on the Doicns of North Wilts. 251 



at intervals of less than half-a-mile, and within a few hundred 

 yards of the D^'ke. They are not by any means confined to that 

 district, for we may see them on every down and in all positions : 

 but it is a fact worth recording and worth investigation, while we 

 speculate on their origin, that we find them in the greatest number 

 in immediate proximity to Wansdyke. This may possibly be the 

 result of pure accident, arising from the elevated position of 

 Wansdyke, which in the portion indicated runs along the crest of 

 the downs, where it is impossible for the obliterating ploughshare 

 to come : and so the enclosures still distinct on the primeval turf 

 may only ofier a sample of what was general throughout the downs, 

 prior to the breaking of the land for agricultural purposes. Or if 

 they are in truth more abundant in that locality, as I am inclined 

 to think from a close examination of many other turf districts of 

 the downs hitherto untouched ; perhaps some may think this a 

 strong argument in favour of their military' character. I do not 

 pretend to account for their abundance near Wansdyke ; neither 

 will the diminutive size of some of them suffer me to consider them 

 in the light of camps, for however small a band of warriors. All 

 I have ventured to do has been to point out their existence, their 

 shape, their dimensions, and their position ; leaving it to every 

 member of our Archaeological Society to adopt any opinion he 

 pleases as to their origin, while I myself hold to the suggestion 

 previously advanced, that the greater portion of them at least 

 were the cattle pens of the early Britons. 



Alfred Charles Smith. 

 Tatesbury Rectory, Calne, 

 September 13th, 1867. 



