A METAL detectorist has uncovered a ‘sweetheart pendant’ dating from the First World War.

John Bradbury, 58, who has been a keen detectorist for around 28 years, found the 100-year-old sentimental treasure last Wednesday on farmland close to his home in Brierfield.

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Mr Bradbury said the find was particularly poignant due to 100th anniversary of the war.

He said: “I’d been given permission from the farmer to use my detector and had a really successful day.

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“I found some coins, one of which dated from 1806 and some musket shot but the most interesting was the sweetheart pendant.

“It’s from the First World War and is a Royal Navy one.

“Servicemen would wear them and their loved one would have a slightly different one to give them a bond and something to remember them by.

“The pin was damaged on the pendant.

“I reckon the seaman may have returned to Brierfield on leave or after the war and lost it while out walking.

“It’s one of the best things about my hobby to think that these items had their own story, many, many years ago.”

During the First World War, wives, sisters and girlfriends commonly wore pin-brooches depicting miniature badges of units in which male loved ones were serving.

The expression sweetheart brooch or pendant is commonly used, but it was not only ‘sweethearts’ that wore them. Many of the pieces carry hallmarks that can be traced to a year and 1915 is the most common year for First World War brooches.

They were bought and presented by the serviceman as they left for war.

It is not the first significant find made by Mr Bradbury. In 2011, a gold wedding ring thought to date from the Tudor period was found by him.

The woman’s medieval wedding band, complete with inscription, was dug up in Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire and was worth between £6,000 and £10,000.

Mr Bradbury plans to offer the pendant to Towneley Hall, who have a First World War history room.

Mr Bradbury has offered his services to other land owners who suspect that there are hidden treasures in the earth.

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