Heritage and Cultural Property Crime in a Regional Setting

The EARC regional heritage report has heritage and cultural property crime as one of the themes. It includes an overview of the response to heritage crime in the four regional police forces in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent.

There are six case studies:

1. Damage to churches

2. Illegal metal-detecting and disposal of finds

3. Architectural theft

4. Criminal damage and anti-social behaviour

5. Shipwreck interference

6. Cyber and new technologies

The section concludes with some suggestions for addressing heritage crime protection.

The project is grateful to Mark Harrison (Historic England) and Andy Bliss for their assistance with the report.

Gill, D. W. J., M. Kelleher, P. Matthews, T. M. Pepperell, H. Taylor, M. Harrison, C. Moore, and J. Winder. 2022. From the Wash to the White Cliffs: The Contribution of the Heritage Sector. Eastern Academic Research Consortium (EARC) <https://kar.kent.ac.uk/96160/>.

Looting at Corbridge

Corbridge © David Gill

Historic England has noted that metal-detectorists have been active on part of the scheduled Roman site at Corbridge in Northumberland.

Do we need to change the language used to describe such activity? Do archaeologists need to start talking about the intellectual implications of such illegal activity? What information is being lost from the finite archaeological record?

Further details can be found on Looting Matters.

UK UNESCO World Heritage site damaged

Brunton Turret, Hadrian’s Wall © David Gill

Part of Hadrian’s Wall at Brunton Turret has been damaged by metal-detectorists “‘Nighthawk’ metal detectorists damage Hadrian’s Wall“, BBC News 20 June 2018). Some 50 holes have been noted around this well-preserved section of the Roman frontier. This raises questions about how internationally significant heritage assets can be protected for future generations. Equally important is the question, how can the archaeological and heritage communities make it clear that such activity cannot be accepted?

Rendlesham Conference

Rendlesham Conference © David Gill

Some 450 delegates attended a conference at the Apex in Bury St Edmunds to hear about the results of the survey and excavations (2008-14) at the vicus regius of Rendlesham in Suffolk. One of the themes explored was the relationship between this apparent elite site on the Deben with the ship-burial site at Sutton Hoo. A further discussion was on the place of the former Saxon Shore fort at Walton Castle (near Felixstowe).

Papers were:

• Sir Michael Bunbury, The landowner’s perspective
• Faye Minter, How Rendlesham has been investigated
• Jude Plouviez, Results: the Roman period
• Christopher Scull, Results: the Anglo-Saxon period
• Andrew Woods, Interpreting the early medieval coins
• Charlotte Scull, Beasts and feasts: the animal resources
• Kelly Kilpatrick, The place-names of a royal Anglo-Saxon landscape: a toponymic survey of Rendlesham and the Deben valley
• Tom Williamson, Rendlesham in context: the changing geographies of early medieval England
• Andrew Rogerson, Not always a backwater, the northern half of the East Anglian Kingdom in the 5th-9th centuries
• Christopher Scull, Suffolk, East Anglia and the North Sea: the importance of Rendelsham in the 5th to 8th centuries AD

Martin Carver chaired the final session and emphasised the international significance of the discoveries. Christopher Scull outlined plans for publication (including an article in Antiquity) and future grant applications.

The conference was organised by Suffolk County Council with support from the Sutton Hoo Society, Council for British Archaeology East, and University of Suffolk.

The conference was sponsored by Suffolk Archaeology, Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB, Suffolk County Council, British Sugar and the National Trust.

Unsustainable damage to the heritage of East Anglia?

In 2010 I was invited to write a forum piece for the Papers of the Institute of Archaeology on the Portable Antiquities Scheme [online]. My paper raised a number of issues including under-reporting, damage to the archaeological record, and a reflection on the scale of removal of antiquities. There were several invited responses, including one from Paul Barford who will be presenting a paper at the April Heritage Seminar. Barford has raised a number of concerns about the long-term impact of metal-detecting on the archaeological record. The seminar will, I am sure, debate the issue and while I suspect that not all will agree with Barford, there will be some constructive dialogue.