Christian antiquities -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities
Near Bramber church, in Sussex, there is a group of “valley mounds,” 27
in number. They are circular, and have a diameter of from 15 to 20
yards. Around each of these low eminences, which are flat-topped, runs a
ditch. A group of 38 similar mounds is situated between Applesham Creek
and Coombe church. Trial holes, which were sunk in 1908-9, under the
direction of the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Club, brought to light
bones, a Mediaeval knife, and pottery which was assigned by Mr F. W.
Reader to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The real nature of the
mounds is still, however, undetermined.
We may amplify our references after glancing at the map of Yorkshire.
Speeton church, near Bridlington, is said to be built on a tumulus[210].
Again, Mr Mortimer discovered that a burial-ground, or, at least, a
barrow, lay beneath Fimber church, in the East Riding. His excavations,
made in 1869, brought to light flint implements, pottery, shells, and
human bones[211]. The vanished building at Chapel Carn Brea, in
Cornwall, which stood on the crest of a conspicuous hill, is another
instance of a church built on, or near, a sepulchral mound[212]. The
neighbourhood of this last church abounds with antiquities, and traces
of about 100 hut circles have been recorded[213].
Oftentimes, in places where no mound is visible in the church garth, the
soil still holds relics which denote archaic interments. During the
repairs which were made some five-and-twenty years ago, at the East end
of Wyre Piddle church in Worcestershire, two skeletons were discovered
in a sitting posture. The faces were disposed towards the North-East.
With the bones were found the remains of iron shield-bosses. A kind of
rough pavement was also reached under the soil of the churchyard. The
interments had been made prior to the introduction of Christianity[214],
and a mound may once have marked the spot. From the churchyard of
Llanbedr, in the Vale of Conway, a somewhat analogous find is recorded.
Six feet below the surface, the sexton’s spade struck a flat slab of
stone, and underneath this was found a crouching, or kneeling, skeleton,
surrounded by boars’ tusks[215]. The district around is rich in British
remains[216].
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