~-;-·The Succe ssiul

I.Trea sure ·Hunte rs

f _· _--~ tSite Guide

John Webb
 Contents
7
Introduction
ar ch 13
1 Records, Ho ar ds an d Re seati ng ho ard sites · Lo st an d
Ke epi ng rec ord s • Ho ard s • Re loc
found col um ns

27
2 Recreation Sites gro un ds · So uth -fa cin g
Mo un t ple asa nts • Fe tes • Cir cus
d pic nic kin g are as ·
views • Ma yp ole s • Co urt ing an
• Dr ink ing fou nta ins ·
Tri go no mi c po int s . Da y trip per s
ion • Ca mp ing gro un ds
Pu b gar den s • Ol d cafe sites • Pro sti tut

45
3 Pa ths , Tr ac ks an d Ro ad s Fo otp ath s to chu rch es •
Bo un dar y footpaths • Cr oss roa ds •
Milestones • Ro ad sites

55
4 W ate r Sites • Cliff erosion• Fo rds
Po nd s• Rivers• Wells • Horse tro ug hs

5 Ru ra l Sites
Windmills • Barns • Yew trees • Po
Dovecotes • Na tur al banks
un ds • Stocks • Follies .
70
''
...
II

..e
t:
83
6 Everyday Places • Es tat e greens . Ca r
Bus stops • Railway fences · Toilets
an d founda tion stones . .,
parks · Phone boxes · Ga rde n walls .
Ultra violet lights "i

96 /,'
7 Sporting Activities s
Sports grounds • Archery bu tts • Sled run
[
k
5
t
'
 Mili tary Sites . 102
8 Civil War sites . Geor gian camp s and enca mpm ents
Airfields . Dang ers in the soil · Bom b debri s

9 Wor king Area s 115

Hop fields • Sludge gulpe rs · Recl amat ion · Allot ment s .
Development sites

10 Gen eral Info rmat ion 125

Treasure hunte r's ,code • Club s · Arch aeolo gical sites
Permission • Ring pulls • Phot ograp hs
 Int rod uc tio n
'Tre asur e hun ters ' is a term whi ch does not real ly app ly to
mos t dete ctor user s. The term itsel f conj ures pict ures in the
min d of fabl ed hoar ds of pira te gold and colo ssal quan titie s
of valu able s. Whi lst this is a thou ght in the min d of all
dete ctor user s, the occu rren ce of such fortu nes bein g brou ght
to ligh t is rare .
Mos t trea sure hun ters are conc erne d with the find ing of
any valu able or inte resti ng artif acts of our near or dist ant
past . The re are amo ngst us only an elite few conc erne d
excl usiv ely with the loca tion of hoar ds.
Mos t peop le have with in them the need to find item s of
bygo ne eras and this natu ral insti nct is expr esse d toda y by
the use of met al dete ctor s and the long ing to own item s from
our fasc inati ng past .
Muc h has been said abou t the use and misu se of dete ctor s
and whil st som e of each side of the stor y is true , the cour se
followed by mos t so-t erm ed trea sure hun ters is one of
fasc inati on, stu1 y and the atta inin g of pers onal goal s with
rega rd to our lost heri tage . The term trea sure hun ting , as we
will use it with in this book , appl ies not just to the find ing of
artic les of valu e. The aim of this book is to port ray the hob by
or voca tion (as in man y case s it is) in its true form with out
favo ur or disto rtion of the true facts.
In man y insta nces dete ctor user s have beco me hist oria ns
in thei r own righ t. The dedi cati on of thes e indi vidu als
war rant s adm irati on for the lost know ledg e that they are
brin ging to ligh t. The y are seek ing for artif acts in plac es
whe re no official bodi es or soci eties wou ld ever drea m of

