A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



The ditches or dykes form a very obscure subject, and all that can 

 be done in the present state of our knowledge of them is to give a list 

 of them with a short description of each. 



In the case of tumuli the same arrangement has been followed, 

 though in some instances it has been possible to ascertain, with very fair 

 precision, the purpose for which they were thrown up. As, however, 

 a very large number have not been explored, they have not been classi- 

 fied except by their outward form, and have been set down in the 

 alphabetical arrangement adopted in the case of the defensive earth- 

 works. 



The distribution of the earthworks is interesting, and the same 

 remarks apply to all forms except the homestead moats. Earthworks 

 are found most abundantly upon the Downs, more particularly upon 

 those portions which have never been subjected to the action of the 

 plough. Many, too, are to be found, though in a less perfect state of 

 preservation, in the area lying between the Berkshire and Hampshire 

 Downs, and a few in the Vale of White Horse. In the eastern 

 part of the county, however, they are very scarce, and nearly all those 

 on that side of the county lie within a space of four miles, not far from 

 the track of the Roman Road from London to Silchester, which probably 

 follows approximately the line of an earlier route. This is all the more 

 remarkable since this part of the county is to a great extent primeval 

 forest, and the evidences of former civilizations can scarcely have been 

 destroyed by cultivation. We can only suppose that the Bagshot Sands 

 were then as now too barren to cultivate, and consequently remained 

 uninhabited. 



HILL FORTS, ETC. 



[CLASS B] 



Under this heading are included, not only those camps which are 

 situated on the highest points of the Downs or on elevated gravel 

 plateaux, but some few which, though lying on lower ground, resemble 

 those situated at higher levels. 



On the range of Down to the south of the county lies Walbury 

 camp, which is one of a series, the remainder being in other counties ; 

 on the ridge dividing the valleys of the Kennet and the Lambourn is an- 

 other, while the long range of Down to the south of the Vale of White 

 Horse contains the greatest number, though many are on its southern 

 spurs. North of the Downs there are but few. Badbury stands on the 

 only hill of great size in the north-west of the county, while Cherbury 

 lies on low land in the middle of a large plain. Sinodun, on a chalk 

 hill, seems to have been formed in a somewhat different manner, prob- 

 ably at another period. Caesar's Camp, Easthampstead, is almost the 

 only example east of Reading, and resembles Bussocks and Grimsbury. 



A large number of these camps lie quite near to one of those 

 ancient tracks that are found along the tops of the Downs in the south of 



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