14 UPTON CASTLE. 
near mines and heaps of slag, dating from the early Roman 
dominion in Spain. The whole subject of this early ruin, so dis- 
tinctly shadowing forth the elaborate mortared castles of later 
date, and so distinct from the Cyclopean work of still earlier days, 
is well worth investigation. My stay in the district did not 
permit more than a very cursory visit, and I send this note in the 
hope of its leading to fuller research. 
S. R. PATTISON. 
February, 1870. 
Mr. Ropp, of Trebartha, writing at about the same time as 
Mr. Pattison, says :—Nobody has been able to give a satisfactory 
account of Upton Castle, as it is called. It is formed of loose 
stones, probably brought there by hand, the size of each not ex- 
ceeding, in a general way, that which a man can carry. It stands 
in a Coppice Wood on the banks of the Lynher, in a deep valley 
at the foot of Ridge Hill, a northern link of the Caradon and 
Cheesewring chain of hills. The basis of this eminence appears 
to be natural, and the stones an artificial superstructure, forming _ 
a vallum and a‘keep, with an entrance thereto. It could, how- 
ever, scarcely have been a fortification; its low position not 
admitting of its corresponding with any other encampment. 
—, —. used to say that it was formed as a keep or protection 
for sheep against wolves, at a time when England was infested by 
those depredators; and it really seems adapted for nothing else. 
It is certainly a curiosity, and, beg on my property, I regard it 
with interest and as worthy of all protection. 
