described as undoubtedly Saxon were met with about the same period, but were reinterred in the churchyard to which they were supposed to have originally belonged. There can be little doubt that the church at Wing dates from Anglo-Saxon times.
Besides the saucer-brooch already mentioned, there were other relics discovered with burials at Bishopstone that call for remark. That the interments were not by way of cremation is apparent from the good conditions of several fragile objects, amongst which may be mentioned a crystal bead, a spindle-whorl of blue and white glass, bronze toilet articles on a ring, a buckle with tinned front, three small square-headed brooches and a number of glass and amber beads. The graves of several warriors were marked by iron spear-heads, shield-bosses and two swords of the usual pattern, but the most interesting relic was undoubtedly a small engraved buckle-plate of bronze (see fig.) 
Engraved Buckleplate of Bronze, Bishopstone. which is ornamented in precisely the same style as one found in a Saxon cemetery on High Down, near Worthing, Sussex.[1] These two pieces present a notable contrast to the usual ornaments of the pagan time in England; and instead of simple geometrical or disjointed animal patterns, show such delicate execution and tasteful design that one is tempted to refer them to a Roman artist; but whether they were produced in this country or in some centre of civilization on the Continent cannot as yet be determined.
To quite another district belongs the famous Saxon barrow at Taplow, 20 miles from Aylesbury and separated from it by the whole breadth of the Chilterns. Its position on a height overlooking the river suggests a search for parallel discoveries further down stream, and it is indeed to Kent that one must turn for anything of like importance.
Adjoining Taplow Court is the old churchyard with an artificial mound at its western end. At the present time there are no visible traces of the church which was demolished in 1827, though some ruins were allowed to remain till 1853. It was then discovered that the foundations passed over a ditch which, with its accompanying rampart, showed that the position had been fortified in early times, the church being subsequently built at the east end while the mound occupied the centre of the enclosure. The locality is known to-day as Bury (or Berry) Fields, and this spur of the high ground on which Taplow stands would have many advantages as a stronghold, the view in all directions except the north being very extensive. That it was seized upon from time to time as a point of vantage to command the river-passage, is suggested by the large quantities of pottery fragments dating from early British, Roman and Saxon times, that have been collected on or near the surface of the churchyard.
- ↑ Figured in Arch. liv. 378, pl. xxvii. fig. 8; Salin, Altgermanische Ornamentik, p. 196, fig. 476.
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