248 ON A RECENT SUBSIDENCE AT MUCKING, ESSEX.
But the fact that the deneholes which we know either in
this part of Essex or at Bexley in Kent, end in Chalk, has caused
the identification of deneholes with pits in the Chalk, if not for
chalk, which is purely the result of accident. Chalk is the one
comparatively hard rock existing at or near the surface where
groups of deneholes have been found. Hence some of those
ending in Chalk have lasted to this day. The depth, too, at
which the chambers in the Chalk exist has caused them to be
more or less choked up, after a period of disuse, by the fall of
material down the shaft, there being a funnel-like orifice at the
surface corresponding to the amount of material which has thus
fallen, and the chambers themselves having suffered comparatively
little by collapse. But deneholes in soft material, more or less
strengthened by timber or brickwork, being often little, if any,
deeper than many modern cellars, would collapse entirely after
disuse, through the rotting of their timber supports, with a result
at the surface more or less resembling that seen at the Mucking
Hole. Indeed, one of them would scarcely ever be found
except when its site was revealed by a subsidence. And should
one be accidentally discovered uninjured, it would probably
suggest to the discoverer, not an ancient structure, but simply a
comparatively modern disused cellar, having no interest whatever
for the antiquary.
Yet in the paper by Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell, entitled "Ensilage
or Preserving Grain in Pits," appended to our Denehole Report2
in 1887, we have abundant evidence that "the excavation of
hollows in the soil for the purpose of hiding stores, whether in
great Silos or in little Caches, is a common practice over the
whole world." Also that, while a very ancient method, it is in
full exercise at the present time. The size of these pits, says
Mr. Spurrell, varies considerably where they are still used. In
central Asia a comparatively small hole is used for one family,
while many small or one large pit would be required by the
more wealthy. "Several families living near each other have
their hoards close together, partly for convenience in finding
them, and partly to prevent mutual robbery, a difficult feat
where all eyes would be watching." Pits more or less similar
are, we learn, common in Europe now, especially in the countries
2 Report on the Denehole Exploration at Hangman's Wood, Grays. 1884 and 1887. Ey
T. V. Holmes and W. Cole, Essex Naturalist, December, 1887 (Vol. i.)