Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society (Volume vol 8 no 1) online

Gilderdale burne or Ale (the two burns bounding the manor
on the north) sub pena vi s viii d soe often as they do the
the contrary."

Lastly, I may mention two pains which seem to belong
to primitive times, and may be survivals from the early
village community. The first is :

That no man shall mark any other man's marke but to marke and
keep his own house marke upon payne of vi 3 viii d and not to marke
two house marks.

This is clear evidence that the house marks which Williams
has described in the Archseologia (vol. xxxvii, page 371) in
his letter on the Land of Ditmarsh and the mark confed-
eration, and which he observed in the old home of the
English people between the Elbe and the Eider, were once
to be seen at Alston. " In Ditmarsh and in Denmark,"
says Williams, " the owners mark was cut in stone over
the principal door of the house ; it designated not only his
land and his cattle, but his stall in church, and his grave
when he was no more." Perhaps a house mark could yet
be met with at Alston, or it may be that the old devices,
though no longer to be seen on houses, may still be used
for marking cattle, or be found in the sheep books kept by
the farmers.

The other pain, which I venture to think refers to a
primitive usage is as follows :

That the tenants that joyne upon the mark close make up their part
that joynes upon the same upon the payne of iii s iiii d at the discretion
of the fence men.

Mark



j8 ALSTON.

Mark Close is now the name of a farm on the left bank of the
Tyne, nearly opposite Alston, and not far from the mound
called Hall Hill, which overlooks the river, and is partly
surrounded by a deep artificial ditch. Such a hill from its
name can hardly be supposed to be anything else but the
place where the folkmoot once met in the open air, and
where probably, in later times, were also held the court
leet and court baron, which Sir Henry Maine says there
can be no reasonable doubt are descended from the assembly
of the township. Hodgson, in his History of Northumber-
land, suggested this idea, but whether there was a tradition
on the subject, or whether he was guided merely by the
derivation of Hall Hill from the hiil of the aula or Italia,
meaning a court baron, he does not tell us. The fact that
Hall Hill is not far from the farm of Mark Close, and that it
probably stood within the limits of a wide enclosure, now
divided into smaller fields, which was known as the Mark
Close, and gave its name to the modern farm, seems to
support Hodgson's suggestion. Mr. Gomme, in his book
on Primitive Folk-moots, cites instances of moots being
held in open fields, and calls attention to the recurrence of
such names as Hall Close, Mott-house Field, Mote Field,
Mote Close, and Mote Thorne Field, to which we may add
the Mark Close. It was probably a common pasture,
which being public property, had to be fenced by those
whose land adjoined it, and within which, upon the Hall
Hill met the mark moot, the old assembly of the primi-
tive mark or township, before the causes which transformed
the mark into the manor had come into operation.

The manor courts are now held, not in the town of
Alston, but at a place called Lowbyre, a little north of the
town, and near the river. In the drift roll I find that
Lowbyre is Lawbyare, and that is doubtless the original
form of the word. Law-day is a term sometimes used
instead of court leet, and Mr. Gomme, in his book on
Folk-moots, gives an account of the Birlaw courts of

Scot'and,



ALSTON'. 39

Scotland, and of the Byerlaws into which the district
called Bradfield, in Yorkshire was divided. He also ex-
tracts from Whitaker's History of Whalley, a code of
byerlaws belonging to Extwistle, as containing the legis-
lation of a primitive agricultural community, and the
judgements of a primitive judicial court. We seem there-
fore to be warranted in concluding that Lawbyer is only
an inversion of Byerlaw, and that the place gets its name
from the courts which are held there.



Since the above paper was written, Mr. Millican, the
steward of the manor, has discovered one of the old court
books. It comprises the period from 1683 to 1694, and
contains many interesting entries relating to amerciaments
or fines imposed by the court, for offences against the
customary law of the manor as declared in the pain roll.
Amongst them is the following :

We amorcy John Key, for not markeing with the marke 1 ■„ ... d
belonging to his house contra paine. I

The book also contains the records of the courts held at
Keswick, for the manor of Castlerigg and Derwentwater,
and a few entries relating to the manor of Thornthwaite,
these manors, as well as Alston Moor, having belonged to
the Radcliffe family. On one of the pages is to be found
the signature " Darwentwater/' being that of Francis the
first Earl. At the beginning of the book he is described
as Francis Radcliffe Baronet, but in 1687 he becomes
Francis Earl of Derwentwater.



