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The Dig Blog

Stories, finds, history, and detecting tips

Deep Plough, Quiet Signals: How to Revisit a Field Everyone Thinks Is Finished

Every club has one: the field that has been “done to death”. But soil moves, iron shifts, rain changes signals, and one deep plough can turn yesterday’s silent permission into tomorrow’s best session...

Medieval Market Fields: Reading the Clues of Fairs, Trade, and Lost Footfall

Some productive detecting ground was never a settlement at all. It was a meeting place: a fair field, a green beside a church, a route junction, or common land where centuries of trade and footfall left small but telling clues...

The Hoxne Hoard: What Britain’s Richest Roman Find Still Teaches Detectorists

Found while searching for a lost hammer, the Hoxne Hoard became the richest late Roman treasure find in Britain. Here is why it still matters, what it reveals about the end of Roman Britain, and the lesson every detectorist should steal from the discovery...

📍 19 April 2026 • JOMF News

The Coach House Family Dig

Sunshine, kids, pasture, sheep, a historic setting, and a couple of modest finds, including a small Primus Sweden piece. This one was less about treasure value and more about the kind of family day JOMF should be built around...

The Lenborough Hoard: 5,251 Silver Pennies and a Field Full of Kings

One good signal in Buckinghamshire turned into one of the greatest coin hoards found in modern Britain. Here is why the Lenborough Hoard still matters, what it reveals about Anglo-Saxon England, and the practical lesson detectorists should steal from it...

Roman Britain Beneath Your Boots: 5 Clues a Quiet Field May Hide a Lost Farmstead

Not every Roman site announces itself with silver or a villa plan. Here are five practical clues, from pottery and tile to water, slopes, and coin scatter, that can tell detectorists a quiet field may hide a lost Roman farmstead...

Field Walking Before You Detect: The Surface Clues Most People Ignore

Too many detectorists switch the machine on too soon. Here is how pottery, tile, shell, soil colour, and surface scatter can help you find better ground, avoid rubbish zones, and read a permission properly before the first signal...

Anglo-Saxon Kent: Why the Garden of England Keeps Giving Up Gold

From Faversham to Kingston, Kent keeps producing Anglo-Saxon treasure. Here is why the old kingdom mattered so much, what those famous finds really tell us, and how detectorists can learn to read the landscape behind the gold...

Roman Coin or Just a Crusty Disc? A Field Guide for Detectorists

Every detectorist eventually digs a muddy little disc and wonders whether it is Roman or rubbish. Here is the practical field guide for spotting worn Roman bronzes properly, reading the clues that matter, and knowing when one crusty coin means you should slow down and work the patch...

Holloways and Old Footpaths: The Treasure Lines Most Detectorists Walk Straight Past

If you want one simple rule for finding more history, hunt where people moved. Old footpaths and holloways can hold centuries of dropped coins, buckles, badges, and horse gear. Here's how to spot these forgotten routeways in Kent and Sussex, and work them like a detectorist who actually listens to the landscape...

Roman Coins in Kent: How to Read a Productive Scatter Before You Walk Past It

Most Roman success in Kent does not start with a hoard. It starts with a few tired bronze coins and the discipline to recognise a pattern before you wander off. Here's how to spot a meaningful Roman scatter, work it properly, and let the field tell you what sits beneath it...

Found Something Valuable? The Treasure Act Guide Every Detectorist Should Know

That dream signal is only half the story. If you find something old, precious, or potentially part of a hoard, knowing what the Treasure Act expects can protect the find, the landowner relationship, and the history behind it. Here's the practical guide every UK detectorist should have in their head...

The Snettisham Treasure: Iron Age Gold Beneath Norfolk Soil

The Snettisham Treasure is one of the greatest Iron Age finds ever made in Britain, with torcs, ingots, and repeated hoards pointing to a landscape of wealth, ritual, and power. Here's why it still fascinates detectorists, and what it teaches us about reading productive sites properly...

