56 



On British Stone and ftarthworhs 



spot only confirmed my previous conjecture, and closer examination 

 revealed sundry other stones just showing above ground, and there 

 also seemed to be faint indications of a trench, all pointing, with 

 more or less accuracy, to the supposed circle. I will not occupy the | 

 time of the Society with the details of my investigation, the result 

 was that (with the permission of both owner and occupier of the 

 land, and assisted by Mr. William Long, the author of Stonehenge 

 and Abury) I probed the ground in every direction and uncovered 

 the turf wherever a stone was found : and on our first day's work we 

 unearthed no less than twenty-two sarsens, all forming part of the 

 circle, and lying from two to twelve inches below the surface. These 

 stones were all of small size, some of them very small : 1 but that 

 they were placed by the hand of man in the positions they now 

 occupy, in many cases nearly touching one another ; and that they 

 formed part of a large circle or oblong, admits, I think, of no doubt. 

 I say part of a circle, because, though the northern, southern and 

 eastern segments are tolerably well defined, I could find scarcely a 

 single stone on what should be the western segment to complete 

 the circle. That the area thus enclosed is not insignificant will 

 appear from the diameter (in length, or from north to south, 261 

 feet, and in breadth, or from east to west, 216 feet). Again, its 

 position (due south of Silbury, and within full view of it, as well as 

 of the Sanctuary on Overton Hill, and with Abury immediately 

 behind Silbury, due north of it, from which also Silbury is equi- 

 distant) seems to intimate that it may have had some connection 

 with the great Temple. I cannot ascertain the existence of any 

 other similar circle of diminutive stones in this county, though 

 perhaps some of my brother archaeologists may enlighten me on 

 this point. In Denmark such circles are not uncommon, frequently 

 of very trifling dimensions, with a diameter of 20 to 25 or 30 feet, 

 and oftentimes diverging into other (frequently strange and irregular) 

 shapes, and composed of small stones. But what may have been the 



1 In the accompanying plan the stones above ground are shaded ; and (for the 

 sake of distinctness) all the stones are given on a much larger scale than they 

 really are, in reference to the diameter of the circle, which is drawn on the scale 

 of a quarter-of-an-inch to sixteen feet. 



