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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1st. 



F. C. J. Spurrell, Esq., F.G.S., read a Paper on " Dene 

 Holes, with special reference to the Subsidences which have 

 recently taken place on Blackheath." 



Mr. Spurrell described the Dene Holes (pronounced Dane 

 Holes) of Kent and other parts of England. He also gave a short 

 account of the Caves having vertical shaft-like entrances, which 

 are found in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. 



With respect to the County of Kent, the strip of land to the 

 north of the Weald is the chief site of the Dene Holes. They are 

 found over the whole district, whether the soil be chalk, tertiaiy 

 rocks, or deposits of later age. They present several differences, 

 which may be seen in general to depend upon the period at which 

 they were constructed. 



The oldest and simplest are those which were worked without 

 metal tools ; they are usually in chalk which is at or near the sur- 

 face, they contain, in the lowest stratum of the earth which has 

 fallen into them, flint flakes and relics of Neolithic times, and, in 

 the smoothness and regularity of their Avails, show signs of 

 lengthened occupation and use. They are comparatively of slight 

 depth, and were not commonly descended by foot-holes. 



The caves which are very much deeper and larger than the 

 preceding, were next considered. These were apparently made 

 with metal picks, arid were generally descended to the bottom by 

 foot-holes, though some of them doubtless required the aid of a 

 tree, or other ladder-like arrangement, for the accomplishment of 

 the last part of the descent. 



The caves which penetrate the London clay, the pebble Ijeds 

 of Blackheath, &c., appear to be of later origin, the beds passed 

 through being often of great thickness — considerably over 100 feet. 

 From the nature of these soils, the sliafts could not be descended 

 by foot-holes. The appearance of some of these, as, for example, 

 the one at Eltham, points to their late adaptation as refuges in 

 mediaeval times ; and possibly, many of these chambers may have 

 been reworked and enlarged for such a purpose. 



The origin of these pits dates probably from the neolithic 

 period, they were, perhaps coaeval with the works at Cissbury. 



