The President's Address.
103
member the High Sheriff, Mr. Andrew Johnston, who laid
our cause before the Epping Forest Committee of the
Corporation of London. The details of the proposed
method of excavation have been made known to you on a
former occasion, but as there still appears to be some
uneasiness in the minds of many of our members as to our
possibly doing a permanent injury to these picturesque
remains, I will give a few words by way of further
explanation. The investigation will be conducted by
digging a trench about ten feet wide from inside the camp
right through the inner rampart and ditch, and on through
the outer rampart to the exterior boundary of the camp.
This trench will be carried down to such a depth as to get
below the old surface line, and a most searching exami-
nation of the soil will be made as it is removed. Any
relics found on this old and buried surface will certainly
have been left by the original builders of the camp, and
every precaution will be taken to insure an accurate record
of the exact position of any object that may be found. A
plan of the proposed method of working has been kindly
drawn up for our use by General Pitt-Rivers, and Mr. W.
D'Oyley has offered his valuable services in assisting to
carry out the practical details. In accordance with the
terms of the permission granted by the Epping Forest
Committee, the trench will be filled in, and the original form
of the camp restored after the conclusion of our examination,
so that our members may rest satisfied in the belief that no
permanent disfigurement will result. It may perhaps be
thought advisable to erect some mark indicating the
position of our cutting, so that if at any future period other
investigations of the same camps should be made, the
excavators may not run the risk of going over our work
again. The Exploration Fund, as you already know, now
amounts to about £40, a sufficient sum to enable us to
investigate one of the camps, and to publish our results;
and if these are sufficiently encouraging, we shall feel
justified in appealing for a further sum of £20 or £30 to
enable us to open the other camp. A preliminary survey
will be made, and operations will be commenced as soon as