(4°)



Art. V. — The Earthworks near Kirkland, known as the
Hanging Walls of Mark Antony. By J. G. Goodchild.
Read at that place, July nth, 1884.

ABOUT half a mile or so to the north-west of the vil-
lage of Kirkland, and, again, at a lesser distance in
the opposite direction from the same place, the maps of
the Ordnance Survey indicate the position of two remark-
able earthworks, which, judging by the style of lettering
used in naming them on the maps, are considered to be
Roman in origin. The great Roman highway between
Appleby and the Tyne Valley ranges in a north-north
easterly direction within a thousand yards of either of the
earthworks referred to ; the one, that in Bank Wood,
lying about six hundred yards on the north-west side of
the road ; while the other, that at Rangbeck (or Ranbeck,
as it is spelled) being a little over seven hundred yards to
the south-east of the same highway. The geographical
position of the earthworks in question, considered in rela-
tion to the Roman Road, would seem, judging from
a map alone, to be eminently suitable for halting-places
for travellers passing along the road in either direction.
For the difference in level between that of the Roman
Road where it passes through the village of Kirkland and
its summit-level at the currick called Meg's Cairn, on the
top of the escarpment is between fifteen hundred and six-
teen hundred feet ; while between the town of Alston and
the same summit-level the difference in elevation is eleven
hundred feet or more. At the best of times so hilly a road
could never have been easy travelling, and it is quite con-
ceivable that the point where the road crosses the line
separating the undulating lowlands of Edenside from the
steep edge of the great upland tract lying to the north-east,

should



BARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND. 41

should be exactly the spot where both man and beast would
make a halt in the course of a journey in either direction.
Consequently it is precisely at the very spot where these
earthworks respectively occur that we might reasonably
expect to meet with traces of such resting-places, whether
in the form of camps or otherwise.

The earthworks at Bankwood, just referred to, are situ-
ated on the south-western slope of a natural ridge extending
between Bank Hall and Ousby Townhead. Owing partly
to the presence of the trees and associated undergrowth
the details of these earthworks were not easy to make out
at the time of my visit. But they seem to consist of little
else than a rather obscure terrace, ovoidal in contour,
which has been cut from the face of a small natural mound
existing at that spot. The longer diameter of the ovoid
ranges in a north-easterly direction, and is about one hun-
dred yards in length, the shorter or cross diameter is about
seventy yards or thereabouts. Whether the place really
does represent a Roman camp, or not, I leave it to com-
petent archaeologists to decide.

The other earthworks, at Rangbeck, are much more
easily examined. On the Six Inch Maps of the Ordnance
Survey they are represented as occupying the southern
part of the pasture next to Rangbeck farmhouse, and on
the west side. The small hill where they occur is named
Baron's Hill, which name is lettered in the ordinary italic
letters in general use throughout the Survey map ; while
under that name is another, in Egyptian letters, the " Hang-
ing Walls of Mark Anthony."* In the south-western angle
of the field is a well, which is called " Mark Anthony's
Well," and is lettered in italics, as if, as in the case of

* After this paper was written I learnt from a lady living at Milburn, that
the hill under notice is called, not Baron's Hill, but Borrans Hill (BorEnz Hil).
This is a fact of some little importance. It may be mentioned that " Borrans" is
a name widely used over the north-west of England for what may be called
stone-clearings, as distinguished from "Thwaite," a wood-clearing. The term
is applied alike to clearings of old stone buildings, and to clearings of stones expos-
ed at the surface by natural causes.

Borrans



42 EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND.

Borrans Hill just mentioned, the Ordnance Surveyor did
not attach any archaeological importance to the name.
Beyond the points mentioned, not much, if any information
of importance in relation to the place can be gathered
from the maps.

On the ground, however, there are several features that
will have to be considered in any speculations regarding
the true nature of the earthworks in question. These I
propose to describe as they would appear to a visitor ap-
proaching the place from the south side.

