julie Argent
You make it sound like we all steal from farmers? We have amazing relationships with our farmers. We show them absolutely everything, they get close up photos with descriptions of all that come off their own farm. So far, none have asked to keep anything we’ve found, but if they did they’d be welcome to keep it!
We’re not all night hawking thieves. Some of us do it by the book, openly and honestly.
02/12/2017 at 08:39
heritageaction
A contract in which one side has a clear advantage in knowledge about values is clearly an unfair contract. Please don’t pretend it’s untrue.
03/09/2018 at 22:09
Linda Pollard (@KiwiGrrl)
You seem to conveniently forget that the farmers who sign the agreements and often are paid hundreds if not thousands of pounds per year (for some of the larger organised digs) for a people to roam over their land often finding trash and green waste as someone previously commented. Do you think the farmers are all doing it for charity and are not benefitting by a bit of cash on the side? They often tell groups no one has detected the land before when it has been … they are not the ones being ripped off here. As in any agreement there are two sides. If you are not detectorist and not farmer then what is agreed is not your issue.
04/09/2018 at 00:51
heritageaction
To reiterate:
It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if all the conservation bodies warned farmers that …..
1.) Rallies, whatever their form and whoever proposes them and whether for charity or not, are likely to damage heritage.
2.) The vast majority of finds found will be worth under £500 so almost everything that is ever found, despite belonging to the farmer and totalling millions of pounds a year, will go to neither the farmer nor the charity but will be pocketed by the detectorists.