An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Orpington

AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON FmsT INTERIM REPORT By P. J. TESTER, F.S.A. SIN0E July 1965 excavations have been taking place at Fordcroft, close to the boundary between Orpington and St. Mary Cray, on a small area of land adjoining Poverest Road near its junction with the main route from Sidcup to Sevenoaks (A224). This work has been sponsored by Orpington Museum under authority of the London Borough of Bromley to whom the site belongs. Evidence of Roman occupation has been discovered and also a considerable number of burials forming part of a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery. This is of particular interest as, hitherto, no well-authenticated archreological evidence of early Anglo-Saxon occupation along the course of the River Cray has been recorded, though the neighbouring valley of the Darent has produced notable remains of that age. Excavation will be continued until the site is thoroughly investigated, and the present report describes the results obtained up to the autumn of 1966. All the finds are retained at Orpington Museum. AOKNOWLEDGMENTS Permission for the excavation was given by the site-owners, the London Borough of Bromley, who also provided a mechanical excavator to remove surface rubble. Mrs. M. Bowen, B.A., Curator of Orpington Museum, has been responsible for much of the organization, as well as participating in the digging and dealing with the finds. Mr. A. C. Hart has made the photographic record and also the drawings of the gravegoods (Figs. 4-11). He and Mrs. Hart have given most valuable assistance in the excavation from its commencement. Mr. H. R. Robinson, F.S.A., has cleaned the sword and some of the other iron objects, and Mr. B. D. Glynn, B.D.S., L.D.S., provided a dental report which has been valuable in determining individual ages of some of the skeletons. Anatomical information was supplied by Dr. C. Carter, B.l\L, M.R.C.P., Dr. D. B. Harden reported on the glass, and Dr.J. N. L. Myres supplied notes on the pottery. Animal bones from Grave 38 were identified by the British Museum (Natural History). Those who gave consistent help with the digging in the first two seasons include: Mesdames B. N. Banks, E. D. Hart, A. E. Highland, 125 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON D. J. Rylands, R. M. Tester, E. Whitehorn; Misses G. Hoggarth, A. Robinson, M. E. and A. F. Tester; Messrs. A. H. A. Banks, R. G. and S. W. Banks, D. C. Lyne, R. M. Lyne, P. Rylands, J. Taylor, R. H. C. Taylor and K. P. Whitehorn. :Mr. B. D. Stoyel, the former K.A.S. Local Secretary for Orpington, assisted in initiating the excavation and gave active help until his departure from the district at the end of the first season. To these and all others who have assisted in various ways with the investigation the writer expresses his grateful appreciation. THE SITE This consists of a plot of land, about an eighth of an acre in extent, lying between Poverest Road and Bellefield Road, and made vacant by the demolition of a terrace of Victorian brick cottages. Two sides of the quadrilateral area (north-east and south-west) are formed by the roads, and the other two by remaining houses and their rear premises (O.S. l : 2500 Plan TQ 4667, National Grid Reference 46786758). When inspected in June, 1965, the site presented a dreary and unpromising appearance, overgrown with weeds and littered with rubbish. However, it was known that about twenty years previously when a service trench was dug opposite this point in Bellefield Road, a considerable quantity of Roman pottery was found by the workmen, as recorded by the late :Mr. A. Eldridge in Arch. Oant., Ix, 101. At that time it was thought that these finds related to a Roman building which might have stood in the immediate vicinity, and it was in order to test this theory that trial digging was commenced in July, 1965. From the commencement large quantities of Roman material came to light but no foundations of a building. As work progressed, part of an Anglo-Saxon cremation pot was found, and near it several inhumation burials of the same age. It thus became apparent that we had had the good fortune to light by chance upon an .Anglo-Saxon cemetery and from that time the search for further burials became the main object of the investigation. The present suburban setting of the site is the product of the last hundred years. Previously it had been agricultural land lying between the villages of Orpington and St. Mary Cray, the River Cray, flowing from its source half a mile to the south, passing within 200 yards of the site of our discoveries. The subsoil here is mainly brick-earth, a sandy clay (probably re-deposited Tertiary material) resting on Flood Plain gravel covering the floor of the valley. A spot height in Poverest Road marked on the 0.S. map gives the level as 156 ft. above O.D. The medieval churches of Orpington and St. Mary Cray are three-quarters of a mile south and half a mile north respectively. Just over half a mile to the west lay the farmstead of Poverest, a name which can be traced 126 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON back as far as the early fourteenth century.1 Otherwise the site is not in close proximity to any long-established settlement. The use of the name Fordcroft in association with this locality is of some antiquity and occurs in the will of John Manning of St. Mary Cray who died in 1583.2 EVIDENCE OF ROMA.NO-BRITISH OcoUPATION Excavation revealed in the south part of the site a continuous thin layer of flint rubble about 2 ft. from the modern surface. On this and in the overlying soil was a scatter of Roman material consisting of broken roof-tiles, pottery, coins and other small objects. This evidence of R.-B. occupation continued beyond the flint area into all parts of the site so far investigated. Details will be published separately in due course and at this stage it will suffice to state that the flint spread is tentatively identified as the metalling of a yard possibly related to a Roman dwelling not so far located and probably lying outside the area available for excavation. No mortar occurred on the flints which suggests that they do not in themselves represent debris from a destroyed building. Pottery and coins indicate continuous occupation from the late first to the fourth centuries. Several Roman pits have been examined. A large one on the north side towards Poverest Road contained considerable quantities of second-century pottery including samian ware. The course of a ditch, found to contain several complete Roman vessels, is also shown on the accompanying site-plan. ANGLO-SAXON BURIALS In the first two seasons' work 16 cremations and 29 inhumation burials have been examined. Cremated remains in pottery vessels were interspersed among the inhumation graves without any evidence to suggest that the two rites were practised otherwise than contemporaneously. The cremation pots had evidently been set in shallow holes and had in many instances suffered damage from later ploughing and similar disturbance. It is now difficult to determine the original surface-level before the Victorian cottages were built, and the site has a general build-up of about a foot of debris resulting from their demolition. Original depths of graves are therefore difficult to establish and where stated in this report were measured from the present surface which may well be higher than formerly. Most of the graves were dug so that the head of the corpse pointed roughly westward. Others were placed with the head to the approximate south, and graves of both orientations were intermingled and sometimes intersected. Some had been dug through the Roman flint 1 J. K. Wallenberg, The Place-Names of Kent (1934), 29. 2 Foordcrojt. Prerogative Court of Canterbury. 26 Rowe, 1583. 1􀀃7 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON spread, or metalling, and the soil in which the burials had been made varied from dirty gravel to clean sand or clay. In many oases the dark soil of the grave-filling was distinguishable from the lighter subsoil and the outline of the grave could be observed. Most were roughly rectangular with rounded corners, but there were several of less regular form. Many of the skeletons were very decayed and the anatomical evidence obtainable from them is scanty, though teeth and long-bones, where sufficiently preserved, have supplied information regarding age and height. Men's graves, identified as such by associated weapons, showed much less skeletal decay than those of women and children. Most of the burials so far examined have lain within the actual area of the demolished cottages in Poverest Road and it is remarkable that so little damage was done to them by the building and demolition. Some elderly folk who still live locally once inhabited these dwellings and the revelation that they had for years unknowingly lived with crowded skeletons a slight depth below their floors has provoked lively and amusing comments when they have visited the recent excavations. NOTES ON THE SITE-PLAN {Fig. 1) The accompanying plan shows the relative positions of Burials 1 to 58 examined during the first three seasons' work. When the rest of the site has been excavated, an enlarged plan, including the area to the south, will be published as part of a later report. Several features of the provisional plan call for comment. The Roman ditch and large pit were not visible on the surface but were traced by excavation. Abundant Roman pottery came from their filling and also from a small pit {marked P) just south of Burials 10 and ll. Some of the Anglo-Saxon graves were dug into the filling of both the ditch and the larger pit. Two other small pits are marked, one north of Grave 5 and the other south of 42. The former was a foot in diameter and 3½ ft. deep, the contents being dark soil with flint nodules, part of a Roman imbrex, and also an ox jaw. The other small pit was similar in size but contained no dating evidence. Over the foot of Grave 43 the filling was sealed by part of a hearth of burnt clay. It extended under the building which forms the east side of the site and its further investigation is therefore impossible. A few sherds of medieval pottery were in association, including a flanged rim of o. 1300. No other indications of medieval occupation were found elsewhere on the site, so the association of these sherds with the hearth is significant. It is to be observed that although digging was extended right up to the south side of Povereet Road there was found to be a broad strip immediately adjoining and parallel to it which contained no graves. 128 􀀈 51􀀆--- .,,,..... '. 􀀇 0 ..... -54 '"----- POVEREST \ I I- - ------ 􀀄 ::-;a::: 􀀉 - - 491, \ ' ' ·. .r.., ! -- ---o--- -< 􀀆39 􀀇-2) ::--:P--- --z-- -- - .J 􀀃:::􀀄 - :: 47 􀀄- -:: 45 -_o-_ ..- -•50 ROAD 􀀈 42 -- --¼- sa 􀀏 '􀀐 c-----'° 􀀑 .. •52 0 10 =-"= - ---􀀊/, Q P I \ ----. 􀀘􀀙􀀚lll'::ll-􀀛---􀀜-----••.--􀀝20FT. 1 1 􀀞􀀟-:Y-i::.:-s;.;,) ·-·-·--􀀏 I·-·-·-·-·- 􀀒􀀓:-􀀔::>'! N FIG. 1. Anglo-Sa Ce ·-·-·-·-·-___ ; \ xon metecy at O rpi n gton. Provisional Site-plan . .,,,_ AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON This seems to show that the northward extent of the cemetery has been reached. Proba.bly more graves lie under No. 17 Poverest Road, and they certainly do under the buildings to the east, as a spearhead a.nd skull were found by the owner when he made an inspection-pit in his garage floor. Roman material has been found in trial digging in the area immediately south of that covered by the present site-plan and it is anticipated that more Anglo-Saxon burials will come to light there also. DESCRIPTION OF THE BURIALS AND ASS0OIATJ!lD OBJECTS In the following notes the burials are numbered to accord with the site-plan (Fig. 1). Unless otherwise stated the skeletons were lying on their backs looking upwards or with the head turned to right or left, the arms to the sides. Right and left are used from the skeleton's position and not the observer's. Thus 'Spear by the right side of the skull' means on the observer's left when looking down into the grave from its foot. Some of the objects described are not figured owing to their severely corroded or incomplete condition. 1. Cremation burial. Part of the base of pot of typical Anglo-Saxon hand-made fabric, apparently inserted in upper filling of Grave 6. Inside, attached to the bottom, was a small quantity o f burnt bones surrounding an unidentifiable iron object, possibly a small toilet utensil or knife. 2. Incomplete skeleton of woman, age about 30. Head to southeast, leg bones destroyed by Grave 3. (a) Iron knife, close to right humerus, point towards head of grave (Fig. 4). (b) Glass armlet (Fig. 4). One fragment in situ beneath right humerus indicating that it was worn just above the elbow. Other joining fragments were found scattered in the lower grave filling, the damage being due no doubt to ploughing over the shallow grave. Dark olive-green glass with large patches and streaks of amber colour and a few small patches of bluish-green. External diameter about 3 in. The interior wall is fiat and unpolished, showing the characteristic roughened surface left by casting in a mould or modelling on a core; the exterior wall is smoother, though the surface is dulled. On the exterior, just inside each rounded edge, or rim, there are continuous single bands of rouletting, consisting of a broken line of dashes, each about fo in. long. Between these rouletted lines the surface is divided vertically by pairs of parallel lines composed of dashes ¼ in. apart. Each line has 6 or 7 dashes, perhaps made with comb-like implements with pointed teeth. Between each pair of lines is a four-petalled 'flower' which may have been made with a single-leaf stamp impressed four 130 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON times for each 'flower', or with a four-leaf stamp, perhaps the former, since the 'flowers' seem not to be exactly uniform in shape. The complete armlet would have contained 10 of these flowers. Dr. D. B. Harden has commented: 'I would suppose that the bangle was drawn out in a flattish band from a gob of warm glass on to a hot cylindrical core, probably of iron. The ornaments would presumably be impressed or rouletted while the glass remained warm and in situ on the hot core. When the core cooled and contracted the glass could be removed easily and itself finished by very gradual cooling in an annealing chamber.' Other examples of these rare glass armlets have come from Chessel Down (Isle of Wight), Malling Hill (near Lewes), Milton Regis and Chatham Lines (Kent). Miss Vera I. Evison states that they are not later than early- to middle-fifth century and probably originated in the Meuse valley.a 3. Skeleton of man, age 30 or over. Height approximately 5 ft. 8 in. Depth of grave from modern surface 3 ft. 9 in. (a) Spearhead, on left side of skull (Fig. 10). (b) Shield-boss, on pelvis. Hand-grip in form of thin iron strip with traces of wood adhering, similar to Fig. 11, 36b. Boss secured to wood of shield by five bronze disc-headed rivets with traces of tin or silver coating. Button of boss of same form and material as rivet-heads (Fig. 11). (c) Four iron studs, disposed in line passing through boss. The inner pair were under the boss; the others l½ ft. apart. These were obviously associated ,vith the shield though their precise function in regard to its construction is uncertain. (cl) Iron knife, on left side of waist, point towards head. Length 6·2 in. (e) Iron buckle, at centre of body above pelvis (Fig. 4). 4. Skeleton of woman, very poorly preserved. Height about 5 ft. Grave 3 ft. deep in dirty gravel. (a) Bronze disc-brooch, worn on right side of chest (Fig. 4). Decoration of concentric inscribed circles and punched triangles which contain traces of tin or silver. Remains of iron pin. A close parallel from Bifrons is figured in Arch. Gant., x, 302; now in Maidstone Museum and there dated c. A.D. 500. (b) Bronze disc-brooch, found a few inches below the chin. Decorated with concentric inscribed circles and faint traces of punched ornament round perimeter; iron pin (Fig. 4). (c) Small bronze b-uckle with iron tongue. Lying near outside of right femur (Fig. 4). 8 V. I. Evison, Fifth-Century Invasi 32b Fro. 6, Objoots from Graves 26, 29 and 32 (i-), 140 32a a.c.H. 1968. l. AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON (vii) same material as (i), blue lines on white body; (iii), (viii) and (xiii) plain pinkish-brown paste; (iv) plain green paste; (ix) dark-blue glass; (x) yellow paste with green lines; (xi) lemon-yellow paste; (xii) very corroded grey substance; (xiv) amber. (b) Two pierced Roman coins, evidently worn as ornaments. One, of Allectus, occurred at the centre of body; the other, of Constantine the Great, 6 in. from it towards foot. From their positions it is doubtful if these coins were threaded on the same strand as the beads and they may have been attached to the front of the child's clothing (Fig. 6). (i) lE. Allectus (A.D. 293-296). Rad. bust to rt. IMP C ALLEC(TVS) AVG. Rev. A galley. VIRTVS AVG. Mint-mark QC (Colchester). (ii) JE. Constantine the Great. Helmeted bust rt. CONSTAN(TlNVS A VG). Rev. Altar (probably inscribed VOTIS XX) BEATA TRANQVILLITAS. Probably minted at Treves, C. A.D. 317. 33. Skull of infant, age l½ to 2 years. Head to south but outline of grave and traces of other bones not readily apparent. No grave goods. 34. Cremation burial. Pot of grey ware, with much evidence of burnt-out chaff-tempering. Dr. Myres considers it 'fairly early' and likens it to others associated with objects of c. A.D. 500. Contents of burnt bones (Fig. 3). 35. Skeleton of woman, age about 35. Height approximately 5 ft. 6 in. Depth of grave 2 ft. 6 in. (a) Spindle-whorl, made from the base of a brownish, wheel-turned Roman pot. Lying just inside top of right femur (Fig. 7). (b) Buckle, with iron loop and bronze attachment-plate, at centre of body on waist-line, tongue to right (Fig. 7). (c) Iron implement with ring for suspension, lying on right side of chest (Fig. 7). It resembles a simple type of Roman key. Of. two from Sarre figured in Arch. Cant., v, 312. (d) Knife, lying across (c), point towards right shoulder (Fig. 7). (e) Knife, found in filling slightly above floor of grave on left side of skull (Fig. 7). 36'. (Plate III.) Skeleton of man, age 25-30. Height about 5 ft. 8 in. Legs crossed at ankles. (a) Iron sword, 2 ft. 10½ in. long, lying on left arm, point level with middle of thigh (Fig. 10). (b) Shield-boss, placed high on chest. Flat, iron grip with considerable remains of textile attached, evidently remains of the warrior's clothing5 (Fig. 11). 6 It is hoped to include in a later report fuller details of this and other fragments of textiles adhering to grave-goods. These will be submitted for expert examination in due course. 141 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON 35a 􀀂·􀀃 I ..1tMJr:;,.􀀉-----v'i11""''7 Flo. 7. Objects from Grave 35 (f-). 142 35b 35e O.C.H. 196$. AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON (c) SmaU bronze buckle with iron tongue, found under boss (Fig. 8). (d) Knife, lying with tip of blade just under chin and pointing right (Fig. 8). 37. Skeleton of man, age 35-40. Height about 5 ft. 11 in. (a) Spearhead, by right elbow, the unusual position implying a shaft not more than 3½ ft. long. Remains of wood in socket (Fig. 10). (b) Shield-boss, covering top of left femur (Fig. 11). (c) Knife, point towards skull, lying at waist-level on left side of body. Length 6 ·2 in. 38. Skeleton of man, age 20-30. Height about 6 ft. Depth of grave 2 ft. 10 in. On the knees were laid animal bones identified as the fragmentary atlas and pelvis of a horse. (a) Spearhe,ad, by left shoulder; no trace of wood in socket, in contrast to every other spearhead from this cemetery in which clear remains of the shaft are visible (Fig. 10). (b) Shield-boss, on left side of chest. Iron grip with turned-up sides (Fig. 11). (c) Knife, covered by boss (Fig. 8). 39. Skeleton of woman, poorly preserved, age undetermined. Height about 4 ft. 9 in. Depth of grave 1 ft. 10 in., dug across line of filled Roman ditch. (a) Pair of identical bronze saucer-brooches (only one illustrated). One on right shoulder, the other under chin. Central motif resembling swastika or four running legs, of Roman derivation; iron pin (Fig. 8). Other examples of this type of saucer-brooch have come from Broadway Hill (Worcester),6 Broughton Poggs (Oxford),7 and Horton Kirby (Kent).8 (b) D-shaped bronze buckle of Roman type, on pelvis, iron tongue to right (Fig. 8). (c) Bronze key, at waist on left side. Very Roman in appearance (Fig. 8). (d) Small corroded iron object in contact with (c) and possibly also a key. Traces of textile adhering (Fig. 8). 40. Skeleton of adult, probably female. Height about 5 ft. Head slightly raised on flints. Right hand on pelvis; left forearm across waist. (a) Knife, lying on left forearm near elbmv. 41. (Plate IV.) Skeleton of girl, age about 13. Height approximately 4 ft. 6 in. Left femur displaced and lying across right. (a) Bronze-giU bull-On-brooch, on left clavicle, decorated with crudely executed human face (Fig. 8). Of. two examples from grave at Chatham Linea.9 8 Antiquarie8 Journal, xxxviii (1958), 72-3. 7 E.T. Leeds, Early Anglo-Saxon Art and Archmology (1936), 13. 8 A. Meaney, Early Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites (1964), 134. 9 E.T. Leeds, The Archmology of the Ang'lo-Saxon Settlement8 (1913), 107. 143 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON e. . 36c 􀀃/􀀄 ,,,- · /41 a 39a 39b I I I I 030000000001) 􀀂@ @@ 9 i fD a, 41 c a. c.-H.ms. Fm. 8. Objeots from Graves 36, 38, 89 o.nd 41 (!), 144 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON (b) Bronze square-headed brooch, on right shoulder (Fig. 8). Two similar brooches came from the same grave at Chatham Lines referred to above, and their association with mask-brooches there and at Orpington is significant. E.T. Leeds dated the Chatham grave to the second half of the fifth century.lo (c) Thirteen bead,.s, on upper part of body. Fig. 8, left to right: (i)-(v), segmented, grey-green glass; (vi) segmented, dark-blue glass; (vii) and (xi), white body with blue lines, like those from Grave 32; (x), green paste; (viii), (ix), (xii) and (xiii), amber. (d) Knife, at left side of waist (Fig. 9). (e) Iron buckle, on pelvis (Fig. 9). 42. Skeleton of man, age about 30. Height approximately 5 ft. 9 in. (a) Spearhead, on left side of skull with socket on chest (Fig. 10). (b) Shield-boss, on right shoulder, tilted as though shield had been placed on edge at side of grave. (Of. Lyminge, Grave 31, in Arch. Cant., lxix, 22.) Three iron studs in association (Fig. 11). (c) Bronze ring, at waist, slightly right of centre. With it were six small rectangular bronze plates originally joined in pairs by rivets. It is thought the ring may have served as a buckle, the belt being attached by means of the riveted plates. The other end of the belt could have been passed through the ring and knotted (Fig. 9). 43. Skeleton, poorly preserved, probably female. Dental evidence suggests an old person. Height about 4 ft. 6 in. or over. Right arm bent at elbow with forearm across lower part of chest. No grave goods. 44. Leg bones only of skeleton lying at right-angles to Grave 40. All upper part of skeleton destroyed by Grave 40 but two saucer-brooches survived in position where shoulders of body in 44 would have been. (a) Pair of identical bronze-gilt saucer-brooches (only one illustrated) decorated with design of running scrolls (Fig. 9). A close parallel came from Northfleet (now in Maidstone Museum) and has been dated c. A.D. 500.ll Some other published examples came from Oxfordshire,12 Worcestershire,1s Norfolk and Westerwanna in Hanover.14 45. Skeleton of adult, poorly preserved, probably female. Height about 5 ft: (a) Iron buckle, at \Vaist (Fig. 9). (b) Small knife, on left side at waist-level (Fig. 9). (c) Iron purse-mount, lying with knife (Fig. 9). Impression of dried stallcs or similar vegetable matter in the rusted surface. to Ibul.. 11 A. Meaney, op. cit., 131. 12 British Museum, Guide to Anglo-Saa;on Antiquities (1923), 35. 13 Antiquaries Journal, xxxviii (1958), 76. Reference is there me.de to other similar brooches from Mitcham (Surrey), Brighthampton (Oxford) and Frilford (Berks.). 14 E. T. Leeds (1936), op. oit., plate XI. 145 AN ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY AT ORPINGTON • 45a -41e 0 11 e:t 41d I ;- ·􀀇-, • • I ' . :• .. 􀀂􀀃 􀀃-: 42c 44a 45b Fxo. 9. Objects from Graves 41, 42, 44 and 46 (i). 146 ac:ff. t