7
 t•L1. 6•
e •.A•
,j. tiff ~ ~

+•
Alex Page found this wide range of articles ,i n two years

searchin g, and in their own smaII way are piecing together

lost sections of our past that no other societie s can or do
concern themsel ves with, regretta bly.
Treasur e hunting means many differen t things to many
differen t people but whatev er your persona l reasons for
getting involved with this fascinat ing hobby one thing is
certain - the knowled ge and excitem ent you will gain from
every individu al find will make you become even more
fascinat ed with what there is to be discove red.
Many clubs have been springin g up all over Britain a nd
alth~ug ~. the appare ntly mercen ary phrase 'treasu re
hunting 1s used, I have found most of these clubs have the
exact opposite ideals in mind. At the time of writing several
) ,
 clubs are connected with recovering lost items of jewellery
some of which are extremely valuable, but who have n~
thought in mind of personal gain. Their joy is in finding and
return ing valuables to their owners.
Other diggers are chang ing the knowledge in our history
books by the consta nt stream of artifacts being brought to
light and are doing much to clarify the distorted picture we
have of our past. Some revision of text books will be needed in
the years to come to keep pace with the new information that
is being suppl ied by treasu re hunters.
Thous ands of sites are lost daily in Britain. By the term
sites we mean areas in which no official body is interested. In
this category of site, treasu re hunte rs come into their own.
With no recorded knowledge that any given piece of land
contains anyth ing of interest, there is nobody at hand to save
anyth ing which may come to light. Treas ure hunte rs are
now u~der taking this task.
To under stand the whole concept of treasu re huntin g in its
fullest exten t is to under stand the think ing of past
gener ations and, whilst this is a mamm oth task, the deeper a
perso n delves into it, the more his knowledge is expan ded
and the more he comes to under stand huma n needs, huma n
rights, and huma n ingenuity.
Withi n the pages of this book every photo graph ed item
has come to light on the various sites that have been
menti oned. Every item is in fact a substa ntiatio n of such sites
and it is quite possible by following the information given
within these pages to obtain a collection of items simila r to
those shown . Obviously, much patien ce is needed in treasu re
huntin g. Of all the assets to have, patien ce is witho ut doubt
the most neces sary, close! y followed by diligence and
persev eranc e. If you are a patien t perso n there is no doubt
that you will succe ed in this hobby.
As far as the treasu re hunte r is conce rned, archaeological
sites are out of bound s. Ancie nt monu ments are protec ted by
an Act of Parlia ment. There is, however, a distin ct lack of

9
know ledge with regar d to what is, or is not
archa eolog ical site. Many of our castle s have a protec, tian
notice place d on them clearl y visibl e to the casua l sight-seevre
but many ill-de fined sites are also classi fied a~
archa eolog ical.
Unfor tunate ly, the onus is on the digge r to bewar e and
bewar e he must. Heav y penal ties are impos ed upon the
unwa ry even thoug h the site may seem, for instan ce, to be
nothin g but a ploug hed field. The only way of clarifying this

A fine Victor ian tea service discove red in Essex

•
Part of the hoard of 50 Gallo-Belgic slaters found by Sheila and Bert
Freeman in Hampshire .

situation at the moment is for detector users to delve deeply

in conjunction with' their local archaeological society. as to
what is, or is not, a protected site.
Although it is not stated con.t inually throughout this book,
permission is an absolute necessity for searching any site.
Just as you would not wish anybody to dig in your back
garden without permission, so all other landowners feel the
same way. They like to be asked and it is an unwritten rule
amongst treasure hunters that permission must be obtaine~
in the first instance. ·A friendly chat is normally all that· is
needed to gain access to the land you need to search. Again,
this is a necessity from the point of view of maintaining the

