Kislingbury metal detectorist looks back at decades of finds

Mr Derby’s next massive discovery came when the same landowner offered him another field to survey.

“I went to this nice flat field and about 10 yards (9m) away from the hedge at the top, I got this fantastic signal,” he says.

“And out came a lady’s Saxon brooch, so I kept scratching around and I found a piece of metal which I thought could be part of a sword.

“I rang my son and said, ‘You need to come – I’ve found a sword and there’s a hand on the end of it!'”

By the time his son, Peter, turned up, the police had arrived to check the human remains were not the result of a recent murder.

The discovery in 2003 became known as the Anglo-Saxon warrior.

Further excavations in the area unearthed five more graves and then few years later, about 23 sets of remains were discovered.