A RARE Age Bronze Age spearhead has brought an intriguing new dimension to local historical finds.

And the remarkable discovery by ace time team hunter Paul Gardner is being feted by a top museum as the only one of its kind found in the Oldham area.

He made his amazing discovery at a secret location on a farm in the Royton area where he has been quietly refining his metal detecting skills over the last two years.

Mr Gardner, aged 52, who lives in Chadderton, is a health safety quality technician with Tygavac, a company which manufactures advanced composite parts for the aerospace and motor racing industry.

Explaining how he uncovered the piece of Bronze Age history, he said: “ I had been out all day at the farm exploring and I was just about to leave as I was freezing cold and caked in mud.

“I always detect on the way back to exit the field and then suddenly I got a great signal. I dug no more than five inches into the soil and there it was.

“Time seemed to standstill...I thought: is that really a spearhead? I discounted the thought at first and when I showed it to the farmer he said he thought it could be a posh metal fence topper.

“Initially, I agreed because it seemed such an unlikely place to find anything that old.

“But when I got it home, I cleaned it gently and the excitement was building...It was too big to be a fence topper and too heavy. It was also hollow at the base.”

Mr Gardner accessed the Portable Antiquities website and discovered a similar listing of a spearhead to his actual find.

“It had exactly the same dimensions 17cm long with barbs on the bottom of the shaft,” he added.

And he took the spearhead along with some of his other discoveries to Ben Jones the finds liaison officer (Portable Antique Scheme) Museum of Liverpool National Museums, for further examination.

Mr Jones confirming the find, said: “It is copper alloy spearhead, is cast and probably dates from the Taunton Phase, between 1400-1250 BC, of the Bronze Age.

“It is one of only three Bronze Age objects recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme’s database (www.finds.org.uk) from the area immediately north of Manchester, and the only one in the Oldham area.”

He went on: “The object does not come under the 1996 Treasure act as it is not composed of more than 10 per cent gold or silver, nor was it part of a copper-alloy hoard. It has been returned to the finder.

“We cannot give monetary values for objects, and as we are not involved in the sale of artefacts, we do not know their market values - should they even have a market value.

“With so few reported Bronze Age objects from the area it can be difficult to ascertain a purpose for its deposition, and we would urge any other detectorists or members of the public who find materials to report them to the Portable Antiquities Scheme for recording.

“Every point on the map offers more clues, an they may just help us understand the context of this - and other - objects a bit better,” he added.

Mr Gardner added: “When I shared this information with the farmer he was absolutely gobsmacked.

“ I’ve found all manner of things at this particular site from ancient coins to musket balls. I have no idea of the spearhead’s value and I wouldn’t sell it anyway because, as piece of history, it’s priceless.”

To view the record for Mr Gardner’s spearhead visit: www.finds.org.uk and make a search using its unique number: LVPL-098FD1.