THE 



WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE. 



MULTOEUM MANIBTJS GEANDE LETATTJE ONUS," — Ovtd. 



ON THE ANCIEIfT 



€attIjfcorfi €nrlo0tta$ cti tlje ^ofen0 of ftortlj 



By the Rev. A. C. Smith, M.A. 



[Read before the Society at the Annual Meeting, at Hvingerford, Sept. 16th, 1867.] 



^HOSE who have been accustomed to ride or walk over our 

 % noble turf-clad downs (I mean of course such portions of 

 them as have hitherto escaped the destructive ploughshare), cannot 

 fail to have noticed certain earthwork enclosures, or rather vestiges 

 of enclosures, which present themselves to the traveller here and 

 there, irregularly studding the downs, sometimes within a quarter 

 of a mile or so of one another, and in other instances at wide 

 intervals apart. 



These enclosures are by no means of one uniform pattern ; but 

 vary in shape, in size, in position, and in distinctness : but they all 

 have this one character in common, that they are composed of the 

 simple bank and ditch, the bank being invariably within the 

 enclosure, and the ditch without it. As regards shape, perhaps 

 that we most frequently meet with, is the right angled oblong, (or 

 long parallelogram) though the equal sided square is also common ; 

 while others are found of circular form, and others again of irregu- 

 lar pattern. Many of them also have some farther earthwork 

 within the enclosure, sometimes taking a square shape, and then 

 generally found in the centre ; or perhaps oftener assuming the 

 appearance of a long line, and then generally towards one side and 

 parallel with the outer bank. Not infrequently may be seen 



VOL. XI. — NO. XXXIII. V 



