lxxxvi
Journal of Proceedings.
field-works with which Cambridgeshire is intersected. Theae Battle
Ditch ramparts were not improbably the wall from which Walden took
its name."*
Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith in his paper on " An Ancient Cemetery at
Saffron Walden " (Trans. Essex Arch. Soc, ii. (n.s.), pp. 311-12), gives it
as his opinion that Saffron Walden was an ancient British Oppidum, and
that the name comes from the British words wald and daene, signifying
respectively a " wooded hill and a valley, or in other words, the valley
among the wooded hills, a term accurately descriptive of the locality in
early times." He goes on to say :—
" The position selected for the settlement (quite the most sheltered in
the neighbourhood), was, as usual at that early period, ground sloping
gently upward from the vicinity of a stream—in this case the
Slade—the enclosure forming a parallelogram of rather more than two
squares, nearly rectangular, and containing about thirty acres, being on
the three remaining sides fortified by trenches, the outer one the deeper,
whilst the intermediate dyke or bank would be surmounted by high
palisading, hence the vulgar local designation 'Paille Ditches.' As pre-
historic, these entrenchments present an imposing appearance, inasmuch
as we find two extensive reaches, but little worn by age or use, respec-
tively 702 and 480 feet long, uniting to constitute the south-western
angle of the castramentation."
At Peverell's Wood (permission to visit which had been kindly given
by Mr. John Clarke) the members had an opportunity of seeing the
true Bardfield Oxlip (Primula latior) growing in great abundance, this
being one of the best stations in East Anglia for this most interesting
plant. Mr. B. M. Christy and Mr. Joseph Clarke acted as guides, and
Mr. Christy demonstrated some of the peculiarities of the true oxlip as
compared with other species of Primula, for which reference should be
made to his exhaustive paper " On the species of the genus Primula in
Essex " (Trans. Essex Field Club, vol. iii., pp. 148-211). In the garden
of the "Roos." Mr. Clarke pointed out very many curious plants, in-
cluding Fritillaria meleagris, once native of Essex, but now almost
eradicated in the open.
Returning to Saffron Walden, luncheon was taken at the "Rose and
Crown." Here Dr. Stear gave a " Short Account of the Town and Neigh-
bourhood of Saffron Walden." At the close of his paper, Dr. Stear said
he trusted that this first visit of the Club would not be the last, and that
it would be the means of uniting those in the town who were interested
in natural history, leading to the formation in Walden of a branch of
the Essex Field Club, which was so useful a Society. The President.
Prof. Boulger, conveyed to Dr. Stear the hearty thanks of the Club for
his paper.
* Mr. R. M. Christy adds in a letter, that, "An antiquarian friend regards the
terrace running through Mr E. B. Gibson's gardens, and also through Mr. Joshua
Clarke's (' Fairy-Croft'), as the continuation of the south ditch, which then runs
north along the present Foundry or Fairy-Croft lane."