204 bUNGEON OR DUNSET CAMP. 



On September gth, 1881, a further excavation was made into 

 the vallum nearest Castle Hill House. Here more Roman black 

 pottery was found far under the raised materials, and a large 

 quantity of stone brought there from a distance, and seven 

 fragments of Roman querns. One of these was the upper half 

 of a very fine stone with a three-inch well-cut perforation 

 through its centre a work of no small difficulty, as the stone is 

 of old red sandstone with quartz crystals, and consequently 

 excessively hard. 



The shape of this camp is oval, with one ditch. The vallum 

 is raised from the outside, above the level of the camp itself. 

 Its situation is most imposing, commanding the whole of the 

 Blackmore valley ; and as a military position it is of immense 

 strength and importance, its main features closely coinciding 

 with those noticeable in Maiden Castle, and again with those 

 of Cadbury Castle in Somerset. 



It has not, perhaps, been noticed that Maiden Castle, Dungeon 

 Castle, and Cadbury Castle are almost exactly equi-distant from 

 one another, about 14 miles apart, in a straight line from south 

 to north in fact, in as straight a line as could be had with due 

 care for their physical and strategical requirements. Each 

 occupies a high position commanding a vast area to the north- 

 east and west, the consecutive work of the same people for the 

 same end or purpose. 



In illustration of this idea I will quote from that interesting 

 work, " A Ride in the Great Sahara," by Mr. F. H. Forbes 

 " The tent was pitched amidst the ruins of a Roman city whose 

 name is unknown. It is situated in a remarkably strong position, 

 commanding the access to a mighty plain, from which passes 

 one of the tracks to the Great Sahara. Truly these Romans 

 knew what they were about when they chose their strategical 

 positions, using them also as heliographic stations." Those 

 remarks may aptly be applied to this camp and to the other two 

 which I have associated with it. 



