With an array of new permission 'stubble' sites to choose from, the challenge was to see what was harvested in the order of importance according to our research.
Fairly easy .......until you find out there's a suprise in store!

The first 'phone call was to a landowner I spoke to in 2013 but found out he had two fields (73 acres) adjacent to the new site we looked at in January of this year. He said the smaller field was done and to ring back in two weeks regarding the larger of the two. The larger field is the one that actually butts up to the Roman site we surveyed in January.

The second 'phone call was to the landowner of a 2014 permission where we only paid one visit in April as the crop was too long and we couldn't survey it 100%. The permission (12 acres) looks to be very interesting as several medieval pot shards were recovered and loads of teeth!! A papal bulla dated to AD 1243 was recovered from the surface!
The call was to check if a field he has in another village next to a medieval chapel (that is now long gone) had been harvested. "Thats re-seeded" he said..... "help yourselves"... I thanked him and whilst he was on the 'phone I asked abouth the "Papal Bulla" field that he said would be ready to survey in October.... "Thats been cultivated". JEEPS! Now we have to check just how "cultivated" it is against the newly rolled and seeded "Chapel" field that we've never surveyed. Decisions, decisions! 

Lets hope that Sundays visit will provide a worthy Flickr page upload!

For those new to the site; the lettering in blue are hyperlinks that will open a new page and take you directly to the images connected to that comment.

What a lovely start to the day with bright skies and very little wind indeed, with incredible views.
We arrived at new permission number 2 to find that part of the 35 acre wheat stubble field still had crop on it!
That scuppered our plans to survey the main part of the field we were interested in. Instead, we went to plan 'B'. 

We set up all three XP machines exactly as we had yesterday except we elected to go for the small coils instead of the large ones.
The soil was very sandy and we had no trouble in using the spades at all.
Within 3 minutes we had our first Roman! Wow!.... we thought, this is going to be an interesting day. It was...but for the wrong reasons...there were quite a few small ferrous signals but not many positive ones from there onwards. In fact, we only had three Roman coins (two grots), a jetton, a Roman weight, 5 pieces of RB pottery and a piece of Jacobean pottery for the entire day! A poor result from a huge RB site with stacks of documented evidence. The aerial photo's alone are outstanding!

There was a discussion very recently on the  MDF forum about finding lots of pottery but not many metallic artefacts. This seemed to be the case here.
Hardly any lead and very few positive signals. We even extended our survey to other adjacent fields with the same amount of archaeology, but to no avail.
The landowner however did warn us that the land had been detected for several years and we'd only find shotgun caps. It looks as though a club has had it or there must have been several rallies there. The sad thing is that there doesn't appear to be many PAS records for this area.

I don't think we can accomodate the remaining crop on permission 2 when it's off as we've too much on our plate. I've worked it out that we haven't time to cover the remaining new stubble permissions as together they would take a minimum of 20 visits to accomplish. That would equate to 198 survey acres at 10 acres a visit lasting 8 hours each thats 24 hours a visit! On a very busy site the three of us would struggle to cover more than 1.5 acres each. For example, the site we surveyed on Saturday 24th August, we just about managed 10 acres between the three of us taking into account the small amount of finds we recovered and signals investigated.The remaining new permissions may have to wait until they have been re-ploughed and rolled..... thats if we're allowed to.

The next challenge is to assess and organise the remaining stubble permissions into an order we think fit and drop those we can't survey whilst in stubble. These will have to be added to the 2013 permissions that we surveyed last year when seeded and not re-done this year whilst in stubble.

Anyway.... here's the images of the few artefacts recovered on Sunday 24th August 2014.

I've no idea yet as to where we will be surveying this coming Sunday.... We're having a Skype conference later tonight to discuss the pro's and con's and we'll try to formulate an action plan.

We started the Bank Holiday weekend with a trip to one of our new 2014 permissions. We have only surveyed this permission twice before and that was on pasture during the 1st June and the 8th June this year.

There are three fields in particular out of a minimum of eighteen that we were interested in surveying identified via research there.
Field number 2 (10 acres) was in wheat stubble and quite easy to search as the stubble was fairly soft. It was this field that produced most of the days recoveries.

