WWII GI Camp & Roman Site

[valleyboy]

Hi folks,

Anybody done any detecting on any areas used by American GI's during World War 2? Have researched and identified 2 possible sites close to where I live but have no idea who to contact regarding permission, would the land still likely be property of the MOD or would it come under Council? Not sure if it would be worth me detecting the area if I manage to gain permission but there would have been a fair amount of troops there stationed in Tents, so could be some nice finds.

Also the field directly over from my house was site of a Roman settlement, I know the owner of the field so permission should be a sure thing, however I know an archeology team spent a fair amount of time on the site already, digging and mapping, they stripped a large section of the field away and never replaced the tailings. Would it still be worth going over the field with a detector or would the archeologists have gone through it with a fine comb so to speak?

Would love to hear peoples thoughts and if anybody else has ever detected on former GI campsites. 

[Cymro]

Never had the opportunity to detect any military sites yet but in principle any place where there has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing could yield some interesting finds. So if you can determine the ownership and gain permission, go for it. The whole metal detecting hobby  is a lottery anyway but good research can reduce the odds.

You could try the MOD for info on the ownership of the site, but ask around locally first - it may be that it's in private hands after 70 years. If it's the council I wouldn't expect much co-operation - I asked about a tenanted council-owned farm and they basically said that anything I found would be the property of the council, so I didn't bother after that. Could just be that Flintshire County Council are miserable sods though . . .

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

[probono]

One of the places I detect is a former WWII American Army camp - haven't yet found anything on it related to the military......but it is heavily used still. In this case it is owned by the council (and I detect it with permission).

I also detect on the farm I go to, another area with WWII links - and I've found a few badges, and bullets (live and fired).

From personal experience (detecting and having some digging experience), anything dug up by archaeologists will have many things they have missed - my brother once helped out getting buckets of soil out from a trench in Caerleon and there on the top of one was a denarius......

[valleyboy]

Never had the opportunity to detect any military sites yet but in principle any place where there has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing could yield some interesting finds. So if you can determine the ownership and gain permission, go for it. The whole metal detecting hobby  is a lottery anyway but good research can reduce the odds.

You could try the MOD for info on the ownership of the site, but ask around locally first - it may be that it's in private hands after 70 years. If it's the council I wouldn't expect much co-operation - I asked about a tenanted council-owned farm and they basically said that anything I found would be the property of the council, so I didn't bother after that. Could just be that Flintshire County Council are miserable sods though . . .

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Yeah will look into it further for sure, have found so many sites of interest lately its just finding the landowners and gaining permission, I wouldn't mind the council keeping everything to be honest as I'm not in it for the money, just love the the history behind certain finds ;-)

[valleyboy]

One of the places I detect is a former WWII American Army camp - haven't yet found anything on it related to the military......but it is heavily used still. In this case it is owned by the council (and I detect it with permission).

I also detect on the farm I go to, another area with WWII links - and I've found a few badges, and bullets (live and fired).

From personal experience (detecting and having some digging experience), anything dug up by archaeologists will have many things they have missed - my brother once helped out getting buckets of soil out from a trench in Caerleon and there on the top of one was a denarius......

From that advice i'll certainly have a chat with the farmer and get scanning the field then, thanks ;-)

[Cymro]

Yeah will look into it further for sure, have found so many sites of interest lately its just finding the landowners and gaining permission, I wouldn't mind the council keeping everything to be honest as I'm not in it for the money, just love the the history behind certain finds ;-)

Totally agree with that - I'm not in it for the money either. Always grinds my gears when I tell folks about stuff I've found and the first thing they ask is what it's worth . . . Doesn't matter to me what it's worth - it's the history, as you say.

My contact in the council was quite snotty (don't think they really approved of metal detecting . . . ) which put me off the idea of detecting on council land. Your experience may be totally different - and I hope it is!

Best of luck, anyway.

[raistlain]

I had the same reaction from my local council ...they made me feel like a criminal just for asking I can't understand there attitudes to detecting but not a lot we can do about it unfortunately 

[Chef Geoff]

The problem has come from detectorists with permission attracting those without, years ago some councils would allow you to detect but soon found that their parks etc were being left with holes all over the place and while this probably wasn't those that had bothered to get permission word had got around to the effect of "it must be OK to detect there as I saw a guy detecting there the other day" and thus the problem starts so now it's far easier to just put a blanket ban on it

[raistlain]

The problem has come from detectorists with permission attracting those without, years ago some councils would allow you to detect but soon found that their parks etc were being left with holes all over the place and while this probably wasn't those that had bothered to get permission word had got around to the effect of "it must be OK to detect there as I saw a guy detecting there the other day" and thus the problem starts so now it's far easier to just put a blanket ban on it

I never thought of it like that but looking at it that way  I can see why they were so anti detectorists if damage was being caused etc what a shame as some parks etc are really interesting 

[dingdong]

Hi there Valleyboy,with regard to your Roman site,I would definatly get back onto the land,
I was fortunate enough to be involved in a archaeological dig down here in West Wales.
They invited responsible people from the local Pembrokeshire metal!detecting club,and I was amazed at the amount of artifacts recovered from their spoil heaps.
It was actually for that reason that I took up the fascinating hobby of metal detecting.
So in essence, its always a positive move to be able to detect on lands where known habitation has taken place.OH !! LUCKY OLD YOU!!!
Good hunting.    👍

[valleyboy]

Yeah will look into it further for sure, have found so many sites of interest lately its just finding the landowners and gaining permission, I wouldn't mind the council keeping everything to be honest as I'm not in it for the money, just love the the history behind certain finds ;-)

Totally agree with that - I'm not in it for the money either. Always grinds my gears when I tell folks about stuff I've found and the first thing they ask is what it's worth . . . Doesn't matter to me what it's worth - it's the history, as you say.

My contact in the council was quite snotty (don't think they really approved of metal detecting . . . ) which put me off the idea of detecting on council land. Your experience may be totally different - and I hope it is!

Best of luck, anyway.

Everybody I know that asks what have you found and how much its worth gets the same response , only ever found the odd bottle top lol

[valleyboy]

The problem has come from detectorists with permission attracting those without, years ago some councils would allow you to detect but soon found that their parks etc were being left with holes all over the place and while this probably wasn't those that had bothered to get permission word had got around to the effect of "it must be OK to detect there as I saw a guy detecting there the other day" and thus the problem starts so now it's far easier to just put a blanket ban on it

Makes sense when you put it that way, i've seen it all happen before with air rifles, idiots spoiling things for responsible hobbyists, really is a shame but I suppose it makes sense.

[valleyboy]

Hi there Valleyboy,with regard to your Roman site,I would definatly get back onto the land,
I was fortunate enough to be involved in a archaeological dig down here in West Wales.
They invited responsible people from the local Pembrokeshire metal!detecting club,and I was amazed at the amount of artifacts recovered from their spoil heaps.
It was actually for that reason that I took up the fascinating hobby of metal detecting.
So in essence, its always a positive move to be able to detect on lands where known habitation has taken place.OH !! LUCKY OLD YOU!!!
Good hunting.    👍

Thanks Dingdong, hoping to see the landowner tomorrow as he lives close by, he is normally pretty good and I've helped him out a few times when kids smashed the fence and his horses got loose, so he should be ok with it, i'd be happy finding anything just to take a picture for the site ;-)

[dingdong]

Good luck....👍

[valleyboy]

Good luck....👍

Thanks, already posted my first find in the unidentified section, was only there for an hour before the heavens opened again.