PRE-HISTORIC STONE PESTLE
FROM EPPING FOREST.
By WORTHINGTON G. SMITH, F.L.S., M.A.I.
The stone pestle, illustrated one-half its
actual size, was found some thirteen or
fifteen years ago by one of the "squatters"
on that part of the forest known as "Black
Bushes," on the right hand side of "Earl's
Path," leading from Loughton to the "Robin
Hood" Inn. The man who dug it up gave
it to a Mr. Mills, a labourer, and Mr. Wm.
Cole secured the pestle from the widow of
Mr. Mills. The earth was only turned up for
the purpose of setting potatoes, and conse-
quently the position of the stone must have
been very superficial—not more at the most
than two feet down. The spot where it was
found was virgin forest land, and the soil
slopes down to "Debden Slade." This
"Slade" is the valley below the Loughton
Camp, referred to in the Report of the in-
vestigators of the Camp (Trans. Essex Field
Club, vol. iii. p. 212.) The land occupied by
the squatter is now part of the forest—the
enclosures having been thrown down very
early in the forest fight.
The pestle is a large and remarkable ex-
ample : its length is one foot and five-eighths
of an inch, the diameter at the broader end is
two inches and one-tenth, at the smaller end
one and three-eighths of an inch ; the weight
is two pounds eleven ounces; the material is
Hornblendic Granite, or Hornblendic Gneiss,
and this material occurs rarely in the Epping
Forest gravels. The pestle is made from
a long natural block of this granite or gneiss,
and has been pecked and partially ground all
over to bring it to the shape shown in the
illustration. Both ends have been used for
1 The Club is indebted to Mr. Smith for this illustration.—Ed.