Local history

Devon has always been rich in archaeological remains, but until recently many of the historic items unearthed by members of the public weren't being properly recorded.

Now experts from Exeter Museum are working with colleagues at the the British Museum on a nationwide project to record and log as many archaeological finds as possible.

Every year, thousands of objects are discovered, many of them by metal-detector users or people out walking.

In Devon alone, more than 3,000 archaeological finds have been recorded since the Portable Antiquities Scheme was launched.

A Bolivian silver coin

Any treasures handed in by members of the public are collated by the county's finds liaison officer Danielle Wootton, who's based at Exeter Museum.

She has the difficult task of establishing the age and nature of the object and deciding whether it has any historic value.

"The reason we're doing this is because a lot of people have finds under beds or on top of mantelpieces and don't realise the importance of what they've found", said Danielle.

"It helps us piece together more of our history, particularly Devon's past."

Many items that come to light are too recent to be of interest, but several important finds have been recorded. The information gleaned from the objects helps experts build up a more accurate picture of the history of Britain.

An Exeter resident recently discovered an unusual coin in his back garden which turned out to be a silver 'piece of eight', thought to be some 600-years-old.

Even now it remains a mystery how a coin, which originally came from Bolivia, ended up under a cypress hedge on a Devon housing estate.

Danielle cleans the objects, photographs them and records their weight and dimensions. Sometimes the owner of the find goes in to chat to her about where the object was found, and its map coordinates are also logged.

A 10,000-year-old axe flint

Two other recent discoveries have been a rare 10,000-year-old axe flint and a 900-year-old figurine of Christ, both handed in by local people.

The flint was found in a farmer's field near Topsham by metal detector enthusiast Mark Hanley.

"It wasn't easy, picking out the Mesolithic microlith flint from among the soil," said Mark.

"I'm always looking down. I knew it was stone not ceramic, it looked a bit different, very different."

Mark is now keen to promote the scheme among his fellow detectors.

"It encourages us to report our finds and we know the archaeologists aren't going to take the sites off us and keep our finds."

Anyone who finds gold and silver objects, and groups of coins from the same spot, which are over 300 years old, have a legal obligation to report them under the 1996 Treasure Act.

But finders get to keep objects not declared as treasure trove, after they have been catalogued - a fact Danielle is keen to emphasise.

"Bring it in, even if it doesn't look particularly interesting, I'm always willing to have a look at it.

"I think one of the important aspects of the scheme is that you don't have to be Indiana Jones to discover your own important part of history."