UXO News Roundup – October 2025
Some interesting and significant Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) discoveries were made across the UK in October. These include a collection of artillery shells which washed up on a beach in Cumbria, and a large quantity of Small Arms Ammunition (SAA) in north Wales – a suspected WWII Home Guard cache.
Explore the UK’s latest discoveries on our heatmap and read about some of the most significant finds from October below.
Above: Heatmap showing the approximate locations of UXO discoveries, 1st – 31st October 2025
County Durham
On the 9th October, Durham Police were called to reports of ‘historical ordnance’ being discovered by workmen at allotments off Adamson Street in Shildon. The device – an Unexploded (UX) WWII-era Mills bomb – was safely removed by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team.
Above: The Mills bomb discovered in Shildon (Northern Echo)
See: Bomb squad called to Shildon after hand grenade found by fencing firm | The Northern Echo
Cumbria:
On the 7th October, police and Whitehaven Coastguard attended reports of a collection of 18No.artillery shells having washed up on Drigg Beach in Cumbria. The devices were identified and marked in the afternoon of October 7th, ahead of the incoming tide. Coastguard officers and an EOD team redeployed the following day, and all 18No. shells were destroyed in 2No. separate controlled explosions.
Above: 1No. of the 18No. shells which washed up on Drigg Beach (BBC/Whitehaven Coastguard)
See: 18 artillery shells detonated at Drigg beach after callout | Whitehaven News
Hertfordshire:
Hertfordshire Police were called on the morning of the 17th October to reports of an item of UXO being discovered in the garden of the Old Fox pub, in Bricket Wood.
The device – a suspected WWI-era shell – was removed by an EOD team to a nearby field for controlled demolition.
Above: The suspected WWI-era shell discovered at the Old Fox PH, Bricket Wood (Herts Advertiser, courtesy of Danny Harding)
See: ‘Unexploded WWI bomb’ found in Bricket Wood pub garden | Herts Advertiser
Wales:
On the 23rd October, South Wales Police received reports of an ‘unexploded device’ being discovered in Cheapside, Bridgend. Precautionary evacuations of nearby premises were undertaken, whilst an EOD team attended the incident. The device – whose exact nature has not been confirmed – was safely removed.
See: Shops evacuated after wartime bomb discovered in Welsh town | South Wales Argus
On the same day, police in Wrexham were approached by a local resident reporting that he had uncovered a buried cache of SAA whilst digging his back garden. The property is claimed to have been used as a local Home Guard station during WWII. The SAA was safely removed by North Wales Police.
Above: Some of the buried cache of WWII-era SAA discovered in a back garden in Wrexham (North Wales Police)
See: Man finds cache of ‘Dad’s Army’ ammunition buried in his garden – Wales Online
