BROOCH

An incomplete cast copper alloy Roman brooch of Colchester derivative Polden Hill (flat wing ends type, West Midlands), cf. Mackreth 2011, 4a-c. Plate 46. The wings are semi-cylindrical and terminate with wing caps. The wings support an iron axis bar and which the iron spring is coiled. Due to corrosion the number of coils is uncertain. The pin is missing. The wings are undecorated. The bowhead is hump-like in profile and is sub-oval in section. Above the wings on the sides of the head there are semi-circular mouldings which are a characteristic feature of this brooch type. The bow head and bow are undecorated. The bow tapers slightly to a broken point which may be at the approximate mid point. This break is possibly recent. Where the break occurs there was possibly a cell which made this point a weak point. On the reverse of the bow the there is a ridge which would have eventually developed into the catchplate had the brooch been complete. The surface of the brooch has a well developed dark brown patina. It measures 32.5mm long, 31.34mm wide across the wings and weighs 21.1g.

The brooch is a Polden Hill type, which probably dates to c. 75 to 175 AD (Worrell, S. 2007 'Roman Brooch Timeline' North-West PAS Newsletter). Bayley and Butcher (Bayley and Butcher, 2004 Roman Brooches in Britain: A technological and Typological Study Based on the Richborough Collection Society of Antiquaries p. 160) comment that the distribution of Polden Hill brooches are concentrated in the West Midlands.