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FLOWER'S BARROW. 

 [ Read at The Grange, November 20th, 1856. ] 



The interest felt by the Members of the Purbeck Society, on 

 the subject of Flower's Barrow, has been so strikingly expressed 

 by theii' presence at our meeting there, that I trust a Paper 

 upon this subject will not be this day ill timed, or listened to 

 mth indifference. 



The twenty-eighth of August was but ill calculated for seeing, 

 much less for appreciating this interesting object. Thick clouds 

 gathered in from the Atlantic over the distant Island of Portland, 

 the wind rose as the day advanced, the rain fell in passing 

 storms, and the hill of Flower's Barrow, to which so many eyes 

 were turned with interest, was frequently hidden from view by 

 the driving fog, which hung heavily on its summit. In spite, 

 however, of these discouraging circumstances, the Purbeck 

 Society mustered in more than usual numbers, of whom the 

 greater portion ascended the hill, and walked round its singular 

 ramparts and trenches. AD, even under these difficulties, must 

 have been struck with its bold and romantic situation, and I feel 

 that, on this point, I can say but little to add to what must have 

 been their own impressions. Situated on the extreme western 

 termination of the Purbeck line of chalk hills, the ground falls 

 rapidly away on the west, towards the shore of Arishmill, and 

 to the north, by a still more rapid descent towards the village of 

 East Lulworth. On the south, a precipitous cliff allows the 

 lover of the picturesque, whose head is equal to the sight, to 

 look over the giddy height of some six hundred feet, with the 

 bay of WorbaiTow beneath. The restless surge as it breaks upon 

 the pebbly shore below, ever with slow, but certain effort, is 

 gradually undermining the face of the cliff, and crumbling its 

 earth works into a constantly decreasing compass. On the east 



