The story you are about to read is a true story.
It is not a tale of days gone by, but rather an epic unfolding at this time. It is story of a series of injustices perpetrated upon a pair of detectorists who not only properly and ethically recovered ancient artefacts of unique and significant historical importance, but also of considerable value. This tale is the story of our governmental bureaucracy quite possibly conspiring to cover up abuses of the system of law and to defraud the finders of their due award.
To protect the interests of the recovery site and also the backsides of those telling the story, at this time all references to the location of the find and many of the parties involved will not be mentioned. As the story develops, we will name and if appropriate, shame those parties involved. Book mark this site and return for further news and updates.
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But first the background.

The story begins quite straightforwardly in the environs of Milton Keynes on a parcel of land there long scheduled for development and well known as an area of serious archaeological interest. ('nuff said about where for the moment!) For years local detectorists have watched that parcel waiting for the archaeologists to eventually do their work as a prelude to development.


Not too long ago, development of the area surrounding the site began in earnest. Now this area was adjacent to the main site and should have been closely "watched" archeologically, but wasn't. At this time a pair of local detectorists, Gordon and Michael, observed a local archaeologist on the site doing some field walking. He said he was bidding for the archaeological work which would need to progress shortly in preparation for the development of the site.

No archaeological work occurred and shortly thereafter Gordon and Michael observed with surprise that full blown development of the site began with huge earth moving equipment ravaging the site with no archaeologist on site to "watch".

Gordon and Michael quickly phoned local archaeologists to alert them to the damage being done and to also ask for license to detect in the hopes of finding anything before the soils were completely scraped away.

That approval was quickly granted and with proper procedures being followed, Gordon and Michael met the archaeologists on the site that evening after the site work finished for the day to see what might be observed. Various features were observed and Gordon and Michael detected.

Suddenly the hand of time opens and one of the detectorists unearths a cache of five Bronze Age Torcs/Bracelets contained in a pot in the subsoil. The dream of virtually every detectorists came true in an instant for Gordon and Michael as they recognised what they had found.

Calls were quickly made to the British Museum and a frantic trip out from the city was made by Museum staff to carefully remove the pot and to recover the Torcs. Even at this early stage, the archaeologists acknowledged two things; (1) that the find was of major importance and, (2) that Gordon and Michael had acted ethically and responsibly.

To speed the story along, (we will be posting the details and minutiae of all the proceedings shortly), there was an inquiry of the find performed by the museum and a subsequent Coroners Inquest held. The results were that the find was in fact treasure and that it was also of incredible significance. In all hearings, public and private, the recoveryists, Gordon and Michael were lauded for their efforts and their responsible practises. A National Treasure was saved from loss and certain destruction by their efforts.

Now for the other side.

The Developer/Land Owner tries now to steal the award!

It seems as though the "land owner", English Partnerships (herein after referred to as EP), has ulterior motives. EP, we have been told is a quasi government group that is a phoenix of previous "land development" organisations given the right to control acquisition of property for development and subsequent resale in Milton Keynes and other areas of the country. In spite of acting in a grossly irresponsible manner initially, they are now reverting to what is felt by the recoveryists to possibly be libellous slander and cronyism to have the award for the recovery taken away from the recoveryists and presented to them (EP)!

The story unfolds in the background to the chronology of correspondence received by the recoveryists. There are various chapters to the background and seeing them in the context of the correspondence makes very unsettling reading. The episodes of EP's darker motivations are summarised below. There will soon follow further postings of more detail to these proceeding. Draw you own conclusions!

The developer's rape of the site: it has been well known for years that the recovery site was of special and potentially unique archaeological interest. Earlier finds from the area and local archaeological knowledge had established the fact that the area needed to be developed with sensitivity and an archaeological watch. Both local archaeologists and local detectorists have been very much aware of the special character of the site for many years.

Months prior to the Torcs recovery, the developers began site preparation work on the area, marginally avoiding the specific area of archaeological interest. At this time there were no archaeological efforts nor a watch carried out. The developer simply began major earth moving work to construct roads and deep excavations for infrastructure. Obviously anything of historical interest was lost then.

Remember from the story above that as this initial work had progressed, one afternoon the recoveryists observed an archaeologist on the site looking over the higher ground which observable features indicated there were archaeological remains below. The archaeologist stated that he was bidding for the archaeological work on that area before any development work progress on that particular area of ground.

It was therefore with alarming surprise that the recoveryists observed on that the developers had in fact begun construction excavations on that ground without any archaeology having taken place. How could this development work take place on a known archeologically sensitive area without proper procedures being followed?

At that time Gordon and Michael promptly began the procedure which led to the successful rescue of the Torcs and the vessel in which they were continued in as outlined in the preceding chronology.

Archaeologist perplexed. Read this carefully as it contains what may be considered quite incriminating evidence.

On 30th January, the British Museum invited the recoveryists and those individuals who participated in the successful rescue of the items to attend an Official presentation of preliminary results of their study of the finds.

