ANGLO-SAXON 

 REMAINS 



BETWEEN Ratae of the Romans and Leicester of the English lies a 

 gap in our knowledge that may some day be filled by archaeo- 

 logical research and discovery ; but at present there is little or 

 nothing to show what happened in the district between the forests 

 of Charnwood and Rockingham, between Arden and the vale of Belvoir, after 

 the Roman withdrawal, till the latter part of the sixth century, when it was 

 evidently in Teutonic hands. Such is, in short, the result of an examination 

 of the interesting but not too copious remains from the county that are dealt 

 with in this chapter ; but it is important also to consider what is conspicuously 

 absent, and so to give light and shade to what would otherwise be the 

 slightest of sketches. 



Several of the surrounding counties have been already treated in this 

 series, and comparison with contemporary relics in Derbyshire, Nottingham- 

 shire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire may help to elucidate discoveries 

 in the soil of Leicestershire, as now represented in public and private 

 collections. But a consideration of the county's physical features, in so far 

 as they could direct or influence the advance and settlement of the Anglo- 

 Saxon invader, will guide us in the search for parallel finds and give them 

 additional significance. 



The western half of the county in ancient times was woodland and 

 practically uninhabited, its geological formation rendering it unattractive to 

 Anglo-Saxon settlers who preferred grazing and agricultural country. Deduc- 

 tions from the map of their settlements may be fallacious, as discoveries have 

 been accidental and imperfectly recorded ; but it is evident that the centre of 

 the eastern half was occupied in some force during the sixth century, and no 

 doubt the south-east district would have attracted a thicker population had it 

 been better watered. The Red Sandstone of the Soar valley, and especially 

 the Lias Clay of the eastern half of the county, rendered this a desirable home 

 for the Middle English, whose wealth in the sixth century consisted almost 

 exclusively of crops and cattle. It is possible that they displaced the previous 

 Romano-British population, which may have retired to the forest west of the 

 Soar ; and it is significant that a considerable amount of nigrescence, indicat- 

 ing non-Teutonic blood, has been noticed in the county. 1 



Next in importance to the physical features of the district later known 

 as Leicestershire is the Roman road system that the newcomers found in 

 existence, if not in perfect working order, on their arrival. The Watling 



1 Beddoe, Races of Britain, xxiv, 253. 

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