METAL DETECTING BRECON: 14TH CENTURY STIRRUP MOUNT FIND
Mud, Sweat, and Metal: A Busy Week Detecting in Brecon.
It was another week of getting out into the fields, and this time, the focus was on the beautiful (but brutal) countryside just outside of Brecon. I managed to get four evening sessions in, and while the ground certainly made me work for it, the history waiting beneath the surface made every single scoop worth it.
Battling the Brecon Terrain
If you’ve ever detected in mid-Wales, you know the landscape doesn’t give up its secrets easily. The fields I was working had recently been cut for silage. On paper, that sounds ideal. In reality? The ground was arduous. The harvest left behind thick, heavy clumps of long grass that made swinging a real workout.
True to form for the evening slots, the weather kept me on my toes. We had a classic mix of intermittent skies—sunshine one minute, and dodging showers the next. Luckily, the rain stayed light enough that it didn't damp spirits or stop the hunt.
The Gear Setup: Mixing it Up
Because the conditions were challenging, I wanted to experiment with my setups to see what could cut through the trash and the tricky terrain.
- The Main Setup: I spent most of my time swinging the Minelab Manticore. I alternated between the 15-inch coil for maximum ground coverage and the 9-inch coil for tight separation.
- The Backup: For one of the sessions, I switched things up and brought out the Minelab Vanquids 360. To be fair, it did incredibly well and held its own in the busy ground.
- The Essential: As always, my trusty Garrett AT Pro-Pointer was on my hip, saving my knees and speeding up recovery in the thick grass.
The Theme of the Week: Buttons, Buttons, and More Buttons!
If there was a headline for these four sessions, it would be this: signals everywhere. This field is incredibly alive and promising. It is a loud, busy site with a massive volume of targets.
While that meant a lot of digging, the theme of the week was undeniably buttons. I dug lots, lots, and morebuttons. While they might not all be treasure, a high density of buttons is a fantastic indicator that people were working, walking, and losing things on this land for centuries. It bodes incredibly well for future sessions.
Find of the Week: A Piece of Medieval History
Among all the signals and buttons, one target stood out from the rest.
My Find of the Week is a Part of a 14th or 15th-century medieval horse stirrup.
When it first came out of the dirt, it wasn't immediately obvious to everyone what it was. But that evening, my dad and I were looking closely at it and made the guess. After a bit of research, we were spot on! There is nothing quite like the feeling of holding a piece of riding tack that hasn't seen the light of day since the Middle Ages.
It’s been a tiring but brilliant week outside Brecon. With the field showing this much promise, you can bet I’ll be heading back out there soon.
Until the next swing, happy hunting!