Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/117

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

The Archaeological Journal.


JUNE, 1854.


ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY EXCAVATED, JANUARY, 1853.

BY THE HON. RICHARD C. NEVILLE, F.S.A. V.P.

The mound which contained this cemetery is situated on the property of Pembroke College, Cambridge, formerly part of Linton Heath, Cambridgeshire, and in that parish. The village of Linton is distant two miles from the spot, which is close to the small hamlet of Bartlow, on the borders of Essex, and commands a view of the well-known tumuli at that place. Sunken Church field, in Hadstock parish, the site of Roman buildings, is also visible from the side of the hill on which it is situated. This slopes from north to south, and is bounded on the former point, at the distance of a mile, by the Roman Way, from Worsted Lodge to Horseheath, called the Wool Street; on the east, by the road from the latter place to Bartlow; on the south, by the road to Linton; and on the west, by the unenclosed portions of the old heath. The mound, within the recollection of the tenant, had been of considerable elevation, but had become so much levelled by the plough as to be scarcely visible above the surrounding soil, and it was difficult to distinguish its limits; its shape appeared oblong, and the measurement, as nearly as could be ascertained, was, from N.E. to S.W. 160 feet long; from E. to W., greatest width, 85 feet. On the 3rd of January, four labourers commenced trenching the ground regularly from the southern end, and soon came upon the first of the graves. Of the subsequent investigation, the subjoined relation is a regular journal.

Monday, January 3. Skeleton, No. 1.—4 feet deep. No reliques found with the deposit. This grave was cut