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AUTHOR OF THE "HI STORY OF LIVERPOOL".

WILLIAM MACKENZIE GLASGOW. EDINBURGH. LONDON * NEW V0RK

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BY

THOMAS BAINES,
MEMBER OF THE HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LAN CAS H I R E St C H E S H I R E
WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN LL.D. F.R.S.
PRESIDENT OF THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER &c.
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A LT i M 6 AST IL I

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE,
PAST AND PRESENT:
A HISTORY AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE
PALATINE COUNTIES OF LANCASTER AND CHESTER. FORMING THE
NORTH-WESTERN DIVISION OF ENGLAND,
FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE PRESENT TIME (1867).
By THOMAS BAINES,
MEMBER OF THE HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE, AND AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF LIVERPOOL
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE
RISE AND PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE, AND CIVIL AND
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN THESE DISTRICTS.
By WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN, LL.D., F.R.S.
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE ; EX-PRESID. OF THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER,
ETC., ETC.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ORIGINAL DKAWINGS BY H. WARREN, R.A,
AND A SERIES OF PORTRAITS,

VOL. I.

WILLIAM MACKENZIE, 22 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON;
LIVERPOOL, 14 GREAT GEORGE STREET; MANCHESTER, 59 DALE STREET;
LEEDS, 27 PARK SQUARE; CARLISLE, 3 EARL STREET.

FEINTED BY WILLIAM MACKENZIE, 45 & 47 HOWARD STREET, GLASGOW.

ADDRESS BY MR. THOMAS BAINES.

It is now nearly forty years since the History of the County Palatine of Lancaster was written by my
late father, Edward Baines, M.P., and it is nearly fifty years since Dr. George Ormerod's learned and
elegant History of the County Palatine of Chester was published. The Counties described in those two
excellent works are closely connected with each other, both in their political and social history, and by
their position and natural formation. Together they include the whole of the great valley of the Mersey,
which is the most populous and the richest portion of the United Kingdom, with the single exception
of the Metropolitan district. On account of their proximity to each other, and of the close connection of
many of their most important interests, the Counties of Lancaster and Chester have been united with each
other, during the whole of the present century, in the decennial census of the English people, under the
title of the " North-western Division " of England, a portion of the kingdom containing, in round numbers,
a population of three million persons, and yielding from the products of its soil, its mines, its manu
facturing industry, and its wide-reaching commerce, a yearly income of about .£50,000,000 towards the
resources of the nation. It is the object of this work to combine the history of the two counties thus
forming the North-western Division of England. In doing this, the earlier parts of the History have been
rewritten down to the periods at which Dr. Ormerod and my father completed their labours ; and the
History of both the Counties has been carefully continued to the present time. The historical portion
has also been preceded by a much fuller description of the natural history and productions of this portion
of the kingdom than has ever been before published.
, In the interval of from forty to fifty years which has elapsed since the publication of the histories of
Lancashire and Cheshire above referred to, the ancient history of the two counties has been illustrated in
almost innumerable points by the publications of the Cheetham Society, and of other societies formed in
those counties for the purpose of illustrating their earlier history. The publications of the Cheetham
Society alone — which were commenced in the year 1841— contain nearly seventy volumes of original matter
illustrative of that history. Those publications consist entirely of the contents of original manuscripts
never before published in extenso, and many of them absolutely new. The earliest of the papers thus
brought to light by the Cheetham Society commence in the twelfth century, and the series extends to the
beginning of the eighteenth century. Together they form such a mass of original and interesting materials
as was never before brought together to illustrate the early history of any one division of England. In
addition to the publications of the Cheetham Society, there" have also been many other papers illustrative
of the early history of the two counties published in the Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire
and Cheshire, the Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical and Literary Society, and in the Transactions
of the Archaeological Society of Chester. I have also had access to the historical papers collected during
many years' labour by the late Charles Okill, of Liverpool, for the purpose of writing the history of that
populous part of the County of Lancaster known as the Hundred of West Derby.
In preparing the introductory description of the Natural History of Lancashire and Cheshire, I have
availed myself of the numerous papers published during the last forty years by the most eminent writers
on the geology, the minerals, the agriculture, and the other branches of natural history connected with this
part of England. Within that period the whole history of the Lancashire Coal-field' has been written by
Mr. Edward W. Binney, and other distinguished local geologists, with a clearness which has thrown new

light, not only on the history of the formation and the deposit of coal in this district, but also in other
parts of the kingdom and in other countries. In the same period there have appeared new and original
accounts of the Salt-field of Cheshire, the iron district of Furness, and of all the principal rocks, soils, and
mineral products of the two Counties. Within the same period excellent accounts of the agriculture of
Lancashire and Cheshire have been published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Agriculture, as
well as in local works. In preparing the description of the two Counties this information has been care
fully condensed into a connected description of the natural history of the whole district.
It is also within the same period that the railway system has grown up in Lancashire, and has
extended throughout the whole kingdom, and that ocean steam navigation-has connected the ports of the two
Counties with almost every part of the Globe. The rise of these two great systems of communication has
in that period brought the industry and the personal communications of this populous district into close
connection with those of all parts of the United Kingdom, and of the whole world, and has given an
impulse, both to industry and intercourse, that was entirely unknown in former times.
Within the same period the cotton manufacture, the greatest of all branches of manufacturing industry,
has increased at least threefold, so as now to require a yearly supply of more than one thousand millions
of pounds of cotton for the employment of the mills and looms of the two Counties. In the latter part
of this period the cotton manufacture has passed through a season of the severest trial, owing to the Civil
War in America, and the sudden and violent breaking up of the system of slave labour in the cotton
districts of that country. But it has survived the terrible trials of that period ; it has succeeded in drawing
supplies of its raw material from numerous and distant countries ; and it is freed from its dangerous
dependence on a single source of supply, and on a description of labour which is rapidly disappearing
before the progress of freedom and of justice. This great branch of industry has thus escaped from
the principal perils which have long threatened its existence. The progress of this great change and
its influence, both at home and abroad, will be carefully traced in this work, along with the history
of the heroic patience with which the sufferings of the cotton district were borne, and of the noble
generosity with which they were relieved.
I shall also endeavour to trace in this work that great migration of the people from all parts of the
United Kingdom, by which the population of the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Cheshire,
as well as that of a few other districts of England, have been so rapidly increased during the last forty
years, the general result of which is, that the population of the North-western District is now four times
as great, in proportion to its area, as that of the United Kingdom in general.

TME-OBDODDT MWiiffMEE ELDWAM (BEfOT^EY STANLEY,

WILLIAM MACKENZIE, GLASGOW EDINBURGH S LONDON

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LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE
PAST AND PRESENT.

CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND NATURAL RESOURCES— GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
The object of this Work is to trace the progress of Society, Industry,
and Invention, in the populous counties of Lancaster and Chester,
forming the north-western division of England, from the earliest and
rudest ages to the present time. In carrying out this undertaking, it
will be necessary to give an account of the geographical position of
the nor£h- western district of England, with reference to the other
parts of the United Kingdom and to Foreign countries, with both of
which it is now so closely connected by the relations of trade and
commerce. It will also be requisite to describe the abundant and
varied natural resources and means of production, which a bountiful
Providence has placed at the disposal of its inhabitants, in a fertile
soil, a mild climate, a coast indented with ports and harbours, num
erous rivers and streams flowing from the lofty hills that bound it
on the east, and abundant supplies of coal and other valuable minerals.
Having described the position and the resources of this district, we
shall then trace the gradual development of those resources, by the
industry and intelligence of its inhabitants, under the various races
of men, and the different forms of society, that have successively existed
in it. We shall thus be able to show what influence the position
of the north-western district in the British islands, and on the
shores of the Atlantic ocean — combined with its natural resources,
the industry and intelligence of its inhabitants, and more general
causes, connected with the progress of the whole kingdom and with
the development of distant countries — has had in promoting its
prosperity, and in bringing together, within the narrow limits of the
two counties that compose it, a population of three millions of persons,
VOL. I. A

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

endowed by the genius of Arkwright, Watt, and their successors in
the race of mechanical and scientific discovery, with unlimited powers
of industrial production; and in there estabfishing the greatest branch
of manufacturing industry that exists in this kingdom, and a commerce
with foreign nations extending to the whole world.
Commencing with the dawn of society in this district, in times far
different from our own, we shall have to pass in review before our
readers the original inhabitants of this part of Britain, such as they
were when Agricola led the armies of Borne into the north-western
parts of Britain, in the campaign of A.D. 79. We shall find that the •
British tribes which -then inhabited this district were a rude and uncul
tured people, sprung from the Celtic branch of the great Indo-European
family of nations, long cut off from the only civilization then existing,
namely, that of Greece and Borne, by their remote position at the
extremity of the then known world, and by a stormy ocean, whose
real dangers were magnified by ignorance and superstition ; but who,
nevertheless, possessed great natural intelligence and aptitude for
acquiring the arts of civilized life * We shall also find that, even at
that time, they had sufficient skill to work mines of copper, tin, lead,
and silver, and even to extract gold from some of the ores found in
their mountains; that they understood the art of improving and
increasing the produce of the soil, by dressings of marl of various
kinds; that they tamed horses, built and armed chariots, and no
doubt made roads for them to traverse; that although they
themselves were ignorant of navigation, and possessed no larger
vessels than mere canoes, built of laths and covered with skins,
they had for many ages been willing to trade in the produce of
their mines and fields, first with the merchants of Cadiz, Tyre,
and Carthage, who visited these shores by way of the ocean; and
afterwards with the Greek colonists of Massilia — the present Mar
seilles — and with the people of Italy, who found their way to Britain,
by ascending the river Bhone from the Mediterranean, and then,
descending the Loire, the Garonne, and the Seine, to the shores of the
Atlantic.! Under the influence of Roman cultivation, we shall next see order
and civilization, though without freedom, slowly taking the place of a
stormy independence throughout the more fertile and accessible
* C. C. Tacitus' Life of Julius Agricola.
f Prichard's Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations. C. C. Tacitus' Life of Julius Agricola, c. xxi. Strabo's
Geography, Book III. Pliny's Natural History, Book III.

PAST AND PRESENT.

portions of Britain ; the British youth drafted into the Roman armies,
and shedding their blood in distant lands ; Britain governed by three
great Roman Legions, and by multitudes of auxiliary troops ; the city
of Devana, or Deya, the present Chester, occupied for nearly three hun
dred years as the head-quarters of the twentieth victorious Legion, and
the north-western district of Britain ruled by that Legion, and by
auxiliary bands of Gauls, Spaniards, Dalmatians, Noricans, Frieslanders,
and Dacians; numerous cities and towns, most of which still exist
and flourish, founded, and rising into note in all parts of the island,
including the city of Deva or Chester, Mamucium or Mancunium
(the present Manchester), Ribodunum or Ribchester, and Alauna or
Lancaster, on the banks of the rivers Dee, Irwell, Ribble, and Lune.
We shall further see military roads, which almost defy the ravages of
time, laid out with the greatest engineering skill, and run along the
valleys and over the hills of this district, and of the whole island, foi
the purpose of connecting them with that great system of military
roads, extending through all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa,
from the Euphrates and the Deserts of Libya to the borders of
Caledonia, which the Romans formed as the means of governing the
ancient world by their armies; great lines of fortification constructed
from sea to sea, to restrain the inroads of the hardy mountain tribes
whom the Romans were unable to conquer; agriculture so much
improved, that the Roman garrisons along the Rhine were frequently
fed with the harvests of Britain; the metals produced in so great
abundance as to induce some of the Roman emperors to limit the
production, in order to raise the price; the tribute paid by Britain so
much increased as to be considered an important part of the Roman
revenue; and the cruel rites of the Druids superseded, even in the
most remote parts of Britain, first, by the milder, though not purer
heathenism of Greece and Rome, and before the close of the Roman
dominion in Britain, by the fight and purity of Christain truth.*
Passing forward to another race of the inhabitants of this district,
from whom we claim to be descended, we shall see nearly all the
fruits of this early development of British and Roman civilization
swept away, after the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain, by the
internal divisions of the Britons, and by the irruption of the Angles,
Saxons, and other Germanic tribes, whose bold and independent
manners and wild fife, in their native forests and on their native
shores, had been long before described in the eloquent pages ol
* Pliny's Natural History. Itinerary of Antoninus Augustus. Tertullian's Works.

