Metal detecting enthusiasts allegedly caught stealing

Metal detecting enthusiasts allegedly caught stealing artifacts from ancient monument site in Northamptonshire

TWO metal detecting enthusiasts have appeared in court accused of plundering ancient artefacts from an Iron Age and Roman archeological site.

Darren West, aged 60, and Peter Cox, aged 68, were allegedly caught stealing artefacts from Chester Farm, a scheduled ancient monument, north of Irchester.

It is alleged they were arrested while illegally metal detecting for artefacts on land owned and protected by Northamptonshire County Council on July 26.

Chester Farm, which is east of Wellingborough, contains the remains of an Iron Age settlement, a walled Roman town and its suburbs, ancient fields and parkland, a deserted medieval village and areas of more recent ironstone extraction.

As a scheduled ancient monument, it is a nationally-important archaeological site, protected to preserve its integrity and heritage under the rarely-used Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.


http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/metal-detecting-enthusiasts-allegedly-caught-stealing-artifacts-from-ancient-monument-site-in-northamptonshire-1-3675032