11
goo d nam e fro m our hob by. (See the Tre asu re
Co de on pag e 125). Hunter's
It is ess ent ial to fill in all hol es. If in gra ss, the hol es
)d
be dug in suc h a ma nne r so as not to remove th hou
e grass
com ple tely , ie leav e it hin. ged . In this wa y ' any obiiJect can b
. k. e
rem ove d eas ily and the hin ged gra ss can be flapped b
the hol e, lea vin g no trac e of dis tur ban ce • Prore a~ into
i1 ss1onal
s,
dig gin g on gra ssla nd, sta nd out bec. aus e the ir hol es are
. d. l f obJect is removed T
unt rac ea ble 1m me 1ate y a ter any d . · ools
. kni ves and small
used to d o t h 1s are 1ong scFew rive rs,
trow els.
the
Co mm on sen se cou ple d wit h a res pon sib le atti tud e is
rule tha t mu st be app lied to this fas cin atin g hobby.
e
In sum min g up this bri ef ope nin g cha pte r, a final exampl
be seen
of the typ e of peo ple inv olv ed in trea sur e hun ting can
0-7S0
in the rec ent auc tion ing of a uni que silver sce at (c65
after a
AD ). Thi s was fou nd on the sur fac e of the gro und
ated
hea vy rai n, and the £36 0 it fetc ~ed was don
sure
ano nym ous ly - by one of the mo st successful trea
da for
hun ters in the bus ine ss - to a chi ld vic tim of spi na bifi
the pur cha se of a spe cia l wh eel cha ir.
d by
For a gen era l intr odu ctio n to the tec hni que s employe
ent to
successful trea sur e hun ters and the typ es of equipm
use, see Successful Treasure Hunting by Ro ger Joh nso n.
 1 Records, Hoard s and Resea rch
Keeping Records
It is a good general plan when starting to detect to keep a
day-to-day diary of your finds and where they were found.
All relevant details such as condition, age, number, etc, can
be entered into your daily diary which will act as a memory
as well as many other things in time to come.
Knowledge in treasure hunting is·painfully hard to come
by and the details you enter into your diary today can
become the informati on for tomorrow 's thoughts. The trivial
or what may seem irrelevant details entered into your dairy
will soon begin to form a pattern of your success or failure
rate. This, in time to come, will help you to see how you are
progressing as well as the types of places yo·u have searched
and obtained interestin g objects from. By forming a pattern
over the months or years with the information logged, you
will begin to see where your successes have been made.
It is, in fact, a far better method than relying on the
memory which becomes very fallible over the course of many
finds. You will only have to refer to the pages of your diary to
see where a similar discovery was made previously. At this
point it may occur to you that your success rate is based
around one particular type of site. This is not easy to
ascertain from personal memories.
Another factor involved is that you may want to return to a
specific site where you found a certain object. Again the
memory can be very unreliable and the diary will assist you.

13
 E GUIDE
THE SUCCESSFUL TRE ASU RE H UNT ER 'S SIT

The thoroughness wit h whi ch you ent er items into your

. ld
diary can be a h~lp in_ ma ny unt o .~ay s and a detailed
thwhile
record involves so littl e tim e and effort, 1t 1s a very wor
system to ado pt.

Hoards
tten on
In the pas t mu ch rom ant ic rub bish has bee n wri
brought
the subject of hoards. Bri tish soil in tim e gon e by has

oln by Dor othy

A glorious hoar d of 2,932 Rom an foll es foun d in Linc
Harr ison and Arth ur Gree nsm ith
Part of a hoard of 77 Edward I and II hammered silver pennies found in a
leather purse in Castle Street, Montrose

