XXXVlii. THE SECOND WINTER MEETING. 



and they appeared to have been thrown into the trench indiscriminately. 

 Altogether three or four bodies could be accounted for. The remains as indicated 

 by the teeth were those of men in the prime of life. The under jaws were very 

 heavy with very square chins. Although the quarrymen were instructed to 

 watch caref ully for any pottery, flints, or weapons, none were found. 



In uncovering another section of stone, a hole, about two feet deep, was found 

 full of black humus with remains of very old pottery of the character of the 

 barrow urns, but the vessel had almost entirely perished, and no charred bones 

 or flints were observed with it. It was probably a cremated interment, but in my 

 opinion of much greater age than the skeletons. 



From the fact that one skeleton was interred east and west with more care than 

 the others, it would seem to indicate that it was a Christian burial ; and probably 

 at this point, which is one of considerable strategic advantage, commanding the 

 valley of the Yeo, some skirmish took place during the Civil Wars, which 

 resulted in the death of an officer and three or four of his men, who were 

 stripped, and the officer buried by himself, whilst his men were thrown into a 

 trench beside him. Some of the quarrymen who had done a lot of planting in 

 Honeycombe Wood near by, about three years before, when digging the holes for 

 the trees, stated that they came across a good many flat horseshoes with small 

 centres, and also one broken sword, but unfortunately these were not reported at 

 the time. Careful search has since been made for some of these remains, 

 especially for the sword, in the hope of obtaining some indication of the date, but 

 unfortunately without success. Evidently a considerable action took place 

 round this centre at some distant period. 



5. As to the section of wooden water pipe. This was cut through in digging 

 a trench to connect the drainage of Newell House with the public sewer, which 

 follows the line of the watercourse from the Coombe Valley into the Yeo, and is 

 probably the pipe which conveyed the water from the Newell spring to " the 

 Conduit " when it stood in the Abbey Cloisters. The wood is a species of Poplar, 

 and was bored by means of a hot iron rod, and evidently two holes were burnt 

 side by side, the segments of which intersect. The wood is as sound and fresh as 

 the day it was put in. It is difficult to suggest a date, but it is obvious that iron 

 pipes would have perished many times over, as the soil of Sherborne has a very 

 deleterious effect on iron. 



6. As to the section of buried oak found at Picket Farm in the parish of 

 South Perrot. In draining a bog on the .slope of the greensand hill, the 

 workmen came across a log of wood running at right augles to the drain at a 

 depth of about four feet. As this was unaccountable, excavations were made to 

 clear up the mystery, and an interesting prehistoric record was laid bare. The 

 log was half of a very large oak which had evidently been split oT by some 

 westerly hurricane. It had come down with a tremendous crash, falling due 

 east, and many of the minor branches were found driven perpendicularly into 

 the ground and much splintered. The log was about 2o feet long, of which the 

 lower end of about ten feet was a section torn off from the butt of the tree, and 



