7o 
notes on Clifford’s tower. 
estuary ” or “ the mound of the Eure, 5 ' seems to point to it.* 
But this mound was most likely a small one, and would only 
have been cut into to a slight extent by the recent excavations. 
A burial of very primitive type was indeed discovered, the 
skeleton of a body that had been buried in a crouching 
position, surrounded by four pieces of rough sandstone and 
covered by another somewhat larger stone. The writers cannot 
lay much stress on this piece of evidence, as the grave was 
broken up before they had had an opportunity of inspecting it : 
the account just given is from hear-say. There is nothing 
that conclusively proves the existence of a Celtic mound, 
though—as already indicated—negative evidence does not in 
this case constitute disproof. 
The conclusions to which the writers have arrived are 
meagre, and may even seem disappointing. It must however 
be remembered that the excavations made were undertaken 
for engineering purposes, and not for investigation. But the 
results incidentally obtained are sufficiently interesting to 
make a systematic exploration of the mound very desirable. 
(2) Nature and Object of the Work. The difficulty 
to be met was the gradual sinking of the gateway and adjoining 
parts towards the south-east. This may have been caused, 
and certainlv must have been at least accelerated, by the 
curtailment of the mound about 1836. At this time a nearly 
circular retaining wall, of massive structure, was built and 
furnished with internal buttresses, to hold up the mound. 
The weight gradually thrust the upper stones of this wall 
outwards. The danger might have been considerably less 
had the keep been whole, but the disastrous fire and explosion 
of 1684 had seriously rent the walls; and the fore part of 
the keep, no longer bonded to the rest of the building, 
sank forward as the mound gave way beneath it. Iron 
ties were used within, and a large wooden raking shore was 
recently erected, but in spite of all this, the settlement con¬ 
tinued. Things were in this condition when the Committee 
*The word ach at the end of Evrach may, however, be the Gaelic aiich, a field. 
We might here mention, with reference to the view expressed by some that the 
course of the Foss was altered in Norman times, that in 1S35 two Roman coffins 
were discovered in the green that forms the centre of the Castle yard. 
