Scroll down to find out if the timepiece is still working

A METAL detectorist unearthed a farmer’s Rolex watch 50 years after it was eaten by a cow.

James Steele, 95, lost the treasured timepiece in the early 1970s when the strap broke while he tended cattle.

Metal detectorist Liam King, left, unearthed farmer James Steele’s Rolex watch 50 years after it was eaten by a cow Credit: SWNS

James lost the treasured timepiece in the early 1970s Credit: SWNS

He searched the field at his dairy farm in Morda, Shropshire, but there was no sign of the watch, which he had saved up £100 to buy.

James gave up the hunt and eventually bought another, fearing the Rolex was gone forever.

But half a century later, he has been reunited with it after metal detectorist Liam King found it buried in the mud.

It is thought one of his herd swallowed the valuable watch and it ended up in a cowpat in the field.

Mr Steele, who owns Treflach Hall, said: “The cow could have eaten it with a mouthful of grass, the vet said.

“It was an amazing stroke of luck for it to turn up again after all this time.

“I was really pleased.

“I never thought I would see it again.

“Unfortunately, it is not going.

“The face has gone a greenish colour, but it has not rusted.

“It shows how well made it was to survive 50 years under a field.

“It’ll make a lovely keepsake.”

James, circa 1950, wearing the Rolex watch he later lost Credit: SWNS