Forest of Rossendale. 1 1 



observation of those who have aheady described it, or for some 

 other reason are left unnoticed by them. 



In several parts of the Dyke, in patches throughout its entire 

 length, and within twenty-four or thirty inches from the surface, 

 where the herbage is worn off, the shale and soil are clearly visible 

 in their natural, undisturbed layers, proving beyond question that 

 the earth-wall or rampart has not been formed from the loose 

 material dug from the trench, but that, as at present seen, the 

 height of the Dyke (which is eleven or twelve feet in the deepest 

 part) corresponds to the depth of the original excavation. It 

 therefore becomes interesting to inquire how the super-abundant 

 soil was disposed of. Either this was originally thrown up by those 

 employed in its construction, so as to form a wall throughout the 

 entire extent, or it was removed to some adjacent hollow in the 

 hill-side. If the former, then the original Dyke must have been 

 nearly double its present height, because the hill which rises to the 

 rear of the earthwork is a continuation of the gradual and regular 

 slope of the land lying below, and extending to the turnpike road ; 

 or else a second dyke in advance of the first was formed, and 

 which, being composed of loose material, has been levelled by 

 time. With respect to, and in support of, the second conjecture, 

 that the soil was removed to some contiguous hollow, the intelligent 

 tenant occupying the farm on which the Dyke is located informs 

 me that he has repeatedly had occasion to dig trenches in its 

 vicinity, a little distance below, nearer to the turnpike road ; and 

 although he has gone to a depth of six, eight, and even ten feet, he 

 has invariably found the soil to be of a loose and apparently filled- 

 up character, largely intermixed with fragments of sticks and bark, 

 and other substances foreign to the soil in its natural bed. He 

 also states that the earth is of such a friable nature that, though 

 only at a depth of three feet from the surface, he has had occasion 

 to shore up the sides of the trench with timber to prevent them 

 falling in — in short, altogether differing from the material of an 

 excavation through a natural deposit. The work extends from the 

 farm called " Dykes-house " to the edge of " Whitaker's Clough," 



