335 



the inner camp, which the natives absurdly call "the Queen's kitchen." This 

 perhaps may show the position of the quarry from which stone was procured, or 

 of the well, or both. The hops always grew with great luxuriance on this spot, 

 Mr. Lambert, the tenant, says. 



Such are the features now presented to the student of history at Risbury 

 Camp. They have been interpreted very differently by different observers. It is 

 generally considered to be an early British camp : " one of the line of British 

 encampments commencing at the Malvern Hills, by which Caractacus and the 

 ancient British chieftains opposed the Romans." The objections to this view are 

 overwhelming. Risbury Camp differs altogether in situation and mode of con- 

 struction from the British camps which are so plentiful in Herefordshire. 



1. It is situated in a valley instead of on a hill summit naturally difi&cult of 

 approach. 



2. It is rather an irregular parallelogram, than oval, in shape. 



3. Its inner surface has been levelled. 



4. The largest vallum is within the foss, and supported by a central stone 



wall. 



5. The outer entrenchments are much less strong than the inner one, and 

 are widely separated from each other on the east side. 



6. The entrances to British camps are invariably curved, sometimes letter 

 S-shaped, to aid the defence ; and, in addition to this, are strongly protected by 

 embankments, prolonged within and without. 



7. The entrance to British camps is most frequently at the narrowest end, 

 where the embankments approach each other and thus aid the defence. 



It may also be added that an early British camp would scarcely be required in 

 this situation, with the Bache Camp 3^ miles to the north, and Ivington Camp 

 about 4 miles to the west, both in positions of greater natural strength. 



A second view supposes Risbury to be " a late British camp, erected by the 

 British against the Saxons, long after the departure of the Romans." Mr. Flavell 

 Edmunds took this view. When the club visited Kisbury in 18G8, Mr. Edmunds 

 read a clever paper on the Camp, which was published in the transactions for that 

 year.* Mr. Edmunds thought that Risbury Camp gave evidence of a comparatively 

 advanced state of civilization, from its triple line of defence, its skilful plan, the 

 elevated rampart around the inner camp, and the constriiction of its chief approach 

 on the eastern side. He thought that, like the Herefordshire Beacon entrench- 

 ments, those at Risbury were erected by the British against the Saxons at perhaps 

 as latJ a period as the 9th or beginning of the 10th century, which opinion, he 

 thinks, is strengthened by the facts that the camp has no British or Roman name, 

 and that the names of all the neighbouring places are purely Saxon. The 

 arguments against this view are— 



1. That the British were not likely to possess the skill to make such elaborate 

 fortifications. 



2. n they had the skill, they would neither have had the men nor the 



* Woolhope Transactions, 1868, p. 19. 