to light vast numbers of hoards (of all ages) and is still

currently producing steady amounts. The nonsense that has
shrouded hoards has been mainly brought about by authors,
sad to say. Our Victorian ancestors had a very romanticised
picture of why hoards were found, and this seems to have set
the pattern for modern-day thinking.
The truth regarding hoards is far from romantic but still
probably the most exciting branch of treasure hunting there
is. Novels would have you believe that every large tree has a
hoard buried beneath its leafy boughs; the facts are that
whilst a large tree may be the deposit area for treasure trove,
in most cases it is not.
Hoards have been found in the most unu~ual places and
the thinking and research needed to recover one combines
mental effort, patience and . normally large amounts of
wasted hours spent searching in vain. To prove the point,
here is a brief mention of some of the places where during the
last century hoards have ~een recovered; along roadsides
village greens, commons, embankments, houses and garden~
(of all ages), woods, copses, around ponds, hollow trees
beams, under gateposts,...: outside corners of buildings'
orchards, railway boxes, inside hollow stones, fishponds, i~
the shinbone of an ox, on the banks of rivers, hills, hospital
grounds, in a ram's horn, directly under a tree that was -
blown down, on the bank of a ditch, in chalk pits and on a
railway line. Whilst there are many more places, this will
give a brief idea of the thinking of various people in their
haste, or sometimes leisure, to secrete their valuables.
Reasons why items of value were buried vary widely. Civil
wars (such as the Cromwellian wars or the Wars of the
Roses) stand out as being very obvious examples. The burier
would have been someone who had to take sides one way or
another and had possible thoughts of his side losing or his
possessions being discovered in his absence. The need to
bury is obvious.
Any man or woman with valuables in the past had to
'bank' their money in the ground. Some were obviously
recovered, but many more were not. Accidents, wars,
martyrdom, drowning, and injury are just a few possible
reasons why these hoards were not recovered.
Another less obvious reason for the non-recovery of wealth
is that of sickness. The British population has had many
plagues in the past, the most infamous being the 1665 Great
Plague when approximately 100,000 people died in
Southern England alone. The plague struck rich and poor
alike, and although the vast majority of people were poor, a
percentage of the rich died as well. During the 14th century
we had an even greater plague when between a quarter to a
third of the entire population died. This staggering total of
fatalities was a major cause of medieval hoards being
deposited and not recovered. .
The average man of the 14t_h century period had very httle

16
 futur e
The type of erod ed bank whic h will prod uce many hoar ds in the

to hide whe n we talk in term s of money. Infact, so hard don e

by was the com mon man that the laws of the day forb ade the
wearing of gold or jewellery. Onl y the nobility were allo wed
to wea r such items. Suc h were the non -rig hts of the peas ants
that as well as gold and silver bein g ban ned they were only
allowed to wea r woollen mat eria l, and even then only cert ain
colours. A mor e depr ived lot wou ld be difficult to ima gine .
Any hoar ds that date from this peri od wou ld eith er have
belonged to the nob ility or have been stol en from them . The
rift that sepa rate d the two classes was very wide. In no way

S.T.H .S.0.- B
17
 •
Hammered silver coins found in Kent by Mr Gregory
'

could a peasant of the d~y attain advancement outside his

station in life.
Another major cause of the non-recovery of hoards by the
original owners was 'ague'. Ague was a thorn in the side of
most country dwellers prior to the last century. The cause of
ague or marsh fever was the mosquito which abounded in
large numbers in Britain prior to the widespread drainage of
fields. Before this drainage (which started to take place a
couple of centuries ago) vast tracts of land were infested with
mosquito and people not born to country life became
infected very quickly, having no natural resistance. It is
recorded that one gentleman farmer outlived sixteen town
wives for this reason alone; they were infected by t~e
mosquito and died. Strange as this may seem to us now, this
was a common occurrence, prior to the late 18th century.
Countless hoards must have gone into the ground never to be
recovered by reason of this disease alone.

1~
 RECORDS, HOARDS AND RESEARCH

During the last century we had disastrous 'flu epidemics

when the loss of life again became terrifying. All, rich and
poor alike, yet again suffered a similar fate.
A clear picture should be obtained in the search for hoards
of what was the normal course of events for almost every
member of the population or every family-the daily, weekly,
or monthly visit to the money box, to either add or subtract
money. The thousands of reasons for not recovering all this
personal wealth can only be briefly looked into in this book
simply because of their number and diversity.
Recent discoveries by modern-day treasure hunters prove
that hoards turn up in the least likely places. To clarify this
statement, imagine yourself possessing a newly bought
detector. The impulse that most people get when they
purchase a detector for the first time is to experiment in some
out of the way, quiet spot, where they won't feel
embarrassment or be pestered by passers-by. It is in just
such a spot that many people, new to treasure hunting, have
discovered hoards. Because they have hidden themselves
away so as not to be seen or disturbed, they have unwittingly
followed the thinking of someone earlier in going to a quiet
area to bury their valuables.
For the deliberate search for hoards of coins or valuables,
much research is needed. In Britain at this present time there
are a handful of treasure hunters who search only for hoards
and, whilst it is everybody's dream to find a pot full of coins
or jewellery, it takes a dedicated person to search for hoards
exclusively.
An unusual slant on where modern hoards have come to
light is the case of one hoard found recently by a searcher on
a disused railway embankment. He found a small hoard of
George III cartwheel pennies lying on the surface over a
small area - with his eyes.
The thinking of the treasure hunter should be that
absolutely no place is too unlikely to be searched, and the
following may help him to identify some of the sites where

