Detectorist Stunt 'A Desecration' Say Residents

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"We didn’t ask permission
because we knew
the answer would be no".

Inhabitants of the sleepy town of Ambridge in Borsetshire awoke yesterday morning to find that a huge hill figure of a metal detectorist had been created on the hill overlooking the towns's Heritage Institute. Villagers branded the publicity stunt involving the ancient pasturelands (owned by the National Trust) of Ambridge Down as “desecration”. The canvas installation was created by the local "Artefact Recovery Club" (a group of metal detectorists) to protest against restrictions in the UK of "collectors' rights".

The 110ft tall and 200ft wide detectorist was made from more than 200 metres of canvas and put in place using 500 metal tent pegs driven six to eight inches into the pasture, and the detectorists say no harm was done to the site. "I mean its not as if we was taking things away is it?", said one club member, anonymously, adding "it's legal, innit? I mean, no law was actually broken, was it? If th' heritage belongs to us all, then it belongs to our club members too don't it? So why shouldn't we do with it what we want? It's OUR heritage too!"

But site owner the National Trust demanded it be removed after it was discovered yesterday morning.

Sharlene Spiff, curator of the village’s Museum and Parish councillor, said: “The ancient field systems up there are over 3,000-years-old, the landscape features have been preserved throughout the generations and they are not for advertising.”

Chairman of Ambridge Parish Council Hayward Shanks said he was glad to hear the assurances that the site had not been damaged, beyond a few holes. But he said: “It is not the right thing to do with an ancient monument. It has a lot of meaning to the villagers and other people in the Vale. It is a treasured monument.” His wife Eileen Shanks, added: “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”

The Ambridge Artefact Recovery Club claims to have donated £100 to the National Trust, said it had spent a month preparing the stunt to ensure no harm was done to the ancient pastureland. Spokesman Paddy Thugwit said a team of 20 club members used their nightvision goggles for more than six hours to set it up. He said: “We didn’t ask permission because we knew the answer would be no. But no harm has been done, it is down now. If anything we have actually highlighted the value of the region's hidden history". His offer to send members onto the site with their metal detectors to see if all the pegs had been removed was turned down by the National Trust which has a no metal detecting policy.

The chalk downland is a special type of grassland habitat which is an extremely fragile and threatened habitat and is now very rare in the UK. Ambridge Down is the only habitat in Borsetshire for Salvia pratensis (Meadow Clary or Meadow Sage) a delicate species. The site also supports small communities of Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) and Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). National Trust managers say that the nocturnal trampling and scuffing of the ground cover in this stunt just as the first shoots start appearing in early March could have irreparably damaged this delicate and important community of the plant. The activities of the metal detectorists on Ambridge Down were described by an English Nature official yesterday as "a shocking example of environmental vandalism; this loss reinforces the need to protect Britain's rarest wild plants, which are already under enormous pressure from intensive farming and the fragmentation of our semi-natural landscapes".


Source: Horse stunt is a 'desecration'

Some online Comments:

Trifle_gobbler says... 11:15am Fri 9 Mar 12

Get a grip, no damage has been done, and thousands spent making absolute sure the site wasn't marred by anyway! Killjoys ruining the world yet again.

Beatmyscore says...
11:21am Fri 9 Mar 12

I am sorry, but I think there are plenty more things in the world to get angry about. Move on.

Paddy-two-niner says... 11:38am Fri 9 Mar 12

get a grip, just think of the free publicity thet that site will now get, more harm is done by people walking on it daily.

Boxford says... 12:11pm Fri 9 Mar 12

May be these mourners are also from 3000 years ago How can they not see all the advantages this will bring to the village Free publicity , extra income, some jobs may be Besides the site doesn’t belong to them, its national heritage.

OxfordJohnny says... 12:53pm Fri 9 Mar 12

I agree get a grip. If that is all you got to worry about you are very lucky.

Pinkstone says... 1:37pm Fri 9 Mar 12

I think it is very artistic and well done. No mean feat considering the proportions involved.

Manyfacetted says... 1:46pm Fri 9 Mar 12

Brilliant!!

GoodOld Paddy says... 1:52pm Fri 9 Mar 12

"His wife Eileen Shanks, added: “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”

Get away with what Elly? Lay a bit of fabric over it? what is wrong with that?. Thank god I don't live with such a bunch of narrow minded people like you. P.S. How about popping up there in the morning and removing all the beer cans, cannabis roaches, and used condoms from the area, surely that is more of a problem.

Ah the British and their heritage... Never mind, throwing another few dozen million into public outreach through schemes like the PAS will soon sort that out.