ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS at the present day. Such, indeed, existed on Farthing Down, Surrey, when the Anglo-Saxon cemetery there was explored in 1871,' but sporadic burials were, perhaps, indicated by circular mounds of larger dimensions, as in the Bronze Age. The working of the pit had brought to light swords and other objects before any deliberate search for burials was undertaken, and the natural weathering of the pit-face, especially after frost, gave Mr. Crowther-Beynon a hint as to the nature of the site. As a resident in the adjoining village of Edith Weston since 1894 he has had opportunities for collecting information from the workmen and adding to his own collection of antiquities, but unfortunately has not been permitted to conduct a systematic exploration of the site. It is probable that the folk buried in this ground lived in the village which derived its present name from Queen Edith, daughter of Earl Godwin and wife of Edward the Confessor, land in Rutland forming part of her marriage portion. ^/.. . The earliest record of Anglo-Saxon finds on the site was contributed by Mrs. Morris to the Stamford Mercury^ 1863,* from which it appears that skeletons were found on Mr. Morris' ground, some at a depth of 1 8 in. and others at five or six feet below the surface, placed in some cases only i ft. apart, and each covered with a flat stone about sixteen inches square. Two cinerary urns, which when found contained sand and dark-coloured earth, lay at a depth of six or seven feet, and their position suggests that they belonged to the earliest period of the cemetery, though the workmen's investigations and statements were too indefinite to prove this point. Bronze brooches, tweezers, and other toilet articles, iron swords, knives, and shield-bosses, glass beads, and miscellaneous objects were also found in association with skeletons, and even gold is mentioned in the list, but this is probably a mistake for gilt bronze, which is by no means uncommon. Discoveries of brooches and beads in May 1863 showed that some at least of the burials were 3 ft. deep, apparently on the top of the sand, which lies 3 ft. to 5 ft. from the surface. Special reference is made in the account to urns of rough hand-made earthen- ware (fig. 3), and to a battle-axe from an adjoining pit on Lord Aveland's property. This weapon is of the ' francisca ' type (used for throwing), rarely found in this country, and points to a Prankish origin,^ as does also an incised vase of Merovingian form ' in the collection of Mrs. Morris. Still more remarkable, however, is the discovery of two iron arrow-heads still in the possession of Mrs. Morris, who has kindly allowed their repro- duction here (see fig. i). The bow was rarely used by the pagan Anglo- Saxons, but arrow-heads, now preserved at the Tower of London, were found in the cemetery on Chessell Down, Isle of Wight, with a bow about five feet ' V.C.H. Surr. i, 265.
- Reprinted in Genl. Maz. 1863, ii, 34 ; Gent. Mag. Lib. 'Archaeology,' pt. ii, 188.
^ F.C.H. Surr. i, 260 (three found at Croydon).
- A plain, but otherwise similar, vase has been found at Toddington {F.C.H. Beds, i, 185). It lay at
the head of a woman's grave. I 97 13 Fig. I. — Iron Arrow-heads, Cemetery, North Luf- FENHAM (^)
