ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



the blade. The blade measures 12 inches in length. The axe of the fran- 

 cisca form is 5J inches long and 3^ inches wide at the cutting edge, this 

 being set at an angle of 2 1 degrees to the axial line. Remains of the 

 wooden handle are in the socket. 



In the excavation that was undertaken on the site of the destroyed portion 

 of the Chapter House at Durham in 1 874, an iron spear-head, coated with gold, 

 was found in association with one of the burials at a lower level than that at 

 which the bishops were interred. It therefore belonged to an interment of 

 the period between 995 and 1083. Such a spear was a common accom- 

 paniment of a male burial of the period. It measures 7 inches in length 

 and i|. inches in width. The socket is I inch in diameter, and retains the 

 rivets and a part of the shaft. It is preserved in the Cathedral Library, Durham. 



Only one glass vessel of the Anglo-Saxon period is known to have been 

 found in the county. It is of singular interest and beauty, and was discovered 

 in 1775 at Castle Eden by some workmen employed in uprooting a hedge 

 about 100 yards from the bridge which spans the burn dividing the 

 church from the castle. It was associated with a burial, and the con- 

 temporary description of the find states that ' The mouth of the vase was 

 applied to a human skull, so near the surface, as to leave the bottom of the 

 vase exposed in the gutter of the hedge, the body had been deposited 

 horizontally with the head towards the east and had been covered with a 

 heap of common field stones. The labourer represented the skull and bones 

 as appearing entire ; but he was prevented by the clergyman of Castle Eden 

 from making any further research. The ground was, however, again opened 

 soon after by Mr. Burdon's directions ; and a cavity was discovered beneath 

 the cairn, or heap of stones, large enough to contain a body of ordinary 

 dimensions, with a quantity of deep coloured soil, the remains probably of 

 the bones which had mouldered on the admission of the air. The vase was 

 full of earth, and, when emptied, appeared to retain a subtle, aromatic smell.' 

 It may be added that the place of discovery is almost exactly opposite the 

 spot where the grant of William de Thorp fixes the cemetery of the ancient 

 chapel of St. James in the twelfth century : ' Costera sub cemeterio.' 



This glass cup, which belongs to a well-known type, is quite isolated in 

 the north of England and deserves more than a passing notice. It is in 

 excellent preservation, and its blue colour is somewhat exceptional, glass of the 

 period being generally of an amber yellow or an olive green. Several examples 

 are included in the national collection, but it is very seldom that a specimen is 

 found entire. Continental examples from the Rhine valley and Normandy 

 have long been known, and it would be unwise to claim an exclusive Anglo- 

 Saxon origin for them, though many have been found in Kent and our 

 southern counties, and fragments have been obtained as far north as Northants.^ 

 Of itself the Durham specimen proves nothing as to the tribal connections of 

 the inhabitants during the sixth and seventh centuries, as it might easily have 

 been obtained by commerce, or in a raid on the south ; but it should always 

 be borne in mind that the so-called Anglian cinerary urns practically cease at 

 the Yorkshire border. It would be interesting, however, to derive some clue as 

 to the earliest Anglo-Saxon occupants of what is now Durham from the contents 

 of the graves. In this connection it may be noticed that though at Darlington 



1 V. C. H. Northants, i. 244. 

 215 