Steve was using his XP Goldmaxx Power with giant coil and Rob and I were using the XP Déus machines with large coils set to GMP, standard settings except for the GB mode. I set GB to 85 and Rob was using the "Tracking" setting.
All finds were recovered at a depth no deeper than 5 inches at maximum with some artefacts on the surface. Also, most of the finds (90%) came from the northern half of the field adjacent to a road.

There were the usual amounts of lead and small ferrous signals that come with continuous use over 2000 years. Although this area is steeped in history, it was still a challenge to uncover its secrets.
A couple of clog clasps emerged followed by a Roman grot and a Roman bronze with slightly more detail. 
On the way to the site I said to Rob that it wouldn't be long before he finds his first denarius. A couple of hours after that statement... he found one! What a lovely coin it was too,.... and his first! It looks to be a denarius of *Severus Alexander, AD 222 - 235.
Another signal at 4 inches read 68-71 on the Déus readout. It was a hammered *Edward 1st penny class 4b Canterbury mint dated to c.AD 1295.
It was Robs turn for the next hammered coin, a small Elizabethan recovery.
A pot-mend and a piece of pottery thats looks like a fragment of a cremation urn. To complete the fields "treasures" was a small Saxon strapend.

We moved to field number 5 (20 acres) that has had an archaeological dig there a few years ago of which revealed a Saxon homestead there. We covered that area with only one piece of early medieval evidence, a buckle partifact.
A William III shilling 1697 and a handful of pre-decimal coins were recovered. No other items of note came to light for recording.

We decided that field number 15 (13.6 acres) would have to wait as we decided to call it a day seeing that we were surveying a brand new site in a totally different part of the country the next day!

Please find images of the artefacts recovered on the day here.

*Thanks to Allectus, Alloverover and Cantiaci for the ID's here.


 

Well, after the brilliant news on Sunday that our new permission (number 1 of 12 new sites) has an extra 900 acres that we were unaware of, another new permission (number 2) emailed me to say that most of the crops have been harvested.
We'd only been twice in June to permission 2 to say hello and show our faces and we ended up with a mixed bag of artefacts and a Treasure Case item! This was on pasture they had as the crop we wanted to survey was way too long, even though they said we could search it.

We planned that this weekend we'd spend Saturday and Sunday surveying the newly harvested fields at permission 2. That is....... until I'd made a call to a landowner that owns new permission number 3 that I'd been putting off for a while ........
When I first spoke to him in March he said that only shotgun cartridges had ever been found on the land. It sounded as though he was trying to put us off going. Anyway, I sense that we are going to find far more than shotgun cartridges as we think there is a huge Romano-British settlement covering at least 4 of his rather large fields!
However, when I rang him last night he was in a far better mood even though the harvesting wasn't going to plan. He said that they were just cutting the fields we were interested in. I asked if it was ok to have  a look Sunday? "No problem... see you Sunday" ..........Result! Permission 2 Saturday then permission 3 Sunday, sorted!

We now have a problem in that I'd told new permissions numbered 4 to 12 that I'd call them mid-August about searching their newly harvested fields.....

Well I suppose that if permissions 2 & 3 are "quiet" we can call permissions  4 to 12 with more gusto and confidence.... otherwise they will be ploughed, rolled and seeded before we know it!!!

Now, going back to permission number 1........ if we get a map of the 2500 acres they have we're going to be quite busy in September lol!

The buzz of the alarm at 5.05am brought the start of a new day and the second outing of the new season.
Unfortunately Steve couldn't join us on this, the first of several new permissions this season.

The weather en-route to our new stubble fields was not the best I'd seen!
However, when we got there the skies had cleared leaving it to be a very sunny day indeed.

We'd already planned a rough guide as to where to search (with an adjustment to having Steve missing) so with the large Déus coils, GB set at 85 and tracking for Rob and standard GMP settings, we started on field 1.
Lots of small ferrous signals and Victorian night soil were evident. The pottery came from here along with a couple of Civil War musket balls.
After about thirty minutes a couple came over to us and asked if we had permission to be on the land. They said they saw our van (well it does stand out lol). I said we did and quoted the farmers name. They said he rents it from them.... Whoops! Of course I offered my sincerest apologies but with the couple being so nice and understanding they said it was ok.
They began telling us the history of their land.... eye popping!
I offered to send them a report and a link to the pictures with which they later secured their email address under one of the vans windscreen wipers.
 
