Detecting History is a UK channel about the people who go looking for the past, wherever it may be found.
Hosted by Katie MacDoyle and joined by Murray Price in season 4, each episode explores metal detecting, mudlarking, bottle hunting, fossil hunting, beachcombing, treasure hunting and historical collecting, uncovering the stories behind the objects and discoveries people make.
From Roman coins and medieval artefacts to bottles, fossils, jewellery, shipwreck finds and forgotten objects hidden beneath our feet, we explore the discoveries that connect us with the people who came before us.
Katie and Murray chat together with detectorists, mudlarkers, bottle hunters, fossil hunters, archaeologists, historians, collectors and experts from across the community.
Expect incredible finds, fascinating history, expert interviews, detecting adventures, archaeological discoveries, responsible collecting and the stories behind the objects we uncover.
Because every find has a story.
10% off some items at Regton.com using promo code DHPodcast
20% off subscription at Fieldfinders using promo code DHFF20
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Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking King and the Road to Stamford Bridge | Forgotten History
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 • Duration 11:59
Our midweek Forgotten History extra continues the 1066 theme. Murray tells the story of Harald Hardrada, the Norwegian king whose death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge is traditionally seen as the end of the Viking Age in England.
Harald was fighting in battles by the age of 15. After his half-brother King Olaf II was killed at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, Harald fled east to Kievan Rus and served Prince Yaroslav the Wise. He then joined the Varangian Guard, the elite Scandinavian bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors, and campaigned across the Mediterranean, including the fight to retake Sicily. He returned home a very wealthy man, became King of Norway in 1046, and spent years trying and failing to take Denmark too.
In September 1066, at around 50 years old, he invaded England with roughly 300 ships, joined by Tostig Godwinson, the exiled brother of King Harold II. After victory at the Battle of Fulford and the surrender of York, Harald was caught by surprise at Stamford Bridge on 25 September after King Harold’s march north. Harald was killed, the invasion collapsed, and only around 24 ships were needed to carry the survivors home.
Plus Viking tattoos, the famous Viking poo at York’s Jorvik Viking Centre, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and why Katie never won a sports day as a Norman.
Watch on YouTube
youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel
Got a forgotten history story you’d like us to cover?
WhatsApp: 07457 410889. Send your finds for the monthly competition too, and you could win a year’s free Field Finders subscription.
Metal Detectorists Find the Lost Stamford Bridge Battlefield | 1066 Special
Sunday, October 25, 2026 • Duration 45:49
It’s 960 years since 1066, and Katie and Murray mark the anniversary of the Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings, with Murray dressed for the occasion in his Viking shield and axe.
Murray reviews the History Hit documentary 1066: The Lost Battleground. In it, Dan Snow joins detectorists Simon Richardson and John Benfield as they search for the true site of the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Their evidence points to a Roman road crossing further south, where they turn up a Viking spearhead, brooches and arrowheads. Then it’s on to the Bayeux Tapestry, now at the British Museum until July 2027. Murray shares some lesser-known facts: it isn’t actually a tapestry, there are naked men hidden in the borders, Halley’s Comet makes an appearance, and Harold may never have been shot in the eye at all. Katie recommends the free Victorian replica at Reading Museum if you can’t get tickets.
Also in this episode, Murray’s bumper detecting day turns up around 30 coins and a WW1 Royal Flying Corps badge. He also shares the story of a WW1 identity tag he traced, through family history research, to a soldier who ran a fish and chip shop on Farringdon Road, and how he’s working to return it to the family. Katie’s chickens keep digging up Victorian bottles, her 50p collection grows, and she’s building a 2,083-piece Lego Concorde. Darren Booth of The Etching Booth sends in a classic newbie mishap, and Murray introduces his Renaissance Wax review (watch the full review on YouTube).
Chapters
00:00 Welcome to our 1066 anniversary special
01:40 Field Finders recap
02:24 Murray’s best detecting day and a Royal Flying Corps badge
05:56 Tracing a WW1 identity tag
09:28 Katie’s update: Concorde, chicken finds and 50p collecting
22:00 1066: The Lost Battleground on History Hit
28:16 The Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society
29:10 The Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum and Reading Museum
31:50 Bayeux Tapestry facts you might not know
FieldFinders APP: AI, LiDAR & Finding New Metal Detecting Permissions with Sebastian | Detecting History
Sunday, September 27, 2026 • Duration 39:25
In this episode of Detecting History, Murray Price is joined by Sebastian from FieldFinders, a new metal detecting platform designed to help detectorists find legal detecting permissions and research the history of the land they are detecting.
