England’s largest county by area, with Roman forts, Viking settlements and medieval abbeys contributing to a rich heritage. The Vale of York and Vales of Mowbray are the most productive areas.
FROM THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME
Selected archaeological finds from the PAS records for North Yorkshire.
POST MEDIEVALA copper alloy Post Medieval Nuremberg jetton dating from AD 1480 - 1650. Issuer unknown. Rose/orb type. Legends illegible. Mint of Nuremberg. Measurements are;…
Explore this findPhoto: ikw1945 / West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
POST MEDIEVALA fragment of a copper alloy handle probably from a Post Medieval chafing dish dating from AD 1400 - 1600.
Explore this findPhoto: ikw1945 / West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
North Yorkshire has a coastline, and beach detecting follows different rules to farmland. Most foreshore between the high and low water marks in England is Crown Estate land, and the Crown Estate operates a general permission for recreational detecting on much of its managed foreshore, though you should check the current terms. Council-owned beaches often need the local authority’s permission, and some beaches are privately owned or leased. Always check for scheduled monuments, SSSIs and local byelaws before detecting, and never detect where it is signposted as prohibited.
Carboniferous limestone (Dales) – good preservation but limited arable. North York Moors millstone grit is acidic. Vale of York glacial till and river terrace gravels excellent. Wolds chalk in east.
Vale of York arable farmland, Hambleton Hills chalk fields, fields adjacent to Dere Street (Roman road), Vale of Mowbray farmland
Roman military material from fort sites (Catterick/Cataractonium, Malton/Derventio), Viking-age silver in the Vale of York, medieval monastery estate material, Bronze Age Wolds material
The Vale of York Hoard (Viking-age – the richest Viking hoard found in Britain, now in York Museum) came from this county. Roman Catterick material is consistently productive.
Focus on the Vale of York and the Hambleton Hills. The Roman road corridor from York north through Catterick is underdetected in the rural fields away from the A1 corridor.
You can detect on private land in North Yorkshire with the landowner’s permission, and on much of the Crown Estate foreshore if you are on the coast. 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 North Yorkshire 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.
North Yorkshire 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 40,517 database records representing 53,904 recorded objects for North Yorkshire, 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.
Tadcaster Town Council considers written detecting requests for its land. Rules elsewhere in North Yorkshire depend on the site and landowner.
PAS data from finds.org.uk. Last checked 2 November 2026.
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