By the Rev. G. S. Master. 



277 



unusual thickness of 3ft. 9in., those on the East and West being 2ft. 

 Gin. wide. They were wholly composed of flint — a coign stone 

 (brought from Tisbury), 1ft. 4in. square, built into the N.E. angle 

 and a similar stone, 1ft. 7in. square, built into the N. wall, and flush 

 with its inner face, being the only exceptions. 



In accordance with the plan proposed by me to Sir Francis H. 

 Goldsmid, Bart., M.P., the owner of the soil — for the avoiding of 

 needless injury to the meadow — I proceeded to examine the internal 

 area within the walls, piece by piece, stripping off the turf and 

 excavating the ground of a square of perhaps 15ft., and then having 

 carefully noted whatever lay beneath, replacing the earth and turf, 

 before proceeding further. Thus, by degrees, and after some three 

 weeks' digging — four labourers being employed — the entire space 

 was subjected to examination. The work was very laborious. The 

 upper soil to the depth of nearly a foot having been removed, there 

 lay below it a hard mass of rubble and rubbish, the deb/is of the 

 fallen building, faced flints (of which many cart-loads were thrown 

 out) and fragments of roofing stones forming the bulk of the material. 

 Underneath there was the natural clay floor, here and there sup- 

 plemented with a coating of chalk, but unfurnished with any pave- 

 ment of any kind, at a depth of some two feet from the surface. 



The whole area was singularly unproductive, insignificant frag- 

 ments of pottery, rusty nails, and coins of the third brass, illegible 

 from the effects of fire, being all that I obtained from it. There 

 was a remarkable absence of tiles ; some dozen squares about an inch 

 each way, cut from larger tiles, were amongst the rubbish in the 

 N.W. corner, and about as many broken pieces of scored tile, picked 

 up in other parts, comprised the remainder of those we found. 



In the N.E. and N.W. angles of the enclosure there were small 

 chambers, 12ft. by 9, the party-walls being of the same thickness 

 and material as the E. and W. walls of the main building. There 

 was a massive coign of Tisbury stone, 2ft. 6in. by 1ft. Bin.., in the 

 S,W. corner of the Eastern chamber. No other enclosed spaces 

 seem to have existed. Two massive piers on either side, five feet 

 square, standing 8ft. apart, and a like distance from the walls, formed 

 of strong flint-work and concrete, were the foundations, I suppose, 



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