104 Miscellaneous Notes on Deneholes. 
‘ Collectanea Antiqua,’ and as that volume was printed for 
subscribers only, and has never been published, but few 
libraries possess it. Consequently a brief discussion of Mr. 
Smith’s article can hardly be thought needless on this 
occasion, though I am doubtful whether you will consider it 
“an act of charity” on my part to trouble you with it. 
Mr. Smith’s article is a very brief one. He begins by 
stating that the caves on the north shore of the Thames have 
now and then received some attention from antiquaries, and 
that Camden concluded that they were of British origin and 
were constructed for the purpose of storing corn. He does 
not think, however, that these pits and similar ones in Kent 
have ever been clearly understood. Then follows an account, 
from the ‘ Building News’ of Feb. 1st, 1868, of the then latest 
Denehole-descent, a descent described by Mr. Smith as “an 
investigation made by some explorers with care and discrimi¬ 
nation.” 
The account quoted from the ‘ Building News ’ describes 
the Deneholes visited as being in “ Hairyman's Wood, in the 
parish of Tilbury.” On consulting the six-inch Ordnance Map 
I can find no wood with such a name in either of the parishes 
of East or West Tilbury. On the other hand, the Hangman's 
Wood of our own descents is situated partly in the parish of 
Little Thurrock, partly in that of Orsett; while another 
Hangman’s Wood may be seen westward, about half a mile 
east of Aveley. As regards depth and general character, the 
pits descended appear to have resembled Nos. 8 and 4 in 
Hangman’s Wood, but no plans or sections are given. By 
some oversight a pit described as having chambers at the 
bottom 18 ft. high is also said to have a conical heap of debris 
at the base of the shaft 25 ft. high, which, if true, would 
certainly have prevented admission into it. But neither this 
last point nor the uncertainty as to locality are noticed by 
Mr. Smith, who gives no indication of ever having descended 
a Deneliole himself. 9 
Mr. Smith then dismisses Camden’s view, with the remark 
that it is highly improbable, and brings forward his own, 
which is that Deneholes are simply pits for procuring chalk. 
His view has (he says) received confirmation from an agri¬ 
cultural authority, Mr. Bland; and it is established, and 
conclusive evidence given of the antiquity of these Deneholes, 
by the testimony of Pliny the naturalist. In speaking of the 
white chalk Pliny remarks, according to Mr. Smith, that it is 
obtained “by means of pits sunk like wells with narrow 
9 My object in giving these details is simply to illustrate the careless 
contempt with which the Deneholes and their uses have been settled. 