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Caesar and Tacitus, and from whom we justly claim to derive the
greater portion of our language, of our love of freedom, and the germs
of our noblest political institutions. These races, which were then the
boldest navigators and the most daring adventurers on the shores of
the ocean, we shall be able to trace gradually, and after overcoming
a most determined resistance on the part of the British people,
continued for several hundred years, spreading themselves over the
level parts of the north-western district to the Irish sea; conquering
the islands between Britain and Ireland; forcing the Britons back
into Cartmel and the Cumbrian mountains in one direction, and
beyond the river Dee in another; and occupying the whole of the
present counties of Lancaster and Chester, with their numerous septs
or tribes, whose names can be still traced in the names of existing
towns, villages, and families.4'"
Before the Angles and Saxons were firmly established in the
western parts of Britain, or were collected as one nation, but when
they had lost their original familiarity with the perils of the sea, and
their love of naval adventure; and when they were beginning to settle
themselves down to the cultivation of the soil, and other peaceful
pursuits which they have since so successfully followed — we shall find
that the coasts of the north-western district, in common with those of
the greater part of England, were overrun and conquered by another
daring race of sea rovers, known by the names of Danes and Northmen.
These Scandinavian tribes, who were in the ninth and tenth centuries
what the Saxons and Angles had been in the fourth and fifth, after
occupying all the smaller islands, from the Shetland and the Orkneys
to the Isle of Man, and even to the Scilly Islands, poured into England,
both from the east and from the west, conquering extensive districts,
including the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire, and drove the Angles
and Saxons, previously inhabiting them, into the wilder and more
inaccessible regions lying on the borders of the present counties of
Lancashire » and Yorkshire. Once established in England, we shall
find that the Danes and Northmen, continually reinforced from the
north, held their ground, even against the great Saxon kings of the
race of Alfred, and established themselves permanently along the
coasts of England, creating or reviving that love of the ocean and
that spirit of naval enterprise that have prevailed in England ever
• C. C. Tacitus on the Site, Manners, and People of Germany. C J. Cassar on the Gallic War, Book VI.
J. M. Kemble's Saxons in England. The Saxon Chronicle. Bede's History of the English Church. Life of
St. Cuthbert.

PAST AND PRESENT.

since, both in peace and war. Whilst one race of the Scandinavian
tribes crossed the Atlantic in their frail vessels, and colonized Iceland,
Greenland, and- the northern parts of America, others spread them
selves along the coasts and islands of Europe, from Britain and France
to Sicily and Naples. In the long and sanguinary conflicts between
the Danes and Saxons in this country, we shall find that Chester, the
capital of the north-west, was ruined by the Danes, was besieged by
Alfred the Great, and was reconquered and partially restored by his
son, Edward the Elder, and his daughter Ethelfleda, the Lady of the
Mercians. We shall also find that Manchester was destroyed, but
afterwards partially restored by the same Edward; that all the other
towns and villages of the district were plundered or burnt; that the
cultivation of the soil was abandoned, except in inaccessible districts;
and that the whole land, wasted and plundered by invading hordes,
was- again in danger of becoming a refuge for wild beasts. Yet
amidst all this horror and desolation, we shall still find Christanity
gaining its final triumph over the heathenism of the north, and in the
days of Olaff the Holy, and Canute, the greatest of the Danish kings
(whose names are probably preserved in Olaffs or Olive Mount near
Liverpool, as well as in numerous churches dedicated to St. Olave,
and in Knutsford, or the Ford of Canute, in the county of Chester),
giving a short breathing time to the exhausted nation*
Passing onward to another dominant race, and another form of
society, we shall find the confusion produced by more than five hundred
years of foreign ravage and internal strife, succeeded by the stern
rule of the Norman and Plantagenet kings, and the Scandinavian
sea-kings subdued or swept from the surrounding seas and islands of
Britain. Under the tyrannical but energetic administration of the
Normans, we shall see the present counties of Lancaster and Chester
ruled by great military chiefs, and secured against attack from abroad
by a military organization, which rendered the whole people available
for the purposes of national defence, both by sea and land.t During
this period some symptoms of returning prosperity will be discovered
in the forming of municipal governments, either by royal or other
charters, at Chester, Lancaster, Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan,
Preston, and other of the more ancient boroughs of the two counties.
We shall also find in this age the freeholders of the counties, and the
burgesses of Lancaster, Liverpool, Wigan, and Preston, summoned
* Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Woisaaes's Danes in England.
f Domesday Book. Chronicle of the Kings of Man, in Camden's Britannia.

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

to send members to represent them in the early parliaments of
England. In the first two hundred years o£ this period, we shall see
the earls of Chester invested with sovereign power within their own
territories, and on more than one occasion, waging open war with the .
Crown; whilst, in the next two hundred years, we shall find the
earls and dukes of Lancaster frequently in open rebellion against the
Crown, and at length successful in seizing, and even in retaining the
throne, after a long and murderous conflict, in which all the male
members of the royal house of Plantagenet, and the greater part of
the ancient nobility, were destroyed*
With the accession of the House of Tudor to the throne, we shall
see the foundations laid of agriculture, manufactures, and industry,
in this as well as in other parts of the kingdom, and shall find the
middle class coming into existence. The land, instead of being held
in a few hands, will be found to be divided amongst a greater number
of proprietors, including a numerous class of yeomen, indebted for
their lands to the confiscations of the previous civil wars, and partly to
the alienation and sale of church lands at the time of the Reformation.
In this period the condition of serfdom or villeinage entirely disappears.
The towns become more populous, Manchester and Bolton being already
flourishing manufacturing places; the coal mines of Wigan begin
ning now to be worked; Newton and Clitheroe being added to the
number of parliamentary boroughs; the salt works of Cheshire being
extensively wrought; and Liverpool and Chester having a considerable
trade in the export of woollen goods, cutlery, salt, and coal, chiefly
to Ireland, Scotland, France, and Spain, and in return, importing
considerable quantities of linen and woollen yarn, and of wine and
fruits, from the south of Europe. Although there was in this age no
direct trade from England to the newly discovered regions of America
and India, yet we shall find that there was a considerable trade with
the New World by way of Antwerp, Bruges, Cadiz, and Lisbon, all
of which places then belonged either to Spain or Portugal, and
purchased largely English manufactures for the use of the Spanish
and Portuguese colonists in America and the East. During this
period the daring navigators of England spread themselves over every
sea, both of the New and of the Old World, and prepared the way by
their discoveries for the planting of America and the trade with India, t
From the accession of the House of Stuart to the English throne,
* Baines' History of Lancashire. Ormerod's History of Cheshire ; and Hall's Chronicle.
t Hakluyt's Voyages and Travels. Camden's History of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Leland's Itinerary.

PAST AND PRESENT.

we shall see the industry and population of the north-western district,
as well as those of the whole kingdom, stimulated and extended by
the forming of flourishing British colonies on the North American
continent and in the West Indies. It was during this period that
cotton was introduced into Lancashire from the Levant by the
manufacturers of Manchester, and that a considerable trade sprung
up between Liverpool and the British colonies in America. In the
midst of this period of improvement, we shall find that many of the
fruits of peace and industry were rudely crushed, in a fierce and
often renewed struggle for power, between the King and the Parlia
ment. This contest we shall see fought out with extraordinary
obstinacy in the north-western district of England, where all the
principal towns and citieSs including Chester, Manchester, Liverpool,
Nantwich, Bolton, Wigan, Preston, and Lancaster, were frequently
besieged, and several of them taken by storm; and where several of
the most desperate battles of the war were fought by Cromwell,
James, the great earl of Derby, and other leaders on the side of the
Parliament or of the King. Yet we shall see this storm gradually
passing away, and at the time of the final downfall of the Stuarts,
the north-western division of the kingdom already entering on that
progress in commerce, arts, and industry, which it has since pursued
with such wonderful success.*
With the accession of the House of Hanover, we shall witness the
rapid development of an era of continually increasing freedom,
intelligence, industry, enterprise, and wealth. We shall see the
descendants of the various races and classes that formerly contended
for dominion, blended together into one people, possessed of well-
ascertained rights and duties ; personal, political, religious and com
mercial freedom secured by just and continually improving laws ;
. industry, knowledge, and the paths to wealth and honour open to all
men, and trod with distinguished success by many who had been
the founders of their own fortunes ; wonderful discoveries made in
mechanics, machinery, chemistry, agriculture, and the means of tran
sport and communication ; every discovery, that can in any manner
advance the arts of life, eagerly seized upon by the people of these two
counties, and perseveringly applied to the purposes of manufacture,
trade, and commerce ; the immense mineral riches of the district
* Dr George Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire and Cheshire, being vol. ii. of the Chetham Society's
Remains, Historical and Literary, connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester. Bancrofts
History of the Colonization of America.

8 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
fully developed ; innumerable applications of the mechanical powers,
kept in constant activity by the exhaustless power of steam ; canals
and railroads extending to almost every town, great or small, of the
two counties, and connecting them with every part of the kingdom ;
lines of steamers, from the ports of the north-western district, covering
the seas of Europe and the ocean ; the varied and beautiful products
of that district sought in all countries ; the population of two small
counties rapidly increasing to millions, chiefly by immigration from
all other parts of the three kingdoms ; and industry and skill rewarded
with a yearly return, which may be safely estimated at fifty naillions
sterling, including at least twelve millions paid yearly, as the wages
of labour, in the great manufacture of the district, namely, that of
cotton* We shall first describe the position and the natural resources of
the two counties of Lancaster and Chester; and shall then proceed
to trace the manner in which those resources have been gradually
developed, by the people resident in that division of the kingdom.
Geographical Position of Lancashire and Cheshire — The counties of
Lancaster and 'Chester, forming the north-western division of England,
stretch along the shores of that great gulf or bay of the Atlantic
Ocean, which is known by the name of the Irish Sea, from the river
Duddon and the mountains of Cumberland on the north, to the
river Dee and the mountains of Wales on the south. The coasts of
both these counties are level and free from rocks, and though lined
by sandbanks, are easily approached, through numerous channels,
into estuaries or arms of the sea, stretching far into the mainland.
In this respect the form and structure of the shores of Lancashire and
Cheshire differ greatly from those of the other parts of the western
coast of England, lying either to the south or to the north, which are
in general rocky, and dangerous to vessels approaching the coast.
The ports of Lancashire and Cheshire are the only ports accessible to
the large vessels used in modern commerce, between Milford Haven,
in South Wales, and the estuary of the Clyde — a coast line of about
300 miles in length. The shores of Wales are lined throughout with
lofty slate or limestone rocks, from Milford Haven to the entrance of
the river Dee. These in many places rise to the height of several
hundred feet, around deep bays, and threaten destruction to all vessels
that enter, or are driven by winds and currents, within their wide
* Miscellaneous Statistics of the United Kingdom for the year 1859, laid before the two Houses of Parliament
page 303. Returns of Property and Income Tax. 1860-61.

