Finds from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery site at Butler's Field, Lechlade

BUTLER’S FIELD, LECHLADE This site, excavated in 1985 by Oxford Archaeology, is one of the largest and most important Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in the Upper Thames Valley. The objects buried with the people of Butler’s Field form the core of the Anglo-Saxon gallery at the Corinium Museum. The excavation uncovered between 50% and 75% of the cemetery – 219 bodies in 199 graves. There were two phases of burial, one overlaying the other. The first phase lasted from about 450 AD to 600 AD and is characterised by graves orientated NE-SW. The second phase dates to the 7th and early 8th centuries, the time when Christianity was becoming the dominant religion. The jewellery now includes delicate silver and garnet pins and exquisite gold pendants. Butler’s Field is the only Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the Thames Valley where burials of both phases, ‘pagan; and ‘Christian’, occupy the same site.