Farmer was sceptical over Hoard find
The farmer who owns the land where the famous Staffordshire Hoard was discovered today confessed to being sceptical when he heard of the initial discovery.
The farmer who owns the land where the famous Staffordshire Hoard was discovered today confessed to being sceptical when he heard of the initial discovery.
Fred Johnson tried to persuade 55-year-old metal detecting enthusiast Terry Herbert, from Burntwood, not to bother looking in his field - but he now stands to become a millionaire after the discovery.
Once the value of the hoard has been determined both men will split the proceeds equally.
The 1,500 piece of gold and silver was the UK's largest-ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure and could re-write the county's history after examples of the Staffordshire knot were found on the treasure hundreds of years before it was thought to have been first used.
The hoard is now being valued by the British Museum and will be on display in London after being showcased in Birmingham where tens of thousands of people queued to see the treasure.
Mr Johnson, 65, who hopes the hoard will stay local, said: "I did tell him (Terry Herbert) there was not much point as someone else had been over the field before."
Mr Herbert persisted and Mr Johnson recalled the moment he learned of the find: "He came in very excited and said I have found a Saxon hoard. It's better than winning the lottery. I told him not to be so bloody daft."
It was not until archaeologists visited the site that he began to realise the scale of the discovery.
"They asked to put a cabin in the field and a security guard overnight. It was then I started to realise he really had found something.
"I went to have a look and I could see they were bringing up some really fantastic stuff, really incredible workmanship.
"I don't think I was so much excited as in awe of it."
He added: "There are plenty of film stars and sportsmen who earn mega money and have frittered it away and ended up bankrupt. Some have even taken their own lives. I do not intend to go down that path."
Asked where the Hoard should be displayed after its future is decided, Mr Johnson added: "I think it should stay locally if possible."
Mr Johnson, who bought the field to expand his family farm said the discovery was "pot luck" and possibly due to the way he used to plough his field.
"My father was always telling me you are ploughing too deep, I went deeper and deeper and brought it up. Some of it was lying on top," he said.
