Pensioner, 81, uncovered a Napoleonic sword in the same spot where he buried it as an 11-year-old because he was too afraid to take it back to his care home after discovering it in the woods

• Peter Pike, of Paignton, Devon, found sword while playing with friends in woods 
• He buried it again because he was scared of getting into trouble with his carers
• Mr Pike, then aged 41, found it once more while on holiday where he grew up, in Newton Abbot 

A pensioner who found a Napoleonic sword as a boy but buried it again for fear of getting into trouble was amazed to find it in the same place 30 years later. 

Peter Pike, 81, who grew up in a care home in Newton Abbot, first came across the mystery weapon in a scabbard while playing with friends in the woods. 

Mr Pike, who was then aged 11, was scared by his discovery and didn't tell his three friends and quickly buried it again in the same spot before forgetting all about it. 

But several decades later, when aged 41, he remembered what he had done and decided to try and dig it up.

And to his amazement when he returned to the woods in Newton Abbot on holiday it was still in the same spot.

The historic weapon now has pride of place on display at his home in Paignton, Devon.

Because Mr Pike found the sword before the 1996 Treasure Act came into play, he was able to keep it without the possibility of it counting qualifying as Treasure by law.  

Mr Pike said: 'We were playing in Bradley Woods. When I was a child that's what you did.

'Every Saturday morning about four of us would go and play up in the woods and we built our own den.

'We all used to go up to where we were playing. I was only about 11 and it was all very sweet and innocent.

'One day one of the lads said "Can we make another den this one's getting very dirty" and I was pushed under a big bramble bush to have a look.

'As I was pushing back all the roots and leaves I found this sword - a big metal one in a metal holster.

'I was so surprised I didn't know what to do.'

Mr Pike, who was raised in a children's home, was worried that he would get in trouble if he returned to his carers with a sword - so he hid it.

He added: 'In those days if we did anything wrong they always threatened that you would get sent to Forde Park if you were naughty.

'I thought if I took a sword back to the children's home that I would get sent to Forde Park which was more like a prison for boys.

'So I didn't tell anybody - I covered it up with mud again and left it for later.

'But then I just forgot all about it for years and years.'

The pensioner now has the sword and experts have taken a look at it and confirmed that it probably dates from the end of the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century.

He added: 'I never thought about it once in all that time.

'It wasn't until I was back in Devon on holiday that I remembered. We arranged to go back to the woods and take my daughter's beach spade with us.

'I couldn't believe it - I went straight back to the exact same bush and dug with the child's metal spade and I was lucky. It was still there. I couldn't believe it.

'We decided to bring it home and it's been with us ever since, in pride of place on the fireplace.

'It's in a metal holster and it was well-oiled but it looks like it's seen some heavy action - there's damage on the hilt and I wonder if that's why it was thrown away.'

Peter said he has taken the sword to Newton Abbot Museum for evaluation and experts believe it dates from sometime around the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which took place between 1803 and 1815.

Peter added: 'The Museum is interested in putting it on display but I don't want to give it away or sell it - maybe at some later time, but not just yet.'

What are the rules concerning treasure - and what were they 40 years ago?  

The Treasure Act came into force in September 1997. It mandates that a find is treasure if:

• It contains at least 10 per cent by weight of gold or silver and that it is 300 years old when found.
• It is prehistoric and contains two or more metallic objects.  
• If there are two or more coins which are at least 300 years old when found and contain at least 10 per cent gold or silver. If they don't, there must be at least 10 of them. 
•  An object, regardless of what it's made from, is found in the same place as or has previously been with another object that qualifies as Treasure.   

Before the Act came into play, treasure rules were governed by the common law of treasure trove. 

Under the law, an object had to be gold or silver for it to count as Treasure. 

The objects had to have been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery and where the owner could not be identified.