Detectorists strike at historic cricket club

ONE of England’s oldest cricket clubs has claimed it has come under attack from metal detectorists after “cunning” excavators tricked members by pretending to be water engineers.

Winchelsea Cricket Club, founded in 1795, said it was unlikely to host any fixtures this summer after the groundsman found several expertly dug holes on the field on Saturday.

Five holes were discovered on the square, along with a further 10 in the outfield, prompting fears that detectorists had been on the field to unearth treasures, such valuable brooches and coins.

The East Sussex ground is owned by the National Trust, and the entire site is listed as a scheduled ancient monument, making activities such as metal detecting illegal.

Despite warnings about the legality of unauthorised excavations, reports surfaced two months ago of men wearing hi-vis jackets claiming to be from the water board acting suspiciously around the grounds.

Jo Turner, secretary of Winchelsea Cricket Club, said: “We know this time that they are definitely metal detectorists as there are perfectly dug out holes in the ground, about a foot deep. The way they are putting the soil and the turf back in afterwards has to be the work of detectorists. Unfortunately, they are very cunning.

“Winchelsea is a very sensitive area for archaeological reasons and its history goes back to medieval times. They could have found something of significance, but we will never know.”

A spokesman for Rother Police said: “Actions like this threaten our heritage. It is a criminal offence to cause damage either intentionally or by recklessness to Scheduled Ancient Monuments.”