The UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed that its policy has not changed and that metal detecting is not permitted on Ministry of Defence land except in highly controlled circumstances. The statement confirming the existing policy not to permit metal detecting came after questions were raised over a rally organised by a private metal detecting facebook group was announced as being due to take place at The Duke of Gloucester Barracks on the site of a former 1930s air base in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.
Metal detecting social media is full of posts about the endless search for land to detect and complaints about land which is so marginal in detecting terms that it is unworkable, or which has been detected before, often multiple times to the extent finds are becoming scarce to non existent. This means that any source of undetected land is highly prized by detectorists, especially to the organisers of the often lucrative metal detecting rallies and in November it appeared that just such a new source of land had been identified by one enterprising group in Gloucestershire.
According to a series of posts on FaceBook a new FaceBook group called the “Troops Detecting Club UK” had obtained what is called in the metal detecting world a “permission” to hold a rally at the Duke of Gloucester Barracks in Gloucestershire.
Facebook records show the Troops Detecting Club UK was only formed in October 2024 by a serving soldier and like many private metal detecting groups and rally organisers, the club is organised as a private members only group.
At the time of publication the group claims 354 members.
Advertising the weekend of 6-8 December [2024], the post stated that people attending the event would have the opportunity to
“..detect 200 acres of undetected MoD land at MoD South Cerney…”
Would be attendees were told also there would be hard standing and grass camping available for the weekend.
The event was also promoted through another private FaceBook group “Digging History”.
The organiser stated money would be raised for military charities, but which charities were not specified, and neither was the chain of accountability for handling any money raised.
There was just one problem.
Any form of metal detecting is banned on MoD land for both safety and heritage reasons.
It was not simply that the MoD Estate is full of things left behind from over a century of training, storage and dumping which could go bang and ruin someone’s day. The MoD also acts as custodian to some of the most sensitive archaeological landscapes in the UK, including large swathes of Salisbury Plain and the moors of Northumberland and as in this case the Roman heartland of the Cotswolds. The organiser of the proposed event at South Cerney noted that the Roman Fosse Way passes close to the site, which is also close to the Roman regional capital of Cirencester.
This ban on Metal Detecting was confirmed in a release under the Freedom of Information Act [FOI 2018 10724], quoting Joint Service Publications JSP 362
Chapter 15 paragraph 1517 and Joint Service Publication 362 Vol 3 Section 3 Leaflet 12 Para 12-103.
These publications stated that metal detecting is not allowed on MoD Land except under two very specific exemptions,
1. That the activity is part of investigations or training related to Unexploded Ordnance [UXO], or
2. as part of a formal heritage assessment which are normally facilitated by the heritage team at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation [DIO].
As neither of these permitted exceptions appear to have applied to the planned event.
Personnel with experience of the site expressed also some surprise that a metal detecting event where the public would be able to camp over the weekend had been allowed at what is a sensitive operational site.
Currently home to elements of 104th Logistic Support Brigade of the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), part of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force which has been heavily involved in deployments to the Baltic states following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, South Cerney also hosts the Joint Air Mounting Centre (JAMC).
The JAMC has the highly sensitive role of handling baggage and security checks for UK military personnel in groups numbering more than fifty, which are deploying abroad via the better known RAF Brize Norton, some thirty miles away in Oxfordshire.
Effectively, South Cerney operates as part of the UK’s Border Control system.
With these issues in mind thePipeLine approached the Ministry of Defence media office and also the media office of Landmarc, the agency which manages many Ministry of Defence sites and lists South Cerney as a location which is indeed available for certain events, including filming, but not metal detecting.
We asked, Was this a permitted event, in which case has MoD policy on metal detecting on MoD land changed, and if it had changed when and why was the change made?
We then added the question, if this was not a permitted event would DIO and the MoD now see the event was cancelled and investigate how it came to be organised and announced? For example, had a local site manager agreed the event in contravention of the MoD’s policy?
Finally we asked what would the DIO and Landmarc say to people who might be thinking of approaching either organisation with a view to organising hobby metal detecting events on MoD land?
Landmarc responded that they were unable to help as the site in question was not under their management.
However, the Ministry of Defence did respond, albeit somewhat tersely,
“I can confirm that the policy on metal detecting on the MOD estate has not changed, this event was permitted in error and has now been cancelled.”
In fact the ministry of Defence appears to have acted very quickly in this case as would be attendees were told by the organiser on FaceBook,
“The dig in December has been cancelled due to a journalist [does that mean thePipeLine?: Ed] and archaeologists from the local area…”
Apologising for any inconvenience the post added, “I told them all the money but we made would be going to charity but that did not bother them…”
Confirming attendees had booked using a Paypal account, it was stated all money deposited would now be returned.
The post went out over a photograph of the distinctive art deco style control tower at the former RAF training base.
While the precise circumstances surrounding how the event came to be permitted are unknown. For example, did a local officer or manager give permission without checking whether metal detecting was permitted? The attempt to hold such an event at South Cerney highlights the fact that for many metal detectorists the Ministry of Defence estate represents a largely untapped resource which thePipeLine is aware that some detectorists have been trying to access for years.
For archaeologists who view the growth in mass attendance metal detecting rallies with concern, and that is many, even among those who welcome cooperation with detectorists, the estate is an area which has been kept safe from uncontrolled artefact recovery and should remain so.
A further question arises as the MoD seeks to respond to budgetary pressures by disposing of buildings and land. That is, will the effective ban on hobby metal detecting be carried over as a condition in any such disposals?
Failure to impose such conditions could result in the same free for all as applies elsewhere in England.
it is also worth bearing in mind that there is a subset of metal detectorists who deliberately set out to look for military artefacts, including ordnance and ammunition. In 2016 one of these, Alan Tissington of a group called the Extreme Relic Hunters, received a community order and was told to pay costs after digging such material and storing it at his home in St Albans.
When Mr Tissington’s home was raided an Army bomb disposal team which attended deemed part of his collection potentially so dangerous that it was removed
immediately and destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Meanwhile, on the battlefields of Europe there are regular reports of detectorists being injured, and even killed, by the deadly military relics they dig, collect and often seek to sell privately and at militaria fairs.
thePipeLine is grateful for assistance from the Services Archaeology and Heritage Association in preparing this article.
Featured Image: thePipeLine
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