104 



Uotcs on §Vittb from a §bmn Interment 

 at § asset J omit. 



By the Rev. E. H. Goddard. 



^jj^Y the kindness of Mr. N. Story Maskelyne, F.B.S., the 

 P resen ^ owner of Basset Down, I have been allowed to 

 make notes and drawings of a very interesting series of Saxon 

 remains, found many years ago at that place, and still in his 

 possession. The house stands, surrounded by gardens and grounds 

 of great beauty, immediately on the northern slope of the chalk 

 marl escarpment, about two miles from "Wroughton. So close is it 

 indeed to the hill that both under the former and present owners 

 large quantities of earth have been moved away from the top and 

 side of the hill in the cutting of numerous walks and paths, and in 

 the formation of the present lawns and the platform in front of the 

 house. It was during one of these operations in the early part of 

 the century that the remains in question were found. The spot 

 seems to have been the summit of the hill immediately behind and 

 to the south of the house, and above what are now the rockwork 

 terraces. The following is the MS. description accompanying the 

 relics, in the handwriting of the late Mrs. Story : — 



" When Mr. Story began lowering the hill at Basset Down in the year 1822, 

 they found a few feet below the summit a number of human skeletons. Shortly 

 afterwards, when they came to the point of land they discovered the skeletons of 

 two young warriors. They had been interred side by side. Each had a portion 

 of a shield, a spear, a knife, fibulse, and a pair of clasps, beside strings of beads, 

 some of which are of amber. A coin was also found, but too imperfect to give 

 the date, and a portion of a spoon. These remains are preserved in this box and 

 the under jaws of each of the two persons. Probably they were the chiefs, and 

 the others the common men who had fallen in some battle near this spot, but of 

 this there are no records. Digging in 1839 further to the west more skeletons 

 like the first were found. 



" 28th July, 1840, Dr. Buckland examined these curiosities. He considers 

 all, especially the clasps, to be Saxon, with the exception of the beads. They are 

 British or Celtic. But as the necklace of a former age may be worn by persons 



