THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 73
of the work yet undone the more manifest. It is evident, however,
that enough has been done to justify our assumption of the title of
the Essex Field Club, and to encourage us to further labours in this
interesting but little known county. The nature and amount of the
work before us in Geology, Botany and Zoology, is at once obvious
to those of our members who are interested in any branch of those
subjects. But, compared with the various fields of research just
mentioned, prehistoric archeology forms but an ill-defined depart-
ment. Passing, therefore, from the geology, botany and zoology of
this county without further remark, I propose to dwell at more
length on various points connected with prehistoric monuments.
It seems to me that in the class of prehistoric monuments should
be included, as regards our explorations at least, all such as, unlike
mediaeval castles and churches, do not show their age in the outward
details of their construction, and whose origin is not clearly settled
by satisfactory documentary evidence. In short, for our purposes,
we should, I think, include works of doubtful age as well as unques-
tionably prehistoric remains. And if asked whether I think the
camp at Witham—to take an extreme case—is satisfactorily estab-
lished by the Saxon Chronicle as the work of King Edward the
Elder, I can only reply in the negative. It is true that under the
year 913 we read in the Saxon Chronicle that King Edward en-
camped at Maldon while the fortress at Witham was wrought. But
the passage seems to me to leave wholly unsettled the question
whether the earthwork dates from his time, or whether King Edward
simply deepened the fosse and renewed the palisades of an older
fort. In an immense number of instances the same site has com-
mended itself as a naturally advantageous position to successive
races, and this is more likely to have been frequently the case in the
eastern counties than in most other parts of England, from the few-
ness there of naturally strong positions. As a few examples, out of
many that might be given, of military sites used by prehistoric and
by later peoples in these counties, I may mention those of Castle
Rising and Norwich Castle in Norfolk, Clare and Bungay Castles in
Suffolk, and Castle Hedingham in Essex. Again, earthworks in the
sands and gravels of Essex would suffer much more from neglect
than similar constructions on the harder and more coherent chalk,
and would need more extensive renovation after long disuse. The
above considerations seem to me amply to justify my doubt as to
whether King Edward was the builder or simply the restorer of the