Woodlands,crags and sweeping Pennine views characterise this interesting walk on the fringes of urban Huddersfield. Its chief attractions are the site of a Roman Fort, an open air theatre and the curious Nab End Tower.
Getting there: M62 to junction 24. Follow A643 (Rochdale Road) to Outlane. Park just beyond village in layby by bus terminus, shop and public conveniences. A sign points to Outlane Golf Club and a lane leads under the M62. This is the start of our walk.
Distance: 5 miles approx. Easy enough, but watch the kids on Longwood Edge.
Map Reference: SE 083 177. O S Huddersfield & Marsden Pathfinder 702 Sheet SE 01/11. 1:25, 000
Rating: Walk ** Follies and General interest **
Outlane, a linear village straddling the A643 Rochdale Road, is a schizophrenic community. Sited on the long, high, ridge which separates the Calder Valley and its tributaries from the Colne Valley, it seems uncertain of its true identity. To say that local people are partisan is putting it mildly. On the one side of the road people read The Examiner and follow the fortunes of Huddersfield Town, whilst on the other side The Halifax Courier is taken, and people are more likely to be interested in developments at the Shay or Thrum Hall. Recently it was suggested that the M62 should become the boundary between the two adjacent local authorities- a move which would have put Kirklees into 'Kirklees' and Outlane into 'Calderdale'. The villagers at Outlane protested fiercely. They like the boundary where it is- running right through the village!
Outlane Golf Club stands adjacent to the cottages at Slack, where the heavy traffic of the M62 thunders along the northern boundary of the Golf Course. Few of the people who devote their weekends to golfing here will realise that they are following in the footsteps of the Roman Legions, for on the golf course at Slack once stood a small Fort, a far flung outpost of the mighty Roman Empire. No trace of the fort is visible at ground level. There is the occasional mound and the odd bank, but these 'earthworks' are more to do with golfing than with ancient occupation. To see an outline of the fort you would need an aircraft. Even when viewed from the hillside opposite there is no visible trace.
It is generally believed that the fort at Slack was constructed around AD 79-80 by Cnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman general and military engineer who, (fortunately for posterity) was the father-in-law of the Roman historian Tacitus, who gave us the only surviving account of the Roman conquest of Britain. The fort was built to defend the transpennine section of the important Roman military road connecting the legionary headquarters at Deva (Chester), with that of Eboracum (York), which hereabouts probably followed the line of the present M62 Motorway. The bleak Agricolan fort covered nearly four acres and was constructed almost entirely of earth and timber. The corners of the fort faced the cardinal points, and the ramparts, 20 feet wide, were built of turf sods resting upon an 8 feet course of stones. The enclosed area was 356 ft square. According to an inscribed stone noted in 1757 it was built by the 'Centuria of Reburrinus'. All the gates of this fort were wooden, and were for the most part flanked by wooden towers. There was a paved parade ground. Later, during the reign of Trajan, much of the fort was reconstructed in stone. To the east of the fort was a bathhouse and to the north an 'annexe'- a small civilian settlement serving the garrison. Besides keeping an eye on the turbulent Brigantes, the settlement would also have provided 'services' for weary transpennine travellers. After crossing the wild moors the little community at Slack must have been a welcome sight. If you have visited the amazingly well preserved fort at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, you will not find it too difficult to visualise the kind of settlement that once existed here, among the fairways and bunkers.
What did the Romans call their fort at Slack? Was it perhaps the elusive Cambodunum, that mysterious settlement mentioned in the Antonine Itinery as lying between Calcaria (Tadcaster) and Mancunium (Manchester)? It seems likely. Certainly the Roman altar found at Greetland (See Walk 7.) would suggest that it was sited hereabouts. Perhaps one day further discoveries may provide the answer.
Little is known about the fort's history. A tile of the ninth legion has been found, along with one with the name of the Fourth Cohort of the Breuci from Pannonia. Pevsner maintains that the fort was abandoned during the reign of Hadrian, and its garrison sent north to work on the Wall around AD 125. This may be true, but it is equally possible that the fort had a garrison right up to the withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain in the fifth century. There is no written history, and archaeology gives us but a fragmentary picture.
