144 



THE ESSEX FIELD CLUI!. 



with the able assistance of iMr. Crouch. The contractor for the work was, as on 

 previous occasions, Mr. Shipman, of Grays, and the arrangements for the descent 

 were the same as before. Captain Whitmore, the owner of the wood, again 

 kindly gave permission to the Club to make the explorations. He was on the 

 spot during the visit, and took great interest in the proceedings. 



G cave I 'Jj 



•^vC'-V- 



Thanet 

 Sand 



C^1alW 



T. V. U'. del 



Fig. I. — Hangman's Wood, No. 4 Pit. Scale i in. = 40 feet. Height of ch.inibers i5 feet 

 except the S.E. and .S.W., which are 14 feet, .r Position of " Pipes " in roof. Trans. 

 E.F.C. vol. iv. p. 87. 



In view of the many papers and reports relating to the deneholes already 

 published in our Journal, more especially the elaborate report of the explorations 

 carried on by Mr. Holmes and Mr. Cole for the Club in 1884 and 1887 (Essex 

 Naturalist, i., pp. 225-276), it is not necessary to again detail at any length 

 the known facts regarding these mysterious excavations. The following summary 

 may be usefully given for the information of those who have not seen the 

 report, and two diagrams of deneholes in Hangman's Wood are repeated from 

 the " Transactions " of the Club. Thay are not quite typical as regards 

 symmetry, but will nevertheless give a good idea of the peculiarities of the pit : — 



The deneholes in Hangman's Wood are more than fifty in number. They 

 consist of narrow shafts about 80 feet deep, which give admission to the pits in 

 the Chalk, which are from 14 to 20 feet high. The shaft is usually in or near 



