THE EARLY DEFENSIVE EARTHWORK ON COMB MOSS. T I I 



dropping four or five hundred feet. Across the base of the 

 triangle the makers threw a double rampart and fosse to pro- 

 tect the one side which was approachable on a level, so 

 arranging their work that the only space left for an entrance 

 to the fort was on the edge of a precipice at the North-east cor- 

 ner, a spot easily defended by a handful of men. 



The dimensions of the fort and its defences are given thus by 

 Mr. Sainter, in his Rambles Rotmd Macclesf.dd (1878) : — 



Length of fosse .ind ramparts ... ... ... ... 547 f^^'- 



Width of outer fosse at top of cutting ... ... ... 30 ,, 



Depth of ditto from level of ground ... ... ... 10 ,, 



Height of first or outer rampart from bottom of outer 



fosse ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 ,, 



Width of inner fosse at top of ramparts ... ...501065 ,, 



Depth of ditto from top of ditto ... ... ... 10 ,, 



Height of inner rampart ... ... ... ... \o ,, 



Length of West side of camp 450 ,, 



Length of North-north-east side of ditto ... ... 466 ,, 



Length of entrance to camp, including the path ... 366 ,, 



Major Rooke sent a communication (published in 

 ArcJiaologja IX., 139, 1789), in which he claimed a Roman 

 origin for the fort, but, indeed, all remains were either Roman 

 or Druidic to the archaeologists of that day ! 



As his letter is interesting, I quote a portion of it : — 



" Whilst the Romans frequented these baths [Buxton], it is natural to 

 suppose that they would take possession of the heights and strong posts 

 in the neighbourhood. Accordingly we find an exploratory camp on a 

 high moor, called Combes Moss, about four miles from Buxton, which 

 is seen from the hill where the temple stood. 



" As this Roman work (which is called Castle dikes) has never, I believe, 

 hitherto been taken notice of, I have given a plan of it. The South 

 side, which is on a level with the moor, is strongly secured by a double 

 ditch and vallum : here the entrance appears to have been. The East 

 and West sides are inaccessible from a rocky declivity, which on the West 

 side goes down to a brook from whence the camp was supplied with 

 water, as appears by a passage cut through some rocks at B.* 



* The spot indicated by B on Major Rooke's plan is about 150 feet from 

 the point of the promontory, on the West .side. 



