Page:VCH Essex 1.djvu/344

A HISTORY OF ESSEX modern account of this camp is that by Mr. Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., 1 who, from its form and position and by comparison with other early works, was of opinion that it was probably a British settlement subsequently occu- pied during the Roman period, 2 though others regard it as of Danish origin, the view eloquently maintained by Mr. F. J. Norris. 8 The peculiar position of the mound on the rampart is suggestive of the much smaller work at Tempsford, Bedfordshire, which the Saxon Chronicle leads us to believe was Danish and it is quite possible the Danes altered an existing work at Uphall and added the mound. It is with sadness we have to record that little is left of the ancient defences except the fragment of the rampart with the mound as shown at the north-west end on plan. On the side facing the river Roding, the rampart rises about 15 feet from the marsh, the mound being some 14 feet higher. WALLBURY, GREAT HALLINGBURY. Wallbury is of somewhat simi- lar form to Loughton Camp in Epping Forest, but is of much larger extent, containing about 35 acres, and instead of depending upon a single bank and ditch, is mainly protected by a double rampart and two ditches. 1 Essex Naturalist, vol. vii. 131. 3 This view is strengthened by the recent discovery of Roman remains within the camp. 3 Gentleman's Magazine, 1888, p. 370. 282