Sebastian explains how his own struggle to find metal detecting permissions inspired him to create FieldFinders, a permission marketplace where metal detectorists can discover and book fields for detecting.
We take a detailed look at the FieldFinders metal detecting research tools, including LiDAR, 3D LiDAR, historical maps, historical records, recorded finds, Roman sites, Viking and Saxon research, battlefields, legends and stories, geology and soil data, and AI-powered field analysis.
Murray and Sebastian explore how combining historical research, LiDAR and recorded archaeological finds can help detectorists understand the history of their permissions and identify potentially interesting features such as lost roads, earthworks, settlements and other features that may be difficult to see from the ground.
The episode also looks at how FieldFinders brings metal detecting permissions and research tools together in one platform, with Sebastian explaining his plans to expand the platform across Europe and the USA, as well as plans for detecting rallies and detecting holidays.
We then choose this month's Listeners' and Viewers' Find of the Month. The shortlisted finds include a medieval papal bull of Pope John XXII, a silver hammered penny from the transition between Edward I and Edward II, and a World War I silver thumbs-up good luck charm.
Sebastian chooses the winner of this month's Viewers' Finds competition, with the winning detectorist receiving a year's access to FieldFinders.
Finally, Murray puts an ultrasonic cleaner to the test to see how well it can clean metal detecting finds, including coins and a Royal Flying Corps cap badge. It's a particularly visual test, so watch the episode on YouTube to see the ultrasonic cleaner in action.
Amazon affiliate link to the ultrasonic cleaner:
Metal Detecting News, Permissions & Forgotten History | Murray Price Joins Detecting History
Sunday, September 13, 2026 • Duration 01:16:37
Welcome back to the Detecting History Podcast!
After a long, hot and very dry summer, we're back and this time Katie isn't going it alone.
Welcome to Murray Price from the Bearded Bleepers, our brand-new co-host for Series 4!
Katie and Murray kick off a brand-new era of Detecting History with a proper catch-up on what they've been up to over the summer, including museum exhibitions, rallies, BBC Sounds, Treasure Hunting magazine, some incredible finds and, unfortunately for Murray, the invention of "Swinger's Hip"!
Katie also talks about getting back out detecting after surgery, her first proper detecting trip, finding one of her farmer's missing drill points and getting to grips with her new XP IconX.
Then it's time for the news.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) has had a major website upgrade, and Katie and Murray take a look at the new system, the guidance available to detectorists and some of the questions surrounding how finds submitted through the new website will be reviewed.
We also discuss the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD) and its work with the All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group and Historic England, including the new inquiry looking at organised metal detecting events, club digs and rallies.
And then we get into one of the big issues affecting detectorists: metal detecting permissions. What happens when another group approaches a landowner who already has a detectorist on their land? Is there an unwritten code of conduct that detectorists should follow? And could there be a better way for people to work together?
Murray also shares his detecting reading recommendations, including Found in the Ground and The Accidental Detectorist.
We then have a fantastic treasure find to discuss: Chris Langston's 17th-century memento mori locket, commemorating the execution of Charles I.
New feature: Forgotten HistoryNew feature: The Murray ReviewFind MurrayFind KatieFollow Detecting History
XP Icon X, Metal Detecting News & the Princes in the Tower
Sunday, May 24, 2026 • Duration 23:40
Katie is back with a solo summer catch-up packed with metal detecting news, history and channel updates.
In this episode: a huge well done to the 100th episode giveaway winners and a thank you to Swing and Dig, The Etching Booth, Composite Cleaning Pencil and Regton for their brilliant prize support. If you missed the Kenneth Collard (Tales from the Foreshore) interview, Katie explains exactly why you need to go back and listen to it.
Big channel news: The Detectorists on the Detectorists episodes have moved to their own dedicated sister podcast. Search for it on your podcast player and subscribe.
From the world of detecting: Brian Dixon and Michael Eakers made the BBC News after finding a Roman hoard in Devon, 97 silver coins and six copper alloy coins spanning more than 200 years of Roman history from Mark Antony to Septimius Severus. And tech fans will want to know all about the brand new XP Icon and Icon X, the lightweight, fully wireless, multi-frequency mid-range detectors from XP.
Katie also recommends Treasure Trails (treasuretrails.co.uk) for history lovers who want to explore their local area, shares a TV recommendation in Lucy Worsley Investigates Series 3, and goes deep on one of English history's most haunting mysteries: what really happened to the Princes in the Tower?
Plus a shoutout to Gary in Kenya and a personal update from Katie on what the summer break has in store.
Watch the full interviews and Katie's dig diaries on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at Regton.com for 10% off some items.
