In recent years, a record-breaking amount of buried treasure has been found across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. If you’re an avid traveller, a detectorist or just have a passing interest in history, visiting these hotspots could provide insight into Britain’s past civilisations. We’ve highlighted three of the biggest buried treasure hotspots right here.
What Qualifies as Buried Treasure?
Everyone has some idea of what buried treasure is, but the reality is that treasure can be very broadly defined. This is partly due to how buried treasure has been portrayed in media, where it’s the prize of pirates and other brave, seafaring explorers. Closer to home, the British iGaming industry hosts slots inspired by those treasure-hunting tales. In those online casino games, players spin for a chance to dig up treasure from exotic and sometimes fantastical settings. This even includes old Irish mythology like the Rainbow Riches slot, where the treasure is in a leprechaun’s pot at the end of a rainbow instead. Treasure can be a lot more than buried chests or pots of gold, however, and in Britain, we have a specific definition backed by an Act of Parliament.
Ever since the Treasure Act 1996, British citizens have had a comprehensive definition of what can be called buried treasure. The Act defines treasure along these points:
- A stash of two or more coins, if they are over 300 years old, with more than 10% of gold/silver content.
- A stash of ten or more coins with less than 10% gold/silver content.
- An individual item that isn’t a coin but is over 300 years old and is more than 10% gold or silver.
- A collection of two or more non-precious metal objects dating back to prehistoric times.
- Any material found buried with or near other objects that could be called treasure. This is called association, where archaeologists have reason to believe the objects were used together.
The Act also includes exceptions for items that could provide immense value to the fields of archaeology, but we don’t know specifically how to define those things until we find them. This is why, by law, suspected treasure needs to be studied by a coroner who can then identify and date the find.
Britain’s Buried Treasure Hotspots
Since most buried treasure is reported, we have a lot of data on the latest finds and which parts of the UK hold the most promise. Here are the top three.
Norfolk
In treasure-hunting circles, it’s widely known that Norfolk is the best county for finding long-lost items that need to be reported. It’s not even close, with 1,201 treasures found between 2012 and 2023. The next hotspot, Suffolk, had over 800 treasures in the same period. In 2023, there are 95 finds across Norfolk.
Suffolk
As we said above, Suffolk has been the second-best region for over 10 years. 63 treasures were found last year, though it usually averages 70+ finds a year. If you’re noticing a pattern, then you’d be correct – East Anglia is the best region in the UK for finding treasure. Between the Iceni, the Romans, the Saxons and the Vikings, there are a lot of wayward coins and other treasures in the area.
Essex
According to the same 2012-2023 data, Essex came third with 709 treasures found. 2023 was Essex’s best year for quite some time, with 85 finds compared to just 57 finds in 2022. Essex is home to Colchester, which was once called Camulodunum and was the original capital of Britannia during the Roman occupation. Together with Norfolk and Suffolk, these are the biggest treasure hotspots in the UK by a wide margin.
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