Anglo-Saxon cemetery at 'Barrow Field', east of Easterford Mill, Feering (EHER 8238)

An Anglo-Saxon cemetery. It may have been preceeded by a Roman cemetery at the same location, see EHER 8237. The site was first discovered in around 1888 when Mr F. Beaumont recovered a mixed finds assemblage from 'Barrow Field', which included human remains and cinerary urns. Subsequent gravel digging prompted further discoveries in 1888 and onwards. Other artefacts which have been recovered from the site include beads, iron knife blades, metal buckles, copper alloy pennanular brooch and spearheads. They are thought to be grave goods. The site is scheduled and is also recorded as cropmarks, see EHER 8242. A stone coffin recovered from the site is thought to be Roman and is recorded separately in EHER 8134. Human remains which were recovered from the site in 1914 are thought to be Roman or Anglo-Saxon and are also recorded separately in EHER 8241.

Saxon cemetery. Modern boundary changes have resulted in confusion in the recording of finds. <1> Finds in the 19th century included a human skull, cinerary urns, four beads earth ornamented with green and yellow (on two the ornamentation consisted of an encircled snake), a large amber bead, a cross-shaped fibula, an iron buckle and an iron knife blade. The finds were believed to be Saxon. These finds were made by Mr F Beaumont (1888) in the south part of field 7 (old series). The field is named Barrow Field on an old survey of 1758. Mr Hills junior, of Prested Hall, Feering, excavated further and found skeletons and urns, fibulae, beads, a bronze ring, knives, a sword etc According to source <4>, later finds were unpublished, but several burials were Romano-British (see EHER 8237). <2> - <5> The Anglo-Saxon cemetery was disturbed during gravel digging from 1888 onwards. The artefacts are housed in Colchester Museum; it is evident that the artefacts come from several graves, in one case it is possible to group some together as a definite grave assemblage. The grave-group (Colchester Museum Acc. No. 321888) comprises a pair of copper alloy small-long brooches, four glass beads and an iron knife obviously from a female inhumation. Other artefacts comprise: three spearheads; an iron sword and amber sword bead; knife fragment; pair of gilt copper alloy applied disc brooches; four other disc brooches; copper alloy penannular brooch; iron buckle; copper alloy buckle and plate; 36 amber and glass beads; copper alloy penannular ring; iron ring; two iron penannular rings and a biconical bowl. The material dates to the period late-fifth to late-sixth centuries. <6> Aerial photograph <7>. See also EHER 8242. See also <8> <9>. List of finds sold to Colchester Museum and sketch map. <10> The site of the sheduled Anglo-Saxon cemetery was recorded in 2019, one ring-ditch and some additional field boundaries were also visible. <11> NRHE data transfer: December 1949. Field survey. A number of Saxon finds including skeletal material, indicative of an inhumation cemetery were found in Barrow Field (TL 8683 1925) and Barrow Hills (TL 8690 1930) from 1888 onwards, apparently in gravel digging. VCH states that some of the burials were Roman and an inhumation was found above a stone coffin (see EHER 8237, EHER 8134 annd EHER 8176). J.W. Ireland pointed out the site of the coffin at (at TL 8679 1917) and also the site of an inhumation he found in the side of a disused gravel pit (at TL 8687 1906). Finds included beads, brooches, knives and a sword, tentatively dated to 7th century. 'Urns' are also reported but clearly no cremations. Some finds in Colchester Museum. <1> <3> <4> <5> <12> <13> Sequential account of Anglo-Saxon finds from the Feering-Kelvedon inhumation cemetery. <14> See also <15> <16> <17>.