A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



the museum or elsewhere that it ever contained the products of crema- 

 tion. Nor is the find at Witham a case in point. There was exhibited 

 to the Archaeological Institute 1 in 1844 a collection of objects from the 

 site of an ancient camp there, called Temple Field, at the east end of the 

 town ; but they are evidently not of the same date, and indeed were 

 found in two different spots, three skeletons being taken from a railway 

 cutting, and parts of six urns being turned up by the plough. Bones 

 and ashes were found inside, but the dimensions show these cremation 

 urns to be of prehistoric date ; while the skeletons follow what appears 

 to have been the rule in Essex, though the objects found with them are 

 of an indeterminate character. In the Chelmsford museum are pre- 

 served three pieces of iron from this site, which may be described as 

 spearheads, but of themselves are unsatisfactory evidence of date. 



There is but slender evidence therefore that the rite of burning the 

 dead was ever practised by the East Saxons ; but there is an interesting 

 case in which fire was certainly employed at the funeral, though not in 

 the manner usual with the Anglians. 



This somewhat puzzling discovery was made at Broomfield near 

 Chelmsford, and the following account is based on a paper read to the 

 Society of Antiquaries 2 by Mr. C. H. Read, who was invited by Mr. 

 David Christy, the owner of the property, to undertake the exploration. 

 In digging gravel about 1888 in a pit behind Clobb's Row the men 

 came upon portions of a sword, a spear, knife and other remains about 

 6 or 7 feet below the present surface ; but no particular attention was 

 paid to them or to the site till six years later, when digging was resumed, 

 and it was then found that the northern part of a grave lying east-south- 

 east and west-north-west had been cut away. It was there that the 

 objects already mentioned had been noticed, and these may be described 

 before proceeding to the principal discoveries. 



' The sword, though much broken, is nearly complete, and in one 

 respect is of uncommon make. The decomposition of the iron has 

 preserved a good deal of the wooden sheath, so that the blade itself can 

 only be seen in section, where sword and sheath have been broken across. 

 It is of the usual broad two-edged type, nearly 3 feet in length, the 

 grip being represented, as is generally the case, by the tang only. The 

 peculiar feature is that the upper part of the sheath, for nearly 4 inches 

 from the mouth, is covered with strips of a finely-woven material like 

 tape, bound upon itself from the mouth downwards.' Two other objects 

 of special interest were found, probably in close proximity to the sword. 

 One is of gold (fig. 13, A, B) in the form of a four-sided truncated 

 pyramid, the base being about three-quarters of an inch square. The 

 top and sloping sides are set with slices of garnet or ruby glass backed 

 with chequered gold foil to add to the brilliancy, and enclosed within 

 gold filagree work of a plaited pattern. 



Comparison with a few other specimens of this kind suggests 

 the manner in which these objects may have been used. It is not often 



1 Journal, i. 393 ; Essex Review (1900), ix. 28. 2 Proceedings, xv. 250. 



320 



