A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



only conclude, therefore, that at the time when such tribal strongholds as 

 those of Classes A and B were in vogue, the population of this district was 

 exceedingly sparse. The two prominent examples in the county are at 

 Marsden and at Tintwistle. 



Marsden, Great and Little (3I miles north-north-east of Burnley). — 

 There is an interesting oval earthwork within this parish, a couple of miles 

 east-north-east of the village, and a little over a mile south-south-west of the 

 town of Colne ; it caps the summit of a high hill which bears the name of 

 Caster ClifF. This imposing eminence attains a height of 920 ft. above sea 

 level. It is a spur of the great Pennine Range, which rises many hundreds 

 of feet higher a few miles away to the east. It is a magnificent position, well 

 adapted for defensive purposes ; its views are most extensive on all sides, 

 ranging far down the valley of the Calder to the south-west, and up to the 

 Craven district in the north. From the top of the hill the ground falls 

 rapidly on all sides except the south-east, where a neck of land, which drops 

 in height some 60 ft. from the summit, connects it with almost equally high 

 ground about 400 yds. away ; from near this watershed two brooks have their 

 origin, and the deep valleys which they have cut, especially that to the south 

 of the fortress, afford additional protection to it. The command from the 

 stronghold is, of course, complete. The surrounding districts have always 

 probably been wild regions, sparsely inhabited ; the great Forest of Pendle 

 stretched across the highlands opposite on the west, and on the cast the ancient 

 Forest of Trawden extended upwards far away over the hills. 



The fortified area is an oval, lying approximately east and west, 

 measuring 300 ft. by 240 ft. across its interior plateau. The earthworks 

 consist, apparently, of three tiers of ramparts, one above another up the 

 slope, with three external ditches. They cover a total oval ground space 

 measuring about 600 ft. by 500 ft., or probably an area of about five acres. 

 The entrenchments are now very vague in outline, and are difficult to plan with 

 any exactitude ; for, in the first place, they have evidently suffered much 

 from weathering, which has reduced the height of the banks and filled up 

 the ditches ; and, secondly, they have been sadly mutilated by numerous 

 excavations made upon the site in search of minerals. In former years they 

 were described as much more perfect, and in the 6-in. Ordnance Survey, 

 made in 1848, all the three ramparts are shown unbroken in their circum- 

 ference. As now seen, the inner vallum only rises about a foot above the 

 interior area ; outside this the fosse varies from 3 ft. to 5 ft. in depth. The 

 second rampart rises about 3 ft. in height from the bottom of the first fosse, 

 and its outer ditch is in places as much as i 2 ft. deep from its summit. The 

 height of the third rampart again is 3 ft. above the bottom of the second 

 fosse, and outside of it there are traces of a third fosse all round except upon 

 the south side, where the steep natural scarp above the valley cut by the 

 brook seems to afford ample protection without one. Quantities of loose 

 stones lie about the place, but whether they have ever been used for wall- 

 ing is difficult to determine ; some have the appearance of being semi- 

 vitrified, after the manner of the ramparts of certain hill-fortresses in 

 Scotland and elsewhere. 



Several ancient roads are described by Mr. Thompson Watkin as radiat- 

 ing from Caster ClifF. One, which ran westward, crossing the Calder, was 



