540 Elsdon Mote Hills. By Mr Thos. Arkle. 



near to what, previous to the formation of the ditches and en- 

 bankments, must have been the natural surface of the ground. 

 Let this supposed surface line be continued on the section, through 

 the higher hill across the southern ditch where the artificial work 

 ceases, and it will be found that there is fully 20 feet of the top 

 of the hill above what appears to have been the natural surface 

 of the ground. Hence unless diluvial action had thrown up a 

 conical hill here, there must have been from twelve to fifteen 

 thousand cubic yards of material brought from a distance, in 

 order to raise the hill to its present height. This earth, it is be- 

 lieved, was taken out of the hollow in which the road from the 

 High Mote House now goes down to Elsdon. Sand it is well 

 known, is the principal component in both the hill and the cutting,* 

 and Mr Matthew Hall the present owner of High Mote Estate, 

 to which property the hill itself was formerly attached, has as- 

 sured me that fragments of coal and limestone are found in the 

 edges of the cutting, whilst particles of both substances have been 

 observed by him in the sand composing the highest portion of 

 the hiU. 



The construction of the Mote HiUs at Elsdon has been univers- 

 ally ascribed to the ancient Britons ; but the time of their erection, 

 and their purposes, whether as places of defence or as temples of 

 worship, are questions involved in impenetrable obscurity. It is 

 even doubtful whether both hills belong to one period, for the 

 regular, more highly finished, and less time worn appearance of 

 the northern erection, may suggest the idea that before it was 

 called into existence, its older neighbour might have witnessed 

 revolutions almost innumerable of that deified object to which it 

 has been thought it was originally dedicated. The general ap- 

 pearance of the southern hill is no doubt that of a defensive 

 position, but there is no incongruity in supposing that at the same 

 time it might be used for civil assemblies, for the promulgation 

 of laws, for the administration of j ustice, and for the celebration 

 of religious rites and ceremonies. What, then, was the nature 

 of the adoration practised here ? Doubtless it was the widely 

 spread worship of that glorious luminary which confers such 



* Mr Hall of Low Angerton, formerly of the Mote, has informed the 

 writer that about the year 1822, he and his brother dug a shaft in the 

 higher hill to the depth of about seven yards, and bored two yards far- 

 ther with an iron rod. So far as they went nothing but sand was 

 reached. 



