Wednesday, July 6th. 



91 



Swindon," and a second paper, on " Cricklade," by Mr. Anthony 

 Story Maskelyne, being read by the Rev. E. H. Goddard in 

 the absence of the authors. Some discussion took place on both 

 these papers, Mr. N. Story Maskelyne dealing with the vexed 

 question of the derivation of the name Cricklade. 1 



After reading the papers the Rev. E. H. Goddard drew the at- 

 tention of the Members present — there was a very sparse attendance 

 — to the most remarkable objects in MR. A. D. PASSMORE'S 

 COLLECTIONS, which had been admirably arranged with great 

 care round the room. As in the case of Mr. J. W. Brooke's 

 collections, seen by the Society at their Meeting at Marlborough, 

 Mr. Passmore's collections of local antiquities, chiefly gathered 

 within the last four years, show what can be done in a single 

 locality by anyone who possesses the requisite amount of knowledge, 

 patience, and perseverance, in saving and bringing together objects 

 which would otherwise be lost or destroyed. The number of stone 

 implements is large, and includes one or two small specimens of 

 apparently Palaeolithic flints from the gravels near Swindon — a 

 couple of ground axes of a hard green stone, a very rough long 

 flint chisel in its buck's-horn handle — and a ground celt perforated 

 at the butt end for suspension — as well as a curious rough axe- 

 head of sarsen — and an object like a gigantic bead some 6 or 7 inches 

 in diameter formed from a dark volcanic stone full of holes — all of 

 which were found in the neighbourhood of Swindon. There were 

 two or three cases filled with the Samian and other pottery, the 

 painted wall plaster, and other remains from the Roman house at 

 Weslecote, and others with the earlier fragments of pottery, &c, 

 from the British settlement within the ramparts of Lyddington 

 Castle. A nice series of Saxon remains, urns, spear-head, knives, 

 necklaces of blue glass, and amber beads, are part of a large find 

 of Saxon objects at Shefford, near Lambourne, Berks, the remainder 

 of which are now in the British Museum. The pot discovered lately 

 at Latton, whether it is of late Celtic or Romano-British date, is 

 certainly of a very unusual and remarkable type. Mr. Passmore 



1 See page 95. 



