Two Roman roads (Watling Street and Ermine Street) cross the county, making it rich in Roman material. The Chiltern chalk fringe in the north and the Lee and Colne river valleys add further potential.
FROM THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME
Selected archaeological finds from the PAS records for Hertfordshire.
ROMANA complete but very worn Roman copper alloy radiate or nummus of uncertain ruler, dating to AD 260-402.
Explore this findPhoto: Birmingham Museums Trust · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
POST MEDIEVALA post-Medieval cast copper alloy and gilded mount, 21.4mm long, in the form of an elongated heart, with bevelled edges.
Explore this findPhoto: Surrey County Council · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
London Clay in the south transitioning to Chalk in the north (Chilterns fringe). Lee and Colne river terrace gravels. Glacial gravels overlying chalk in places.
River Lee and Colne valley farmland, Chiltern chalk fringe fields, fields along Watling Street and Ermine Street
Roman coins and bronzes along road corridors, Iron Age Catuvellauni tribe coins, medieval dress accessories, post-medieval material in Lee and Colne valleys
Verlamion (St Albans) was a major Iron Age oppidum and Roman town – surrounding fields have produced exceptional material. Welwyn Garden City area has produced Iron Age gold.
Focus on the Roman road corridors and around known settlement sites. Iron Age and early Roman transition period material from this county is world-class.
You can detect on private land in Hertfordshire with the landowner’s permission. You must avoid scheduled monuments, SSSIs and other protected sites. Joining a local club is the easiest way to reach permissioned land.
Yes. Metal detecting is legal in Hertfordshire on land where you have the landowner’s permission, as long as you avoid protected sites and follow the law on reporting treasure and recording finds.
Hertfordshire is covered by a Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer who records finds made by the public. See the FLO section on this page for contact details, or search finds.org.uk.
PAS lists 21,661 database records representing 26,241 recorded objects for Hertfordshire, checked 2 November 2026. These are recorded entries rather than a count of every find made. The period and object-type categories shown in the PAS section are selected, incomplete lists.
East Hertfordshire District Council does not allow detecting on its land. Other sites in Hertfordshire have separate landowner rules.
PAS data from finds.org.uk. Last checked 2 November 2026.
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