128 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



burnt, the bones and dust placed in a small cist, and then 

 a huge mound built over it. A barrow similarly built 

 was some years ago opened at Nether Swell, but the 

 burnt bones were placed on the surface of the ground, 

 and the stones placed directly upon them. 



A third structure in the hamlet of Ablington is of a 

 very remarkable character. This is an underground 

 chamber, with a beehive roof. From its widest part, 

 about six feet in diameter, the stones overlap inwards and 

 make a dome. In the walls are three recesses, each 

 about ten inches wide, fifteen inches high, and fifteen 

 inches deep. A fourth opening in the wall, with a steep 

 cutting in the surrounding soil, leads to the outside of the 

 structure. Whether this was originally an entrance, or 

 whether it was originally a recess and has been made an 

 entrance, is uncertain. In similar structures elsewhere 

 the entrance is sometimes through the crown, sometimes 

 from the side. In this structure the crown has been 

 disturbed, and it is impossible to determine whether the 

 dome was originally perfect, or whether an opening was 

 left in it which might have been covered with a slab. 



For what purpose was this underground structure 

 made ? Locally it is known as a shepherd's hut. Amid 

 much that is uncertain about it, we may be quite certain 

 that it was never built by or for shepherds. A man who 

 could build such a structure would find much more 

 profitable employment than tending Cotteswold sheep ; 

 and a shepherd would require a much more convenient 

 shelter than an underground chamber six feet across, into 

 which he had to swing like a monkey or crawl like a mole. 

 Canon Lysons says that in the immediate vicinity of the 

 Ablington long barrow " there exists a round hut under- 

 ground, formed of dry walling similar to that employed in 

 the construction of this tumulus. There were formerly 



