Heritage crime uncovered

Laura Ross
, 28 May 2024
Heritage crime uncovered
Heritage crime talk

By Laura Ross

Communications Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Illegal detectorists, graffiti and stolen church flagstones aren’t the usual topics of conversation at the Discovery Centre. For local Heritage Crime Officer, Daryl Holter of Sussex Police, it’s his bread and butter. A big part of his job involves spreading the word far and wide about the importance of protecting our heritage. Last month, it brought him to a room of visitors at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, eager to know more.

During his talk, he spoke about the organised gangs who are targeting churches for their lead rooves, stained glass windows and even the bronze letters on gravestones. We also learned how problematic it is to remove graffiti from historic buildings, given how porous the stone is. 

Camber Castle
Camber Castle © Stuart Conway

He's a big believer in sowing the seed about our shared heritage from a young age and regularly visits local schools. His theory is that if someone can develop an emotional attachment to a place, it’s the best preventative measure of them all.

The local community is his secret weapon, and he would encourage anyone who spots something suspicious, to report it to the police: “When our heritage falls victim to abuse it is all our moral responsibility to protect our past”.

A big thanks to Daryl and the Sussex Police for giving us their time.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782690440.27980 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782690440.30570.0258Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782690440.30580.0001Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782690440.30580Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782690440.30590.0001Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/heritage-crime-uncovered
    [s] => heritage-crime-uncovered
    [1] => heritage-crime-uncovered
)
1782690440.30620.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.30710.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782690440.30890.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22399110
1782690440.30950.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22399110
1782690440.31010.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-28 23:47:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-28 23:47:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782690440.31140.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='heritage-crime-uncovered')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 23:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782690440.31450.0031 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782690440.31510.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3399 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 23:47:00'
1782690440.3160.0009 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782690440.31670.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782690440.31730.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=251 LIMIT 1
1782690440.31820.0009Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782690440.31840.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782690440.31930.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 23:47:00' AND postSlug='heritage-crime-uncovered'
1782690440.33950.0203Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782690440.340.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782690440.34150.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782690440.34180.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782690440.34250.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782690440.34390.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782690440.34690.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.34740.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782690440.34960.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782690440.34960.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35040.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35080.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35220.0014 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35270.0005 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35310.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782690440.35550.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.35620.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782690440.35830.002 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782690440.35860.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782690440.35890.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='28' LIMIT 1
1782690440.35950.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782690440.35980.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='heritage-crime-uncovered')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-28 23:47:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782690440.36170.0019 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782690440.36210.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782690440.36440.0023Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782690440.36540.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3399 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782690440.41620.0508 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782690440.41640.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782690440.41660.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='28' LIMIT 1
1782690440.41740.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782690440.41820.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782690440.41880.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782690440.42150.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.42220.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782690440.42430.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782690440.42540.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782690440.42610.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782690440.42660.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782690440.4290.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.42950.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782690440.43140.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782690440.43420.0028 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782690440.43490.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782690440.43520.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782690440.43810.0029 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.43870.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782690440.44060.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782690440.4430.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782690440.44370.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782690440.44420.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782690440.44640.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782690440.44690.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782690440.44870.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782690440.44990.0012Request time: 0.1716
1782690440.450Process time: 0.1714
1782690440.450Memory: 1.624