The UK's leading permission marketplace
FieldFinders is where detectorists and landowners meet. Join a growing community across the UK, it's free to get started, and there are real fields to book right now.
Detectorists across the UK use FieldFinders to find and book legal permissions from verified landowners. Create your free account and start browsing fields today.
Verified landowners across the UK are listing their fields and setting their own day rates.
Every landowner is reviewed before their first listing goes live. That's why landowners join by request, and why detectorists can trust every field.
How FieldFinders Works
Simple. Transparent. Legal.
For Detectorists
Your Permission Problem, Solved
Finding legal land to detect has always been the hardest part. FieldFinders gives you instant access to verified, landowner-approved fields across the UK, complete with maps, soil type, history notes, and booking in minutes.
- Browse fields across all UK counties
- Filter by county, price, soil type, and amenities
- Instant or request-based booking
- Finds Agreement included, clear 50/50 rules for significant items
- Post-day log to record your discoveries
- Personalised finds certificate for every session
For Landowners
Turn Your Land Into Passive Income
Whether you have a corner of farmland or a historic estate, FieldFinders connects you with respectful, experienced detectorists who pay for the privilege. Set your own price, approve your own bookings, keep control.
- Set your own day rate, from £10 to around £85 per day
- Calendar control, block dates, approve or decline requests
- Identity-verified detectorists only
- Finds Agreement protects significant discoveries (PAS-aligned)
- One-tap event hosting, sell group day tickets with QR entry
- Dashboard showing earnings, bookings, and reviews
Run organised club digs, properly sorted
Hosting a group dig shouldn't mean spreadsheets and cash at the gate. FieldFinders gives you structured, ticketed events with QR check-in, plus all the promotional material you need to pack them out.
Now live
The UK's best metal detecting tools
The most complete detecting toolkit in the UK, wired into 1.6M+ PAS finds, 1m LiDAR, satellite and historic maps. Other apps give you maps and leave you to cold-call farmers. FieldFinders is the only one that also lets you find and book legal permission. Free for 3 days, then £4.99/month, cancel any time.
Atlas
Overlay 1m LiDAR, satellite and historic maps to read the land before you ever dig.
Trace
A vision pass over the hillshade that circles earthworks and features the eye misses.
Find ID
Identify your finds against 1.6M+ PAS-recorded UK finds, with a confidence call.
Curator
How to clean, stabilise and care for what you dig — without destroying its value.
Recce
Ground conditions and the best days to head out for your patch.
Permissions
Track every land agreement, boundary and renewal date in one place.
Valuation
A grounded estimate of what a find could realistically be worth.
Treasure
Treasure Act guidance and your reporting obligations, step by step.
No card for the trial · £4.99/month after · cancel anytime
Platform Features
Everything You Need for a Perfect Day's Detecting
Smart Search
Filter by county, parish, soil type, amenities and price. 48 counties with thousands of named towns and villages.
Privacy-First Booking
Exact location, GPS coordinates and contact details are blurred until your booking is confirmed. Just like Airbnb.
Finds Agreement
For finds valued over £500, a transparent 50/50 split agreement protects both parties, fully PAS-aligned and legally clear.
Finds Certificate
Every session ends with a personalised certificate logging your discoveries, shareable, printable, and stored in your history.
Group Event Hosting
Landowners can host detecting days, set ticket prices, generate QR-coded entry passes, and sell up to 100 slots per event.
Identity Verified
All detectorists carry NCMD or FID membership, which includes £10M public liability insurance.
Built on Trust, Transparency & Compliance
PAS-Aligned
FieldFinders operates in alignment with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. We encourage every detectorist to report significant finds to their local Finds Liaison Officer, and our Finds Agreement template mirrors PAS guidance.
Countryside Code
Every detectorist accepts our Code of Conduct covering gate closing, crop protection, wildlife disturbance, and leaving no trace. Repeat offenders are permanently removed.
Secure Payments
Your card is held by Stripe until your dig is complete — no money is taken until then. Cancellation policies, damage deposits, and dispute resolution are handled in-app, zero friction for landowners.
