Page:VCH Herefordshire 1.djvu/299

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ANCIENT EARTHWORKS St AUNTON-ON- Arrow. — Five miles east-north-east of Kington. The castle mount stands upon ground 400 ft. above sea level, and 30 ft. above the River Arrow, in a position naturally defended on the south-west by the streams and slope of the land. The earthworks consist of a mount cut off from the surrounding ground by a fosse excepting on the south-west, where the fall of the hill rendered such protection unnecessary, and has been scarped to form a shelf instead of a fosse. The summit of the mount is level, and measures about 60 ft. in diameter. Upon the south-east is a rough natural platform which may once have acted as a bailey, but there are no artificial entrenchments. Thruxton Tump. — Six miles south-west of Hereford. The castle mount stands upon ground about 325 ft. above sea level, with the land on the north slightly lower. On the south-west is a gentle descent towards a stream, beyond which the land rises gradually. The entrenchment consists of a mount once surrounded by a fosse, but as the work stands close to the house the farm-yard and buildings have encroached upon the fosse, which is now hardly to be traced, and the sides of the mount are much broken. The summit is roughly level, measures 45 ft. in diameter, and is 2 1 ft. above the lowest part of its base, but when the fosse was in perfect condition no doubt it was deeper by 4 or 5 ft. The mount is named by the Ordnance Survey upon the i-in. scale map published 1893 a ' tumulus,' but its position near the church, on low land and with no other mounts near, indicates that it was erected as a defensive work, though an interment may have taken place near the top. TuRNASTONE : CoTHiLL TuMP. — Elcvcn miles west-by-south of Hereford. This very small inclosure has no natural defence and the entrenchments are simple, consisting of a moat, with the ballast thrown inward to form a rampart, surrounding a platform artificially raised above the adjoining ground. The work is apparently that of a mount castle of the class furnished with ram- parted summits, such as at Llancillo, 7 miles south-south-east, and the mount of the great work upon the Malverns. VowcHURCH Tump. — Ten miles west-by-south of Hereford. The position has practically no natural defence except the slight protection afforded by the River Dore. The entrenchments consist of a moat with its material thrown inward to form a small mount, the summit of which is level and mea- sures about 90 ft. in dia- meter. Upon the south and west the hill-side has been scarped to complete the circle of the mount. 'T *"'"' Walford Tump. — A mile and a quarter f^^LuAJ^^B c-2=^o ■ south-west of LeintWar- Walford Tump dine. This small mount stands within the protection afforded by several streams which unite here and flow into the River Teme. The mount is now only 17 ft. in height above the moat, and has a level summit 36 ft. in diameter. No doubt the 231 Harris Tamp