Cheselbourne

13 CHESELBOURNE (7699)

(O.S. 6 ins. SY 79 NW, SY 79 NE, ST 70 SW, ST 70 SE)

Cheselbourne is a small village in a parish of 2,900 acres, lying entirely on Chalk between 250 ft. and 800 ft. above sea-level. Three nearly parallel streams flow across the parish in a S.S.E. direction: Lyscombe Brook, the Cheselbourne and the Devil's Brook. The village is scattered for over a mile along the banks of the stream from which it takes its name, the earthwork remains of former dwellings and closes occurring frequently among the existing cottages and in open land to the S. of the church. The open fields of the parish were not finally enclosed until 1845. Lyscombe, formerly a detached part of Milton, is now joined to Cheselbourne. The parish church of Cheselbourne and an abandoned chapel at Lyscombe are the principal monuments.

Ecclesiastical

(1) The Parish Church of St. Martin stands at the S. end of the village. The walls are principally of flint with ashlar dressings and occasional bonding courses of squared rubble, but the N. aisle, the N. porch and the top stage of the tower are of coursed rubble; the roofs are covered with tiles, stone-slates and lead. The Nave and South Aisle are of the late 13th century; the arcade appears originally to have consisted of two pointed arches between wide responds but in the 15th century the responds were modified and the aisle was thrown open more fully to the nave. The Chancel is of the first half of the 14th century. The West Tower dates from the middle and end of the 15th century and the chancel arch appears to have been rebuilt at that time. The North Aisle and the North Porch were added late in the 15th century. The South Porch was built c. 1500. The church was restored in 1874 and 1924.

The late 12th-century font and the remains of the 13th-century south arcade are perhaps the most important features; the church also contains interesting 16th-century brasses.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (17½ ft. by 13½ ft.) has a widely splayed 14th-century E. window of three gradated lancet lights with trefoil cusping, with a moulded outer label and a segmental rear arch; above is a steeply pointed straight-sided rubble relieving arch. In the N. wall are two windows with a blocked 14th-century doorway between them; the doorway has a chamfered two-centred head; the more easterly window is of the late 15th century and has two cinquefoil lights in a square head below a label with square stops; the other window is a 14th-century opening of two trefoil ogee-headed lights with a transom; a rectangular cutting in the W. splay is for a squint from the N. aisle. The S. wall contains, to the E., a window similar to the corresponding opening of the N. wall and, to the W., a 14th-century two-light window with a 15th-century head similar to that of the adjacent opening; a square-headed squint from the S. aisle pierces the W. splay. The chancel arch is two-centred and of two hollow-chamfered orders springing from semi-octagonal responds with concave faces and moulded capitals and bases.

In the Nave (30½ ft. by 15½ ft.) the N. arcade dates from the second half of the 15th century and consists of two two-centred arches, each of two hollow-chamfered orders dying into the wall at the W. and into a square respond on the E., and springing from an octagonal central pier with a moulded cap and a hollow-chamfered base; the W. bay is a little wider than that to the E. Continuing the arcade eastwards and pierced in the wall abutting the E. respond is an early 16th-century opening with a lightly chamfered triangular head. In the S. arcade, the central pier and the narrow pointed arch W. of it date from the end of the 13th century; the pier is circular, with a moulded capital and base of Purbeck marble; the adjacent respond to the W. is a similar half-pier, and the pointed arch is of two plain chamfered orders. The two-centred E. arch has much greater height and span than that just described, although the orders are uniform; presumably an original narrow arch here was enlarged at the expense of the E. abutment, probably in the middle of the 15th century. The W. end of the S. arcade has been differently treated; here the original W. half-pier has been left in position and a narrow archway has been cut through the abutment behind it. The arch is two-centred and of two wave-moulded orders springing from a three-sided E. respond with moulded cap and chamfered base; to the W., the inner order rests on a grotesque corbel representing the head and shoulders of a woman in an exaggerated head-dress (Plate 16); the W. opening was made probably about the middle of the 15th century.

