434 Mr. Tate on Yevering Bell, &c. 



yet roll into each other like the hillows of an ocean. The 

 tops of the higher hills are girt round by stone walls, 

 as Yevering, Gleedscleugh, Harehope, and Homildon — 

 these I shall call Forts ; Camps defended by rampiers are 

 on lower eminences ; Fortlets, or fortified houses, of less size 

 than Forts, but with strong stone walls enclosing circular 

 dwellings are scattered over the slopes of the hills and 

 in the high valleys ; Hut circles, isolated or in groups, 

 are near to these Fortlets ; and on high grounds or laws are 

 placed Barrows, the sepulchres of the ancient population. 

 Here however there is no regularly fortified town or Oppi- 

 dum, like that at Greaves Ash. 



FORT ON THE TOP OF YEVERING BELL. 



The summit of Yevering Bell is encircled by a broken down 

 wall, which encloses an area of twelve acres, of a somewhat 

 oval form, the longest diameter being from east to west, and 

 the circumference being a little more than 1000 yards. {Plate 

 XV. A.) Additional defensive walls are on the east and west 

 ends, naturally the w^eakest points, and they enclose crescent 

 shaped areas {fig. a) between them and the main wall. The 

 summit is comparatively flat for a mountainous region, yet 

 the eastern end, where the porphyry rock protrudes through 

 the soil, is about 20 feet higher than the general level. At 

 this point there is an inner entrenchment, and within that 

 again is a small enclosure set round with stones. {Fig. b.) 

 Many circular foundations are traceable on the eastern por- 

 tion of the area, but chiefly on the sloping southern side. 



Antiquaries of a past generation threw by their speculations 

 a mysterious sacredness over Yevering Bell. Hutcheson, in 

 1778, describes it as a temple consecrated to the adoration 

 of the sun, and used in fire-worship. Another writer says it 

 was certainly a Druidical temple, and that " the cairn with a 

 large stone on the summit is evidently a Druid altar, where 

 religious rites were performed in the fire-worship ; and the 

 circles of ruins on the sides of the hill have been supposed to 

 be Academies of the Druids." For these fancies, the chief 

 support has been derived from the name, which has been 

 transposed into Bel-ad-gebrin — Bel being regarded as the 

 same as Baal, a Babylonish title of the sun, and the whole as 

 meaning " Mount of the Sun." But these etymologies are 

 forced and exceedingly improbable ; Baal was a god un- 

 known to the British people ; and there is moreover an 

 obvious explanation of the word Bell, from the shape of the 



