A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



well preserved to exhibit considerable variety in form and choice of site, 

 showing that they have been constructed by distinct peoples and at widely 

 different dates. 



Unfortunately, however, knowledge of the whole subject of earthworks 

 is still in its infancy, and it is quite impossible to determine the age of the 

 majority of the remains by appearances alone with any degree of accuracy. 

 This will readily be understood when we remember that primitive forms of 

 earthworks were undoubtedly reproduced by different peoples through long 

 periods of time ; and that the works themselves were frequently occupied by 

 successive peoples who made alterations in their defences to accord with their 

 own particular ideas upon the subject of fortification. All we can do at 

 present, therefore, is to arrange our local earthworks into a series of classes 

 which have been provisionally tabulated, according to form, by the Earth- 

 works Committee of the Congress of Archaeological Societies ; and we must 

 look forward to the time when comparison of numerous examples of these 

 various classes from different parts of the country, coupled with careful 

 excavation of particular remains, may throw a clearer light upon what is now 

 obscure. 



In the following pages the most important examples of these several 

 classes now extant in Lancashire South of the Sands are described under the 

 names of the parishes where they are found ; these, for facility of reference, 

 are placed in alphabetical sequence under each class.' 



Plans are drawn on a uniform scale of 25 in. to the mile (based on the 

 Ordnance Survey) for facility of comparison ; details are filled in from 

 personal examination of the remains. The ground adjacent to the earthwork 

 is contoured bylines showing every 12 J ft. of vertical height ; these contours 

 do not attempt to show all the inequalities of the surface, but it is hoped that 

 they will be found sufficiently accurate for the purposes required. 



The writer thanks very many who have given him much valuable 

 information and assistance, including especially Mr. W. J. Andrew, F.S.A. ; 

 Mr. H. T. Crofton ; Mr. William Farrer ; the late Mr. I. Chalkley Gould, 

 F.S.A. ; Mr. W. Ferguson Irvine, F.S.A. , and Mr. C. Madeley. 



(Class A) 



Defined by the Earthworks Committee as ' Fortresses partly inaccessible 

 by reason of precipices, cliffs, or water, additionally defended hy artificial works, 

 usually known as promontory fortresses.'' 



This class is poorly represented in Lancashire, but we have two 

 prominent examples which seem to fall within it. 



Wartox with Lindeth (6 miles north of Lancaster). — On the top of 

 Warton Crag, half a mile north-west of Warton Parish Church, are the now 

 somewhat fragmentary remains of an ancient hill-fort. The site is upon an 

 irregular plateau, 500 ft. above sea level, at the highest end of a rocky head- 

 land. This headland projects southwards between the Vale of Burton on the 

 east and the shallow waters of Morecambe Bay on the west. The dip of the 



' At the end of the chapter will be found an Index including all the earthworks, with a reference to the 

 class under which they have been placed. 



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