BACK TO INDEX

Pre-Historic Pendle  3

As the need for travel increased between the high-ground ridgeways, the wet valley bottoms were crossed by more permanent means other than narrow paths. Fords were used wherever possible but large areas of morass were crossed by means of timbered causeways or raised stone walkways. A good example of a trans-ridge way is Pasture Lane (SD 848 402), running from the ridge above Roughlee to the high land of Castercliffe and beyond. The road descending down into Barrowford now takes a dog-leg at the former Haighton’s Mill Lodge but formerly it carried straight on down into the village. West Hill by Bank House (now the Lamb Club) carried the road straight to the old ford at Riverway and across to the ancient Park Corn Mill (sadly long since demolished). Once on this side of the water the road passed through Park Hill and either onwards to Colne or sharp right up Rye Bank, towards the present cemetery, and across the fields to Greenfield. Above this old Pendle Water crossing was another ford whereby the road from Old Laund, Wheatley Lane and  Rishton Thornes (the present area where the Old Sparrow Hawk Inn is situated) ran down to the present Gisburn Road and across towards Park Hill.

The remains of yet another ford in this area could still be seen before the great Barrowford flood of 1967, this crossed at the end of Harry Street and behind Berry’s Mill. Around 200 years ago, when Berry's Mill chimney was being constructed, a small cave was discovered in the bedrock - this was found to contain a large amount of deer antlers. It was postulated at the time that this cave was used by a forest gamekeeper during the times when the area was a hunting ground. The riverside lands of Barrowford were favoured territories for the Norman forest hunters - as late as the 18th century the Extwistle Hunting Song states that Squire Parker of Extwistle Hall chased a stag for most of a day, finally cornering it by the river at Barrowford. The close proximity of these three fords may be explained by the presence, and importance, of the Old Mill. Other fords at Reedyford, Park Hill and Higherford show that it is no coincidence that the village carries the name of Barrow-ford.

Another good example of a way between two ridges is Sandy Lane (SD 840 390). This is a continuation of the road from Barley up the hill at Happy Valley to Noggarth Top where it continues towards Nelson as a dirt track. At Wheatley Lane the road forms Carr Hall Road and drops down past the site of the old Carr Hall and Carr Mill through what was once a large swamp. Even when I was young the Seedhill side of Carr was a large bog, a noted newt breeding ground. The road is lost now as it passes through Nelson but it would have led to Little Marsden and thence along the King’s Causeway ridge.

The track way of Gisburn Old Road SD 864 435), running from Pasture Head at the end of Standing Stone Lane below White Moor, is the ‘old’ route to Gisburn from Colne and Foulridge. Exactly how old this route is, however, I do not know. It appears to me that the ancient boundary ditch of the Black Dyke (SD 864 430) running roughly parallel with the Old Road, could originally have been employed as the original track way for this particular route. The Black Dyke is an impressive civil engineering operation, carried out to form a major boundary in ancient times. In the medieval period the lower end of the Dyke, from Peel’s House southwards, was used to carry water from Whitemoor, Admergill Pasture and the top of Blacko Hill down to Hollin Hall, Malkin Tower Farm, Blacko Hillside Farm, Burnt House Farm, Beverley, Blakey Old Hall and Wanless Farm.

The structure of the Black Dyke (otherwise known as Hanson’s Dyke or Admergill Dyke) is reminiscent of the major works of Offas Dyke on the Welsh borders. The fact that the Black Dyke end is the confluence of a number of ancient tracks leads me to believe that it was used as a route north. The dyke converges with the  old road at Sandyford (locally Sandybrigg and Star Bank), then dives down Greystone Moor and along to the Level of Weets Hill before rejoining the old road to pass the Ridge of Weets, Newfield Edge and down to the old road at Lane Side. A left turn here takes the route straight to the massive earthworks at Middop SD 839 451, (I am grateful to Prof. Stanley Graham who first brought my attention to this impressive feature) and on to Howgill Manor.

Carrying straight on at Laneside (instead of the above left turn) the ancient  hollow way continues, with its heavily tree lined banks, down to Coverdale where it meets with the equally ancient Howgill Lane. A couple of hundred yards on the way passes a point where the ‘Roman’ road, from Brogden Lane on its route to Rimington, crosses it (SD 844 468). Carrying along its route the way passes the ancient earthwork at Bomber, then on to Whin Hill and beyond. For most of its length over the moor this route forms the Brogden/Middop boundary and is marked by a number of Medieval boundary stones.

