Roman coins, jewellery and other items found at racecourse in England

Chelmsford City Racecourse management have asked the local Braintree Metal Detecting Club if they could help them open a new racecourse. This is because one of the last layers of the racecourse was made of local soil and the detectorists were tasked with clearing it of any sharp metal objects that could potentially injure the racehorses.

According to the club's 4th of July Facebook appeal, the invitation to search the racecourse was more than tempting, as a busy Roman road once ran in the immediate vicinity of the track. Although this was actually a safety event at the request of the racecourse management, individual detectorists had to pay for the opportunity to search; £10 for members of the society and £20 for others for the day. Even so, there was considerable interest...

Brian Day - the chairman of the detector club divided the searchers into small teams and they began to systematically search the whole area. Primarily they were to remove nails, wires, sheet metal, pieces of machinery, sharp fragments and other rubbish typical of the usual 'field mix'. Little did it occur to them, however, that in the process they would find a considerable amount of medieval artefacts, as well as Roman coins, jewellery and other objects dating back almost 2,000 years. In addition, they also found hundreds of modern coins from around the world - presumably from international racers and fans of the local racecourse.

Among other things. Editor Julian Evan-Hart of Treasure Hunting magazine took part in the event, searching for and photographing the artefacts himself: "This is an amazing opportunity to help the local community, prevent injury to horses and help the environment, as well as uncovering historically important coins and artefacts. Such community activities are also very important to highlight the benefits of metal detecting, raise awareness of the hobby and attract new enthusiasts," he told BBC Radio.

A "huge number" of potentially harmful objects were eventually recovered from the ground - including such rarities as a computer keyboard. This gave the club an additional 500 hectares of land on which to search. In return, Chelmsford City Racecourse invited everyone involved to the inaugural race, when the track will be officially opened and presented to the public.

Roman Nemec

Sources: southendstandard.co.uk, bbc.com, facebook.com