

ANGLO-SAXON 

 REMAINS 



districts occupied by the Teutonic invaders of Britain in the 

 sixth century are approximately defined by sepulchral relics re- 

 covered from the soil. Such discoveries are, in the nature of 

 things, accidental, and are generally due to workmen, who are 

 seldom at the pains to ensure a complete record of the finds. Much valuable 

 material has been lost in this way, and doubtless many areas at present un- 

 productive only await excavation to fill up gaps in our knowledge of the 

 period ; but it may be taken for granted that where, in spite of all hindrances, 

 much of the kind has been discovered the pagan population was comparatively 

 dense. The converse is not so safe a rule, but negative evidence may be some- 

 times corroborated by a consideration of the geographical features, as the early 

 Anglo-Saxon settlers were all on the same level of culture, and would have 

 the same preferences in the matter of soil and situation. To such arguments 

 may be added the few indications in history or tradition as to the origins of 

 England, but it must be confessed that for most of the English counties early 

 records are either wanting or open to more than one interpretation, and it is 

 now only in the domain of archaeology that there is any hope of fuller 

 information. 



The present county owes its geographical limits to the political arrange- 

 ments of the later Saxon period, when England had become a kingdom ; but 

 as most of the remains to be considered in this chapter are clearly of the pagan 

 period, the present boundaries must be disregarded in favour of certain 

 archaeological and physical divisions. Further, for the period in question, 

 the coalfields and potteries may be neglected, though during the Roman 

 occupation coal was evidently used for fuel, and the clays of this neighbour- 

 hood were used for pottery. 1 A pastoral and agricultural people would 

 naturally settle in the vicinity of rivers, which, indeed, offered one of the 

 easiest roads into the interior before the primeval forests were cleared or the 

 marsh lands drained. 



The accompanying map, which aims at locating all the authentic Anglo- 

 Saxon discoveries of the pagan period, makes it clear that the earliest Teutonic 

 settlements fall into two main groups, on the north and east of the present 

 county. Except for the south Staffordshire coalfield, practically all south of 

 Cheadle and Stone is Triassic formation, consisting of the Keuper and Bunter 

 beds, which are peculiarly productive of forest. Such, for instance, is the 



1 Hence the name ' Salopian ' applied by Thos. Wright and others to pottery found on the Roman site of 

 Uriconium (Wroxeter), and probably manufactured in the vicinity of Broseley. 



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