THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE Cotteswold Unturalists’ BEELD CLUB FOR 1868. President. Vice-President. Sir W. V. GUISE, Barr., T. B. Lt. BAKER, Esa., e1.S) PGs: F.S.S. Secretary. W.H. PAINE, M:D., F-G:S. > Contents. The President’s Address, 1869. | “On some Glass Flasks from Dorsetshire. By James Buckman, Baas, Li Ge ereer, . On the Physical Geography of the District Drained by the River Frome and its Tributaries. By G. F. PLayne. On the Incised Grave-stones and Stone Coffins of Minchin- hampton Church. By G. F. PLayne. THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE Cotteswold Uaturalists’ FIELD CLUB FOR 1869. President. Sir WILLIAM V..GUISE, Barrt., F.LS., F.G.S. Vice-Presidents. T..B. Lu: BAKER, Eso.,. F.S:S. THOMAS WRIGHT, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. WILLIAM C. LUCY, F.G.S., F.A.S.L. Honorary Deeretarp. WILLIAM HENRY PAINE, M.D.,. F.G.S., F.M.S. ————> s+ Contents. _ The President’s Address, 1870. The Gravels of the Severn, Avon, and Evenlode, and their extension over the Cotteswold Hills. By W. C. Lucy, F.G.S;, F.A.S.L. On the Correlation of the Jurassic Rocks, in the Department of the Céte-d’Or, France, with the Oolitic formations in the counties of Gloucester and Wilts, England. By Tuomas Wricut, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. JOHN BELLOWS, STEAM PRESS, GLOUCESTER. THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE : Cotteswold UWaturalists’ FIELD CLUB FOR 1870. President. Sr WILLIAM V. GUISE, Barrt., F.L.S., F.G.S. Vice-Presidents. T. B. Lu. BAKER, Esa.,. F.S.S. | THOMAS. WRIGHT, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. WILLIAM C. LUCY, F.G:S., F.A.S.L. Honorary DSeeretarp. WILLIAM HENRY PAINE, M.D., F.G.S., F.M.S. ——$—_<—_—>s +e Contents. : 4 _ The President’s Address, 1871. Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal By Joun H. Taunton, Mem. Inst. C.E. On some Flint-flakes, from the Valley of the Churn, at Cirencester. By W. T. Tutserron Dyer, B.A., B.Sc. On Thlaspi perfoliatum, L. By W. T. Tutsetton Dyer, B.A., B.Se. "| On the Early Occupation of the Cotteswold Hills by Man. By G. F. Piayne. JOHN BELLOWS, STEAM PRESS, GLOUCESTER, THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE |Cotteswold Uaturalists’ FIELD CLUB. For 1871. President. Sir WILLIAM V. GUISE, Barrt., F.L.S., F.G.S. - Vice-Presidents. THOMAS WRIGHT, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.R.S, WILEIAM- CeLUCY,: F.G,S:,: F.A;S.-E. Honorarp Decretarp. WILLIAM HENRY PAINE, M.D., F.G.S., F.M.S. Contents. The President’s Address, 1872, On some Skeletons discovered at Barber’s Bridge, in 1868. ’ By Capt. PRIcE.. et - On the Physical Structure of | the Watchett Area, and the Meee eye! = » ie eee. a” relation of the Secondary Rocks to the Devonian Series of West Somerset. By Rosert Etuerincs, F.G.S., F.R.S.E. _ On the History of Berkeley. By J. H. Cooxe. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD NATURALISTS FIELD CLUB. VOLUME YV. Gloucester : PRINTED BY JOHN BELLOWS, WESTGATE STREET. 1872. a x Det > CONTENTS. Annual Address, read at Gloucester, April 19, 1869. By Sir W. V. Guise, Bart., F.L.S., F.G.S., President. On some Glass Flasks from Dorsetshire. By James Buckman, F.LS., F.GS8., &c. On the Physical Geography of the District drained by the River Frome and its Tributaries. By G. F. Puayne. On the Incised Grave-Stones and Stone Coffins of Minchin- hampton Church. By G. F. Puayne. Annual Address, read February 23, 1870. By Sir W. V. Guisz, Bart., F.L.S., F.G.8., President. The Gravels of the Severn, Avon, and Evenlode, and their extension over the Cotteswold Hills. By W. C. Lucy, F.G.S8., F.A.8.L. On the Correlation of the Jurassic Rocks, in the Department of the Céte-d’Or, France, with the Oolitic formations in the Counties of Gloucester and Wilts, England. By Tuomas Waicut, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S. Annual Address, read February 23, 1871. By Sir W. V. Guisz, Bart., F.L.S., F.G.S., President. PAGE 19 21 39 47 71 143 239 ,“ Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal. By Joun H. Taunton, M.I.C.E. On some Flint-flakes from the Valley of the Cnurn, at Cirencester. By W. T. Tutsrtton Dyer, B.A., B. Se. On Thlaspi perfoliatum L. By W. T. Tutsetron Dyzr, B.A., B. Se. : On the Early Occupation of the Cotteswold Hills by Man. By G. F. Puayne. Address to the Ootteswold Naturalists’ Field Olub. Read by the President, Sir W. V. Gus, Bart., F.L.S8., F.G.S8., at Gloucester, April 19th, 1869. GENTLEMEN,— The records of our Club during the past season, though rich, as usual, in all that makes such associations delightful—pleasant rambles, friendly intercourse, and instructive discussions—are yet deficient in that particular to which I have always attached the greatest importance, viz: in the publication of papers of scientific value. It is this, more than any other condition, which marks the zeal and intelligence of members, and affords a standard by which to measure our progress and practical utility. Doubtless the elaboration of scientific papers is not the only, or perhaps the principal, end and object of our Association. In an educational point of view such societies as ours are most valuable from the impetus they give to inquiry amongst those who, without such stimulants to knowledge, would perhaps care little to extend their scrutiny into the realms of natural science,—so rich in pleasure and intellectual advancement to those who, with loving hearts and observing eyes, are led to search into the laws and history of organic life, past or present, upon the surface of our planet. The Cotteswold Club has always aimed at a high standard of scientific eminence; and by the labours of its distinguished associates—amongst whom the names of Wricut, Buckman, Lycerrtt, Jones, and ETHERIDGE, are conspicuous—it has secured a position amongst scientific bodies second to that of no similar body of Naturalists in the United Kingdom. Let it be our care that this reputation shall be maintained and extended,—in B 6 earnest whereof I may refer with satisfaction to the elaborate and important paper with which we are about to commence this session—by our colleague, Mr. Lucy, on the “Gravels of the Valleys of the Severn, Avon, and Evenlode”—a paper which I will venture to predict will form a starting point and basis for all future generalisation on the quaternary Gravels, so careful, so elaborate and so extensive are the observations upon which it is founded. The following were the appointed dates and places of meeting of the Club for the past season: Wednesday, May 27th, Nailsworth and Avening. Tuesday, June 23rd, Sharpness. Wednesday, July 22nd, Wotton-under-Hdge. Wednesday, Aug. 12th, Bredon. It will be observed that we departed last year from our custom, to which I have always attached much importance, of holding one of our meetings outside the boundary of our county; but the experience of former years had forced upon us the conclusion, that members were indisposed to support these distant excursions. They were therefore of necessity abandoned. This year, however, we have received an invitation so hospitable and attractive that already a large number of names have been sent in reply to the notice which I caused to be circulated a few weeks since. This invitation comes from Mr. Maw, of Benthall Edge, and is so comprehensive in its terms, and so unbounded in its offers of hospitality, that it cannot be doubted that a very large body of our members will come together in the beginning of June, to partake of the hospitality of Mr. Maw, and, under his able guidance, to explore the highly interesting district by which his residence is surrounded. I now pass to the records of our proceedings at the different meetings of the Club held during the last year. The Annual Meeting took place at the Bell Hotel, Gloucester, on Wednesday, 25th March, when the President’s Address was read. Dr. Pays, the Secretary, being—to the regret of all— unavoidably absent, through illness, his place was temporarily 7 filled by Mr. Lucy. The officers for the ensuing year were chosen, when you again did me the honour to testify your confidence in me by again electing me your President; and Dr. ParneE was again chosen Secretary. é After the conclusion of the official business, some of the party, under the guidance of Mr. Lysons, proceeded to visit a spot in the parish of Lassington, where there are evidences of the presence of Roman Remains,—some Tessere haying been brought to the surface, and the outline of buildings being discernible. This may afford subject for investigation at some future time. The party, about thirty in number, sat down to dinner at the Bell Hotel. After dinner the President read a paper by Professor Buckman, on the “ Rat-tailed Radish,” (Raphanus caudatus,) recently introduced from Java, which Professor Buckman gave