The North Aisle (9½ ft. wide) has in the N. wall, towards the E. end, a large two-centred window of three cinquefoil-headed lights with vertical tracery beneath a label with square stops; the N. doorway has a moulded four-centred head, the mouldings continuing down the jambs to shaped stops; further W. is a square-headed window of two cinquefoil ogee-headed lights under vertical tracery, with a moulded label with return stops; all these openings are of the late 15th century.

The South Aisle (9½ ft. wide) has a late 15th-century E. window of three cinquefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery in a segmental-pointed head; the rear arch is hollow-chamfered and the same moulding continues on the jambs, ending at hollow-chamfered plinths on the window sill. The easternmost window in the S. wall is also of the late 15th century; it has three cinquefoil-headed lights with squat vertical tracery below a square head and a moulded label which terminates in male headstops. The S. doorway, of the same date, has a continuous wavemoulded segmental head and jambs, with shaped stops. At the W. end of the S. wall is a late 13th-century window of two trefoil-headed lights with a round trefoil tracery light in a two-centred head; it is chamfered externally and rebated internally.

The West Tower (9¼ ft. by 9 ft.) was built about the middle of the 15th century and heightened at the end of the same century. It is of three stages divided by weathered string-courses. At the base is a chamfered plinth and at the top is an embattled parapet with gargoyles and crocketed pinnacles. The two lower stages are of flint with stone bonding-courses and quoins; the top stage is of squared coursed rubble. The two-centred tower-arch is of two wave-moulded orders, the inner order springing from three-sided corbels with 16th-century mouldings; in the outer order the moulding on the E. side continues down the responds, that on the W. side dies into the side walls. The W. window is of three trefoil-headed lights with large quatrefoil tracery in a casement-moulded two-centred head, with a four-centred hollow-chamfered rear arch. In the W. wall of the second stage is a plain single light with a square head, and in each wall of the third stage is a casement-moulded belfry window of two trefoil ogee-headed lights, with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head. The lower half of each belfry window is closed by a pierced stone screen decorated with quatrefoils.

The North Porch (6 ft. by 6½ ft.) is of the late 15th century and has an archway with a moulded two-centred head and continuous jambs with run-out stops. Stone benches, moulded underneath, flank the entry. The oak roof is original, with plain rafters and chamfered plates and ridge-piece. The South Porch (5½ ft. square) is of the late 15th or early 16th century; it has a four-centred archway with a moulded head and continuous jambs with shaped stops.

Fittings—Bells: five; 1st and 3rd by John Wallis, both dated 1618; 2nd by Thomas Roskelly, 1754; 4th, inscribed in blackletter 'Sancta Maria ora pro nobis', probably 15th century and from Salisbury foundry; 5th, with inscription 'ac non vadi via nisi dicas ave Maria', mediaeval. Brass and Indent. Brass: In N. aisle, on E. wall, reset on wood panel, three rectangular plates from memorial of Hugh Kete, 1589; the largest (11 ins. by 9 ins.) has a lengthy verse in Roman lettering and, above, a shield-of-arms of Kete quartering Coles of Somerset (with chevron engrailed), impaling Grove quartering Mansell; brass commissioned by Mat. Grove and engraved by Tho. Wittes; smaller plates (each 5½ ins. by 4 ins.) display separately the two quarterly coats of the large plate. Indent: In nave, on floor-slab, indent of rectangular plate (12½ ins. by 3½ ins.). Chest: In W. tower, with panelled front and ends, stiles and rails carved with conventional flower and acanthus patterns, two lock-plates, moulded lid, early 17th century. Churchyard Cross: N.E. of N. porch, lower part of 15th-century shaft with moulded angles, set diagonally on rectangular pedestal with hollow-chamfered plinth; below, two steps with hollow-chamfered nosing. Communion Table: with turned legs, plain stretchers, shaped framing and plain top; mid 17th century, now used as side-table in nave. Font: octagonal straight-sided Purbeck marble bowl with chamfered under-edge and two slightly sunk lancet-headed recesses to each face, on shaped octagonal stem with octagonal chamfered base; sockets for circular shafts in angles of base; bowl and base c. 1200, stem perhaps 15th century.

Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: In N. aisle, (1) of William Box, rector, 1749, white marble wall-tablet, perhaps 19th century. In churchyard, N. of N. porch, (2) table-tomb, c. 1600, inscription obliterated. Floor-slabs: In nave, at E. end, (1) of Richard Basket, rector, 1684, and Ureth his wife, 1707, with arms of Basket. In N. aisle, (2) of John Keate, 1552, and his wife Marg[aret], 1554, Purbeck marble slab with black-letter inscription; (3) of Richard Samson, 1799. In S. aisle, (4) of Wm. Carpenter, 1786. Niches: In S. aisle, in E. wall, shallow recess with ogee septfoil head, plain shields in spandrels, 15th century. In N. porch, in E. wall, with cinquefoil head and stop-chamfered jambs, 15th century. Over N. porch entry, with four-centred cinquefoil head, chamfered side-standards and pedestal-corbel carved with leopard's head, 15th century. In S. porch, in E. wall, with four-centred hollow-chamfered head and continuous jambs, c. 1500. Piscinae: In chancel, in S. wall, with cinquefoil-headed opening and continuous chamfered jambs, moulded projecting bowl with hexagonal sinking, 15th century. In S. aisle, in S. wall, with four-centred head and chamfered jambs, round bowl with raised rim and fluted sinking, c. 1500. Plate: includes Elizabethan cup by Lawrence Stratford of Dorchester and cover-paten with engraved date 1574. Pulpit: octagonal, of oak, with six panelled sides in two heights with moulded framing, lower panels plain, upper panels fielded and with strapwork, c. 1630, stone base modern. Screen: In tower arch, of oak, centre opening and a bay on either side in two heights; lower height with plain panels, upper height divided into four lights with hollow-chamfered oak mullions, 16th century, made up with modern material. Stair: In W. tower, with solid oak steps on two heavy bearers, supported on modern stone corbel below W. window; with shaped newel, moulded handrail and plank fascia, late mediaeval; original steps cased in modern elm treads and risers. Stoup: In N. porch, in W. wall, rounded recess with mutilated projecting bowl, mediaeval. Sundials: Above S. porch arch, rectangular stone slab with Roman numerals, inscribed HC 1631 WM, with wrought-iron gnomon. On S. wall, scratchdial. Miscellanea: In N. aisle, on sill of E. window, stone panel carved with achievement-of-arms of Kete, late 16th century with modern repainting. In N. aisle, on octagonal stone brackets on E. wall, two small stone putti with Italianate shields, 16th century. In S. porch, in niche, part of mediaeval gable-cross.

(2) Lyscombe Chapel (73660106), together with a cottage and a barn, stands in a remote place among the Downs, midway between Cerne Abbey and Milton Abbey and nearly 2 m. N.W. of Cheselbourne church (Plate 130). The walls of the chapel are of flint with bonding-courses and dressings of rubble; there are also some later brick dressings. Until recently the roofs were thatched. The Chancel and chancel arch date from the late 12th century; the Nave was almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th and late 16th centuries; the chapel probably became a dwelling in the 17th century and it is now disused and protected only by a modern iron roof. The adjacent Cottage is of the early 16th century and no doubt was for the priest; in the 17th century it was doubled in size by an addition to the W., and the W. wall of the addition was repaired and refenestrated at the end of the 18th or early in the 19th century. The whole cottage is now derelict and in ruins. The Barn, some 70 yds. to the S.W., is substantially mediaeval; it is reported formerly to have borne an inscription 'L S 1638' but this was probably the date of some repair.

