526 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—H. 
while that of the motte-and-bailey castles is about 180-190 ft. With the 
exception of the promontory forts whose general altitude depends on 
physiographical factors, it is suggested that this altitudinal sequence illus- 
trates changes in human economy over the period represented by the age 
of the earthworks concerned. ‘The contour camps, together with a large 
number of the promontory forts, occur beyond the highest level of early 
cultivation, and their occupants were interested mainly in mountain pastures. 
Earthworks of rectangular form, situated mainly on the lower hill-slopes, 
suggest that their occupants had but an intermittent interest in the upland 
pastures, which they visited perhaps only during the summer season. The 
location of the motte-and-bailey castles illustrates that the homes of the 
newcomers were definitely in the valley bottoms, associated with an arable 
as opposed to a pastoral economy. Though the conquest of the once 
densely forested valleys was complete by this time, interest in the uplands 
continued, as is shown, by the survival of seasonal transhumance in Wales 
throughout the Middle Ages, and even into our own time. 
This survey has been undertaken for the forthcoming History of Car- 
marthenshire, and will form part of a section which is being prepared in 
collaboration with Dr. Cyril Fox. 
Mr. R. U. Savce.—The distribution of the belief in fatries (2.45). 
Prof. W. W. Jervis and Mr. S. J. Jones.—The village of Congresbury, 
Somerset : a study in land tenure (3.15). 
Congresbury is situated 12 miles south-west of Bristol on the main 
Bristol-Weston road. It has particular interest for the student of land 
tenure because in two of its common meads—the East and West Dolmoors— 
a curious method of annual, land allocation persisted until the local 
enclosure Act of 1811. ‘The redistribution took place on the Saturday 
before Old-Midsummer. Each man having a claim to land in the Dolmoors 
had a distinctive mark which was cut on a number of apples equal to the 
number of strips to which he was entitled. As each acre was measured, 
with a chain the length of which had been checked along the central aisle 
of Puxton Church, one of these apples would be drawn from a basket by 
a small boy. The mark on it would be cut in the turf, and thus the owner- 
ship of the acre for the ensuing twelve months would be decided. The 
main objects of this paper are to study the manner in which these holders 
settled jointly questions concerning these common meads, and to make 
a contribution towards the solution of the problem of this curious survival. 
The data presented is derived mainly from surveys and from the accounts 
of the Overseers of the Dolmoors, the latter covering the period 1685-1766. 
It is shown that the Dolmoors were comparatively poor land which con- 
tinued to be allotted annually at a time when most of the better land had 
been enclosed. The customs noted in connection with them probably 
once operated over the whole of the village land. The Dolmoors are, in 
fact, remnants of the common meads around which have persisted ancient 
customs, the origin of which cannot yet be.definitely determined. 
Dr. Cyrit Fox.—The colonisation of Britain with special reference to the 
Midlands (5.30). 
The geographical relation of Britain to the Continent is perhaps more 
familiar than its structural character; both aspects are found to be’of 
primary importance in the study of the colonisation of the island from 
