7 8 THE PROBLE^r OF LYNCHETS. 



The lower bank is 17ft. in depth, and slopes at the high angle of 

 42° to 44°; and at its foot the hill falls away at angles of 17°, 16°, 

 and 15°. The section was made well down into the firm yellow 

 sand, and the superficial huer of humus and sandy humus was 

 measured. At the upper part of the lynchet, a, this layer was 

 only 7in. thick, at 3 ift. Sin., at 7 3ft. yin., and 5ft. Sin. at 5, this 

 being precisely the reverse of what was found at Warren Hill. 

 The section also revealed the underlying terrace that existed 

 prior to cultivation. It began with an inclination outwards of 

 5° for the first nine feet, then it became 8°, then 13°, and 17°, 

 and finally 23°, which was the slope of the original bank, at the 

 foot of which the hillside fell awar as now. 



The soil turned out of the trench contained at various depths 

 fragments of tobacco pipes of a sort that has gone out of use, 

 pieces of Cornish roofing slate, and perhaps also of Welsh, bits 

 of iron, and a great many glazed potsherds. 



Though the terrace is at present in pasture, a map drawn 

 2nd May, 1839, gives it as arable, area la. ir. 3op., of the 

 rateable value of 8s. gd., whereas 5s. 6d. is given as that of an 

 adjacent pasture of nearly the same size (la. 2r. 23p.). In 

 William III.'s reign the tythe of hemp and flax was ascertained 

 at 5s. an acre. [11 and 12, III., c. 16.] 



Here seems to be an excellent example of a construction 

 according to Diagram D — an extension outwards of a flat 

 portion of a hillside that was already almost a lynchet by 

 tipping along the outer margin soil and refuse, which remain 

 almost at their primary angle of repose. This, apart from other 

 evidence, allows us to assume that the time when tillage was 

 abandoned on the terrace is comparatively recent ; and we 

 know positively that it could not have been more than 60 years 

 ago. And when was the cultivation begun ? Cornish slate 

 quarries, as at Delabole, have been worked since the XVI. 

 century. But some of the glazed pottery can be certainlv dated 

 to the early days of Hen. VIII., and some of it is older still. 



17. Are we able, now, to throw any light upon the fact that 

 on most of the hillsides round Bridport, if not on all, similar 