The general form of the surface in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Rangbeck farmhouse is that of a series of low,
flattened domes, rudely elliptical in form, with their lon-
ger axes directed N.W., and S.E. The transverse slacks
intervening between the ends of the mounds here and there
form the channel whence some of the drainage from the
fell sides finds its way downwards towards the Eden.
Hence they are occasionally widened out by the action of
the running water : while some of the alluvial matter is
spread out and is left as grassy flats at the bottom of the
hollow. Some of these transverse streams have cut across
the longitudinal slacks in this way at Rangbeck, so as to
leave small mounds, or knolls, surrounded on two or more
sides with slacks, which may or may not be occupied by
running water. Of these longitudinal slacks one ranges
in a north-westerly direction from near the County boundary
at Crowdundale Beck up to Rangbeck farmhouse, and it
may be traced, in a gradually-shallowing form, to the north-
west of that. Another, similar in all essential respects,
ranges from the County boundary in a north-westerly direc-
tion past Wythwaite, and may be traced almost to Kirk-
land Beck. These are crossed by some of the transverse
slacks before mentioned. One of these contains the water
of Rangbeck, and it flows past the farmhouse, on the south
side of Borrans Hill to Blencarn. Another ranges for a
very short distance on the north side, gradually deepening

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EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND. 43

as it goes west, until it merges into the slack just men-
tioned as ranging northward from Wythwaite. Borrans
Hill thus has a kind of natural moat — or what may be
described as a U-shaped slack, with the bottom of the u
directed towards the west — running round three sides of it.
The parts of the slack corresponding to the upper part of
the u gradually become shallower as they are traced
towards the east ; while the surface of the mound in the
middle gradually declines in the same direction ; so that
on the north-east side of the hill the surface is devoid of
any feature worthy of special notice on the present occasion.

I have described the features in this way, because the
first thing that strikes one is that Borrans Hill is not an
eminence standing above the general level of the surround-
ing surface ; but that it is part of a generally-level surface,
which is only locally intersected by longitudinal and trans-
verse gullies. In other words, Borrans Hill is surrounded
on all four sides by ground that, within bow-shot, is of equal
elevation, or is even higher.

The south face of the hill rises somewhat abruptly from
the grassy alluvial flat left by the water of the small stream
that flows parallel with it at a distance of twenty yards or
so from its foot. The junction of the hill side with the
alluvial flat is marked by two small scarps, with a terrace
between them. The edge of the higher scarp has an ele-
vation of about three feet above the adjoining alluvium.
These two scarps, whose upper edges I shall refer to as (a)
and (b), the lower and upper, respectively — are traceable
along nearly the whole of the south face of the hill. At
the south-east angle the gradual rise of the alluvial flat
cuts them off in that direction, while at the south-west
angle the lower scarp (a) is cut off by a decline from the
terrace above (b), so that (b) only, or a terrace on the
same level as (b), is traceable for a short distance at the
west end. A regular, and almost perfectly-flat terrace,
about fifteen yards in width, extends inward from the edge

of



44 EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND.

of (b) ; this also is traceable along the whole of the south
face, while at the south-east angle it gradually merges in-
to the valley bottom, as this rises in the direction of the
farmhouse. The inner margin of this terrace is marked
by a steep scarp, inclined at an angle of about forty de-
grees, and rising to a height of about nine feet from the
level of the broad terrace at its foot. The edge of this
third scarp (c) coincides with the outer margin of a third
terrace, which is about six yards in width, and is less
regular in form than the one below it. This third terrace
declines slightly in each direction, from about the middle of
the hill, so that it dies out at the south-eastern end. About
the point where the western face of the hill meets the
southern face, the terrace under notice begins to decline
somewhat rapidly, as if to form a road between its higher
portion and the alluvium at the foot of the hill, conse-
quently it cuts in succession across each of the terraces
and scarps below, so that they are not clearly traceable
beyond. Another steep scarp, irregular in form, more or
less stony in character, instead of being smooth and grassy
like the lower scarp, rises from the terrace last described.
This scarp is succeeded by a small and ill-defined terrace,
which is margined by a low scarp, forming the edge of
the plateau on the top of the hill.

On the west side of Borrans Hill, four similar terraces
with their accompanying scarps can be traced. The
middle two are discontinuous with the corresponding fea-
tures on the south side, the break occuring where the
terrace above (c) descends to the level of the beck.

