Report of excavation of a twin-barrow, and a single round barrow at Sigwell (Six Wells), parish of Compton, Somerset / by Prof. Rolleston and A. Lane Fox ; with an appendix on the topography of Sigwell.

  • Rolleston, George, 1829-1881.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of excavation of a twin-barrow, and a single round barrow at Sigwell (Six Wells), parish of Compton, Somerset / by Prof. Rolleston and A. Lane Fox ; with an appendix on the topography of Sigwell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    of Chamwell, below Cadbury Hill, from which point it flows west- ward by Sutton Montis and ultimately into the Yeo. Paddock Hill is another detached hill, belonging to this range and situated between Cadbury and Gurt. The position of the twin-barrow first opened and described by Pro- fessor Itolleston on the table land is shown on the sketch (PI. 1), which it must be observed has no pretension to accurate detail, and is simply an enlargement from the Ordnance one-incli map. Past this tumulus an ancient British roadway runs northward, and turning to the west descends the hill by the steep ravine between the round bar- row opened afterwards, and Sigwell, and then running along the north east of the Whitcomb Valley below the hill and beneath Charnwell, takes the direction of South Cadbury. My attention was first directed to the little spur orSigwell, between the two steep ravines which unite at the six wells or springs from which Sigwell derives its name. (See PI. 2.) This spur, it soon appeai’ed evident, had been converted into a camp by means of a ditch about 60 ft. wide uniting the two ravines, The artificial character of this ditch is shown by its direction form- ing with the two ravines the base of an equilateral triangle, and therefore being in a position in which it would be impossible that it could have been excavated by water flowing along the ravines from the high ground. The rampart, if it ever had one, has been destroyed, but it is possible the earth from the ditch may have been used to form an interior mound. It would appear that the ditch, as at first drawn, formed too oblique an angle with the northern ravine, and that in order to prevent the position from being taken in reverse by missiles from the high ground on the opposite side at R, the ditch was afterwards thrown back on that side; this, at least, appears to me the best way of accounting for the mound H (PI. 2), composed of undisturbed soil, which has been left in the ditch on the line of the old escarp, and another smaller ditch cut at the back of it; the structure however is peculiar, and may bear a different inter- pretation. The ditch throughout its length is shallower than the two ravines which form the north and south defences of the triangular interspace ; but as the soil is yielding, it is probable that the ravines may have deepened considerably since the place was used for defence, and the inclosed space has probably, by the widening of the ravines at their summit, been much reduced, whereas the ditch not being liable to denudation by water has retained its original depth. The section A, B, C, (PI. 3) running through the tumulus and across the camp, shows that the interior of the camp is commanded at the short bow-shot range of about 120 ft. by the summit of the tumulus. I assume, therefore, that it is unlikely the defenders of the place should have allowed such an erection to be made outside their camp at the time it was occupied; and as we have proved by ex- cavation that the tumulus belongs to the Bronze Age, it is a reason- able conjecture that the camp was abandoned at some time previous to the termination of the Bronze period. This is confirmed by find- ing an unusual number of flint flakes and chips in the interior of the