The fort was excavated in 1865, when the remains of stone buildings were found along with numerous stamped tiles. Various finds had been made in earlier times - an altar to Fortune for example, had been found in the bath house at Slack in 1736. The full excavation of the bathhouse revealed a hypocaust - a complete Roman underfloor heating system, and this was removed and re-rected in Greenhead Park, Huddersfield (I could not locate it- perhaps it has been moved again!). Parts of the fort - the Commandant's House for example - were never excavated.
So, haunted by the ghosts of golfers and departed Roman legionaries we proceed along Shaw Clough, following the Longwood Brook to the footbridge below Snow Lea. An interesting ascent through crags leads onto Gilead Road, and thence along the crags of Longwood Edge to the Nab End Tower.
Words cannot describe this structure. Shapeless, buttressed, a black monstrosity capped with concrete, it stands like a giant upturned flowerpot or a Pictish broch! It is constructed of drystone masonry and is an excellent example of the craft of those forgotten artisans whose work is more usually to be found in the massive retaining walls which so characterise the quarrying areas of the West Riding. A staircase with a metal bannister rail runs around the outside of the structure to a concreted viewing platform with a central metal pipe which looks as if it was intended for a flagpole.
It comes as no surprise to discover that there are various stories explaining this decidedly weird structure. According to one version it was built to commemorate the Crimean War of 1854-1856, but the tower was built in 1860-1! According to another account it was erected to the memory of Richard Oastler, that Huddersfield land agent who was the arch foe of child labour in factories and mines. Oastler died in 1861. An even less plausible explanation suggests it was erected as a latter day beacon site. A similar tower was once sited by Linthwaite Church, and the theory is that the one gave light to the other. Unfortunately the telegraph had been invented in 1858!
The true explanation is far less romantic. The tower was erected by local working folk simply for amusement and to kill time while work was slack due to a slump in trade. It was meant to be a novelty for the Longwood 'Thump' (Feast) of 1861. No architects were employed or plans made. The young men of the neighbourhood simply devoted a few summer evenings to getting stone from the disused delfs nearby, which they relayed to the site by passing the stones hand to hand along a human chain. Local neighbours provided them with money for drinks, the lads ending each evening's toil in the pub! The building of the tower was supervised by one George Hellawell, a local mason who was deaf and dumb. It is his initials and the date that are carved on a stone set into the tower. When the tower was complete the adjacent chasm was filled in, resulting in a piece of level ground capable of providing standing room for about 2000 people. A novel recreation area had been created.
An article which was printed in the Huddersfield Examiner on 17th August 1861 gives us some interesting insights into the origins of the tower:
He never did so. By the 1880's "Rambler" was reporting in articles in the Huddersfield Chronicle that the tower had become dilapidated:-
Fortunately the article awoke a response to the tower's plight. Mr. George Shaw, grandson of the original landowner, paid some unemployed workmen in the area to restore the tower to its former glory, and in 1895 he presented the tower and adjacent quarry to Huddersfield Corporation. The council have since added three buttresses to its western side to prevent collapse, and have capped the whole thing with concrete in an attempt to stave off the ravages of vandalism.
Of all the follies we have visited in this book, none of them have been as spontaneous in their nature as this bizarre structure. There was no plan, no final vision. Its construction was simply an event- a Victorian 'happening'. Stones were collected and the whole thing constructed instinctively. This singular fact must surely make the Longwood Tower unique among the architectural curiosities of Britain.
The tower is not the only structure of interest on Longwood Edge. A few yards away by the steps is an open air theatre. This was built in 1873, having been 'restored' with concrete in 1930. Why was it built? It seems likely that it too, like the tower, was associated with the annual Longwood Thump. Perhaps village pageants were performed here? It would be interesting to know the answer.
Our walk descends the steps to enter Longwood village by the War Memorial. From here the walk is predominently urban until countryside is regained at Leys Farm. A leisurely stroll through woods leads back to Slack and the start of our journey.