A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



archbishops of York. The vallum is locally called ' The Roman Bank,' and 

 the fosse ' Roman Bank Lane ' and ' Long Bank Lane.' 



Its origin is unknown, though possibly it is referred to in the following : 

 'Matilda de Mules, 10 Ric. I, ought one mark for licence to make a ditch 

 between the wood of Serleby and the fields.' l 



SOUTH CLIFTON. Indications of earthworks lie to the west and south- 

 west of the village. 



SOUTH MUSKHAM. At Little Carlton, two miles north from Newark, 

 and on the north side of the Trent, are the remains of an earthwork called 

 ' The Mount ' ; it is described as ' an ancient place in the form of a cross, 

 shaded by some ancient sycamore, mulberry, and walnut trees.' * 



WELLOW. Gorge Dyke, possibly the eastern rampart and fosse of a 

 rectangular village enclosure. 



WISETON. Drakeholes lie to the north-west of Wiseton, where the 

 road from Bawtry to Gainsborough meets the Chesterfield Canal. 



BARROWS AND TUMULI 



ASLOCKTON. A tumulus is figured in the Ordnance map near Bingham, 

 but it has the appearance of a military mound. Another mound has been 

 destroyed here. 



BLIDWORTH. Several tumuli are in the neighbourhood. Two of them 

 on the brow of a hill measure respectively 728 ft. and 159 ft. in circum- 

 ference. The latter was explored by Major Rooke, who describes it as 

 53 ft. in diameter, containing an urn made of iron filled with calcined bones 

 and ashes ; also a large sword in a wooden scabbard broken in several pieces, 

 two daggers, and fifteen glass beads blue, yellow, and green. 



Two other tumuli are situated on the side of Blidworth Camp, both of 

 which were opened by Major Rooke, who thus describes them: 'Close to 

 the vallum are two tumuli, thirty-five yards asunder. The diameter of the 

 most northern one was near eight yards, the more southern one being only 

 seven yards. These two I opened to the depth of near six feet from the 

 top and about one foot and a half from the level of the natural soil. Here 

 I perceived a thin body of smooth clay near 9 ft. 5 in. in length and 2 ft. 4 in. 

 in breadth ; on this lay ashes and burnt bones. On the edge of these clay 

 beds the ashes were very black, owing, I imagine, to their not having been 

 mixed with the burnt bones. At the end of one of these beds I found three 

 teeth. There were no urns in these tumuli.' 



BLYTH. In this parish are two tumuli ; one of them stands a con- 

 spicuous object by the roadside two miles south-east of the village, from 

 which point the ancient road from Nottingham to Bawtry and the north 

 makes a detour westward. It was formerly known as 'Emmeslaw,' and was 

 the site of the manor gallows, but is now called 'Blyth Law Hill.' 



The other is in the middle of the highway in Blyth, the road dividing 

 at its base. It is a well-defined mound of easy gradient, upon which a 

 fourteenth-century building is placed. It is certainly an unrecorded cemetery, 

 and evidence of very early interments have been found in delving below 

 the surface. 



1 Thoroton, Hist. e/Nettt. 475. ' Ibid. 488. 



