Pre-order ‘Things We Found In The Ground’
Publishing 9 April 2026
In this guide-that’s-not-a-guide, metal detectorist cousins Ellie and Lucie explore their local landscape, getting to grips with the hobby, history and themselves along the way.
Beginning with their first meeting in over 20 years at their grandfather’s home in Lincolnshire, the two cousins – Eleanor and Lucilla – quickly learn that each has a fascination with unearthing historic artefacts, which will set them off on their metal detecting journey …
Over many weeks and months spent digging countless holes, the pair make startling discoveries: about the objects they find and what they tell us about our ancestors, about themselves and who they are as people, and about the power of community, as they forge connections with local villagers, detectorists and history lovers along the way.
This charming tale of (self-)discovery will capture the hearts and minds of those seeking escapism through the buried history that we walk over every day.
Reviews
'Things We Found in the Ground captures that rush of excitement you only get from a signal beneath the soil. A joyful account of unearthing history, one discovery at a time.' SALLY COULTHARD
‘Enchanting and visceral, this familial and adventurous history takes us along bustling field boundaries, through boggy ditches and out into the wild in search of the past hidden just beneath our feet.’ DR MADELEINE PELLING
‘Brilliantly witty and magnificently down to earth, this glittering gem of a book will have you laughing out loud as it enthrals you with the tantalising history hiding just beneath our feet’ REBECCA STRUTHERS
'An uplifting dive into the world of metal detecting' LARA MAIKLEM