The Cuerdale Hoard: Britain’s Viking Silver Mountain

Found near the River Ribble in 1840, the Cuerdale Hoard contained around 8,600 silver objects and remains the largest Viking silver hoard ever discovered in Britain. Here's why it still matters to detectorists today, and what it teaches us about routeways, river crossings, and reading the landscape properly...

Buttons and Clothing Fasteners: Your Most Common Finds Explained

If metal detecting has a universal truth, it's this: you will dig more buttons than anything else. But before you toss your next "buttony thing" into the junk pouch, learn what you're actually finding — from Roman toggles to Victorian military brass — and why a humble button can tell you more about who lived on your field than a pocket full of coins...

Lead Seals and Cloth Marks: The Mysterious Discs Nobody Talks About

Every detectorist has a drawer full of them. Flat lead discs with holes and cryptic markings. They're not coins. They're not buttons. But they're everywhere. Here's what cloth seals actually are, why they matter, and how to identify your mysterious finds...

Medieval Buckles and Strap Ends: The Overlooked Treasures in Your Finds Bag

You've pulled another small, corroded lump from the soil. It's got a loop on one end, maybe some greenish copper-alloy patina. Stop — that "junk" might be a 700-year-old fashion statement. Here's how to identify and appreciate these common but undervalued finds...

Jettons and Trade Tokens: The Mystery Discs in Your Finds Pouch

You've dug it up. It's round. It's definitely metal. But it's not quite a coin. The design is weird, the thickness is off, and the legends make no sense. Before you toss it in the "junk" pile, stop. You might be holding something far more interesting than you realise. Welcome to the world of jettons and trade tokens...

Pilgrim Badges: Medieval Souvenirs Hiding in Your Fields

Picture a medieval traveller, exhausted after weeks of walking, finally reaching Canterbury Cathedral. They've prayed at the shrine of Thomas Becket. And before leaving, they buy a souvenir. That souvenir might now be lying in a field you're about to detect. Here's how to find one...

The Watlington Hoard: How a Detectorist Rewrote Anglo-Saxon History

October 2015. James Mather was detecting farmland near Watlington in Oxfordshire. The field had been freshly ploughed, exposing new ground. His machine gave a solid signal. What emerged from the soil wasn't just treasure - it was proof that everything historians thought they knew about Alfred the Great was incomplete...

A Day in the Mud: Thames Mudlarking Stories from the Foreshore

The Thames foreshore wakes before London does. At 6 AM, when the river retreats on the low spring tide, the mudlarks arrive. Gumboots squelching. Eyes scanning. Hearts hoping. I've been mudlarking the Thames for eight years. I don't do it for the money — most finds are worth pennies. I do it for the stories. Every piece of clay pipe, every worn button, every glint of trade token tells a tale of Londoners long gone...

Mudlarking Fields: Detecting in Wet Weather Without Ruining Your Day

It's April in Kent. The field you planned to hunt looks like a rice paddy. The clay soil has turned into something resembling molten chocolate mixed with glue. But here's a secret: wet fields can be the most productive fields. The Romans dropped coins here. The Saxons lost their jewellery. Here's how to detect in wet conditions without destroying your kit, your morale, or your farmer's goodwill...

Roman Villa Detecting in Kent: Where the Rich Lost Their Coins

Picture this: you're walking a field in the Kentish Weald. Two thousand years ago, a Roman family built their estate here. They feasted, traded, gambled with silver denarii, and dropped small fortunes in the dirt. Kent boasts over 350 known Roman villa sites — more than any other county. Here's how to find them, what signals to expect, and the ethics of detecting these ancient luxury hotspots...

Celtic Gold: The Torc Hunters - Finding Britain's Oldest Treasure

Before Rome, before the Anglo-Saxons, the Celts ruled Britain and buried their gold. In Norfolk, the Snettisham Treasure revealed over 180 gold torcs. In 2018, two detectorists in Ipswich found a 958-gram Celtic torc worth £275,000. These ancient masterpieces, crafted 2,000 years ago, are still waiting in fields across East Anglia...