reasons for believing to be only a long-podded variety of our Garden Radish. Tastes differ in respect of its excellence as an article of food; but the Professor has no doubts at all upon the subject, pronouncing it “ simply nasty.” Some notes by Mr. Joun Jonzes were read on the origin of the word “ Crupets,” or “ Crippetts,” the name of a farmhouse, in the parish of Shurdington. This Mr. Jonzs endeavoured to shew is the modernised name of the family of “ De Crupet,” “ Croupe,” or ‘ Crupes,”’ to whom the place formerly belonged. This family Mr. Jonzs identifies with a Belgian or Walloon house of the same name, “De Crupet,” who were formerly Lords of the Commune of Crupet, near the town and in the province of Namur. Their arms, six Mascles, Gules, and a label Azure, are to be seen on a knightly effigy in Whittington Church, in this county. Mr. Lucy exhibited two Fossils, believed to be eggs of the “ Teleosaurus,” given to him by Mr. Jospua Brown, residing near Cirencester. Mr. Lucy mentioned his having recently made an excursion in the Cotteswolds, round Stow and Burford, and called attention to the gradual thinning out of the beds in a northerly direction. On the authority of Mr. Huiz’s Memoirs, to illustrate Map 44 Geological Survey, he stated, that while at B2 8 Cleeve Cloud the Inferior Oolite attains an elevation of 1130 feet, the Cornbrash south of Burford is not much more than one-half that height. This, however, is in some degree due to the greatly diminished thickness of the underlying strata in the latter locality. At Shipton Downs, near Burford, the Inferior Oolite is only 20 feet Upper Lias. . . . 20 Middle Lias . . . 24 64 feet And at Ascot there is even a greater diminution :— Inferior Oolite. . .10 feet Upper lisse 0 t.'+.. 6 Middle Lias. . . .10 33 39 26 feet This law of “thinning out” does not, however, apply to the Great Oolite, which has a greater thickness than at Minchin- hampton. Mr. Lucy exhibited some good specimens of Fossils from the Forest Marble of Shipton Downs, and others from the Stonesfield Slate of Stonesfield. He gave a description of a section of these last-named beds, pointing out that the fissile band from which the Slates are derived is about four feet thick, and occurs at a depth of 60 feet below the surface. He briefly explained the variable character of this formation, and suggested that the Club should meet for the examination of the Upper Cotteswold district, with a view to correlate the same with the well-known sections in the southern portion of the county. The First Field Meeting of the season took place on Wednesday, 27th May, at Nailsworth. The programme for the day embraced a visit to Minchinhampton and Avening. At the station at Nailsworth, the attention of the party was directed by Mr. WircHett to an extensive land slip, caused by the Fullers Earth beds slipping over the unctuous clays of the Upper Lias, to which action, perpetually going on, Mr. WrrcHeE.1 attributes the gradual widening out of many of the valleys and combes 9 of the Cotteswolds. At Nailsworth a visit was paid to the grounds of Mrs. Surrn and Mr. Tasram. In the garden of the former a section was exhibited of the Supra-Liassic Sands; and under a hedgerow the “ Leopard’s-bane” (Doronicum pardalianches) was growing in great abundance, said to be wild, but probably introduced. In the grounds of Mr. Tasram the point of interest was a small ancient Chapel—date, apparently 15th century— still retaining many traces of its former structure, such as the original doorway, portions of the east window, and a piscina in a good state of preservation. Here, also, was a very curious ancient bell, supposed to have been a “Curfew,” and said to have been found at Ozleworth. Passing up the hill towards the Common, the Geologists paused to examine the Scar Hill section of Inferior Oolite, and to compare it with the typical section of the same beds at Leckhampton, where they are found 60 feet in thickness; while at Scar Hill they have thinned out to about 3 feet. Though this section is not very fossiliferous, it was interesting to notice the hard bed of compact Oolite here, about 18 inches thick, bored in every direction by small vertical tubes of Marine Annelids. Leaving Scar Hill, the party proceeded over Minchinhampton Common to Old Lodge, where luncheon was served. By the way Mr. Puayne drew attention to the long barrows so plentifully strewn over the plateau, and to the lines of earthworks which protect the ground on its most exposed face—pointing to the occupation of the position, at some remote period, by rude tribes, of whom these scattered mounds are now the sole records. These barrows might be opened at a small cost, and as the investigation would doubtless throw light upon their origin, it is to be hoped that the Cotteswold Club will devote some portion of their funds to the purpose. At Minchinhampton Church, Mr. Praynz exhibited some carefully drawn diagrams of a number of very curious early stone coffin-lids, discovered in the course of repairs and restorations executed in the church in 1842. It is most desirable that these memorials should not be lost; and it is proposed to have them engraved for the Transactions of the Club. The south transept, with its fine stone roof and rose window, was much admired, as were the 10 interesting and well-preserved effigies of Sir Jonn DELamMERE and his wife, who rebuilt the transept in 1382. The clerk of the parish, a really intelligent man, had much to say about the church and the celebrities of the place, both lay and clerical, concerning whom he had collected, with great industry, a store of manuscript records. From Minchinhampton the party proceeded to Avening, halting by the way at a spot known as *Woful Dane Bottom,” to see a rude monolith, which has apparently, at some time, formed portion of acromlech. Another stone of the circle still remains included in the foundation of a neighbouring wall. Report says that the superstitious poor were at one time in the habit of passing ricketty babies, by moonlight, through an aperture in the stone; which, if true, would seem to connect it traditionally with some religious purpose. At any rate, it had nothing to do with the Danes, who did not inter their dead after that fashion. The Church at Avening displays architectural characters of remarkable interest, shewing the transition, by additions, from the simplest style of Norman to the “arly English” and “Decorated.” The arches of the nave and tower, with the vaulting-ribs and shafts, and the stone roof, are perfectly preserved, and the later additions and alterations are clearly traceable. This church would well repay careful and detailed examination by a competent antiquary. Attention was directed to a broken stone in the Chancel, on which is inscribed a circle intersected by a cross, with a portion of an inscription, apparently in Norman letters: it is very peculiar, and merits attention. On the return to Nailsworth a halt was made to examine a gravel pit, in a wood, near Longford Mills, where an angular sub-aerial drift, 8 feet thick, is seen overlying the rolled gravels of the valley. . The party dined at the George Inn, Nailsworth. After dinner, Mr. Maw, F.G.S., of Benthall Edge, exhibited a series of beau- tifully executed diagrams, in illustration of a paper lately read by him before the Geological Society of London, on “The Disposition of Iron in Variegated Strata,” in which he shewed how, by the action of chemical affinities, the metallic oxides 11 are withdrawn from the paler portions, and re-aggregated, in a concrete form, along lines of mineral segregation, or around central nuclei. The tendency of iron to gather round, or to disperse from, central nuclei, being amply shewn by the diagrams. Captain Fisaur read a paper on the battle of Ethandun, in which the Danes were overthrown by Alfred, the site of which battle he proposed to shift from Edington, in Wiltshire, to Hampton, in Gloucestershire—a transfer not likely to be accepted by the Wiltshire antiquaries. Captain Fisner founded his theory upon passages from the Saxon Chronicle, and from the Saxon historian Asser, which seemed to support the suppo- sition that Hampton might have been the site of the conflict ; that here the Danes sustained a dreadful disaster—and, therefore, that “ Woful Dane’s Bottom” is by no means a misnomer. The reading of this paper caused a lively discussion, in which Mr. Wrrcnety, Mr. Cunnrneton, of Devizes, and others, took part. Mr. Witcuett thought that “ Woful Dane” was certainly the scene of a battle, but that it was not Alfred, but Canute and Edmund Ironside who were engaged in it; and that the battle of Assandune, so fatal to the Saxons, was fought at Aston Down, which is only half-a-mile from the stone at “ Woful Dane.” The time being limited, barely permitted Mr. Puarne to draw the attention of the Club to some very interesting osseous remains from the gravels of the neighbourhood, including the jaw of a beaver (Castor Huropeus,) the horns and jaws of a red deer, of large size, and a jaw, attributed either to the Irish elk (Megaceros hibernicus,) or to its ally, Strongyloceros. The relic of the beaver is of interest, being only the second instance of its discovery, in a fossil state, in this part of England—though found in the Peat beds of Cambridgeshire and the Hastern Counties—a surprising fact, when it is recollected that this animal inhabited Wales so late as the time of Grra.pus CaMBRENSIS, and must therefore have been plentiful in England at no very remote period. 