ULTIMATE GUIDE: The Daily Dig’s Beginner’s Guide To Metal Detecting In The UK

So you want to go metal detecting in the UK. Excellent choice. Welcome to the only hobby where you can come home smelling of mud, clutching a bent ring pull, and still feel like Indiana Jones.

This is The Daily Dig’s Ultimate Beginner’s Guide: no fluff, no fantasy, just what you actually need to know to start in the UK without upsetting farmers, the police, or other detectorists.

SECTION 1 – WHAT METAL DETECTING REALLY IS

Metal detecting is:

• Walking slowly in fields and on beaches
• Listening to beeps that mostly mean “rubbish”
• Digging small, neat holes
• Getting very excited, very often, about things that turn out to be absolute junk

If you need instant gratification, you will hate it.
If you secretly enjoy slow, obsessive, slightly nerdy pursuits, you are in the right place.

SECTION 2 – THE THREE GOLDEN RULES (UK VERSION)

Before you even look at a detector, understand this:

1. You must have the landowner’s permission to detect on their land.
2. You must stay away from protected sites (like Scheduled Monuments) unless you have proper consent, which as a beginner you absolutely do not.
3. You must report important finds through the right channels (Treasure, PAS, Treasure Trove, depending on where you are).

Beginner translation:

• No permission = no detecting.
• If the place looks obviously ancient and “official”, leave it alone.
• If you find something very old or important, you tell someone official, not just your WhatsApp group.

SECTION 3 – BUYING YOUR FIRST METAL DETECTOR (DON’T PANIC)

You do not need a space-age machine that costs more than your car. You need something simple, reliable and forgiving.

Aim roughly for:

• Budget: Around £200–£400 for a decent starter detector.
• Brands: Minelab, Garrett, Nokta, XP, Quest and similar all make beginner-friendly models.
• Features to look for:
  • Simple preset modes (Park, Field, Beach etc)
  • Waterproof coil (handy in the UK, where water falls from the sky as a lifestyle choice)
  • Good online support and YouTube videos for that exact model

Avoid:

• Ultra-cheap “bargain” detectors that look like toys
• Buying purely because one YouTuber calls it “insane” or “broken good” in every video

Think of it as your first car: you want a solid hatchback, not a Ferrari you will immediately crash.

SECTION 4 – BASIC KIT YOU ACTUALLY NEED

You do not have to arrive looking like a sponsored professional. But you do need the basics:

• Metal detector
• Strong digging tool (a decent spade or proper digging tool, not a flimsy garden trowel)
• Headphones (so you can hear faint signals and not annoy everyone within 50 metres)
• Finds pouch or bag (for coins, junk and snacks)
• Gloves (you will dig up glass, wire and other sharp surprises)
• Sensible boots and weather-proof clothing
• Permission (text, email, paper – not “my mate reckons it’s fine”)

Nice-to-have once you are hooked:

• Pinpointer (small handheld detector to locate targets in the hole)
• Knee pads
• Small finds boxes or tubs
• Spare batteries or power bank

SECTION 5 – WHERE YOU CAN (AND CANNOT) DETECT

Very simple UK reality:

Good options (with permission):

• Farmer’s fields (stubble, pasture)
• Private grassland
• Private woodland
• Land owned by people you know who have clearly said yes

Maybe (only if fully checked and confirmed):

• Some beaches (check local rules and byelaws)
• Some council parks or land (only if the council has given written permission)

No, just no:

• Anywhere without landowner permission
• Scheduled Monuments
• Obvious ancient mounds, barrows, ruins, earthworks
• MOD land, railways, building sites, places with fences and warning signs
• National Trust land (assume no, unless they explicitly say otherwise)

Beginner rule: get a proper farm permission and stay away from anything obviously “historic and official” in the landscape. Learn the basics there first.

SECTION 6 – YOUR FIRST PERMISSION (WITHOUT CRINGE)

This is the scary bit for most people. It does not need to be.

Start with the easy route:

• Ask friends, family, colleagues: anyone with land, paddocks or small fields.
• Then go local: nearby farms where you can turn up respectfully at a sensible time.

