The Castle is divided into four wards, its approach from the 

 town is by a bridge of comparatively late date, and defended by 

 a tower on each side, by which the first ward is reached, com- 

 prising an area capable of holding a considerable body of man 

 and horse on its western side ; it is abruptly bounded by a steep 

 hill surmounted by the Castle and Keep, and which terminates 

 the limits of the first ward. A one-arched bridge at its south- 

 western angle gives access to the second ward, which is defended 

 by a double portcullised gateway, the southern side of which is 

 sunk several feet, and dissevered from the rest in a compact mass 

 of masonry, so powerful was its cohesive capability to withstand the 

 effects of the gunpowder employed to dismantle the Castle. The 

 third ward, which is the principal one, and on which the King's 

 tower stands, occupies the highest portion of the hill ; this impor- 

 tant part of the fortress is small ; there are records of its having 

 been repaired by Henry VII. for the reception of his mother, the 

 Countess of Richmond. The fourth ward, which is also 

 restricted in size, lies on the northern side of the hill. From 

 thence the spectator may take a mental retrospective view of th& 

 mouths of the Frome and Piddle, when the estuary waters of 

 Poole-harbour, now intervened by salt-marshes, laved the 

 ancient walls of Wareham, and upon which the Danish and Saxon 

 rovers made their predatory descents with fire, rapine, and the 

 sword. Wareham was then a port of which the north-men had 

 possession in Alfred's reign. Fromouth (Frome-mouth) retains 

 the name of an ancient nunnery, and Bestall (By Emt Wall) that 

 of an important rampart of defence. 



On the return of the members to Wareham they partook of 

 dinner at the Red Lion Inn, and, when the cloth was removed, 

 the Rev. H. H. Wood read a paper on the Cornbrashes of the 

 county; these and the Fuller's Earth are perhaps the only 

 representatives of the great Oolite in Dorsetshire. I say perhaps, 

 as. Professor Buckman thinks the great Oolite ( par excellence} does 

 occur in the neighbourhood of Sherborne. I trust this Society 

 may be the medium through which the doubt may be cleared up. 

 The Cornbrashes of this county are very fossiliferous, but the 

 tests of the shells are not preserved as they are in their repre- 

 sentative beds of Leicestershire and Rutland. They have a 

 wide extension here, and appear in patches in several places. In 

 the Vale of Weymouth they stretch out from Langton Herring 

 to Radipole. As Mr. Wood's paper will be published in our 

 forthcoming number, I shall not venture to say more on this 

 subject. 



The next and last meeting of the Society was held at 

 Dorchester on the 28th of September. A hurried visit was first 

 paid to the Museum, which contains archaeological and natural 

 objects of interest. In the geological department there is a fine 

 series of Chelonians and fish from the Purbeck beds of Swanage; 