12 Circumstances having rendered it necessary to postpone the meeting at Sharpness, the Second Field Meeting of the Club took place on Tuesday, June 23rd, at Wotton-under-Edge. Your President not having been present with the Club on this occasion, I am indebted to your Secretary, and to Mr. Nisxerv, for the following particulars :— The members met at the Swan Hotel, Wotton, and, under the guidance of Mr. Vincent Prrxins, visited the different points of interest in the neighbourhoood. The Geology is particularly interesting, exhibiting an unbroken succession of beds—from the Lower Lias to the Great Oolite, inclusive. Between Symond’s Hall Down—more than 800 feet above the sea-level—and the town of Wotton, may be traced, in descending order, Great Oolite, Fullers Earth, Inferior Oolite, (Upper and Lower zones,) and all the beds of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Lias. The first halt was made at the Dick Hill Quarries, and the sections on the slope of Dick Hill. The Cephalopoda beds, overlying the Supra-Liassic Sands, are here well exposed. The characteristic Ammonites, Belemnites, and other testacea, were found in abundance. The next section was in the Freestone Quarry, immediately above the Cephalopoda beds. The beds were compared with those in other localities, and their gradual thinning out in this locality noted and commented upon. Leaving these sections, the party proceeded through West- ridge Wood, to examine the ancient Earthwork at Becketsbury, which is now rather difficult to follow out, the whole side of the hill having been thickly planted. It appears to have been square, with double intrenchments, and is said to have enclosed many acres of ground. | After a luncheon, provided by the kind forethought of Mr. C. P. Prircurtt, of Coombe House, a start was made for Nibley Knoll, now crowned by the Tyndale monument; and here, in a quarry under the hillside, the Cephalopoda beds were again found well exposed. Several other very good sections of these beds were noticed during the return of the party to Wotton- under-Hdge. 13 The day was fortunately very clear, and thus permitted the enjoyment of one of the most extensive prospects in Gloucester- shire. Far away, on the extreme left, might be seen the high land near Bath, with the racecourse on Lansdowne Hill; then the estuary of the Severn, Portishead Point, and a portion of the Bristol Channel. Following the line of the Severn, came Aust Cliff, the New Passage, and the mouth of the River Wye, and, further to the right, the whole of the Severn valley, nearly as far as Gloucester. Then, beyond the Severn, the Forest of Dean, and the long line of hills stretching away into Monmouth- shire and Brecon. Immediately below, to the right, nestles the pretty village of North Nibley, with an interesting church, dedicated to St. Martin, and formerly belonging to the Abbey of Tewkesbury. Just beyond is Nibley Green, the scene of the famous fight between Witu1am, Lord Berxe ey, and Tuomas, Lord Listz. The dispute originated in a law-suit between Jamzs, fifth Lord BerKe.ey, and Ricup. Breaucuamp, Earl of Warwicx, who, in right of his wife, seized Nibley and several other manors belonging to the Lords of BerxeLry. During the continuance of the suit, Tuomas Tatsor, Viscount Liste, one of the claimants, sent a challenge to Witu1aM, sixth Lord Brerxetey, desiring him to fix time and place that they might decide their title by the sword. The Lord of BerxeLey was prompt in his reply, which ran thus: “ Fail not to-morrow to be at Nibley Green, at eight or nyne of the clock, and I will not fail, with God’s might and grace, to meet thee there, ready to answer thee in all things. So keep thy day, and the truth shall be shewed by the mercy of God.” Accordingly “the morrow” being the 20th March, 1470, they met on Nibley Green, when the first to fall was the bold challenger, Viscount Listz himself, who was shot in the mouth by an arrow from the bow of a Forest of Dean archer; and about 150 of his followers were likewise slain. The dispute itself was not, however, terminated till long afterwards, when the Courts settled it in a much more peaceable fashion; and the Manor of Nibley returned to the possession of the Lords of BERKELEY, its rightful owners. " 14 From Nibley Knoll the party visited the Church, for the following notice of which I am indebted to our colleague, Mr. Nisrert :— ‘The Church is large and lofty, and consists of a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles, with a tower at the west end, a separate baptistery on the north side, and a south porch. It is difficult to assign a date to the building generally, because so much has been done in restorations, that it is a puzzle how to discriminate old from new work, without long and careful study, and without calling in aid the able assistance of the vicar, who, in the course of 40 years, has done so much work in restoration. The county histories speak of a disastrous fire that destroyed the town in the reign of John (1199 to 1216). The vicar says, that during the progress of building and excavation he has never stumbled upon the slightest trace of Norman work. He thinks that the former church may have been of wood, as may still be seen in a few churches in England, also abroad, as at Honfleur, and elsewhere. The oldest portions may not be earlier than the latter half of the thirteenth century, contemporaneous with the tomb of DE WorTTon, the vicar, buried in the very centre of the chancel,—the most honourable spot in the church,—which we may conjecture was rebuilt by his exertions. These older parts—similar to work in the chancel of St. Mary-de-Lode, Gloucester, at Slimbridge, &c.—may be termed ‘‘ Transition First Pointed,” or of the date of the latter half of the thirteenth century. The capitals of the columns in the nave deserve especial notice for their under-cutting. The tower would appear to be of later date, judging from the “‘ball-flower” ornament round the arch; it may be of the time of Epwarp II,—early in the fourteenth century,—or early Second Pointed style. The remaining portions would be ‘‘ Perpendicular”—work of the fifteenth century, and early in that century. nal ‘‘On a flat stone in the chancel—round the edge of which the impress remains of an inscription in uncial letters of Lombardic character—these rhyming lines occur :— ‘** NATUS IN HAC VILLA COGNOMINE DICTUS AB ILLA QuI RECTOR FUIT HIC APTUM NOMENQUE SIBI SIC R. DE WOTTONA JACET HIC OUI CELICA DONA IMPETRAT IPSA PIA PULCHERRIMA VIRGO MARIA.’ ‘« All the brasses are gone, but there may be readily traced the outline of a floriated cross, in the centre of which was the Virgin Mary, and at the foot a figure of R. DE WOTTONA himself, kneeling, with a scroll inscribed— ‘¢¢ Bg MINI VIRGO PIA DUX ET LUX SANCTA MARIA.’ “On a raised altar-shaped tomb of Purbeck marble, in the north aisle, are the effigies, on a brass plate, of THOMAS, fourth LorD BERKELEY, who 15 died 1416, and that of MarGaret, his wife. The inscriptions, shields, and other accessories, are missing, also the sword, dagger, and spurs of the Lord; but otherwise the brasses are in a fine state of preservation, having been placed in an elevated position—out of harm’s way. They are a fine study of costume.” The Third Meeting of the Club took place on Wednesday, 22nd June. The rendezvous was at Gloucester, from whence the members proceeded by steamboat, on the canal, to Sharpness. The programme included an examination of the “ Forest Bed ” in the “Royal Drough” and the Silurian outcrop at Purton Passage. The day was one of the hottest of the late unusually hot summer; tempered, nevertheless, by a pleasant breeze, which rendered the water transit very agreeable. At Shepherd’s Patch Bridge, about four-and-a-half miles from Sharpness, the party quitted the boat and pursued the line of the canal for about a mile, following the course of the “ Royal Drough,” one of the main arteries for the drainage of the adjoining district. Mr. Ciecram, who acted as guide, drew attention to the trunks of trees projecting here and there in the bed of the drain, and indicating the level of the “Forest Bed,” which, at the depth