A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



still fairly perfect save at the north-western end. The wall is now 85 feet 

 long, and has a height of from i o to 12 feet above the level of the ground 



outside. It is 3 feet thick, and 

 formed of such large stones that 

 only a single through course is 

 used. Artificially piled up and 

 cunningly fitted-in stones may 

 also be noticed in certain places 

 on the south side. 

 CARL'* WAR* (SECTION OF WALL). The only entrance to the 



fort was by a path which passed 



along the base of the artificial western scarping, and then wound up a 

 narrow entrance between two walls of rude overhanging masonry, gaining 

 access to the summit by an opening on the south side at the western 

 angle. Of this entrance Sir Gardner Wilkinson gave the following 

 interesting account in 1860 : 



' One of the most remarkable features in this fort is the gateway 

 on its south side. It is 7 ft. 2 in. in breadth ; and as the road ascending 

 from the valley below passed between the two curvilinear faces of the 

 wall, which formed the entrance passage, an enemy advancing to force 

 the gate was exposed to the missiles of the besieged on both sides ; 

 while the position of it to the west, projecting like a round tower, raked 

 the face of the wall to the right and left, and formed an advanced work 

 over the ascent. The stones have been well put together, and some are 

 of considerable size ; the largest I measured being 14 ft. 4 in. long by 

 3 ft. 4 in. in height.' 



Visiting the Carl's Wark in 1873, the writer found Wilkinson's 

 account and illustration of this entrance singularly accurate and helpful. 

 Alas ! a visit in 1893 showed that much of this mass of dry masonry 

 had been wantonly and recently pulled down, some of the largest stones 

 being used in the construction of a rude kind of hut. Nevertheless 

 the main features of this remarkable entrance can still be traced. 



2. On COMB Moss (xv. i) is a remarkably good example of an 

 early defensive earthwork on a large scale, specially protected from attack 

 both by nature and art. Comb Moss is the name of a lofty hill, having 

 an elevation of about 1,600 feet above the sea level, a mile and a half south 

 of Chapel-en-le-Frith. On the northern extremity of this bold promon- 

 tory, high above all the surrounding country, is the fort or refuge, which 

 used to be known by the name of Castle Dykes, and is still occasionally 

 spoken of by shepherds and others of the locality as The Castle, or Castle 

 Naze. Its shape is a triangle, on two sides of which nature has provided the 

 defence, for the ground drops away in almost precipitous slopes to a depth 

 of about 450 feet. Across the base of this triangle man has constructed a 

 double rampart and fosse to form a stronghold or enclosure, by thus 

 protecting the one side which could be approached on the level. This 

 double rampart was carried right across the opening, leaving only a 

 narrow entrance at the north-east corner on the verge of a precipice, 



362 



