Long straight furrows of brown earth running to a line of trees under a blue sky — A ploughed field beside the Sandlings Walk at Friston, Suffolk, April 2021. Photo by Christopher Hilton. Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0

Detectorists

A balding man in a dark velvet jacket, hands clasped, smiling at an evening event — Toby Jones at the BFI London Film Festival on 12 October 2022, the year of the Christmas special. Photo by Ralph_PH. Ralph_PH · CC BY 2.0

A thin man with long tousled hair and a moustache in a dark suit and tie, smiling — Mackenzie Crook at Series Mania, Lille, in March 2026, nine years after series three. Photo by Elyot Boudart. Elyot Boudart · CC BY-SA 4.0

A ploughed Suffolk field, walked in lines. The title is still in the ground. Sweep

The Danebury Metal Detecting Club · a permission on a Suffolk farm

Sweep.

The series is about two men walking a field in lines and listening. Take the coil. Walk the furrows, listen as the tone rises, and dig. Most of what is down there is a finds bag tagged with a real place the series was filmed. Some of it is rubbish.

Signal

—

Bags 0 of 7

Not a sound yet. Walk the coil along the furrows and listen.

Where we read it

Andy and Lance are members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club; Danebury is a fictional town in north Essex.
Wikipedia: Detectorists
Which scene was filmed where.
Screen Suffolk: Suffolk hopes Detectorists might consider a fourth series after all (9 November 2017)Screen Suffolk: BBC’s The Detectorists returns to Suffolk for Christmas special (11 December 2022)Wikipedia: Detectorists We Are Creative: what locations were used in BBC Four sitcom Detectorists?

Series three

Look up.

Hours of walking, a tone, a dig, a ring pull. The ground has been searched furrow by furrow.

A black and white magpie with a long tail on patchy grass — A magpie on rough grass, February 2021. Photo by David Dixon. David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0

Where we read it

In series three, coins fall from a magpie’s nest.
Wikipedia: Detectorists
In series two, Lance finds a Saxon aestel, later shown at the British Museum.
Wikipedia: Detectorists

Framlingham · Suffolk, playing north Essex

Danebury.

The series is set in Danebury, a small town in Essex. Its streets were filmed in Framlingham, a Suffolk market town under a castle. The club’s pub, the Two Brewers, is two pubs: the Castle Inn outside, Great Glemham’s Crown inside.

Where we read it

Danebury is fictional and set in north Essex; Framlingham was the main location; Great Glemham supplied pub interiors.
Wikipedia: Detectorists
Danebury was filmed in Framlingham; the Castle Inn plays the Two Brewers outside.
Screen Suffolk: BBC’s The Detectorists returns to Suffolk for Christmas special (11 December 2022)Screen Suffolk: Suffolk hopes Detectorists might consider a fourth series after all (9 November 2017)

1 · the pub

A small brick pub with a pitched tiled roof, picnic tables and a Union flag outside — The Castle Inn at the gate of Framlingham Castle, July 2024. Photo by Matt Brown. Matt Brown · CC BY 2.0

Castle Street, Framlingham, Suffolk

The Castle Inn

The Castle Inn plays the outside of the Two Brewers, the detectorists’ pub.

In the 2022 Christmas special, Lance and Andy chase a skip that drives off down the road just outside the Castle.

It stands at the entrance to Framlingham Castle.

A working pub at the castle gate, serving Adnams ale and Aspall cider; children and dogs welcome.

Where we read it

The Crown

The Crown, Framlingham

Framlingham · Prices shown for your dates on the hotel’s booking page

A sixteenth-century coaching inn on Market Hill in Framlingham: beams, wonky walls and squeaky floors, with executive rooms looking over the square.

See the rooms

2 · the castle

Flint curtain walls and towers around a long brick building with tall chimneys — Framlingham Castle from its wall walk, May 2021. Photo by Balon Greyjoy. Balon Greyjoy · CC BY-SA 4.0

Framlingham, Suffolk

Framlingham Castle

The castle and the streets around it appear throughout the series, which made Framlingham its fictional Danebury.

The wall-top walk goes round the castle’s defences, with views over the town.

English Heritage, open daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm. Some of the wall walk is closed for repairs this autumn. The Detectorists walking tour starts here.

Where we read it

Brit Movie Tours

Detectorists tour of filming locations

Framlingham · Public walks Saturdays and bank-holiday Mondays at 1.30pm, March to October: adults £25, children £20 · private walks all year

A two-hour, two-mile guided walk round Framlingham, from the castle past the Two Brewers, the scout hall, Church Street and the college to the market.

Book a walk

3 · the college

A large Victorian red-brick school building on a rise above green fields — Framlingham College from the town, May 2020. Photo by Chris Holifield. Chris Holifield · CC BY-SA 2.0

College Road, Framlingham, Suffolk

Framlingham College

The college’s outside plays the setting for Andy’s interview scenes.

The college and the area around it were filmed during the series-three shoot in Framlingham.

A working school. See it from College Road or across the Mere.

Where we read it

4 · Andy’s street

A narrow street of painted terraced houses with cars parked along one side — Double Street, Framlingham, September 2015: the street, not the flat. Photo by David Kemp. David Kemp · CC BY-SA 2.0

Double Street, Framlingham, Suffolk

Andy’s flat, Double Street

A flat on Double Street was used as Andy’s home in series three.

A private flat on a residential street. Walk the street; the flat is not identified here.

Where we read it

5 · the old White Horse

A wet road opening into a small square of brick buildings, with thawing snow — Well Close Square, Framlingham, in December 2009: the square, not the former pub. Photo by Alan Murray-Rust. Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0

Well Close Square, Framlingham, Suffolk

The White Horse

The White Horse was used for evening scenes. One big outdoor scene was shot at 9pm, with every room lit so the pub looked busy.

The pub closed in July 2014, was sold early in 2016 and has since been turned into a home.

No longer a pub: it is a private house. The square is public; the building is not.

Where we read it

Great Glemham · Saxmundham · Butley · Rendlesham · Orford

The lanes.

Out of town the series keeps to single-track roads and quiet stations: a yellow Triumph TR7 overtaking a Vespa by an old watermill, weedkiller along a verge, a hedgehog on the road into a former American airbase.

East of town
The Crown at Great Glemham on a wet December afternoon, 2017. Photo by Christopher Hilton. Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0
Great Glemham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk
The Crown, Great Glemham
Great Glemham was used for the pub interiors.
The Crown at Great Glemham is one of the places to look out for in the series.
The village was used again for the 2022 Christmas special.
A village pub; check its days before you go.
Where we read it
The station
Saxmundham station, July 2016. Photo by Robert Eva. Robert Eva · CC BY-SA 2.0
Station Approach, Saxmundham, Suffolk
Saxmundham station
In series three a character is collected from the train here; the car waited in the old police station car park on Station Approach.
The station was used again for the 2022 Christmas special.
It opened in 1859 on what is now the East Suffolk Line.
A working station on the East Suffolk Line, with about one train an hour each way between Ipswich and Lowestoft.
Where we read it
Towards the coast
Mill Lane passing Butley Mill, June 2013. Photo by Stuart Logan. Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mill Lane, Butley, Suffolk
Mill Lane and Butley Mills
Lance’s yellow 1970s Triumph TR7 follows Andy’s Vespa scooter along Mill Lane.
The TR7 overtakes the scooter beside the Butley Mills studios.
A watermill here is shown on maps from about 1600; a miller is recorded at Butley in the seventeenth century, in 1844 and in 1912.
A quiet public lane at the head of Butley Creek. The mill buildings are private; see them from the lane.
Where we read it
Rendlesham
A ploughed field at Rendlesham, near Redwald Road, April 2015. Photo by Adrian S Pye. Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0
Rendlesham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk
Redwald Road
A character sprays weedkiller along the roadside path on Redwald Road.
Rendlesham was a royal centre of the kings of the East Angles; its closeness to the Sutton Hoo ship burial may point to a link with the same royal house.
A public road through Rendlesham village. The photograph shows a field nearby.
Where we read it
The old airbase
The entrance road to the former RAF Bentwaters, now Bentwaters Parks, April 2015. Photo by Adrian S Pye. Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0
Rendlesham, Suffolk
Bentwaters Parks
Andy finds a hedgehog on the Bentwaters Parks entrance road.
This was a United States Air Force base from 1951 until 1993. It is now Bentwaters Parks, used for offices, warehouses and film and television production.
A working site of offices and warehouses on a former airbase.
Where we read it
By the river
Orford Church of England Primary School, July 2022. Photo by Mel Towler. Mel Towler · CC BY-SA 2.0
School Lane, Orford, Suffolk
Orford Primary School
Orford Primary School plays Becky’s school.
The King’s Head in Orford is another place to look out for in the series.
Orford Castle was built for Henry II between 1165 and 1173.
A working village school; see it from School Lane. The quay on the River Ore is a short walk away.
Where we read it

