Phoenix Historical & Metal Detecting Society
A Message from our Site Officer
Land owners and farmers are the very life blood of our wonderful hobby of metal detecting. Without the kindness and generosity of such people our hobby would cease to exist.
We the Phoenix Historical and Metal Detecting Society detect because as our name implies we love unearthing long lost history. We do not search with money in mind we search to rescue our long lost history. We abide by the Governments Portable Antiquities scheme.
This means finds of a certain age and precious metal content must be reported to the relevant Finds Liaison Officer for our County. Finds are recorded and researched often at the British Museum or at local level. In this way finds are entered onto the National data base. This helps to build a National history of Occupation of peoples. Hugely important for future generations.
The act of metal detecting has brought to light much unknown history just through the identification of coins and artefacts of interest to the British Museum and can legally be claimed from the finder. In turn a valuation board sit to establish a fair market value. Any Museum wishing to acquire a particular item of interest to them must pay the arrived at price. There is a fair national arrangement in operation throughout the united kingdom of 50 % to the finder and 50% to the landowner. This in my opinion is quite an incentive to Landowners and Farmers to
grant permission to search their land.
Hoards of both coins and precious metals do come to light right across our Country on a regular basis. It could happen on your land but we shall never know unless we search. I believe we offer a valuable service in as much as in the course of detecting we remove all metal waste which can be a danger to both animals and machinery.
We have the greatest respect for your land , filling in holes in the most professional manner. We observe the need to secure all gates as required. Should an unseen costly event ever take place on your land, each detectorist carries civil liability insurance with indemnity of up to £10.000.000. We obtain this through our membership of the National Council for Metal Detecting.
In thirty years of detecting I have never known this to be needed. It is important to us that all Landowners and Farmer are informed of all finds of interest.
Should any Farmer or Landowner require any further information about us please contact us via our contact section.
Rgds
Peter Pearce
Can you help?
The club are always looking for new suitable land in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Berkshire. If you own or manage land that is larger than a couple of acres and have always wondered what is below your feet then get in touch.
We will help you discover what secrets your land holds and help to paint a picture possibly going back thousands of years.
We are a small, well-run club which has little to no impact on the land or surrounding environment when holding a dig. We work closely with the landowners prior, during and after a dig and always have a point of responsibility on the day (normally the club chairman or site officer).
We are fully insured and between us have well over 100 years of detecting experience. We are always invited back by previous landowners following the initial visit.
Get in touch to discuss how we can help each other.
The society adheres to the code of conduct for Metal Detecting as is formulated by the National Council for Metal Detecting and all society members must adhere by this code of conduct.
Members are to make themselves aware of their legal requirements as set out in the Treasure Act (1996) and any subsequent amendments to this act.