PAST AND PRESENT.

openings. There is a strong indraught towards this coast in westerly
and southerly winds, which renders it doubly dangerous. These bays
are then the terror of seamen, for they are open to all the prevailing
winds; and the force of those winds, joined to powerful currents and
strong tides, frequently drives vessels that may have the misfortune
to be drawn within them on the rocks. An almost equally wild and
rocky coast stretches along the shores of Cumberland, from the mouth
of the river Duddon northwards, and extends to the entrance of the
Clyde. Owing to these causes, as well as to the ease with which the
coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire are approached from the iaterior of
England, those two counties are, and ever have been, the principal
seats of the commerce that is carried on from the northern and mid
land counties of England, in a westerly direction, either with ports in
the Irish Sea, or with the more distant counties of the Atlantic.
Lancashire and Cheshire are thus the outlets of the richest and most
populous counties of England, and more especially of the districts in
which there are the most abundant supplies of coal and water power,
available for the purposes of manufacturing industry, and where an
active, industrious, and constantly increasing population, of six or
eight millions of persons, is collected. From these coasts also there is
the easiest, cheapest, and quickest communication with the western
coasts of Scotland, and with every part of Ireland. Owing to these
causes, upwards of one-third of the whole foreign trade of the United
Kingdom is now carried on from the ports of Lancashire and Cheshire.
There also assemble yearly, from all parts of the United Kingdom
and of the Continent, the numerous passengers who are continually
crossing between Europe and America, including the tens and hundreds
of thousands of emigrants, who issue from the British islands and the
continent of Europe, to spread themselves over the unoccupied regions
of America, South Africa, and Australia. Of the five millions of
emigrants who have sailed from the United Kingdom during the last
forty years, at least four millions have taken their departure from
Liverpool and Birkenhead, from which ports there is a continual
communication across the Atlantic, and even- to more distant regions,
by means of innumerable sailing vessels, and the swiftest and most
powerful lines of ocean steamers*
The Tides and Winds on the North-western Coast— The powerful
tides of the Atlantic Ocean, in approaching the western coast of
Ireland, divide into two great tidal waves, one of which enters the
* Emigration Returns, and Annual Trade and Navigation Returns, published by the Board of Trade.

VOL. I.

10 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Irish Sea, and approaches the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire from
the south, whilst the other enters the same sea, and approaches the
same coasts, from the north. These tides flow onward, until they
meet each other, twice in twenty-four hours, off the coasts of Lanca
shire, between Liverpool and Morecambe Bays, and then return in
the same direction by which they advanced from the ocean. They thus
give to the numerous vessels approaching to, or sailing from these
coasts, the choice of approaching or leaving the ports of Lancashire
and Cheshire, in either direction, and with different winds, Vessels
can thus either approach or leave by the southern or the northern
channel. This choice of course into and out of port is very con
venient at all times ; and formerly, when we were continually involved
in wars with France, Spain, and Holland, the northern passage into
Liverpool was found much more secure, for vessels sailing to or from
the Lancashire ports, than the southern passage, which led them down
St. George's Channel, and within a short distance of the continental
coasts. Happily, this reason for using the northern instead of the
southern "channel has not existed for the last fifty years, and it is to
be hoped that it will not exist again; but independent of that, there
are many other causes which render the possession of a double line
of approach to, and of departure from, this part of the coast of
England, a great advantage to trade and shipping.*
The tides of the Atlantic, in rushing along the shores of Cheshire
and Lancashire, enter numerous large estuaries on the coasts of the
two counties, raising the water rapidly, in those estuaries, to the height
of upwards of thirty-three feet above dead low water of spring tides,
or of sixteen to twenty feet above what is called the datum, or level,
of the Old Dock sill at Liverpool, a point, at the entrance of the earliest
dock formed at that port, from which the rise of the tides is usually
calculated in the estuary of the Mersey. These tides flow many miles
inland, creating a moving force twice in twenty-four hours, up and down
the streams, and furnishing a sufficient depth of water, and a motive
power capable of conveying vessels at least twenty miles into the
interior. Nearly all the more ancient ports of the two counties are
situated at a distance of fifteen to twenty miles from the open sea.
At that distance the small vessels used in former times could be
anchored in the stream, or even laid up on the beach, without any
great danger of being wrecked or beaten to pieces by the fury of
the waves. But in modern times, as vessels of a much larger class,
* Admiralty Chart of St. George's Channel.

PAST AND PRESENT. H

some of them of the burden of 2000 and 3000 tons, or even of greater
size and draught of water, have come into use, the principal ports of
the two counties have been formed at the entrance of the estuaries,
where the water is deepest. There the vessels frequenting those
ports are secured against the fury of winds and waves, tides and
currents, by the forming of artificial harbours or docks, in which
they lie in perfect safety, even in the terrible storms that frequently
sweep along those coasts.
The winds along the western coast of Great Britain blow from the
Atlantic towards the land during the greater part of the year, yet
with frequent changes in their direction. It appears from a careful
record of the direction of the winds on each day of the year, during
a period of six years, made at the Liverpool Observatory, that the
N.W. winds blew on the average for one hundred and twelve days in
the year, with a force represented by a speed of fifteen miles an hour ;
that the S.W. winds blew seventy-seven days, with a force of nearly
fourteen miles an hour; that the S.E. winds blew for one hundred
and sixteen days, with a force of eleven miles an hour ; and that the
N.E. winds blew sixty days in the year, with an average force of eight
miles an hour. A longer series of observations on the direction of the
winds, made at Manchester, gives the following results: — Between
the years 1849 and 1861, the direction of the wind throughout the
year, at eight o'clock in the morning, on an average of the whole period,
was, W., 115-8 days; S., 105'8; E., 78'0 ; and N, 68"0. In some
years the westerly and southerly winds are much more prevalent
and powerful. Thus in 1854 the wind blew from the N.W., during
one hundred and thirty-eight days, with the average velocity of more
than seventeen miles an hour, and from the S.W. eighty-nine days, with
an average velocity of nearly fifteen miles an hour. On the whole,
there is a considerable prevalence of southerly and westerly winds, but
the northerly and easterly winds are sufficiently frequent to answer
all purposes of navigation. Occasionally, in the spring months, the
easterly winds blow so long as to be inconvenient to commerce and
shipping, by keeping large fleets out at sea; but this is not a frequent
occurrence. From the greater strength and prevalence of the winds
blowing from the W. and S., the average time in which the best
sailing vessels make the voyage from America to Europe — or rather,
from New York to Liverpool— is about twenty-one days, whilst the
average voyage from Liverpool to New York is about thirty-five days.
The powerful steamers that now cross the Atlantic perform the voyage

12 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ;
both ways, in from ten to twelve days, according to the direction of
the winds at different seasons.
The above figures show the force and velocity of the winds that
usually prevail on the coast of Lancashire and Cheshire ; but in
great gales from the N.W. and the S.W., they sometimes move at
the rate of forty miles an hour, and in a great storm in 1852, the
wind rushed over sea and land at the rate of seventy-one miles an
hour — a speed surpassing that of the swiftest railway train.
The Ports, Harbours, and Estuaries of Lancashire and Cheshire. —
Each of the estuaries on the coast of Lancashire and Cheshire receives
one or more considerable rivers from the interior, and is- the natural
outlet of a great valley or district of country, extending from thirty
to ninety miles into the interior. The navigation of some of these
rivers has been much improved by art, and has been rendered avail
able for the purposes of intercourse with the interior. In some
cases the rivers and estuaries are the outlets and inlets of the
trade and commerce, not only of large districts in the counties in
which they are situated, but also of much larger portions of the
kingdom. The river Mersey, especially, may be regarded as the
gate through which nearly all the commerce, and all the personal
intercourse of England and the northern countries of Europe with
America, is now carried on.*
The first great opening on the coast of Lancashire, commencing
from the north, is that formed by the deep and wide bay of More-
cambe — a grand natural object, which still bears the name that it bore
seventeen hundred years ago, when it was described in the Geography
of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria. This beautiful bay receives the
tides from the south, and is divided at the north into the estuaries of
the Duddon, the Leven, and the Kent. It also contains the safe and
commodious natural harbour of the Pile of Fouldry, long a place of
refuge in stormy weather for vessels frequenting these seas.
The estuary of the Duddon, like the beautiful river of the same
name, is the boundary between the counties of Lancaster and
Cumberland. Borwick harbour lies near the entrance, on the Cumber
land side of the stream, and the river is navigable for small vessels
as high as Broughton in Furness. There are shipping places near
Broughton, and also near Kirkby Ireleth, and at other places, for the
copper and iron ore, the slates, the larch and fir timber, and the sheep
and cattle of Higher Furness. The cotton and coal used at the
* Annual Trade and Navigation Returns, published by the Board of Trade.

PAST AND PRESENT. 13

Broughton mills, and the coal, as well as the colonial and foreign pro
duce consumed in this district, were formerly brought into it entirely
by sea. But this part, and indeed the whole of the Furness district,
is now well supplied with railways, and has cheap railway carriage, as
well as water carriage, to all parts both of Lancashire and of Cum
berland. The valley or watershed of the Duddon extends over an
area of 117 square miles. Nearly the whole district, through which
the river flows, is covered with lofty mountains, and is very thinly
peopled.* The harbour of the Pile of Fouldry lies to the east of Duddon Sands.
It forms part of a long, but not very wide arm of the sea, running
between the mainland of Lower Furness and the island of Walney,
which is about eight miles in length, and lies parallel to the coast.
It is a perfectly safe and land-locked harbour, of considerable extent,
protected from the waves and the storms of the Irish Sea by Walney
Island, which rises like a breakwater, sheltering it on the west and
the south. To the north and east, it is protected either by other small
islands, or by the coast of Furness, which here rises into lofty banks,
and also by the more distant range of mountains that extends across
Higher Furness, from Black Combe in Cumberland to the Fells at
the head of Windermere.
There are two light-houses on Walney Island at the entrance of
the harbour, which is approached through a deep narrow channel,
between Walney Island and the shoals of Foulney Island. The isle
of Fouldry, with the ruined Pile or Peel — a castle of the fourteenth
century, from which the harbour takes its name — is near the entrance.
which it formerly commanded. There are also several other small
islands; the names of the principal ones being Walney, Foulney,
Fouldry, Barrow, and Roe Islands. Within the last few years a
steam-boat pier has been built on Roe Island, which is now connected
with the mainland by the embankment of the Furness Railway,
extending from Rampside to the island. By means of this railway
there is an easy communication inland, from the harbour of the Pile
of Fouldry to the beautiful ruins of Furness Abbey, four or five miles
distant, to the iron mines of Dalton and Lindale, and to many points
in the Lake district, as well as to more distant parts.
But the principal commerce of this district is now at Barrow, a
rising town, higher up the strait that divides the isle of Walney from
* Ordnance Survey, Lancashire; Report on Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales, with a Table of Rivers
and their Watershed. Parliamentary Returns.

14 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Furness. Barrow is the nearest point on the sea-coast to the rich
haematite iron mines of Furness. The greater part of the iron ore
that is raised in this district is shipped at Barrow, whence it is
forwarded to Liverpool, Runcorn, and Chester, to be sent into
Staffordshire, there to be smelted with the poorer iron ores of that
district. Barrow is also becoming an important place for the smelting
of iron and the making of steel, having great facilities for those
purposes, owing to its vicinity to the iron mines of Furness and the
coal mines of Cumberland. There is a pier at Barrow for the shipping
and landing of iron ore, coal, and other articles; and a branch of the
Furness Railway gives every facility for land carriage, both to the
Cumberland coalfields, and into South Lancashire. *
To the east of the harbour of Pile of Fouldry is the estuary of the
Leven. This is navigable for moderate-sized steamers and smaller
vessels to Ulverstone, the chief port and town of Furness. A wide
and deep canal, about half a mile in length, has been formed from the
sea to the town, with a convenient basin for the loading and discharging
of vessels. Ulverstone, like Barrow, has a large trade in iron ore, as
well as in timber, slates, and other articles. There are also cotton
mills and iron furnaces in and around the town, and there is a very
easy and cheap access to the Lake district by the steamers that ply
between Liverpool and Ulverstone. Higher up the Leven there are
also manufactories of cotton and iron, and an extensive gunpowder
manufactory. The river Crake flows into the Leven above Ulver
stone, and has a shipping pier at Greenodd. The Furness Railway
has recently been carried across the estuaries of the Kent, the Leven,
and the Duddon, forming the head of Morecambe Bay, and it now
gives the whole of this district, what it never possessed before, an
easy and safe communication with the other parts of Lancashire.
Proceeding to the east side of Morecambe Bay, we find Port
Morecambe, formerly known as Poulton on the Sands, where a
commodious pier has been erected, from which a steamboat com
munication is kept up with Belfast and the north of Ireland.
This is now a terminus of the great railway system of the Midland
Railway Company, which extends over nearly the whole of Eng
land, and, by a system of railway alliances, over great part of
Scotland. Further south is the pleasantly situated village of Heysham, where
a pier is in course of construction.
The entrance to the Lune is at Glasson, where there is a convenient
* The new docks of the Furness Railway Company were opened September 19, 1867.

