THE EXCAVATION OF THE SITE OF OLD SARUM.

THE systematic excavation of the site of Old Sarum has been recently undertaken by the Society of Antiquaries, with the cordial co-operation of the Wiltshire Archæological Society. It will of necessity be a work entailing much labour and expense, and will, if sufficient funds are forthcoming, be continued for several years. The direction of the work has been placed in the hands of LieutCol. Hawley, F.S.A., and Messrs. W. H. St. John Hope, M.A., and Mill Stephenson, F.S.A., the three delegates appointed by the Society of Antiquaries, one of whom will always be present to superintend the actual work of excavation. It is proposed that the whole site, that of the Norman Castle, Cathedral, and City, as well as the earlier earthworks, and whatever remains may exist on the hill of the Saxon, Roman, and Prehistoric periods, shall be scientifically and exhaustively examined.

A Local Committee of nineteen members, representing the Dean. and Chapter, the City of Salisbury, the Wiltshire Archæological Society and the County at large, has been formed to assist the work and to help in the collection of funds. The Society of Antiquaries has issued an appeal to its Fellows, and established a Research Fund, from which grants will be made for this and other excavations. As, however, a large sum will be required annually, a Special Wiltshire Fund has been opened, and the Local Committee appeal to all who are interested in the archæology of the county. to support this important work.

Subscribers are asked, if possible, to promise an annual subscription for three years, and to send in their subscriptions for the current year as soon as may be to the Treasurer.

All subscribers of 10s. a year and upwards will have the right of free entry for themselves and their families to the excavations. Cheques should be sent to the Hon. Treasurer of the Fund, MR. M. H. W. DEVENISH, WILTS AND DORSET BANK, SALISBURY; and

other correspondence addressed to MR J. J. HAMMOND, MITRE HOUSE, SALISBURY, Hon. Secretary to the Local Committee.

The subjoined list shows the response to the appeal issued by the Local Committee up to the present time. It is hoped that a considerable number of additional subscriptions may be obtained before the work is resumed next year.

The following article by Mr. W. St. John Hope, which appeared in The Times of November 17th, gives an account of the results of the work so far as it has at present gone, and is here reprinted with the consent of the writer:

About 13 mile due north of the city of Salisbury stands the imposing ancient monument known as Old Sarum. Apart from its historical associations, Old Sarum is chiefly remarkable for the vast scale of the earthworks of which it consists. The outer earthwork is an irregular oval of considerable area, defended by a deep and steep-sided ditch, the contents of which have been thrown up along both scarps to form a continuous bank, interrupted only by the entrances on the east and west. The earthwork is only partly artificial, as may be seen by an interesting section in a disused chalk pit on the north side. The inner bank was at one time crested by a massive wall, but only a fragment of this remains. In the middle of the area is a smaller and loftier earthwork, probably of Norman date, consisting of a deep ditch with steep sides, the material from which has been thrown inwards to form a high bank, enclosing a nearly circular area of no great size. Within this stood the Norman castle. From the castle area two transverse ditches are carried across the main enclosure to the outer bank, dividing it into two baileys.

HISTORICAL RETROSPECT.

Of the beginnings of Old Sarum nothing is known. There are reasons for identifying it with the Roman station of Sorbiodunum of the twelfth and fifteenth Antonine Itineraries, but the main earthwork is clearly pre-Roman, and possibly of the early Iron Age, if not older.

Old Sarum was evidently a place of some note in Saxon times, coins of Cnut and Edward the Confessor being known which are believed to have been struck there. The description of "Sarisberie" in the Domesday Survey does not seem to include the earthwork, probably because it was then in the King's hands. It must, however, have continued to be inhabited, since the seat of