The three buildings form a small mediaeval group of considerable interest, but their history is obscure. Three and a half hides of land at Lyscombe formed part of the original endowment of Milton Abbey (see p. 183). The chapel (dedication unknown) is mentioned in 1311 together with the chapels of Woolland and Whitcombe. (fn. 1) It passed into lay hands when Henry VIII granted the abbey's possessions to Sir John Tregonwell in 1540.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (14 ft. by 9¾ ft.) has walls of flint. The original single-light E. window, with a round rear-arch and splayed ashlar jambs, was slightly widened in the 13th century and a chamfered trefoil head was inserted. The N. wall contains an original narrow window with a rebated round head and splayed reveals, the latter mutilated. In the S. wall the original window has been enlarged and fitted with a modern surround. The chancel arch is two-centred and of two plain orders on the W. side, with the remains of a moulded label; on the E. side it is flat. The responds have half-round shafts supporting the inner order, and smaller shafts under the outer order; the caps are scalloped and have moulded abaci continued as a string on the W.; the lower part of the N. respond and most of the S. respond have been destroyed and the capitals have been badly defaced. Floor beams and a stone stair were inserted in the chancel in the late 16th or early 17th century. The Nave (21¼ ft. by 9½ ft.) has walls of flint; the S. wall was rebuilt in the 15th century and the N. wall late in the 16th century. Part of the chamfered E. jamb of the S. doorway survives near the ground; above it is a window of uncertain date, now partly blocked and altered by the insertion of a second opening. The W. wall is of the late 16th century; the gable contains a window with chamfered jambs cut from a single stone; the opening is now square but it retains traces of two pointed lights and a central mullion. In the lower storey the W. wall has two 18th-century openings. A floor with stop-chamfered beams was inserted in the nave, as in the chancel.

The Cottage adjacent to the S.W. corner of the chapel is of one storey with an attic. The E. wall has a boldly projecting chimneybreast, the S. side of which is splayed above first-floor level and carried on a stone corbel. To the N., the chimney-breast incorporates a stone vice which has, in the E. side, a small loop consisting of a chamfered vertical slit with a circular widening at the centre; it overlooks the former S. doorway of the chapel. The other windows and doorways in the E. part of the cottage were altered and rebuilt in brick late in the 18th or early in the 19th century. A brick doorway on the N. side has a reset timber surround, perhaps of the 16th century, with a chamfered triangular head and chamfered jambs. The 17th-century western part of the S. wall contains a three-light stone-mullioned window. A scratch-dial occurs near the S.W. corner. The W. wall was repaired late in the 18th or early in the 19th century; it has two first-floor windows of this date with four-centred brick heads and jambs. In the gable are two reset 15th or early 16th-century fragments; part of a four-centred stone window head with trefoil-headed lights and a small stone panel with paired ogee-headed openings. Inside, the ground-floor room of the E. part of the cottage had, until recently, an original open timber ceiling divided into six panels by deeply chamfered intersecting beams and plates. To the E. is an open fireplace with a deep cambered and chamfered bressummer, and chamfered stone jambs with run-out stops. The entrance to the stone vice is through a doorway with a wooden lintel and a chamfered stone S. jamb with a run-out stop; at the head of the stair was a roughly wrought 16th-century oak door frame with a four-centred head. The W. part of the cottage has an open fireplace of the late 18th or early 19th century.

The Barn (92 ft. by 27 ft.) stands 100 yds. S.W. of the chapel; it is of flint with ashlar quoins and dressings and probably dates from the 16th century. The long axis lies N.–S. and there is a gabled transept to E. and W. in the middle of each long wall. The N. half of the W. side has been rebuilt but the other walls survive, at least in their lower parts. The S. half of the barn had a jointed-cruck roof until about 1950, when it collapsed; the whole structure has now been re-roofed in modern materials. The original trusses were set at 10½ ft. centres and rose from ledges about half-way between the floor and the wall-head on the inner face of the side walls. Externally, the E. and S. walls have weathered two-stage buttresses of flint and ashlar, those on the E. side corresponding with the trusses; on the W. the rising ground obviates the need for buttresses. The gabled S. wall is pierced by a single slit ventilator outlined in ashlar, with chamfered jambs. The transept doorways, 11 ft. wide, are also of ashlar and chamfered.