PAST AND PRESENT. 15

dock, and from that point vessels of considerable size proceed up to
Lancaster. The Lune is the outlet of a beautiful and fertile valley,
extending over an area of 434 square miles ; but the river is not
.navigable for any distance above Lancaster, and there is neither coal,
iron, nor any other mineral of much value, found in the neighbour
hood. The trade of Lancaster is therefore small, although there are
a few cotton mills in and around the town. Lancaster may be
regarded as the principal terminus of the Midland Railway in this
direction , it also stands on the great line of railway communication
between Scotland and Lancashire.
Further to the south is the estuary of the Wyre, with the port of
Fleetwood. The entrance of the harbour is from Lune Deeps, through
a channel lying between extensive sand-banks. After passing the
town of Fleetwood the estuary widens, and forms one of the best
, harbours in Lancashire. But there are no manufactures in the
immediate neighbourhood, nor any minerals of value; and the
principal occupation of the harbour of Fleetwood is in affording
a quick and easy communication, by steamers, between the north of
Ireland, the west of Scotland, and the manufacturing districts of
Lancashire and Yorkshire. New works, for the fuller development
of the port, are in course of construction, with the support of
the London and North-western and the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway Companies. The valley or watershed of the Wyre extends
over an area of 179 square miles.
From Rossall Point to the river Ribble the coast is generally bold,
consisting of lofty earth-banks, without any bays or creeks. On one
of the boldest parts of this coast, the watering place of Blackpool
is rapidly increasing in population, and improving in beauty. A very
long and handsome pier has recently been constructed, which affords
great convenience for boats and yachts, besides forming a pleasant
promenade for visitors. Blackpool is now connected with the interior
by railway, and is likely to become one of the most favourite
watering places on the north-western coast of England.
The entrance to the river Ribble is wide, but shaUow; through
great sand-banks, which prevent the entrance of large vessels But
there is a considerable steamboat communication with Ireland from
the port of Preston. A new pier has recently been erected at
Lytham, on the north bank of the Ribble. The lights at the entrance
of the river are visible at a distance of ten miles. The valley ol
the Ribble covers an area of 501 square miles; and upon it and its

16 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
tributaries are situate the flourishing towns of Preston, Clitheroe,
Colne, Burnley, Blackburn, Wigan, and Chorley. But the foreign trade
of those places is chiefly carried on through the port of Liverpool.
To the south of the Ribble is Southport, the largest and most
flourishing watering-place in Lancashire, and rapidly becoming one
of the handsomest and best built towns in the county. Southport
is so easily accessible from Manchester, Liverpool, and all parts
of South Lancashire, as to have become the habitual residence of
numerous families, connected with those places. The new streets
are laid out with great taste, and many of the public buildings and
houses are very handsome. A long and commodious pier has recently
been erected, which adds very much to the advantages of Southport
as a pleasant place of resort. Further south is Waterloo, now almost
a marine suburb of Liverpool.
The town and port of Liverpool, and the estuary of the Mersey,
are approached from the sea, through Liverpool Bay, which extends
from Formby Point to the north-western point of the peninsula of
Wirral. This is now the greatest port in the world, in point of trade,
having a larger commerce even than London, New York, or any other
of the great seaports of modern times.
The main entrance to the river Mersey is through the Victoria
Channel, where there is a depth of fifteen to eighteen feet; and
through the Queen's Channel, where there is a depth of ten or twelve
feet, at dead low water of spring tides.* Once past the bar the
river widens and deepens, and presents a magnificent estuary, with
deep water for a distance of five or six miles from the mouth, and
a width varying from one to three, or four miles.
The estuary of the Mersey possesses all the advantages of a large
natural harbour, well sheltered from the most dangerous winds, with
an entrance deep and wide enough to admit the largest vessels, an
area of several thousand acres of water space, and sufficient depth
of water for vessels to ride at anchor, in every state of the tide.
All the estuaries of Lancashire and Cheshire are more or less
valuable for the purposes of navigation. There is sufficient depth
in all for vessels engaged in the coasting trade, including under that
name the trade with Scotland and Ireland. In three of them there
is sufficient depth of water for large vessels, at all tides; namely, in
the Wyre at Fleetwood, the Pile of Fouldry, and the river Mersey.
* Report on the present state of the Navigation of the River Mersey, 1866, by Admiral George Evans, Acting
Conservator of the River.

PAST AND PRESENT. 17

The Mersey forms one of the best natural harbours in England, in
point of shelter, extent, and depth of water. It has also been improved
by all the resources of art, at the cost of many millions.* In the
Mersey there is sufficient depth of water to receive the largest
merchant ships, and even the greatest line-of-battle ships, now in
existence. Indeed, the largest vessel ever built, namely, the Great
Eastern, of upwards of 16,000 tons, lay at anchor in the river Mersey
for several months. In general, the largest ships engaged in the
ocean trade sail from the river Mersey, and make it their ordinary
place of resort.
We shall give an account of the docks of Liverpool and Birkenhead,
forming the artificial harbour of the river Mersey, when we come to
describe the numerous public works that have been constructed in the
north-western district, for the purpose of facilitating internal and
external communication. At present we may merely state, that they
are the greatest works of the kind ever constructed for commercial
purposes. The trade carried on through them is worthy of their
extent. The number of vessels of all classes that enter the port of
Liverpool every year is from 20,000 to 30,000, with a burden of
5,000,000 to 6,000,000 tons. The value of the cargoes of all kinds
which they convey into or out of the port is about £150,000,000
sterling. One half of all the British manufactures exported to other
countries are shipped at the port of Liverpool, t
The valley or watershed of the river Mersey extends over an area
of 1706 square miles, including the greater part of the counties of
Lancaster and Chester.J Nearly the whole of the coal-field of the
two counties, as well as the salt-field of Cheshire, hes on the three
great rivers, Irwell, Mersey, and Weaver, which, with numerous
smaller streams, flow into the estuary of the Mersey. In this great
valley or watershed stand the city of Manchester, the port of Liver
pool, the towns of Bolton, Leigh, Haslingden, Bacup, Bury, Rochdale,
Middleton, Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Warrington, Stockport,
Staleybridge, Hyde, Macclesfield, Congleton, Nantwich, Northwich,
Runcorn, and Birkenhead — places containing, with the intervening
districts, upwards of 2,000,000 of inhabitants, and furnishing a large
portion of the exports of England.
* Annual Reports of Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, laid before Parliament.
f Returns of Vessels and Tonnage, &c, of Twelve principal Ports of the United Kingdom: Parliamentary
Paper, 1865.
X List of Rivers and Watershed of Valleys in Report on Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales, laid before
Parliament, Session of 1861.
VOL. I. C

18 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

The means of communication from Liverpool and Birkenhead to
other parts of the kingdom are numerous and perfect. From the
Northern Docks of Liverpool the railway systems of the Lancashire
and Yorkshire and the East Lancashire Companies extend, more or
less directly, to all the great towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire;
and from this point also extends into the interior the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal, more than 140 miles in length, which forms a means
of water carriage from the Irish Sea to the navigable rivers that flow
into the German Ocean. From the Central and Northern Docks of
Liverpool the great system of railways of the London and North
Western Company now extends to the metropolis, and to a large
portion of the kingdom, through a course of 1200 miles in length.
From the Southern Docks the systems of the Manchester and Sheffield,
the Great Northern, and the Midland Companies, extend over a large
part of the northern, central, and eastern counties of England. Most
of these railways are now connected with each other, and with every
part of the docks, by lines of railways encircling the town, or tunnels
running through it. From Birkenhead the railway systems of the
Great Western, and the London and North Western Companies,
extend over the greater part of the west-midland and western counties
of England, and over the principality of Wales ; whilst the Hoylake
Railway, besides opening the peninsula of Wirral, will no doubt be
carried by extensions, across the river Dee, into the coal district of
Flintshire and Denbighshire, and along the Welsh border. Higher
up the river, at Garston, which is rapidly becoming a place of trade,
the St. Helens Railway extends over one of the richest coal-fields of
Lancashire ; and the London and North Western Railway Company,
to which that line now belongs, is exerting itself to develope the
resources of that rising place. Still higher up the river, the new
town of Widness, and the very ancient town of Runcorn, are rapidly
increasing in population and wealth, partly from the advantages
which their position gives them for carrying on manufactures in
which salt and coal are extensively employed, and partly from their
position on the great lines of inland water communication, which
terminate at one or other of those places. They are also about to
be connected with each other, and to be brought on to the main line
of railway between Liverpool and London, by means of the lofty and
commanding railway bridge, across the Mersey, at Runcorn, which
is nearly completed, and when finished, will so far shorten and
improve the route between Liverpool and London, as to render

PAST AND PRESENT. lg

it practicable for the express trains to make the journey between
those places in four hours.
Descending the Mersey on the Cheshire side, the river Weaver
connects the port of Liverpool with the Cheshire salt-field, at North-
wich and Winsfbrd. Still lower down, at Ellesmere Port, there is
a communication by inland water carriage with Chester, and with
all the interior districts of Cheshire, Shropshire, Denbighshire, and
Montgomeryshire. The ferries, by means of which many millions of
persons cross the Mersey every year, commence on the Cheshire side
at Eastham, and extend along the west bank of the river, by New
Ferry, Rock Ferry, Tranmere, Birkenhead, Woodside, Seacombe,
Egremont, and New Brighton to the sea. On the Lancashire side of
the river, the ferries from St. George's Pier and Toxteth Park keep up
an incessant communication (one of them, that to Woodside, worked
by the commissioners of Birkenhead, throughout the night, as well as
during the day) with the Cheshire shore. In addition to these
numerous ferries across the Mersey, plans have for some time been
under discussion for uniting Liverpool and Birkenhead with each
other, either by means of a high level railway bridge, or of a tunnel
or tunnels under the bed of the river. It is said that nothing
is now impossible to the skill of engineers of the class of those whose
names are connected with the proposed undertakings, and we may
therefore venture to hope, that after full inquiry and consideration,
a plan will be adopted which will carry out the object of thoroughly
uniting the two halves of the great system of docks now under the
management of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board ; the railway
systems on both sides of the river, with each other and with the
whole of the docks; of giving Birkenhead, and the whole Cheshire
shore, a certain entrance into Liverpool under all circumstances of
wind, tide, and atmosphere; and of affording to -the crowded popu
lation of Liverpool the unspeakable advantage of spreading itself
freely over the healthy hills and coasts of the peninsula of Wirral,
One of the most beautiful and attractive districts of Cheshire. The
great works of the Birkenhead Docks, which we shall describe fully,
along with all the other principal public works of Lancashire and
Cheshire, in a subsequent part of this work, are now open to the
commerce of the world, and with those of Liverpool form the largest
and most perfect artificial harbour ever constructed by human skill.
Before leaving the shores of the Mersey, it will be well to describe
the grand operation of nature, by which this port is kept open by

