Metal Detecting in Heydon: Searching Cambridgeshire’s Border Fields for Britain’s Past
11 minutes ago
4 min read
Heydon is not the sort of place that makes the brochures. It is a small village on high ground in the far south of Cambridgeshire, so close to the county lines that a mile in one direction puts you in Hertfordshire and a mile in the other puts you in Essex. On the morning I filmed, the fields were wet, the sky was the colour of porridge and the view stopped at the first hedge.
I grew up walking these tracks, and I came back with something I had wanted since I was a boy watching old men sweep the farmland: a metal detector. What follows is part day out, part history lesson and part honest test of a kit that DR.ÖTEK sent me to try.
Watch the film
On YouTube — Why Did I Choose This Rainy Day for Metal Detecting? — about fourteen minutes on the Cambridgeshire border, from the foggy fields to the kit, the law and what I have dug up here over the years.
How to visit — the practicals
Where: Heydon, South Cambridgeshire, on the borders of Hertfordshire and Essex. The fingerpost on the village green gives Fowlmere at 5 miles and Cambridge at 13.
Getting there: This is car country. The nearest railway stations are Royston and Audley End (for Saffron Walden), and from either you will want a taxi or your own wheels — compare car hire here, or book a private transfer from Stansted if you are flying in.
When: In summer the fields fill with wheat, rapeseed and, depending on the farmer's choice, potatoes, and the village is far prettier than it looks in my film. After harvest, when the ground is bare, is when detectorists tend to get the most out of farmland.
Permission: Ask the farmer or landowner before you sweep a single field, and tell them what you find. In England, anything that counts as treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 must be reported to the coroner within 14 days, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme will record other finds.
Data while you roam: Visiting from abroad? A Roamless eSIM keeps your maps working down farm tracks where the signal comes and goes — use code WONDERING.
The land we stand upon
You might look at this landscape and think it unremarkable. Most of it is farmland now, with a few dirt tracks and stands of trees, but much of it was forest once. Below the ridge runs the Icknield Way, one of the oldest routes in Britain, a road the Romans knew and used. Another old lane climbs from it up to Heydon, which looks out towards Cambridge. On a clear day you can see Ely Cathedral beyond the city. On the day I filmed you could barely see the field.
If you wanted to protect your family from invaders, you picked higher ground, and that is why this end of Heydon is known for Iron Age finds. A hill fort is thought to have stood where the trees are now. As a boy I found Roman coins here, a couple of spearheads, flint axes from before anyone worked iron, arrowheads and, once, half of a blunt sword.
Romans, Angles and Saxons, Normans after 1066 and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians have all crossed this ground. Today the old fort site is where gamekeepers raise partridges and pheasants, which is a good reason to keep your voice down and your permission in your pocket.
The kit — and the disclosure
Full disclosure: DR.ÖTEK supplied the detector, and I get to keep it. I turn down most of the sponsorship offers that land in my inbox, but this one was a childhood wish. The DR.ÖTEK MXTR metal detector sits easily over the shoulder, is light enough to swing for hours and packs into its own bag.
Through headphones it gives different tones for different metals, from cans to coins to silver and gold, so you can detect in silence without announcing yourself to the whole valley. The MT6 Pro pinpointer slips into a pocket and narrows down a signal once you have one, and the kit includes a small digging tool marked in inches so you know how far down you are. Use the code ENGLISHMAN at checkout for 10% off.
I will be honest: I found nothing remarkable on the day, I was probably in the wrong spot, and I realised afterwards that I had fitted the rod slightly backwards. It still worked. That is the reality of the hobby. Not every step turns up treasure, and most of the fun is the walk and the wondering.
Why not the Thames?
Living in London, my first plan was to go mudlarking on the Thames foreshore. You need a permit for that, and when I looked into it the waiting list ran to more than 20,000 names and many years. So the Thames film will have to wait. Beaches are another option for a detector, but check who owns the foreshore and any local byelaws before you start.
Where to stay — Cambridge, Royston & Saffron Walden
Heydon itself is tiny, so base yourself in Cambridge for colleges and pubs, or in Royston or Saffron Walden for market-town quiet within a short drive. Booking.com covers hotels and inns across all three, and Airbnb is better for a cottage if you are bringing the family and the muddy boots.
Plan your trip
Car hire: DiscoverCars
Airport / private transfer: GetTransfer
Hotels: Booking.com
Cottages: Airbnb
Metal detector: DR.ÖTEK MXTR — code ENGLISHMAN for 10% off
Pinpointer: DR.ÖTEK MT6 Pro
eSIM: Roamless — code WONDERING
Flights
Flying in from abroad? London Stansted is the closest big airport to this corner of Cambridgeshire. Compare fares below before you book.
Why it stays with you
Detecting is a little geeky, and I will not pretend otherwise. But walking a field that Roman soldiers, Saxon farmers and Cromwell's men have walked before you, waiting for a buzz in your ear, is a different way of reading a landscape. It turns a wet, grey morning on the Cambridgeshire border into something closer to detective work.
If you have found something with a detector, tell me in the comments of the film. And if you know a place where a bit of Time Team action would fit into one of my travel films, I would love to hear about it.
Filmed on the Osmo Pocket 3 — affiliate link, costs you nothing extra.
If useful, subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Or SubscribeStar. Or buy me a coffee via Ko-Fi.
Safe travels, The Wondering Englishman
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