290 MONTHLY MEETINGS OF THE 



" The dark cliffs beetle coldly o'er the deep, 

 Fringed by the lace work of pearl -threaded foam, 

 That mermaids weave and hang- along our shore." 



This point also bears ou its summit an entrenchment, which 

 is so prominent as to Lave been inserted in the ordnance map 

 as a " camp." 



The form of the heai? land precluded the construction of a 

 straight line of earthwork across it irom cliff to cliS at the spot 

 selected, and the form of the castle vp^lum is therefore a lade 

 crescent, concave towards the interior. 



Unlike Penhale Castle, there is here only a single valb'Ti. 

 and ditch, but the whole extent of the work can be well traced, 

 and it is in a fair state of preservation. 



Starting from the cliff on the north-east side of the headland, 

 the vallum and ditch run up the hillside in a south-west 

 direction, (curving slightly to the north-west) for about 130 yards 

 to the entrance. The outer portion against the cliff is much 

 lower than the higher pait, the mound being about 3 feet high 

 and 10 feet wide, and the ditch of similar dimensions, but as it 

 nears the entrance and the hillside becomes less steep, the 

 vallum and ditch become more prominent, the former being 6 

 yards wide, and 9 feet above the level of the ditch, and the 

 latter 4 feet deep below the original surface, and about 4 yards 

 wide. At the entrance a change of direction takes place, tha 

 mound running due west for about 26 yards, after which it 

 again bends to the north-west, and continues until it reaches the 

 cliffs on the west of the headland. For three-quarters of this 

 distance to a group of rocks the vallum shows a bold elevation, 

 rising 1 1 feet above the bottom of the ditch, and being about 7 

 yards in width, and the ditch here is 3 yards wide, and 4 feet 

 deep below the original surface. Beyond the rocks the land 

 falls sharply to the edge of the cliff, and here although the 

 ditch can be traced plainly, although shallow, no traces of the 

 vallum exist, it was probably low. As a further protection to 

 this side, a low mound starting from the point where the vallum 

 disappears, runs out from the ditch at right angles, for about 15 

 yards, curving slightly towards the west, with a shallow ditch 

 before it, thus covering this portion of the castle. 



A little beyond the termination of this spur mound, is a 