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Kenneth Collard: The Detectorists, Metal Detecting & Mudlarking on the Thames
Saturday, May 2, 2026 • Duration 56:44
This week's episode is a special one as its the 100th one! Our guest is very special too....! Actor Kenneth Collard, known to this community as the Mayor from the BBC series The Detectorists, and to a wider audience from Cuckoo, House of the Dragon, The Capture and most recently Beyond Paradise. But Kenneth has been a detectorist since the early 1980s, long before any of those credits, starting out with a basic C-scope in the forests of Germany and chasing that coin-shaped thrill ever since.
During lockdown, Kenneth picked up his Equinox 800 and turned to the Thames foreshore, barely getting his PLA permit before the system closed. He has been learning to read the foreshore ever since, mentored by experienced mudlarks and working alongside his now great friend Carrie from Carry On Larkin.
In this episode Kenneth talks about filming The Detectorists alongside Mackenzie Crook, the tobacco pipe bowl depicting an African man that was displayed in the Museum of London Docklands Secrets of the Thames exhibition alongside a cowry shell Kenneth found at the same moment, and his all-time top find, which has nothing to do with history and everything to do with being in the right place at the right time.
He also shares his plans to develop a mudlarking TV show, talks about the Spanish Ardite minted in Barcelona for a child king and a Peruvian silver two reals found on the same stretch of foreshore, and signs off with one of the most genuinely motivating closers this podcast has had.
Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at Regton.com for 10% off some items.
Hit the follow button to get all the new episodes first!
Roman Hoards & Rare British Finds with Gloucestershire Detectorists
Saturday, April 25, 2026 • Duration 53:34
Darren Searle and Rod from Gloucestershire Detectorists join Katie to tell the story of two finds that most detectorists will never experience in a lifetime of searching.
The first: a scattered Roman hoard where both Darren and Rod's very first signals on a brand new field turned out to be Roman coins. What followed was multiple return visits, over 400 coins recovered, a Roman silver ring and a Roman lead seal found by Rod that was nearly discarded as scrap and turned out to be unique in Britain.
The second: a hammered scattered hoard on a farm where the landowner had been openly sceptical about the hobby. The find included quarter nobles and half nobles, and eventually 26 hammered coins recovered over several visits. That one went to auction and found a home with an American historian who supports archaeological digs in the UK.
Darren also talks through their Minelab Manticore setup, the moment the Manticore picked up a deep gold hammered coin that the Nox 600 couldn't reach, how their relationship with their FLO made the Treasure Act process far smoother than most, and what is still on the bucket list including a gold stater and a gold Roman.
Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on Friday on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.
Hit the follow button to get all the new episodes first!
Scottish Loch Larking: WWII Revolver, Medieval Hoard & Bronze Age Finds | Bottles from the Deep
Sunday, April 19, 2026 • Duration 59:47
Jamie and Erin from Bottles from the Deep join Katie to talk about loch larking, their unique hobby of snorkeling in Scottish lochs to find Victorian bottles, ceramics and all sorts of historical treasures.
Jamie shares the story of finding a rare WWII Colt Commando revolver in a loch, discovering a scattered medieval coin hoard whilst metal detecting dating to around 1307 with coins from Alexander III, John Balliol and Edward I, and a secret Bronze Age hoard found just one week earlier. Erin talks about their favourite finds including Codd marble bottles, Staffordshire Flow Blue ceramics, cocaine-infused Victorian wine bottles and why every loch in Scotland seems to have a teapot in it.
They also cover how they research new lochs using the National Library of Scotland maps, LiDAR and old fishing spots, plus Jamie's journey into metal detecting with his Minelab Equinox 600. Find Jamie and Erin on both YouTube and Instagram @bottlesfromthedeep.
Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.
Hit the follow button to get all the new episodes first!
UK Metal Detecting News: Iron Age Hoards, Nighthawking & the PAS
Saturday, April 11, 2026 • Duration 23:06
What's been happening in the world of UK metal detecting in 2026? In this solo episode, Katie rounds up the biggest stories so far this year and announces the Detecting History 100th episode giveaway competition.
First up, the Melsonby Hoard goes on public display at the Yorkshire Museum from 15 May. Over 800 Iron Age objects including the first evidence of four-wheeled wagons in Britain. Then we look at the Portable Antiquities Scheme's record-breaking year with over 79,000 finds recorded, and why your local Finds Liaison Officer needs your support more than ever.
We also cover the Great Baddow Hoard, 933 Iron Age gold coins now secured for the Museum of Chelmsford, but with a cautionary tale about what happens when you detect without permission. That leads into the rise of nighthawking, with Humberside Police reporting increased illegal detecting on protected land.
