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of those in the lake village at Glastonbury. Since the work recommenced, piles of beech-a tree which grows plentifully in the neighbourhood-have been found. The wood, though saturated with moisture, was not in a condition that could be described as rotten. After being exposed to the atmosphere, however, it turned black, and shrivelled like charcoal. Bones of various animals have been found, mainly of the pig and deer.

Pile Dwellings off the East Coast.-A very interesting antiquarian discovery is reported off the east coast, at Sandlemere. During recent low tides the ebb has been assisted by persistent favourable winds to such an extent that large tracts of coast have been left bare and cleared of shingle, so as to expose the peat for observation, with the result that the habitat of an old-world colony of pile-dwellers has been revealed. The old piles are standing, and the rough-hewn tree-trunks of the platforms are still there, showing the tool marks and evidences of morticing and jointing. Another colony of pile-dwellings is already known to have existed near by; and it would seem from this new discovery that there must have been a considerable number of them in pre-historic times in that district.

The following, though not bearing upon British archæology, is interesting in its relation to Roman camps in our own country, and may well be included.

Discovery of a Roman Camp.-Excavations on the right bank of the Narenta, in Herzegovina, near Capljina, have resulted in the discovery of an exceedingly well-preserved and extensive Roman camp, which archæologists say must have been erected during the reign of Nero (A.D. 54 to 68), and existed till about the time. of the Emperor Theodosius, who died A.D. 395, when the camp evidently was destroyed by fire, as is proved by the presence of numerous pieces of charcoal and other unmistakable signs of conflagration. As far as can be seen at present, the camp is a hundred mètres long and eighty broad. Most of the walls and arched passages can still be traced. The outer wall has three gates, one of which is two storeys high. The steps in the towers are extremely well preserved. The floor and part of the decorations are still in good condition. Many utensils and weapons have been dug up, which afford interesting information concerning the mode of life in the camp. An immemorial popular tradition has asserted that on this very spot a great fire once took place. The opening up of this Herzegovina

Pompeii has excited great interest, both among savants and the general public.

The subjoined letter appeared in the Standard for July 7th

"AN ANGLO-SAXON BARROW.

"To the Editor.

"SIR,--A barrow of the Anglo-Saxon period, near the village of Higham-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire, has been partially opened. At a depth of eight feet below the surface of the mound, a large wooden cross, much decayed, was found. The cross lay east and west, being eighteen feet in length and upwards of thirteen feet between the extremities of the arms. No burial has taken place beneath the cross, but there is ample room in the unexcavated portion of the mound for some burial of a priest or bishop to have taken place, to account for the erection of the barrow. The barrow commands a view of the Anher Valley for sixteen miles between Wolvey and Tamworth, and is only half a mile north-east of Watling Street.

"I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

"HENRY FISHER (Rector of Higham).

"Higham Rectory, Nuneaton, July 5."

On seeing this, the Hon. Sec. wrote to Mr. Fisher, and on 27th July the following reply was received: "I have this morning examined the cross again-the remains of the arms being laid in position. The dimensions I make out to be as follows: height, 17 ft. 9 ins.; width, from 13 ins. to 16 ins. ; depth, from 8 ins. to 5 ins. Material: oak. South arın 6 ft. 6 ins. long; 16 ins. to 15 ins. wide. Only a fragment is left of the north arm, which must have been the same length, the position of the parts in the ground proving this. There are three recessed openings in the stem, which go right through the wood, shown in the diagram by heavy shading, the light showing where the recessing at each end commences. A single beam formed the cross-arms. At the crossing the stem is reduced in thickness to about 2 ins., having apparently been cut down for the purpose. It could certainly never, as found, have supported the weight of the cross-arms in an erect position. The cross has, however, been subjected to fire either when erect (the bands securing the cross-arms being burnt; there is no trace of a peg-hole or a mortice), or it has been first placed in situ and bodies burnt over it. A few fragments of pottery have been found, and heavy cinder-like nodules, which must have been in part the product of animal matter, the soil in con

tact being darkened. Further excavation is necessary. I enclose a rough drawing. The openings are not centred; the head and arms are very much decayed."

