We are more than happy to help answer any questions you have.

We can arrange a time to either meet up somewhere, or visit you, or phone you whenever you have some spare time.

South Devon Metal Detecting Club have a small team of experienced History enthusiasts who can make decisions with Landowners to assess the suitability of their land for our Day and Weekend organised events. We use metal detectors and drones to unearth artefacts of the past. This gives us the edge on most of our fellow metal detectorists. We are members of the National Council for Metal Detecting and follow their Codes of Practice and guidance, and two of our team are licensed Civil Aviation Authority drone pilots.

We are looking for local landowners in South Devon or further afield who are willing to give us permission to search for historical artefacts. Normally, we ask to do an initial Field Walk to see if there are any surface finds such as pottery or small items. This allows us to prepare further research using aerial photographs, LiDar data, old mapping and English Heritage data sets of nearby monuments, field systems and other sites of special interest. If necessary, we can also access public records and tithe maps.

As the Landowner, you have legal ownership over anything that we find on your property. We will show you all finds, including any rubbish. We can dispose of small general rubbish that we unearth. The position of large or heavy items will be reported to you.

Any precious metal and relics over 200 years old are logged by us using GPS before notifying the Local Finds Officer. This has to be done within 14 days. Any major finds will also then be referred to an archaeologist at English Heritage for assessment for possible valuations. It’s normal for financial amounts to be split 50/50 between the Landowner and Finder. There are guidelines issued by the National Council for Metal Detecting that cover all these issues. We have full Public Liability Insurance and do not charge for our services.

Once permissions are granted, we agree on boundaries, times and start dates advised by you. We look forward to you joining us to unearth our local history together.

If you have land, especially with historical links, and you are interested in finding out more about items buried under the soil; please contact us either by email or phone.

We’re a friendly team and our current Landowners have all become friends and are very supportive of what we achieve.