154 EEV. G. E. HALL ON A BABEOW 



collection, and is represented (plate XV, fig. 1) in the annexed 

 sketches of British sepulchral remains of this locality. 



One or two family-barrows of the same early period occur in 

 the district. Near the Barrasford School-house, on a natural 

 outburst of the basalt, which was ploughed around for several 

 years in succession without suspicion of anything but a "quarry," 

 three or four cists were at length disclosed by the till. In one 

 cist was an urn, which was so little valued by its possessor, that 

 it fell in pieces in an out-building through exposure to the 

 weather. In a cultivated field on the Barrasford Green farm, a 

 large barrow, formed of massive stones, was similarly uncovered 

 a few years since by the plough. Five cists were contained in it 

 with urns in each, of which only one, of the so-called "food- 

 vessel" type, with very peculiar scorings, has been preserved, 

 having been sent by Mr. Thompson, the farmer, to the Alnwick 

 Castle Museum. This urn is also represented (fig. 2.)* 



Such are the chief sepulchral remains of the early inhabitants 

 of this district, which had come to my knowledge previous to 

 the exploration of the "Warkshaugh barrow. This interesting 

 and important tiiuiulus, which has been carefully and thoroughly 

 explored and examined, I now proceed to describe. 



In November last (1864) one of Mr. Snowball's farm-servants, 

 in ploughing a field opposite to Yf ark Station, struck against an 

 inverted urn in a spot within a hundred yards from the river- 

 bank. The plough carried away the upper portion, as it stood 

 on a level with the surface, so that the ploughman was able to 

 put his hand through the aperture in search of the treasure, 

 hidden therein, as he expected, in the "troublesome times." 

 His hasty investigation, however, was so ill-rewarded by the 

 handfuls of calcined bones which he brought to light, that he 

 scattered them around him in disgust, and but a small portion 

 have been recovered. "When the farmer himself went to the site 

 of the discovery, he at once sent for Mr. Henry McLauchlan, 

 who was then at "Wark engaged on his antiquarian survey and 

 map of the county for the late Duke of Northumberland. After 



* I am indebted for the sketch to E. Chapman, Esq., who kindly had it drawn of the 

 original size. 



