PORTIONS OF VESTMENTS. DURHAM.

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1879.

W. GRIGGS, PHOTO-LITH. LONDON. S. E.

Vol. XLV. Pl. XXXII. p. 403.

drawings. The floor, the steps to the apse, and a portion of foundation believed to have belonged to an earlier building, are mentioned above.

3. Stone Coffins.-That of William de St. Barbara was at first too small for the body (p. 392), and Orderic tells of a like difficulty at the burial of William the Conqueror (Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 717). Stone coffins were probably kept ready made, as Roman sarcophagi appear to have been.

4. Vestments. The most remarkable fragments were lying loose in the soil, and are wonderfully preserved. They were probably cast out of the graves of Pudsey and Pictavia, which were broken into in 1795 for the foundation of the new Chapter-room wall. They appear to be silk, woven into twelfth-century patterns, and enriched with gold thread, made by wrapping a long strip of gold spirally round a silk thread, as is well seen under the microscope. Three of these specimens are represented in Plate XXXII. Similar remains of gold tissue were found in the graves of De St. Barbara and of Rufus, but not in any of the other three. The silk found with Flambard was of a very light and thin kind, and presented no patterns.

Some fragments with still more elaborate patterns, which came from the grave of Bp. de St. Carileph, opened in 1795, have been preserved, together with the sole of one and the upper-leather of another plain shoe from the same grave.

5. Crosiers. Those discovered in the graves of Flambard and Rufus were found on the right side, and the copper stains on the bones of another bishop (p. 16) shewed that his crosier had been also on the right side. In the later instance of Bishop Kellawe, the staff was on the left, as borne during life.

The crosier in the grave of Flambard had an iron crook plated with silver, and a plain iron spike (Plate XXXI. fig. 1, 2). The one in Rufus's grave had an iron spike with two spherical projections (Plate XXXI. fig. 3); the head may have been of some perishable material, or may have been taken out by the workmen in 1795. Nothing of Kellawe's was found save a portion of the plain wooden shaft, and this was on the left side.

6. Rings. The three rings that were found were all on the right side as usual, but it could not be determined upon what finger they had been worn. None were found in the two later graves, which may have been despoiled in 1795, though if the workmen found some rings it is strange that they did not take the rest. It is scarcely likely that the bishops were buried without them. Those now before us are fine examples of episcopal rings, all of pure gold, set with sapphires of good colour; polished, but not cut; in one case the octahedral form of the original crystal has been preserved.

See Gent. Mag. Dec. 1801.

VOL. XLV.

3 н

b See Raine's Auckland Castle, p. 8, note.

404 Excavations made on the Site of the Chapter-house of Durham Cathedral.

At St. Cuthbert's College at Ushaw is preserved a ring with a large sapphire, stated to have been found in 1537 on the finger of St. Cuthbert. It is evidently an episcopal ring, but does not appear to be so ancient as those under consideration. If, therefore, found as stated, it must have been placed on the Saint's hand at a later period. An engraving of it is given in Archæologia Eliana, New Series, vol. ii. p. 66.

The subject of episcopal rings has been treated of by Edmund Waterton, Esq. F.S.A. in a memoir in the Archæological Journal, vol. xx. p. 224. It may be as well to notice briefly such as have been found in English tombs :

In York Cathedral: 1. Gold ring with a ruby, in the tomb of Archbishop Sewall de Bovill, 1256-1258. 2. Gold ring with a ruby and with foliage on the shoulders, in the tomb of Archbishop William de Grenefeld, 1306-1315. 3. A ring, the stone of which is lost, inscribed within the hoop, "honuor et ioye," found in the tomb of Archbishop Bowet 1407-1423. These rings are engraved in Poole and Hugall's Historical and Descriptive Guide to York Cathedral, pl. xxiv. In Chichester Cathedral: 1. Gold ring set with a Gnostic gem, supposed to have been found in the tomb of Bishop Seffrid 1125–1151. 2. A pointed ring set with a sapphire, found in a tomb, supposed to be that of Bishop Hilary, 1146-1169, but the ring is evidently of a later date. 3. Gold ring with a sapphire and four emeralds, found in the tomb of a Bishop unknown. These rings are engraved in the Archæological Journal, vol. xx. p. 235.

At Winchester: 1. Gold ring set with a large sapphire of irregular form of the thirteenth century. 2. Gold ring set with a sapphire, which belonged to William de Wykeham, 1367-1404. 3. Gold ring with an intaglio of Minerva, found in the tomb of Bishop Stephen Gardiner 1531-1556. The first of these rings is engraved in the Archæological Journal, vol. xx. p. 228.

In Hereford Cathedral: 1. Gold ring set with a sapphire, inscribed within “en . bon . an.," found in the tomb of Bishop John Stanbery 1452–1474. 2. Gold ring set with a ruby and with tau cross on it, inscribed “ave maria,” found in the tomb of Bishop Richard Mayew 1504-1516. Both these rings are engraved in the Archæologia, vol. xxxi. P. 249.

All these rings are preserved in the respective cathedrals in which they have been found.

XIX.-Further Researches in an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Frilford, with Remarks on the Northern Limit of Anglo-Saxon Cremation in England. By GEORGE ROLLESTON, Esq., M.D. F.R.S. F.S.A.

Read June 17th, 1875.

The first discovery in the cemetery at Frilford, subsequent to those already recorded in the Archæologia, XLII. p. 417-485, was made on March 22, 1869, when a leaden coffin was found, containing the bones of a young woman, with a toilet comba at the right of the back of her head. This brings the number of leaden coffins found at Frilford up to five; one of them has already been figured in Archæologia, XLII. pl. xxiv. figures 7 and 8.

The second was the discovery of some fragments, which when fitted to the three fragments found in September, 1867, one of which is figured in the Archæologia, XLII. pl. xxiii. fig. 2, p. 423, make up the larger portion of what is often called a "holy-water vessel." The fragments of September, 1867, were to my eyes so distinctly Saxon that I had one of them figured, and the unexpected discovery of the remaining fragments enabled us to build up the urn shown in the annexed woodcut. I imagine that a plough's coulter had knocked out the first discovered fragments. No burnt bones were found quite close to the urn, but one fragment was found a little way off."

ANGLO-SAXON URN, FRILFORD.
Scale linear.

This reconstructed vessel may be compared with vessels of somewhat similar "For difference between toilet and other combs, see Anderson, Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. June 10, 1872 p. 551, and woodcut in loco.

The fragment, which with a triangular apex pointing upwards, occupies about the middle point in the front upper border of the urn figured above, is the same fragment which is figured with its apex pointing downwards, pl. xxiii. fig. 2, Archæologia XLII.