Only a Bit of Lead

As in common with most people, when asked if they have found anything, the reply can often be “Oh, only a bit of lead.”

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However, apart from being a great indicator of human activity, it is also a fascinating material that has had many uses over the centuries, indeed over past millennia. I’d like to share some examples of lead finds which did not get relegated to my scrap bin and have given me a great delight in their unearthing.

The area that I live in, North Devon, is a beautiful area, with lovely beaches (great for detecting on) and fantastic countryside, but not that much old metallic history – well, in my experience anyway. Most finds that I make are from the post-Elizabeth I period, when the area had some very busy seaports. In the Elizabethan era and later, many people were setting off to experience the New World from the local port of Bideford. Occasionally, older artefacts are found in the area but this is very uncommon.

One detecting advantage which we do have though is that the farmers here are very obliging, so I always have somewhere to go. The land is mainly pasture but having a wide choice of sites to detect on is a very nice position to be in.

It was a lovely autumn day when I met up with my detecting pal, Graham, on one such site. North Devon, as in common with most parts of the country, had recently seen a lot of rain over the preceding months, so we were itching to get out and do some detecting. I had detected the fields on this site many times before but I was happy just to be out.