What to say (simple version):

“Hi, I am [Name], I live in [place]. I have just started metal detecting as a hobby. I am insured and I follow the official code of practice. I wanted to ask if you ever allow anyone to metal detect on your land. If you did, I would only go where you are happy, I always fill in my holes properly, and I will show you anything interesting I find.”

If they say no, you say:

“Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it.”

Then you leave. No begging. No arguing. No “I’ll just do that corner then”.

SECTION 7 – USING YOUR DETECTOR FOR THE FIRST TIME

The first few trips are about learning the machine, not filling a treasure chest.

Basic approach:

• Read the manual (yes, really).
• Start in a simple mode: “Field” or “Park” preset with default settings.
• Do not immediately go mad with discrimination and custom programs.
• Swing slowly; let the coil overlap each sweep.
• Keep the coil low and level, close to the ground, without ploughing it.
• Dig a variety of signals at first so you learn what different targets “sound” like.

You learn your detector by listening, digging, and accepting that most of your early finds will be junk. This is normal. If you are not digging junk at the start, you are probably missing good stuff too.

SECTION 8 – HOW TO DIG LIKE A CIVILISED HUMAN

Your digging will decide whether landowners want you back.

Basic digging rules:

• Only dig if you have permission and are allowed on that particular part of the land.
• Cut a neat plug: a U-shaped or circular cut about the size of a side plate.
• Keep one side of the plug attached so the grass can survive.
• Lift the plug, check the hole and plug with your pinpointer or detector.
• Remove the target, put all loose soil back in the hole.
• Replace the plug exactly how it was and press it down firmly with your boot.
• Check you have not left any scrap in the hole or on the surface.

If you can barely find your own hole again after a minute, you have done it right.

SECTION 9 – WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR FINDS

At the beginning, you will mostly find:

• Ring pulls
• Bottle caps
• Bits of aluminium and wire
• Lead blobs
• Modern coins
• Scrap, scrap and more scrap

That is fine. Take all the rubbish with you and bin it.

If you find something that looks:

• Very old (for example, hammered coin, Roman coin, old jewellery)
• Valuable (gold, silver, possible hoard)
• Dangerous (shells, grenades, explosives)
• Disturbing (human bones)

Then you:

• Stop digging bigger holes around it.
• Mark the spot (GPS, app, landmark).
• Inform the landowner.
• For historical items, contact your local Finds Liaison Officer (PAS) or Treasure Trove in Scotland.
• For suspected explosives or human remains, follow police guidance and do not mess about.

Better to over-report something interesting than to quietly shove a major find in your pocket and hope for the best.

SECTION 10 – HOW NOT TO BE “THAT DETECTORIST”

The hobby’s reputation lives and dies on behaviour.

Good behaviour:

• Always get permission.
• Respect crops, livestock and fences.
• Close gates as you find them.
• Park sensibly and safely.
• Take every bit of scrap you dig home with you.
• Be polite to anyone you meet.
• Never disclose exact locations of sensitive sites or big finds online.

If you behave well, you keep permissions and might gain more. If you behave badly, you lose permissions and damage the hobby for everyone else.

SECTION 11 – JOINING THE WIDER DETECTING WORLD

You will learn faster if you are not completely on your own.

Consider:

• Joining a local metal detecting club.
• Joining a national body (for example NCMD) for insurance and support.
• Going on a few organised digs to see how more experienced detectorists work.
• Following sensible, responsible UK detectorists online (not just the loudest clickbait channels).

Watch how good people dig, behave, and handle finds. Copy that, not the showboating.

SECTION 12 – THE DAILY DIG BEGINNER CHECKLIST

Before you go out, ask yourself:

• Do I definitely have permission for this land today?
• Do I know which fields or areas I am allowed to detect on?
• Am I insured and following the code of practice?
• Do I have the right kit to dig neat holes and leave no mess?
• Do I know roughly what to do if I find something old or important?

If you hesitate on any of those, fix it first. The history will wait.

That is your Ultimate Daily Dig Beginner’s Guide: one decent detector, one solid permission, neat digging, good behaviour, and realistic expectations. Get those right and the story-worthy finds will come. The ground has been hiding them for centuries. It will not mind waiting until you are ready to do it properly.

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