Permission to detect: who to ask, and what to agree

A guide by Rob · Law last checked 25 September 2026

Every field, park, wood, footpath and beach belongs to someone, and you need their say-so before your coil touches the ground. Getting permission is the part of the hobby nobody films, but it decides everything else: where you can go, what you can keep, and whether you get a Treasure reward. I started out on permissions from farmer friends in Derbyshire. Here’s what I’d want a newcomer to know.

1. The rule: always ask first

Get permission from the landowner before you detect, “regardless of the status, or perceived status, of the land” (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017). That includes parks, public open spaces, woods, common land and public footpaths (National Council for Metal Detecting, no date). A public footpath gives you the right to walk along it, not to search it. Scotland is no different: you need landowner permission, and that includes public parks (Treasure Trove Scotland, no date).

Detecting without permission is trespass. Illegal detecting is known as nighthawking, and the Code of Practice asks detectorists to report it to the police when they see it (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017). It costs honest finders too: if you trespass, a Treasure reward can be cut or refused (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2023).

2. Who can say yes

• The landowner and the occupier. Farmland often has both: an owner and a tenant farmer who works it. Permission needs both the landowner’s and the tenant’s agreement (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017). If a tenant signs on the owner’s behalf, the owner must know about it (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024).
• Make sure the person saying yes has the right to. A friendly neighbour, a farm worker or a dog walker who “doesn’t mind” can’t give you permission. If you knew, or could reasonably have found out, that whoever said yes had no authority to, your Treasure reward can be reduced (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2023).
• Finding the owner. In England and Wales you can search HM Land Registry online; a copy of the title register, which shows who owns the land, costs £7 (GOV.UK, no date). Not all land is registered, especially land that has never been sold, such as much Crown, Church and old estate land. For that, the Land Registry suggests asking neighbours and adjoining landowners, and checking local authority records and planning applications (Hookway, 2018).

3. Public land still has an owner

• Parks, open spaces and other council land: every council sets its own rules, so check its website or ask its parks department. Some sell a permit: Chesterfield charges £65 a year for some of its land (Chesterfield Borough Council, no date), and West Suffolk £33 a year for three parks (West Suffolk Council, no date). Others say no: Salford doesn’t allow detecting on any of its land, because of the digging and the damage to wildlife habitat (Salford City Council, no date). Even with a permit, expect exclusions. Swansea’s permit, which also covers Swansea Bay and most of the Gower beaches, is for one person, not a group, lasts up to a year, needs proof of insurance, and excludes sports pitches, play areas, bowling greens and flower beds (Swansea Council, 2026).

  Rules can split within one council, too. The Isle of Wight Council allows detecting on the beaches it owns or controls, including Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor, but not on any of its other land. Many of those beaches are also SSSIs, where detecting may not be allowed whoever owns them (Isle of Wight Council, no date).

  Closer to home, Conwy doesn’t allow detecting in its parks, nature reserves or other open spaces, but you don’t need its permission to detect on its beaches, as long as you’ve read the Crown Estate’s conditions first (Conwy County Borough Council, no date). Those conditions are in our beach detecting guide.

  Many councils publish nothing at all. Find yours with GOV.UK’s Find your local council, search its website for “metal detecting”, and if there’s nothing there, ask. Treat the answer as no until the council says yes in writing.

  Don’t be put off by a permit. Years ago, on holiday on the Isle of Wight, I needed one to detect. It was simple: fill in a form and agree to some rules. Look up the rules for anywhere you plan to visit before you pack the detector, because they change over time.

• Public forests: ask first. In the New Forest, for example, byelaws forbid using a metal detector on Crown land without express permission from Forestry England (New Forest National Park Authority, no date).
• National Trust land: no. The Trust doesn’t allow metal detecting anywhere on its land without an Archaeological Research Agreement (National Trust, no date).
• Beaches have their own rules: see our beach detecting guide.

4. Where even the landowner can’t say yes

Some land is protected by law, and the owner’s permission isn’t enough:

• Scheduled monuments. Using a metal detector in a protected place without written consent is a criminal offence, and so is removing anything you find there (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, s. 42). In England, consent comes from Historic England. In Scotland, detecting on a scheduled site without permission from Historic Environment Scotland is a criminal offence too (Treasure Trove Scotland, no date).
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Ministry of Defence land and military crash sites need permission from the authority concerned (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2025; Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017).
• Farms in environmental schemes. Many farms in England are in Countryside Stewardship. On that land, detecting is not allowed on SSSIs or known archaeological sites, it must not conflict with the agreement (disturbing ground-nesting birds, for example), and all finds must be reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (Historic England, 2025). Ask the farmer whether the land is in a scheme; it’s their responsibility to know, and yours to follow it.
• Northern Ireland: any search for archaeological objects that involves digging needs a licence, and licences are only granted for archaeological projects (National Museums NI, no date).
• Republic of Ireland: searching for archaeological objects without the Minister’s written consent is a criminal offence (National Museum of Ireland, no date).

The landowner, your Finds Liaison Officer, the local Historic Environment Record, and Historic England or Cadw can all tell you what’s protected. Take extra care near protected sites: the boundaries aren’t always obvious on the ground (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017).

5. Put it in writing

Anything you find (Treasure aside) normally belongs to the landowner, so agree in writing, before you start, who keeps what (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017). The National Council for Metal Detecting publishes free search agreement forms for England and Wales and for Scotland (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024). A good agreement covers:

• who and where: the landowner, the occupier and you, all signing; the land, with a map of the area you’re allowed on;
• how long: start and end dates, and that permission can be withdrawn at any time;
• conditions: crops, livestock, times of year, gates, anything the farmer cares about;
• non-Treasure finds: who keeps them. The NCMD suggests anything worth over £500 is shared 50/50, but that’s guidance; agree what suits you both;
• Treasure rewards: the Treasure Valuation Committee normally recommends 50% to the landowner and 50% shared between the finders. It takes your agreement into account, but isn’t bound by it (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2023). What counts as Treasure, and who to tell, is in our guide to what to do when you find something;
• recording: that you’ll record finds with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and how precisely the landowner is happy for the findspot to be given (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024).

