A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



an earthwork which he imagined to be an 'Alate Temple of the 

 Druids.' 



Extracts from Stukeley's diary 1 show that he was at his Alate 

 Temple at least four times (from 1725 to 1761). 



The entry of August 5, 1761, says : ' 'Tis much overgrown with 

 fern, and but lately, so that 'tis difficult fully to discern it. They have 

 dug gravel there lately.' 



Fortunately Stukeley not only specifically described the position of 

 the earthwork but also made a sketch of its form, 2 and we may recognize 

 in the main the lines of a ' mound and court ' fortress such as we have 

 some splendid examples of in Essex, though here the mound by Stukeley's 

 time had lost some of its altitude or he could not have found it ' diffi- 

 cult fully to discern.' 



The late Rev. S. Coode Hore of Navestock and Professor Meldola, 

 F.R.S. (of course without any faith in Stukeley's Druid theory), deter- 

 mined to discover the site, and after a prolonged search they arrived at 

 the conclusion that the excavation by the roadside near Princes' Gate is 

 part of the work. 



The solitary remnant of an excavation fails to convey any definite 

 impression, but its position tallies with Stukeley's description of the 

 site. 



ONGAR. The altitude and bulk of the great mound of Ongar 

 Castle, the depth and width of the moat, the solid rampart round the 

 bailey, and its height above its moat, tell us that we have here the remains 

 of a once important fortress. 



Part of the rampart and fosse of a second bailey extends for about 

 400 feet on the west, the rest having been mainly destroyed in the 

 growth of the town of Ongar, though here and there further traces of 

 the sweep of the defences may be found. 



There are indications also of a court to the east of the mound, and 

 perhaps of a second beyond, or possibly of an outwork cutting off the site 

 of the fortress on that side. 



Careful examination is necessary to realize the physical conditions 

 of the site in the days when it was first fortified a promontory project- 

 ing southward from the tableland above, with the then marshy valley of 

 the Roding on the east, a narrower stretch to the south, and the little 

 valley on the west, through which the Cripsey flowed to meet the Rod- 

 ing. Only on the north was natural protection entirely lacking, and 

 across that side the earliest occupiers seem to have constructed some 

 slight protective work. 



It was probably long subsequent to the first occupation of the site 

 that the great earthworks of Ongar Castle were constructed. 



Without going into detail as to their date, we may say that our 

 view is that though there may have been works here in pre-Norman 

 days which had fallen into disuse when Count Eustace of Boulogne 



1 Essex 'Naturalist, viii. 221, 222. 

 2 Reproduced in facsimile in Essex Naturalist, ix. 214. 



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