20 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

the action of the tides, notwithstanding the continually threatening
encroachments of the sand-banks which surround its entrance. On
the greater part of this coast the sand-banks rise above the level of
the sea, at low water, in some places and at particular tides, to the
height of from thirty to thirty-three feet. At low water the approach
to the port is by narrow channels, running through these sand-banks.
All these channels become nearly dry when the tide is out, except
the Queen's Channel and the Victoria Channel, the former of which,
as already mentioned, has a depth of ten or twelve feet over the
Queen's Channel bar, and the latter one of from fifteen to eighteen
feet over the inner and outer bars of the Victoria Channel, at the
lowest spring tides. At low water of spring tides, the only approach
for vessels entering the Mersey is through these narrow channels,
which then appear to be nearly dry ; but no sooner does the tide begin
to rise than the channels fill, and are suddenly changed into large
arms of the sea, through which the tide flows with great rapidity,
and in a stream deep enough to enable the largest vessels to enter
in safety. These sand-banks have all been raised from the bottom of the
sea by the action, of its waters, and the general effect of the
movement of the sea is to raise them still higher, and either to
close the ports altogether, or to render them incapable of receiving
large vessels. This has already occurred in the estuaries of the
Ribble and the Dee, which Would be amongst the finest harbours
in England, if it were not for the continual encroachments of the
sands. Happily this is not the case either in the river Mersey,
in the river Wyre, or in the narrow passage that leads into the
harbour of the Pile of Fouldry. The entrances to these three
harbours are all comparatively narrow, the water spreading out
over a wide area • after it has entered the harbours, and in its
rapid passage in and out, clearing away the sand that would other
wise choke up their entrances, as it has done the wider entrances
into the Ribble and the Dee.
According to the calculations and observations of Admiral Den-
ham, R.N., who carefully surveyed the coasts of Lancashire and
Cheshire, the quantity of tidal water that enters the estuary of
the Mersey at spring tides, is 774,000,000 of cubic yards ; and
at neap tides, 299,000,000; making an average of 535,000,000
cubic yards of water. The vertical rise of the tide, at the
entrance of the Mersey, is from thirty to thirty-three and a half

PAST AND PRESENT. 21

feet at the highest spring tides, and the tide flows through the
narrowest part of the river, between Seacombe and Prince's Dock,
at a rate varying from four and a half to five and a half miles per
hour. At high tide the immense mass of water brought into the
wide basin of the Mersey is received into a great natural reservoir,
presenting the appearance of a lake, twenty miles in length, and
from two to five miles in breadth. No sooner does the tide turn,
than this vast mass of water begins to flow back towards the sea,
carrying along with it the fresh water that has been brought down
by rivers and streams from the interior. At first its motion is
slow, but the momentum increases as the mass of water descends
towards the sea, and it finally rushes through the narrowest part
of' the estuary, opposite to Seacombe and the town of Liverpool,
at a rate of between five and six miles an hour. Owing to the
force of the tide there is scarcely any deposit of sand in this part
of the river, where the rocks on the side of the stream are quite
bare at low water of spring tides. After flowing rapidly through
this narrow channel, this great natural sluice, charged with hundreds
of millions of cubic yards of water, not only scours out the harbour,
but strikes upon the sand-banks, at the entrance of the river, with
sufficient force to clear a passage into the sea, in which passage
there is never less than ten or twelve feet of water, and generally
sufficient to admit the largest ships. Such is the natural process by
which the harbour of the Mersey and the channels leading into it
have hitherto been kept open, and by which they may be kept open
for ages to come, if nothing be done in the interior of the river to
diminish the immense stream of water which the rising and falling
tides force through the passage, four times in every twenty-four
hours, or about fourteen hundred times in every year.
A survey was made of the river Mersey, from the entrance up to
Runcom, in the year 1857, for the purpose of ascertaining whether
any changes had taken place since the time of a previous survey,
made in the year 1822. Within that period great extensions have
been made in the sea-walls of the Liverpool Docks, and an entirely
new sea-wall of great extent has been constructed at Birkenhead.
Several piers and other works had also been constructed, on the
Cheshire side of the river, rendering it desirable to ascertain whether
any effect, either beneficial or injurious, has been produced on the
harbour or its entrances. The general result of the survey of 1857
was to show, that the course of the great tidal wave, which flows

22 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
four times every twenty-four hours through the port and harbour,
at flood and ebb tide, had become much stronger and more direct
than it was at the time of the survey of 1822. When the former
of these surveys was made, the Queen's Channel and the Victoria
Channel, which now form the main entrance into the Mersey, and
run right through the middle of the sand-banks, either did not exist
at all, or were so much shallower as to be useless for the purposes of
navigation. It was found, at the survey of 1 85 7, that the tidal current
is now more concentrated in these channels, and that consequently
their depth is much greater. Within the river a similar change was
found to have taken place. The tidal wave now flows in a much
straighter line — a circumstance that gives greater force and speed to
the current, at its entrance into the river, and up and down the
stream. While the main stream of the tide through the channel,
harbour, and estuary of the Mersey has thus become straighter
and more direct, the channels, harbour, and estuary have all
become deeper. Within the harbour soundings were made, com
mencing at a point, at the entrance of the river, one hundred and
fifty yards north of the jetty at New Brighton, and extending
up the river, for twenty miles, as far as Runcorn. By means of
these soundings the depth of the Mersey, from bank to bank, was
ascertained at forty-one different points, and the result in all cases,
except one or two, was to show that there had been a considerable in
crease of depth, between the time of the survey of 1822 and that of
1857. From the mouth of the river to Dingle Point, the increase
of depth varied from seven to ten feet in and near the navigable
channel. It was not so great above that point; but even there
it was considerable. In addition to this increase of depth there
was also an increase of six per cent., in the area of water surface,
in the upper part of the river, extending from the narrowest part
of the stream, between Prince's Dock and Seacombe, to Ince, a
distance of ten miles up the estuary. Whilst the quantity of
tidal water that enters the river had increased, the rate at which
it flows out with the receding tide had also become greater. The
observed inclination on the surface of the ebbing tide, above the
narrows at Seacombe and Prince's Dock, is 1 in 13,000; below
Seacombe it is 1 in 6000, showing that Seacombe acts as a dam,
from its narrowness and the shallowness of the water. The depth
of the river at Seacombe is only sixty-three feet, whilst opposite
to New Brighton, two miles lower down the stream, it is ninety-

PAST AND PRESENT. 23

three feet, and opposite to Woodside, one mile above Seacombe,
eighty feet. Seacombe may therefore be considered as the throat
or gorge of the Mersey, so far as the navigation is concerned, both
as being the narrowest part of the river, and also as having a
bottom or bed of rock, which the current, though powerful, cannot
remove. Experiments have shown that the velocity of the current,
opposite to Seacombe, is five and a half miles per hour with high
tides, and four and a half with ordinary spring tides, which is one
mile more than was observed either above or below the Seacombe
"narrows. At neap tides the acceleration of the current is about
half a mile per hour opposite Seacombe, its speed at that time
being two miles per hour. According to Captain Lord's chart of
1849, the velocity of the stream at high tides, in the Seacombe
narrows, was five and a quarter miles.
The above increase in the depth and straightness of the tides-
that flow through the harbour of Liverpool, is attributed to the
great increase that has taken place in the length of the sea-walls,
on both sides of the river. In 1822, the length of the sea-wall
on the Liverpool side of the river was about 3000 yards, or less
than two miles ; whilst in 1857, the length of the wall was
9700 yards, or upwards of five miles. Since 1857, the sea-wall on
the Liverpool side has been still further extended, and now reaches
down to Seaforth, which is outside the river. On the west or
Cheshire side of the river, an entirely new sea-wall has been built
between 1822 and 1857, for the protection of the Birkenhead Docks ;
and subsequently a -sea-wall has been carried down, on the Cheshire
side of the river, as far as Egremont. The result of these immense
works has been to narrow the entrance of the river, and to give
both additional strength and greater directness to the course of the tide.
In 1857, the width of the river was 1800 yards at its mouth, opposite
the Rock Fort, and about 980 yards at the narrows between Sea
combe Ferry pier and the north end of Prince's Dock pier. The
width also of the reclaimed area taken from the river was much
greater at the entrance than higher up the stream, being 900 yards
wide at the Bootle or north end, near the entrance of the river, and
not more than 330 yards at the Prince's Basin. The northern
inclosures or reclamations at the entrance of the river, in 1857,
formed an area of 560 acres; whilst the southern inclosure
or reclamation was only about eighty acres. Since 1857, the
works have been carried on to a great additional extent, and more

24 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

especially, Bootle Bay, which formerly received the. advancing and the
receding tides, has been almost entirely inclosed, and covered with
new works and docks. The effect of this inclosure must have
been, not only to give a straighter line to the currents that flow
into and out of the river, but also greatly to strengthen their force,
by narrowing the passage.
Whilst the main channel that leads directly into the river Mersey
has thus been deepened, the side channels have become shallower,
and the banks have become higher. Between 1822 and 1857, the
width of the Rock Channel narrowed from 1300 feet to 400
feet in width. In the same period, the main entrance to the Horse
Channel, between the Dove's Spit and the North Spit, narrowed
from 1200 yards to 700 yards. The Hoylake Channel into the river
Dee, where there used formerly to be sufficient depth of water
for large vessels, and where a frigate lay during the French war,
is almost filled up. There was formerly four feet at low water of
spring tides; and in 1357 it dried sixteen feet at those tides,
being a difference of twenty-two feet.*
The estuary of the Dee is the last great arm of the sea of
which we shall have to speak. For many ages the city of Chester,
the chief place on its banks, was ' the seat of the principal trade
then existing in the north-western division of England ; and Chester
has still a considerable trade, though small in comparison with
that of Liverpool. This is in some degree owing to the shallowing
of the river Dee from the irruption of immense sand-banks, which
have filled the greater part of the ancient estuary, and reduced the
passage into the port of Chester to a narrow and . not very deep
channel. At high tides large vessels can still get up to Chester,
but not when the tides are low.
The form of the entrance of the river Dee is altogether different
from that of the river Mersey. In the Mersey, a narrow passage
leads into a wide, long, and deep basin. In the Dee, a wide
entrance leads into a narrow channel. From this difference of
form, the sand enters more freely into the Dee than into the
Mersey, and the returning tide of the Dee has not the power to
force it back into the sea. In former times almost the whole
trade between the north of England and Ireland was carried on,
either by way of Chester, or of Parkgate, lower down the estuary of
* Report to the Corporation of Liverpool by J. Walker and J. B. Hartley, Esqs., Civil Engineers, on the river
Mersey. 1857.

