Site Hunting Around the M25 -Surrey Section

Heading west from Merston the motorway carves through more of Surrey’s rural acres, running parallel to and just north of, the North Downs Way for several miles.

- Ted Fletcher

The greatest obstacle detectorists have to face throughout this Surrey stretch is the proliferation of golf courses close to the M25. Nevertheless potential for good finds remains. Worked flint tools have come to light around Reigate Hill, a popular spot for drivers who take motorway breaks via Junction 8 to enjoy views from the North Downs escarpment. Arable fields on the northern side of the motorway, especially around Lower Kingswood have produced some interesting Mesolithic flint tools and weapons including an axe-adze, a pointed handaxe, and various flint blades.

Building stone was quarried from the escarpment over hundreds of years and carried to London by cart, packhorse, or even in shallow-draught vessels on the River Mole. It is worth a search for lost tools and other quarrying relics. Fossils, including ammonites, can also be found.

Occasional finds of 1st-4th century coins, a Roman ring, and other artefacts on patches of arable within half a mile of Reigate Hill confirm Romano-British activities in the area. The site of a Roman villa now lies beneath a wood within the angle formed by Gatton Park Road and Wray Lane. Any nearby arable would be worthy of permission-seeking efforts.

Moving a little westward on the northern flanks of the motorway we reach the shrunken hamlet of Mogador on Banstead Heath. In medieval times this was a major centre in a highly profitable fleece producing region that supplied illustrious customers such as the Pope and many of the crowned heads of Europe with some of the finest wool in Christendom. The ground must now be rich in hammered silver and 12th-15th century artefacts; but unfortunately very little earth feels the bite of a ploughshare nowadays, being given over to a golf course, horse gallops and grass as far as the eye can see. Perhaps farming practises will change in the post-Brexit world in which we have to grow our own food.