Monument record 0048800000 - CASTLE HILL HOUSE

Summary

Early Saxon burial excavated in 1901 at Castle Hill House- In July 1901 an Anglo-Saxon inhumation burial was discovered at 'Castle Hill' the property of A J Clarke. The discovery was made on what is now a public road which separates `Castle Hill' from the railway line. The site is about 200 yards north of the parish church (All Saints) and below the southern foot of a large mound (SU89SE15). The burial comprised a skeleton, a necklace of glass beads, to which a gold pendant was attached, and a rusty weapon (probably a sword). Only the gold pendant was retained, the remainder of the burial being covered in. The pendant is now in the British Museum who date it to about 600 AD.

Protected Status/Designation

None recorded

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Type and Period (1)

INHUMATION (5th Century Saxon to 7th Century - 410 AD to 699 AD)

Description

Skeleton found (sex not recorded but probably a woman) with several relics (B3).
2 estimated inhumations. Suggested as burial of daughter or some other relative of Taplow prince (B4). Burial found under S foot of large barrow (B6).
Location of skeleton & relics other than pendant unknown (B5).
Undisturbed chalk bedrock recorded at 0.03m depth during a watching brief carried out by Mike Farley in ?May 1998 near the gateway (hole F), suggests that any other Saxon burials in this area would have been extremely vulnerable to disturbance (B12).
Negative watching brief carried out by TVAS in July 2004 during removal of gatepiers at entrance (B13).

(SU 86719318) In July 1901 an Anglo-Saxon inhumation burial was discovered at 'Castle Hill' the property of A J Clarke. The discovery was made on what is now a public road which separates 'Castle Hill' from the railway line. The site is about 200 yards north of the parish church (All Saints) and below the southern foot of a large mound (SU 89 SE 15).

The burial comprised a skeleton, a necklace of glass beads, to which a gold pendant was attached, and a rusty weapon (probably a sword). Only the gold pendant was retained, the remainder of the burial being covered in. (1) (2) The pendant is now in the British Museum (3) who date it to about 600 AD. (Audrey Meaney in the Gazetteer of Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites, 1964, gives the distance as '20 yards' evidently a misprint for '200 yards'). (B14-16)

NRHE Insert 1999 (B18).

Sources (18)

<1>SBC20460 Bibliographic reference: William Page (ed). 1905. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume I. Volume 1. p195.
<2>SBC1959 Bibliographic reference: BRUCE-MITFORD R L S 1952 ANGLO SAXON GOLD PENDANT FROM HIGH WYCOMBE IN BRITISHMUSEUMQUARTERLY15P72&P.
<3>SBC9593 Bibliographic reference: MSS NOTES OF F COLMER C.1930'S (PER MRS ANGELA COL MER,1978).
<4>SBC6220 Article in serial: J F Head. 1946. 'BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, AD 450-700', IN RECS OF BUCKS 14 PP301-340. Vol 14, part 6. pp312,317.
<5>SBC6246 Bibliographic reference: J F Head. 1955. Early Man in South Buckinghamshire. pp102-103,158; Fig 33.
<6>SBC20374 Bibliographic reference: A Meaney. 1964. Gazetteer of Early Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites. p59.
<7>SBC10628 Unpublished document: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. OS RECORD CARD.
<8>SBC5856 Bibliographic reference: GREEN MR HERBERT,HIGH WYCOMBE LIBRARY (SEE ALSO CO RRESPONDENCE FILED).
<9>SBC940 Unpublished document: BCM ACCESSIONS REGISTER 1908.
<10>SBC9976 Unpublished document: NOTES, CORRESPONDENCE ETC OF J F HEAD GIVEN BY HIS WIDOW IN MARCH 1984.
<11>SBC9886 Bibliographic reference: NATIONAL ART-COLLECTIONS FUND MAGAZINE 1986 32 P10.
<12>SBC20245 Unpublished document: Michael Farley Archaeology. 1998. A Watching Brief at Wycombe Museum, Priory Avenue, High Wycombe.
<13>SBC22193 Unpublished document: Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 2004. High Wycombe Museum, Castle Mount, High Wycombe: an Archaeological Watching Brief.
<14>SBC28071 Verbal communication: E Hollis (Curator Aylesbury Museum). 1931. Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments - Letter (E Hollis Curator Aylesbury Museum 24.6.1931).
<15>SBC28072 Verbal communication: O G S Crawford. 1931. Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments - Letter O.G.S. Crawford 9.3.1933).
<16>SBC28073 Digital archive: Historic England / RLS Bruce-Mitford. 1950. VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION - British Museum Quarterly 15 1950 72 photo (R L S Bruce-Mitford).
<17>SBC28074 Unpublished document: Helen Geake. 1997. The use of grave-goods in Conversion-period England, c.600-c.850.
<18>SBC27441 Digital archive: Historic England. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE).

Location

Grid reference	SU 86760 93180 (point)
Civil Parish	HIGH WYCOMBE, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (3)

Related Events/Activities (3)

Event - Intervention: (EBC12134)
Event - Intervention: Watching brief (EBC16379)
Event - Intervention: Watching brief: HIGH WYCOMBE MUSEUM, CASTLE MOUNT (Ref: HWM 04/28) (EBC16485)

Record last edited

Sep 3 2025 11:16AM