of 16 feet, presents itself as’a bed of Peat, 6 feet in thickness, containing oak, hazle, beech, and water flags. From it was taken a piece of oak timber, bearing on its surface evident marks of fire. This was shown to the Club. When excavating at Shepherd’s Patch Bridge, at a depth of 16 feet, after passing through deposits of sand and mud, tracks were found of sheep and cattle impressed in clay, as sharp and well defined as if the impressions had been made quite recently. The present distance of this point from the river is more than a mile, but regard being had to the rapid silting up of the river along the low lands bordering the estuary—of which evidences abound—it is certain that no very remote antiquity can be assigned to these evidences of human occupation. Following the “ Royal Drough” to its outlet into the Severn, the excursionists pursued the river bank to Purton. About 100 yards to the eastward of the outlet of the “Drough” occurs a patch of Oolitic gravel, resting upon Lias, and containing 16 Quartz pebbles—derived, apparently, from the “Northern Drift.” This is a singular detached outlier, not easily to be accounted for. At Purton a somewhat prolonged halt took place. At this point, on the prolongation of the Malvern up-thrust, a patch of Lower Silurian is brought to the surface, thus marking the line of disturbance; which, passing under Tortworth and the Bristol Coalfield, governs the position of the beds throughout that area. Arrived at the beautiful grounds of Sharpness, the property of Lord FirzHarpiner, the Club found a capital dinner, al fresco, awaiting them, of which the wasps were disposed to dispute the right of the members to partake. The party was here joined by their associate, Mr. Jonn Brxtuows, accompanied by the distinguished savant, Professor Max Mute. Mr. Grorce F. Piaynn, read a paper on “The Physical Geology of the District Drained by the River Frome,” an area twelve miles in extent, from north to south, by eight miles from east to west. This paper was illustrated by a map of the district, shewing the course of the river and its tributaries, and marking the “ Faults”? which, at certain points, govern the course of the streams, while cross-sections, shewing variations of level, completed all that was necessary to the perfect illustra- tion of the district under review. Mr. Puaynn’s paper embraced a multitude of observations and measurements very carefully and conscientiously elaborated. The views held by the writer were, in the main, those of Col. GrreEnwoop—that Rain and Rivers have been the principal agents in excavating and moulding the present contours of our hill and valley systems. The Fourth and last Meeting of the Club for the season was held at Bredon, on Wednesday, 12th of August. This, which was a joint meeting with the Malvern Field Club, resulted in a small muster, as has usually been the case at this locality. The party went in carriages to Ashton-under-Hill, from whence they ascended Bredon at its western extremity, and passing round the northern edge of the hill, rejoined their conveyances at Westmancote. On the verge of the most northerly point of the escarpment, near to Bredon Tower, and close adjoining to the top of the Roman Camp on the 17 summit of the hill, is a mass of rock, popularly known by the name of the “Bambury Stone.” Here Mr. Luss, Vice-President of the Malvern Club, was requested to supply some information on the subject, and proceeded to say that the interest of this monument is both antiquarian and geological. He described itas “a large and rugged honeycombed mass of Oolitic rock of a roundish figure, with interstices filled to a considerable extent with stalactitic incrustations; being, in fact, broken up Oolite reconstructed, and a relic of an old line of coast. This coast- line had been rendered cavernous by wave-action; and even so late as 1712 the existence of a large cave, near the “ Bambury Stone,” had been recorded by Dr. Deruam, in his Physico- Theology. The name, though corrupted, proved it to have been one of those Ambre stones consecrated by the Druids to Celtic superstition. In Cornwall, many similar stones bear the name of Ambre. The late Mr. Janez Axxires, a Worcestershire antiquary, had no doubt that this was truly a Druidical Ambre stone; and Mr. Luxis, of Guernsey, no mean authority on such matters, was of the same opinion.” The “ Bambury Stone” is of a very remarkable conglomeratic character, being composed of large angular masses of Oolite, compacted in a calcareous paste. With the exception of one or two smaller masses of the same rock close to the Bambury Stone, it is not again met with until it is found in two isolated outliers of like character and composition, called the “King” and “ Queen,” which occupy a similar position on the southern slope of the hill above Westmancote. These conglomerates— so different in character from any other rock either there or elsewhere in the district, and occupying as they do a position on the denuded escarpment of the plateau—seem to admit of but one interpretation, namely, that they owe their origin to shore-ice during the Glacial epoch, to the grinding action of which substance the hollowing out of the valley itself is probably mainly due. The “Bambury Stone” and the “ King” and “Queen” are thus but the remains of a far larger extension of the same deposit, which has in its turn yielded to denuding influences, and left only these relics to shew what once has been. 18 Mr. Luzs, in the course of some observations on the “ King” and “Queen,” threw out a suggestion that these singular rocks may, in times past, have served as a place of assembly for chiefs and people; and in proof of the conspicuous estimation in which they were held, stated that the Manorial Court of Hardwick had long been held there, and that it was only of late years that it had been removed, for convenience sake, to an inn at Bredon. With the minutes of the Bredon meeting terminate the records of the Cotteswold Club for the past season. We assemble again in 1869 with undiminished numbers, and, I hope, with unabated zeal and enthusiasm for the ennobling pursuits in which we are all united. The book of Nature is so ample, her stores are so vast, her bounty so unlimited, that none need despair of being able in his own sphere, and by his own diligent labour, of contributing something to the ever accumulating stores of scientific knowledge, which, in an accelerating ratio, are heaping up for future races of men such power and wisdom as would almost seem to pass man’s under- standing. Yet, looking at the scientific triumphs of the last half-century, it seems scarcely presumptuous to expect that even the steam-ship, the electric telegraph, and spectrum analysis, will be outdone in the future, and that these are but the forerunners of still grander discoveries, by which the mind of man will assert its pre-eminence—its god-like supremacy— over the power of nature. + Se ee eee ee oe 19 On some Glass Flasks from Dorsetshire. By James Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.8., &e. Iy the parish of Thornford, just over the Yeo, which separates it from Bradford Abbas, a proprietor, in digging a potato garden, came upon a row of Flasks placed end to end. They consisted of three quarts and two pints. They were globular in shape, and composed of rough, dark green glass, (see Fig. 1,) upon each of which was an impressed stamp, raised in the form of a label,—the stamp evidently being that of a crest. Having sent drawings to Mr. Auperr Way, I have been favoured by him with the following ideas upon the matter :— “The Glass Flasks are curious. I have seen a few such objects marked with some heraldic insignia and initials. Whether they contained Sack, or Rhenish, I cannot pretend to say; or when the fashion came in of placing some personal decorations on such wine bottles—the prototypes no doubt of decanters. “The form is, I imagine, Dutch or North German, but I fancy was probably followed in our glass works, and is not obsolete in these days. I should imagine yours to be about 1700, perhaps earlier. The flying falcon recalls the crest of the Pavtets, but the coronet is that of a Baron. “There is a glass bottle (amongst others) in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, with a raised stamp,— J. Swift, Dean, 1727 probably referable to the time of his popularity, as many others bear his name. I have seen, however, several bottles with heraldic stamps, certainly referring to the noble family for 20 which they were made; and I regard the circumstance as of interest, shewing the first idea of decorating this class of social appliances.” Now, as regards the raised stamps on the five bottles, it may interest to remark, that though all agree in every essential particular, yet the bottles show that they were stamped from at least two distinct dies. I have not had an opportunity to decide as to this crest, but I fancy the Pavers were much connected with the county. The fragment Fig. 2 is a stamp of a like kind, which was found at Clifton Maybank, now a hamlet of Bradford Abbas. This crest is of the Harvuy family, who held Clifton, and also Wyke. There are monuments to the Harveys in Bradford Church,— one to Sir Taos. Harvey, on which is the same crest. Whether these were the prototypes of decanters or no I cannot say, but at all events they are not inelegant in shape; and it seems quite evident that the crests were impressed upon them not only as a decoration, but to establish a kind of ownership. & a] 4 - . 