Secular

(3) The Old Rectory (76209987), 300 yds. N. of the church, is two-storied and has walls of knapped flint banded with stone and brick, with ashlar quoins and dressings. The tiled roofs have stone-slate verges and the roof of the porch is entirely stone-slated. The original building, of the late 16th or early 17th century, had a plain rectangular plan of three bays, in which the central doorway led to a through-passage with one room on each side. About 1800 the original range was extended E., and a N. wing was added; the stairs are in the N. wing. Later in the 19th century a semi-octagonal two-storied porch with a hipped roof was built in the middle of the S. front, and at the same time the whole house was restored and the upper storey was largely rebuilt.

Above its chamfered plinth the S. front has been extensively refaced; the plat-band over the ground-floor window heads is probably an insertion; the two-light square-headed first-floor windows are original but reset, and the three-light ground-floor windows are modern. The window on the first floor of the porch is original but reset. The gabled E. and W. end walls have shaped kneelers, flat copings and chimneystacks at the apex; in the W. wall each storey has one original stone window of three lights with square heads and labels. The N. wall of the original range, where it is not concealed by the 19th-century extension, shows the remains of other stone windows, now blocked.

Inside, in the E. wall of the original building is a stone fire-place of c. 1600 with a rectangular head and jambs outlined by a heavy roll-mould; the deep lintel has remains of painted decoration in dark red depicting large fleurs-de-lis; in the N. jamb is the blocked opening to an oven. The drawing-room, to the W. of the through-passage, has a fireplace of c. 1600 with moulded jambs and a square head. A stone lintel over a blocked opening in the N. wall is crudely carved with a shield, a sun and a mask with leaves issuing from the mouth; it is perhaps of the 17th century but reset.

(4) Cheselbourne Manor (75650046), house, a little over ½ m. N.W. of the church, is of two storeys; the walls are of knapped flint with squared rubble bonding courses; the roofs have been reduced to a low pitch and are covered with modern slates. The house has an L-shaped plan with a small projecting stair-bay to the E.; it is of mid 16th-century origin but remodelled and modernised, and with a late 19th-century addition to the N. All window openings are modern although of 16th-century pattern. Inside, the stair-bay contains an original stone vice with a round newel rising from a chamfered base; the ground-floor entrance to the vice is a mid 16th-century stone doorway with a restored four-centred head in a square surround with carved spandrels; the moulded jambs have hollow-chamfered plinths and spur stops. A ground-floor fireplace, now rebuilt, retains traces of original painted decoration in red and black.

(5) Northfield Farm (75980014), is a two-storied house of cob and thatch, dating from the 17th century. The main range, facing S.E., has a central doorway which leads to a throughpassage. A chimney-stack emerges from the ridge a little to one side of the passage and another stack occurs at the apex of the S.W. gable. The eaves have been raised to accommodate the first-floor rooms on the S.E. front; on the N.W. side the house is single-storied.

Monuments (6–18)

The following 18th and early 19th-century cottages are dispersed in the village, on both sides of the road, from ¼ m. S.E. to ½ m. N.W. of the parish church. Unless otherwise described they have cob walls and thatched roofs and are of two storeys, or of one storey with dormer-windowed attics—(6) at 76509936; (7) at 76329965 is single-storied, without an attic; (8) at 76299973; (9) at 76199981 is single-storied, without an attic; (10) at 76149986; (11) at 76089998; (12) at 76099999, 10 yds. N.E. of the foregoing, has a modern tiled roof; (13) at 76030009; (14) at 76030013 is partly of banded brick and flint; (15) at 76080018; (16) at 76100020; (17) at 75790020; (18) at 75810028.

Mediaeval and Later Earthworks

(19) Settlement Remains (763995, 764994, 765991), formerly part of Cheselbourne village, lie around the church and also to the E. of West Farm and to the W. and S. of Waterside Farm. They consist of rectangular closes up to 80 yds. long and 30 yds. wide, bounded by low banks; there are no well-defined house sites.

(20) Cultivation Remains. The open fields of the parish were not finally enclosed until 1845 (Enclosure Award, D.C.R.O.) but it is clear from the Tithe Map of 1844 that the final arrangement of seven separate open fields, all W. and N.W. of the village, was only the last stage in a long process of enclosure and reorganisation. The only remains, four contour strip lynchets immediately N.W. of the church (761996), lie outside the area of the open fields.

