Landowners fear flood of treasure hunters after £2.3 million Roman helmet sale

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David Millward, Transport Editor of the Telegraph has produced a not-quite-accurate story on the obvious threat to Britain's buried archaeological heritage created by yet another highly publicised sale of a dugup archaeological artefact ('Landowners fear flood of treasure hunters after £2.3 million Roman helmet sale').

Landowners have been warned the discovery of a valuable Roman helmet could trigger a flood of treasure hunters. The find is the latest in a series of high profile artefacts unearthed by amateurs armed with metal detectors. However the Country Land and Business Association is warning that property owners can become embroiled in costly legal disputes if they fail to agree contracts with anyone searching on their land. "There is a risk that after this discovery people will rush onto land and there will be a free-for-all," said Angus Collingwood-Cameron, the Country Land and Business Association's director in the North East. There are [...][lots of ] metal detectorists in Britain [...] Many have signed up to a voluntary code designed to minimise the damage they do to farmland. The code advises them to avoid ploughed land and also notify the landowner of any discoveries they make. But the Association believes the prospect of riches could lead to a surge in interest in the hobby and potentially litigation and has produced a new guide for its members. "While such finds are extremely rare, I'm sure that this element of excitement helps to make the activity so popular," Mr Collingwood-Cameron added. "Responsible metal detectorists can unearth much that contributes to our heritage, but landowners must have control over all activities on their property. "I cannot emphasis too strongly the importance of taking professional advice, to avoid costly legal battles in the future, and to discourage trespass. "This high-profile event will make both landowners and detectorists wonder what else can be found, but taking simple steps, will give all parties peace of mind." "What we are saying is that the landowners should have an agreement in place before allowing people onto their land.".

And of course if they want to conserve the archaeological sites on their land they should not allow people to walk off with the archaeological finds from them. In fact the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting in England and Wales (available for FREE) attempts to minimise danger to the archaeological record; the "damage to the farmland" is covered by the non-archaeology centred codes of the detecting organizations. The one the CLA put its name to is the former, not the latter.

Well, this is just a shameless plug for the book "CLA41 Metal Detecting and the Treasure Act 1996" produced by the CLA Publications Department (in Hooray Henry Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PQ). This in turn is merely a 2002/3 update of CLA 12 and costs £15 to members and £22 to non-members, so most of us will be content with wondering what sort of advice Hooray Henry landowners get from the CLA. One day soon, no doubt, the PAS will be getting its act tiogether and sending out its Advice to Landowners leaflet which I trust will not cost anything like fifteen quid. I bet Heritage Action can put together an information pack for landowners containing the same information (a lot of the material is available on the INTERNET for goodness' sake) for a fraction of the cost, and the money would be going to a good cause and not on petrol for the Porches of the 74 smug people employed in Belgrave Square we see in the sidebar of the CLA website. Move to Birmingham I say, save costs.

Mr Millward, there are not (yet) 30 000 detectorists in the British Isles. The Heritage Action erosion counter would have to tick three times as fast if that were the case.