Tag: Cliviger

Maiden Cross, Mereclough, Burnley, Lancashire

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Cross (replaced):  OS Grid Reference – SD 8936 2883

Archaeology & History

“Maiden Cross” stone

Highlighted on the 1848 Ordnance Survey map, the original stone ‘cross’ has apparently been moved from its location up against the walling 30-40 yards away and placed by the roadside, just as you’re going into where the windmills are, right at the very crown of the hill, across from the car-park.  I’m not so sure it’s the original one to be honest—but I may be wrong.  Clifford Byrne (1974) certainly thought this is the original stone.  He may be wright.  Byrne told that “the Marquis of Colne had a photograph of the stump of the cross in situ,” which would be good to compare.  It’s nowt special to look at, but at least the site has been remembered, so to speak.

Site shown on 1848 map

The Maiden Cross was one in a series of wayside crosses along this ancient high road—known as the Long Causeway—not only marking it out when the snows covered it in the old Winters that we used to get, but also possessing religious importance to travellers.  It was first moved sometime in the 19th century and “utilised as a gatepost into Maiden Cross colliery”—itself long gone.

Folklore

The name given to the ‘cross’ comes from a story that’s found at a number of other ‘maiden’ place-names.  There may be an element of truth in it.  It was told to the great historian and folklorist T.T. Wilkinson by his grandfather in 1766 and, according to him, his grandfather before that!  J.A. Waddington (1884) subsequently wrote down the tale that Wilkinson told him:

“During the time of the great rebellion, this was the trysting-place of a young shepherd with his lady love. Often did they meet to pledge their simple vows at this lonely place, until one day a messenger came from Towneley to collect as many young men as he could get to swell the ranks of Rupert when he passed through this part to join the Royal forces at York, a march which ended with the disastrous fight at Marston Moor, on whose bloody sod lay stretched the chivalrous Towneley, and a many of his followers, including this young man, the victims of a tyrannical and ambitious king. For many a long year after this tragical event the poor demented maiden would repair to this hallowed spot, repeating with a sorrowful voice his promise to return.”

This was curiously described by Ormerod (1906) as “a pathetic tradition”!  He much preferred the simple idea of this (and the other crosses along the road) as merely serving “the capacity of guideposts to the traveller (overtaken in a mist or by the swiftly lowering shades of light) who might be traversing these lonely roads”, as Waddington put it.  Ormerod cited a conversation he had with “an old road mender” which for him confirmed the idea:

“Asked if he had heard what was the object of these crosses, he said, that “Joonas Lee said as they were put up 250 yer sin, for guideposts for’t pack horses, between Halifax and Brunshaw” (Burnley), adding, as if to give more weight to the authority he had quoted: “An he wur a far larned chap wur Joonas—he wur a preycher.”’

Walter Bennett (1941) meanwhile, thought its name derived from the Virgin Mary and this cross, at least, possessed religious importance.

References:

  1. Bennett, W., The History of Burnley – volume 1, Burnley County Council 1946.
  2. Byrne, Clifford, A Survey of the Ancient Wayside Crosses in North-East Lancashire, privately printed 1974.
  3. Holden, Joshua, A History of Todmorden, Manchester University Press 1912.
  4. Ormerod, T., Calderdale, Lupton Bros: Burnley 1906.
  5. Waddington, J. Arthur, ‘The Crosses in and Around Burnley’, in Transactions Burnley Literary & Scientific Club, volume 1, 1884.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Thieveley, Holme Chapel, Lancashire

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Tumulus (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 873 277

Archaeology & History

A prehistoric cairn or tumulus could once be found close to the grid-reference cited here, but all trace of it has long since been destroyed.  The site was mentioned briefly in Thomas Booth’s (1899) short survey on the prehistoric tombs of the area, telling:

“I have omitted to mention in its proper place a find which took place at Holmes Chapel about the year 1826.  The particulars are very meagre but, according to a local journal published some fifty years ago, called The Comet (edited by the late Abraham Stansfield), some workmen who were engaged in pulling down a barn at Thieveley discovered an ancient urn, whose contents were of a similar kind to those of other urns of this class.”

