450 APPENDIX ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF SIGWELL. 



camp at the time it was occupied ; and as we have proved by exca- 

 vation that the tumulus belongs to the Bronze Age, it is a reason- 

 able conjecture that the camp was abandoned at some time previous 

 to the termination of the Bronze period. This is confirmed by 

 finding an unusual number of flint-flakes and chips in the interior 

 of the camp — I say unusual because a considerable portion of the 

 neighbouring ploughed lane was searched by the whole party with- 

 out finding such an accumulation of flakes in any other spot ; so 

 abundant were they that we should have no hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing such an accumulation of chips to mark the site of a small 

 flint implement factory wherever it might be found. This evidence 

 of the antiquity of the camp must be taken for what it is worth. 

 In my judgment, and what is of greater value, in the judgment of 

 Professor Rolleston and those other gentlemen by whom we were 

 accompanied, it is sufficient to make it extremely probable that the 

 camp is at least as early as the Bronze Age, assuming it to be a 

 work of defence, which I see no reason to doubt. 



Another hypothesis may be mentioned, viz. that the ditch instead 

 of being a work of defence is simply the continuation of the ancient 

 roadway which, instead of passing down the ravine, ran across the 

 top of the hill, and thus the small trench above mentioned is the 

 way down the eastern ravine ; this view, however, is rejected by 

 Professor Rolleston and myself. 



We have now to consider the value of this conclusion and its 

 bearing upon the topography of the surrounding neighbourhood. It 

 is seen that this camp at Sigwell commands the six springs beneath 

 it. Charnwell also, on the nearest projecting hillock to the north, 

 had been already recognised as a British camp by the Rev. Mr. 

 Bennett, rector of South Cadbury, to whose knowledge of the 

 antiquities of this district we were indebted on so many occasions. 

 The entrenchment at Charnwell, with its ditch on the outside cut- 

 ting across the gorge of the hill, is distinctly seen on the east side, 

 the remaining sides being defended by natural declivities, which as 

 usual in British camps are rarely strengthened by embankments, 

 the only exception being in this case at the west end, where the 

 slope is more gentle and where a small rampart, now used as a 

 division to a field, has been thrown up so as to enclose the spring 

 before mentioned, which rises on this hill and joins the Sigwell 

 rivulet beneath Cadbury. 