The Deadly Serpent-Worn Curse: Britain's Most Poisonous Roman Ring

Deep in the Cotswold hills, buried near Silchester, lies a Roman ring of twisted gold coiled around a hidden capsule of poison. Worn by soldiers and politicians as a secret weapon, it's now in the Museum of the Baths in Bath. But it's also a reminder of what might still lie beneath your feet...

The Silverdale Hoard: Lancashire's Viking Treasure Jackpot

September 2011. Darren Webster was detecting on farmland near Silverdale in Lancashire. After three hours of nothing but junk, his machine gave a signal at 16 inches deep. What he pulled from the soil would become one of the most important Viking hoards ever found in Britain - 27 coins, arm rings, and over a kilogram of silver buried for 1,100 years...

The Fishpool Hoard: Gold From the Wars of the Roses

March 1966. Workmen in Nottinghamshire struck gold - literally. What they unearthed was the largest medieval gold coin hoard ever found in Britain: 1,237 coins, rings, chains, and pendants. All buried in haste during the Wars of the Roses. All waiting five centuries to tell their story...

How to Clean Your Metal Detecting Finds Without Destroying Them

You've dug something interesting. Maybe a hammered coin caked in centuries of grime. Your instinct is to scrub it clean immediately. Stop right there. More finds are ruined at home than in the ground. The first rule of cleaning detector finds is simple: do less than you think you should...

Beach Detecting Essentials: Where Sand Meets Treasure

There's something almost therapeutic about beach detecting. The crash of waves. The salt air. The knowledge that beneath your feet lies a constantly churning treasure chest. Unlike field detecting, you don't need permission. But here's the catch: beach detecting is its own beast entirely...

Detecting Along the Roman Roads of Kent: Where Legions Marched and Coins Were Lost

Kent was the gateway to Roman Britain. When Claudius's legions landed in AD 43, they stepped ashore somewhere along the Kent coast and immediately began building roads. Many still exist beneath modern roads. Others vanish into farmers' fields. And that's where things get interesting for detectorists...

The Middleham Jewel: A £2.5 Million Signal in a Yorkshire Field

September 1985. Ted Seaton was metal detecting near Middleham Castle in North Yorkshire. His machine gave a good signal - clean and solid. What he pulled from the soil would become the most expensive single piece of medieval jewellery ever sold in Britain...

The Mildenhall Treasure: Britain's Greatest Roman Silver

January 1942. Gordon Butcher was ploughing a field near Mildenhall in Suffolk when his plough struck something solid. What he and his employer Sydney Ford pulled from the frozen soil would turn out to be the finest collection of Roman silver ever found in Britain - and spark a mystery that took four years to unravel...

The Ringlemere Cup: Kent's Bronze Age Gold

November 2001. Cliff Bradshaw was detecting farmland near Sandwich in Kent when his machine gave a deep, solid signal. What he pulled from the soil was 3,700 years old - one of the rarest Bronze Age gold vessels ever found in Britain, and proof that prehistoric Kent was no backwater...

The Crosby Garrett Helmet: The £2.3 Million Find That Wasn't Treasure

May 2010. An unnamed detectorist was working farmland in Cumbria. His machine gave a signal - nothing spectacular. What emerged from the soil, in 67 fragments, would sell at auction for £2.3 million. And because of a quirk in the Treasure Act, the finder kept every penny...

📍 28 March 2026 • JOMF News

Our First Dig: Rotherfield Farmland

Saturday 28th March 2026. Three of us. A private farm in Rotherfield. One find - a 1950s cream lid worth £10. Sounds disappointing? Here's why it wasn't. Every JOMF member earned something today...

The Hoxne Hoard: A Lost Hammer and Britain's Largest Roman Treasure

November 1992. Peter Whatling had lost his hammer somewhere in his Suffolk field. He asked his friend Eric Lawes - a retired gardener with a new metal detector - to help find it. What Eric found instead was the largest hoard of late Roman gold and silver ever discovered in Britain...

