150 CASTLE HILL, CRANBORNE. 



give a place-name which is justified only on linguistic grounds and 

 not on any solid foundation. 



In the remarks which follow I shall endeavour to shew 



1. That Cranborne Castle is not an earthwork of Ancient 



British construction; 



2. That it is most probably of Saxon age ; 



3. That the traditional name it bears Castle is that which 



is justified by its historic associations and the plan of 



its construction. 



It may be useful to give a brief description of the earthwork 

 before proceeding to further details, for the benefit of those readers 

 who may not be acquainted with, nor have Mr. Warne's Ancient 

 Dorset at their command. 



CRANBORNE CASTLE 



is situated half-a-mile S.E. of the Town, at the extreme end of a 

 high ridge, rising some 200 feet or more above the valley through 

 which the " Crane " stream flows. It presents a steep declivity to 

 N.W. and N., gradually sloping off to the valley on its E. and 

 S.E. sides. The W. and N. sides of the hill are rendered more 

 precipitous by artificial scarping to form a Mound, or Keep, for the 

 defence of the inner works. The E. side is defended by a steep 

 entrenchment of a crescentic form, which helps to give a circular 

 shape to the whole work. On the S.W. this circumvallation is 

 crossed by a narrow bridge, or causeway, formed by filling in the 

 ditch, which gives ingress to the inner area or court of the Castle, 

 and the entrance is defended on either side by a mound, formed by 

 rounding of the break in the rampart, which rises high above the 

 ditch. From this point round the great Mound, or Keep, the ditch 

 becomes shallow and of less importance ; but here the Mound has 

 received additional strength by raising it considerably above the 

 level of the ditch. This part of the Keep is entirely artificial, 

 built up with the sand and pebbles which here abound. 



The following measurements were made by Messrs. Warne and 

 Hillicr in 1861 viz. : 



