On the 22nd of May, we examined a few of the very numerous tumuli [Probably [Map]] situated in a plantation called "The Ferns," near Foremark Hall. The locality is a continuation of the eminence called Knoll Hill, and were it not covered by trees, would command an extensive view of the fertile vale of the Trent. The mounds, more than fifty in number, are placed without regularity, but are very uniform in appearance; their size varies from seven to ten yards across, and their average height is from two to three feet. The opening of five of them in places least encumbered with timber, afforded, it is presumed, a complete insight into the manner of interment practised throughout the whole. We found in every instance, that the mound had been raised over calcined human bones, which lay in the same place on the natural surface as they occupied when the funeral pile was smothered out by the casting up of the tumulus. The bones and black ashes of the pyre, reduced by compression to a layer about an inch thick, generally covered a space about four or five feet diameter in the centre; above were accumulated stones bearing marks of fire, which had been first thrown on the glowing embers, and over these earth was heaped to form the bowl-shaped mound. The only indication of man's workmanship brought to light by these researches, were two very small fragments of iron, found with two separate interments, one only having the definite form of a very slender pin, 1¾ inches long.

The origin of this tumular cemetery is enveloped in obscurity, and I fear to express an opinion upon a subject so uncertain, where opinion can be but mere conjecture; the absence of pottery and weapons affording no clue to the age or people to which the sepulchres should be attributed. Yet, taking it for granted that all the mounds would, if opened, reveal the same mode of burial, it would be natural to suppose that no great variation of date, if any, existed as to their age. Inferring further, from the lack of remains of a primitive character, and the presence of the iron fragments in two out of the five mounds opened, I should hesitate in assigning to them a high antiquity; and would rather seek to connect them with the eventful period in which tradition affirms the place to have been the scene of a sanguinary conflict between the Saxons and their Danish enemies, of whose successful forays in the Vale of Trent we have evidence in the name of the adjacent village of Ingleby, as well as in that of the still nearer domain of Foremark.

On the 7th of June, we went to the large chambered tumulus near Monyash, called Ringham Low [Map], some of the cists in which had been examined in 1847 (Vestiges, p. 103), for the purpose of investigating a cist that had been accidentally discovered. It was rather north of the centre of the mound, with the ends east and west (No. 1 of the Plan,) and was rhomboidal in shape, measuring eight feet six inches in length, by four feet in width, the sides were mostly formed by four very large stones, one of which was upwards of nine feet long; the bottom was paved with five slabs of limestone pretty well fitted to each other, the average depth was about eighteen indies. It was filled with limestone gravel, and small stones, covering a large quantity of human remains, most of which were in the utmost disorder, though near the bottom they had been less disturbed, and perhaps, in one or two cases, retained their original position. These have since been ascertained to include the remains of twelve individuals, comprising two infants and ten adults, mostly exhibiting the lengthened form of skull I have before observed to be constantly found in tumuli of the same description as the present.

The lower part of the gravel, and the interstices between the paving-stones, abounded with rats' bones; and on removing part of the floor we found that many human bones had been drawn beneath it by these restless creatures. In clearing out these joints we found three very beautiful leaf-shaped arrow points of white-flint, one of which, considering the material, is of wonderful execution; it measures 2¼ inches in length, is an inch broad in the middle, and weighs less than 48 grains, although it is not made from a thin flake, but is elaborately clipped all over both surfaces. We observed fragments of the skulls of oxen, teeth of horses, dogs, &c, but no trace of pottery, although a little charcoal was mixed with the clay on which the pavement rested.

On the 5th of July, we opened another cist on the south side of the wall, which will be seen from the plan to cross the mound at Ringham Low [Map]. This (No. 4 on the Plan) when emptied, exhibited a fine and perfect specimen of primeval architecture, measuring in

Length 9ft

Width at east end 5ft 6in

Ditto at west end 2ft 6in

Depth 4ft

Six stones only were used in its structure, no pavement having been laid down. We left it in the same perfect state as we found it, having discovered only a few human bones, and a roughly chipped block of hard stone, which were embedded without order in a layer of stiff clay, immediately above the natural rock on which, the chamber was based; and a little charcoal at a higher level near the west end.

All the enclosures have been made by large slabs of limestone from the immediate vicinity, set on edge in narrow channels cut in the natural soil to the required shape of the chamber, and then secured in their respective positions by small stones firmly wedged between their sides and the solid earth. The tumulus in which they are distributed is composed of a vast accumulation of stones of all sizes, and is of irregular shape, as will be seen from the plan; its size may be stated as about 50 yards by 30, and its average height 4 feet.