fi ANCIENT HUT-CIRCLES ON CROYDON HILL. 
in a deep ravine, flows the erystal stream which works the 
mills at Withycombe. While the spot selected was retired, 
yet the inhabitants enjoyed a fine open prospect over the 
rich plains which separate the Brendon from the Quantock 
Hills. 
“ Although many hut-circles were made exclusively of 
earth, yet it is found that stone was used in their construc- 
tion wherever it was abundant. This was the case here. 
But while the lower part of the cabins was built of stone, 
the upper parts were constructed of more perishable mate- 
rials—of wood, or wattling, covered with turf or thatch. 
Judging from the allusions to British huts in Diodorus 
Sieulus, and likewise from the illustrations of them given 
on the Antonine Column, the eircular forms which now 
alone remain would seem to have been the base or founda- 
tions of dwellings of the description already referred to, with 
tapering roofs, and a hole at top for the escape of smoke. 
In accordance with the plan on which these settlements 
appear to have been constructed, the huts in this case were 
built side by side, in the eircumference of a large circle. 
From the measurements I was able to take of the more 
perfect, the huts themselves would seem to have been about 
21ft. in diameter, and the large eircle, including the whole 
settlement, about 160ft., which would give a circumfer- 
ence of about 480ft. 
“] hope that during this meeting the spot to which I 
refer may be visited by the Society, in order to determine 
whether these circles are what they appear to be. It is not 
prudent to delay the investigation, for agricultural improve- 
ment is rapidly spreading ; enclosures are climbing up the 
valleys and along the slopes of the hills—so that before 
many years these remains of our Celtic ancestors will exist 
only in the records of antiquarian societies.” 
