287 



there are a large number of pit-dwellings, to which the attention 

 If The Club wa's first directed by Mr. Witchell in 1864* ; nearly 

 400 have been counted, and cultivated inclosures and roads have 

 probably removed all traces of 200 or 300 mo.e. They are 

 very numerous on the slope of the hill opposite Woodchester, at 

 a part protected on the south-east by a deep combe. A mound 

 and ditch of considerable strength remains at the spot e, as 

 marked on the map, but cultivation has left only a short length 

 of this work unlevelled. 



Having examined a large number of these pits on Mmchrn- 

 hampton Common and on Rodborough HiU, it may be well to 

 place on record the results. Their usual form is shown by the 

 sections drawn on Plate III., fig. 1. The soil which ^^^^^'^^ 

 out in making the pit forms a mound on one side. Where the 

 surface of the ground is sloping, this mound is almost mvanably 

 cast up on the lower side ; but where the pit has been constructed 

 on a level surface, it is more generally on the north or north- 

 east side. One interesting exception to the usual form is shown 

 at fig. 3, Plate III. ; it occurred on Minchinhampton Common, 

 where the thin-bedded Great OoUte is so compact that, with 

 care in excavating the present contents of the pit xts ongxna 

 size and shape were accurately ascertained. It was 3 leet 

 6 inches deep at the middle, with a straight and upright side 

 nearest the mound ; on the opposite side a seat, 18 inches high, 

 had been formed, on which was placed a flat stone. Another 

 stone at . protected the opening to a natural fissure in the rock, 

 by which the pit must have been effectually drained; the 

 abundance of charcoal at the spot marked e indicated the 

 position of a fire-place. 



On Minchinhampton Common the Pits are remarkably uni- 

 form in size, being from 10 to 13ft. in l-gth, 3ft. wide and 

 about 30 inches deep, at the middle. On Se sley Hill the e 

 depressions are much larger, being from 20 to 25ft. long, 10 to 

 12ft. wide, though not so deep as those on Hampton Common. 

 On Rodborough Hill both these types are found. 



These pits have yielded but few objects to throw hght on the 



* Transactions, Vol. III., page 249. 



V 



