Selwood Forest. 



269 



quite easy to accept as history. On the other hand, researches of 

 this kind may be successful, and to one instance of this kind I will 

 first call your attention, because it relates to a curious place within 

 the district of Selwood Forest, and therefore properly belongs to 

 our subject, and to the darkest part of it. 1 



A mile or two beyond Stourhead, there is, as some of you may 

 be aware, on the high ground thereabout, a large square-shaped 

 piece of table-land, a sort of platform, the sides of which are steep 

 declivities. On .this platform stands the little scattered village of 

 Penselwood. Pen is a very commonly found Welsh word, meaning 

 head, and so the name signifies, not improperly, the head of Selwood. 

 On the slope of this platform, facing east, lie the celebrated Pen 

 Pits. Of these I must attempt some description. 



You are aware that the river Stour rises from six springs, on a 

 hillside within the demesne of Stourhead. It flows down into a 

 valley towards the south. Follow the stream for about a couple of 

 miles : the ground on both sides slopes up to a considerable height. 

 The slope on the right hand is Pen Common. This reaches the 

 table-land, or platform, on which is the hamlet of Penselwood. The 

 boundary of Pen Common on the south is a high ridge which runs 

 all the way down from the top of the hill to the brook at the bottom. 

 It forms a kind of spur or promontory jutting out from the great 

 platform. The lower end of this ridge has been used for a fort. 

 It has been partly heightened by heaping soil on to it, and it is 

 cut off from the rest of the ridge by an artificial gap or ravine, for 

 security. Immediately after this ravine is another portion of the 

 same ridge, that has been used for an outer court, or baily, to the 

 fort or castle, and this outer court is in like manner cut off from the 

 rest by another gap or ravine for further security — the whole 

 showing, beyond a doubt, that the lower part of the ridge has been 

 at some time or other used for some purpose of defence ; all this is 



1 This paper formed the subject of a lecture delivered at the Warminster 

 Athenseum in February last- The writer expressed at that time an opinion upon 

 the Penselwood question which he has since seen reason to change. He was not 

 then aware of the extent to which the controversy had been carried, and had not 

 seen some of the publications relating to it. 



