Case file:- Steve Wood - A.K.A - Hedgehog.
Age:- 53.
Home town:- Weobley , Herefordshire (The Marches).
Detectors used:- Teknetics T2 and getting to grips with the Explorer II.
Rob Tafflaff:- How long have you been Detecting for Steve and what got you into the hobby?Steve Hedgehog:- Been detecting for (on and off) 28 years. Was talking to a guy at work who was a detectorist, he was telling me about the things he had found, showed me a small hammered coin the size of a shirt button, hooked from thereon in. I spent a lot of time reading the mags, going to the library and doing anything I could to find out as much as I could about local history and identifying metallic finds. It is a lot easier now with the internet and the wealth of information you can obtain at your fingertips.
Rob Tafflaff :- Are you now, or have you ever been a member of a Detecting club?Steve Hedgehog:- There were no clubs in Powys but when I moved down here 12 years ago went to a meeting in Hereford, they were very interested in the items I had found. Two weeks later the club had gained permission on the site I was detecting on 30-40 detectorists had a few weekends there, didn't even let me know so my membership was very short!
Rob Tafflaff:- What is/are your favourite coin/ artifact that you've found to date and what’s top of your wish-list ?Steve Hedgehog:- Favourite find is this double sided seal matrix.
It relates to a previously unknown person, (still not known at present) the reference on the seal is the Ewyas valley, (Roger of Ewyas) where Llanthony Prima was built. He was a monk living in Herefordshire in the mid 13th cent on a moated site. Llanthony had a problem in that it was regularly raided by the Welsh for the goodies that were there; eventually they gave up and set up an abbey in Gloucester (Llanthony Secunda) which was situated not far from the docks.
The other item which ties in with the date is this papal bulla:
I have no reason to believe that it wasn’t him who got a dispensation off Pope Innocent that basically reduced the time that he spent in purgatory. They did this by sending the Pope a gift, the “certificate” was buried with them for the greater beings to read so releasing them from there and making their way off to heaven and the Promised Land.
The find that I would like to make would be a hoard of coins from the “Anarchy” when the civil war was raging with the fight between Stephen and Maud.
It must have been a terrible time to live, the coins produced were by whoever wanted to produce them, the baron’s et al, just find it such an interesting time and it is rare for any of these coins to turn up so it’s a big ask.
Rob Tafflaff :- If you had found the recent Staffordshire hoard, how would you have reacted and would you have dealt with the situation differently ?Steve Hedgehog :- Once I had started to realise how big this was I would have been on the phone to the FLO or museum (I would inform the farmer too). I would be up there with my tent until the last item had been recovered. I would have the camera there for my own record and listen to the theories as to what it was and why it was there.
I would be wondering why only one cheek piece and why some of the garnets had been removed from the items. I would deduce that it is only a part of the original spoils (otherwise there would be two cheek pieces from the helmet) and wonder if the other half is around the same area or had been taken away broken up and used for other jewellery and gold objects. I would also be planning to retire and detect when I felt like it.
Rob Tafflaff :- If you had the chance to debate with a panel of 'experts' representing those for and against metal detecting, what points would you like to put forward to them?Steve Hedgehog :- I would like to make it clear to whoever was on the panel that :-
We are both there for the same reasons.
I do believe that on both sides it fulfils our needs as hunter/gatherers without killing anything and the obvious find of a lifetime on both sides.
I understand the archaeologists’ frustration at a lot of amateurs being out there and finding what they would like to find themselves. How frustrating must it be to be office based and these amateurs bringing in all of these wonderful objects to be identified and recorded and would be wondering what isn’t being reported.
The archaeologists do a wonderful job when excavating finds in a sealed context and for that I am grateful; without the information they have painstakingly recorded and the items identified there are many artifacts turning up that we would not understand, date or appreciate without the effort that has been put in by archaeologists past and present.
I wonder how many archaeologists have ever tried detecting, that would give them an understanding of what the majority of finds are and the condition that they come up in.
Without detectorists the FLO’s wouldn’t have a job, so I feel it is very important to be aware that if cost cutting exercises go ahead then that would probably be the first job on the line and then we have a fight on our hands.
I think that FLO’s and detectorists are now inextricably linked so if the FLO’s go then we go whether we like it or not. The FLO’s are nice people, very helpful and knowledgeable and are the front line between detectorists and the establishment so we need to look after them!
Finally although finds from the plough soil are really important in defining what may have been an ancient site, archaeologically they don’t mean much particularly with today’s farming practices, so if we are recording finds that are not in a sealed context then they don’t prove anything really. Soil can be moved from any part of the country and dumped on a field; I just wish they would bring some from Norfolk and dump it here!
Rob Tafflaff :- I'd like to thankyou Steve for honest and well thought answers. I know you're busy at the moment, so really appreciate it.
