Page:VCH Leicestershire 1.djvu/308

 A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE Chester to Derby may be those of the earliest Anglo-Saxons to enter the district, but unfortunately there is nothing to suggest a more precise date ; and while some of the Roman remains may possibly date from the fifth century, it should be pointed out that nothing distinctively Anglo-Saxon has been found in Leicestershire older than the sixth. Two small but costly relics from the southern border of the county remain to be described. A jewelled brooch of considerable interest was found with human bones at the end of the eighteenth century in gravel-digging at some point between Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire and Welford, Northants, which are two miles apart. As the county boundary runs nearer the latter, the discovery probably took place to the north, and is so indicated on the map. The jewel (coloured plate, fig. 4) has been illustrated twice in the Gentleman 's Magazine** and worthily presented in colours by Akerman. 60 The late Sir Henry Dryden made a drawing of it now among his papers at Northampton, and called it ' the Naseby brooch ' ; but no particulars of the discovery are given in the sale catalogue of the Baker collec- tion (1842) to which he refers, and the name may be a simple error, as Naseby occurs on the line above. An alternative explanation is suggested by the following quotation from the magazine already mentioned (1800, p. 121): 'it seems to have been found in or very near the route of retreat of part of Charles I's army to Leicester after the defeat in Naseby Field, 14 June, 1645.' When found the pin was evidently in place, lying across the opening in the centre, and the brooch belongs STUD, WIBTOFT to the annular type generally made of bronze, but an elaborately (1) engraved specimen in silver is preserved from Sarre, Kent. 61 The front is of gold ornamented with filigree and four pearl bosses each set with a slab of garnet, and is fastened with gold wire to a thin plate of silver forming the base. The other piece of jewellery referred to was formerly in the collection of Mr. Bloxam of Rugby and is now preserved in the School Art Museum. It was said to have been found near the town and has therefore been described under Warwickshire ; 6S but when exhibited to the Archaeological Institute at Worcester in 1862, it was catalogued" as coming from Wibtoft, on the Watling Street, which there divides the two counties. It consists of a gold stud now somewhat damaged, with the centre ornamented in quad- rants, and garnets inlaid in imbricated and step patterns, while the edge has oblong pieces of the same stones. This jewelled boss was probably intended to ornament a circular brooch, a buckle, or even a cup," and may have been subsequently attached as a pommel to a sword-hilt, as rough holes at the bottom and at two opposite points on the rim show that an unskilled hand had fastened it by means of a wire or metal band. As immovable objects, such as stone carvings or details of architecture, are reserved for treatment elsewhere, the list of Anglo-Saxon finds in the county is now completed, and tells a fairly consistent story. Tentative dates 49 1800, p. 121, pi. iii, fig. i, and 1815, p. 209, pi. ii, fig. 4 ; see also de Baye, Industrial Arts, pi. ix, fig. 5 ; Arch. Journ. xi, 59 ; and V.C.H. 'Northants,, 254. 60 Pagan Saxondom, pi. xxxii, fig. 2. " V.C.H. Kent, i. V.C.H. War*,., 254. " Arch. Journ. xix. 279. 64 Compare the Kentish jewellery, the Taplow buckle, and the Ardagh chalice. 240