Archaeological finds
Fordham Road Cemtery.

Another link connecting Soham with events of the past may be found in the fact that certain remains have been discovered at various times in the present Cemetery. It is rather curious that human bones, interred about eight or nine hundred tears ago, should have been met with in this particular part of the Parish. It may perhaps be accounted for by the Cemetery being situated on rising ground and near the main road, and the bones may be those of Soldiers who fell in one of the numerous fights which took place in earlier days.
In the years 1865-7 Mr R. Elsden discovered some Anglo Saxon beads etc, when digging in the upper part of the Cemetery. The articles met with included 6 bronze brooches, 1 bronze girdle hanger, 1 rock crystal bead and 10 glass beads as well as a few fragments to small to be recognised. These were exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries London, by the Rev. C.J. Armistead, F.S.A, then Curate of Soham, and were considered of sufficient importance to be noted in the Society's Journal.
The chief object of interest, the girdle hanger, was engraved, and we are indebted to the Council of this Society for the loan of the block from which our engraving is produced. The whole of the articles were forwarded to the British Museum, and are now exhibited there along with other remains of a similar character. The brooches etc found in Lincolnshire and elsewhere, and which are to be seen in the museum in the same case, are of a more valuable kind, several of them being larger and better made, whilst some of them are studded with precious stones. The girdle hanger found here is a fairly perfect specimen of the kind, but antiquaries are at a loss to know the precise purpose for which these articles were used, probably as ornaments or perhaps as keys.
The piece of wire at the top has no connection with the hanger. It will be noticed that part of it to the left of the engraving has been broken in the centre.