Visiting The FLO In Bury St Edmunds

I went to see Andrew, the local FLO (finds liaison officer) at the archaeology office in Bury St Edmunds yesterday. I took him all the recent finds that I've been blogging about for recording on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. I used to record my own finds in Lancashire but the Suffolk unit insists on doing it for us which, though understandable (we aren't as knowledgeable and can make mistakes), does involve a couple of hours drive and a wait of six months before getting the finds back which must discourage some detector users from bothering to record.

Being retired, the trip to Bury is not too onerous and Andrew confirmed my identification of around sixty items and took them for recording. There were three bits that I hadn't been sure of and he identified these for me. 

This is medieval and probably a casket fitting

I suggested a medieval vessel handle - it's a medieval vessel leg

I wondered if this could be a Roman coin but it's a post medieval medallion

So, with only three uncertain identifications out of sixty plus items I could have saved the FLO a lot of work.

To make sure that it wasn't a wasted journey to Bury, Marion joined me and we had a good couple of hours looking around the town. We've been before but not for long - it really is a great place to visit with amazing Cathedral and Abbey grounds, plenty of shops and a great selection of places to eat and drink.

We had a coffee and sandwich at an old fashioned cafe with this view of the ancient church buildings and, after a good look around the old and new shopping areas, we went for a refreshing cold drink at the beautiful Angel Hotel.

We'll have to go for another visit when I've had a few more trips out with the detector.