A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 
head, which is similar in size and decoration to the lower end, are traces 
of two perforated projections to hold the wire on which was threaded 
the spiral spring of the pin; and the length of the spring associates 
this and the other two examples rather with the brooches of the Danish 
moss-finds than with the specimens commonly found in England, which 
have no spiral but a simple hinge. The ornament too on the Kempston 
brooch, though not so well preserved or executed as that on the Hasling- 
field example, is directly descended from a Roman original and consists 
of floral scrolls. Four other types have been recovered from this site,’ 
and three are illustrated on the plate. Perhaps the most characteristic 
are of circular form (figs. 11, 13), with a thin embossed gilt plate attached 
by cement to a bronze plate, which constitutes the base of the brooch 
and holds the pin and catch. Round the edge is a vertical band of 
bronze which serves to retain the cement and the ornamented face in 
position, though it is often itself found detached. A specimen of un- 
usual size, 23 inches in diameter, was exhibited to the Society of Anti- 
quaries” in 1865, but the average diameter for brooches of this ‘applied’ 
type is 24 to 3 inches. As regards its origin, it should be observed 
that practically all the Saxon and Anglian brooches of the pagan period, 
as opposed to the jewelled specimens from Kent, are made all in one 
piece, while the type in question is formed of three metal parts in 
addition to the hinge-pin at the back. 
The embossed design on the Kempston specimens is generally in 
the form of a cross or star with human faces rudely delineated at the 
end of or between the arms (figs. 11, 13). It is unlikely that such a 
complicated pattern was a Teutonic invention of that time, and it may 
be possible to trace its beginnings to the late Roman period when models 
must have existed for such examples as those published from Gloucester- 
shire and Neufchatel, Seine-Inférieure.* 
The second type, hardly less common at Kempston, is one that 
seems closely connected with the early occupants of the upper Thames 
valley, and there is sufficient historical evidence that this was one of the 
principal seats of the West Saxons. ‘The ‘saucer’ brooch (figs. 6, 7) is 
generally smaller than the ‘applied’ variety just described, and has an 
average diameter of 14 to 2 inches. It is made all in one piece, and 
consists of a concave disc of fairly stout bronze, with the face gilt and 
incised with simple geometrical designs such as stars and scrolls, or 
with rude representations of the human features (fig. 6). Diminutive 
specimens, sometimes known as ‘ button’ brooches and almost invariably 
engraved with the human face, are found in the Jutish districts of Kent 
and the Isle of Wight, also occasionally in Wiltshire and Berkshire, and 
a pair occurred in the Kempston cemetery, but must be regarded as ex- 
ceptional, though their design seems to have been copied on somewhat 
larger examples here. 
A comparatively large number of a type with a small bow and 
© Proc, Soc. Antig. ser. 2, ii. 421. 2 Ibid. iii. 97. 
3 Figured in Proc. Soc. Antig. iv. 38 and 237 respectively. 
189 
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