On the north side of the hill, the bottom of the slack
rises somewhat rapidly, so that the lower terraces are soon
cut out. On this side of the hill the scarps and terraces
are no longer separately traceable ; and the whole hill side
forms one continuous slope, from the edge of the plateau
at the top, down to the bottom of the slack.

On the plateau itself, there is very little that calls for
any special remark. There is no trace of earth works of

any



EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND. 45

any kind, unless one may regard as earthworks, in the
archaeological sense, two shallow pits occuring near the
western end of the plateau, which have evidently been
made for the purpose of getting stones for the adjacent
walls. The position and the approximate form of these
pits are shewn upon the plan given with this paper.

The hill is thus terraced on three of its sides, most
prominently so, be it observed, on the sides of the hill
that receive most of the sun.

But the terraces are not confined to Borrans Hill itself,
as the representation of the place on the Ordnance Maps
would lead one to believe. On the western side of the
slack that marks the west end of Borrans Hill — that is to
say — opposite to the four terraces before mentioned as
occuring there, at least one other terrace and scarp, similar
in all essential respects, can be traced along the hill-side
there. These are most prominent where they face to.
wards the south. At the south-eastern angle of Borrans
Hill, just where the southern terraces begin to die out,
strongly-marked terraces of precisely the same kind occur
on the opposite or southern bank of the slack, ranging
thence northward, to nearly opposite the house. These
last scarps face in a generally west-north-westerly di-
rection. On the northern side of the hill, just where the
slack is rising to the general level of the adjoining surface,
several smaller terraces range in a northerl)' direction ;
that is to say, at right angles to the principal scarp
on that side. The relative positions and the form of the
whole of the earth works referred to, are shewn on the
accompanying plan and sections.

In regard to the precise nature of the earthworks in
question, it must be left to competent archaeologists to
decide. If I may express an opinion, it is that they could
not have been formed for any purposes of defence, not-
withstanding that their position in relation to the Roman
Road would have led us to expect to meet with a defensive

position



46 EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND.

position hereabouts. The terraces and scarps facing the
hill are, in all essential respects, identical with those on
the hill itself, and it seems safe to assume that no body of
men constructing a place of defence would construct
earthworks directly facing their own, and that, too, well
within bowshot.

Local tradition steps in here to help us a little in the
matter. In the first place, none of the people in the
neighbourhood know of the place under its book-name
of the Hanging Walls of Mark Anthony. Negative
evidence does not, it is true, count for much in matters of
this kind. On the other hand, a lady living at Milburn,
tells me that the earthworks are known as the " Hingin
Gardins," and another lady has heard them spoken of as
the Hanging Walls of Saint Anthony.

In connection with the name Hingin Gardins, it is
worth while again to direct attention to the fact that
nearly all the terraces at Rangbeck are constructed so
that they may receive the fullest share of the sunlight ; a
very important consideration in the case of a place situ-
ated as Rangbeck is.

But to my mind, the strongest proof of all that they
represent vestiges of an old system of cultivation, is to be
found in the remarkably close resemblance of these Rang-
beck earthworks to what are called " reans " in north-west
Yorkshire, which are admitted on all hands to be nothing
more than old cultivation marks. Similar terraces exist
in a very well-marked form in many places in Edenside,
though the name " rean " does not seem to be so well
known. Some of the best of these reans occur in the
neighbourhood of Kirkby Stephen ; and they are seen in
remarkable perfection in the pastures on the north side of
Wharton Hall. These can be easily examined from the
Midland railway, and they are worthy of careful study by
any one that attempts to explain the origin of the earth-
works at Rangbeck.

APPENDIX



EARTHWORKS NEAR KIRKLAND. 47

APPENDIX.