19
 ight be found. A gold Iron Age torqu e wa r
hoards m . C . s 1ound
amongs t a heap of scrap meta l 1n amb ndge shire · A s1rni1 . .
torqu e W as foun d in the gard en of a Mr Gorh am at Ip . ar
. sw1ch
t he s1•xth one to be foun d in the area . Forty-one coins f '
. . . o the
re1 •gn of Edw ard I were foun d duri ng build ing excavati'o .
. ns 1n
Kings Lynn High Street. A house.wife, Mrs Patricia Prime of
Wokingham, found a Rom an coin hoar d (which eventu II
produced over 1800 coins) in a field near her home. rrWO
amulets and two Bronze Age axe- head s were found by Water
g:1~
Board workers in Lanc ashi re whil st ditch digging. A Mrs
Seymour of Wan stead , Essex, beca me £4,200 richer when
the plate her deceased husb and had foun d in the garden was
auctioned at Soth erby 's. It is the only know n piece ofJames
I royal plate in the· coun try. A Mr Collins of Chesterford
became £9,000 riche r on findi ng a gold torqu e under a
hedgerow while walking his dog. A hoar d of sovereigns and
other coins was found by scra p deal er Will iam Abberley
Staffordshire. They were foun d in bank bags of the 1916
period and were possibly hidd en by a soldier killed during
the First World War . Som e 615 sovereigns and 116 half-
sovereigns were found in Ram sgat e, Ken t, on a piece ofland
that had previously been occu pied by some cottages. Two
young girls found a jar cont ainin g 41 sovereigns and 6 half-
sovereigns of the Vict orian and Edw ardi an period under a
hedgerow at Thir sk, York shire .
Almost a thou sand medieval gold and silver coins were
found by post man Clive Gibb s of Redh ill while detecting in
woods. They were in ·a pot appr oxim ately one foot down and
had been burie d in the 15th cent ury.
The above are just a rand om selection of a few of the
hoards found on record. Man y more awai t discovery•
. <?ne of the more unus ual aspe cts of treas ure hunting is t~e
limitless subjects that it covers. One of these is that certain
plants grow differently whe n certa in mine rals are present in
th e ground or buri ed
direc tly bene ath the plan t. Instances of
th is when seen
shou ld be care fully note d and assessed.

20
A hoard of sovereigns, guineas and half-guineas found by Harry King and
Jeremy de Montfalcon in a small woop

21
Ex am ples Ca n be se en in th at th e pr es en ce of alu mi niu m
causes p l u m leaves to tu rn m ot tle d an d th at of co pp er cause
erns of su nf low ers to tu rn pu rp le. . . s
t he st St in gi ng nettles in
rwise gr as sy fields ar e a go o d .
ot h e sig n t h at m an ha s at
so me tim e oc cu pi ed th e ar ea .. O v· . n
n ic to na or lat er picnic
are as , co mm on lan d, etc , th e lig ht
er -c ol ou re d gr as s warrants
special att en tio n as m an y ol de r fin
ds ha ve be en ma de in this.

