rards wide each; the whole ground within the camp is upwards of twenty-one acres. It was ploughed two or three years ago, and several iron weapons found, of so rude and bad workmanship, as bespoke them rather Danish or Saxon than Roman. A plan of it is here given t."

Upon a visit which I made in 1840 to Kemerton Camp, I found the intrenchments in most parts to be still very deep and perfect. The land-slip is also yet visible. The scene we witnessed from the summit of this hill was (owing principally to a heavy storm which came on) truly magnificent; and upon its partially clearing up, the sun, which was fast declining westward, broke through the murky clouds in that direction, and scattered the many hues of heaven" over the whole expanse between us and the Malverns, and painted upon the dark curtain towards the Cotswolds a splendid double rainbow; while the Avon shone in silvery whiteness, and seemed in imagination to be like the wand of Shakespeare calling up the genii around to meet in the "bloody field by Tewkesbury."

66

In the Corrections and Additions to Nash's "History," Vol. ii., p. 29, the learned Dr. remarks:-" It is the general practice of antiquaries to refer all the intrenchments which are found on hills, &c., either to Roman, Saxon, or Danish invaders, without reflecting that the unfortunate inhabitants thus invaded, whether Britons or Anglo-Saxons, had both more leisure and more pressing occasion to prepare such fastnesses and places of retreat for their wives, children, flocks, and herds, &c., when their country was likely to be overrun by these cruel invaders. The first Saxons were near two centuries in subduing, extirpating, and expelling the Britons; who, before they were entirely destroyed or driven out from their native plains, we know, made many vigorous struggles in their defence; and, in the intervals of the successive

*And also two aggers.

See woodcut of it in the account of the " Ambrosia Petræ."

It is, however, to be feared that the young trees which have lately been planted in the trenches of the camp will, in course of time, very much destroy its appearance.

attacks made upon them, would doubtless fortify the heights in every part of the kingdom that could afford them any place of refuge or asylum to retire to from the open country, which could not be defended when those furious assailants made their destructive inroads. The same retreats would, in like manner, serve for shelter afterwards to the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, when invaded by the Danes, and perhaps be fortified with additional intrenchments. Such I judge to have been the origin and use of these vast lines, &c., on Kemerton Hill, and of many similar ones in other parts of the kingdom, as on Borough Hill, near Daventry," &c. &c.

66

In the Archæologia," Vol. xix., p. 172, it is stated, that "Bredon Hill is not a part of the Cotswold Hills. It stands in the vale by itself, and on it is an intrenchment of about 170 yards by 130. On two adjoining sides, the brow of the hill is a sufficient defence; on the other two, it is defended by two banks and ditches, which are near fifty yards asunder, and not straight or quite regular. Were they then thrown up at different times? The entrance is at one corner. Drakestone, Uley Bury, Broadridge Green, Painswick Beacon, Church Down, Whitcombe, Crickley Hill, and Nottingham Hill, are seen from it."

As the Roman camps are generally square or oblong, with the angles obtuse or rounded off; and, as the camp in question is of a rather triangular shape, it is probable that it is ancient British, and that it was in after ages occupied by the Romans, Saxons, and Danes.

Mr. May, in his "History of Evesham," p. 365, in speaking of the Roman occupation of Bredon Hill, says, it " abounds with copious and unfailing springs; and a vast number of coins, of the higher as well as lower empire, have, during late years, been ploughed up there. Among such of these as the writer has hitherto met with, occur those of Vespasian, Severus, Gallienus, Constantine, and Valentinian."

An earring of silver (weight 60 gr.) was found with Roman brass coins of Allectus, Quintillus, and Constans, the acus of a fibula, and a silver penny of one of the Edwards, in a field

called Nettlebed, upon the Beckford Estate, situate on the south side of Bredon Hill, near the ancient camp. On the lower part of the ring appears a cavity formed to receive a gem*. (See the woodcut.)

6

66

With respect to the etymology of the word Bredon," Dr. Nash says, the hill was anciently called Breodum; and, that Bullet in his

66

• Memoires de la Langue Celtique,' says, Breeden may be the name of a great forest: Braidd, Great; and Den, Forest." Breedon has also

66

been observed to signify a place at the root of a

hill; Braidd, extremity; and Don, Hill+."

This latter appears to be the better etymology, as the village of Bredon lies at the bottom of the hill.

BREDON HILL, CONDERTON.

IN Dr. Nash's account of the parish of Overbury, he says:"On Conderton Hill is a small, oval camp, one hundred and sixty-five yards long, and seventy-one yards wide: tradition, which is better than conjecture, supposes it to be Danish. Some few Roman coins have been found in the fields." (Vide Vol. ii., p. 234.)