Roman and Prehistoric

(21) Occupation Debris, Romano-British, consisting of fragments of roof and flue tiles, was found in the stream bed S. of Lyscombe Farm (73680092–73710079), (C. Warne, Ancient Dorset (1872), 85; Dorset Procs. LXX (1948), 60). 'Castels' mentioned in a charter of 869 A.D. may indicate Roman buildings, while the name Streetway Lane also suggests Roman origin (Dorset Procs. LVI (1934), 124–7). For Roman coins in barrows, see below under Round Barrows.

'Celtic' Fields, see pp. 330–333, Groups (44–48).

Monuments (22–23), Cross-Dykes

Two cross-dykes occur in the N.W. of the parish at altitudes between 600 ft. and 700 ft., on the spur which projects S.E. from Lyscombe Hill; they form part of a series discussed in 'Celtic' Field Group (44) (see p. 330).

(22) Cross-dyke, comprising two sections, probably connected. The first section (a) runs S.W.–N.E. (72960157– 73070170) for 200 yds., from the crest of the spur on the parish boundary with Piddletrenthide, down a gentle slope, and ends well short of the shoulder of the spur. It consists of a main bank on the S.E. side with a ditch uphill and a slighter bank beyond. The main bank, 21 ft. across, increases in height downhill from 2 ft. to 10 ft. A later bank straddled by trees runs along its top. The ditch is 12 ft. wide, flat-bottomed and 2¾ ft. below the bank. The slighter bank on the N.W. is up to 20 ft. across. A gap near the centre may be original but the dyke appears to block a double-lynchet track associated with 'Celtic' fields. The increase in height of the main bank downhill indicates that it is built on a 'Celtic' field edge, and a 'Celtic' field continues its line N.E. to the shoulder of the spur. Air photographs suggest that the dyke formerly continued S.W. for some 50 yds. and then, making a right-angled turn N.W., joined the second section of the dyke (b) (72860160), which runs N.W. for 46 yds. across the head of a gulley. The bank, which is on the S.W. side, is 22 ft. wide and 5½ ft. high; the ditch, which is disturbed, is 27 ft. wide at the S.E. and narrows towards the N.W. There is a gap 24 ft. wide near the S. end.

(23) Cross-dyke, running S.W.–N.E. (73180124–73260137), some 400 yds. S.E. of (22), across the head of a gulley near the S.E. end of the spur, is 210 yds. long and has its ditch on the uphill side, beyond which is a very slight bank, probably a copse boundary. The bank is 30 ft. across, 8 ft. high on the S. and 3 ft. high above the ditch, which is 30 ft. across. The line of the dyke is continued N.E. on a different alignment by a slight bank on a scarp, while to the S.W. it is continued for 40 yds. as a lynchet with a slight bank on it, then as a scarp for 230 yds. to meet the angle of an enclosure, Piddletrenthide (65), now destroyed.

Monuments (24–39), Round Barrows

Of sixteen round barrows in the parish, Monuments (24–29) and (30–33) form two small groups on Cheselbourne West Down; the remainder are widely dispersed. Warne opened six barrows on Cheselbourne Down Hogleaze; they are probably among (24–29). His first barrow covered several cists cut into the natural chalk and filled with ashes; two others contained no interments and were apparently mere cenotaphs; the remainder yielded only ashes (C.T.D. Pt. 1, No. 9; Archaeologia XXX (1844), 334). C. Hall opened a small barrow, Rough Barrow, on Cheselbourne Common and found three urns, one of which appeared to contain bird bones (Barrow Diggers, 92); this is probably the barrow described by Warne (C.T.D. Pt. 3, No. 97) in which two urns were found in cists cut into the natural chalk and a coin of Diocletian was found just under the surface at the summit of the mound. A further barrow, destroyed in 1865, lay on the spur E. of Bramblecombe Farm. Some ten or twelve cinerary urns, some inverted, including one globular, were recovered from 'rude cists of flint' on the W. side of the mound. In addition, six coins (Domitian to Tetricus I) were found. An earlier cutting through the centre of the mound, probably by C. Hall, appears to have been unproductive (Hutchins IV, 352; Arch. J. CXIX (1962), 57).