Mr. Fisher deserves our hearty thanks for his painstaking and accurate account of the facts. We have only one remark to make. If the barrow is Anglo-Saxon, and the cross an evidence that its

makers were Christians, how is the fact that the bodies were apparently disposed of by cremation to be accounted for? This was certainly not a practice of the Anglo-Saxons in Christian times. Per haps the pottery might throw some light on the age and nationality of these mound-builders; but until some further results are known, it is impossible to form any conclusion on the subject, Hence the heading must be read with a query.

Among notices of new books of interest to antiquaries, we have pleasure in calling the attention of our members to the following, which will shortly be published:

The Plundered Ministers of Lincolnshire; being Extracts from the Minutes of the Committee of Plundered Ministers. By W. E. FOSTER, F.S. A. (Lond.), Hon. Member of the Spalding Genealogical Society. With Notes by G. RUTTER FLETCHER, F.S.A. (Lond.). (The issue will be limited to 500 copies, binding cloth case, edges cut all round, about 180 pages, demy 8vo. Price to Subscribers, 58. post free. Subscribers' Names and Remittances received by Messrs. Billing and Sons, Guildford.)-No period of the history of the county of Lincoln is more interesting to the student than that which embraces the Parliamentary wars and the Commonwealth.

The inhabitants of the county were about equally divided in their loyalty to the Crown and to the Parliament; and though the shire was not the scene of any of the larger battles that took place, yet the county saw more than sufficient bloodshed and "the clang of arms" than was needed to raise strong party passions and bitter feelings. Members of the same family were often in opposite camps, Church and dissent were foes, many families rose suddenly from obscurity to wealth and position, whilst many old families of county rank fell into poverty. Nothing had so stirred the Lincolnshire people since the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, and the ill-fated Pilgrimage of Grace.

It is with this interesting period that the work deals-when a large number of the Lincolnshire clergy were turned out of their livings. The proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee give the greatest insight into the position of the Church and her ministers in Lincolnshire, and show the various charges that were preferred against the clergy which cost so many of them the loss of their livings, and reduced them to poverty and starvation.

Notes on Old English Churches. By GEORGE CLINCH, F.G.S. (London: L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C.)-The need of some sort of handy architectural manual must often have been felt by visitors to old churches, especially at those seasons of the year when holiday rambles give opportunities of seeing remote and little-known parts of the country.

It was therefore decided to publish in the columns of The Bazaar newspaper a series of popular articles on the subject, intended to serve as an easily understandable guide to what is really interesting in the architecture and furniture of our ancient churches. The subject

is somewhat comprehensive, and obviously it would have been impossible to treat it in anything like minute detail in those columns; but, although studiously brief and concise, the articles were made sufficiently full to indicate generally all the most essential points to be looked for, and all the ordinary features which are likely to be found in our old English churches.

The articles, illustrated freely with engravings of interesting places and objects, have been received with much favour, and long before their conclusion (and they are not yet completed), there was a request that they should be re-published in book form. This the author and the publisher are willing to undertake, if a sufficient number of subscribers are assured beforehand to give reasonable certainty that the book is really wanted. The number is fixed at 450 copies at 3s. 6d. to Subscribers, it being understood that on actual publication the price shall be raised to not less than 5s.

It will, of course, be at once recognised that the small number of subscribers named as necessary to induce us to publish the book would by no means defray the cost of production of such a work, but it would be sufficient to indicate that amongst the clergy and others interested in church architecture and church furniture, there is a sufficiently large body who care enough about the subject to purchase a book upon it.

It is proposed to give a full topographical index, in order to render the contents of the work easily accessible and really serviceable to those who are interested, however slightly, in the study of ecclesiological subjects. The book will be printed upon good paper, and will contain a great many most interesting illustrations.

The Monumental Brasses of the County of Derby. By ANDREW OLIVER, Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Member of the British Archæological Association, The Monumental Brass Society, etc.-Our Associate, Mr. Andrew Oliver, read a most interesting Paper on this subject at the recent Congress at Buxton, which, with some of the illustrations will, we hope, be published in a future number of our Journal. He purposes, however, bringing out a book on the Derbyshire Brasses (fully illustrated), and many of those who heard the Paper, or who hope to read it, will no doubt subscribe. Although consisting of examples which are small in size, and but few comparatively in number, when contrasted with those that are to be found in other counties, the work, it is hoped, will be found to be useful both to the antiquary and the archeologist, and to all who take an interest in the history of the county.

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