Old Sarum in Wiltshire, the site of Salisbury’s original cathedral, is one of the sites targeted by nighthawkers. [Photograph: English Heritage/PA]
Posted on 03/12/2020 1:23:15 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Organised crime is being blamed for a rise in illegal metal-detecting at heritage sites, including one of England’s finest medieval castles and the battlefield of Hastings.
English Heritage said December last year was the worst month for such incidents in more than four years and there were more than double the number of incidents in 2019 as there were in 2017.
In some cases there were up to 100 holes where the illegal metal detectorists – known as nighthawkers – had dug up the soil. “How many of those are productive we just don’t know,” said Win Scutt, a properties curator and archaeologist at English Heritage.
The organisation is calling on members of the public to become its “eyes and ears” and report suspicious activity to the police. However, after some violent incidents it advised people not to confront nighthawkers...
English Heritage said sites targeted included the Hastings battlefield in East Sussex, Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire and Old Sarum in Wiltshire, the site of Salisbury’s original cathedral...
Scutt said he did not think ordinary metal detectorists would be naive enough to think it was acceptable or legal to use their detectors on scheduled monuments.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Old Sarum in Wiltshire, the site of Salisbury’s original cathedral, is one of the sites targeted by nighthawkers. [Photograph: English Heritage/PA]
Old Sarum in Wiltshire, the site of Salisbury’s original cathedral...
It was named after a steak?
“I read the news today, oh boy, four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire. And though the holes were rather small, they had to count them all.”
Salt the sites with lots of old nuts and bolts. Problem solved.
Could have been squirrels
You are alone again, naturally. ...
Government gives go ahead to Stonehenge A303 scheme in Budget
*****better these things are OUT OF THE GROUND and preserved by collectors, than rotting in the wet wet wet earth....****
(90 yrs old now, but my English aunt was a farm labor family....and she noted , while harvesting potatoes etc., unusual metals and bones in the dirt. She amassed a huge collection and was approached by universities etc. to examine her treasures.
I blame my wife’s favorite show “Time Team”. After watching that show it seems like every Brit can go into his back garden and dig up a prehistoric, medieval, Roman, or Viking building.
And they’ll only have three days to do it.
I’m surprised the British government has not yet banned the private ownership of metal detectors.
Problem is, though, is that there is value in provenance. And that value is lost with indiscriminate digging.
It's a double edged sword. Public interest in archeaology has produced support and money for legitimate exploration and excavations, preserving many sites. On the other hand, nighthawks are looking to get rich and they don't care about the historical information, only the object that ends up on eBay. Occuring world wide, especially in the Middle East.
One year I took the family to Gettysburg. I bought a cheap metal detector figuring it would be pretty cool. Dig up some old mini balls and such. Disappointed when I found you can’t use it on sites like that.
LOL!
Another Brit show worth watching is “The Dectectorists”.
Put some SAS on that plane with night vision and silenced weapons. The problem will fade rather quickly.
You are thinking of Worcestershire Cathedral.
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