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two acres, surrounded by three mounds, which are large, and three
trenches, which are small; the whole forming a square of four acres.
Each corner directs to a cardinal point, but perhaps not with design;
for the situation of the ground would invite the operator to chuse the
present form. The north-west joins to, and is secured by the pool.
As the works are much in the Roman taste, I might, at first view, deem
it the residence of an opulent lord of the manor; but, the adjacent
lands carrying no marks of cultivation, destroys the argument; it is
also too large for the fashion; besides, all these manorial foundations
have been in use since the conquest, therefore tradition assists the
historian; but here, tradition being lost, proves the place of greater
antiquity.
One might judge it of Danish extraction, but here again, tradition will
generally lend her assistance; neither are the trenches large enough for
that people: of themselves they are no security, whether full or empty;
for an active young fellow might easily skip from one bank to another.
Nor can we view it as the work of some whimsical lord, to excite the
wonder of the moderns; it could never pay for the trouble. We must,
therefore, travel back among the ancient Britons, for a solution, and
here we shall travel over solid ground.
It is, probably, the remains of a British camp, for near these premises
are Drude-heath (Druid's-heath) and Drude-fields, which we may
reasonably suppose was the residence of a British priest: the military
would naturally shelter themselves under the wing of the church, and the
priest with the protection of the military. The narrowness of the
trenches is another proof of its being British; they exactly correspond
with the stile of that people. The name of the pool, _Bowen_, is of
British derivation, which is a farther proof that the work originated
from the Britons. They did not place their security so much in the
trenches, as in the mounds, which they barracaded with timber. This camp
is secured on three sides by a morass, and is only approachable on the
fourth, that from the Coldfield. The first mound on this weak side, is
twenty-four yards over, twice the size of any other; which, allowing an
ample security, is a farther evidence of its being British, and
tradition being silent is another.
PETITION FOR A CORPORATION.
Every man upon earth seems fond of two things, riches and power: this
fondness necessarily springs fr
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