The Chiltern Hills offer chalk detecting while the clay Vale of Aylesbury is rich in medieval sites. Bisected by several Roman roads making it excellent for Roman material.
FROM THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME
Selected archaeological finds from the PAS records for Buckinghamshire.
MEDIEVALA Medieval silver Irish coin; a Halfpenny of Edward I (AD 1272-1307) second coinage, dating to AD 1279 - 1302.
Explore this findPhoto: Oxfordshire County Council · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
POST MEDIEVALA complete cast copper alloy furniture mount of Post Medieval date c. AD 1500-1700. The mount is broadly a stretched pointed oval shape in…
Explore this findPhoto: Oxfordshire County Council · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
Chiltern chalk in the south-east gives excellent finds preservation. The Vale of Aylesbury is heavy clay – productive but slower. Thames gravels in the far south.
Chiltern chalk fields, Vale of Aylesbury arable farmland, fields along Akeman Street and Watling Street
Roman coins and brooches along Roman roads, medieval dress accessories, Saxon material in the Thames corridor, Iron Age torcs and horse gear
Several significant Roman coin hoards found in the Vale. Bronze Age material from the Chilterns.
Clay in the Vale can be punishing in wet conditions – target after summer when the ground is drier and cracked.
You can detect on private land in Buckinghamshire 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 Buckinghamshire 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.
Buckinghamshire 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 17,241 database records representing 27,171 recorded objects for Buckinghamshire, 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.
Milton Keynes City Council generally refuses recreational detecting on its own land, apart from agreed archaeological work. Other landowners in Buckinghamshire set their own rules.
PAS data from finds.org.uk. Last checked 2 November 2026.
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