Britain’s gardeners unearth wealth of archaeological finds during lockdown

FOR CENTURIES, they have remained hidden away in some of the most unexpected locations.

But the lockdown has sparked a spate of archaeological finds from Neolithic arrowheads to post-medieval belt hooks in gardens.

While metal-detecting was prohibited for several weeks, an array of objects surfaced from under lawns, as people spent time in their gardens “digging up their flowerbeds”. Experts have urged gardeners not to feel embarrassed about checking whether their discoveries, from rocks to pipe bowls, are significant.

Peter Reavill, a finds liaison officer, said: “With so many people spending so much more time in their gardens, there have been some really interesting finds. I’ve seen some tobacco pipes, some pieces of pottery and even prehistoric flint tools found in people’s gardens.”

Fossils “found when people have been digging flowerbeds” were sent to Mr Reavill’s local museum in Shropshire. While they may not be valuable treasure, they often say something “very interesting about the local history”, he said.

Objects discovered in gardens during the lockdown include a post-medieval snake-formed belt hook in Herefordshire.

A medieval silver coin was discovered in a garden in Stoke-onTrent, and a rock with script, thought to date from the fourth century, in Coventry.

A quern used to grind grain from the Neolithic or Bronze Age period was found near Bradford. Eight fragments of Roman greyware pottery were unearthed in Wymeswold in Leicestershire and a Neolithic arrowhead in Chithurst, Sussex.

However, none of the artefacts discovered during the lockdown is as spectacular as the $80 US gold coins found in a back garden in Hackney in London in 2007.

Other discoveries from previous years include a late medieval iconographic ring found on top of a molehill on a garden lawn in Herefordshire.