Ixxii. WAREHAM AND LYTCHETT HEATH. 



WAREHAM CASTLE. 



Proceeding, Mr. BLACKETT said that when they were digging 

 the foundation of the stables near his house they went down six 

 feet and found some masonry, which some held to be parts of 

 foundations of Wareham Castle, of which hitherto no trace had 

 been discovered. 



Mr. GEORGE BENNETT handed round, for the inspection of the 

 Members, a series of photographs of the excavations, and added 

 that Wareham Castle, which is believed to have been built by 

 William the Conqueror, covered an area of nearly 20 acres. 

 That very morning, by a singular coincidence, more masonry 

 had been found in a garden near by, in the course of carrying 

 out drainage works. One Member had the curiosity to ask Mr. 

 Bennett to guide him to the spot. The wall, he found, ran east 

 and west, at a depth of about three feet from the present surface. 

 It was about two feet four inches thick, of large, rough 

 foundation stones, but among them was a chamfered stone sill 

 with a groove moulding. The surface of the stones was burnt 

 black, as if the wall had been destroyed by fire. Mr. Bennett 

 estimated that the wall was within a hundred yards of the spot 

 described by Mr. Thomas Bond as the site of the keep in Castle 

 Close. 



On nearing St. Mary's Church Mr. BLACKETT drew attention 

 to the picturesque gabled Priory and also to the site of the 

 Saxon Mint, now occupied by some old sheds. 



LADY ST. MARY'S CHURCH. 



The principal features of St. Mary's were pointed out by the 

 RECTOR, who also pointed to two carved stone pillars, which he 

 declared to be heathen altars upon which the Roman soldiers 

 of the garrison of Wareham worshipped heathen gods before 

 the introduction of Christianity. They would, of course, ask 

 him for his authority for this statement. It was none less than 

 that of Mr. Micklethwaite, the late surveyor at Westminster 



