The remarkable Monument of antiquity which gives its name to the Vale of White Horse in Berkshire, has not, I believe, attracted the particular attention of any antiquary since 1738, when the Rev. Francis Wise published his “Letter to Dr. Mead, concerning some Antiquities in Berkshire,” &c.; or, perhaps I should rather say, since 1742, the date of his second work upon the subject, entitled “Further Observations upon the White Horse and other Antiquities in Berkshire,” &c.

The drawing, (Pl. VII.) is a correct plan of the Roman Encampment near East Hempstead in Berkshire as it now stands. Its situation, at one extremity of a large plateau, rendered it very fit for a permanent military station, as it must have been of difficult access on every side except that by which it is connected with the principal hill.

Ten years ago, through the kindness of a member of the Wollaston family, I came into possession of a large circular plate apparently of bronze. It was much oxidized and begrimed, and had been preserved with the scientific instruments and other relics belonging to their illustrious ancestor Dr. William Hyde Wollaston, President of the Royal Society in 1816, who died in 1828.

Hospitality was an important feature of all religious orders and for this purpose there was generally provided accommodation for distinguished visitors, ordinary travellers, and poor people, in all the larger houses. The distinguished guest was the direct responsibility of the superior, and in all the greater Benedictine monasteries he was provided with an independent house for his own lodging and for the entertainment of such guests.

Previous to describing the interesting remains discovered by Mr. Fellows, in Lycia, in the years one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine and one thousand eight hundred and forty, and subsequently removed by the British Government, and deposited in the National Collection, it will be necessary to understand the variety of art exhibited on these marbles, and to take a succinct view of the vicissitudes experienced by the races which occupied the valley of the Xanthus. The manner in which the marbles were removed has been already announced elsewhere to the public; and the present Dissertation is only intended to consider them in respect to art, mythology, and the local history of the Xanthians.

In most text-books of archaeology the section dealing with the Bronze Age in the Aegean invariably refers us to the culture of Crete and Mycenae. Under the heading of ‘South-Eastern Europe’ we are usually given an account of the Bronze Age of Hungary and the Danubian area. But between these two regions lies an area which is, as yet, almost entirely uncharted by archaeologists, an area which, from its position, is one of the most important in Southern Europe. Between the Danube and the Aegean, the Black Sea and the hills that hem in the river Vardar on its right bank, lies an area across which, by rigidly limited routes, have passed all intrusive elements from Asia and all invading elements into Asia, either by way of the South Russian Steppe or across the Dardanelles and Bosporus.

A copper-alloy scabbard chape of Viking-period type and date was found by a metal-detector user at Chatburn, Lancashire, in 1993. It has been acquired, through the good offices of the finder, Mr Steve Owen, and the landowners, the Trustees of The Hon R C Assheton's Settlement, by Blackburn Museum, where its registration number is 1995.14. Assistance is acknowledged from the following bodies with the costs of acquisition and conservation: the MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the North West Museums Service. Conservation has been carried out by the York Archaeological Trust.

Surprisingly little attention has been paid by scholars of Henry VIII to the heraldic ceiling of the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace (fig. 1). Study of its decoration has fallen somewhere in between surveys of Tudor architecture and painting. In this article specific problems relating to the ceiling will be addressed: when it was made, the iconography, the reasons for the iconography, the visual source of the ceiling and how it was transmitted, and who made it. The ceiling warrants attention because its programme of Henrician heraldry is a key to the understanding of the political iconography of the Royal Supremacy. In addition, the ceiling's dependence on a contemporary Italian architectural treatise for its design is unusual for its time.

Adjoining the northern boundary of the parish of Eastbourne and extending to the foot of the downs on the west, there is an area of arable land until recently forming part of the Motcombe Farm, part of the property of the Duke of Devonshire. The district was formerly called Northwick, and later Green Street: it was crossed by an ancient way called ‘Green Street Drove’, running east and west. The land has recently been acquired by the Corporation of Eastbourne for the purpose of their housing scheme and for allotments.

A study of this great earthwork proves that at some period of our history a resident people or a retiring nation wished to cut off the whole of south-west England from a northern enemy. To accomplish this purpose a huge bank with its ditch to the north was carried from near Portishead in Somerset right across Wiltshire, ending somewhere near Andover (Hants), between which place and the sea the low-lying watery valleys of the Anton and Test would in themselves be sufficient protection without an earthwork: thus the whole of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset, together with parts of Wilts, Somerset, and Hampshire, were shut in and completely protected. After drawing the above line on a map it will at once be noticed that the usual rule of human effort—to do things with the least possible labour— has not been followed, as the left flank of the dyke, instead of resting on the Avon at or near Bath, has been at great labour carried across the stony Somerset hills to the open sea: this extra length was dictated by some powerful reason, the explanation being (as I read the evidence) that the enemy was in command of a fleet of small boats by which they could at any time land on the southern bank of the Avon (the Somerset shore). To guard against this the dyke Was built south of and above the Avon valley: we may suppose also that the invaders were without boats large enough to face the open sea or that the inhabitants of the Somerset and Devon shores were numerous or brave enough to defend themselves.