Anglo-Saxon Cemetery 300m N of Lighthorne Church

1 In Mill Field, near the Rectory, some curious Roman and Druidical antiquities have been found. Skeletons, coins and beads have been found in various parts of the parish.
2 A plan of the estates of Lord Willoughby de Brooke shows ‘Great Mill Field’ centred on SP3356.
3 Some years ago two skeletons were discovered on the N side of the church. They were embedded in some curious dark substance, and their skulls were protected by three limestones.
4 Some information was given to Chatwin on the site in 1923. The person who provided the information recalled being told that skeletons had been found in this place. In addition he remembered the skeletons of a woman and a child being found on the brow of the hill. In 1923 the hollow of the quarry in which they were found was still visible. The woman was wearing a necklace and the beads were removed to make hat pins.
5 Inhumation burials. Ante 1846. Some hanging bowl escutcheons,erroneously recorded as from Chesterton, were found on the brow of the hill at about SP3355. In Warwick Museum there are three circular enamel escutcheons from the side of the bowl and two larger similar escutcheons from the base.
6 The whereabouts of the brooches and amber beads are unknown.
7 Reference 5 suggests that the escutcheons came from the cemetery S of the church (PRN 676). However, Saxon material has definitely been found at the cemetery N of the church, while the S cemetery is undated. As there is no more accurate information on the location of the finds this cemetery appears to be more likely.
8 Relates the discovery of skeletons of a woman & child in Mill Field, placed in a foetal position. Claims these dated to the Neolithic. The woman wore a necklace of amber beads that were removed and fashioned in to hat pins by a villager. Also refers to five escutcheons from a ceremonial cauldron being found near the site of the present church in a pagan Anglian, rather than Saxon, cemetery.
9 Correspondence from 1969 about Roman finds.