82 



ON 



THE KIMMERIDGE COAL MONEY. 



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



In entering upon the subject of the origin and use of the so 

 called " Kimmeridge Coal Money," the people to whom it may 

 be attributed, whether, in the full extent of the word, it is to be 

 considered the refuse from the lathe, or being refuse, it was after- 

 wards appropriated to some purpose, or whether, and which ap- 

 pears probable, these most interesting relics are the remains of 

 one race of people collected by its successors and stored up as 

 objects possessing talismanic value, we are beset at the com- 

 mencement by a variety of statements, arguments, and opinions, 

 at variance with each other, both from those who have written 

 upon them, and others who are connected with the localities 

 in which they so abundantly occur. I have myself received in 

 my researches, every requisite assistance from the owners of the 

 soil I have excavated at Kimmeridge, Tyneham, Encombe, and 

 Povington. I have in my possession, specimens of every variety 

 which has been discovered, and still I am forced to confess that 

 tlie more I search, the more I enquire, the more conflicting be- 

 comes the evidence obtained. They are in fact, as Sir Richard 

 Colt Hoare designated them, "very singular relics, and the 

 Antiquary who endeavours to ascertain or investigate their 

 original use, treads upon unknown and very mysterious ground." 

 I will not therefore, start upon theory, but state the results as 

 yet attained, and suggest the most probable conclusions to which 

 they tend, hoping that the time may not be far distant when 

 some, more satisfactory, may be arrived at. 