Re lo ca tin g H oa rd Si te s
Th is pa rti cu la r sid e of th ~ ho
bb y ha s wide-ranging
in ter es t an d va lu e at ta ch ed to it.
W hy , sh ou ld you ask, are
we try in g to re lo ca te a sit e th at ha
s alr ea dy be en found. The
an sw er is a sim pl e on e - de tec to
rs we re no t invented at the
da te at wh ich mo st of th es e ho ar
ds we re fo un d. As stated in
ot he r ch ap ter s in th is bo ok , ho ar
ds ha ve co me to light in vast
qu an tit ies in Br ita in , a lar ge pe
rc en tag e be in g found on
pl ou gh ed fields, bu ild in g sit es ,
in di tch es , etc.
M an y re co rd s pe rta in in g to th es
e discoveries describe in
de tai l th e ac tu al finds an d th
er e ar e ma ny particular
in sta nc es wh er e, on th e dis co ve
ry of th e ho ar d, th e finder
th re w th em aw ay th in ki ng th em
to be valueless jettons. Some
we re th ro wn aw ay in di sg us t as
in th e ca se of a vicar who
di sc ov er ed a ho ar d of Ro m an co
in s wi th ph all ic symbols on
th em . It wa s re co rd ed at th e tim
e th at th ey were thrown into
a ne ar by po nd (un fo rtu na tel y
th er e ar e ma ny nearby
po nd s!) .
Ev en as su mi ng th at all th e co in
s fo un d were picked up ,
m an y mo re m ay re m ai n hi dd en
. As an yb od y in this hobby
kn ow s, bu rie d co in s ar e ha rd to
rec og nis e wi th ea rth around
th em an d ev en a go ld co in co ul
d be co ve red wi th a surface
sta in in g.
O th er re co rd ed in sta nc es sta te
th at th e finder ploughed
th ro ug h th e po t sc att er in g co in s
ov er a re as on ab ly large area
be fo re th e re m ai ns of th e ho ar d
we re discovered. Th is seems
to be th e m os t co m m on pl ac e de sc
rip tio n of th e discovery of a
 •

A small hoa rd of Cha rles II fart hing s and a bro

ken gro at found by a
woo dlan d foo tpat h on two sep arat e occasions;
the coins above were found
first and then ano ther 7 }Nere loca ted whe n the
finder retu rned with a
deeper-seeking dete ctor

r
 it can
hoa rd. Wh atev er the circ ums tanc es of the discovery,
}
be safely assu med that 50% of all hoa rds wer e not complete
oze~
recovered. Thi s may enta il one , two, or even half-a-d
ral
coins left in the soil. On the oth er han d, ther e may be seve
silver
hun dred still in the vicinity of the first find. Ham mer ed
mes
coinage, whe n stai ned (and man y suc h ~oins are) , beco
. To
' unre cog nisa ble in the s•oil unle ss closely examined
closely exa min e it, however, you mus t first find it.
,a
To pur sue this part icul ar bra nch of trea sure hunting
steps
grea t dea l of rese arch nee ds to be und erta ken . The first
office
are a visit to the refe renc e libr ary and cou nty records
local
for you r area . Som e hoa rd spo ts are well doc ume nted in
tion
hist ory acco unts , whe reas othe rs hav e only a spar se men
giving a very gen eral area .
The app roac h to the recovery of the resi due of a hoa rd will
d. If
dep end on the peri od whe n the hoa rd was originally foun
ous
the hoa rd was discovered in living mem ory then the obvi
d.
met hod is to try to loca te the actu al find er of the hoar
than
Wit hou t dou bt this man will be able to help more
living
any one else in this case. If the hoa rd was foun d out of
down
memory, then the loca tion of it may hav e bee n passed
be
with in the find er's family and the actu al spo t can still
or is
located fairly accu rate ly. If the find er can not be trac ed,
the
dea d, and ther e is no wri tten evid enc e as to the spot, then
re
trea sure hun ter does have a prob lem . Ma ny of the -mo
of
valuable hoa rds (con tain ing rare coins) have this type
que ry atta che d to them .
te
The effort, in suc h cases, sho uld be mad e to at least loca
From
the gen eral area from whe re a star t cou ld be mad e.
and
here on it is an uph ill task of time -con sum ing talking
nting
looking thro ugh obs cure reco rds. Thi s seemingly dau
by to
task may be too muc h for a new com er to the hob
in the
und erta ke at first, but for a man who has bee n involved
of
hob by for some time the mer its of relo cati ng the find spot
any hoa rd spea k for themselves.
Ma ny of the coins discovered in these hoa rds had a high

24
 RECOR DS, HOARD S AND RESEARCH

value when they were found . Now it would be astronomical,

and one single coin of the right calibre could repay a year's
effort in finding it. As with most branches of treasure
hunting , the deeper the research is delved into, then the
better will be the results.