The “other urns” he mentions are those that have been found in prehistoric tombs on the north side of the same valley, including those at Cliviger Laithe, at Catlow, at Delf Hill and other sites close by.  Remains of another prehistoric cairn can be found close by on top of the hill at Thieveley Pike to the south, where a beacon was built, damaging the original tomb.

References:

  1. Booth, Thomas, Ancient Grave Mounds on the Slopes of the Pennine Range, R. Chambers: Todmorden 1899.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Foldys Cross, Towneley, Burnley, Lancashire

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Cross:  OS Grid Reference – SD 8523 3066

Also Known as:

  1. Foldy’s Cross

Getting Here

To get to Towneley Park head to the south side of the town close to a junction of two roads heading towards Todmorden and Bacup, from here the park and hall are signposted. The old cross stands 300 metres south-west of Townley Hall in the centre of some pathways leading in the direction of Todmorden road (the A671).

Archaeology & History

Foldys Cross, Burnley (Taylor, 1906)

Foldy’s Cross is a tall slender monument on a carved circular pedestal which sits upon a set of seven square-shaped steps. It dates from 1520 when it stood at the south side of St Peter’s parish church, Burnley. It was set up to commemorate a chaplain of St Peter’s church by the name of John Foldy or Foldys, and was then the town’s market cross or St Peter’s churchyard cross. In 1780 it was badly damaged by a Puritan mob, but the Towneley family rescued it and had it brought to their estate where it was repaired in a haphazard way and placed at the north-eastern side of the hall on the Avenue. In 1911 Burnley Borough Council had the cross completely restored for its Jubilee Year celebrations with various sandstone pieces added to replace sections of the cross including the plinth and set of seven steps – which are thought to be an exact copy of the original ones. The cross was then placed in its current position 300 metres to the south-east of Towneley Hall at an intersection of footpaths leading towards Todmorden road.

The original design of Foldy’s Cross was of the Gothic style which can be seen in the cross-head. It is made of sandstone and has an octagonal shaft with a moulded plinth with sunken panels. These panels contain lettering in the Gothic script. The cross-head is very nice with its decorated four arms, one of which is sunk into the shaft to support the head itself; this appears to be the original moulded head or cap with nicely carved emblems and fleurons on the collar – all typically Gothic in style. In the middle of the cross-head is a rather crude crucifix scene and on the other side the letters “IHS”. On the plinth the inscription reads in Latin:

‘Orate pro anima Johannes Foldys, capellani qui istam crucem fieri fecit Anno Domini MCCCCCXX’

— which when translated reads as, “Pray for the soul of John Foldys, chaplain who caused this cross to be made in the year of Our Lord 1520”.

The cross is now grade II listed and the English Heritage Building identity number is 467232.

References:

  1. Peace, Richard, The Curiosities of England – Lancashire Curiosities, The Dovecot Press Ltd 1997.
  2. Taylor, Henry, The Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire, Sherratt & Hughes: Manchester 1906.

© Ray Spencer, 2011


Cliviger Laithe, Worsthorne, Lancashire

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Tumulus (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 866 309

Archaeology & History

Cliviger Laithe urn

The grid reference given here is an approximation as we don’t have the exact position of the tomb that could once be seen in the fields immediately south of Cliviger Laithe farm — but it’s a pretty good approximation!  Overlooking the once proud cairn of Cliviger Law some 800 yards below to the southeast, Geoffrey Watson (1952) told us the site was “on the summit of the hill…which tailed off near Barcroft Hall,” but this area of the fields have been dug and quarried away in recent years, leaving no trace of the original tumulus that stood here.  It also appears that the discovery of the site was quite an accident, Mr Booth (1899) telling us how the urns that were unearthed here were located “while some men were engaged in digging there.”  As a result of this, we have little by way of description of the burial mound itself, but thankfully the prehistoric vase which they unearthed was kept intact.  Of this artifact Mr Booth told:

