Public monument
A visitor monument with a public point. It is not an excavation licence and not a boundary of licensed land.
Uncertainty area
A broad area around a historic context. The circle is uncertainty, not land cleared for digging.
Withheld findspot
A modern find whose location an official source keeps confidential. The atlas adds no geometry and no licence.
Rule without a pin
A statutory restriction discussed for what the Act requires, not for where a trench may be opened.
A symbol is not permission
This article explains section 23 of the consolidated Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959 checked on 16 October 2026, the 2023 Manx National Heritage archaeology guide, and the enacted Treasure Act 2017 text hosted by Manx National Heritage. It is not legal advice. It does not grant access, an excavation licence, written consent to use a metal detector, an export licence or permission to search, dig or remove an object. A licence under section 23 is issued by the Trust. If you find a possible archaeological object, leave the surrounding context undisturbed and contact Manx National Heritage.
Answer first: when digging needs a licence
Digging or excavating in or under any land on the Isle of Man, for an archaeological purpose, is unlawful without a licence from the Manx Museum and National Trust, or otherwise than in accordance with that licence. Section 23(1) of the Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959, in the consolidated text checked on 16 October 2026, states the rule. No person shall, without or otherwise than in accordance with a licence issued by the Trust under the section, dig or excavate in or under any land, whether with or without removing the surface, for the purpose of searching generally for archaeological objects, or of searching for, exposing or examining any particular structure or thing of archaeological interest known to be or believed to be in or under that land, or for any other archaeological purpose. Section 3(2) says the Trust may continue to perform its functions under the name Manx National Heritage, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin. The licence is issued by the Trust. This atlas cannot issue it, predict it, or treat a conversation, a landowner's agreement or a page on this site as that licence.
The section is purpose-specific. It does not, on its face, turn every hole on the Island into an offence. It applies where the purpose is one of the three it names: a general search for archaeological objects, a search for or an examination of a particular structure or thing of archaeological interest known or believed to be there, or any other archaeological purpose. The 2023 Manx National Heritage guide states the practical warning in one line: under the Act, no archaeological excavation can take place without first obtaining a licence from Manx National Heritage. Read that sentence beside section 23, not as a wider ban than the section writes and not as a narrower one. The guide does not publish a form, a fee or a processing time.
What may the Trust put in a licence?
Section 23(2) says the Trust may at their discretion issue to any person a licence to dig or excavate in or under any specified land for any specified archaeological purposes, and may insert in any such licence such conditions and restrictions as they shall think proper. Discretion is the Trust's. Specified land and specified purposes are part of the power. A licence that exists for one piece of land, or for one purpose, is not on the face of the subsection a licence for every field or every purpose. Conditions and restrictions are also part of the power. The Act does not list standard conditions.
Working otherwise than in accordance with the licence is written into the prohibition in subsection (1), alongside working without a licence. A licence that is not followed is not, on those words, the same as having no licence, but both fall inside the prohibition. The 2023 guide gives a contact for further information and advice: iomher@mnh.im, the telephone numbers +44 (0)1624 648025 and +44 (0)1624 648026, and Manx National Heritage in Douglas. Those details were on the guide checked for this article. Use the current official page if they have changed.
What is the offence, and what is the maximum?
Section 23(3) says any person who digs or excavates in or under any land in contravention of the section shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction at the suit of the Trust to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale. Endnote 53 of the consolidation checked for this article says subsection (3) was amended by the Fines and Penalties Act 2024, Schedule 4. The section does not print a pound figure for level 4. The prosecution route named in the subsection is at the suit of the Trust.
The maximum is the maximum stated for this offence. It is not the maximum stated for a different section. Section 21A states its own maxima for metal-detector offences in a protected area. Section 22 states its own maximum for injuring, defacing, destroying or altering an archaeological object. Section 20 states its own maximum for a reporting failure. The detector journal sets out the section 21A figures from the same consolidation. This excavation guide does not copy those figures across as if they were the section 23 fine, and it does not convert level 4 into a sum of money.
What does the agricultural exception do?
Section 23(4) contains two limits, and they point in different directions. The first is that nothing in the section shall apply to or render unlawful digging or excavation in or under any land for or in the course of any agricultural or industrial operation. The second is that a licence under the section shall not operate to render lawful the doing of anything which would be unlawful if the section had not been passed. The first is an exception to the section. The second is a limit on what a licence can do. It does not treat a hobby search, a detector recovery or a research trench as an agricultural operation because the land is a field.
The second limb matters once a licence exists. A licence under section 23 does not, on these words, repeal any other rule that would still apply if section 23 had not been passed. Permission from an owner or occupier answers a different question again. It is not the licence in section 23, and the section does not say that an owner's agreement is that licence. Written consent under section 21A to use a metal detector in a protected area is also not this licence. The detector journal explains that consent.
How do alteration, export and detecting differ?
Section 22 is the neighbouring licence for the object, not for the hole. It prohibits injuring, defacing or destroying an archaeological object, and it prohibits altering one otherwise than under a licence to alter a specified object in a specified manner, to a specified extent and subject to specified conditions. The 2023 guide compresses alteration, damage and removal from the Island into one practical sentence: no archaeological object can be altered, damaged or taken off the Island without a licence from Manx National Heritage. Read that sentence against the Act. Altered and damaged point at section 22. Taken off the Island points at section 21, which is explained in the export journal. One sentence in the guide is not one licence covering excavation, alteration and export.
Section 21A restricts use of a metal detector in a protected area without the Trust's written consent, and it separately restricts removal, without that consent, of an object of archaeological or historical interest discovered by a metal detector in a protected area. That removal sits in section 21A. It is not the section 23 licence, and it is not the section 21 removal from the Island. The same project can therefore raise more than one decision: written consent if a detector is to be used in a protected area, a section 23 licence if the digging is for an archaeological purpose, a section 22 licence if an object is to be altered, and a section 21 licence if an archaeological object is to leave the Island. Satisfying one does not, on the face of these sections, state that another has been given.
What still has to be reported after a find?
A licence to excavate is not a waiver of the reporting duties. Section 20(1) says a person who finds an object which he or she believes, or has reasonable grounds for believing, is an archaeological object must notify the Trust before the end of the notice period and permit the Trust to inspect, examine or photograph the object. The notice period is 14 days beginning with the day after the object is found or, if later, the day the finder first believes or has reason to believe the object is an archaeological object. The notification must include the finder's name and address, the nature and character of the object, the time, place and circumstances of finding, and any other information the Trust requests. The 2023 guide states that the duty covers archaeological objects discovered during licensed excavations. The guide spells that word licenced in that sentence. The duty is the Act's. The guide's sentence confirms that licensed work is included. It does not create a second, longer period.
If the person believes, or has reasonable grounds for believing, that the object is treasure, section 8 of the Treasure Act 2017 adds its own duty to notify the Trust. Section 8(7) says that duty does not limit section 20 of the 1959 Act. Neither notification is a section 23 licence, and a section 23 licence is not those notifications. Where a treasure notification has been made, section 9 says the person must, if the Trust requires it, deliver the object as the Trust directs. When the Trust receives it, the Trust must give a receipt and an image and notify the Treasury and the coroner. The 2023 guide states the practice for treasure in one line: the objects are deposited at the Manx Museum while the treasure process takes its course. What counts as treasure is set out in the definition journal. This excavation guide does not repeat those tests, and it states no reward amount. The archaeological-object definition in section 2 is wider than treasure. It includes any chattel, including ancient human and animal remains, which by reason of the archaeological interest attaching to it, or of its association with any Manx historical event or person, has a value substantially greater than its intrinsic, including artistic, value, and it includes all treasure.
What does a map pin say about a licence?
Manx Treasure Map does not record excavation licences, detector consents, alteration licences or export licences against its places. A marker is a public feature reference. A circle is an uncertainty area. A withheld record is a decision to publish no geometry. None of those treatments is a section 23 licence, and none of them is a finding that the land around a symbol is outside the purposes in section 23. Section 23 speaks of any land where the purpose test is met. It is not limited to a protected area under section 21A. Absence of a pin is not a finding that digging for archaeological objects is outside the section. Where an official source withholds a modern findspot, this article adds no point and no area.
A place page for a public monument, such as Peel Castle, is an evidence summary of a documented heritage place. It is not an excavation licence for that place or for the land around it. The symbols guide explains the four publication treatments. The place-page guide explains how to read a record without treating it as a target. Before any digging for an archaeological purpose, the document that matters is a licence issued by the Trust under section 23, read with its land, purposes, conditions and restrictions. Before any use of a metal detector in a place that may be a protected area, the document that matters is written consent under section 21A. If an object is then found, the reporting duties in section 20 and, where treasure is in issue, section 8 still have to be met.
Primary and official evidence
Sources checked for this guide
Access dates record the evidence reviewed for this edition. Follow the current official material before relying on a rule or reporting route.
- Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959 — current consolidated textOfficial consolidated text. Section 23 is the excavation licence. Sections 2, 3, 20, 21, 21A and 22 are the neighbouring definition and duties. Accessed .
- Archaeology on the Isle of Man — Manx National Heritage guideOfficial one-page guide. It states the excavation licence, reporting of finds from licensed excavations, and the archaeology contact. Accessed .
- Treasure Act 2017 — enacted textOfficial enacted text hosted by Manx National Heritage. Sections 8 and 9 are the treasure notification and delivery duties, which do not replace a section 23 licence. Accessed .
Questions readers ask
Marker, circle and withheld-location FAQ
Does every hole on the Isle of Man need an excavation licence?
Section 23 applies where a person digs or excavates in or under land for the purpose of searching for archaeological objects, of searching for or examining a particular structure or thing of archaeological interest, or for any other archaeological purpose, unless the work is under and in accordance with a Trust licence. The section does not, in those words, cover every hole. It also says it does not make agricultural or industrial operations unlawful.
Does a landowner's permission replace a section 23 licence?
No. The licence in section 23 is issued by the Trust, at the Trust's discretion, for specified land and specified archaeological purposes, and it may carry conditions and restrictions. Permission from an owner or occupier is a different question. It is not that licence, and it is not written consent under section 21A.
Does metal-detector consent allow the digging as well?
No. Written consent under section 21A concerns use of a metal detector in a protected area, and dealing with an object discovered by that use in accordance with the consent. Section 23 is a separate licence for digging or excavating for an archaeological purpose. The 2023 guide states both rules. Satisfying one does not state that the other has been given.
Does an excavation licence legalise other unlawful acts?
Section 23(4) says a licence under the section does not make lawful anything that would be unlawful if the section had not been passed. Altering an archaeological object, removing one from the Island, and using a metal detector in a protected area without written consent are dealt with in other sections. A section 23 licence is not those authorisations, and it is not the find report in section 20.
Does this journal issue an excavation licence?
No. A licence under section 23 is a decision of the Trust. A marker, a circle, a withheld record and this article do not issue that licence, detector consent or permission to dig. For further advice the 2023 guide points readers to Manx National Heritage, including iomher@mnh.im.
Use the framework
Open the law and reporting signpost
The law and reporting page collects the consolidated 1959 Act, the Treasure Act 2017 and the Manx National Heritage archaeology guide used here. Use that page before any archaeological digging, and follow the current official text if it has moved on from this edition.