Some conversation took place as to what the earthworks really
were, and the various speakers seemed to agree with Mr. Goodchild,
that the terraces on the sides of the hill, had been formed in the
course of cultivation. Professor Hughes said that he knew of simi-
lar terraces being formed at the present time in Switzerland in the
course of cultivation. Mr. W. Nanson observed that at Tebay
station there was a field cultivated in strips, and in addition to the
" reans," there were meerstones dividing the lots. The vicar of
Uldale said there was a similar series of terraces at Uldale ; he
cultivated the upper part and others cultivated the terraces below.
Mr. Cartmell said the same thing occurred in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Carlisle, at Currock, where there were grounds called
the soldiers' dales. Mr. Lees said that he had no doubt that these
remarkable earthworks were terraces of cultivation, and that the
name, Mark Antony, supplied the clue to their original use. " Mark
Antony" was, he believed, a corruption for " Saint Antony ," a saint
much venerated, (as we learn from Erasmus's Colloquy " Fran-
ciscani ") by rustics, who was the founder and patron of the
Eremite life. Hence, he thought, we might conclude that as the
hermits were, like the inhabitants of monasteries, diligent cultivators
of the soil, this place owed its remarkable character and name to one
of these pioneers of Christianity and agriculture. The well still in
existence, close to the base of the terraces, was possibly the very one
which supplied water to the hermitage.



(48)



Art. VI. — The Traditions of Crosthwaite Church Belfry,

Keswick. By J. Fisher Crosthwaite, F.S.A.
Read at Alston, Jidy 10th, 1884.

THE traditions and records respecting Bells and Bell-
ringers of this church may not be unworthy of notice.
In the churchwardens' accounts, in 1699, the ringing cost
4s. 6d. per year, and a bell rope 5s. In 1702, for making
bell wheels £2 10s. 6d. ; for bell hingers 5s. ; for ringing
the bells 9s. In 1706 the charge for ringing is 16s., and
ale for thanksgiving days and 5th November, 7s. 3d. The
annual charge for ringing, for several years following, is
put down at 12s., which, as there were four bells, was 3s.
to each man. The bells were of large size, as will be
found by the following elaborate account of the total
charge for taking the great bell down and carrying it to
Whitehaven, thence to be sent by ship to Dublin ; the
churchwardens (two of them) accompanying and bringing
it back after having been recast.
1714.

The whole charge of y e great bell in Ireland and else-
where is - £37 2 6^

£ s. D.

Taking down y e bell. Spent with 8 men - - - 060

Robert Wren, for 4 day's work 030

For Cart Stangs and Straw at the bottom of y e cart - 010
To Giles Sinogle and Joseph Hodgson for Carriage

of y e Bell 130

For a Roller to take the Bell down and up with - - 010
Spent with Mr. Williamson and other officers for pre-
venting custom - - - - - - - 040

Spent with Giles Sinogle for carrying y e Bell in and out

of custom house - - - - - : - 010

To y e Seamen for carrying y e Bell and taking it aboard

ship 010

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TRADITIONS OF CROSTHWAITE BELFRY. 49



To a Cart for carrying it from y e custom house to the ship
For Victuals at Whitehaven, 2 days i s 4 d , and provisions

taken aboard - - - -

To Collecting Clark for Voicing y e Bell at Whitehaven -
For the Porters for Weighing y e Bell at Whitehaven
For the Bell's Passage both ways at sea
For our Passage both ways at sea - - - -

For a Sufference to bring y e Bell ashore at Whitehaven
Spent with Mr. Williamson and other officers for pre-
venting duty - - - -

Spent with y e Saylors for carting y e Bell and helping

to Bransty - - - -

For a Cart with y e Bell to Bransty -

For our Diet at our return to Whitehaven

Irish Expenses. For a Wherry to go ashore 8 d , a cart 6 d

A Porter 2 d , bring up y e Bell by water to y e custom

house key 3 s 3 d - - - -.

For a Bond making of Conditions about the Bell -
Spent when agreed with y e Founder for Casting the Bell
Spent that night the Bell was cast with Founder

and others ... - - -010
For Diet and Lodging 28 s , for Washing our Linen i d ,

Bear 7 s - - - - - - - - - 1 16 o

For Carrying the Bell in a Cart to y e waterside 2 s 2 d ,

a Boat is

For a Cart to attend y e Bell a ship board 6 d , back again 2 d
For Provisions to take aboard when coming home
For a Wherry to come aboard when coming home
For a Petition to y e Board at the custom house
Custom House in Dublin - - -

Duty paid for Bell forward ...

For Voicing the Bell at the custom house

For Porterage and Weighing the Bell at custom house -

For Weighing the Bell when casten at the custom house

The Duty at the custom house when new casten -

For Entering in y e custom house to 2 Clarks at 3 s 4^ d

p r dark - - - - -

For Out Voicing at y e custom house -