PAST AND PRESENT. 25

the Dee, to which place vessels had then easy access ; but Parkgate
has now only water for fishing vessels, and the trade of Ireland is
carried on from Liverpool and Holyhead. It is proposed, and powers
have been obtained, to construct a pier at Talacre, at the south
entrance of the river Dee— a position where there is deep water,
and excellent railway communication with Chester, and which
stands on the edge of a rich mineral district.
Such are the principal ports and harbours on the coasts of
Lancashire and Cheshire. They vary greatly in the extent of
their accommodation, and the amount of' their trade. But all
of them have a considerable coasting trade ; three of them are
well adapted for foreign commerce; the port of Liverpool has a
larger and more valuable trade, not only than any port in England,
but than any in the world, surpassing that of London, New York, or
New Orleans in the combined value of its exports and imports, and
doubling its trade, vast as it already is, in less than twenty years.
It is, in fact, the great port of communication between the Old and
the New World.*
Having thus described the ports and harbours, by means of which
the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire communicate with foreign
countries, we shall proceed to state what are the natural resources
existing within the limits of the two counties, from which they derive
the means of carrying on so vast a trade. We shall commence with
an account of their soil, climate, vegetable and animal products ; we
shall next give a more detailed account of the sources of their great
mineral wealth ; and these we shall accompany with an account of
their rivers, and their facilities for carrying on manufactures. But
before doing this, we shall say a few words on the subject of the
sea-fisheries on the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Sea-fisheries of Lancashire and Cheshire. — All the seas
around the British islands abound in fish of various kinds, some
of them being found in shoals of unknown millions in number.
The British seas are in general of moderate depth. Between
England and the continent of Europe the average depth of the
German Ocean is not more than ninety feet, and one-fifth of it is
occupied by banks, which are always being added to by the muddy
deposits of the rivers on both sides. In extent these banks are
equal to the area of Ireland, and to these banks the animals of the
ocean chiefly resort. On the west side of England, St. George's
* Official Declared Value of Imports and Exports, 1865.
VOL. I. D

26 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
Channel and the Irish Sea present another immense basin, well
sheltered from the storms of the ocean, of moderate depth, and full
of the refuse brought by numerous rivers both from England and
Ireland. The whole of the Irish Channel, from the coasts of Lanca
shire and Cheshire to those of Ireland, is full of fish ; but the Irish
Sea is divided into two tolerably equal parts by the Isle of Man.
The Lancashire and Cheshire fishermen carry on their operations,
either amongst the banks on the coast, or in the deep trawling
grounds between the Lancashire coast and the Isle of Man, sometimes
going southward into Carnarvon and Cardigan Bays. The Manx
fishermen carry on their operations chiefly around their own island;
whilst the Dublin, Howth, and other Irish fishermen, fish in the seas
between the Irish coast and the Isle of Man.
It appears from a report recently laid before Parliament, that the
fishing grounds around Great Britain are of great and rapidly increas
ing value. We are told, in this report, that the most frequented
fishing grounds are much more prolific of food than the same extent
of the richest land. Once in a year an acre of good land, it is said,
carefully tilled, produces a ton of corn, or two or three cwt. of meat
or cheese. The same area at the bottom of the sea, on the best
fishing grounds, yields a greater weight of food, to the persevering
fisherman, every week in the year. Five vessels, it is stated, in a
single night's fishing, brought in seventeen tons weight of fish, an
amount of wholesome food equal in weight to that of fifty cattle or
300 sheep. The ground which these vessels covered during the night's
fishing could not have exceeded an area of fifty acres. It is stated,
in the same report, that the great importance of fish, as an article
of food, may be clearly shown by a comparison of the total supply
of fish and beef to London in the course of a single year. It has
been roughly estimated that London consumes 300,000 fat cattle
annually, which at an average weight of six cwt. each, would amount
to 90,000 tons of beef. At this moment there are between 800
and 900 trawl vessels engaged in supplying the London market
with fish; and assuming the average annual take for each vessel to
be ninety tons, this would give a total of some 80,000 tons of trawled
fish. This is irrespective of the vast quantities of herrings, sprats,
shell-fish, and fish of other descriptions, which are supplied by different
modes of fishing. The weight of the beef and of the fish annually
consumed in London is thus in no great disproportion ; but the price
is very different. The fisherman receives, on an average, little over

PAST AND PRESENT. 27

£7 a ton for his fish, prime and offal together. The farmer is
readily paid for his beef not less than £60 a ton.*
Lancashire and Cheshire are supplied with fish partly from the
eastern, and partly from the western, seas of England. The city
of Manchester derives the greater part of its supply from the eastern
coast, by means of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway,
which conveys into the interior the greater part of the fish caught
on the coasts of Lincolnshire, and part of that caught on the coast
of Yorkshire. In 1856 the quantity of fish carried by this line was
not more than 947 tons, but from that time there has been an
increase every year, and in 1864 the quantity conveyed by the line
was 8494 tons. The principal kinds of fish sold in the Manchester
market, with their prices per pound, were as follows, in the year
1865 : — Turbot, per pound, 8c?. to Is.; soles, 6c?. to 8c?.; cod, 3c?. to 4c?.;
sparlings, Is. to Is. 6c?.; haddock, 3c?. to 4c?.; plaice, l^c?. to 2c?.;
brill, 4c?. to 5c?.; ray, 3c?.; and halibut, 6c?. In addition to these
there were also brought to Manchester large quantities of herrings,
mackerel, and other sea-fish of less importance. From Lowestoft,
and other places on the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, vast quantities
of fresh herrings, amounting sometimes to from 700 to 800 tons per
day, are distributed among the manufacturing towns, during the
period of the fishery; Birmingham and Manchester taking the largest
share. The introduction of railways, by affording the means of rapid
transport from the sea-coast to the populous districts of the interior,
has given a wonderful impulse to the British fisheries. In 1856
the quantity of fish conveyed by four lines of railway, viz: — the
North Eastern, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lmcolnshire, the Great
Northern, and the South Devon, was 11,714 tons, whilst in 1864 the
quantity conveyed by the same four lines was 40,337 tons, an increase
of threefold in a period of nine years. The quantity of fish forwarded
by the twelve principal railways, from the sea-coast, to the interior,
amounted in the year 1862, to 99,724 tons, and in 1864, to 122,381
tons. This is independent of a large portion of the fish consumed
in London, Liverpool, Hull, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin,
and other cities, towns, and places on the sea-coast. It is also
independent of the trade in salt herrings, of which no less than
3,372,000 barrels were cured in the year 1864.
The three principal fishing stations on the Lancashire coast are
* Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sea-fisheries of the United Kingdom. Presented
to both Houses of Parliament, 1866.

28 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Liverpool, Fleetwood, and Morecambe Bay. At Liverpool there are
more than fifty large trawling vessels ; at Fleetwood, more than twenty ;
and in Morecambe Bay there is an extensive fishery, chiefly of shell-.
fish. From Liverpool the larger class of trawlers work occasionally in
the bays on the north coast of Wales, and lately have tried the open
bays of Carnarvon and Cardigan ; but their main fishing ground lies
in the open sea, between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. There is also
a smaller class of trawlers, from New Brighton and the fishing villages
at the entrance of the Mersey, who trawl for soles and flounders
in the estuaries of the Mersey and the Dee, and on the banks in their
neighbourhood, and take considerable numbers of small fish. From
Fleetwood, the trawlers never work in bays or in shallow water.
This deep-water trawling is quite different from the shrimp trawling,
which is carried on to a very great extent in the Mersey, the
Dee, and along the banks of those estuaries, as well as in More
cambe Bay, and other places. In Morecambe Bay 150 large boats
are engaged in shrimping, and thirty quarts each tide is reckoned
a good catch for a boat now, as it was in former years. The number
of boats in Morecambe Bay, engaged in the shrimp fishery, has
increased during the last fifty years from eight or nine to 150.
The principal Lancashire fishing is on the trawling grounds
between the coasts of that county and the Isle of Man. The net
used in the beam trawl, or deep-sea fishing, is generally about seventy
feet long, and forty feet wide at the mouth, gradually (liminishing
to a narrow passage about ten feet in length, at the end of the
net, into which the fish swim, and from which it is scarcely possible
for them to escape when once they have entered it. The mouth of
the net is kept open by a beam about forty feet long, and the
whole apparatus is so arranged that the net is towed slowly along,
with the mouth and beam in front. The beam is raised about
three feet from the ground by the trawl-irons, and never touches the
bottom, unless the trawl should capsize before it arrives there. The
trawl can only be used with advantage on smooth ground. A sandy
bottom is preferred, not only from that being the usual resort of
soles and other valuable kinds of ground fish, but from the less
danger there is on such a surface of tearing the net to pieces. The
vessels from which these deep-sea trawls are worked are from thirty-
five to sixty tons burthen, or even more, the size of the trawl
depending on that of the vessel. The whole number of trawlers
at present in existence, is nearly 1000. The value is, at least,

PAST AND PRESENT. 29

£1,000,000 sterling. The whole number of fishing boats of all sizes
is 9300, worked by 37,416 men and 5530 boys. Trawlers are fine
sea-going craft, smack-rigged, and capable of standing a great deal of
rough work, as will be evident when it is remembered that the large
fleet of trawlers, exposed to the uncertain weather of the North Sea,
stay out, as a rule, for six weeks at a time, in all seasons of the year ;
their fish being collected daily, packed in ice, and conveyed to market
by fast-sailing cutters of 100 tons burthen, constructed expressly
for speed, and whose captains or owners are interested in getting
all the fish delivered in marketable condition. Codfish, ling, and
haddock, are taken by means of long lines. A complete set of
long lines consists of about fifteen dozen lines, each of which is forty
fathoms long, and has twenty-six hooks, on short lines, called snoods,
passing to the main line at intervals of a fathom and a half, so as to
prevent their fouling one another. These lines, about 180 in number,
are united into one, and as the yessel sails on are shot across the
tide, so that the snoods may all hang clear. In this manner the
whole eight miles or more of line, and nearly 5000 hooks, are
paid out, small anchors being placed at the extremities, and at
intervals of forty fathoms along the line, to keep it in position
at the bottom. As soon as the cod and haddock are taken off the
hook, they are put into a well, formed by a part of the smack's hold,
divided from the rest of the vessel by water-tight bulkheads. The
well occupies the whole breadth of the vessel, and the sea-water has
free access to it through auger holes bored in the sides and bottom of
that part of the smack. The fish are thus kept alive and fresh, until
it is convenient to send them to market. The bait most in favour
with the North Sea cod fishermen, is the common large whelk, but on
many parts of the coast herrings are by far the most attractive, and
at certain seasons, the only killing bait, for cod. Mussels are perhaps
more commonly used as bait than anything else, for general line
fishing. The shrimp nets are worked with a wooden beam nine
or ten feet long, weighted with lead, placed on the lower side of
the mouth of the net. These shrimp nets are towed with the
tide, and are hauled up at intervals, ranging from a quarter of an
hour to an hour, according to the wind and the extent of ground
gone over. About thirty quarts is an ordinary take in boats
used in Morecambe Bay; but in the shrimp fishery near the
mouth of the Thames, 100 gallons of shrimps have been taken by
one vessel in a single day; and it is no uncommon occurrence

30 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
for 2000 gallons to be sent to London market, as the joint produce
of a day's fishing, by the southern shrimpers. The quantity of
shell-fish caught in Morecambe Bay, and sent inland by the Midland
Railway, amounted in 1864 to 1506 tons, independent of 272 tons
forwarded from Lancaster. The whole quantity of fish caught in
Morecambe Bay, and sent inland by the Midland Railway, amounted
in the year 1862, to '2482 tons; in 1863, to 2274 tons; and in
1864, to 2056 tons. The quantity forwarded from Fleetwood in
1862, by railway, was 670 tons; in 1863,886 tons; and in 1864,
1003 tons. Large quantities of fish are also taken at Blackpool,
Lytham, Preston, and Southport, but are consumed by the numerous
visitors and resident population. In the same manner the still
larger quantities taken by the Liverpool trawlers, in the Irish Sea,
and by the smaller class of trawlers and shrimpers of the Mersey
and the Dee, are consumed at Liverpool and Chester. The Chester
and Holyhead Railway also brings about 2000 tons of fish yearly,
to be disposed of in Lancashire and Cheshire.
Having described the seas, with their products, and the winds, tides,
and bays of the north-western district, we proceed to give an account
of the soil and the vegetable and mineral products of the same district.
The Soil, Climate, Plants, and Animals of Lancashire and
Cheshire. — At the time when the Ordnance survey of Lancashire was
made, about fifteen years ago, the land within the county, amounting
to 1,117,260 statute acres, was in this condition: — About 350,000
acres was in tillage; about 450,000 acres in pasture; and 317,260
in woodland, mountain, moor or peat moss, much of the latter being
uninclosed, and some of it entirely waste. In Cheshire the quantity
of uninclosed and waste land was very much less, both absolutely and
in proportion, than in Lancashire, though we have not so accurate or
recent an account of its extent. The area of the registration county
of Chester is 680,836 statute acres. At the time when Holland
published his very excellent account of the agriculture of Cheshire,
in the year 1808, he estimated the arable, meadow, and pasture land
of that county at 620,000 acres, and the waste lands at only 56,000
acres, leaving but a small quantity unaccounted for. Since that
time several thousand acres of waste land have been reclaimed in
Cheshire ; so that even supposing Holland's estimate to have been
below the mark, the quantity still lying waste cannot be much
more than from 30,000 to 40,000 acres. Taking the whole of the
land of the north-western district at 2,000,227 acres, there may

