A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



village. Remains of defensive earthworks are still to be seen in places^ 

 around its site. Beginning at the west end of Church Street, a fosse runs- 

 from south to north for a distance of 150 yds. ; then it turns almost at a 

 right angle to the left and runs a slightly convex course for a distance of 

 300 yds., just under the railway viaduct ; between this and Broad Lane it 

 turns at a right angle towards the south-south-west, running in a straight line, 

 though now partly destroyed, for another 230 yds. ; here it crosses the lane 

 by the cottage, and turns off rather to the right again and runs in a west- 

 south-west direction to join the river. Returning to the neighbourhood 

 from which we started, on the south or abbey side of the original area of the 

 parish churchyard, there was also, before the addition was made to the latter, 

 a deep fosse, which ran from west to east : it probably turned round south 

 before reaching the village to join the river and complete the circuit. This 

 would appear to have been the inclosure *of 36 acres 3 roods and 14 poles.' 

 But there were other fosses dividing up portions of the site, e.g. that crossed 

 by the bridge outside the north-east gateway leading into the third court, 

 and another running along the west side of the modern vicarage garden. 

 Further earthworks, though non-defensive, are to be seen north-west of the 

 vicarage ; they are the dams of the former fishponds of the monks. 



Though probably now much silted up, the fosse of the outer inclosure 

 is still of considerable size. The portion running along the east side is 5 ft. 

 deep and 21 ft. wide, and that along the north 6 ft. deep and 24 ft. wide. 

 There seem to be remains of ramparts in places, both inside and out ; these 

 are now only from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in height above the adjacent ground. 



The earthworks here are interesting because we know both who their 

 makers were and the time of their excavation. When the monks of Stanlaw 

 migrated to the deanery at Whalley in 1296, they selected a site for their 

 new abbey with a view to warmth, shelter, and residential conveniences, 

 rather than to defence. Therefore the buildings cluster in a slight hollow 

 beside the river. Nevertheless, as usual at this period, they thought it 

 necessary to protect themselves from human foes and wild beasts by the 

 construction of earthwork ramparts and fosses on the three sides not guarded 

 by the river. These works were at first, necessarily, palisaded with timber 

 only ; but afterwards stone walls, removed in 1661, were erected on parts of 

 them." 



(Class X) 



Includes ' Defensive earthworks which fall under none of the above-enumerated 

 headings.^ 



As was pointed out at the beginning of this chapter, although many 

 earthworks can be classified without difficulty by their outward form and 

 appearance, others cannot be so easily assigned. The following come under 

 this heading : — 



Mellor (3 miles north-west of Blackburn). — Half a mile east-north- 

 east of the parish church there is an interesting and well-defined little 

 rectangular earthwork ; it is known locally by the somewhat ubiquitous 



" Couchtr Book of Whalley Abhey (Chet. Soc.), x, xi, xvi, xx ; Whittaker, Hist, of Whalley (ed. 1872), i, 

 136-7 ; Baines, Hist, of Lanes, (ed. 1868), ii, 8-10 ; Ord. Surv. i-in. 68, old 92 SW. ; 6-in. 55 SW. ; 

 25-in. 55, 10. 



S5-'- 



