242 
AN ENGLISH VENICE. 
the only dwellings possible in this part of Somerset must have been 
such as could stand firm on no better foundation than the soft silt 
of a lake bottom, or the unresisting peat of a quagmire. With 
such conditions had the ancient Britons to cope, who, about 2,000 
years ago, lived near Glastonbury Tor; that they did so not 
unsuccessfully is shown by the remains of their homes now again 
brought under the light of day. 
Drainage and the ponding back of the sea have converted 
swamp and lake into rich dry land, through which run long straight 
roads and dykes, with, here and there, lines of trees. Everywhere 
the surface is smooth and flat, except in a small area lying about 
one mile to the north of Glastonbury, where, rising above the 
general level, are a number of circular mounds ; they are, however, 
so low and insignificant as to have escaped notice until some 
eighteen months ago, when they caught the keen eyes of Mr. 
Arthur Bulleid, F.S.A. Varying in diameter from fifteen to thirty- 
five feet, they only rise at the most to a height of thirty inches in 
the centre. There are sixty-five to seventy of them, spread over 
an area which measures some four hundred feet from north to 
south, and three hundred feet from east to west. They were first 
examined by Mr. Bulleid in March of last year ; he had one of the 
mounds uncovered and excavated, when it was seen that it had the 
structure of a lake-dwelling or crannog * such as are often found 
buried in the peat-bogs of Scotland, Ireland, and Switzerland, and 
are even nowadays to be seen in use in Central Africa, Borneo, 
Burmah, &c. Since their discovery, more extensive excavations 
have been made under the direction of a local committee, aud the 
structures laid bare have been examined and described by Mr. 
Bulleid, Professor Boyd-Dawkins, Dr. Monro, and other authorities. 
The many interesting articles unearthed have been placed in the 
Glastonbury Museum. 
Each of the mounds has the following general structure :—On 
the peat and mud which, at the' time when the village was 
inhabited, formed either the surface of a-swamp or the bottom of a 
* A term derived from the Gaelic crann , a mast or tree, referring to the 
trees used in such numbers in the construction of these dwellings. 
November, 1893. 
