A police hunt has begun for illegal metal detectors who dug up the ground at a medieval abbey in the Cotswolds in search of precious artefacts.
The detectorists dug up the ground at Hailes Abbey, near the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, on August 20 or 21 in an attempt to nab treasures buried there.
The ruined 13th-century Cistercian abbey just north of Cheltenham is a scheduled monument, protecting it from any redevelopment as a site of national importance.
The monastery, owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage, was one of medieval England’s foremost shrines and pilgrimage sites.
The faithful would flock to see a relic – a supposed phial of Christ’s blood – on display at the site, which was founded in 1246 and home to a small number of monks.
But it was denounced as a fake during the Reformation in the 1530s, when Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church to establish the Church of England.
The abbey itself was also closed, plundered and let in ruins during this period, as part of the then-monarch’s dissolution of the monasteries.
History now appears to be repeating itself, with the attack of the so-called nighthawkers, who used a spade to dig eight holes in the building’s grounds.
The detectorists dug up the ground at Hailes Abbey (pictured, file photo), near the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, on August 20 or 21 in an attempt to nab treasures buried there
The abbey was closed, plundered and let in ruins during the Reformation in the 1530s, as part of Henry VIII’s (pictured) dissolution of the monasteries
History now appears to be repeating itself, with the attack of the so-called nighthawkers, who used a spade to dig eight holes in the building’s grounds. Pictured: File photo
Gloucestershire Police has launched an investigation and are asking anyone with information on those responsible to get in touch with them.
Nighthawking refers to the illegal searching for and removal of artefacts using metal detectors from a site by people who do not have permission to be there.
Hailes Abbey, on the Schedule of Monuments list, is protected by law and the state, with consent needed to make any changes to it.
It means the metal detectors who attacked the building – which was also namechecked in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – have done so illegally.
Such attempted thieves often go on to sell their ill-gotten gains on the black market in an attempt to get rich quick.
Catherine Lange, spokesperson for the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD), has previously said: ‘We want it called what it is, which is theft.’
Any romanticism around the word ‘nighthawking’ – named for a bird, which, like archaeological thieves often do, works at night – is dangerous, she warned.
It risks the crime not being taken seriously – and tarnishing the reputation of more upstanding metal detecting enthusiasts.
The ruined 13th-century Cistercian abbey (pictured, file photo) just north of Cheltenham is a scheduled monument, protecting it from any redevelopment as a site of national importance
The monastery, owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage, was one of medieval England’s foremost shrines and pilgrimage sites
Mark Harrison, head of heritage crime at Historic England, has also previously said nighthawkers were ‘stealing from all of us and damaging something which is often irreplaceable’.
And The Archaeology and Metal Detecting Magazine warned in 2021 nighthawking was becoming an ‘epidemic’ in the UK.
People can contact Gloucestershire Police with information about the Hailes Abbey attack by completing the force’s online form and quoting incident 386 of August 22.
Officers from the county’s force also have a dedicated Heritage Watch Scheme to protect the many historical sites, monuments, buildings and artefacts in the area.
Anyone nationwide aware of any crime committed which affects a heritage site can report it to police by calling 101 and saying the phrase ‘Operation Minster’.