Field 2 was next and was very "quiet" apart from lead, a few pre-decimal coins and a silver Victorian 3d.

Field 3 provided the majority of the finds with lots of ferrous signals along with the most lead I have ever seen!!
The field sloped to about three-quarters way were it levelled out.
We started at the top of the slope and worked our way down moving downhill 20 feet apart transversley north/south.
At the southern end was a large orchard with some very tasty plums indeed!
Being quite a warm day, it was a nice treat everytime we hit the southern edge of the field.... very juicy!

We returned to the van for more refreshments (as well as shed some of the lead) and were surprised to see it was 5pm! We decided it was time to go and see the farmer for the very first time. Seeing that their farm was a 20 minute drive away we didn't want to get there too late.
We were greeted by their sheep dog and then the lady of the manor.
She was so nice and was very interested in where we had been and what we'd found. She said her husband was away cutting "somewhere".
She said we could come back anytime to which I replied that we didn't know exactly which were their fields and if they were accessible. Her reply was totally unexpected.... "We have land all over the place (and named a few towns/villages) ..in all we have about 2500 acres...." not the 1600 acres I thought they had!!
With that, she very kindly gave me her email address so that I could send her a report and pictures too. We can also send Google images of the land we know that's theirs to make it easier when deciding which areas to survey.

Here's a link to the days recoveries 17th August 2014

There's been quite a few posts recently on the forums regarding permissions. One in particular has sparked a debate about trusting other detectorists with topics including envy, detectorists "greedily" acquiring lots of permissions and landowner confidentiality to mention a few of the comments.
The following account is a reflection of how The PAST team structure our permissions and their acquisition.

Trust
Since my rekindling of the fieldwalking and detecting passion we have gained access to several permissions. Some have produced a great variety of recorded finds. As the permissions and finds grew, other detectorists I knew asked where abouts these great sites were situated. In one instance (after being browbeaten) I said which village it was and the next thing I knew the landowner said that someone else been and had asked for permission. He told them "no" for his own personal reasons I guess.
I have never asked any of our landowners to deny access to any other detectorists therefore avoiding the "land locking" syndrome. In a way it's good as other detectorists can do some of the legwork for us and the landowner will tell us what they have found. That's if they were telling the truth!
For example, we gained a new permission (560 acres) in March this year where three other detectorists were already searching and have been there on several occasions. The landowner said that they had found very little, but kept coming back. We surveyed the same area that they had searched and found several artefacts which were professionally displayed to the landowner. The landowner is now considering refusing them further access. This was entirely his decision.... C'est la vie!

Envy
This is a very powerful and very emotive subject.
We had to change our original website team name due to complaints about the first two words; "portable" and "antiquities". We did so within minutes of receiving the complaint through an 'official' channel that wished it's source to remain anonymous. 
Those two words "portable" and "antiquities" are not copyrighted but we were one step ahead with the correct assumption that someone would complain, thats why we had a bank of other names we could use. Ironically the "Priscan Archaeological" words change is actually a better fit with the team!  As long as we kept the initials P, A, S, T, ..it didn't matter. However, what is going to happen over the next 8 months will NOT be changed no matter how much envy and negativity we receive.
Since 2010 we have acquired several new permissions which has led to some fantastic archaeology being recovered but unfortunately this has also resulted in bouts of petty envy. This has manifested itself in many ugly ways, one of them as mentioned above. 
People were envious of the amount of new permissions we gained and the quantity and quality of artefacts we recovered and recorded.
It's basically this mis-trust and envy that has ensured that we keep our sites as unknown sites.
In 2013 we acquired 19 new permissions and 2014 added a minimum of 12 more sites to the portfolio. The rationale for over 30 new permissions is explained in the 'Land Mass' paragraph below. Some permissions turn out to be "quiet" so we don't return there. If other detectorists ask for permission the landowner may give them access.

