Famous for the Staffordshire Hoard – the largest Anglo-Saxon gold hoard ever found. The Trent valley and Cannock Chase fringe have good detecting, and Roman roads cross the county.
FROM THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME
Selected archaeological finds from the PAS records for Staffordshire.
ROMANA silver plated denarius of Trajan (AD 98-117) c. 103-104, mint of Rome. Obverse depicts laureate head facing right. Obverse inscription IMP TRAIANO AVG…
Explore this findPhoto: Birmingham Museums Trust · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
MEDIEVALA complete lead uniface token dating to the Medieval period (c. AD 1200-1500). The design on the obverse consists of a cross-hatch motif. The…
Explore this findPhoto: Susheela Burford / Birmingham Museums Trust · CC-BY
Licence label and image metadata on the linked PAS record.
No county-linked FLO profile is listed here. Browse the FLO directory to check reporting contacts and area coverage.
Coal Measures in the south (urban). Triassic Keuper Marl across much of the county. River Trent and Dove valley terraces. Cannock Chase sandstone.
Trent and Dove valley arable farmland, fields along Watling Street and Ryknield Street, eastern Staffordshire farmland
Saxon gold and silver material (Staffordshire Hoard style), Roman coins and bronzes along Watling Street, medieval material from the county’s farming estates
The Staffordshire Hoard (2009) – 3,500+ pieces of Saxon gold and silver – is the most significant single metal detecting find in British history. Found in a field near Lichfield.
The Staffordshire Hoard was found on non-obvious farmland. Do your research – LiDAR and historic map analysis can identify promising new fields. The Trent valley is consistently productive.
You can detect on private land in Staffordshire 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 Staffordshire 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.
Staffordshire 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 13,694 database records representing 19,030 recorded objects for Staffordshire, 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.
Metal detecting is prohibited in Lichfield Historic Parks’ managed historic parks. Ask the relevant authority about other Staffordshire sites.
PAS data from finds.org.uk. Last checked 2 November 2026.
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