| Environmental Stewardship (ES) |
Environmental Stewardship is a new agri-environment scheme which provides funding to farmers and other land managers in England who deliver effective environmental management on their land.
The scheme is intended to build on the recognised success of the Environmental Sensitive Areas scheme and the countryside Stewardship Scheme which farmers can no longer apply for. Its main objectives are to:
- Conserve wildlife (biodiversity)
- Maintain and enhance landscape quality and character
- Protect the historic environment and natural resources
- Promote public access and understanding of the countryside
| There are three schemes as follows: |
- Entry Level Stewardship (ELS)
- Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS)
Higher Level Stewardship (HLS)
| How does these schemes affect detecting? |
For all Schemes:
- Scheduled Monuments: (SM’s)
A licence is required from English Heritage before metal detecting can take place.- Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
You are required to give written notice to English Nature of these operations and can only proceed once you have received written consent.
It is not likely that artefact scatters alone will be used to define a Known Archaeological Site
It is worth remembering that certain areas of any scheme farms may only be out of bounds at certain times of the year, i.e. nesting times for birds or a growing season for some types of flora etc.
Each agreement/farm will have a map showing environmental features on the holding, called a Farm Environment Record (FER) for ELS and a Farm Environment Plan (FEP) for HLS. These will show all sorts as it is necessary for the agreement holder to consult with various bodies who hold ecology and landscape records as well as the HER, so a map could have SSSIs. local wildlife sites, ponds, ancient trees, hedges and wall in various conditions, farm buildings and known archaeological sites. The location of archaeological sites will be supplied by the local Historic Environment Record for the county in which the farm is located. One of the schemes aims is to protect known archaeological sites so the problem may come in defining protection – if sites have been deep ploughed for years then the HER may not have this information, which you could supply after discussions with the farmer.
- It has not been made mandatory to record your finds on any scheme farms except on areas set out in the Farm Environment Record (for ELS) or the Farm Environment Plan (for HLS) which the farmer/landowner will posess.
- You may detect on scheme farms without prior permission from DEFRA except over the areas of Known Archaeological Sites (which will include SMs).
If you want to detect on a Known Archaeological Site (which is one marked on the FER or FEP) then you (technically the farmer but you could apply on his behalf) need permission from DEFRA.
This permission will have strings attached in terms of mandatory recording and reporting of your finds to either the PAS or the HER. This is because ‘damage’ to the archaeology of the site can include the unrecorded removal of finds from the ploughsoil over the site.
The permission will also be time bound – for example a year – and you will need to re-apply after that date for further permission to detect.
A written outline or plan of the method of detecting and recording will be required by the Historic Environment Advisor to assess the application. This could be as simple as ‘Random searching with a metal detector’ which may be adequate for small sites, through to a very detailed gridded search. If you want to detect on a known site talk to the farmer, the FLO and the Historic Environment Advisor from Defra and you should be able to come up with an acceptable scheme of recording for the site if it can be shown that it has been ploughed in the past.
The final say on granting permission will lie with the Historic Environment Advisor, who will take into account the HERs recommendations. The central guidance will be passed to the HEAs and from them to the project officers delivering the schemes on the ground.
You are not able to detect in these areas until you have written permission and guidance/conditions from DEFRA.
DEFRA website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/es/default.htm