The Metal Detectorists

Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray in conversation with Gabby Richardson Metal detecting is having a moment — and cousins Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray are helping lead a new generation into the fields. With more than 100,000 Instagram followers, they’ve built a huge online audience around the addictive thrill of finding the unexpected: ancient coins, mysterious objects and fragments of everyday life that have been hidden beneath our feet for centuries. Their book, Things We Found in the Ground: A Metal-Detecting Journey Through Britain, is part archaeology, part adventure and part celebration of the wonderfully obsessive world of detectorists. It follows their searches across Britain, the people they meet along the way and the stories behind the things they uncover — from seemingly ordinary finds to objects that offer a tantalising connection with the past. Eleanor and Lucilla will be joined by Gabby, a young local bookseller and history graduate with a passion for archaeology and all things detectorist, for a lively conversation about treasure hunting, social media, history and why a new generation is becoming hooked on what lies beneath. Perfect for fans of archaeology, hidden histories, unexpected discoveries — and, of course, Detectorists. You may never walk across a field in quite the same way again.