A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE deceased. Two bronze brooches of the radiated type, just over three inches long, are such as most commonly occur in Kent but are of con- tinental manufacture, and, as imported articles, are occasionally found in other parts of England, as for instance in Hunts, 1 Cambs, 2 Suffolk and Lines.* What was described as part of an elliptical buckle is probably a brooch of Roman make, set originally with a large stud of glass paste in imitation of a carbuncle. The dimensions agree with those of a specimen from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Long Wittenham, Berks, and now in the British Museum ; while what was apparently a circular example of similar character has been found in Warwickshire, and can also be paralleled in the national collection. These may be regarded as survivals from the Roman period of a pattern that the Saxon peoples did their best to imitate ; but a remarkable specimen of native art came to light in the same grave, and has been published in the Arcbaologia, vol. xliv. pi. xviii. This is a bronze brooch 7 inches long, with the front originally gilt and the ornament in relief much clearer than is generally the case. It is of the square-headed variety, which is mostly confined to the Midlands* but also occurs in Norfolk and the Isle of Wight, while on the continent it is common in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as in south-west Germany. The ornament shows that the English specimen is as usual comparatively late, and exhibits a remarkable falling off from the best and earliest specimen attributed to the early part of the sixth century. 8 The four angles of the head have slight projections, the upper ones containing pear-shaped spaces left unengraved, which doubtless represent the stones or glass pastes that are still found on the St. Nicholas speci- men (fig. 6) and others from Norfolk. The lower part has three lobes enclosing similar spaces and is joined to the head by a bow on which is a circular stud, while from the top of the bow to the lower lobe runs a ridge that has been considered an Anglo-Saxon characteristic. The surface decoration consists of the heads and limbs of grotesque animals constantly met with in that period, but an unusual feature of the Ragley brooch is the occurrence of the perfect quadruped with the head turned backward and the jaws gaping. Here and there also occurs what is usually regarded as a rude representation of the human face. It is possible that this large square-headed type, of which the Ragley brooch is the best specimen in this country, is of Mercian origin, 4 but more discoveries of the kind can alone settle the question. Examples from unburnt burials at Chessell Down, Isle of Wight, and at Brooke and Kenninghall, Norfolk, seem to be exceptional, and may well belong to the period of Mercian supremacy in both districts dating from the middle of the seventh century. 7 1 Journal of British Jnbitokgical Association, new ser. (1899), v. 346. 1 Neville, Saxon Obsequies, pi. 8. Both in British Museum.
- Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire, Northants.
8 Sven Soderberg, Prahistorische Blatter (1894), fig. 10. 1 This and several Isle of Wight types have, however, been found at Herpes, Dept. Charente, France. 1 Victoria History of Norfolk, i. 345. 266
