Roman coffin burial, Roach Pond Field, Albert Road (EHER 6286)

A stone coffin was found in 1899, containing human remains, amber beads (possibly from a bracelet), a fragment of a green glass vesel, a small jet ornament and a possible copper-covered slate button or brooch. The coffin was made from oolitic limestone and the lid was broken when discovered by workmen. The human remains have been interpreted as female, though this interpretation may have been influenced by antiquarian interpretations of 'gendered' artefacts. The burial is thought to be Roman, however a set of anonymous handwritten notes from 1899 interpret it as an Anglo-Saxon burial in a repurposed Roman coffin. The evidence for this is unclear. Photographs which accompany the notes show the coffin lid and skull, which is also labelled as 'The Rembrandt Head, Braintree'. The origin of this name, or its significance, is also unknown.

A stone coffin was found in 1899 approximately 90 yards south of Stane Street (Coggeshall Road) and approximately 20 yards east of the centre of Albert Road, at the rear of a house being built in Roach Pond Field at a depth of 3 feet. The coffin was made of oolitic limestone with five pieces (two ends and three side pieces) plus a lid that was coped and grooved to fit the sides. It contained clay, which seemed to have filtered through, and a skeleton, apparently female. Near the right elbow of the skeleton were some small amber beads, three red glass or carnelian beads, a large green glass bead, a fragment of a green glass vessel, a small jet ornament and what could have been a copper-covered slate button or brooch. The burial was oriented east-west with the head to the west. Charred remains and Roman tile fragments were found outside the coffin which was broken by the workmen. <1> - <7> A document containing photographs of handwritten notes and photographs was submitted to the HER. The author of the notes is not named in the document, but the notes are dated to October 1899. They may have been written by G.F. Beaumont, who describes inspecting the coffin in 1899 (<3>).The photographs document the coffin lid (but it is not clear if it is in situ) and the skull. Photographs of the skull are labelled 'The Rembrandt Head, Braintree', though it is unclear why. The author of the notes interpreted the burial as Anglo-Saxon in a repurposed Roman coffin. This is in contrast to the later interpretation given in source <7> which describes the burial as late Roman. It appears to be the only source which supposes the coffin was repurposed. The notes also state the human remains of that of a female, which is also the interpretation given in <3>, though the basis on which this has been assumed may be not withstand modern scrutiny. Lastly, the notes also contain diagrams of the coffin burial. A transcription of the hand-written notes is below: "A: At the right wrist numerous amber beads - probably derived from a bracelet - they are drilled stones. B: a small glass vessel What is the sex? Judging from A. skull and B. length of limbs - the teeth and the jewels: A female. What is the period to which it belongs? What does the cistvaen support? Material is stone foreign to Essex - white course stone - stone (?) In my opinion it is Anglo-Saxon - with the Roman stone cist broken up and reused for this second burial and the slab placed in the present site in eight pieces as shown by the drawing to scale. Who is the person? 1st - one of rank - It is a female. Negative - No iron - traces of bronze scraps." <8> NRHE data transfer: no new information.