Land Mass
Initially, we set out to find a new area to fieldwalk and detect so we carry out copious amounts of research on that area.
We then ask for permission to detect that area and also ask if has ever been detected, fieldwalked or surveyed at all. More often than not it has never been searched or surveyed by detectorists or archaeologists.

When we have surveyed that area we give the landowner total feedback.
As a rule, after the initial survey the landowner will say that he has other land if we are interested.
We then ask the same questions in the paragraph above and did he get any feedback? We then decide as a team whether it's worth considering it for future surveys. As mentioned, if the permission is "quiet" we will move on to other areas that we have fully researched.
We do find sometimes that a landowner may not be able to grant access to the particular area we have researched due to crop or livestock conditions.
As it happened, a couple of days ago, a landowner rang me to say that we couldn't detect the field we were interested in as we may struggle searching in between the root veg he was growing there! I said that if it had been wheat or barley stubble we would have given it a go. He came back with "we have over 70 acres of stubble at ****** if you fancy your chances there". This was several miles away from the farm itself! Normally I would have said "no thanks" but he added some information about that area that was just too irresistible and too good to be true!
He added that there would be plenty to go at as they had 1600 acres of land. Remember, it was only the root veg field we were interested in!
Another landowner we spoke to last month asked me to ring back in mid-August as the field was still in wheat. This again was miles away from the actual farm...... it turns out they have 1700 acres!!! 
To cap it all, the team had a meeting last week regarding some land on an Estate we were interested in that has both Roman and medieval history to it. In fact, a University team are currently surveying part of the Estate. 
We have decided to embark on this epic journey, I say epic as the Estate is 8648 acres in size! Remember, we only enquired about one field but we had to sign up to an "Agreement" contained in a large spiral bound document that has been draughted by the Estates lawyers ...and we had to pay for the privilege!

So, there we have it, three permissions resulting in 11,948 acres and we were only initially interested in approximately 15 acres........remember... this not "land-locked"!

Anyone reading this is more than welcome to ask for permission to detect and fieldwalk on any of our sites.

Landowner Confidentiality
Last but certainly not least...this is extremely important, any breach in confidentiality will cost you the site and any connected permissions too.
One of the possible reasons for a refusal is the fear that word will get out about their land and finds and that nighthawkers, along with coach loads of detectorists, will descend upon the land.
A landowner once actually used those words, but after a good face to face "negotiation" he agreed to give me a free rein on the land. After all that, I didn't find anything older than Victorian!
Because of all the points raised we are not in a position, at this moment in time, to extend invitations to access.
Hopefully, after a few years of gaining absolute trust with some of the landowners we may be in a position to ask if a rally is a possibility.
We'll keep you posted.

Well, Here we are mid-August and only had one detecting trip!

Steve had a brilliant idea.... lets go fishing!
So, into the garage to check out my tackle (no facetious comments here please) and all is in good order. In the top of the box was a plastic wallet with my last licences in there........ 1993!!!!! Jeeps, that was the last time I did it as a serious hobby.
Anyway, all the tackle was in good order except for the landing net and keepnet. How the heck can you loose a twelve foot piece of equipment!!

Talking of licences, apparently you need one no matter where you fish, even a farmers pond. The next question is which licence? 
you can purchase a day licence, an eight day licence and an annual one too. £3.70, £10 and £27 respectively. I opted for the day licence as I can't see myself fishing a great deal between now and 31st March 2015 when the annual one runs out.

Steve and I arranged to meet at the fishing ponds and it would be interesting to see how much I'd forgotten over the last 21 years! 
Steve was already there when I arrived at 7:45am.
I chose a swim that was a little too shallow... 12 inches! I gave it a try for an hour or so and managed to catch a small bream.
Steve very kindly invited me to fish next to him on his peg. 
In front of us were two large remnants of what remained of some trees sticking out of the water that had grown there. A great place for carp to lurk.
The fish were biting within seconds of the bait (luncheon meat) settleing. The problem was that they were small roach and bream that frequent the pond. The float was lifting and dropping constantly until they had successfully removed the bait.