Scotland is different. Every find of significance can be claimed by the Crown (Treasure Trove Scotland, no date), so a Scottish agreement is mostly about how any payment the Crown makes is shared, not who owns the finds (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024).

Get insurance. The Code of Practice recommends public liability insurance, such as the cover that comes with membership of the NCMD or the Federation of Independent Detectorists (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017). Carry proof: it shows the landowner you’re insured, and shows anyone else that you’re entitled to be there.

6. How to ask

My first permissions came from farmer friends, and that’s still the easiest way in: start with people who already know you, and ask them who else they know. Beyond that:

• Ask in person if you can, at a sensible time. A farmer in the middle of harvest, lambing or milking has no time for you. If nobody’s about, a short letter through the door with your name and phone number is the next best thing.
• Say plainly who you are and what you’d like to do: which field, roughly when, and that you’ll fill every hole and take your rubbish away.
• Take proof of your insurance and a blank search agreement, so the landowner can see you’re serious and what they’d be signing.
• Offer something back. Show them everything you find, give them copies of the PAS records for their land, and take away the scrap metal you dig up, which is no friend to livestock or machinery.
• Take no for an answer, politely. Thank them and leave your number. A no today can become a yes after the harvest, or when a neighbour vouches for you.

7. Keeping your permission

• Follow the Countryside Code: leave gates and property as you find them, don’t damage crops, frighten animals or disturb ground-nesting birds, and take litter away (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017).
• Stay inside the agreed boundaries, and check the conditions again as crops change through the year (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024).
• Fill every hole and put the turf back as neatly as you found it.
• Show the landowner what you find, and tell them you’d like to record it with the PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2017).
• Be polite. As the NCMD puts it, you’re an ambassador for the hobby (National Council for Metal Detecting, 2024).

The short version

1. Every bit of land has an owner. Ask first, footpaths and parks included.
2. Get a yes from the landowner and the tenant, and make sure they have the right to give it.
3. National Trust land: no. Scheduled monuments and SSSIs: not even with the owner’s blessing.
4. Ask whether the farm is in an environmental scheme; if it is, record every find with the PAS.
5. Put it in writing: who, where, how long, who keeps what, and the Treasure split.
6. Carry insurance.
7. Leave the land better than you found it, and show the farmer your finds.

References

• Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, c. 46. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/46/section/42 (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Chesterfield Borough Council (no date) Metal detectors. Available at: https://chesterfield.gov.uk/explore-chesterfield/parks-and-green-spaces/outdoor-leisure-and-recreation/metal-detectors (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Conwy County Borough Council (no date) Metal detecting. Available at: https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Resident/Leisure-sport-and-health/Play-Areas-and-Green-Spaces/Metal-Detecting.aspx (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2023) Treasure Act 1996: Code of Practice (3rd Revision). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/treasure-act-1996-code-of-practice-3rd-revision (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• GOV.UK (no date) Get information about property and land: search the register. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/search-the-register (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Historic England (2025) Metal detecting on agri-environment land. Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/caring-for-heritage/rural-heritage/metal-detecting-agri-environment-land/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Hookway, A. (2018) ‘Searching for the owner of unregistered land’, HM Land Registry blog, 5 February. Available at: https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/05/search-owner-unregistered-land/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Isle of Wight Council (no date) Metal detectors on Isle of Wight Council-controlled beaches. Available at: https://digitalservices.iow.gov.uk/documents/download/etl-metal-detectors-on-isle-of-wight (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Council for Metal Detecting (2024) Search agreements (Policy No. 10, Issue 3), 15 August. Available at: https://www.ncmd.co.uk/search-agreement/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Council for Metal Detecting (2025) Code of conduct. Available at: https://www.ncmd.co.uk/code-of-conduct/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Council for Metal Detecting (no date) Beginners guide. Available at: https://www.ncmd.co.uk/beginners-guide/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Museum of Ireland (no date) The law on metal detecting in Ireland. Available at: https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/collections-research/the-law-on-metal-detecting-in-ireland (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Museums NI (no date) The Treasure Act. Available at: https://www.nationalmuseumsni.org/treasure-act (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• National Trust (no date) Rules on metal detecting. Available at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/about-us/metal-detecting-on-national-trust-land (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• New Forest National Park Authority (no date) Metal detecting. Available at: https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/enjoying/visiting-responsibly/metal-detecting/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Portable Antiquities Scheme (2017) Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting in England and Wales. Available at: https://finds.org.uk/guides/detecting-guidance/code-of-practice-for-responsible-metal-detecting (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Salford City Council (no date) Metal detecting. Available at: https://www.salford.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces/maintaining-the-green-space/metal-detecting/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Swansea Council (2026) Metal detecting in Swansea, last modified 20 January. Available at: https://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/37442/Metal-detecting-in-Swansea (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• Treasure Trove Scotland (no date) Information for finders. Available at: https://treasuretrovescotland.co.uk/information/information-for-finders/ (Accessed: 25 September 2026).
• West Suffolk Council (no date) Metal detecting. Available at: https://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/leisure/Parks/metal-detecting.cfm (Accessed: 25 September 2026).

This is a plain-English guide, not legal advice. If in doubt, ask your Finds Liaison Officer.