1 HO British Remains near Oldcambus. By J. Hardy. 



was found to be closely puddled with fine reddish clay about 2 

 inches in thickness. Underneath this artificial flooring lay the 

 natural subsoil of firm gravel and clay. The clay that lined the 

 bottom appeared to have been brought from the other side of the 

 ravine, which here affords room for a passage or pethe. The pit 

 was of a short oval shape, with the sides neatly faced like a stone 

 dike, with closely fitting largish grey wacke stones, which had the 

 interstices filled up or " pointed " with the same kind of clay as 

 the bottom was puddled with, as if to retain or exclude moisture. 

 The cavity was 4 1 inches long, 28 inches broad, and the built 

 part 22 inches deep. My first impression was that this was a 

 well, but the clay at the bottom was not water-stained, but "fresh 

 as paint," as if scraped clean. On this account I suspect, that 

 although empty, it was a funeral chamber. 



A little more than a yard to the south, and in the same line, 

 lay two broken grey sandstone slabs, that had sunk in, in the 

 middle, by pressure from above; one was 36 inches long and 19 

 inches broad ; the other less. They had slipped down by the 

 horses' feet pressing on them, and brought the built sides with 

 them. Several of the side stones were of red sandstone. This 

 pit was full of sand, and both the sand and the sandstones must 

 have been brought from the adjacent shores. This concavity was 

 larger than the other, but it could not be correctly measured, 

 owing to the rim having been broken in. 



Subsequently in a following year another compartment was 

 struck by the ploughshare, but it was not examined. 



Canon Greenwell found sand on more than one occasion in the 

 Northumbrian cists. Thus in Foi-d parish " a cist l~h feet square, 

 formed of four stones set on edge, and with a single cover stone," 

 " was filled with sand, amongst which were the scattered remains 

 of a burnt bod}" of an adult, with some pieces of charcoal," etc. 

 (British Barrows," p. 406). In the parish of Ohatton, on Whit- 

 sunbank Hill, "the lower portion of a cist was filled to a depth 

 of 3A- inches with sand, upon which wore earth and small water 

 rolled stones, and amongst them were the bones of the burnt body 

 of a person in middle life," along with a flint that had passed 

 through the fire (lb. p. 412). Another in the parish of Eglingham 

 had a deposit of about 6 inches of sand. (p. 419). A cist on the 

 Bothbury hills "was completely filled in with fine sand. No 

 trace of bone was discovered, the body having totally gone to 

 decay ; but amongst the sand was a little charcoal together with 



