A HISTORY OF KENT

Roach Smith, however, attributed the coin to Eupardus, a bishop of
Autun in the middle of the sixth century, and the rest included a coin
ofjustin (d. 527), a blundered copy of a Roman
type, and a coin of the moneyer Leodulphus.

As the map clearly shows, the downs to the
south-east of Canterbury are thickly strewn with
records of the past, and have been explored over
a long period. In 1866 about twenty graves
were found by workmen on Patrixbourne
Hill in Bifrons Park, zoo yards east of the
road from Bridge and within an area 30 feet square. The relics com-
prised two swords, two spear-heads, a shield—boss with the stays extending
to the circumference,‘ and a number of buckles and knives, taken
promiscuously from_the graves, which were, with one exception, east-
and-west. Interred with a woman were found a necklace of amber
and glass heads (the latter of double and treble form, like some from
N orthants ' ), a pair of small brooches set with garnets of keystone form
(as pl. i. fig. 4.), keys, a silver finger-ring, a buckle and stud, all of which
are now in the collection of the Kent Archaeological Society.’

The excavations conducted by Mr. Godfrey Faussett in 1867 at
Bifrons are of special importance, as they were carefully recorded,‘ and
the relics now form part of the Kent Archaeological Society’s collection
at Maidstone. About one hundred graves were opened on the slope of
the hill overlooking the Lesser Stour and about {- mile up stream from
Patrixbourne Church ; and the whole of the district is thickly
scattered with interments, perhaps more so than any other area in
England. The ground was perfectly smooth, no doubt owing to con-
tinued ploughing, and the slope was held to account for the direction
of the majority of graves : they had been cut horizontally so as to avoid
unnecessary labour, and the head was in these cases at the south or
south-east end of the cutting in the chalk. A few, however, lay east
and west, generally with the head at the latter point, and the explorer
did not fail to notice a comparative scarcity of relics in these graves:
both features suggesting a Christian origin. The brooches found were
observed to be mostly in pairs, the square-headed variety (pl. i. fig. 2)
being invariably worn with the pin—point upwards, the square head being
below. Another important point is that no fewer than five graves in
this, and at least two in a neighbouring, cemetery contained the remains
of women with a crystal sphere and spoon (as pl. i. fig. 8) with perfor-
ated bowl placed between the thighs. More than once these curious
relics were associated with brooches of the Jutish square-headed type
(as pl. i. fig. 3) and also of the bird-form, while gold braid was found
near the skull as though belonging to the head-dress. Though crystal
spheres are not unknown in post-Roman cemeteries on the Continent,

 

Gow COIN-PENDANT,
Sr. Mnsrufs (}).

1 Douglas found the shield: were generally I} to 2 it. across (Nan. Brit. p. 121).
' Arab. xlviii. pl. xxiii.; V .C.II. Nartbantx, i. 233.
0 Arrb. Cant. vi. 331 (three figs.). 4 Ibid. x. 298; xiii. 552.

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AN GLO—SAXON l{11.MAin 0

their frequent occurrence in Kent with brooches of a local character
is a fact of considerable importance, and points to some special function
assigned to women in this region. A certain number of objects from
these graves are certainly of Roman manufacture, while two long
brooches (as fig. 14.) of bronze are early examples of a type subsequently
developed in the Anglian area. Several jewelled ornaments are not
of the ordinary kind but resemble continental work, and may be the
rude beginnings of the Kentish inlaid work. In one grave of a
woman there were found, with a pair of radiated brooches (as fig. I 3)
and other ornaments, four gold bracteate pendants, three of which bear
the usual embossed decoration of dismembered animal-forms, while the
fourth has a distorted human figure like that frequently seen on Scan-
dinavian specimens. To the same foreign influence may doubtless be
assigned the swastikas engraved on a sword-pommel and belt-plate from
this cemetery.