7 . nr ‘ i n ! te ‘ Le 5 . ~ ‘ pi _ ee - ‘ t ye s ' ad ase Cit bn ante > wie \ x ane Pane at Zar Seta. ee ad Nth ate ache eT > q 1 thee hy ee ye aes te l Sy ¥ ss 5 aes Pari eae a IIE Ts tee? re 39 On the Incised Grave-stones and Stone Coffins of Minchinhampton Church. By G. F. Puayne. Reap at Guoucester, APRitn 7, 1869. On the occasion of our Field Meeting in May last year, the Parish Church of Minchinhampton was visited, and I had there the pleasure of exhibiting to the Club plans of some Incised Grave-stones, or Coffin-lids, found at that Church, and which our President considered of sufficient interest to be engraved for the records of the Club. I have now briefly to bring before you an account of these Incised Slabs, and also of some Stone Coffins, with such particulars of the buildings of which they have formed part, as are needful to illustrate their history. From the Doomsday Survey we learn that in the reign of Edward the Confessor, Goda, the Countess, held Hamptone, and that in the reign of King William the Conqueror the church of the nuns of Caen, in Normandy, held it. This foreign convent continued to hold it until the suppression of alien monasteries in the reign of King Henry the Fifth, when it passed into the possession of the nunnery of Syon, in Middlesex. No evidence remains to show whether a church stood here in Saxon times, but a portion of a Norman church existed quite recently,—for until the restoration of this Parish Church, in 1842, there remained a range of piers and arches of Norman work, on the north side of the nave; and in the wall over these arches were found two small Norman windows, walled up, the apertures of which were only 6 inches in width. Of Early D2 40 English work there remained the wall below the east window, and the north wall of the chancel, in which were found, walled up, two windows of this style. All the other parts of the old church were of fourteenth century work, with the exception of a few alterations in the Debased style of architecture. At the restoration, which took place in 1842, only the tower and the north and south transepts were retained, the old nave and chancel were broken down, and-in those portions of the walls which had been built in the fourteenth century, were found a number of Incised Stone Slabs, which had been employed as building material in various parts of these walls. Some of these slabs had been built into the foundations of the walls of the south aisle, and one (No. 5) had been used as a kind of sillstone to the east window of the chancel. By this means they had been preserved for some 500 years, and handed down, in this somewhat singular manner, in a remarkably fine state of preservation,—the incisions on some of them being almost as sharply defined as when they were first made. Nearly twenty of these slabs, and a yet larger number of fragments, were found. They are formed of the softer beds of the Great Oolite Weather-stones of the district. With the exception of No. 12, which is slightly coped, and its cross cut in relief, the designs with which these slabs are enriched are merely incised on the flat upper surfaces of the stones. The crosses are of a beautifully simple character, with the exception of the one numbered 11, which has attached to its shaft several branching ornaments or scrolls. Nine of the twelve slabs engraved— namely, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12, possess various forms of the “Calvary,” on which the foot of the cross rests. No slabs were met with bearing any symbol denoting the occupation of the person for whom the memorial was placed, and only one was found bearing any inscription, and that was merely a fragment. These ancient Grave-stones, as forming portions of the materials of the old church, were appropriated by the contractors engaged in the restoration, and were by them scattered here and there throughout the neighbourhood. As adjuncts to Al rockeries and ferneries, or lying in neglected corners of pleasure grounds, they have since suffered greatly by exposure; and more has been done during the last quarter of a century to efface these memorials of an early age, than had been accom- plished during the previous 500 years. On comparing the slabs found at Minchinhampton with the engravings in a work by the Rev. Epwarp L. Currs,—“ is 4] OW y \ Va .” | we s & oN wf oo” oe | SS ay @ \ . é | / Aes S| | \ 6 yt co: || = i S ee | | = Se - | ; | =F : aS 3 ; | | | = eee = | 1 - & wl 45 Wray eas x | SCALE 8 FEET TO THE INCH. Wier Line ww Canal Finnd _ - : 7 |b. : i TPO ek E icc A es PP (hale & DATUM 390 FEET ABOVE (HALF TIDE! SEA LEVEL. (THE ORDNANCE DATUM, 4 - . | — aaa i eaiaaee \ T & S&S. CANAL TUNNEL. j 4 CROSS SECTION FOR ARCHING = CROSS SECTION FOR ARCHING be 7 LONGITUDINAL SECTION. were: IN LOOSE ROCK. 4 N°2 1S > W 7 x ¢ L \ 4 . € 5 r alah Ur . tail eat N iW i , = Ser _— fo Orenestr i 2 FF | i; & f : * A - ( = \ Se Se Sea ee a Se =uUn NM SIN Se wy { 0 DS 0 SS yA 2 t& >, HM U bs, Re neg, Se CROSS SECTION FOR ROCKING. — GROSS SECTION FOR TRUNK FORMING Road Nom Strand = “\ wooo N°3. N°4 XX (on Longitudinal Section) & Sag R TE Hy % - ip f Ny S ol } 2\\ : , fe We, - sides suntan hing +— Bottom 2s do. SCALE. ey a Utbuslorg Sal itthack CHAINS 20 15 10 5 O Vt va 34% / MILE SS ee Rusdeup anslde tes f ma | | St ty 2 destance from a 7: Se i] cach other Phe leeunton, Men Thal OF. “ewe S 2 eka ee se : SCALE 8 FEET TO THE INCH. April (7° 1871 bacaColGts LAE ESIC df (tant Det bewtaacw ec ae aww Lennon, Lith GLOUCESTER On some Flint-flakes, from the Valley of the Churn, at Cirencester. By W. T. Tutsevton Dyer, B.A., B.Sc. It may be considered worth while to record in the Proceedings of the Club, the occurrence at Cirencester of small flint-flakes in considerable numbers. They are found in the top spit of mould beneath the turf, when this is removed to allow of the excavation of the gravel at the Barton Pits. My attention was called to them in 1869, by Mr. Ourty, a student at the Agricul- tural College, who has paid a good deal of attention to Geology, and is a keen observer. I afterwards found them myself in situ in the layer of mould, varying from nine inches to a foot in thickness, which is exposed in the section formed by the pit side. The gravel is apparently derived from the Inferior Oolite, as it contained rolled examples of Terebratula fimbria, and other characteristic fossils. I found, as might be expected, no flints ‘in this, but only in the superincumbent soil. The flakes which I collected were very rude; some were flat with a triangular outline, others oblong, and of about the game’ size as those figured by Mr. Jonzs, from Stroud Hill.* They were, however, far less regularly formed than these, as I also ascertained by examining some in the possession of Mr. Wicurtt. I showed the most presentable of what I found to Mr. Franxs, at the British Museum. He accepted a few of them as being of human manufacture, and selected examples for the Christy collection. Supposing, as it is not impossible many persons will do, that these flints are too * Proceedings, vol. iii., p. 103. U 272 indeterminate to be considered as having been used for any purpose by man, it is still puzzling to give them a history, The nearest flint gravel to Cirencester is at Minety,* but this is lower down the Churn valley. In reading, however, Mr. Lucy’s memoir on the Gravels of the Cotteswolds, I met with a passage (page 100) in which he mentions the occurrence about Moreton-in-the-Marsh, of “a great quantity of flints, some very small, having a chipped appearance.” It is by no means impossible that this may be the clue to the flint-flakes at the Barton Pits. + Proceedings, 1869, p. 104. >,% oD, ee a0§ oy A) ip, > a Sf (fs DEC et lh SS (jz A Y iJ Ug, SY Thlaspi -perfoliatum. Perfoliate Penny Cress. 273 On Thlaspi perfoliatum, L. By W. 