236 ANTIQUITY. 



enemy, are now the site of productive 

 gardens, set aside by the owner of the 

 soil for the accommodation of the in- 

 habitants ; and they give evidence of a 

 much larger area and a more numerous 

 population, while the ivy-grown towers 

 and walls of dilapidated churches afford 

 as ample testimony of the ancients, 

 though more remote and rude magnifi- 

 cence of this important possession of 

 our Saxon ancestors. 



Situated at the head of the estuary 

 that opens its way through the harbour 

 of Poole into the ocean, it was not dif- 

 ficult of access to those enterprising and 

 bold pirates that so continually harassed 

 our coasts ; and their frequent visits to 

 this town and neighbourhood, exempli- 

 fied by many large barrows, would give 

 reason to suppose that not only was 

 this part of our island much more 

 thickly populated, but that the soil was 

 of a more productive nature than it is 



