Britain’s Biggest Untapped Gold Mines
We all dream of suddenly becoming rich, though it only happens to a lucky few. While many of us enjoy playing online casinos, some people luck out and score the jackpot on the lottery, while others inherit their fortunes from close or even distant relatives, but what happens when nobody claims these huge amounts of money?
We’ve delved into the data to determine how often these fortunes go unclaimed and where this is most common in the UK. Additionally, we’ve looked into the stats around buried treasure to reveal which British counties could be hiding the most wealth beneath our feet!
So, which areas could be the UK’s biggest untapped gold mines?
Cambridgeshire is England’s biggest gold mine county, scoring 6.45/ 10
1. Cambridgeshire
Gold mine score: 6.45
Cambridgeshire has the highest gold mine score at 6.45, scoring highly across all factors. There are 131 unclaimed estates in the county, with potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds, or even millions, just waiting for the rightful heirs to be uncovered. There have also been a considerable number of treasure cases recorded in the area since 2012, with forgotten valuables being unearthed on 238 separate occasions.
2. Lincolnshire
Gold mine score: 5.99
Lincolnshire has the second-highest gold mine score in England, sitting at 5.99. This largely rural county on the border between Yorkshire and the East Midlands has seen 686 cases of treasure being found over the past decade. While the number of unclaimed estates in the area is relatively low at just 56, Lincolnshire has two unclaimed lottery wins waiting for their lucky ticket-holders to realise they’ve won.
3. Kent
Gold mine score: 5.87
Kent has the third-highest gold mine score in our study, 5.87. Kent is also home to a large amount of buried treasure, with 634 examples found since 2012. The county has a rich cultural history, having been settled by several different conquering groups, including the Romans, Jutes, and Normans, all of which could have left exciting treasures forgotten beneath the dirt.
London has the highest number of unclaimed estates, with over 1,700 in the past 50 years
1. London
Number of unclaimed estates: 1,756
London has the largest number of unclaimed estates, with as many as 1,756 estates with no apparent heir. With so many people passing through London from all parts of the UK and beyond, it’s easy to imagine how inheritance can become confused, and tracking down rightful heirs could be much more complicated.
2. Surrey
Number of unclaimed estates: 291
Surrey had the second-highest number of unclaimed estates, with 291 cases over the last 50 years. This wealthy county borders South East London and has become a popular commuter area for the capital. Due to the area’s prosperity, unclaimed estates in Surrey could be worth a fortune, especially if they include land or property.
3. West Midlands
Number of unclaimed estates: 265
The West Midlands county, not to be confused with the broader region of the same name, has the third-highest number of unclaimed estates at 265. As the country’s second-largest city, Birmingham has welcomed migrants from all corners of the British Isles, the Commonwealth and beyond. This complex movement of people can make it especially difficult to track down relatives and heirs of the deceased, leaving some fortunes unclaimed.
Norfolk has had the most treasure unearthed since 2012, with over 1,200 buried items found
1. Norfolk
Total treasure cases: 1,201
X marks the spot in Norfolk, as it has seen the most cases of buried treasure since 2012, with 1,201 recorded finds. The county has an exciting history, stretching back to the Iceni tribe of ancient Britons that lived in the area before the Roman conquest. Norfolk is often regarded as one of the world’s metal-detecting hotspots, with enthusiasts travelling from all over the world to scour the county’s expansive fields.
2. Suffolk
Total treasure cases: 776
Suffolk recorded the second-highest number of treasure cases, with 776 since 2012. Combined with Norfolk, the two neighbouring countries once formed the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia, which was frequently raided by Vikings and later became part of the Norse-occupied Danelaw under the Danish King Guthrum. With such a rich history of different cultures in the area, there’s no telling what treasures one might find.
3. Essex
Total treasure cases: 709
Essex is the third most lucrative area for finding treasure, putting all three top locations in the East of England. These counties’ flat and rural nature makes them perfect for treasure hunting, which could explain why so much loot is unearthed here. Essex even featured as the location for the popular British comedy series The Detectorists, which follows the many japes of two metal detectorists scouring the local fields for historical artifacts.
Three counties have eight unclaimed big lottery wins each
Greater Manchester, Greater London, and West Midlands
Unclaimed lottery wins: 8
Three counties tied for the most unclaimed big lottery wins over the past 10 years, accounting for millions of pounds in missed prize money. Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and Greater London all have eight unclaimed lottery wins from tickets purchased locally, meaning there are some very lucky (and forgetful!) people out there who could be in line to receive vast sums of money.
If you’ve ever played the lottery in these top counties, you may want to search the house for any old tickets you might have forgotten. After all, finding a winning ticket down the back of the sofa could change your life forever!
Smith is the surname associated with the most unclaimed estates, with 100 estates available
Having analysed which areas could be the country’s biggest gold mines, we also wanted to see which names are most commonly linked to unclaimed estates. If you see your name featured on our list, you may want to scour your family tree for distant relatives who may have passed without a clear heir.
1. Smith
Number of unclaimed estates: 100
The most common name associated with unclaimed estates is Smith, with 100 estates listed. Possibly the most common surname in the UK, with “John Smith” even being a commonly used pseudonym for the everyman, it’s understandable that so many unclaimed estates belonged to Smiths.
2. Jones
Number of unclaimed estates: 65
The second-most unclaimed estates are associated with the name Jones, with 65 in total. Jones is a common name in the UK, though it is most prominent in Wales, where it originated. While these figures only represent unclaimed estates in England, there could be some Welsh relatives whose distant cousins moved to England and left no discernable heirs.
3. Brown
Number of unclaimed estates: 46
Brown is the third most common surname linked to unclaimed estates, with 46 recorded in England. Brown is an old and common name in the UK, shared by many famous Brits, such as ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and world-renowned magician Derren Brown. If you have distant relatives with this surname, it might be worth checking in on them to see if they’re still around!
Methodology
The GOV unclaimed estates list was used to find the number of unclaimed estates by UK county between 1974 and 2024. This data was also used to find the surnames of those with the most unclaimed estates. This data is correct as of 28/06/2024.
The Wayback Machine was used to find the number of unclaimed lottery prizes on the National Lottery website over the last ten years. This data is accurate as of 28/06/24.
The GOV Reported Treasure Finds reports were used to take the total reported treasure finds in UK counties between 2012 and 2022. This data is accurate as of 01/07/2024.
Google Keyword Planner was used to find the number of searches using the term ‘how to claim lottery win’ in each county between June 2023 and May 2024. This data is accurate as of 03/07/2024.
The PERCENTRANK formula in Google Sheets assigned each county a normalised score out of 10. With so few unclaimed lottery wins, each county with unclaimed wins was given a 10 for this factor and a 0 for no unclaimed lottery wins.
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