Real finds · recorded by Suffolk County Council

Is it Treasure?

In England, Treasure is a legal word. Objects over 300 years old that are at least a tenth gold or silver, groups of old coins and prehistoric metal finds must be reported to the coroner within 14 days. Here are six real finds from Suffolk. Which ones count?

A gold finger ring of the twelfth century, its stone lost; recorded by Suffolk County Council’s finds team. Photo by Justine Biddle. Suffolk County Council (Justine Biddle) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Twelfth century
Gold finger ring
A silver penny of Beonna, king in East Anglia, about AD 749 to 760; recorded in Suffolk. Photo by Riccardo Caravello. Suffolk County Council (Riccardo Caravello) · CC BY 2.0
About AD 749–760
Silver penny of Beonna
A Middle Bronze Age gold ring of three joined rods, about 1500 to 1100 BC; recorded in Suffolk. Photo by Faye Minter. Suffolk County Council (Faye Minter) · CC BY-SA 2.0
About 1500–1100 BC
Bronze Age gold ring
An Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy cruciform brooch, AD 480 to 550, missing its pin and foot; recorded in Suffolk. Photo by Andrew Brown. Suffolk County Council (Andrew Brown) · CC BY 2.0
AD 480–550
Anglo-Saxon brooch
A lead Boy Bishop token, about 1470 to 1539; recorded in Suffolk. Photo by Andrew Brown. Suffolk County Council (Andrew Brown) · CC BY-SA 2.0
About 1470–1539
Boy Bishop token
Iron Age coins from one find of 24 in gold, silver and bronze, about 50 BC to AD 43; recorded in Suffolk. Photo by Jude Plouviez. Suffolk County Council (Jude Plouviez) · CC BY-SA 2.0
About 50 BC–AD 43
Iron Age coins

No answers yet.

Where we read it

What counts as Treasure, and the duty to report within 14 days.
Suffolk Heritage Explorer: Treasure, identifying and reporting
Each find as described by Suffolk’s finds recorders.
Commons file description: Gold finger ring (FindID 465325), Suffolk County Council Commons file description: silver penny of Beonna (FindID 892471), Suffolk County Council Commons file description: Bronze Age gold ring (FindID 584683), Suffolk County Council Commons file description: Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooch (FindID 707051), Suffolk County Council Commons file description: Lead Boy Bishop token (FindID 516885), Suffolk County Council Commons file description: 8 Iron Age coins (FindID 220360), Suffolk County Council

Where finds are taken

A tall medieval stone gateway with a pointed arch — The Abbey Gate, Bury St Edmunds, February 2023: the town, not the office. Photo by Michael Garlick. Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

The archaeology office, Bury St Edmunds

For one day of the Christmas special, Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service’s offices became the Portable Antiquities office where Andy takes a find, dressed with new posters.

Working council offices with no public counter; the address is not published. The photograph shows the town’s Abbey Gate.

Where we read it

A low grassy mound on open heath under a pale sky — The ship-burial mound at Sutton Hoo, March 2024. Photo by Trevor Harris. Trevor Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0

Aldham · Ipswich · Sutton Hoo

Further afield.

In series one Andy is sure a royal Saxon ship burial lies under a nearby farm. In Suffolk, one did: at Sutton Hoo, dug in 1939. It is not a filming place; it is the reason the dream makes sense.

Tranmer House, near Woodbridge, Suffolk

Sutton Hoo

Not a filming place. In series one Andy is sure a royal Saxon ship burial lies on a nearby farm; Sutton Hoo is where the real one was found.

