“Fisherman” with a magnet found an ancient sword from the Civil War in the river

“At first I thought it was a piece of rebar”

A British “magnet fisherman” was left quite “stunned” after he pulled a three-foot, 400-year-old Civil War sword from the murky depths of the River Stour.

In the UK, “magnetic fishing” is quite popular – it involves searching open waters for ferromagnetic objects that can be pulled out using a strong neodymium magnet. Although the practice is touted by its proponents as environmentally friendly and similar to a kind of treasure hunt, it comes with a number of risks, including the risk of damaging and destroying aquatic life. And the items found may be dangerous, such as firearms, ammunition and bombs.

And so, according to the Daily Mail, one such magnet fisherman was left “stunned” after finding a 400-year-old sword in the depths of a muddy river.

Stephen Hill pulled the three-foot blade from the River Stour in Dorset while searching the water for relics. He believes the completely intact sword, measuring 1m from pommel to point, possibly dates back to the English Civil War in the 17th century and could possibly have belonged to a cavalryman.

The 29-year-old has registered the item with his local lost property officer and the sword will be properly examined to determine its importance and value, the Daily Mail notes.

Stephen Hill was “fishing” with a magnet on the banks of the River Stour in Sturminster Newton at the time he made the discovery.

He said: “I knew I had something on the magnet, at first I thought it was a piece of rebar or scaffolding which is quite common to find. Then I saw the cross guard and I was a bit stunned, I realized that This is something special.”

Stephen Hill from Dorchester has been magnet fishing for about five years and is passionate about history, writes the Daily Mail.

He says: “I estimate that this blade is between four hundred and six hundred years old, and may be some sort of cavalry sword. Several amateur historians have seen it and said that it has a single cutting edge and that it may was a basket hilt which has since become rusty from being in water. This indicates that the weapon is possibly from the Civil War period and was used by cavalry. I have not attempted to clean it because the sword is in very delicate condition, but once it does, it may reveal more information about the date and may even help link it to a battle or person. I have contacted the Lost and Found Liaison Officer and will find out more when they call me back. This is the reason I started “ “fishing” with a magnet, because such discoveries happen once in a lifetime – it was exciting.”

Stephen Hill documents all his finds on his own YouTube channel and has previously discovered several explosives.

Among his finds were First World War grenades with the pin still intact and an anti-tank shell, which prompted the sappers to be called in to blow up the find earlier this year.

He regularly catches fish using a powerful magnet, which he usually uses to collect bottles, glass and trash from the river.

But he hopes the sword will end up in a Dorset museum once experts have analyzed it.