EXCAVATIONS AT MAUMBURY RINGS. 85 



I. — Introductory Remarks. 



Our knowledge of Roman amphitheatres in Britain has 

 been at a standstill from the time of the close of the excava- 

 tions at Maumbury Rings in 1910 till the renewal of the 

 work at Dorchester in August, 1912. It was anticipated 

 that the exploration of the amphitheatre known as " King 

 Arthur's Round Table " at Caerleon would be continued in 

 1912, but it has not been found practicable. There is, how- 

 ever, at the present time a scheme before the public to raise 

 £500 to purchase the site of this amphitheatre, to excavate it, 

 and to put the remains in such a state of repair as to enable 

 them to withstand the weather. When completed it is 

 possible that the monument may be handed over to the 

 National Trust. Comparative notes on the Maumbury and 

 Caerleon amphitheatres were given in my third Report, and 

 Mr. John Ward, F.S.A., has since that time put a few notes 

 on record.* 



The oval structure at Caerwent has not been proved to 

 be an amphitheatre, f and recent excavations there have 

 revealed nothing of a definite character. There is said to be 

 a circular wall, some 130 feet in diameter, enclosing an 

 octagon, and inside the latter some stonework not yet 

 examined. { 



The director of the Maumbury excavations, as in past 

 years, has received valuable support from the members of 

 the sub-Committee, and the general organisation of the 

 investigations was all that could be desired. Dr. H. Colley 

 March, F.S.A., Captain J. E. Acland, F.S.A., and Mr. W. 

 de C. Prideaux were frequently on the ground ; and Mr. 

 Chas. S. Prideaux, without whom the work could not have 

 been carried on with any degree of comfort, showed all his 



* Archaeol. Journ., LXIX. (1912), 184, 193, 203. 

 t Archaeol. Journ., LXIX. (1912), 198. 



X It is thought that tlie structure may prove to be some sort of 

 temple. 



