Two early Anglo-Saxon brooches were found by workmen on the site of the Union House in the mid-19th century. drawings of the brooches were made at the time by local archaeologist William Wire and included in his album which is now preserved in the Colchester and Essex Museum. In the British Museum there is a brooch which closely matches one of those drawn by Wire.<1> The brooches comprise a bronze cruciform brooch and a florid cruciform brooch. The cruciform brooch is dated by Hawkes to the mid-sixth century and the florid cruciform to the late sixth or early seventh century AD.<1>