ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS the people ot Essex, who probably reached the eastern slopes of the Chilterns at one time, but were mainly confined to the north of Essex and the neighbourhood of London. In fact, the few discoveries in their district point rather to a connection with Kent than with Wessex, and accord so far with the written records of the time. When history opens with the re-introduction of Christianity into Britain at the close of the sixth century, Kent under Aethelbert is the paramount power in the south-east, and is perhaps the one fully de- veloped kingdom in the country. Whatever the meaning of the term bretwalda applied to that monarch, it is likely that Aethelbert, the patron of Mellitus, administered a certain territory north of the river. One of his chief cares would doubtless be to control the great Roman roads which were the natural continuations of the Watling Street from the Straits of Dover to London ; and the task of guarding the highways through Hertfordshire would perhaps account for the burial of charac- teristic Kentish ornaments and other objects with their deceased owner, in accordance with the pagan custom of the age. As London was the centre of the Roman road system in this country, its master would not only monopolize the commerce with the continent, but benefit by an almost exclusive intercourse with the more highly civilized courts of Europe and the authorities of the Roman church. Poor as Hertfordshire is in remains of the Anglo-Saxon period, it has yet produced a remarkable object, the like of which has never been found in these islands and but seldom on the continent. It is now included in the national collection, and may be best described as a bronze ewer (fig. 2), nearly 9 inches high, with a pear-shaped body, a short curved spout, and a thin handle with a pellet at the top. The mouth is circular, about 2 inches in diameter, and covered by a hinged lid of moulded pyramidal form with a knob in the centre. The base is flat and rests on three feet of somewhat peculiar form, which may be compared with three attached to a shallow bro'nze bowl from the King's Field, Faversham, also in the British Museum ; and in view of similar discoveries on the Rhine both vessels may well be of the same date and origin. According to the account 1 given by Mr. C. H. Read, through whose exertions the ewer became public property, it was, with the exception of the lid, cast in one piece and with considerable skill, the inner surface being fairly smooth and the sides of an even thickness. It is stated to have been found about 1886 in the neighbourhood of Wheathampstead with a glass tumbler (fig. i) and several human skulls described as male, as well as other bones, and some rings of bronze, which are now lost sight of, but may have been the bands of a small wooden bucket, such as are commonly met with in Anglo-Saxon burials. Once more the absence of any competent person to take notes on the spot is to be regretted ; for though the discovery affords some fresh information as to the early inhabitants of the county, it could perhaps 1 Society of Antiquaries, Proceedings, rviii. no. 253
