Page:VCH Herefordshire 1.djvu/279

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

ANCIENT EARTHWORKS But for the mutilation to which it was subjected in the middle of last century this would be one of the most perfect of Herefordshire camps, but at that time Mr. Blakemore, then the owner, not only erected an incongruous iron structure as an outlook, but also, to level the land around it, destroyed the outer guard of the court, then existing on the north-west of the main camp, by throwing the material of the rampart down the steep hill-side. The camp is thus described : — ' The northern position, irregularly oval in shape, with an area of fourteen acres, is inclosed by a single defence on the steep side towards the river, but with double embankments and ditches on the northern and western sides ; towards the south the other portion of the camp exists, with an area of six acres, and this part has the natural protec- tion of perpendicular rocks.' ^^ This description requires some modification, as there appears to be but one fosse on the northern and western sides, and the outer embankment is little more than is necessarily formed when a fosse is dug on a steep slope. A slight fosse sepa- rates the main portion from the precipice-pro- tected south-eastern in- closure ; it probably was furnished with a rampart which has been thrown into the fosse. Tradition assigns the camp to Cel- tic hands, probably rightly so, as it may well have served for refuge in trou- blous times. The original entrance appears to have been on the west, the other openings may be modern. The site of tu- muli are marked on plan, but are hard to trace. DowARD (Great). See Whitchurch. DowARD (Little) . See Ganarew. Eastnor : Midsum- mer AND HOLLYBUSH Hills. — This remarkable early stronghold, 3 miles east of Ledbury, occupies the summit of a hill l:^ r/?..M , ' 5'//^ .of find if nt •CtLE or rttT i 100 £00 BOO Wi imi IP • — ■^^■ 4'P' .# Midsummer and Hollybush Hills, Eastnor. " Trans. Woolhope Field Club (1883-5), 213. 211