4 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
hours, immediately after it had been opened. It was fairly full
of soil, and nothing of interest was found on the surface of the
soil. This chamber is close to one of those of No. 8 and this has
been confirmed by the fact that loud sounds made in No. 8 can
be heard in No. 16.
A tunnel has been cut from No. 9 and it finishes in a mass of
Thanet Sand. It would appear that this hole (No. 17) is almost
completely blocked with soil. The tunnel leaves No. 9 from near
the roof and, therefore, attempts have been made to dig down
into the chambers of No. 17. So far, the digging has been unsuc-
cessful.
Nearly all the holes, which were explored in 1884-1887, were
found to be reasonably well preserved. In the majority of
examples, although the shafts were blocked, the chambers were
intact. However, all the holes which have been entered since
that date appear to have collapsed, with the result that most of
the chambers are fairly full of soil. An exception was found when
a tunnel was cut from the primary chamber of No. 5, which is
remote from No. 6, to the adjacent hole. This hole (No. 19) is
extremely well preserved. Although the shaft is blocked and there
is the usual mound of soil on the floor, the roof has not collapsed.
The base of the shaft, where it enters the chalk, can be seen and it-
is about three feet in diameter. This is undoubtedly the best pre-
served, accessible denehole in Essex. The holes, which were
investigated in 1884-1887, were probably as well preserved at
that time, but they have now been disfigured badly by visitors.
As far as is known, nothing was found on the surface of the soil
in hole No. 19. No attempt has been made to examine the mound
of soil. Another hole, No. 20, has been entered by tunnelling
from one of the lateral chambers of No. 19. This hole appears to
have collapsed and, so far, only three chambers have been entered.
A skeleton, which was thought to be that of a dog, was found when
this hole was entered. The bones, which were very brittle, have
disappeared; they were taken by visitors. Both these holes
exhibit pick marks, which are of the same type as those which
have been seen in the other holes. These marks occur over large
areas of the walls, and generally appear to have been made by a
downward movement. There are also deep scratch marks at the
ends of some of the chambers. They give the impression that an
animal has been trying to dig its way through the chalk.
A tunnel has been cut from one of the lateral chambers of No.
5 to the hole which is due north of it. This hole (No. 18) is almost
completely blocked with soil.
A very interesting problem has been posed with respect to
Nos. 14 and 15. A narrow tunnel has been cut to link the only
open chamber of No. 14 with those of No. 15. A third chamber
of No. 15 has been opened since 1887. The soil comes almost
to the roof, which appears to be lower than that of the adjacent
chambers. Our measurements were made from No. 14, and when
they were inserted on the plan, it was found that the chambers