Fol.'TS IX EsKDALEMrii;. ;») 



ably forming' the boundary between theiu and the (ladeiii. That 

 part of the works of this place were originally Jiritish there seems 

 to be little doubt : though the Romans, after they got possession 

 of it, might add to or alter them according- as they saw reason for 

 so doing." 



As I before stated, the fort is of considerable size, and is 

 situated on the top of a hill, 884 feet above sea level, and 296 

 feet above the dwelling-house, and so near it as to be reached by 

 an easy climb of a quarter of an hour. The fort is composed of 

 what I will call an inner stronghold, defended by deep trenches, 

 on the inner side of which have been strong stone walls, now, 

 alas ! entirely destroyed. The outer sides of the ditches are 

 mounds or ramparts, formed, as usual, with the excavated soil. 

 This stronghold occupies the whole top of the hill, and measures, 

 roughly speaking, 5 1 feet long and 350 feet wide, whilst the size 

 of the whole fort, with its immediate surrounding trenches, is just 

 about 900 feet long and 570 feet wide ; these measurements 

 being, I understand, of unusual dimensions for a fort of this type. 



As no excavations had ever been made with a view to dis- 

 cover any relics left by the original occupants of the fort, or 

 signs of a subsequent occupation by the Romans, as sugg-ested by 

 General Roy, I employed men for some time, digging at every 

 point where I thought anything might be found, but entirely 

 without result, excepting one coin and a beam of charred wood 

 about seven feet long. I caused sections to be cut through the 

 trenches, to ascertain their original depth and conformation ; 

 some of this work was done under the supervision of Mr Harbour 

 and Dr Christison, F.S.A. ^Ve found that the trenches, as they 

 exist now, are nearly eight feet deep and 35 feet wide between 

 the tops of the two ramparts ; on removing the soil which had, in 

 the course of ages, been washed down from the sides and summits 

 of these ramparts, we found it was nearly four feet deep, and that 

 the trench was cut to a corresponding depth through the solid 

 rock, two feet wide at the bottom, just wide enough for a man to 

 walk along it comfortably. Allowing for this '• wash down," the 

 trenches must have been originally about 13 or 14 feet deep. 



The find of the coin above referred to was rather a curious 

 one ; it was turned up at the first place where we commenced 

 ejccavating, viz., at the principal entrance gate, and I thought we 



