248 ON A RECENT SUBSIDENCE AT MUCKING, ESSEX. 



But the fact that the deneholes which we know either in 

 this part of Essex or at Bexley in Kent, end in Chalk, has caused 

 the identification of deneholes with pits in the Chalk, if not for 

 chalk, which is purely the result of accident. Chalk is the one 

 comparatively hard rock existing at or near the surface where 

 groups of deneholes have been found. Hence some of those 

 ending in Chalk have lasted to this day. The depth, too, at 

 which the chambers in the Chalk exist has caused them to be 

 more or less choked up, after a period of disuse, by the fall of 

 material down the shaft, there being a funnel-like orifice at the 

 surface corresponding to the amount of material which has thus 

 fallen, and the chambers themselves having suffered comparatively 

 little by collapse. But deneholes in soft material, more or less 

 strengthened by timber or brickwork, being often little, if any, 

 deeper than many modern cellars, would collapse entirely after 

 disuse, through the rotting of their timber supports, with a result 

 at the surface more or less resembling that seen at the Mucking 

 Hole. Indeed, one of them would scarcely ever be found 

 except when its site w T as revealed by a subsidence. And should 

 one be accidentally discovered uninjured, it would probably 

 suggest to the discoverer, not an ancient structure, but simply a 

 comparatively modern disused cellar, having no interest whatever 

 for the antiquary. 



Yet in the paper by Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell, entitled " Ensilage 

 or Preserving Grain in Pits," appended to our Denehole Report' 2 

 in 18S7, we have abundant evidence that " the excavation of 

 hollows in the soil for the purpose of hiding stores, whether in 

 great Silos or in little Caches, is a common practice over the 

 whole world." Also that, while a very ancient method, it is in 

 full exercise at the present time. The size of these pits, says 

 Mr. Spurrell, varies considerably where they are still used. In 

 central Asia a comparatively small hole is used for one family, 

 while many small or one large pit would be required by the 

 more wealthy. " Several families living near each other have 

 their hoards close together, partly for convenience in finding 

 them, and partly to prevent mutual robbery, a difficult feat 

 where all eyes would be watching." Pits more or less similar 

 are, we learn, common in Europe now, especially in the countries 



2 Report on the Denehole Exploration at Hangman's Wood. Grays, 1SS4 and 1887. Ey 

 T. V. Holmes and W. Cole, Essex Naturalist, December, 1S87 (Vol. i.) 



