Polly's Parlour — Emerging Patterns and Encouraging Ratios

By spending a couple of two-hour sessions on one particular field I had begun to establish an idea about what activities had taken place there in the past and what could be expected of it in the future. The finds made thus far indicated that the land had not seen much activity prior to the end of the 19th Century. There was a conical lead loom-weight which could date to pretty much any period from Roman to Post Medieval, the top of a tinned brass trefoil spoon dating to the 17th Century and some kind of belt attachment which was once gilded which probably dates to the Medieval period. That's not a lot to draw conclusions from...

The material from late Victorian through Edwardian times till perhaps the 1950's — seems to be telling me that the land was then grassland, that sometimes people came there to relax by the river and that they also brought their children along. Many lost shirt buttons, two general service buttons, a few coins, a silver finger ring, a seaside souvenir and two toys. Just the kinds of things that people tend to lose when they're picnicking.

I thought that a third session might prove my theory — and I was not to be proven wrong!

If you look closely then you will see that this coin has been struck with a decorative motif identical to that impressed upon the Tudor period lead cloth seal found just a few days before. Now there's a coincidence!

The first find proper was a coin — a silver 'Gothic' florin of Victoria in very worn condition — and this would have been lost during exactly the period that I had imagined. It's a real shame about the condition of this coin because it is one of the most attractive ever minted, in my opinion. It's only the second example I have found in my career. Not at all common, and I was very pleased with finding the fourth silver item from the group of fields to date, because there's a very good ratio emerging (one silver item every two hours!) and if it keeps up then gold will surely follow.

Amazingly, the next good find was another toy! A little deer sitting on its haunches. More evidence of the presence of children and another addition to my now burgeoning lead toy collection. Also, there's another good pattern and ratio emerging here. Finding toys is one of the real joys of detecting in my book and finding fields that will provide them is not at all easy, is it?  

The dogs really do enjoy detecting. They just love it! There's a field to explore, a river to swim about in and best of all —a pond to get really filthy dirty in. What more could a springer spaniel ask for?

The rest of the session's find were remarkably similar to those found before. The same mix of coins, shirt buttons and another general service button, along with a broken gilt wreath with red enamel inlay that probably once surrounded maybe a badge and lastly a very corroded wristwatch. 

There's another small object that at first, I had down as a drawer handle. It is not — because, there are no signs of a screw hole. Maybe it's a collar stud and a cheap one at that? I do not know.