The stretch of Howgill Lane that runs from Coverdale Farm (SD 847 466) to the Gisburn/Blacko Road is a fascinating bit of road. It takes the form of two deep gulleys, or ditches, both banked on either side with the road running on the centre ridge. Where the lane now bends down to meet the main road it formerly carried straight on to Middop, the ditch and bank can easily be seen, marking out its former course across the fields. The end of the lane, at the main road junction, does not line up with continuation of Howgill Lane (the 'Roman' road) down to Rimington. This leads me to believe that this length of Howgill Lane was not originally a track but formed an important boundary or defensive ditch along the lower western slopes of Weets Hill. The heavy growth of a number of native British tree species on either bank of this lane is another indicator of its antiquity.

As the Neolithic age progressed a definite group of people became established as traders and would have made good use of our tracks. The Peterborough culture retained a strong Mesolithic influence, even in the later Neolithic they were still using large heavy pottery instead of the more refined pottery of this period. The Peterborough can be thought of as the Gypsies of their age, camping wherever they could, trading stone implements the length and breadth of the country. These people lived very closely within the land and were survivors, other cultures had not really effected them. They knew the track ways, the countryside, the trade centres - they would be part poacher and part hawker, always outside the mainstream contemporary cultures.

These people would probably have know the Pendleside to Middop track well. One of my favourites for walking, this track led from Whitehough, Thorneyholme and Roughlee, skirted the high ground of Stang Top and Brown Hill, picked up Wheathead Lane then crossed Wheathead Height (SD 840 429). Running above the ruined Firber House farm the track crossed the county boundary at Firber Gate, across Rimington Moor near the ruins of the ancient tower there, over Bale Hill and joined the ancient route from Twiston at Whytha (SD 827 449). Turning right here the track passed the major earthwork feature at Middop and carried on over the county boundary as Brogden Lane. A branch here went to Monkroyd Hill and through the settlement of Barnoldswick and along its way to the east coast via Kildwick-in-Craven.

The hamlet of Haggate is on the cross-roads from Nelson to Worsthorn and Burnley to Halifax. The route through the nearby hamlet of Lane Bottom follows the Thursden Valley to the slopes of Boulsworth Hill. At the head of this climb through the valley is an Iron Age earthwork known as Burwains Camp (SD903 353). At this point the present road turns sharply left and heads over the moor towards Colne, originally this track headed straight up the slopes of Red Spa Moor from Burwains camp, the ditched way can still be made out. Leaving the modern road the ancient track known locally as the 'Scotch Road' takes a direct route towards the ruins of Robin Hood's House (this took its name from the nearby Robin Hood's Well). The name of Scotch Road puzzled me for quite a while, it certainly does not lead towards Scotland; however the Middle English word 'scartch' or 'scutch' describes a steeply banked feature. This is exactly what this track is, very steeply banked as it runs down the hill to join the metalled road. A mile along this moorland track lies Robin Hood's House (SD 920 348), a most peculiar place this, the ruins of a cottage placed high in isolation near to the top of  the weather-beaten Boulsworth Hill. Local legend has it, perhaps inevitably, that this house was the hideout of a gang of highwaymen. The fact that someone found it necessary to build a homestead in this location speaks volumes for the times (16th / 17th and 18th centuries) when people were desperate to obtain land of any kind. By erecting a squatter's dwelling on the common someone would find here a living of sorts, perhaps herding their own as well as other people's sheep. There is, however, the consideration that these isolated dwellings now appear to be out of their original context - Robin Hood's House was on a trade route between the expanding textile towns of Burnley and Nelson and their main woollen marketplace of Halifax. Having passed Boulsworth Hill this route carried on over the moors to Oakworth and Haworth on the Bronte's Yorkshire moors.

To end this section on some of the ancient trackways linking areas of higher land I must mention the route from Blacko Hill. This extends south, along the line of the Black Dyke, past the Cross gates and down Barnoldswick Road. It then carried on straight down to Red Lane and, where the present lane bends sharply left to the canal, carried straight on over Wanless Water, by Barrowford Canal Lochs and so up the hill at Bott Lane to the settlements at Castercliffe (SD 885 384), Shelfield, Walton's Monument, Burwains House at Briercliffe (an Iron Age settlement) and to the mass of ancient sites on Extwistle Moor (SD 884 341). As the hillfort at Castercliffe has been dated as a major Iron Age fort it is highly likely that this area was of importance during the earlier Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Most of these sites show a continuity of occupation. As mentioned previously, this route taken in  opposite direction, skirts Weets Hill on to the Bomber earthworks (SD 842 478). In his History of Whalley, Whitaker postulates that, because of artefact finds, the first settlement of Colne would have been in the Greenfield area, on the higher points of the plain of Colne Water. The Blacko/Castercliffe route would pass right through this area and could have been one of the earliest, and most important, inter-settlement routes in our local pre-history.   


John A Clayton
Barrowford  © 2005