The ship burial dates from the early seventh century. Rædwald, king of East Anglia, is the most widely favoured candidate for the man buried there.

Basil Brown began digging Mound 1 in May 1939 for the landowner, Edith Pretty. Most of the finds are in the British Museum.

National Trust. Exhibition hall 10.30am to 4.30pm; adults £18, children £9; members free.

Where we read it

A small church with a round flint tower among trees above a green meadow — St Mary’s, Aldham, with its round tower, May 2007. Photo by Bob Jones. Bob Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0

Church Lane, Aldham, near Hadleigh, Suffolk

St Mary’s, Aldham

The church appears in the second series.

It is one of 38 surviving round-tower churches in Suffolk.

A parish church in fields west of Ipswich. Respect services and the churchyard.

Where we read it

A long modern office block of glass and pale panels — Endeavour House, Suffolk County Council’s offices on Russell Road, Ipswich, September 2018. Photo by Stuart Shepherd. Stuart Shepherd · CC BY-SA 2.0

Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk

Endeavour House

The council’s glass offices played the London headquarters of a city firm in series three; about 23 cast and crew filmed there for five hours.

A London skyline was added to the scene digitally.

Suffolk County Council’s working offices. See them from Russell Road.

Where we read it

The people

Who made it.

Mackenzie Crook at Series Mania, Lille, in March 2026, nine years after series three. Photo by Elyot Boudart. Elyot Boudart · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mackenzie CrookAndy Stone · writer and director · shown 2026
Toby Jones at the BFI London Film Festival on 12 October 2022, the year of the Christmas special. Photo by Ralph_PH. Ralph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Toby JonesLance Stater · shown 2022

Mackenzie Crook created, wrote and directed the series and played Andy, an agency worker who trains as an archaeologist. Toby Jones played Lance, a forklift driver and amateur musician. Rachael Stirling was Becky and Diana Rigg, her mother in life, was Becky’s mother Veronica. Johnny Flynn wrote the theme. We could find no free photograph of Crook or Jones from the years of the three series, so they are shown later, with the year.

Series oneBBC Four · 2 October to 6 November 2014
Series twoBBC Four · 29 October to 3 December 2015
Christmas specialBBC Four · 23 December 2015
Series threeBBC Four · 8 November to 13 December 2017
Christmas specialBBC Two · 26 December 2022

It won the BAFTA for scripted comedy in 2015, and Toby Jones won the BAFTA for male comedy performance in 2018.

The rival club is called

Antiquisearchers

Where we read it

Creator, cast and roles; Rigg and Stirling as mother and daughter; Johnny Flynn’s theme; broadcast dates; awards; the rival club’s four names.
Wikipedia: Detectorists

The whole permission.

Where it is now

12 places you can visit, from Framlingham out to the coast at Orford. Andy’s flat and the old White Horse are private homes and the Bury office has no public address, so they are named but not pinned. The college, Orford’s school, Bentwaters and Endeavour House are working sites: see them from outside.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working pub at the castle gate, serving Adnams ale and Aspall cider; children and dogs welcome.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. English Heritage, open daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm. Some of the wall walk is closed for repairs this autumn. The Detectorists walking tour starts here.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working school. See it from College Road or across the Mere.

The Castle Inn at the gate of Framlingham Castle, July 2024. Photo by Matt Brown. Matt Brown · CC BY 2.0
Castle Street, Framlingham, Suffolk
The Castle Inn
The Castle Inn plays the outside of the Two Brewers, the detectorists’ pub.
A working pub at the castle gate, serving Adnams ale and Aspall cider; children and dogs welcome.
Where we read it
Framlingham Castle from its wall walk, May 2021. Photo by Balon Greyjoy. Balon Greyjoy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Framlingham, Suffolk
Framlingham Castle
The castle and the streets around it appear throughout the series, which made Framlingham its fictional Danebury.
English Heritage, open daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm. Some of the wall walk is closed for repairs this autumn. The Detectorists walking tour starts here.
Where we read it
Framlingham College from the town, May 2020. Photo by Chris Holifield. Chris Holifield · CC BY-SA 2.0
College Road, Framlingham, Suffolk
Framlingham College
The college’s outside plays the setting for Andy’s interview scenes.
A working school. See it from College Road or across the Mere.
Where we read it

Stay

On Market Hill.