PAST AND PRESENT. 31

probably be about 1,700,000 acres of arable, grass, and woodland,
and 300,000 acres of uninclosed mountain and waste land, most
of it covered with heath.*
But the reclaiming of the waste lands of this district is still
proceeding actively; and up to the year 1858, out of 26,125 acres
of land inclosed in England under the authority of the Inclosure
Commissioners, 4446 acres were inclosed in the county of Lancaster;
in addition to 2887 acres previously inclosed in the same county,
and also to 1719 acres inclosed in the county of Chester, under
the provisions of the General Inclosure Act. Since that time a
moderate quantity of land has been inclosed every year ; and these
reclamations are likely to continue, for land is the kind of property
most eagerly sought for in England by capitalists; it is that which
is most steadily increasing in value ; and it is the only kind of
property of which there is a limited supply in this country. An
account of the principal reclamations of land effected during the
last fifty years will be found in these pages.t
The waste lands of Lancashire and Cheshire are of various kinds.
The first consist of heath- covered mountains, and barren rocks,
rising to the height of from 1000 to 2500 feet; the second of wild
hills and uplands, rising from 500 to 1000 feet; the third of peat
mosses, some of them of the extent of 5000 to 6000 acres; and the
fourth of marshes on the banks of estuaries and rivers, also very
extensive, but exposed to the waves of the sea, and to sudden floods
from the rivers, after heavy rain on the mountains.
The soils of the different districts of the counties of Lancaster
and Chester vary greatly in fertility, with the geological formation
of the rocks on which they rest, the nature of the earthy deposits
of which they are composed, and with the amount of their elevation
above the sea.
A rich alluvial plain, extending forty miles in length from north
to south, and five to ten miles in breadth from west to east, runs
along the western coast of Lancashire, from the mouth of the Lune
to the entrance of the Mersey, and reappears to the south of the
Mersey, in the Leasowes of Cheshire.^
Between the Lune and the Ribble, in the fertile district known
* Ordnance Survey, Lancashire, 1852. Holland's Report on the Agriculture of Cheshire.
t Land Inclosure, England and Wales : Miscellaneous Statistics of thS United Kingdom, laid before Parlia
ment. t Geological Map of England and Wales, by Andrew C Ramsay, F.R.S. & G.S., Local Director of Geological
Survey of Great Britain, Professor of Geology in the Government School of Mines, London.

32 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

as the Fylde, this alluvial soil is of great depth and almost
inexhaustible fertility. It is chiefly formed of beds of drift, con
sisting of earth, clay, sand, and till, and is everywhere full of
boulders, or large rounded stones of great size, apparently torn in
some remote age from the rocks amongst the Cumbrian mountains,
and carried far from their original site, either by the currents of
the ocean, by floating icebergs, or by other great natural forces.
These granite and other boulders extend from the Cumberland
mountains at the head of Wast Water Lake, throughout great
part of the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire. An
almost uninterrupted stream of boulders can be traced on the
west side of the mountainous lands of Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and
Lancashire, from the point from which the stream seems to have
commenced, viz., in the granites and slates of the Cumbrian moun
tains, near Ravenglass. It is believed that the origin and direction
of the floods or currents by which the boulders buried in the drift
beds of Lancashire and Cheshire, and occasionally scattered over the
ground, were borne southward, can be traced by the nature of those
stones. In the northern parts of Lancashire, near to the Cumbrian
mountains, the boulders consist of remains of granite, transition, and
slate rocks, such as are found in the neighbouring mountains of
Cumberland and Westmoreland, in the proportion of eighty per cent ;
whilst further south the boulders consist of the remains of rocks
of the coal formation, such as are found in the hills of South
Lancashire, in the proportion of fifty per cent; the other fifty belonging
to the rocks of the Cumbrian mountains. Along the coast of North
Lancashire, in the neighbourhood of Blackpool, the soil in which
these boulders are buried rises from the sea-shore, in lofty earth-
banks sixty to eighty feet in height. These earth-banks belong to
the class of deposits to which geologists formerly gave the name of
diluvium, from the belief that they had been left by the waters of
the Deluge. But that opinion has lost ground, owing to the great
thickness of the beds, which speaks rather of ages than of weeks or
months of immersion; and also on account of the immense extent of
land that is covered by them. According to Mr. E. W. Binney, the
till, mixed with this earth, is the principal soil in which plants grow
and seeds ripen, and from which men and animals are sustained.
In many places it is thinly scattered over the poorer soils, which it
fertilizes; but in North Lancashire and some other districts, it is found
in beds many feet in thickness. This soil is now known as " drift,"

PAST AND PRESENT. 33

from the evidence that its form and contents present of its having been
drifted from a distance; as "northern drift," from the fact of its
having apparently been generally drifted from the north towards the
south; and as "glacial drift," from a belief prevalent among geologists,
that it was originally deposited in the waters of an icy sea, covered
with icebergs bearing along with them fragments of the rocks from
the mountains amongst which the icebergs were formed.. It is stated
that few sea-shells are found in the drift of Lancashire and Cheshire,
deposited inland to the east of a line running from Preston to Cong-
leton, in Cheshire ; but that many sea-shells are found near the sea-
coast, west of a line running from Preston to Runcorn. Between
Preston and Longridge Fells, shells of still existing or recent species
have been found in the gravel, at a height of 350 feet, An
eminent geologist, Mr. E. W. Binney, who has very carefully examined
the earth-beds' of the drift formation, in all parts of Lancashire and
Cheshire, after giving many interesting particulars respecting them,
* adds, that "the sand and gravel found in the drift are supposed to
be sands and beaches of ancient seas ; and the clay, till, or earth
found in it in thick beds, to be the mud deposited ages ago at
the bottom of the seas, on the waters of which floated icebergs,
freighted with various rocks, which on being dissolved or toppled
over, deposited their loads on the soft mud below." Nearly the whole
district of the Fylde in North Lancashire, containing the most
fertile soils and some of the best cultivation in that county, consists
of earth-beds covered with or belonging to the drift formation.
That soil is equally favourable to the production of grain, roots,
and grasses*
South of the Ribble, a considerable part of the division of Orms-
kirk, containing an area of 111,968 statute acres, and extending to
the mouth of the river Mersey at Bootle, is composed of the same
rich alluvial deposits. They form excellent, easily-worked land, very
suitable for the growth of grain and roots. Much of this land lies
low, especially along the banks of the rivers Douglas and Yarrow
and the lake of Martin Mere ; and from being frequently flooded,
it has in many places a peaty soil. The natural herbage is rich
and abundant, and the demand for milk and dairy produce is
so great in this district, that the pastures and meadows are
• Essay ou the Geology of the Lake District, by John Phillips, MA., *^™^*™\???Z?
Guide to ihe Enghsh Lakes. E. W. Binney, Esq. : Memoirs of the Manchester Lrterary and Philosophical _&o ety
vol. x., p. 128. Fourth Report of British Association, on Marine Shells of Recent Spec.es found near Preston: by
William Gilbertson. E
VOL. I.

34. LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
often allowed to lie in grass for many years. The extensive water
meadows along the streams are seldom if ever touched with the
plough. The soil of this part of the Lancashire plain varies con'siderably
in proceeding from the sea-shore towards the hills. Near the sea
the soil consists chiefly of sand, rising along the shore in downs
of the height of sixty to eighty feet, and continually maintained at
that elevation, by the action of the westerly winds on the sand of
the sea-shore. In many places the sand from these downs, or hills,
has been driven inland for several miles. In one case at least,
that of Raven Meols, a few miles north of Liverpool, the encroach
ments of the sand have compelled the inhabitants to abandon their
ancient village and burial-place. These sand-hills, by cutting off
the natural drainage to the sea, have in some cases produced
swamps, covering beds of turf, and producing dwarf wild roses and
other sea-plants in great abundance. The remains of ancient forests
are also found imbedded in the soil ; and along with the trunks,
branches, and fruit of oaks and other forest trees, are found the
bones and the horns of the wild oxen and deer that once sheltered
in the forests, and grazed on the neighbouring plains. The trunks
and roots of numerous forest trees are also found on the shore,
between high water and low water mark, firmly fixed in the ground
on which they originally grew. This must then have been above
the reach of the sea, whose waves now beat over these trunks at
every tide, showing a considerable change in the level of the land.
Swarms of rabbits contrive to subsist amongst these sand-downs,
in the numerous rabbit warrens that line the shore ; and innumer
able flocks of sea-birds, whose nests are on the rocky coasts of North
Wales and North Lancashire, find an abundant subsistence on the
marine remains, left on the sands of the shore and the adjoining
sand-banks, which line the coasts of Cheshire and Lancashire from
the mouth of the Dee to that of the Lune. Such is the rapidity
of the flight of many of the more powerful both of the sea and the
land birds, that they easily traverse a distance of thirty or forty
miles from their breeding places, both morning and evening. Thou
sands of these birds may be seen on the banks or in the shallow
waters at the entrance of the Lancashire and Cheshire rivers,
when the tide is out, feeding on the small animals left by the
receding tide.
Between the Mersey and the Dee still loftier sand-hills line

PAST AND PRESENT. 35

the sea-coasts, and in high winds disperse the sand from their
summits over the level lands of the interior, when the sand is
not held together by the planting of star grass or other marine
plants. Several small streams, of which the Douglas, the Alt, and the
Birkett bear the name of rivers, make their way into the sea,
or into the estuaries of the Ribble and the Mersey, through or
along these sandy shores. On their banks the land is very rich,
and forms the moist pastures, named Leasowes, which are natural
meadows, generally flooded in the winter months. Herds of cattle
and young stock graze in the leasowes. The water meadows along
the banks of the Ribble, the Douglas, and the Alt, have been formed
with great care and skill ; being thoroughly irrigated in the winter
and spring months, and well embanked to guard against summer
floods, they produce large quantities of juicy hay, suited for milk
cows. Many cows are kept in this district, and much milk and
butter produced.
In severe winters the Alt meadows, which are then always
flooded, are frozen, and form a fine skating ground for the youth
of Liverpool, numbers of whom resort to them for that favourite
amusement. When dry, these meadows are also used for the sport
of coursing. Hares are very plentiful in the Alt meadows, and
there are no hedges to conceal their rapid movements, or those
of the pursuing greyhounds. Behind the sand-hills, and above
the level of the meadows, a range of alluvial lands runs into the
interior for a distance of five or six miles. This land is sandy and
light when not marled ; but constant cultivation and manuring has
turned it into a very rich soil. It yields large crops of potatoes,
wheat, oats, clover, and garden produce. The Southport and East
Lancashire Railways, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal run
through this district for many miles, and bring from Liverpool the
means of renewing the soil at a small cost. Much of the garden
produce, consumed by the half million persons collected in and
Lund Liverpool, is grown on this land, which is as easily worked
with the spade as with the plough. On the Cheshire side of the
Mersey ^market gardens of Wallasey produce the earliest spring
vegetables for the Liverpool market. Those gardens are fo W on
thf sunny slopes, with a south-western aspect^stret chmg from ti*
new red sandstone rock on which Wallasey is built, to the rch
Tuld of the alluvial formation. Market gardening is an extensive