'T. Tuiseuron Dyer, B.A., B.Sc. It has been pointed out by Mr. Warson* that the most local species of British flowering plants belong to two classes as regards their distribution, namely, those which are found only in the south of England, and secondly the assemblage of Alpine and Arctic plants peculiar, as far as Britain is concerned, to the Eastern Highlands of Scotland. Thlaspi perfoliatum, ue is an example of the first class, as in Britain it has only hitherto been gathered on the Oolites of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Mr. Warson, in his latest publication on the distribution of British plants, places Oxfordshire within brackets, by which it is intended to show that probably the Thlaspi is no longer to be found in that county, so that Gloucestershire now stands alone as a locality for it. In Dr. Hooxer’s Student’s Flora, p. 38, Thlaspi perfoliatwum is said to affect ‘limestone pastures.’ I believe, however, that when growing it will generally be found to prefer weathered limestone rubbish. As it is an annual of small dimensions and very short duration, it would be quite an exceptional thing for a plant so constituted to be able to hold its own against the perennial vegetation of pastures. In Oxfordshire it was originally found “among the stone pits” (quarries) between Witney and Burford, (Ray’s Synopsis, Ed. iii., p. 305), and more recently, a specimen in the British Museum was collected by Mr. Brcneno, 4} miles from Witney, on the Burford Road. Some years ago my friend, Mr. BosweEtt, ee SSeS * Cybele Britannica, vol. iv., p. 445. Wine 274 met with it in cultivated ground near Woodstock; but, although he searched the spot in several after years, he never saw it there again, nor had I any better success on visiting the place with him. For Gloucestershire many localities have from time to time been recorded. Mr. Buckman met with it in the neighbourhood of Sapperton ;* it occurred in “ old quarryings” over both the north and also the south end of the railway tunnel. Other localities given by Mr. Buckman in the North Cotteswolds are Eyeford, Stow-on-the-Wold, the Seven Springs, and Bourton-cn-the-Water; Naunton may be added on the authority of Dr. Boswetu-Symn,t and Upper Slaughter, where it was gathered by Mr. Borrer.{ In 1869 I myself met with a small patch of the Thlaspi growing on a rather bare bank by the roadside just outside the village of Sapperton, and afterwards in great abundance on the embankment, and even on the ballast between the rails of the Great Western Railway near Tetbury Road Station, towards Hailey Wood. Thlaspi perfoliatum like a few other of our native Crucifers, is a very early plant, such as Hrophile verna and Teesdalia nudicaulis. On the Ist of May I found the seeds fully formed and the plant almost out of condition for collecting. Britain possesses no plant peculiar to it, and therefore no spot which is the object of pilgrimages to foreign botanists, like the mountain side in Carinthia, where alone in the whole world the splendid Scrophulariacea, Wulfenia carinthiaca, Jacq., conceals the ground with its magnificent assemblage of flowers of gorgeous blue. The Thlaspi, for example, though so local in England extends through Middle Europe to Western and Northern Asia, and southwards to Northern Africa. The neighbourhood of the Cotteswolds produces a few other plants very local in Britain. Arabis stricta, Huds., confined * See Proceedings, vol. i., p. 109, and Appendix, p. 4; also the Phytologist for 1850. p. 942. / + Eng. Bot., Ed. iii., vol. i., p 204. { There are specimens in the British Museum Herbarium. 275 with us to Clifton and Cheddar, does not extend beyond Central Burope. Cephalanthera rubra, Reich., extends through Europe to West Siberia, but in England was hardly more than tradition- ally known as having been found on Minchinhampton Common; it was said to have been met with in 1836, on the Quantock Hills in Somerset, but recently has been collected in some plenty in Pitchcombe Wood after the trees had been cut.* Lastly, Carex tomentosa, L., which is distributed throughout Burope, is only found in the British Isles at Marston-Maisey in Wiltshire. * Eng. Bot., Ed. iii., vol. 9, p. 128. i) ~1 J On the Harly Occupation of the Cotteswold Hills by Man. By G. F, Puayne. Read at Williton, October 5th, 1870. ty common with many districts of England, the Cotteswold Hills retain traces of their occupation by early races of men, of whose existence we have little evidence except the remains of their works. These remains consist of portions of the dwellings in which they sheltered, of defensive works by which they protected themselves, of structures whereby they marked the graves of their dead, and accompanying these larger works are found various implements, ornaments, and weapons of stone, earth, and metal. These relics, from the imperishable character of their materials, have suffered comparatively little by the ordinary effects of nature; but by the agency of man very many have been injured, and numbers have doubtless disappeared altogether. The plough has been the great leveller of earth- works; the mere value of the materials has led to the removal of many structures formed of massive stones ; the treasure-seeker has marred the antiquarian interest of numbers of barrows; and the researches of antiquaries have aided in the destruction of these ancient works. Those which have remained to the present time are now subjected to these various destructive agencies in a rapidly increasing ratio,—by the inclosure of “common” lands, whose hitherto untilled surfaces have preserved in a remarkable manner even slight depressions or mounds made many centuries ago; by the more thorough cultivation of long existing farms, for which barrows or other works before spared are now removed; and by the restless activity of antiquaries, whose investigations threaten to leave to the future few vestiges of these ancient works intact. It therefore appears desirable to take note of the present state of these remains, and to gather up the evidences they afford before they altogether disappear. IT shall not attempt to give a detailed account of all the 278 camps, barrows, and other traces of the early occupation of the Cotteswold range, but having recently devoted considerable time and labour to an examination of those which are found in my “own neighbourhood, I trust that a condensed report of them may not be without interest; believing that this district, though certainly rich in such remains, is by no means exceptional, and that other districts, carefully examined, yield similar evidences. The accompanying map embraces an area of five miles square, having the village of Nailsworth nearly at its centre. On this map the valleys are shaded, the higher grounds are unshaded. In the valleys few remains of early man have been met with, whilst it will be seen at a glance how numerous they are on the higher land,—not only are extensive earthworks there traced, but many tumuli stud the surface. The following table contains particulars of nineteen tumuli, which occur in the area embraced by this map, whilst for the purposes of comparison the dimensions of the well-known Uley _ Bury Tumulus are given at the head of the list. No. : Direction on Form Length | Width | Height | of highest Map part Feet Feet Feet Uley Bury Tumulus............ Oval 150 70 12 |E.N.E. 1 |‘ The Toots” on Selsley Hill " 210 90 11 W 2 \Bown Hill Tumulus............ " 180 50 " 3 |** Whitfield’s Tump”’ ..... ... " 1o2\ 36e ee | OR Oe 4 |Gatcombe Tumulus ............ " 200 84 8 |E.N.E. 5 \** Tingle Stone” Tumulus ... 0 130 70 6 N. 6 |Avening Tumulus........:...... " 160 60 6 E 7 \Lechmore Tumulus ............ ” 120 65 6 E. 8 |Near Bown Hill Tumulus ...|Circular| 60? in diam., ploughed down 9 | « Hampton Common...... u 60 " a " 10 u The Hyde oles wiviae'aai bie’ furs viaye ” 65? ” u " 11 |In Gatcombe Wood............ " 35 u 2 ft. high 12 |‘*The Oven,” Avening Copse u 50 a 5 ou [Ss TnsHazlew ood 2125: .e¢scssaceeeens 4 75P 0 now 8 ft. high 14 [Near Hazlewood Copse ...... " 6G5P- 4 ploughed down 15 | » Lechmore Tumulus ... " 45 " 5 ft. high 16 » Chavenage Green ...... u 60? « ploughed down 17 " " i ree ” 60? “ u“ " 18 |Horsley Wood Tumulus ...... ” 52 " 3 ft. 6 in. high 19 |The Hyde Tumulus ............ Oval 80long,60wide, 10high, EK byN Nos. 1 to 7 of the above table are very similar as regards their external form to the Uley Tumulus, and have probably all contained stone chambers. A few remarks will suftice as to a ef ee i Ce > ib Z “es a — "4 — ae y a ton Sa a C. Fhe Mess es D Zarttororks on Selsley Hell. E Furth on, Bedborongh) IU. 279 their present condition, and serve to show how much injury they have suffered even during the present century. The largest tumulus of this district stands on Selsley Hill; it is known as “The Toots,” and has been opened in three places, but I am not aware that any record has been preserved of the results of this disturbance. The Bown Hill Tumulus (No. 2) was opened by the Club in May, 1863, and found to have been formed over stone chambers ; particulars of this examination are given in the “ Proceedings of the Club,” Vol. III., page 199. The tumulus on Minchinhampton Common, popularly known as “ Whitfield’s Tump,” has been so thoroughly disturbed as to render it difficult to ascertain its original form and dimensions. The belief that these tumuli contained treasure led to the disturbance of the remarkably fine barrow (No. 4) which occupies the ridge immediately above the northern entrance to Gatcombe Park. About sixty years ago, a poor woman, who, from the faith she placed in her dreams of hidden treasure, gained the sobriquet of “ Molly Dreamer,” spent much time in digging into this and other barrows of the neighbourhood. Within the present year this tumulus has been opened by our associate, Canon Lysons, and at the eastern end two very large: stones occupying the centre of the mound were uncovered. Dwarf walls neatly constructed of Stonesfield slate curve in _ from the east and terminate at these stones, and by openings made in the sides of the tumulus indications were obtained that this dwarf wall extends round the whole mound.* * Note.—April, 1871. At the time the above-mentioned examinations were made no chamber was met with, but since then a fine stone chamber has been accidentally discovered by a workman in Mr. Richardo’s employ. It occupies a spot on the northern side, nearly at the widest part of the tumulus, and is 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, 5 ft. 6 in. high, and has an entrance porch 8 ft. square; this porch was faced by two stones so placed as to give access by a small opening between them. This structure is formed by seven stones placed on edge, and the sepulchral chamber is covered with a massive stone, 9 ft. 6 in. long and 5 ft. 6 in. wide. The spaces between the upright stones are filled in by walls of Stonesfield slate very neatly arranged, and in some parts these are brought over towards the top so as to meet the covering stone. One skeleton was found; the corpse had apparently been placed in a sitting position at the farthest end of the chamber. The skull measured 8 inches in length, and 5 inches in breadth. 280 Near Gatcombe Park there is another tumulus (No. 6 of the foregoing table) which is interesting as forming in several respects an exception to the other oval tumuli of the district. It does not occupy, as the others do, the highest level of its neighbourhood, for, although placed on a slight knoll, it is overlooked from rising ground on its eastern side. In its direction also it is exceptional, being placed due N. and &., the broadest part being at about one-third of the entire length from the north end of the mound. It is also the only example in the district of a crowned burrow,—on the broadest part stands a large stone, 6 feet in height, which bears the name of “ Tingle Stone.” The Avening Tumulus (No. 6) was opened in the year 1809 by the Rev. N. Tuornzury, Rector of Avening; three stone chambers were taken out, removed to a grove in the rectory garden, and there carefully set up in the forms and relative positions they had occupied in the tumulus, so that even in their present state they afford good examples of such sepulchral chambers. The largest is 7 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet high, and has one side formed by two stones so placed as to give access to the chamber. The Lechmore Tumulus contained so recently as 1812 one chamber, but the stones of which it was constructed have since been removed for building material, and the mound itself is now reduced in size year by year by the operation of the plough. Two ancient monuments, probably coeval with these large oval tumuli, remain to be noticed. A few hundred yards to the north of the Gatcombe Park Tumulus stands a fine monolith, known as “The Long-stone.” (Plate 2.) Itis 7} ft. high above ground, and is popularly believed to be as much beneath the surface. It is a block of a peculiar stratum of Great Oolite, which in this district immediately underlies the surface soil. From the circumstance that this stratum is pierced by irregular holes, which become larger on exposure to the air, this monolith presents a singular appearance. A much smaller stone stands 30 feet from the “Long Stone,” and a third stone is stated to have been removed during the present century. Pratt I LONG STONE, NEAR MINCHINHAMPTON. 28] On the Ordnance Map there is marked as standing on the hill-top south of Nailsworth, “The Picked Stone,” but this monolith, which is well remembered by many people of the neighbourhood, has been removed, and is believed to have been used in the building of a stack of stone steps in a farm-yard near Barton End. “The Picked Stone” was about 4 feet high, and occupied the highest spot on the hills in that locality. Tn addition to the seven oval barrows already mentioned, there occur in the area included in the sketch map eleven tumuli of a very different construction. They are circular, and do not inclose stone chambers, but are simply mounds of earth and stone, varying from 35 feet to 60 feet in diameter, and were originally about five feet in height. These smaller tumuli have not suffered by the hand of man so generally as the larger; the latter, from their great size andthe conspicuous situations they occupy, have attracted the interest of the curious for many generations past, and, as already mentioned, have been greatly injured; whilst these smaller grave-mounds, where they have enjoyed the protection of surrounding woods, have retained their original form and height, and even such as have been brought under cultivation and reduced in height have yet retained the deposit of ashes and bones over which they were placed, undisturbed by the action of the plough. I must plead guilty to having destroyed for future antiquaries the interest of eight of these circular tumuli. In 1851 T assisted in opening the one marked “12,” which stood on the hill-side west of the village of Avening. It was 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet in height. On what had been the original surface, charcoal and ashes were scattered, and at the centre of the mound a handful of burnt human bones were found. No flints were then observed, although ten persons were engaged in the opening ; but on a recent visit to this tumulus two worked flints were picked up from its surface. Of nearly equal dimensions to the last is a circular tumulus which stands a few hundred yards directly south of the Lechmore oval tumulus. This I thoroughly examined in November, 1869. The materials forming the central portion of the mound were . 282 removed down to the original surface of the ground. The upper portion was found to consist of stone and rubble to the depth of 18 inches; the remaining 8 feet 6 inches was fine mould. In this fine mould 80 flints were found, also 4 small pieces of pottery, and a few teeth of oxen. On what had been the surface soil before the construction of the barrow, traces of the action of fire were perceptible,—charcoal, burned bones, and small pieces of a human skull lay scattered about; whilst exactly at the centre of the tumulus a hole, 8 inches in depth, had been made, and in it lay a few burned human bones. The flints were found in every part of the heap of fine mould,— some were flakes, thin and sharp-edged, forming scraping or cutting implements, and including the “knife,” figured on Plate 4, fig. 4; but the majority were mere chippings. One flint arrow-point (see Plate 4, fig. 1) of an uncommon type lay near the deposited bones. No trace of metal was observed. The pottery, rude in structure, was ornamented by a pattern formed by dotted lines. The “Journal of the Archeological Association” (Vol. IV., page 50) contains an account of the discovery of a number of interments in a field near Chavenage, from which were obtained iron spear-heads, bronze fibule, silver ear-rings, stone, clay, and amber beads, all characteristic specimens of Anglo-Saxon work- manship. These interments were met with in the year 1847 by workmen employed to level down two circular tumuli, which stood 300 feet due N. and S., one from the other. This levelling- down process, though uncovering the secondary graves, did not disturb the central portions of the original grave-mounds, and these I have carefully examined during the present year. In one, charcoal, burned bones, small pieces of pottery, and worked flints were found on the original surface, and a few inches higher a very well worked flint javelin-point (see Plate IV., fig. 2.) What remained of the other tumulus was still protected by stones, which covered a deposit of fine soil, in which were found some pieces of iron-stone and of charcoal, but no trace of any interment; and neither bones, pottery, or flints were met with. 283 In Gatcombe Woods, a small mound, occupying nearly the highest spot of the hill, was found on examination to be formed of stones, the weathered edges of which attested that they had long lain exposed on the surface before they were thus heaped together. Underneath these protecting blocks of stone lay, at the centre of the mound, very small pieces of pottery, burned bones, and one thin sharp-edged worked flint. The calcined bones were of small size, and amongst them lay a tooth which a competent authority has decided to be “a left central incisor of the permanent set from a child not more than four years old.” The mound was very carefully searched for other relics, but beyond traces of charcoal on the original surface nothing else was met with. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that this tumulus was raised in honour of a mere child. The circular tumulus (No. 9) occupied a field near the Wind- mill on Minchinhampton Common. Two years ago the occupier of this place dreamed that this tump contained a crock of gold, and set workmen to dig into it. His reward was to find that the central position consisted of fine mould, but the only treasure found was an iron ring and a few fragments of bronze. Professor Cuurce has kindly analysed this bronze, and states that “it consisted originally of an alloy of copper, with a good percentage of tin, a very little zine, a trace of iron, and no lead. It is thoroughly corroded into sub-oxide and green carbonate of copper. It is certainly ancient and unlike in composition any of the Romano-British mixed metals which Thave examined from Gloucestershire.” On the hill above Hyde a circular tumulus (No. 10) had been ploughed down all except 30 inches. On opening the centre of this, I found stones thrown together protecting a layer of grey coloured tempered earth, eight inches in depth; beneath this was a circular excavation in the original soil, 5 feet in diameter and 10 inches in depth. The sides of this hole were protected by stones placed on edge around it, and it was filled with earth burned to the consistency of brick, and this contained fragments of burned human bones. On the upper surface of the grey deposit lay charcoal, rude pottery, pebbles, unburned bones of 284. sheep (?),a small piece of bronze, apparently part of an ornament, and a beautifully formed leaf-shaped arrow-point (Plate IV., fig. 3.) The circular tumulus (No. 18) having been until recently surrounded by woods, had retained nearly its original form and size. On opening it I found it to consist of fine earth firmly consolidated, as though it had been thrown together when thoroughly moistened by water. A heap of ashes and thoroughly burned human bones occupied the usual position at the centre of the tumulus, and on a level with the surrounding surface. One small piece of pottery and two ox teeth were met with, but not one piece of flint or metal. It will be observed that in every case now described these circular tumuli have been made over interments preceded by cremation,—that the ashes of the dead were unprotected by urns,—that metal has rarely been met with, bronze in two cases, and iron* in two also,—and that in three instances flint imple- ments (Plate IV., figs. 1, 2, and 3) have been deposited near the remains of the departed. / The fine tumulus (No. 19) which stands on the brow of the hill above the village of The Hyde, and which was visited by the Club in May, 1869, is probably of a much later age than the circular tumuli which have just been mentioned. From the dimensions given in the table at page 278, it will be seen that it differs in its external form from the oval tumuli Nos. 1 to 7. It was opened in the year 1848 by the occupier of the field in which it stands, and was found to contain “a space inclosed by large unhewn stones,” and in this chamber lay burned bones and ashes, and a bronze.fibula of a Roman type. The next relics of the early occupants of our hills to be described are the remains of their defensive works. A good example of one of these is still traceable in a copse one mile * T am indebted to Professor CHurcuH for an examination of specimens of iron found in circular tumuli and in pit-dwellings. The former are natural iron- stones, and may have been used for sling-stones; the latter are artificial iron- slags. Iron, both in the form of ore and in the condition of slag, occurs scattered in the surface-soil of the Cotteswolds. In some localities, as near Avening, it occurs in considerable quantity. La ea eee 285 south east of Nailsworth. It incloses an area of about ten acres in extent, and is formed by slight mounds and ditches constructed on curved lines, as shown by the plan on Plate II1., fig. 4. In one part are three parallel lines, two of which have the ditches outside their mounds, whilst the third has the ditch inside. The outer line—a, B, c, p,—has an elevation of 4 feet from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the bank, and may possibly have been a later work added to strengthen the camp, and so constructed that the area a, B, c, forms an independent inclosure. The other lines of earthworks are very slight, and the whole works could have presented little defence unless, as was probably the case, they were strengthened by palisadings of trees and branches. The site of this camp being covered by a copse wood, I have been unable to find any flints within it on the surface of the ground, and only a few by careful digging in the ditches, but the arable fields immediately outside the line A, E, have yielded abundance, more than 1000 having there been gathered up ,including several javelin-points, scrapers, flakes,* and two arrow-heads. One mile north of Nailsworth, on the hill-top immediately above Amberley, is the earthwork marked 8 on the map. A simple slight ditch and mound run on the curved line 4, B, c, D, from the village of Littleworth to the escarpment above Spriggs- well, including an area of about 50 acres in extent. Across this area a much more important work has been constructed on the line 3B, ©. Half a mile eastward there is another series of intrenchments, commencing at the head of a deep combe above the village of the Box at r; this work also runs in an irregular curve on the line r, a, H, 1, K, there it is protected by a parallel line , and this again by another parallel line m, which terminates at the head of a combe, the whole work inclosing more than a square mile. At u there is a passage through the mound and across the ditch, which a careful examination proved to have been part of the original design. Between’k and 1 some portion * Flakes found on the surfaces of fields are usually much broken, but on this spot several whole flakes have been met with, one of which has an artificially serrated edge, which will yet “saw” horn and bone. 286 of the intrenchments have been destroyed in the construction of a park and a turnpike road. To the north-west of Amberley Camp, at a distance of less than two miles, is Selsley Hill, on which there is an earthwork at p. There a very slight mound and ditch, o, p, form an irregular line, and in the area between this and the hill sides can be counted some 130 of those depressions in the surface which are believed to have been the floors of human habitations. As pointed out by the Rev. A. S. Paes, not one of these pits is found outside the line of defence formed by the mound and ditch. To picture out the appearance of this work when occupied by its constructors, we may suppose, erected over each of these depressions, huts formed of branches and trees, and thatched, whilst the protecting mound would be strengthened by a palisading of stakes or branches. The requirements of the occupiers of the camp on Selsley Hill did not lead them either to extend it beyond its original dimensions, or to strengthen it by the addition of other lines of defence, but with the Amberley Camp (s) it was otherwise. The series of entrenchments already mentioned as extending for two miles eastward of the slight work, a, B, c, D, are of the same character and strength as the line B 5, and with that present a series of five parallel lines of defence, the ditches being in all cases on the eastern sides of the mounds. Pit- dwellings are found in great numbers, not only in the Amberly Camp, but in the area bounded by the lines c, «, Fr; altogether 700 have been counted, and it would be probably no exaggeration to say that 300 more have been obliterated by the opening of quarries and the construction of roads. A slight mound may be traced on the line c, e, and it is noteworthy that scarcely any pits have been made to the north of the line a, c, a. The dwellings were most numerous near the escarpment, which may be accounted for -not only from the greater shelter this part enjoyed from cold “winds, but also from its proximity to fine springs of water thrown out by the Fuller’s Earth at the base of the escarpment. On Rodborough Hill, one mile north of the Amberley Camp, ‘ re! : - , + “7 ol wee e ‘ ’ F *~ nhs ~ A A MEG tae Te . OS oll