Excavations at Bigberry Camp, Harbledown: Report

152 BIGBERRY CAMP, HARBLEDOWN. borders the River Stour and comes within half a mUe or less of the camp. The variations of the name given by Dr. Hardman and Dr. Ward are: Beggebery (1226), Beckeberri (early thirteenth century), Bygberye (1591), Bigberry (1790). The fuU account of Bigberry Camp which has been given by one of the present writers (Jessup, Archceological Journal, LXXXIX (1932), 87-115)1 makes it unnecessary to include in this Report a detaUed description of the general features of the Camp and of its supposed historical importance in Caesar's Second Invasion, nor is it necessary to include here a description of the early discoveries made by the gravel diggers within the earthwork. In 1933 the work, which was greatly impeded by dense woodland, was chiefly exploratory in nature, but in 1934, when part of the wood on the north side of the PUgrim's Way was cleared, it became possible to examine the main rampart and the ditch in detaU. It may be weU to state again that both the original entrances to the Camp have been badly mutUated and in great part destroyed by the modern road which passes through them ; it was found that excavation of these entrances would be quite impossible without removing the metaUed road-way and this was a task for which we were not equipped. The actual excavation work consisted of a series of long cuttings through the main rampart of the Camp on its northern and southern sides, and close to the western entrance. Three areas along the crest of the rampart extending into the exterior of the Camp were examined, and two cuttings were made in the annexe in an endeavour to ascertain its relationship with the main earthwork. Several trial trenches were dug at points both inside and outside the enclosure for the purpose of examining certain smaU banks which were suspected of being wood-boundaries, and in aU cases excavation confirmed the suspicion that these banks and their accompanying shaUow ditches were not of prehistoric origin, in spite of a smaU sherd of Early 1 To the bibliography, therein given, add O. E. Ruok, Boyal Engineers Journal, IV (1906), 353.