During lunch that day by happen chance, a friend of the recoveryists was in the group of archaeologists and not dining with the recoveryists. Present in that group was a man we shall refer to as Gee, who is the Milton Keynes council archaeologist.

As it would have been his job to have carried out any archaeological, investigations, recovery efforts and an archaeological watch, he was asked him point-blank why that had not occurred.

His response was quite defensive. He seemed to want it known that he was not party to any irresponsibility. He explained in so many words that he was taken out of that loop because the developer or an interested party in behalf of the developer had arranged to have the legally required archaeological watch removed from that parcel of land so that development could progress apace without having to be delayed by extensive and costly (to the developer, EP) archaeological work being performed.

It should be noted that an archaeological watch on a parcel of historical and/or archeologically sensitive land is a commonly placed legal requirement tied to the development process of land that perhaps harbours archaeological relics and evidence of past British life. It is supposedly registered as an encumbrance to the land. In observed practise, the procedure seems to be applied quite superficially to give the appearance of concern for our historical legacy. In recent experience it seems as though it is rarely observed by bureaucratic developers, however, private developers are held closely to the law in having to pay for excavations and or to have an archaeologist present during building excavations to "watch" for any evidence of the past to preserve or record. What is that smell??

We next encounter Gee at the Coroners Inquest when after the proceedings; this same individual again spoke with him on the issue of proper archaeological/developmental procedures not being followed on the site. His body language took on a panicky posture and with eyes darting everywhere, he explained that he had never said what he said at the British museum that day and furthermore there never was any requirement for any archaeological efforts on the site. A man with a job and an arse to protect.

The Legal Beagles arrive in earnest. At the Coroners Inquest, EP was represented by a battery of legal eagles that sat huddled together at a table on the Developer/Landowner (EP) side. They offered nothing to the procedure simply lurking and taking copious notes of the proceedings. The presence of the legal team is such numbers seemed at the time quite incongruous, however as the events have unfolded it become obvious that the lawyers would have an interest in the award.

Based on the amount of the award, and the work they have obviously since placed into thwarting it's proper disposition, one might possibly be led to believe that their interest is in generating a situation to inherit that award through the fees generated to snatch it from the it's rightful grantees. But I am getting ahead of the story

As the situation now stands, EP has accused Gordon and Michael of acting criminally in recovering the Torcs and is demanding the full award be presented to them!!!

There is nothing that Gordon and Michael have done illegally. In fact they have acted far more ethically that EP in this matter. Had it not been for Gordon and Michael following proper procedures, this National Treasure would have been lost forever because EP did not follow proper procedure.

Various professional estimates have been made of the Torcs by British valuers competent in this sort of find and their estimated values fall within a reasonable and relatively close range. However, the recoveryists estimate of value by by Christies is being ignored by the Treasure Committee and the recoveryists have appealed their valuation.

As the picture of the darker side of EP's involvement in this entire episode emerges, many find it appalling and without excuse that an organisation that survives on government license to feed on the taxpayer in the guise of public development can possibly behave as follows:

1. performs development work contrary to the best interests of preserving British history and our ancient archaeological legacy.
2. Is allowed to flaunt the law and proscribed procedures to expedite the development of archeologically sensitive land.
3. is conceivably a party to intrigue involving developers and bureaucrats to change the status of protected land to ease the procedure of development
4. That will use public funds to engage high cost legal representation to deprive those who acted responsibly of their just award
5. That would further allow the legal beagles to make dishonest accusations of wrongdoing by the recoveryists to attempt to have the awards given to EP and thus then earn fees to the lawyers.

An opinion? It would be no surprise to learn that most people knowing the back story events of the recovery of this major archaeological and historical find, would come to the conclusion that those involved in formulating EP's attack to snatch the award and the efforts made in valuation to dimmest the worth of the award were acting in concerted effort to manipulate the proper procedures for various personal and organisational intentions. Either for profit and gain and/or to cover-up previous irresponsible actions.

The attack on the recoveryists at the last minute smacks of slander and a coldly calculated attempt to injure the reputation of the recoveryists. Were it me as recoveryists, I would certainly engage a fierce legal challenge to my claim for the award and to pursue for every remedy under law those responsible for the libel or slander propagated by those responsible for and party to the actions of malintent. I would also make this story and it's deeper detail available to the newspapers and press the issue for an investigation into EP and their associated cohorts in this travesty. Bureaucracy run amuck!!

What should EP do? In this writers opinion they need to come clean over this issue. They need to send their lawyers home and apologise to the recoveryists for the lies they have propagated. They need to make amends for the anguish and slander they have caused to the recoveryists and their families. They need to make a public acknowledgement of their wrongdoing and make changes to ensure this never happens again, and that all of their development procedures will be conducted with full regard for archaeology and the rights of those seeking to preserve it. They also need to put aside their petty grubbiness and relinquish their bogus claim to the recovery award. In other words, act with integrity.

What will they do? Based on actions thus far, nothing of integrity.