91' 



be seen in the Ioav meadows as the train sped on its way through 

 a district rich in geological interest and in the variety of its form- 

 ations. 



Arrived at Wincanton, the party started on foot to the Pen Pits, 

 under the guidance of a gentleman who kindly undei*took to lead 

 the party, and placed his carriage at the disposal of any members 

 who did not relish the fatigue of Avalking. The Pen Pits have 

 long been known as the "Crux of Antiquaries;" they have 

 attracted the attention of writers from the time of Sir K. C. Hoarc, 

 who has treated of them in his "Ancient Wiltshire," and of 

 Collinson and Phelps in their "Histories of Somerset," and arc 

 noticed in the " Proceedhigs " of the Somerset and of the Wiltshire 

 Archaeological Societies, but no satisfactory solution of their purpose 

 and origin has been arrived at by any of these writers. More 

 recently a very elaborate and carefully written dissertation has 

 appeai'ed in the form of an octavo pamphlet by Mr. Kerslake, of 

 Bristol, who has collected all the notices given by previous writers, 

 and has, by the aid of these ancient chroniclers, endeavoured to 

 show that the Pen Pits are the site of "A Primasval British 

 Metropolis. " 



Tliis learned and ingenious attempt to settle the site of a lost 

 city, the " Cair Pensauelcoit," of Nenuius, and identify it with 

 Penselwood, or the Pen Pits, has called forth an article in the 

 Saturday Beview, which speaks in no unfavourable terms of Mr. 

 Kerslake's pamphlet. The circular excavations called the Pen Pits 

 occupy a large plateau of table-land, part of which is mcluded in 

 the park at Stourhead, from whence the site of the pits is not far 

 distant, and they once extended over an area of 700 acres.* 

 Much of this land is now brought under cultivation, and thousands 

 of these pits have been destroyed, and are still being filled up, but 

 enough are left to give an idea of their nature and the extent of the 



* Vide Hoare's ' ' Ancient Wilts, and Journal of Somerset Arch, and Nat. 

 Hi»t. Soc," Vol. vil p. 51. 



