Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/507

 IN THE NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE. ;31i The field ill which the greater part of the camp stood is called Cockshot, but the rampart and ditch have both been levelled, and only traces of the site exist at present. The part which is in the wood overhanging the river is in good preservation, as well as the entrenched road to the river ; the other part of the rampart, more than half of the whole camp, is so obscure, that it is not possible to say pre- cisely what form or dimension the work had originally ; but most probably it was a parallelogram, with one side rounded off to suit the form of the ground, with a length of about 200 yards, and breadth of about 110 yards. The defences seem to have consisted of tw^o ramparts and a ditch, with two entrances apparently, besides that from the entrenched road ; these entrances are opposite each other, one being on the side of the wood, but they do not tUvide the sides of the camp in the middle. The wood, above which the camp is situated, is called Ilowbury. A labourer who had worked on the farm of which Cock- shot is a part, for twenty years, mentioned that he had assisted in throwing down the rampart, and filling up the ditch, of a part near the south-west angle ; and that a fellow- labourer had once found the point of a sword within the camp, but as he had been dead some time, no further infor- mation could be obtained respecting the discovery.* The ground from Ovington, which is within two fields of the camp, falls gently towards it, but the site itself is nearly level. The position is well chosen, for it commands a view of the river as far as Winston Bridge on the one side, and above the ford at Wyclifte on the other ; being also equidistant (three, miles) from the Eoman camp at Greta Bridge, and the commanding post at the fords at Barforth, called Old Richmond ; it may thus have formed with the Roman station at Pierse Bridge, which is about three miles below Barforth, a line of defence for that part of the river. There is no ford near Ovington, nor is the ground suited for a passage down to the river, though persons pass over at the island, which is a little below the village. ' The name of the first-mentioned of these labourers was George Bilton ; of tho
 * ^econd, Richard Nicholson.