6 
and had become solidified into a hard compact substance having 
a conchoidalffracture. This was referred to a glacial origin 
and identified with the ‘Boulder Clay” or “Till” of Pleistocene 
age—so determined from the large percentage of silica (60 to 70 
per cent.) it was said to contain. But to some the evidence 
seemed hardly conclusive. 
From Tait’s Hill the party proceeded to Melksham Court, 
(now a farmhouse,) at the foot of Stinchcombe Hill, formerly a 
residence of the Tyndale family, and where William Tyndale, 
the Translator of the Scriptures, is supposed to have been 
born. Luncheon was here discussed, and then the party, or the 
larger part thereof, proceeded to mount the steep acclivity of 
Stinchcombe;Hill, while the remainder with the carriages took 
the road to North Nibley. Stinchcombe Hill is one of the most 
prominent of those capes or headlands which project from the 
Cotteswolds into the vale of the Severn, and the prospect from 
its summit is one which for extent and varied beauty has few 
equals in any part of the world. By the aid of aneroids its 
height was determined as being 620 feet. The extreme point 
of the hill is known as the “ Drake stone.” It is protected by 
four lines of entrenchment, and traces of more than one hut 
circle are visible in its neighbourhood. The term “ Drake 
stone” is believed by Mr. Joun Bettows to be a corruption 
from the Welsh “ Drych,” a sight or spectacle. Its derivative 
“‘ Drychiant ” means prospect; so that in this position it must 
have signified the “outlook,” or “prospect stone.” It is known 
to have been a signal station in medieval times, and doubtless 
was so in the time of the Romans, when its beacon fires were 
visible, not only to the forts along the line of the Cotteswolds, 
but must likewise have conveyed notice of an incursion of the 
restless Silures to the camps on the further side of the Severn. 
The descent of the hill having been effected, not without 
difficulty, by reason of the abruptness of the slope and the 
slippery nature of the short turf that clothed it, those on foot 
made their way to North Nibley, where they rejoined the 
carriages and enjoyed a pleasant drive to the Prince of Wales 
Inn, near the Berkeley Road Station, where, after the heat and 