Lost and Found Colum ns

One of the many varying ways of using a detector to its full
advantage requires the perusal of the lost and found columns
of your local newspa per. Lost items are so numerous in this
modern age (and so valuable both intrinsically and
sentimentally) that people advertise in these columns
offering rewards for the finding of lost possessions.
A profitable side-line and, in some cases, business can be
made in recovering articles that have been lost and
advertised in this way. A straigh tforwar d approa ch should
be made to the loser, offering your services on either a
commission basis or for a straigh t fee.
Approaching the matter in a slightly different way, it is
possible to advertise your services in a local paper to find lost
items for people - again with the same rewards. This is
becoming a widespread system through out the treasure
hunting fraternity with scope for many more individuals to
invest their time and effort in recovering these lost valuables.
On a similar line of though t, busines s minded treasure
hunters can approa ch local loss adjusters. T hese are
branches of insurance businesses that deal with claims for
lost and unfoun d articles. A loss adjuster, when approa ched
in the correct way, will most certainl y be interested in
recovering articles tha~ have been insured by his company
but lost, simply because unrecovered articles have to be paid
for in full by them. Integri ty and a businesslike approa ch are
the key attitude s to success in this line of treasur e hunting.
Building sites and constru ction industr ies in general also
have a need for the freelance services of a detector owner.

25
 TH E SUCCESSFUL TR EA SU RE HUNTER'S SIT
E GUIDE

W ith th e hi gh co st of scaffolding equipmen

t that .
su bs eq ue nt ly bu ri~ d an d lo st in lar ge quantities
on a\~
bu ild in g sit es , a fa ir ar ra ng em en t co ul d be negotia
ted for
fee pe r ar tic le re co ve re d or on a daily service fee
mutuall~
agreed.
Th e lis t of va ry in g wa ys to ap pl y a detector profit ab
ly does
no t al wa ys re ly on th e finding of articles of antiq
uity and
m an y de te ct or us er s ar e hi rin g their services
to great
ad va nt ag e in th is ever growing side of treasure hu
nting .
 2 Recreation Sites
Mount Pleasants
The dictionary definition of the word pleasance is 'pleasure-
ground, esp. one attached to mansion'. When these appear
on Victorian, or later, Ordnance Survey maps it is often
under the term 'Mount Pleasant'. These can be sited almost
anywhere and in any type of area, no matter how much
flatland exists in the different counties in the British Isles.
There is always one section of a given area that has a steep or
perhaps not-so-steep promontory arising from it. Where a
mount 'pleasant is part of an estate the boundaries are clearly
defined on the Ordnance Survey map but where they are
unconnected with a house set-up it is an area with no
boundaries except visible physical ones. It was or still is an
area of beauty and its boundaries ended when the terrain
ceased to be 'pleasant'.
The treasure hunter's concern with mount pleasants is
that they were the exclusive playgrounds of wealthy 18th
century British aristocracy and are the most prolific sites
known for high quality Georgian coinage and jewellery.
Almost all artifacts and coins that are found connected with
these glorious areas have a high intrinsic value, and in almost
every case the mount pleasant, as a treasure hunting site, is
completely untouched. An abundance of valuables lies in
them, waiting to be found. They rate so highly as a site
because although used for all types of social events and
gatherings, only the aristocracy or the wealthy ·of the

27
Three Georgian silver sixpences

Georgian era would have been in attendanc e. The poor had

no access to them whatsoev er. Where the mount pleasant is
connected with a house or mansion there is also a coupling
effect of added artifacts which have been lost from the house
itself , possibly from a longer period than the mount pleasant
has been in existence .
Very recently one fortunate treasure hunter has come
across a gold coin and scores of Georgian copper coins
during his searches of one of these sites. The depth at which
the gold coin lay would normally have put it just out of range
of a good detector but fortunate ly for the digger three inches
of top soil had been removed from the site allowing the
detector to penetrate that vital bit deeper.
A certain number of treasure hunters througho ut the
country must have already accidenta lly stumbled across

28