Metal Detecting - Tools and Implements

Scythe

This lovely scythe was found in the back garden of the current bungalow at Brachers. It is hard to say how old it is, or indeed why it was left there - either it was left in the garden of the original cottage when it was demolished in the 1920's, or was perhaps left at a later date in the field corner Brachers became between then and 1970. Prior to the advent of horse drawn harvesting and hay cutting, scythes would have been essential items on any property.

Mole Trap

This rather battered mole trap was found a long way from any habitations in a far flung corner of the parish. We wondered why a farmer would bother trying to trap moles in a rough grass ley, but then recalled the days of the 'paid per mole' travelling molecatcher, and it's presence became possibly clearer!

Gin Trap Found in the middle of an arable 'praire' field on the top of Bell Hill, a reminder of game keeping past, the jaws of a gin trap (the spring mechanism is entirely missing, presumably ripped off by a plough). These were used to catch small ground vermin, including stoats, weasels, rats and squirrels, but were not humane, rarely killing the captured animal, and were outlawed long ago. This one was probably set in a hedgerow sometime in the 19th or early twentieth centuries, many of which were subsequently removed to enlarge the field, though it could possibly have been introduced to the field in manure from a farm, were it could have been used to catch rats.

Adze This somewhat rust encrusted object was once a fine adze, but after at least 100 years in a damp woodland floor and then in a spring bed, no longer looks at it's best! - only by handling it can the true form be seen. It measures some 9 inches n length by 4 inches at the widest point of the blade. Adzes were used in the process of converting tree trunks and large boughs, usually oak, into beams, and were used to smooth and shape the wood after the initial rough cutting had been done with an axe. It was found in Hibbets Coppice, an oak standard with hazel coppice of unknown but not inconsiderable age, and may well have been used to shape some of the beams still present in the older houses of the area. Shown beneath it are two heavy pins rusted together that were driven into the wooden handle to expand it and fix it securely into the head socket - amazingly they were still present, as was some wood, preserved by the wet conditions.