ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



south ; on as far as Slade Lane again it divides Rusholme on the north from 

 Levenshulme on the south. After this it enters into Rusholme, within 

 which parish, however, it divides certain recognized areas until the end of its 

 course. 



The dyke is also very frequently mentioned in early deeds as a boundary 

 between properties. Mr. H. T. Crofton has brought together many of these 

 references. In such deeds it is never called Nico Ditch, which seems to be 

 a comparatively modern name, but Mickle Ditch with variants ; never- 

 theless, there is no doubt about the identity of the references to the 

 dyke in question, although there were, of course, many minor boundary 

 ditches in the district, which are also frequently mentioned in old docu- 

 ments. To quote these early references seriatim: — In 1484 a Rusholme 

 deed calls it the ' Miche Wall Diche,' and in 13 17 another similar 

 deed the ' Mekel Dyche.' In 1320 the boundary of Manchester Manor on 

 the Reddish side calls it ' Mikle diche.' In 1 270 a Slade deed has it in an 

 already corrupted form (proving its then antiquity) as ' Milk Wall,' and 

 about 1200 a deed of land in Ashton (belonging to the monks of Kersall) 

 calls it ' Mykel Diche ' again. Another deed in the Towneley MSS. makes 

 mention of it about the same period as ad magnum fossatum. From these 

 references it is clear that as early as 1200, at any rate, the dyke was already a 

 well-known and apparently then ancient landmark. It is also noticeable that 

 the rampart was a recognized feature in its appearance as well as the ditch, as 

 it is called ' Miche Wall Diche ' and ' Milk IVali: " 



Other dykes in Lancashire, south of the Sands are as follows, viz. : — 



Cliviger, nr. Burnley. The Old Dyke. Hornby with Farleton. Harrington's Dyke in 



Roeburndale. 

 Halliwell, nr. Bolton. 'Danes Dyke.' Newchurch,nr.Bacup. The Dykes, Broad Clough. 



LANCASHIRE NORTH OF THE SANDS 



Although in Lancashire North of the Sands there are numerous early 

 village sites and walled inclosures, there are only two strong defensive earth- 

 works, and neither of them is of large size. They are Pennington Castle 

 Hill and Aldingham Mote (or Moat). 



(Class A) 



^Fortresses partly inaccessible by reason of precipices, cliffs, or water, addi- 

 tionally defended by artificial works, usually known as promontory fortresses." 



Pennington (near Ulverston). — Pennington Castle Hill is situated about 

 two miles west of Ulverston, and just at that point where Furness Fells 

 slope down to meet the undulating country of Low Furness, which coincides 

 here with the junction of the Silurian with the Carboniferous strata. The 

 position is about a mile north of the old pre-Reformation road across the 



' A. Crofton, Trans, Lanes, and Ches. Jntiq.Soc. ill, 190 ; Esdaile, ibid, x, 218 ; Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. and 

 Chart. 327-8 ; H. T. Crofton, Trans. Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soe. xxiii, 44-50 ; W. J. Andrew, in litt. ; W. S> 

 Ogden, in litt. ; Ord. Sur. l-in. 85 ; old 88 SW. and 81 NW. ; 6-in. ill NE., 104 SE., and 105 SW. -^ 

 25-in. Ill, 3 and 4., 104, 16., 105, 13. 



555 



