BROOCH

Roman cast copper alloy trumpet brooch of Group C missing the spring, pin and lower part of the bow and foot. The brooch has an oval head which is slightly domed on the front and concave on the back. The front rises in two steps with a convex outer and flat inner step. To each side of the head, on the back, are the stubs of integral lugs with circular drilled holes through them to hold a cross bar. At the top of the head is an integral circular loop searated from the head by a rectangular bar, divided into two by a horizontal incised line.

The bow rises at 90 degrees from the head and curves round in the upper part before starting to straighten before the break. The upper part of the bow, which is all that survives, is triangular in section with a distinct ridge down the centre. A short upper section, adjacent to the head has slightly raised panels on each side, flanking this ridge, each ending at the lower edge witha prominent pointed oval knop.

There is a group of three mouldings at the base of the remaining section, probably originally two fifths of the way down the bow. The mouldings run around the front and sides but the flat back continues behind them with only a slight indent behind the largest. The upper and lower mouldings are simple narrow collars. The outer mouldings are separated from the inner one by grooves similar in width to the rest of the bow. The central moulding has a thick inner swelling flanked by acanthus leaf decoration formed of three leaves on each face of the main swelling. below these mouldings is an old, patinated, break.

The remaining section of brooch is 37.4mm long including the head loop, 14.5mm wide, 18.7mm thick and weighs 7.33 g.

Bailey and Butcher (2004:161-2) suggest Group C brooches (T154A) are a distinctly South Western group and may have been made locally or in the West Midlands dating to the second century.