The Frome Hoard: 52,503 Coins and the Signal That Wouldn't Stop

April 2010. Dave Crisp was detecting on farmland near Frome in Somerset when he got a signal. Then another. Then another. What he'd stumbled upon was the largest hoard of Roman coins ever found in a single container in Britain...

📖 24 March 2026 • Guide

Best Metal Detectors 2026: UK Buyer's Guide

Choosing a detector is overwhelming. This guide cuts through the noise with honest recommendations for UK conditions. From the £279 Vanquish 440 to the £1,299 XP Deus 2...

📖 24 March 2026 • Guide

How to Get Metal Detecting Permission in the UK (2026 Guide)

Getting permission is the biggest challenge for UK detectorists. Here's everything you need to know: where to find land, how to approach farmers, letter templates, and more...

📖 24 March 2026 • Guide

What to Do If You Find Treasure in the UK (Step-by-Step)

Found something valuable? Here's exactly what to do. The Treasure Act explained, how to report finds, what happens next, and how the reward system works...

The Vale of York Hoard: A Father and Son's Viking Discovery

January 2007. David and Andrew Whelan were detecting a field they'd hunted before, expecting nothing spectacular. What they found would become one of the most significant Viking hoards ever discovered in Britain - a corroded silver bowl packed with over 600 coins and 67 precious objects...

Hunting the Ghost Villages: Finding Britain's Deserted Medieval Settlements

Beneath countless ploughed fields across Britain lie the remains of villages that time forgot. An estimated 3,000 villages were abandoned in England between the Norman Conquest and the 17th century. And where there were people, there were lost belongings...

Recognising Anglo-Saxon Finds: What to Look For in Your Hand

You've pulled something from the soil. It's not a coin - at least not obviously. It's corroded, misshapen, maybe broken. But there's something about it. A curve that seems deliberate. Could this be Anglo-Saxon?

🏆 23 March 2026 • Founding Member

Welcome Toni Derrington - Priority Member #1 in North West!

Toni from Carlisle becomes our first Priority member in the North West region. 9 more needed to unlock! Join the movement...

🏆 23 March 2026 • Founding Member

Welcome David Harrison - Priority Member #1 in North East!

David from Hartlepool is our first Priority member in the North East region. 9 more needed to unlock! Be part of history...

Signal Secrets: What Your Detector is Really Telling You

Every detectorist knows the feeling. Your machine screams, your heart races, you dig with trembling hands - and pull out a bottle cap. Again. But here's the thing: your detector wasn't lying. You just weren't listening properly...

Mudlarking: The Other Way to Hunt History

Not every treasure hunter swings a detector over ploughed fields. Some wade into Britain's tidal rivers at low tide, eyes scanning the mud for the glint of history. It's called mudlarking, and if you haven't tried it yet...

How to Identify Your First Hammered Coin

You've dug a small, dark, misshapen disc. Your heart's racing. Is it a hammered coin or just a button? And if it's a coin, who made it and when? This moment - staring at a grubby lump of history in your palm - is why we detect...

Field Walking Secrets: Reading the Land Before You Swing

Here's a truth most beginners learn the hard way: the detectorist who finds the most isn't always the one with the fanciest kit. It's the one who knows where to look. Field walking separates the successful from the frustrated...

The Treasure Act Explained: What Every Detectorist Needs to Know

You've just pulled a gold coin from the soil. Your heart's pounding, your hands are shaking. But wait - what do you actually do now? Understanding the Treasure Act isn't just good practice. It's the law...

The Staffordshire Hoard: Britain's Greatest Anglo-Saxon Discovery

In July 2009, Terry Herbert was detecting on farmland in Staffordshire when his detector started screaming. What he found over the next five days would rewrite history...

Choosing Your First Metal Detector: A Beginner's Guide

With hundreds of detectors on the market from £50 to £5,000, how do you pick the right one? We break down what actually matters for UK detecting...

Why Kent is a Hotspot for Roman Coins

Kent was the gateway to Roman Britain. From the landing at Richborough to the villas dotting the Weald, here's why detectorists love hunting in the Garden of England...