I casted between the tree stump and the bank, about 6 feet out and about 18 inches in depth. The float stayed very still and I commented to Steve (in a cynical manner) that at least I'll keep my bait a lot longer! Two seconds later the float shot down without even a tremor or quiver.... WOW! I thought I'd hooked a nuclear submarine!! Afer guiding it around the first stump and then the second, it decided to go on a cruise beyond the stumps. The only problem was that one of the branches of the second stump protruded further than I'd have liked and the line snagged and snapped there.
All this happened in the space of 5 to 8 seconds!!

In all I was "seen off" 5 times and one of those was a repeat of the story above... that damned branch!
Steve was on hand to help land the ones that were giving me the run-around.
Roach, bream, common, crucian and mirror carp made up the catch.

Whilst waiting for the next "biggun" I swore I could hear the "Springwatch" theme tune.... it was my mobile somewhere amongst the mass of discarded clothing and tackle. It was a new landowner I was trying to reach for the last month or so. He said that he had quite a lot of stubble that was ready if I fancied it and in his words "with tons of archaeology" on it and has never been detected but has been fieldwalked. I must admit I was flummoxed.. I hadn't a clue who it was ringing and didn't have any of the farm info to hand.

Anyway, back to the angling aspect, here's a small selection of the days adventure.....

The Estate
Well, we've finally concluded negotiations with one of our new landowners!
The document they sent would provide a full nights reading for sure.

The Estate has several farms upon it and the one we're interested in has a fair bit of land. All we have to do now is sort out which farm is which after our initial sortie.

We've just found out that a university are busy carrying out archaeological surveys on other parts of the Estate. We need to talk to the university to avoid any clashes of interest or, indeed, suss out what they are surveying.

The farm we're looking at has a major Roman road running through it with copious amounts of recorded archaeology there. One particular field appears to have a large building in situ that could be a Roman villa. The last time I thought I'd found a Roman villa it turned out to be a C12th - C14th lost village with Saxon burials!

This permission will be ready in September.

Glass of Wine Anyone?
The second bit of news comes from my wine supplier. He asked, just out of the blue, did I metal detect in a certain part of the country? The places he mentioned are areas we've already checked out but detectorists are kept at arms length.
"Of course we do" I said .... his parents live there and his friends own the exact area we know that has an IA or RB settlement there. He's invited us over for a chat but obviously "can't promise anything" as they are a "funny breed" there! Ironically, we have more Roman sites than medieval. We are truly trying to redress the balance.

It just goes to show... you never know where your next permission may come from!

Do you remember the story of the three farmers on our cruise?

Anyway... we've now got to sort out this coming Sunday......

Paul King

Well, today was our first outing of the new season in our brand new van.

We got to the first field thats just been disked and had barley planted there.
It was mindblowingly massive and we struggled to locate much archaeology.
Whilst we were there the huge machine they have to disk and roll it was already in operation in the OSR field next door.
We had a chat with the operator and he said it would be done that day... again, this was a huge field.
We moved from the first field to the OSR field to check out a few areas that we thought may be interesting. 

After a really hard day we had C13th pottery, Roman finger ring partifacts and a mixture of other items.

Back to the van, what a great tool, it even has its own "Finds Table" lol!

Hopefully we'll be out this Wednesday but I'll have make a few 'phone calls first! As mentioned in an earlier post, we have quite a few new permissions so we'll have to be very careful with the timing of them to fully utilise their potential!

Paul King

Well, we got a reply back from the Estate we 'accidently' came across. The legal document they posted to me makes the Magna Carta look weak!
The document is several pages thick with loads of stipulations. The team are having a meeting tomorrow to discuss whether it's worth persuing.
I'll let you know how we get on.....

On a brighter note, one of our landowners with 570 acres of history on every field said we could have a look at his newly harvested OSR field. he did however warn that the going may be tough and we were welcome to have a go now.....! He did add that they were going to "disc" the field and chop the stubble into a fine mess probably tomorrow or Sunday   :D
I've got to ring him back to check.

The 'phone is going to be so hot over the next three weeks!!

Paul King