ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS The general priority of the Saxon invasion is suggested by the early entries of the Chronicle, and is to some extent borne out by archaeological research ; but in the absence of direct testimony there are reasons for supposing the Anglian conquest north of the Stour to have preceded the Saxon occupation of the district between that river and the Thames. The finds in Norfolk and Suffolk are not entirely homo- geneous, but cremation is throughout a preponderating element which may safely be considered Anglian, and has so far been conspicuously absent in Essex. Should future discoveries confirm this distinction, archaeology will have provided a touchstone whereby the mythical alloy of the historical records may be impartially estimated. For our present purpose the test may be provisionally accepted, and it will be seen that independent testimony from more than one quarter justifies the view that the Stour represents the great gulf fixed between Angle and Saxon in these parts. First, it may be gathered from the continuous record of the Church that the early kingdom of Essex formed in Christian times a diocese. As the king's chaplain, the bishop would have ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout the realm of his sovereign ; and there can be little diffi- culty therefore in determining the extent of the East Saxon rule, at least in the seventh century. How long before that date the East Saxons had been recognized as a political unit and their frontiers respected by their neighbours there is little to show ; but Mr. Green was confident that the conquest of this district was not secured long before 500 ; and the first king that can be regarded as historical was contemporary with ^thelberht of Kent. It is clear from their charters that the Anglo-Saxons, like other early communities, availed themselves of the more striking and per- manent natural features of the country as boundary marks of public or private property ; and it may be taken for granted that the Stour has always bounded Essex to the north. Of this there are other pos- sible indications. Apart from its utility as a natural barrier the river seems to have served also as a linguistic frontier. The Essex speech has retained to this day peculiarities enough to stamp it as distinct from the Anglian dialect of Suffolk ; and even if the test of language be regarded as fallacious or at best inadequate, the physical traits of the inhabitants, till recent times a trustworthy indication of origin, confirm the distinction already drawn from other observations. Dr. Beddoe, 1 whose investigations in this field have extended over many years, is of opinion that there was a considerable survival of the Romano-British population in Essex ; and that though the invading Saxons preponderated near the coast, the case was otherwise in the forest tracts of the interior, traces of which survive to-day in Epping and Hainault. To our own day the inhabitants of inland Essex are more usually dark-haired than those of Kent and East Anglia ; and it seems probable that here more than elsewhere there was a mixed native and 1 TAe Races of Britain, pp. 254, 33, 49, 62, 65. 317