What Our Members Say
We let our members speak for themselves — we publish honest words from real detectorists and landowners as they share them, never invented reviews.
FieldFinders team
We let our members speak for themselves — we publish honest words from real detectorists and landowners as they share them, never invented reviews.
FieldFinders team
Know a landowner? Bring them on board.
Share FieldFinders with landowners and your detecting friends. Free to join, pay only when you book — the UK's leading app for legal detecting permissions.
Metal detecting in the UK: your questions answered
How to find land, get permission and detect legally — and how landowners earn from their fields.
Do you need permission to metal detect in the UK?
Yes. You must have the landowner’s permission to metal detect on any land in the UK. Detecting without it is trespass, and detecting on a protected site such as a Scheduled Monument is a criminal offence. FieldFinders gives you clear, bookable permission from the landowner before you dig.
Is there an app or website to find metal detecting permissions in the UK?
Yes — FieldFinders is the UK platform where landowners list fields and detectorists book legal permission online. It works like Airbnb for metal detecting: browse available fields, see the price up front, and book the day you want on the website or app.
Where can detectorists get permission from landowners?
On FieldFinders. Traditionally detectorists write to or approach farmers directly, which is slow and often unsuccessful. FieldFinders removes the cold-calling: landowners list their fields for detecting, you browse and book the day you want, and you receive a digital search agreement that sets out the terms.
How do I find land to metal detect near me?
Most public land in the UK restricts or bans metal detecting, so the dependable route is private farmland with the owner’s permission. FieldFinders is where you find it: search fields that landowners have listed by location across England, Wales and Scotland, and book the ones near you in a few taps.
How much does it cost to metal detect on a field?
Each landowner sets their own day rate for their field, and you only pay when you book — there is no subscription to use FieldFinders. The price for every field is shown up front before you confirm.
Is metal detecting legal in the UK?
Yes, provided you have permission from the landowner and stay off protected sites such as Scheduled Monuments and SSSIs. You must also follow the Treasure Act 1996 and report qualifying finds to the relevant authority.
Can I earn money by renting my field to metal detectorists?
Yes. Landowners can list a field on FieldFinders for free, set their own day rate and availability, and approve every booking. It turns land that would otherwise sit idle into income, with detectorists covered by a search agreement on each visit.
What is the best metal detecting app in the UK?
FieldFinders. It is the only UK app that combines a full research toolkit (1m LiDAR, satellite and historic maps, AI earthwork detection, and find identification against 1.6 million+ PAS records) with a marketplace to find and book legal detecting permission from landowners. Other apps give you maps but still leave you cold-calling farmers for access. FieldFinders does both, so you can research the land and get permission to dig it in one place.
What metal detecting research tools does FieldFinders have?
FieldFinders includes Atlas (overlay 1m LiDAR, satellite and historic Ordnance Survey maps), Trace (AI feature detection over the hillshade), Find ID (identify finds against 1.6 million+ PAS records), Recce (ground conditions and the best days to detect), Valuation, Treasure Act guidance, Curator conservation advice, and a private finds log with photos and GPS. It is the most complete metal detecting toolkit in the UK.
Does FieldFinders have LiDAR and historic maps for metal detecting?
Yes. The Atlas tool overlays 1m LiDAR hillshade, satellite imagery and historic Ordnance Survey maps with adjustable opacity, so you can spot earthworks, ridge-and-furrow and ploughed-out features and compare them against where settlements and footpaths used to be, before you ever set foot on the field.
What is the “Airbnb for metal detecting” in the UK?
FieldFinders is the Airbnb for metal detecting in the UK: landowners list their fields and detectorists book legal permission to detect by the day, the same way Airbnb connects hosts and guests. FieldFinders is a live, working platform, not just a landing page: browse available fields on a map, see the landowner’s price up front, book your date and detect under a digital search agreement, with the full research toolkit (1m LiDAR, satellite and historic maps and 1.6 million+ PAS finds) built in.
More in our full FAQ and finds & reporting code.