A sixteenth-century coaching inn in the middle of Danebury.

The Crown

The Crown, Framlingham

Framlingham · Prices shown for your dates on the hotel’s booking page

A sixteenth-century coaching inn on Market Hill in Framlingham: beams, wonky walls and squeaky floors, with executive rooms looking over the square.

See the rooms

Go there

Walk it, then wander.

The Framlingham walking tour of the filming places, and tours of the Suffolk coast and Bury St Edmunds from the marketplace.

Brit Movie Tours

Detectorists tour of filming locations

Framlingham · Public walks Saturdays and bank-holiday Mondays at 1.30pm, March to October: adults £25, children £20 · private walks all year

A two-hour, two-mile guided walk round Framlingham, from the castle past the Two Brewers, the scout hall, Church Street and the college to the market.

Book a walk

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Tours on the Suffolk coast

Suffolk

Live marketplace results for tours on the Suffolk coast and heaths. None is about the series.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Tours around Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds

Live marketplace results for tours in and around Bury St Edmunds. None is about the series.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

This autumn.

The Dig exhibition at Sutton Hoo, and half-term at Framlingham Castle.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

The theme, and a book.

Johnny Flynn’s theme on seven-inch, and a book about the people who detect.

eBay · Ad / affiliate

Detectorists

Johnny Flynn · 7-inch single, 2015

Johnny Flynn’s theme for the series, on a seven-inch single.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Accidental Detectorist: Uncovering an Underground Obsession

Nigel Richardson

A 2022 book about metal detecting and the people who are hooked on it.

Find the book

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The register

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

Search all places and Moments Current state Sort

15 of 15 places · 16 of 16 Moments

The Castle Inn
Castle Street, Framlingham, Suffolk
- The Two Brewers
  The Castle Inn plays the outside of the Two Brewers.
- Chasing the skip
  Lance and Andy chase a skip that drives off down the road outside the Castle.
Framlingham Castle
Framlingham, Suffolk
- Danebury
  The castle and the streets round it stand in for the fictional Essex town of Danebury.
Framlingham College
College Road, Framlingham, Suffolk
- Andy’s interview
  Framlingham College’s outside plays the setting for Andy’s interview scenes.
Andy’s flat, Double Street
Double Street, Framlingham, Suffolk
- Andy’s flat
  A flat on Double Street is Andy’s home in series three.
The White Horse
Well Close Square, Framlingham, Suffolk
- A lit-up night
  The White Horse is lit room by room for an evening scene shot at 9pm.
The Crown, Great Glemham
Great Glemham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk
- Inside the pub
  Great Glemham supplies the pub interiors.
Mill Lane and Butley Mills
Mill Lane, Butley, Suffolk
- The TR7 and the Vespa
  Lance’s yellow TR7 follows Andy’s Vespa along Mill Lane and overtakes it by Butley Mills.
Redwald Road
Rendlesham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk
- Weedkiller
  A character sprays weedkiller along the roadside path on Redwald Road.
Bentwaters Parks
Rendlesham, Suffolk
- The hedgehog
  Andy finds a hedgehog on the Bentwaters Parks entrance road.
Saxmundham station
Station Approach, Saxmundham, Suffolk
- Off the train
  A character is collected from Saxmundham station; the car waits in the old police station car park.
Orford Primary School
School Lane, Orford, Suffolk
- Becky’s school
  Orford Primary School plays Becky’s school.
Sutton Hoo
Tranmer House, near Woodbridge, Suffolk
- The real ship burial
  The royal ship burial found at Sutton Hoo in 1939; Andy’s series-one quest is for one like it.
St Mary’s, Aldham
Church Lane, Aldham, near Hadleigh, Suffolk
- The round-tower church
  St Mary’s, Aldham, appears in the second series.
Endeavour House
Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk
- A London office
  Suffolk County Council’s offices play a London firm’s headquarters, with the skyline added later.
The archaeology office, Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Taking in a find
  The county archaeology offices become the office where Andy takes a find.

DetectoristsDETECTORISTS

Sweep.

Look up.