On the downs between Beakesbourne and Adisham, at a point
about 4. miles south—east of Canterbury, excavations were conducted by
Faussett in 1773.‘ Some of the mounds had been destroyed in planting
trees, and nine burials had been at some indefinite period covered with
a long bank, regarded by the explorer as part of a fortification. The
grave-mounds varied greatly in size, and one reached the abnormal
dimensions of 70 feet in diameter and 10 feet in height at the centre,
but nothing was found with the skeleton it covered. Another remark-
able grave is described and illustrated as cruciform, the four ends
corresponding with the cardinal points, and the head lying at the west
end, but it was suggested that two graves had been cut at this spot at
different times in opposite directions ; and this view is supported by a
discovery of the sherds of a cinerary urn in the mound. On the other
hand, the excavation measured II feet each way and at each extremity
was an arched recess about 1 foot deep in the chalk, containing wood-
ashes and scraps of iron : this may be taken to prove that the cruciform
cutting was intentional.

Of the forty-five graves opened, twenty-nine had cofiins which in
two cases were seen to be of oak, and all but three had been more or less
burnt. Besides the exceptionally large mound already referred to, two of
fair proportions consisted of flints ; and one mound had been erected over
two skeletons placed in a sitting posture with their backs against the
head of the grave. Bones of small animals were found in two instances,
the largest mound containing several heaps, but here as elsewhere the
bones of the head were missing, so that it was diflicult to recognize the
species. Fragments of urns, including red Gaulish and Roman ware,
were noticed in several cases, and coins of Diocletian and Maximian, his
partner in empire (d. 305), were found. Also suggestive of Roman
civilization were two pieces of openwork leather in different graves,
probably belonging to sandals.’ Only one weapon was found, a lance
on the left of the body ; but there was a fair sprinkling of shears, keys,
t Invmtarium Stpulrbrale, pp. 144-59. ' Ibid. p. r 52.

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A HISLUKY Uh’ l$.J:LJ.\l'1

and other female appurtenances. The only piece of jewellery was a
blue glass pendant set in silver.

The next site to be noticed lies immediately west of the Roman
road between Canterbury and Dover, but still in the same neighbour-
hood as the preceding. Mr. Thos. Wright described the exploration
during 184.4. of a number of barrows in Bourne Park (Bishopsbourne).‘
The operations were conducted in the presence of Lord Albert Conyng—
ham, in whose park the barrows were situated; Sir Henry Dryden,
Mr. Roach Smith, and the narrator, so that there is every reason to
suppose that the greatest care was taken in the excavation. A large
barrow proved to have been previously rifled, but unmistakable signs of
an Anglo—Saxon interment were noticed, and in the four upper corners
of the grave, which measured about 14 feet in length, 6 or 7
feet in breadth, and more than 8 feet in depth, there was a small
excavation in the chalk filled with the skulls and bones of mice, mingled
with remains of seed. The same deposits appeared in several barrows
there and on the Breach Downs.

The second grave-mound was smaller and adjoined the last, scarcely
rising above the surface. The body was almost entirely decayed, but
seemed to have been placed in a wooden coffin. Near where the right
foot must have lain were fragments of small hoops imbedded in wood,
evidently the remains of a bucket of the usual type.

The third burial proved similar to the first, the grave being of
almost the same dimensions, but the small holes at the corners, which
contained bones of mice, being at the sides instead of at the ends.’ At
the foot in the right-hand corner had stood a hooped bucket measuring
1 foot both in height and in diameter at the base, but tapering upwards.
Beside the right leg were found a shield—boss, a horse’s bridle-bit, and a
buckle, all of iron; while on the right of the head, placed upright
against the wall of the grave, was a thin bronze bowl richly gilt, with
two drop-handles of iron, of a not unusual type in Kentish burials. The
only other articles found in this grave were two discs nearly 1 inch in
diameter, convex at the top, one being of bone, the other of the red
Gaulish ware improperly called ‘ Samian.’ These were probably
counters or draughtsmen used in some game, and may be compared
with those found at Sarre (p. 359) and elsewhere. No trace of the body
could be discerned, and from the absence of the typical sword and
knife, it was surmised that this was merely a Cenotaph and that the
body had been buried elsewhere.

The barrows opened on this occasion all contained graves cut ap-
proximately north and south, the head towards the south, and it was
observed that almost all graves at Bourne and on Breach Downs had
large flints at the sides and both ends, possibly used to fix a covering
over the body before the grave was filled in.“ Two other grave-mounds,

1 The barrows examined here by Faussett in 1771 (Irw. Sap. pp. 95—xoo) were of much earlier
date.
' Plan in Jul). _'}‘aurn. i. 254, fig. 2. 3 lbid. i. 380.

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