224 



ling of a §iirrafa at Ctiestalie. 



SMALL round barrow about 5ft. 6in. high and 50ft. in 

 ^MM diameter Hes immediately on the edge of the steep 

 escarpment of the Hill wood at Erlestoke. It is situated about ten 

 yards inside the wood from the road at the top of Pear Tree Lane, 

 and is very inconspicuous. It is not marked on the ordnance maps. 

 The wood, which early in the 19th century was a fir wood, is now 

 composed entirely of beech — the self-sown beeches having com- 

 pletely displaced the firs. Two or three of these trees are growing 

 on the barrow. 



On January 17th and 18th, 1902, Mr. John Watson Taylor 

 undertook the opening of this barrow, Mr. B. H. Cunnington being 

 asked to superintend the work of the labourers employed. A trench 

 was opened on the north side from the circumference to the centre. 

 The barrow was found to be entirely composed of chalk rubble. 

 In the centre a small basin-shaped hollow in the original chalk 

 surface contained a few fragments of burnt bones. A small 

 section was also made on the south side, but nothing was found. 

 During the work a single small Hint flake and a few isolated bits of 

 charcoal and burnt stone, with one fragment of bone, which may 

 have come from the surface, were found amongst the chalk rubble 

 of the mound. Nothing else whatever was found — not a single 

 fragment of pottery. There was no evidence of previous disturbance. 



A short notice appeared in Devizes Gazette, January 23rd, 1902. 



Ed. H. Goddard. 