On the brighter side, the Chew Valley Hoard's incredible journey from field to national tour shows the system working as it should. And a father and son's Anglo-Saxon find in Lincolnshire has inspired an entire jewellery collection.
Plus, Katie announces the 100th episode giveaway with prizes from Regton, The Etching Booth, Composite Cleaning Company, and S&D Detectorist.
ENTER THE COMPETITION Go to @detectinghistorychannel on Instagram, like the competition post, share it on your stories, comment "100" and subscribe to our YouTube channel. UK only. Details on the post.
LINKS AND RESOURCES Melsonby Hoard exhibition: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk Report your finds: finds.org.uk Report nighthawking: call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
SPONSORS AND PARTNERS Regton: regton.com (use Katie's affiliate discount code DHPODCAST) The Etching Booth: www.instagram.comthe_etching_booth Composite Cleaning Company www.cleaningpencil.com and https://snddetectorist.com
CONNECT WITH DETECTING HISTORY YouTube: Detecting History Channel Instagram: @detectinghistorychannel
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps new listeners find the show.
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Metal Detecting in Oxfordshire: Hammered Coins, Roman Finds & Permissions
Monday, April 6, 2026 • Duration 53:08
UK metal detecting podcast. This week Katie is joined by Lewis from lewis_detects on Instagram, an Oxfordshire-based detectorist with seven years of experience finding hammered coins, Roman artefacts and medieval silver across the fields of southern England.
Lewis talks through his best metal detecting finds: a Roman brooch, a cut half Stephen penny, and a 1636 Charles I shilling found at a historical drama film set, found next to an ancient tree on a brilliant signal. He also shares how he runs his Deus metal detector completely screen-free on tones only, and why he always chooses ploughed fields over pasture.
Topics covered include how to get metal detecting permissions from landowners, using LiDAR for research, the PAS database at finds.org, the National Library of Scotland side-by-side maps with GPS, and the pros and cons of club digs versus solo permissions.
Lewis's bucket list: Gold, Roman gold, and a complete Saxon penny.
Katie also announces a giveaway for the 100th episode with prizes from Regton, The Etching Booth, Swing and Dig Detectorist and Composite Cleaning Pencil.
Watch the full interview version of this episode from 6:30pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel | Find Detecting History on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel | Use code DHPodcast at regton.com for 10% off some items.
Hit the follow button to get all the new episodes first!
Watch the video version every Wednesday at 5pm on YouTube at youtube.com/@detectinghistorychannel. Help us reach 500 subscribers for our next big giveaway!
Murray: YouTube at Bearded Bleepers Metal Detecting | beardedbleepers.co.uk
Katie: YouTube at Metal Detecting with Katie UK
Sponsors and partners
Field Finders: 20% off a subscription at fieldfinders.co.uk with code DHFF20
Regton: 10% off selected items at regton.com with code DHPodcast
The Bronze Art Workshop: metal conservation and bronze casting, thebronzeartworkshop.com
Where to find Stamford Bridge 1066 Heritage Society: stamfordbridge1066.org.uk
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other detectorists find the show.
Hit the follow button to get all the new episodes first!
Whether you're interested in metal detecting permissions, detecting research, LiDAR, historical maps, archaeological finds or new technology for detectorists, this episode is packed with ideas and tools to help you get more from your next detecting permission.
FIELD FINDERS
Find your next metal detecting permission and explore powerful research tools including LiDAR, historic maps, recorded finds and AI-powered analysis.
Katie launches a brand-new feature exploring lesser-known people, events and objects from history.
This week's forgotten story is the extraordinary life of Jeffrey Hudson a man born in 1619 who became part of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria, survived pirates, travelled across Europe, became a soldier, fought a duel and eventually spent years enslaved before returning to England.
Murray also launches his first review segment, taking a look at the Composite Cleaning Pencils field cleaning tool and demonstrating how it can be used to clean archaeological finds.
Plus, Murray shares one of his own finds: a James II gun money half crown, made during the Williamite War period.
And, of course, we're asking YOU to get involved.
Have you found an amazing object? A strange object? Something you can't identify? Have you got a great detecting story — or perhaps a spooky one?
Send us your finds, photos, stories and voice notes.
You can send us a voice note, photograph or short video. Mystery objects are particularly welcome we're going to see how good Katie and Murray really are at identifying them!
Whether you're a metal detectorist, bottle digger, fossil hunter, beachcomber, magnet fisher or simply someone who loves uncovering history, we'd love to hear from you.
