Editing Chorley (section)

===Prehistory===
There was no known occupation in Chorley until the Middle Ages, though archaeological evidence has shown that the area around the town has been inhabited since at least the [[Bronze Age]].<ref name="Chorley: Historic Town Assessment Report13">{{cite book
 | author1 = Lancashire County Council and Egerton Lea Consultancy
 | author2 = English Heritage and Chorley Borough Council
 | title = Chorley: Historic Town Assessment Report
 | publisher = Lancashire County Council
 | series = Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme
 | date = February 2006
 | page = 13
 | url = http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/documents/historictowns/ChorleyComplete_LowRes.pdf
 | access-date = 15 November 2012
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120830213449/http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/documents/historictowns/ChorleyComplete_LowRes.pdf
 | archive-date = 30 August 2012
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> There are various remains of prehistoric occupation on the nearby [[Anglezarke]] Moor, including the [[Round Loaf]] tumulus which is believed to date from 3500 BC.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Anglezarke Moor Group
 | publisher = The Modern Antiquarian
 | year = 2004
 | url = http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/5568/anglezarke_moor_group.html
 | access-date = 15 November 2012 }}</ref>

A pottery [[burial urn]] from this period was discovered in 1963 on land next to [[Astley Hall (Chorley)|Astley Hall]] Farm and later excavation in the 1970s revealed another burial urn and four cremation pits dating from the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Astley Hall Farm Bronze Age Burial Site
 | publisher = The Modern Antiquarian
 | date = 26 June 2003
 | url = http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/4056/astley_hall_farm_bronze_age_burial_site.html
 | access-date = 14 November 2012}}</ref>