Worth an email but no joy.
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:22 pm
Here is the reply from my local council regarding detecting on their land or woodland. It was decent of them to reply in such detail with some positives at the end... I guess it's back to the allotment for now.
#####################################################
There have been a few requests to metal detect on PCC land over the years and although each request is considered carefully, I have always advised against giving permission to detect unless the work is part of a formal programme of archaeological investigation.
Our own resources are almost entirely dedicated to recording archaeological sites and retrieving remains that are going to be damaged and destroyed by development, quarrying, etc. We work on planned programmes of archaeological investigation in vulnerable areas and have a limited ability to respond to unexpected discoveries, such as the accidental exposure of human remains and significant artefacts.
Any archaeological remains beneath the surface are likely to be relatively well preserved and there is no obvious reason why they should be disturbed at this time. In the event that important remains were exposed by metal detecting on this land, we would have to carry out further exploratory archaeological excavations in order to properly record the context of the find, to retrieve all the relevant material, and to make sure that the remains were not vulnerable to unauthorised excavations. The responsibility and expense for this work would fall on PCC.
Apart from the health and safety, insurance, and ownership issues that you identify, there are a number of unavoidable consequences to using a metal detector on relatively open public land. One of these is that other, less responsible, people notice. There are significant problems with unauthorised and irresponsible metal detecting in this region and across the country, some of which takes place at night without any regard for damage to heritage or property.
There are a number of metal detector users in this area who detect responsibly on private, typically cultivated, land, with the relevant landowner’s and tenant’s permission. Peterborough Museum is supportive of metal detector users who wish to report their finds. We participate in the Portable Antiquities Scheme (www.finds.org.uk) and can offer a recording and identification service. We have a display in the Museum dedicated to local metal detector discoveries.
#####################################################
There have been a few requests to metal detect on PCC land over the years and although each request is considered carefully, I have always advised against giving permission to detect unless the work is part of a formal programme of archaeological investigation.
Our own resources are almost entirely dedicated to recording archaeological sites and retrieving remains that are going to be damaged and destroyed by development, quarrying, etc. We work on planned programmes of archaeological investigation in vulnerable areas and have a limited ability to respond to unexpected discoveries, such as the accidental exposure of human remains and significant artefacts.
Any archaeological remains beneath the surface are likely to be relatively well preserved and there is no obvious reason why they should be disturbed at this time. In the event that important remains were exposed by metal detecting on this land, we would have to carry out further exploratory archaeological excavations in order to properly record the context of the find, to retrieve all the relevant material, and to make sure that the remains were not vulnerable to unauthorised excavations. The responsibility and expense for this work would fall on PCC.
Apart from the health and safety, insurance, and ownership issues that you identify, there are a number of unavoidable consequences to using a metal detector on relatively open public land. One of these is that other, less responsible, people notice. There are significant problems with unauthorised and irresponsible metal detecting in this region and across the country, some of which takes place at night without any regard for damage to heritage or property.
There are a number of metal detector users in this area who detect responsibly on private, typically cultivated, land, with the relevant landowner’s and tenant’s permission. Peterborough Museum is supportive of metal detector users who wish to report their finds. We participate in the Portable Antiquities Scheme (www.finds.org.uk) and can offer a recording and identification service. We have a display in the Museum dedicated to local metal detector discoveries.