More Historic Artefacts Than Ever Being Reported Under Portable Antiquties Scheme, says Alan Howarth

DCMS to fund extra posts as reports rise by 50 per cent

DCMS Press Release 90/01, Monday 26 March 2001

A voluntary scheme to report and record finds of historic artefacts was hailed as a success by Arts Minister Alan Howarth today. Announcing the news that reports had risen by 50 percent, Mr Howarth said the scheme was vital if we are to unearth - and understand - the secret history buried beneath our feet.

Mr Howarth was publishing the third Annual Report of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, established to report finds which fall outside the scope of 1996 Treasure Act. The Scheme, which runs in 11 regions of England and Wales, uses local finds liaison officers to work with finders of artefacts. These officers ensure that objects are properly recorded and researched and, where possible, examine the archaeological sites the objects have come from.

Examples of finds from the report include:

• - a 15th century pilgrims badge depicting St Roch, a saint commonly associated with pilgrimage and plague, discovered in Yorkshire;
• - an early 16th century copper alloy miniature book found in Hampshire and;
• - a silver penny of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), found in Kent.

Mr Howarth said:

"Every year, hundreds of thousands of objects are found in England and Wales by metal detectorists, archaeologists and members of the public. With less than five percent counting as Treasure - and therefore reportable under law - the work of the Portable Antiquities scheme is vital in recording these objects. This work ensures that the objects, and often the sites on which they are found, can be properly investigated and that more information on the social and cultural heritage of England and Wales is unearthed.

"I would like to thank the finders for working with this voluntary scheme to make it such a success. I am also delighted to announce that for 2001-02, the Heritage Lottery Fund are to continue funding six posts and that my Department will increase funding from six posts to eight."

The report shows that in 1999-2000, 31,783 archaeological objects were recorded, up from nearly 21,000 the year before, and involving almost 1,800 individual finders. Metal objects accounted for 36 percent of finds and coins for 31%, followed by pottery, worked stone and other objects. The most common period for finds are the Roman and post-medieval eras, with the Iron Age and Bronze Age the least common.

Although the vast majority of finds are made by metal detectorists, awareness of the Portable Antiquities Scheme has seen increasing numbers of members of the public come forward to report non-metallic objects. Norfolk, Suffolk and Yorkshire were the regions which yielded the greatest number of finds.

Commenting on the importance of the Portable Antiquities Scheme for improving the access to local history, Alan Howarth said:

"All records of finds are also being passed on to Sites and Monuments Records (SMRs), the key holders of information about the historic environment. There are as many as 100 different SMRs maintained across England and Wales by local authorities. SMRs are the primary source of information on the historic environment. There are more than one million known 'monuments' scattered across England, and the information held on SMRs about them is key to their effective management, conservation, fieldwork and research."

Notes to Editors

1. Images of finds included in the report from across the regions, and tables giving a further breakdown of the types and age of objects found, have been e-mailed to regional/national picture desks. Please contact DCMS press office on the numbers below if you have not received the email. The images available are:

Images / tables

1. Carved stone head, date uncertain, discovered by a JCB driver in Kent.
2. A silver penny of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) found near New Romney, Kent.
3. Early 16th century copper-alloy miniature book with Latin inscription, found in Hampshire.
4. The finders of the 'Weedon Warrior' - an Anglo-Saxon grave with sword, razor and knife - by the excavation site in Northamptonshire.
5. A rare medieval copper-alloy box, dating from between 13th to 15th century, found in Suffolk.
6. An Iron Age copper-alloy medieval model shield, possibly used during religious rituals, found in Wales.
7. Iron Age gold coins of the Corieltauvi tribe, found in East Yorkshire.
8. A 15th century pilgrims badge depicting St Roch, discovered in Yorkshire.
9. A copper-alloy bird brooch, dating from the 10th-11th centuries, found in North Lincolnshire.
10. A high-quality medieval copper-alloy buckle-plate, found in Norfolk.
11. Table - showing types of objects recorded across the regions.
12. Table - showing breakdown by period of objects found across the regions.

2. Further information on the scheme is available from the website http://www.finds.org.uk and from the outreach officer Richard Hobbs on 0207 323 8611 or email rhobbs@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

3. The origin of the Portable Antiquities scheme lies in the fact that every year in England and Wales hundreds of thousands of chance archaeological finds are made by members of the public. The majority are found by metal detector users, the rest through other outdoor activities such as rambling and gardening. Only a small proportion of these finds have been recorded by museums or archaeologists.

4. The amount of archaeological material found by the public each year is vast:

• - There are at least 15,000 metal detector users operating in England and Wales;
• - metal detectorists find as many as 400,000 archaeological objects a year;
• - over 95 per cent of all Treasure cases are metal detected finds.

5. The Government has also recognised that not recording these finds represents a considerable loss to the nation's heritage. Once an object has left the ground and lost its provenance, a large part of its archaeological value is lost. The result is a loss of information about the past which is irreplaceable. (Portable Antiquities: A Discussion Document, 1996).

6. In September 1997 the Treasure Act came into force in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Treasure Act removed the worst anomalies of the old law of Treasure Trove, and defined more clearly what qualifies as treasure. The Treasure Act has proved highly successful, having led to a sevenfold increase in the number of cases of treasure. However, the great majority at least 95 per cent of archaeological objects are still excluded from its scope. In Portable Antiquities: A Discussion Document the Government accepted that there was an urgent need to improve arrangements for recording all Portable Antiquities. It therefore set out proposals for voluntary and compulsory schemes for the reporting of finds that fall outside the scope of the Treasure Act, and sought views on their relative merits. All those who responded agreed that the recording of all archaeological finds was essential, but stressed that this could not be done without additional resources. There was also a consensus among both archaeologists and metal detector users that a voluntary scheme offered the best way forward.

As a result, Ministers announced in December 1996 that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would provide funding to establish pilot schemes for the voluntary recording of archaeological finds as a first step and six posts were established in autumn 1997. The aims of the pilot schemes are:

• - to advance our knowledge of the history and archaeology of England and Wales;
• - to initiate a system for recording of archaeological finds and to encourage and promote better recording practice by finders;
• - to estimate how many objects are being found across England and Wales and what resources would be needed to record them.

The first six pilot schemes were in Kent, Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, the North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire. Further pilots have now been set up in Dorset and Somerset, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Wales.

7. Media copies of the Portable Antiquities Annual Report 1999-2000 are available from the DCMS Press Office on the numbers below.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH