A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE head, which is similar in size and decoration to the lower end, are traces of two perforated projections to hold the wire on which was threaded the spiral spring of the pin ; and the length of the spring associates this and the other two examples rather with the brooches of the Danish moss-finds than with the specimens commonly found in England, which have no spiral but a simple hinge. The ornament too on the Kempston brooch, though not so well preserved or executed as that on the Hasling- field example, is directly descended from a Roman original and consists of floral scrolls. Four other types have been recovered from this site, 1 and three are illustrated on the plate. Perhaps the most characteristic are of circular form (figs. 1 1, 13), with a thin embossed gilt plate attached by cement to a bronze plate, which constitutes the base of the brooch and holds the pin and catch. Round the edge is a vertical band of bronze which serves to retain the cement and the ornamented face in position, though it is often itself found detached. A specimen of un- usual size, 2f inches in diameter, was exhibited to the Society of Anti- quaries 2 in 1865, but the average diameter for brooches of this 'applied' type is i to 3 inches. As regards its origin, it should be observed that practically all the Saxon and Anglian brooches of the pagan period, as opposed to the jewelled specimens from Kent, are made all in one piece, while the type in question is formed of three metal parts in addition to the hinge-pin at the back. The embossed design on the Kempston specimens is generally in the form of a cross or star with human faces rudely delineated at the end of or between the arms (figs. 11, 13). It is unlikely that such a complicated pattern was a Teutonic invention of that time, and it may be possible to trace its beginnings to the late Roman period when models must have existed for such examples as those published from Gloucester- shire and Neufchatel, Seine-Inferieure. 3 The second type, hardly less common at Kempston, is one that seems closely connected with the early occupants of the upper Thames valley, and there is sufficient historical evidence that this was one of the principal seats of the West Saxons. The ' saucer ' brooch (figs. 6, 7) is generally smaller than the ' applied ' variety just described, and has an average diameter of i| to 2 inches. It is made all in one piece, and consists of a concave disc of fairly stout bronze, with the face gilt and incised with simple geometrical designs such as stars and scrolls, or with rude representations of the human features (fig. 6). Diminutive specimens, sometimes known as ' button ' brooches and almost invariably engraved with the human face, are found in the Jutish districts of Kent and the Isle of Wight, also occasionally in Wiltshire and Berkshire, and a pair occurred in the Kempston cemetery, but must be regarded as ex- ceptional, though their design seems to have been copied on somewhat larger examples here. A comparatively large number of a type with a small bow and 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. ser. 2, ii. 421. 3 Ibid. iii. 97. 3 Figured in Proc. Soc. Antiq. iv. 38 and 237 respectively. 180
