_Dinas_, four miles from Fishguard, affords another, where a natural
crevasse has been carefully scarped in order to separate a headland from
the mainland. The examples given have been taken from South Wales and
the Cornish peninsula, where for obvious reasons less probability of
disturbance during later periods has occurred. Ideal spots like Portland
are to be found in the British Isles, but the operations of man in
quarrying, building, etc. have probably destroyed all traces of defences
erected by the primitive inhabitants.
_Clifton Camps_, three in number, lying on either side of the Avon,
afford us examples of cliff castles remote from the sea. The projecting
land jutting out into the loops of the winding river has in each case
been protected by lines of trenches.
It can hardly be supposed that cliff castles generally were continuously
occupied, because as a rule the area is limited, and could not afford
sustenance for flocks and herds. Neither do they boast the possession of
the indispensable well or spring in the majority of cases. Simplicity
in plan is their chief feature, and generally the fosse defending them
is single, rarely double, and practically never treble. They probably
afforded the last resort when hard pressed by the enemy; abandoning
flocks and herds and thinking only of life and limb, the refugees could
make a last stand within them, and, if fortune still proved adverse,
could lower themselves down the steep faces of the cliffs, and trust to
the mercy of the waters.
(_b_) Another class of fortresses falling under the same heading are
those which depended upon woods, marshes, rivers, and similar natural
defences for their efficiency.
The _Dyke Hills_ at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, undoubtedly formed at
one time a safe haven of refuge, being almost surrounded by swamps
forming a most effective defence. At the present time, however, these
have disappeared owing to the general lowering of the water-level
throughout England, by drainage, locks, weirs, etc., and they
consequently give no indication of former efficiency. Two great fosses
may be traced reaching from the Thame to the Thames, thus cutting off a
piece of land and entirely defending it by means of water.
The _Isle of Avalon_, near Glastonbury, is essentially a peninsula,
rising from the midst of a marsh with a series of aggers and
accompanying dykes carried across the isthmus.
[Illustration: COMB MOSS, DERBYSHIRE.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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