Some metal detector experts dream of making a history-changing discovery, and 90-year-old Dave Derby has already made it happen — twice.
His first major discovery was the discovery of a magnificent Roman villa estate near Northampton, followed by the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery.
Archaeologist Stephen Young said Mr Derby “embodies the best qualities of both an expert metal detectorist and an archeology enthusiast”.
However, for Mr Derby, from nearby Kislingbury in Northamptonshire, the greatest joy is discovering ancient artefacts.
“You pick it up and think, ‘What kind of person is the person who owns it?'” he said.
In the 1970s, police sometimes asked him to help track items and even found a gun, but not the one they were looking for. [Peter Derby]
His interest in metal detecting dates back to 1964, when he was helping his father in the garden.
“Suddenly he bent down and picked up something – it was a coin,” Mr Derby recalled.
Experts at Northampton Museum explained that it dates back to the reign of George III (1760-1820).
“I was fascinated by what they showed me, so I decided to buy a metal detector.”
Mr Derby’s discovery at Lower Heyford, near Northampton, turns into a community archeology project [CLASP]
He made many discoveries over the decades, but it was the discovery of a Roman villa estate at Whitehall Farm in 1996 that first attracted international attention.
This extensive complex dates from the early 3rd to late 4th centuries and includes two baths with checkerboard mosaic floors and two 2nd century round houses.
“I was sounding in a particular area and looked around and there was pottery around – and then I started finding Roman coins,” Mr Derby said.
“The farmer came over to see how I was doing and I said, ‘There’s a Roman ruin here.'”
Years of excavation revealed that it lies at the center of a farming estate of around 10 acres (four hectares) [CLASP]
They sought advice from Mr Young, who had worked with Mr Derby since the mid-1980s.
The former University of Northampton lecturer explained: “The site is a rare example of late villa occupation, remaining in use until the mid-5th century, 50 years after the accepted end of the Roman Empire in Britain.”
The discovery at Nether Heyford near Northampton developed into the community archeology project Clasp, which lasted until 2012 and attracted students, volunteers and archaeologists from around the world.
A sword and skeleton he found helped archaeologists unearth a previously unknown burial site [CLASP]
Mr. Derby’s next major discovery was made when the same landowner offered him another piece of land to survey.
“I came out to this nice flat field about 10 yards (9m) from the top hedge and I got this fantastic signal,” he said.
“A lady’s Saxon brooch turned up in it so I kept searching around and found a piece of metal which I thought might have been part of a sword.
“I called my son and said, ‘You need to come over here — I found a sword with a hand on the end of it!'”
When his son Peter showed up, the police had arrived to examine whether the body was the result of a recent murder.
The 2003 discovery was dubbed the “Anglo-Saxon Warrior.”
Further excavations in the area uncovered five more graves, and a few years later, some 23 more sets of remains were discovered.
Mr Derby was one of the volunteers helping archaeologists excavate the villa and cemetery [CLASP]
Mr Young said they contained what appeared to be the remains of “feoderati”, soldiers from the mainland who had been invited by the Romans to provide military support in Britain under a treaty.
The burials revealed family groups, with some of the female remains found to be from the local area.
Analysis suggests that some of them may date back to AD 430 – around the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Mr Young said this made it a “significant site of national importance for the post-Roman period and the early settlement period of the 5th century AD”.
Other finds include an early sixth-century Mercian warrior burial and a seventh-century mound burial of a sword-wielding man, he said, adding that the rediscovery of these burials was “attributed to Dave Derby”.
“I am fortunate to have worked with him and to be able to combine his talents and undoubted skills to improve our ability to understand archaeological narratives,” Mr Young said.
One of his favorite finds is a 7th-century pendant found at Woodend in 2019, which no museum wants to acquire – and the landowner’s wife is now wearing it [The Portable Antiquities Scheme]
Mr Derby, who still loves metal detecting and now has Peter by his side, said: “I feel like we are modern time travelers; we dig holes in the ground and find things that are invisible, sometimes thousands of years ago.”
By law, all gold and silver finds older than 300 years are reported to the Northamptonshire Discoveries Liaison Officer.
One of Mr Derby’s favorite pieces is a 7th century gold and gemstone pendant which was returned to the landowner and is now worn by his wife.
“I’d rather find artifacts – they belong to someone and you think ‘What are they doing there?'” he said.
“It’s one of the most wonderful hobbies I’ve ever had.”
Mr Derby, now accompanied by his son Peter, finally discovered the metal detecting bug after years of prodding [Peter Derby]
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