56 Caster ley Camp Excavations. 



"village" or " settlement " would more clearly describe the true 

 nature of the place, but for the sake of convenience it is spoken of 

 throughout as the "camp." Although a sunken way led to the 

 site on one side, and on the other side the weak outer entrenchment 

 was carried down the slope at the head of the combe, presumably 

 for reasons of defence, the defences cannot be described as strong, 

 and, as Professor Haverfield has pointed out, it is unlikely tbat 

 in those days anybody lived without some form of protection. 

 The site seems to have few features in common with the many 

 so-called " British villages," of which traces are still visible on the 

 downs, where Romano-British pottery, &c, may usually be found. 

 But Casterley may perhaps be compared with the villages of 

 Woodcuts and Rotherley, excavated by General Pitt-Rivers, and 

 described as "of Roman age but of British construction" {Excava- 

 tions, II., 65). Casterley also proved to have been occupied during 

 the Roman period, but showed no evidence of Roman influence in 

 the construction of the earthworks, or in its plan. 3 



3 The ditches at Casterley were considerably larger and deeper than those 

 of Woodcuts or Rotherley, and there is no reason to think that any of them 

 were made for drainage purposes as they seem to have been there. At 

 Rotherley the ditches seem to have varied in depth from 2ft. to 3ft. 9in , 

 and at Woodcuts from 2ft. 8in. to 6ft. 4in., while at Casterley they ran from 

 3ft. 6in. up to 9ft., most of them being over 5ft. Cgbury Camp, on Salisbury 

 Plain, near Great Durnford, as described and planned by Sir R. Colt Hoare 

 {Ancient Wilts, South), shows some striking points of resemblance to 

 Casterley, and it would be of great interest to know if these two works are 

 of the same period. It is, like Casterley, of large area (upwards of 62 acres), 

 enclosed within a feeble outer entrenchment, and containing an elaborate 

 system of interior earthworks. Some of these appear to have been en- 

 closures similar to those at Casterley, but the most remarkable point of 

 resemblance is in the long out-stretching banks and ditches connecting the 

 inner works with the outer entrenchment, and dividing, as at Casterley, 

 the camp into separate areas rather than forming compact enclosures. A 

 similar fate has overtaken the inner works in both cases, and the interior 

 of Ogbury Camp having been under the plough for many years practically 

 no vestiges of these works remain above ground. Sir R. Colt Hoare "dug 

 in several parts within the area of the enclosure, but found no one symptom 

 of ancient residence." At Ogbury, as at Casterley, Hoare saw what he 

 considered to be " the very early and simple handiwork of the Britons, 

 unaltered by their successors and conquerors, the Romans and Saxons." 

 According to him there was only one original entrance, but excavation might 

 reveal others. 



