A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE 



deceased. Two bronze brooches of the radiated type, just over three 

 inches long, are such as most commonly occur in Kent but are of con- 

 tinental manufacture, and, as imported articles, are occasionally found in 

 other parts of England, as for instance in Hunts, 1 Cambs, 2 Suffolk and 

 Lines.* What was described as part of an elliptical buckle is probably a 

 brooch of Roman make, set originally with a large stud of glass paste 

 in imitation of a carbuncle. The dimensions agree with those of a 

 specimen from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Long Wittenham, Berks, 

 and now in the British Museum ; while what was apparently a circular 

 example of similar character has been found in Warwickshire, and can 

 also be paralleled in the national collection. These may be regarded 

 as survivals from the Roman period of a pattern that the Saxon peoples 

 did their best to imitate ; but a remarkable specimen of native art came 

 to light in the same grave, and has been published in the Arcbaologia, 

 vol. xliv. pi. xviii. This is a bronze brooch 7 inches long, with the 

 front originally gilt and the ornament in relief much clearer than is 

 generally the case. It is of the square-headed variety, which is mostly 

 confined to the Midlands* but also occurs in Norfolk and the Isle of 

 Wight, while on the continent it is common in Denmark, Sweden and 

 Norway, as well as in south-west Germany. The ornament shows that 

 the English specimen is as usual comparatively late, and exhibits a 

 remarkable falling off from the best and earliest specimen attributed to 

 the early part of the sixth century. 8 



The four angles of the head have slight projections, the upper ones 

 containing pear-shaped spaces left unengraved, which doubtless represent 

 the stones or glass pastes that are still found on the St. Nicholas speci- 

 men (fig. 6) and others from Norfolk. The lower part has three lobes 

 enclosing similar spaces and is joined to the head by a bow on which is 

 a circular stud, while from the top of the bow to the lower lobe runs a 

 ridge that has been considered an Anglo-Saxon characteristic. The 

 surface decoration consists of the heads and limbs of grotesque animals 

 constantly met with in that period, but an unusual feature of the Ragley 

 brooch is the occurrence of the perfect quadruped with the head turned 

 backward and the jaws gaping. Here and there also occurs what is 

 usually regarded as a rude representation of the human face. 



It is possible that this large square-headed type, of which the 

 Ragley brooch is the best specimen in this country, is of Mercian 

 origin, 4 but more discoveries of the kind can alone settle the question. 

 Examples from unburnt burials at Chessell Down, Isle of Wight, and at 

 Brooke and Kenninghall, Norfolk, seem to be exceptional, and may well 

 belong to the period of Mercian supremacy in both districts dating from 

 the middle of the seventh century. 7 



1 Journal of British Jnbitokgical Association, new ser. (1899), v. 346. 

 1 Neville, Saxon Obsequies, pi. 8. Both in British Museum. 



* Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire, Northants. 

 8 Sven Soderberg, Prahistorische Blatter (1894), fig. 10. 



1 This and several Isle of Wight types have, however, been found at Herpes, Dept. Charente, 

 France. 1 Victoria History of Norfolk, i. 345. 



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