Mr. Bennett, in his " History of Tewkesbury," p. 17, says :"In the neighbourhood of these (i.e. the Kemerton and Conderton) camps, especially near the latter, a number of Roman coins have at various times been discovered."

See my account in the "Archæological Journal," Vol. iii. pp. 267, 268. + See Nash's" History," Vol. i., p. 128.

The name is spelled Bréodún in several Anglo-Saxon Charters. See "Codex Dip." No. 120; 120 App., Vol. iii., 138, 140, 145, 148, 248, 261, 514. 514 App., Vol. vi., and 674, 805. That work also notices Brédún in the Charters, No. 984, 990 (Bradden in Northamptonshire), and Bréowoldsham, No. 1309. The names Uferebréodún and Uuerabreódún (Upper Bredon) occur in the Charters, No. 308, 308 App., Vol. iii.; and 514, 514 App., Vol. vi., and in Heming's "Cartulary," p. 520; and Overbury is called Uferebreodun in that work, p. 306, &c.

SEDGEBARROW.

IN Mr. May's "History of Evesham," second edition, 1845, p. 365, it is stated that, "upon deepening the channel of the brook at Sedgebarrow, about eighteen years ago, two oval-shaped spear-heads of bronze, of most perfect workmanship, with portions of their staves attached, were found stuck into the bank, at a depth of several feet. Pieces of Roman defensive armour were likewise found; together with the sharpened half of a celt, formed of basalt, and a portion of another; as though the rude Britain and the polished Roman had fallen here together in the death-struggle, each leaving his weapon to tell of the event. These fragments, together with part of a steel band, apparently from the shoulder, and retaining the bronze rivets that attached it to the cuirass, are in the possession of the Rev. William Pashley. Several very large antlers were dug out at the same time; but, strange to say, no pains were taken to preserve these memorials of the wild denizens of our ancient forests."

ICCOMB.

This was a detached parish of Worcestershire, until annexed to Gloucestershire by the Reform Bill. In describing this parish, which lies near Stow, in Gloucestershire, Dr. Nash says:-" Here is a camp, supposed to be Danish: it has a single ditch, which in many places is ploughed down*."

Iccomb was anciently spelled Iccacumb, Icancumb†, Icancumbe, Icomb, Iccecumbe, Icacub, Ickacumb, Yecacumbe, Ycumb, and Ikecumbe.

FOUR SHIRE STONE.

This stone, which stands near Moreton-in-the-Marsh, in the counties of Worcester, Gloucester, Warwick, and Oxford, is stated in Laird's "Topographical and Historical Description of

* See Nash, Vol. ii., p. 1.

+ See "Codex Dip.," Offa's Charter, No. 146, and Edgar's Charter, No. 514, 514 App. Vol. vi., dated 964; also see Nash, Vol. ii., p. 1. The authenticity of the above-mentioned Charter of Eadgar is doubted. See "Oswaldslow,"

Worcestershire *," to be "situated on the spot where the battle was fought, about 1016, between the English and Danes, when the latter, under Canute, were totally defeated with great slaughter by King Edmund Ironside;" and that "there also, at a small distance, is a fortification or barrow, which Camden and Plott consider as of Danish origin, but Gough seems of a different opinion, and considers it as British."

The above-mentioned fortification or barrow is, I presume, that situated in the piece of land called Barrow Ground, and lies at the southern corner of Chastleton parish, Oxon. about two miles from the Four Shire Stone, which stands at the northern extremity of the parish. The field is bounded on the west and southwest by Freeboard Lane, which divides it from Adlestrop, and southward and eastward by Daylesford and Cornwell. The fortification or barrow is nearly a circle, and including the single agger or mound which surrounds it, contains 176 yards in diameter from the north-west to the south-east side, and 165 yards in diameter from the south-west to the north-east side. The area, which is perfectly flat, amounts to half an acre and sixteen perches. The agger is thirty feet wide and about sixteen feet high on the outside of it, the ground within it being about eight feet higher than the surrounding land. In the Ordnance Map it is called Chastleton Hill Camp, but the name "Barrow Ground," and the very circular character of the agger appear to favour the idea of its having originally been a barrow. It may, however, have been afterwards used as a camp by the Romans, Saxons, or Danes. A bye-way passes through it from east to west, which is the " regular direction of the Prætorian way in a

Roman Campt."

On the brow of the hill range, between Bourton-on-the-Hill and Cutsdean, there are several camps, or earth-works, of a square shape, with a rivulet running along a dell on their west side. This dell is called Kill-Danes-Bottom 1.

* Pp. 394, 395.

+ See "Gentleman's Mag." for June, 1842, p. 622.

Vide under the head of Ambrosia Petræ, for the description of a place called Woeful-Danes Bottom.