Page:VCH Leicestershire 1.djvu/279

 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS BETWEEN Ratae of the Romans and Leicester of the English lies a gap in our knowledge that may some day be filled by archaeo- logical research and discovery ; but at present there is little or nothing to show what happened in the district between the forests of Charnwood and Rockingham, between Arden and the vale of Belvoir, after the Roman withdrawal, till the latter part of the sixth century, when it was evidently in Teutonic hands. Such is, in short, the result of an examination of the interesting but not too copious remains from the county that are dealt with in this chapter ; but it is important also to consider what is conspicuously absent, and so to give light and shade to what would otherwise be the slightest of sketches. Several of the surrounding counties have been already treated in this series, and comparison with contemporary relics in Derbyshire, Nottingham- shire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire may help to elucidate discoveries in the soil of Leicestershire, as now represented in public and private collections. But a consideration of the county's physical features, in so far as they could direct or influence the advance and settlement of the Anglo- Saxon invader, will guide us in the search for parallel finds and give them additional significance. The western half of the county in ancient times was woodland and practically uninhabited, its geological formation rendering it unattractive to Anglo-Saxon settlers who preferred grazing and agricultural country. Deduc- tions from the map of their settlements may be fallacious, as discoveries have been accidental and imperfectly recorded ; but it is evident that the centre of the eastern half was occupied in some force during the sixth century, and no doubt the south-east district would have attracted a thicker population had it been better watered. The Red Sandstone of the Soar valley, and especially the Lias Clay of the eastern half of the county, rendered this a desirable home for the Middle English, whose wealth in the sixth century consisted almost exclusively of crops and cattle. It is possible that they displaced the previous Romano-British population, which may have retired to the forest west of the Soar ; and it is significant that a considerable amount of nigrescence, indicat- ing non-Teutonic blood, has been noticed in the county. 1 Next in importance to the physical features of the district later known as Leicestershire is the Roman road system that the newcomers found in existence, if not in perfect working order, on their arrival. The Watling 1 Beddoe, Races of Britain, xxiv, 253. 221