ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



described as undoubtedly Saxon were met with about the same period, 

 but were reinterred in the churchyard to which they were supposed to 

 have originally belonged. There can be little doubt that the church 

 at Wing dates from Anglo-Saxon times. 



Besides the saucer-brooch already mentioned, there were other 

 relics discovered with burials at Bishopstone that call for remark. That 

 the interments were not by way of cremation is apparent from the good 

 conditions of several fragile objects, amongst which may be mentioned a 

 crystal bead, a spindle-whorl of blue and white glass, bronze toilet 

 articles on a ring, a buckle with tinned front, three small square-headed 

 brooches and a number of glass and amber beads. The graves of several 

 warriors were marked by iron spear-heads, shield-bosses and two swords 

 of the usual pattern, but the most interesting relic was undoubtedly a 

 small engraved buckle-plate of bronze (see fig.) 

 which is ornamented in precisely the same style as 

 one found in a Saxon cemetery on High Down, 

 near Worthing, Sussex. 1 These two pieces present 

 a notable contrast to the usual ornaments of the 

 pagan time in England ; and instead of simple geo- 

 metrical or disjointed animal patterns, show such 

 delicate execution and tasteful design that one is 

 tempted to refer them to a Roman artist ; but 

 whether they were produced in this country or in 

 some centre of civilization on the Continent can- 

 not as yet be determined. 



To quite another district belongs the famous Saxon barrow at Tap- 

 low, 20 miles from Aylesbury and separated from it by the whole breadth 

 of the Chilterns. Its position on a height overlooking the river suggests 

 a search for parallel discoveries further down stream, and it is indeed to 

 Kent that one must turn for anything of like importance. 



Adjoining Taplow Court is the old churchyard with an artificial 

 mound at its western end. At the present time there are no visible 

 traces of the church which was demolished in 1827, though some ruins 

 were allowed to remain till 1853. It was then discovered that the 

 foundations passed over a ditch which, with its accompanying rampart, 

 showed that the position had been fortified in early times, the church 

 being subsequently built at the east end while the mound occupied the 

 centre of the enclosure. The locality is known to-day as Bury (or 

 Berry) Fields, and this spur of the high ground on which Taplow stands 

 would have many advantages as a stronghold, the view in all directions 

 except the north being very extensive. That it was seized upon from 

 time to time as a point of vantage to command the river-passage, is sug- 

 gested by the large quantities of pottery fragments dating from early 

 British, Roman and Saxon times, that have been collected on or near the 

 surface of the churchyard. 



ENGRAVED BUCKLEPLATE 

 OF BRONZE, BISHOPSTONE. 



1 Figured in Arch. liv. 378, pi. xxvii. fig. 8 ; Salin, Altgermamsche Ornamentik, p. 196, fig. 476. 



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