A HISTORY OF KENT 



two hypotheses present themselves as to the purpose of such weakly- 

 protected inclosures. They may be the sites of ancient village settle- 

 ments, or the pieces of land reserved in feudal and later days for the 

 preservation of beasts of the chase. 



This example is possibly too small for the latter purpose, and its 

 banks and ditches may be the remnants of a never strong place guarded 

 by a palisade of timber on the bank. 



A similar work of a like size exists in a thicket at Navestock in 

 Essex. 



There are said to be traces of other earthworks on the west of 

 Preston Wood inclosure, but we have not discovered them. 



Eastry : Shingleton. — This curious work is thickly matted over 

 with underwood and nettles, and the earthworks are in a very poor state 

 of preservation. Its ground is about i lo ft. above sea level, with higher 

 land on all sides except the north-east. The position has no natural 

 defence, for if the work were open and not covered with trees and 

 underwood it would lie entirely exposed to the higher land around. 



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Entrenchments at Shingleton, Eastry. 



The outer entrenchment on the west consists of a ditch with the ballast 

 thrown inward to form a rampart, but on the south besides the inner 

 rampart a slight outer rampart is found, and on the north the only 

 entrenchment consists of this slight rampart, but whether or not this is 

 part of the original plan may be doubtful. The east side like the west 



436 