“The vase came into the possession of a Mr Roberts…who lived at the old hall near the church at Worsthorne… By the kind permission of Mr Roberts I had an opportunity of making an examination of the interesting object.  The urn itself was of a similar character to those already found in our locality* and measured 14 inches in depth, about 8 inches across the mouth, and 36 inches in circumference at its widest part… The vase “bulged” out in the middle, as these cinerary urns invariably do, and from thence it tapered down to a base of about 3 or 4 inches in diameter.  It was ornamented at the top by the usual deep collar of about 5 inches in depth, the upper and lower edges of which were ornamented (with) encircling lines… The vase contained a large quantity of calcined human bones.  Dr Dean gave as his opinion that there were the remains of two if not three human bodies, one of which was the body of a child… Besides the bones, the vases contained a quantity of charcoal and ashes, and also a very friable bone pin.”

The tomb evidently made a good enough impression on the Lancashire historian J.F. Tattersall as he took to writing a poem about the place!  It went:

In this lone cairn upon the mountain head,
On one far morning of the misty past,
The earliest wanderers o’er these moorlands cast
A kinsman’s ashes to their narrow bed.
Now we, by Nature’s kindly guidance led
By marvellous ways, through revolutions vast
Of Time, her latest children, not the last,
Gather again around the ancient dead.

References:

  1. Bennett, Walter, The History of Burnley – volume 1, Burnley County Council 1946.
  2. Booth, Thomas, Ancient Grave Mounds on the Slopes of the Pennine Range, R. Chambers: Todmorden 1899.
  3. Watson, Geoffrey G., Early Man in the Halifax District, Halifax Scientific Society 1952.

* see the Catlow urn for example

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Cliviger Law, Mereclough, Burnley, Lancashire

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Cairn (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 872 302

Also Known as:

  1. Law House

Archaeology & History

In days of olde this once proud tomb stood upright on the slopes below the more prominent Cliviger Laithe tumulus above.  But, like many of the ancient ancestral tombs of this region,  its days seem long gone.  Although we’ve found what may be some traces of the outline of the cairn (further analysis required!), when the legendary Lancashire historian Thomas Dunham Whitaker (1872) wrote about the place, he was already writing about it in the past tense.  He said briefly, that “this heap of stones was removed as materials for building a turnpike road” in 1763.  The archaeologist Bernard Barnes (1982) told us that “a cist with an inhumation was found. In 1766 another tumulus was removed and an urn found. An axe-hammer is said to have been associated” here.  The most lengthy description of this site can be found in Mr Booth’s (1899) short work where, in his summary of various prehistoric sites in this region, he told that,

“The first find recorded in this locality took place at Law House, near Mereclough, in the year 1763, when a mound was opened which covered a kistvaen, or stone cist, which, upon being opened, was found to contain a human skeleton.  The information concerning this ancient burial is very meagre, and we have no information as to who were the discoverers of the mound.  It may be noted that nearly 70 years before (in 1695) a number of Roman coins were found close to this barrow.  The mound also contained a rude earthware vase filled with calcined bones.”

It’s unlikely that the earthworks by the walling hereby represent the denuded remnants of the monument in question, although the rise in the field here may be some remnant of the place, but without further excavation we might never know for sure. However, the recent discovery of what may be remnants of the cairn in an adjacent field requires further analysis.  WATCH THIS SPACE – as they say!

References:

  1. Barnes, B., Man and the Changing Landscape, University of Liverpool 1982.
  2. Bennett, Walter, History of Burnley, volume 1, Burnley 1946.
  3. Booth, Thomas, Ancient Grave Mounds on the Slopes of the Pennine Range, R. Chambers: Todmorden 1899.
  4. Whitaker, T.D., History of the Original Parish of Whalley, London 1872.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian