| In 1977 a group of metal detecting enthusiasts
got together to organise a club for their hobby and to encourage interest
in Pembrokeshire's history. The first meetings were held at (the old)
Castle Museum in Haverfordwest and, although the venue has changed, meetings
are still held on the first Thursday of the month.
During the first ten years the club had a bottle collecting section. These
were a group of members who researched the locations of old (mostly Victorian)
rubbish dumps and having gained permission, dug out a slice of history,
not , only with old beer and pop bottles from local manufacturers, but
decorative pot lids, clay pipes and other discarded items from a past
age. Sadly as these old tips were covered and in some cases built on,
so the opportunities to recover items dwindled and ceased.
The Pembrokeshire Prospectors are a fixture at many of the local agricultural
and vintage shows and members give their time freely in order to exhibit
their finds to the public at these shows or any other venue offered. This
promotes our hobby and shares our knowledge with the people of Pembrokeshire.
Many of the artefacts or coins discovered have been donated to museums
both local and national. This is in keeping with our aim of promoting
interest in local history and of promoting our hobby. To further these
aims the society has members who are available to give lectures to any
interested group.
Part of the attraction of our hobby is that our finds often contribute
to local historical knowledge and in some cases help to make clear previously
mysterious periods of times. For example, in recent years the Society
has established evidence that the Roman presence in, and influence upon
Pembrokeshire was greater than previously believed. The Society members
have also discovered and recorded a previously unknown medieval fair or
market ground on the site of the new St Davids link road into Haverfordwest.
Most recently a society member recovered the largest Civil War coin hoard
ever found in Wales.
The society's members regularly assist archaeologists on excavations in
and around Pembrokeshire.This exercise has been particularly interesting
as both parties have learnt that we can be of mutual assistance.
Over the years the society's members have removed tonnes of metallic rubbish
from the various places searched. Beaches have been cleaned of the nuisance
ring pulls and the accumulated scrap metals have benefited charitable
organisations.
Lastly the society offers a free service to anyone who has lost something
metallic.This could be a vital piece of farm machinery or a sentimentally
valuable piece of jewellery.
The Pembrokeshire Prospectors Society now meets at The Cricket Club, Dale
Road, Haverfordwest on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30pm.
|
