80 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
directed either to preserve them, or should that be impracticable,
to record accurately their positions on the six-inch ordnance map;
and either to excavate them ourselves or carefully to watch the
excavations made by others. It is not unlikely that we may find that
these mounds on the marshes are by no means all of one kind. In
the company of Messrs. Shenstone, Cole and Meldola, I visited one
or two north of Mersea, but they did not appear to me to greatly
resemble mounds which I saw on the marshes on the north side of the
estuary of the Tees, nor do either seem to be akin to the mounds on
the marshes of north Kent, an account of which was read to us by
Mr. J. G. Goodchild, and will shortly form a valuable item in the
Essex Naturalist. I may mention that it was at my suggestion
that Mr. Goodchild, to whom the mounds of north Kent had been
familiar from boyhood, was induced to make a special investigation
of them, and to communicate the result to us. For I felt that it was
absurd to consider that we should restrict ourselves to Essex mounds,
and ignore those on the other side of the Estuary of the Thames.
Indeed, it would be utterly impossible for us to come to any safe con-
clusions with respect to our own mounds without some knowledge,
not merely of those of Kent, but of places much further afield.
Though utterly ignored in Murray's Handbook, some of these mounds
—which may or may not have resembled those described by Mr.
Stopes—are mentioned in Wright's "History of Essex" (vol. 2, p. 709).
He says :—"Numerous tumuli or mounds of earth on marsh land
opposite to Maldon, on the banks of Blackwater Bay, have been
called Barrow or Burrow Hills." They have, he adds, nearly dis-
appeared, "the most prominent having been levelled during the
preparation of some of the lands for sun-pans annexed to the Hey-
bridge Salt-works." His conclusion is that they undoubtedly marked
the burying-places of the Saxons and Danes, who fell in the numerous
battles in the neighbourhood. It may be so, but as he does not refer
to any excavations as proving his point, experience of the manner in
which opinions on these subjects are often arrived at by those who
should know better, must prevent us from feeling sure that his opinion
was based on anything more solid than mere conjecture. Possibly
some of these mounds still exist, and we may be able some day to
test his conclusions.
Of course there would be no difficulty, did time permit, in giving
additional instances, illustrating the manner in which prehistoric
remains in this and other counties, have disappeared. But enough