SCALE. OF FEET 

 O lOO ZOO 300 





SECTION from A tb B. enlarged double 

 j/ze Plan. 



Abram : Bamfurlong Hall 



ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



was used to form a rampart round the ' island ' platform. The first method 

 is seen at Bewsey in Burton wood, Bradley in Burton wood {vide plan), The 

 Peel in Heaton Norris, Old Brynn in Ashton in Makerfield {^ide plan), 

 Rufford i^ide plan) and Sefton ; 

 the second at the moat in 

 Hornby with Farleton parish 

 (^ide plan). Homestead moats, 

 as they are called, inclose areas 

 ranging from one-tenth of an 

 acre, as at RufFord (^ide plan) 

 and Wright's Moat in Hale- 

 wood, to one and a half acres, 

 as at Bewsey {^ide plan), though 

 they are occasionally more ex- 

 tensive. They were usually 

 supplied with water in the en- 

 circling fosses. While some of 

 the islands, perhaps the earlier 

 ones, are round or oval, the great 

 majority are either square, ob- 

 long, or irregular angled shapes. 



Of the rounded form. Old Brynn [^ide plan), Arley in Blackrod, and Morley's 

 in Astley, may be cited ; of the square, Barrow in Burtonwood, Clayton in 

 Droylsden, Horton Castle in Lathom, The Hutt in Halewood, Hornby with 

 Farleton i^ide plan). New Hall in Ince in Makerfield, New Hall in Tyldesley 

 cum Shakerley, Old Bold in Bold, Rufford {vide plan) and Sefton ; of the oblong, 

 Bewsey {yide plan) and Bamfurlong in Abram {^ide plan) ; of the irregular, 

 Gidlow in AspuU. Most of these moats are single, but sometimes they are 

 found double fossed, while occasionally the moat is widened out into a sort 

 of lake with an island in the middle, as at Wardley in Worsley parish. Every 



now and then we find two islands side 

 by side within the same water defence, 

 or perhaps an annex alongside the 

 main inclosure ; the latter is seen at 

 Bradley in Burtonwood and at Bam- 

 furlong in Abram (^ide plans) . Some 

 moats may have originated as early 

 as Saxon days, for a protection against 

 robbers generally and marauding 

 Danes in particular ; others were 

 made to protect the homesteads dur- 

 ing the reigns of Stephen, John, and 

 Henry III, when intestine wars har- 

 rowed the country ; others again 

 were dug out much more recently, 

 certainly as late as the days of Eliza- 

 beth. The fosses of some are far more formidable than those of others ; e.g. at 

 Hornby with Farleton, at Rufford (yide plans) and at Heaton Norris ; these may 

 be compared with the narrower moats at Old Brynn and Bamfurlong {^ide plans). 



547 





SCALE OF FEET 



100 ZOO 30O 

 I I I I 



SECTION from A Ao B c/ouble 5/ze 

 of Plan. 



Rufford Moat 



