Iviii. SilAFTESBURY MEETING. 



surmounted with a beaten silver cresting enclosing a flat cap 

 charged with a shield of arms. The cap of one mace, which 

 measures two and a-half inches in diameter, bears the date 1604, 

 the initials J. R. [for James the First] and the Ro)'al Arms ; the 

 cap of the other, which measures two and a-quarter inches in 

 diameter, is a shield divided into three ; in the first division are 

 the Arms of France and England, in the middle those of the 

 Abbey of St. Edward the Martvr, and in the third division is the 

 old town coat of Shaftesbury. The town seal bears the date 



1570- 



The party dined at Grosvenor Hotel. Mr. Hudleston took the 

 chair, and was supported by the Mayor, the Hon. Sec, Canon 

 Ravenhill, and the Rector. After dinner, and the usual toasts, 

 the business of the meeting was transacted ; the three candidates 

 proposed for membership at the last meeting were elected, and 

 six candidates were proposed. 



Leaving the dining table shortly before 8.30, the company 

 wended their way to the Town Hall, where Mr. Doran Webb gave 

 an interesting lecture on Shaftesbury, illustrated by lantern slides. 

 The lecture was much appreciated by the audience. At its 

 conclusion the company were hospitably entertained at tea by 

 the Mayor and Mayoress. 



On Tuesday 



the party left at 9 a.m., in three brakes, for an excursion to 

 Wilts. The first halting place was at Castle Rings, where 

 Mr. Doran Webb addressed them. 



It was, he said, a Eoman camp like Gelli Gear in Wales. General Pitt-Eiveis 

 believed that they had there the Eoman station of Shaftesbury. The one weak 

 side was defended by the ditch and rampart, which had been much ploughed 

 down. The shape of the camp was a rectangle, but with the corners rounded off. 

 Pointing to the fair stretch of pasture land lightly timbered, Mr. Doran Webb 

 reminded the party of how altered the physical conditions were from the time 

 when this district was completely covered by the dense Forest of Gillingham, 

 which was certainly in existence until the end of the 12th Century. 



On the ploughed surface of the interior of this camp several 

 members found a few flint implements and a number of flakes. 



