Celtic influence is afforded by the dotted or punctured ornament which is carried round the whole of the penannular armlets, a species of decoration which is found on enamelled horse-trappings of undoubtedly late Celtic character.
A gold bracelet or armlet with a snake-like termination, found at Newport Pagnel,[1]and now in the British Museum, is unquestionably of Roman workmanship.
White Crosses at Monks Risborough and Bledlow
These two gigantic cruciform figures cut in the turf on the steep sides of the Chiltern Hills in the neighbourhood of Monks Risborough and Bledlow are of great antiquity, and may perhaps belong to prehistoric times.
These crosses cut in the chalk present certain features which offer striking parallels to the White Horses and Long Men in other parts of the kingdom. That all these hill-side figures are of great antiquity may be inferred from the fact that popular tradition assigns them to the Saxons, and in some cases associates them with battles fought by that race. An examination of the forms both of the animals and men tends, however, to show that they belong to an earlier period. The horses, especially in the case of the famous example at Uffington, display a remarkable resemblance to the animals portrayed on ancient British coins.[2]
Whether the Buckinghamshire crosses may be regarded as still retaining their original forms, or as having been modified in order to conform to Christian ideas, must, in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, be pronounced uncertain; but having regard to the unquestionably symbolic character of the Long Man of Cerne Abbas, Dorset, and probably too that of Wilmington, Sussex, the evidence seems to be in favour of the theory that the Buckinghamshire crosses are modifications of purely phallic forms.
Apart from any specially symbolic meaning, these crosses resemble the other hill-side figures in (1) their colossal forms, in (2) being situated on a steep hill-side visible over a large area of country, and in (3) facing generally in a western or north-western direction.
The cross at Whiteleaf, to the east of Monks Risborough, which stands out on the hill-side so prominently that it is said to be visible from a distance of thirty miles, is shown in the accompanying plans. The perpendicular stem or shaft of the cross, apart from the triangular base, is over 80 ft. in height, and 80 ft. across. Its stem and cross-limbs are a little over 20 ft. in breadth.
The cross near Bledlow, which has been cut on a prominent spur of the Chiltern Hills, is less striking from its somewhat smaller size and more grass-covered condition. Its form, apparently, has been somewhat
- ↑ The Archæological Journal, vol. viii. p. 39.
- ↑ Particulars of the hill-side monuments of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire may be found in (l) A letter to Dr. Mead, by Francis Wise, 1738; (2) Further observations upon the White Horse, by Francis Wise, 1742; and (3) in Lipscomb's History of the County of Buckingham, vol. ii.
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