Cheselbourne West Down Group 1 comprises six barrows which lie between 300 ft. and 400 ft. O.D., on a S.W. slope above a dry valley in the extreme S.W. of the parish. All have been reduced by ploughing.

(24) Bowl (74019850), at the foot of a slope; much ploughed; diam. about 60 ft., ht. 2 ft.

(25) Bowl (74049862), 135 yds. N.N.E. of (24), is now only an irregular mound cut away by ploughing; diam. about 30 ft., ht. 2½ ft.

(26) Bowl (74109865), 70 yds. N.E. of (25), is heavily ploughed; diam. about 30 ft., ht. 1 ft.

(27) Bowl (74039872), 110 yds. N.W. of (26); diam. 36 ft., ht. 1 ft.

(28) Barrow ? (74159887), 215 yds. N.E. of (27); much ploughed and somewhat irregular; diam. about 20 ft., ht. 1 ft.

(29) Barrow ? (74189886), 40 yds. E.S.E. of (28), is of similar form and dimensions to the foregoing.

Cheselbourne West Down Group 2 consists of the following four barrows which lie in arable on the spine of a ridge between 350 ft. and 400 ft. O.D., less than ½ m. N. of the previous group.

(30) Bowl (73969937), near the Piddletrenthide boundary, 600 yds. N.W. of (28); damaged by ploughing; diam. 56 ft., ht. 5 ft.

(31) Bowl (73869947), 155 yds. N.W. of (30); much damaged by ploughing; diam. about 42 ft., ht. 1½ ft.

(32) Bowl (73899947), 30 yds. E. of (31); a large hollow in the centre, full of flints, is probably the result of excavation; diam. 51 ft., ht. 5 ft.

(33) Bowl (73949956), 100 yds. N.E. of (32), is surmounted by a cylindrical stone column nearly 5 ft. high and probably of comparatively recent origin; there is a hollow in the centre of barrow; diam. 67 ft., ht. 6 ft.

(34) Bowl (74529999), 500 yds. S.E. of Kingcombe Farm on the W. slope of a ridge; much ploughed; diam. about 65 ft., ht. 1½ ft.

(35) Bowl (74549999), 25 yds E. of (34), is of similar dimensions, and contiguous with it; these two barrows lie at the angle of a 'Celtic' field.

(36) Bowl (73500031), 700 yds. W.N.W. of Kingcombe Farm on ground sloping S. and E., lies at the angle of a 'Celtic' field now almost destroyed by ploughing; diam. 50 ft., ht. 2 ft.

(37) Bowl (73460273), on Lyscombe Hill at the extreme N. of Cheselbourne parish, is thickly overgrown but appears to be joined to (38); diam. about 38 ft., ht. 5½ ft.

(38) Bowl (73470273), adjoining (37), with centre dug into; diam. 36 ft., ht. 5 ft.

(39) Barrow ? (77990039), 750 yds. S.E. of Bramblecombe Farm at about 400 ft. O.D., on a W.-facing slope, lies at the angle of a 'Celtic' field and has been much ploughed; diam. about 85 ft., ht. 2½ ft.

Undated

(40) Enclosure (75209860), now visible only as a crop mark on air photographs, lies across the parish boundary with Dewlish, at the head of a small valley (Plate 131). It is about 5 acres in area, roughly circular, and bounded by a ditch about 5 ft. across. No entrances or internal features are visible. It is probably Iron Age in date though a large concentration of Roman pottery has been found 300 yds. due E. (see Dewlish (10)). There is no demonstrable relationship between the enclosure and the adjacent 'Celtic' fields (Group 45).

The 'Earthworks' on Henning Hill, shown on O.S. maps (758012), are almost certainly remains of hollow-ways on a road line passing N.W. from the valley of the Devil's Brook to that of the Cheselbourne (see diagram on p. 320).