ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



ponds are connected with homestead moats they are mentioned in Classes F 

 and G, but where independent of such domestic defences they are included 

 in Class X. 



Class H is not represented in this county except so far as the great hill 

 fortresses of Breedon and Burrough were inhabited by the ancient population. 



Entrenched lines of which ' King Lud's Entrenchment ' is the best 

 example not included in either of the above divisions, come within Class X, 

 as also a list of fragmentary earthworks which have been destroyed beyond 

 classification by the working of the land or other levelling forces. This is 

 the case with the camps of the opposing troops of King Richard and Rich- 

 mond on the Red Moor and the White Moor respectively at the opposite 

 sides of Bosworth Field, which have been so effectively erased that the name 

 of the king's camp, 'The Bradshaws,' is variously located by the inhabitants. 



Appended to Class X is a list of the tumuli ; but few, however, remain, 

 and a certain number of those extant are of comparatively late date, covering 

 the bones of those who fell in the rise of the Tudor dynasty, or in the engage- 

 ments between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. 



In concluding this introduction, mention should be made of the informa- 

 tion to be derived from the pages of Nichol's Hist, and Ant. of the County 

 of Leicester, while thanks must be tendered to Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, F.S.A., 

 for many notes, suggestions, and references. 



The numbers in Roman and Arabic figures after the name of each earth- 

 work refer to the 25 in. Ordnance Map in 

 which the earthwork appears. 



PROMONTORY FORTRESSES 



(CLASS A) 



BILLESDON (xxxii, 12 and 16). Eight 

 and a half miles east by south from Leicester, 

 on a bold spur jutting towards the south 

 from a range of hills, is a large promontory 

 stronghold on a plateau. This camp was 

 formerly described as fortified with a deep 

 ditch and high rampart ; but the area is 

 largely under cultivation, and the high ram- 

 part is now sought for in vain. 



The works are only traceable on the 

 western part and follow the line of the 

 heights, the northern defences alone giving 

 it a claim to a place in this class. 



In plan the remaining portion forms 

 part of an irregular rectangle on the brink 

 of a great natural height, with no extant 

 crest or rampart. At the south-west corner 

 a path leads obliquely down to a spring, 

 and is defended in its course by two out- 

 works, semicircular platforms, on the slope 



245 



THE CAMP, BILLESDON 



