‘Exhilarating and mesmerising experience’: Retired Hartlepool nurse finds Bronze Age axe head in Northumberland

Philip Pugh, 60, made the discovery using a metal detector in a field west of Hexham, in Northumberland, on Sunday, November 10, when he visited the area with members of the East Durham Detectors.

Philip took up detecting as a hobby two years ago when he retired as an infection prevention and control nurse consultant.

He said: “It sounds cliché but I was literally the last detectorist on the field and saw the other two detectorists return to their cars.

"So thought I’ll just walk another two to three metres and head back to the van as it was 3.30pm and the weather was turning drizzly, then boom, I hit a signal so clear I knew – or hoped – it was going to be something special.

“The axe head was only about 10 to 15cm deep as the area had been previously ploughed in the last couple of years.

"I dug around the small area carefully and flipped the earth sod over and there was this amazing Bronze Age palstave axe head in beautiful condition smiling up at me, which is around 3,500 years old.

“I was able to identify it immediately and was so excited.

"Once I recorded the find location and took photographs, I headed back to my car and met with the other detectorists to find out that another similar axe head had also been found not 10 or 15 minutes before.”

Philip has contacted the Portable Antiquities Scheme and will be handing the axe head over to the Great North Museum: Hancock, in Newcastle, which he hopes “will be very interested in it for the museum”.

He said: “Two amazing cultural and historical artefacts that define the history and culture of the area so long ago.

“To be the first person to touch an artefact that has not been handled for centuries is an exhilarating and mesmerising experience that is nearly impossible to convey.

“In that unique moment, you serve as a vital connection to our history, and there’s truly nothing else that compares.”