ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



■excavation ; for the castle was erected by Thomas Stanley, earl of Derby, in 

 1490, when he obtained the necessary licence from Henry VII." 



Cantsfield (ioJ miles north-east of Lancaster). — Between this village and 

 that of Tunstall, on the right-hand side of the high road from Hornby to the 

 north, is the handsome modern resi- 

 dence called Thurland Castle. This 

 was built about a century ago, being 

 incorporated with the remains of 

 the ancient castle which stood upon 

 the spot. It is surrounded by a deep 

 and wide moat, which was the 

 original water defence of the me- 

 diaeval stronghold. 



The site is upon a small natural 

 hummock in nearly level ground, at 

 the foot of the north-western slope 

 of a hill rising between the River 

 Greeta and the Cant Beck ; this hill, 

 though higher in elevation, is not 

 near enough to interfere with the 

 position as a defensive one, and the 

 castle effectively commands the 

 whole of its surroundings. The 

 low mound upon which the castle 

 stands is flat upon the top and oval 

 in shape ; it is completely encircled 

 by the deeply - excavated moat, 

 which is filled with water, and measures about 25 ft. across from edge to edge.'"' 



Formidable moats of this class surrounded the following local fortresses 

 not now extant, viz.: — 



Liverpool. — The early thirteenth-century castle. 



Lathom (3 miles east-north-east of Ormskirk). — The Old Lathom 

 House, destroyed during the civil wars of the seventeenth century. 



SECTION A . A? B. 





SCALE OF FEET 



100 200 300 

 I —..-1 I 



Cantsfield : Thurland Castle 



(Class H) 



Ancient Village sites protected by ramparts or fosses. — The second or outer 

 bailey of a mount and court stronghold (Class E) often contained within it the 

 germ of a village or of a town, but the above definition describes a more 

 simple form of defence, not attached to any feudal castle ; it also includes 

 those earthworks and moats which were often made by monastic communities 

 around their village settlements ; a good example of the latter is at : — 



Whalley (6 miles north-north-east of Blackburn). — The ruins of the 

 celebrated abbey are on the north-east side of the River Calder in this 



" Camden, Britannia (ed. Gibson), 974 ; £aines, Hist, of Lanes, (ed. 1868), ii, 534 ; Ord. Surv. i-in. 67, 

 old 91 SE. ; 6-in. 44 NE. ; 25-in. 44, 8. 



" Leland, Itin. vi, 59 ; Baines, Hist, of Lanes, (ed. 1868), ii, 622 ; Ord. Surv. l-in. 49, old 98 SE. ; 

 6-in. 20 SW. and 19 SE. ; 25-in. 20, 13, and 19, 16. 



551 