36 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

branch- of industry in Lancashire and Cheshire, and furnishes support
to several thousand families.*
The valleys of all the principal rivers of Lancashire and Cheshire
are also covered with a rich alluvial soil deposited by the streams.
On the banks of the river Dee, the alluvium commences a little
below Bangor, and extends, by the meadows of Eaton Hall, down to
Chester, where it widens out on one side into the Sealands — a
district recovered from the estuary of the Dee in modern times,
and on the other, into the rich levels that extend along the south
side of the Dee, from Chester to the mouth of the river. On the
banks of the river Weaver, the alluvial deposits commence below
Winsford Bridge, disappear where the stream runs through the
narrow passage at Northwich, and then widen into beds of wonder
ful richness, which clothe the beautiful Vale Royal of Chester with
perpetual green. On the river Dane, the alluvial deposits commence
almost immediately after the stream rushes from the hills, and enters
the plain of Cheshire at Congleton, and continue to Northwich,
where the Dane joins the Weaver. In the Mersey, the alluvial
soil commences near Irlam and Cadishead, where the Mersey and
the Irwell join their waters, and continues down to Runcorn, the
river cutting its way through the soft beds of earth with a hundred
windings, and forming numerous " eeas" or river peninsulas, some of
which have been cut through to improve the navigation of the
stream. The Douglas, the Ribble, and the Wyre, all flow through
the alluvial formation for many miles before they reach the sea.
The Lune enters a rich district of alluvial land after rushing through
the rapids of the Crook of Lune. There are immense tracts of allu
vial land about the mouth of the Lune, and in Morecambe Bay,
which will no doubt be reclaimed before many years have passed.!
The alluvial meadows of Lancashire and Cheshire are very rich,
consisting of a deep deposit, constantly freshened by fine earth
brought down by heavy floods from the higher grounds. Without
any manuring they yield large crops of the most fragrant hay every
summer, and afford rich pasture for cattle during the winter months,
when there is no grass on the uplands. Each of the numerous
streams that descends from the hills of the two counties has its
fringe of green meadow. Many of these streams are skilfully
embanked, and furnished with floodgates and artificial water courses,
* Census of England and Wales, 1861 : Occupations of the People.
t Geological Survey of Board of Ordnance.

PAST AND PRESENT. 37

by means of which the waters can be brought on the land as the
streams rise, and be let off as they fall. Some of the finest meadows
are in the neighbourhood of Stretford and Ashton-on-Mersey, where
a new water-course has been cut to carry off the floods of the river
after heavy rains. Most of the streams of Lancashire and Cheshire
used to rise rapidly within six or seven hours after a heavy fall of
rain on the hills ; but during the last thirty years, many large
reservoirs, including those for the supply of Liverpool, Manchester,
Bolton, and other populous towns, have been formed amongst the
hills, and retain many million gallons of water that was formerly
discharged into the sea within twelve hours after it had fallen on
the mountains.
Many thousand acres ,of land have been added to the available
extent of the two counties by reclaiming from the sea, and from
the banks of the numerous estuaries which indent the coast, exten
sive districts of land, formerly overflowed at spring tides by the
waves of the sea.
Near the mouth of the river Lune, a very valuable tract of land
was reclaimed by the late Mr. Edward Dawson of Aldcliffe Hall,
and has been so thoroughly improved as to increase its value from
2s. 6c?. to 25s. per acre. Mr. W. G. Garnett also states, in his
Report to the Royal Society of Agriculture on the Agriculture of
Lancashire, that there are very extensive tracts of land in Morecambe
Bay, now overflowed by spring tides, but which might be converted
into valuable land if secured against the irruptions of the sea. The
sands of Cockerham, Pilling, and Turnham, which cover upwards
of 5000 acres, and are at- present worth little or nothing, are capable
of being made into good land, worth upwards of £5000 a year. On
this subject, Mr. Garnett says:— "Of late years science has been
directed to the great scheme of internal communication by railway,
which has absorbed the surplus funds of the country ; but as those
extensive works approach their completion, it is to be hoped that
public attention will be turned to such undertakings as the inclosure
of the bay of Morecambe, for which the coast of Lancashire seems
distinguished by peculiar advantages, as it is estimated that more
than 80,000 acres of land might be reclaimed to the north of the
river Wyre."* n n „ . ,
In the estuary of the Mersey upwards of 13,000 acres of land,
.Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire by William James Garnett. Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England, vol. x., p. 45.

38 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

formerly flooded at high tides, has been embanked and reclaimed
at various times ; and this would have been carried much further
if the inclosing of the shores of this estuary had not been put an
end to by the provisions of the Mersey Conservancy Act of 1842.
That Act has forbidden the reclaiming of any additional land on
the shores of the Mersey, from a fear that it might have the effect
of diminishing the quantity of water which flows into and out of
the river at every tide, and by doing so, of decreasing the force
of the tidal wave, whose continual flux and reflux keeps open the
narrow passage into the Mersey. By that Act the Conservators
have the right of pulling down and removing anything that may
be erected in the river, below the level of high water mark.""
In the river Dee, on the other hand, the reclaiming of the bed
of the estuary has been carried on, under authority of an Act of Par
liament, for upwards of one hundred years, and is in progress to
the present day. What is called the Sealand of Chester is the
land reclaimed from the estuary. It covers some thousands of
acres, and forms a light "soil, easily worked, and producing large
crops of potatoes, grass, and corn. The salt marshes of the river
Dee are still more extensive, and they will be inclosed when they
are completely covered with grass. That will soon be the case
with the salt marshes extending down to Burton Point, on the
Cheshire side of the river. These marshes are already grazed in
summer by flocks of sheep, though they are still flooded at high
tides. In the winter months they form a feeding ground and
place of resort for numerous flocks of wild fowl, including wild
ducks, wild geese, and occasionally swans. This is one of the few
spots in England in which a fowler is able to live by the produce
of his gun. A very large quantity of land has also been inclosed
on the banks of the river Ribble.
The power of the steam-engine, which has been applied success
fully to the draining of many hundred thousand acres of land
in the Fens of Lincolnshire, and of the Isle of Ely in Cam
bridgeshire, has also been applied with success in Lancashire
in carrying off the waters of Martin Mere, the great natural
reservoir which receives the drainage of the mosses and the floodings
of the rivers from the Leyland hundred. In former times Martin
Mere was a great lake or swamp, not less than eighteen miles in
circumference, and covered an extensive district, great part of which
* Mersey Conservancy Act, 1842.

PAST AND PRESENT. 39

is now converted into fertile land. It was in the earlier attempts
to drain this morass that some singular remains of antiquity were
found, consisting of coracles or canoes of the kind used by the
ancient Britons, Several of these were found in a bed of marl
below the waters of the mere. A few years ago, an additional
portion of this ancient mere was drained by Sir Thomas Hesketh,
Bart., M.P., of Rufford Hall, by means of steam-power. For this
purpose he caused a steam-engine of twenty horse-power to be con
structed, which pumps up the waters of the mere to such a height
as to cause them to flow into the sea. The process of pumping is
as follows : — " To the engine is attached a large water-wheel thirty
feet in diameter, with forty scoops or buckets ranged around its
circumference. These buckets, when the wheel is revolving at its
ordinary speed, raise and discharge into a sluice forty-five tons of
water per minute, or upwards of seven million and a half of gallons
in twelve hours. The water thus discharged into the sluice flows
for a distance of four miles before it reaches the Cylinders of Crossens,
where it passes into the river Ribble. It is calculated that the
whole quantity of water which is lodged in Martin Mere yearly is
25,000,000,000 gallons, of which the land belonging to Sir Thomas
Hesketh formerly received 250,000,000 gallons. This is carried off in
the manner above described. To prevent the return of the water on
to the land after it has been raised into the sluices, an embankment of
four and a half feet in height, and upwards of three miles in length,
has been raised along the margin of the sluice. This new draining
apparatus was set to work, for the first time, on Tuesday the 9th
of April, 1850, and on the Thursday following the water was
reduced to four feet below the surface of the land, to which depth
the pumps easily keep it. About 800 acres of land, a large portion
of which formerly produced a scanty herbage of the poorest grasses,
has thus been brought into cultivation, and now produces all kinds
of crops." Some of the land is very fertile and suited to the
growth of potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables, which are grown
as well if not better on the light rich lands around Rufford, than
in any other part of England*
But the alluvial soil of Lancashire and Cheshire forms only a
fringe along the sea-shore, and on the banks of the rivers. The
soil that covers the greater part of the plain of Lancashire and
Cheshire, extending over an area of a million of acres of land,
* Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire, p. 48.

40 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
employing the greater part of the cultivators of the district, and
feeding a considerable portion of its inhabitants, is formed of beds
of earth, sand, and marl, covering the new red sandstone rock.
This formation, which is now divided by geologists into two parts,
known as the permian and the trias formations, extends over
a greater portion of the two counties than any other ; but it is
much more extensively developed in Cheshire than in Lancashire,
and is almost everywhere a fertile soil, except where covered with
beds of peat.
The hills of the new red sandstone formation seldom rise to a
greater height than 500 to 600 feet, and are usually covered with
grass to the summit. The greatest height to which the new red
sandstone rock rises in Lancashire or Cheshire is between 500 and
600 feet. Even that is only at two or three points, chiefly situated
in Delamere Forest and the Peckforton hills, in Cheshire, two
divisions of the sandstone chain of heights, which together extend
across the county from the Mersey, at Runcorn, to the Dee, near
Overton. At Helsby Hill, where Delamere Forest terminates north
ward in a bold sandstone cliff, still covered with the remains or the
outline of a British camp, this rock rises to a height of 500 feet
above the waters of the Mersey, whose course it overlooks from
Runcorn to the open sea. The same rock rises to the height of
nearly 600 feet in the middle of Delamere Forest, at Eddisbury
Hill, where the daughter of Alfred the Great — Ethelfleda, the lady
or queen of the Mercians— built the Saxon fortress of Eddisbury,
the foundations of which can still be traced, and which gives name
to the surrounding hundred of Eddisbury. The new red sandstone
rock also rises quite as high in the rugged precipitous cliff on which
Ranulf, the great earl of Chester, erected the famous and still
magnificent castle of Beeston. It rises nearly as high on the rugged
fronts of Roehead and Bickerton Hill. This is almost the only part
of the formation on which the natural herbage of the soil consists
of heath, and not of grass. Until the year 1813, the heights of
Delamere Forest, as well as the summits of the Peckforton hills,
were covered with heath and entirely uncultivated, forming a moun
tain pasture for 20,000 or 30,000 sheep. Since that time the
forest has been inclosed, and much of it cultivated by private
proprietors ; whilst the large range of land assigned to the crown
has been planted with a forest of oak trees, which extends over
a wide expanse of land, and presents a noble appearance from the

PAST AND PRESENT. 41

mound of Ethelfleda's Fortress. The heath still remains in its
original wildness, and, in autumn in all its natural beauty, on the side
of Roehead, and on the summit of Bickerton Hill, where it covers
and has helped to preserve the ramparts of the great British fortress
formed on the rugged brow of that lofty hill. The line of Alderley
Edge, now covered with beautiful villas, is another fine specimen of
the bold escarpment of the new red sandstone rock, and commands
magnificent views of the plains of Cheshire and the distant hills
on the borders of Derbyshire. With these, and a few other excep
tions, the land resting on this formation is of very moderate
height, both in the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, and possesses
a soil and elevation well suited for culture.
In former times Delamere Forest was a forest of red deer, of very
great extent, and was the favourite hunting ground of the earls of
Chester. Oakmere, the largest of the many meres which still exist
in the forest, belonged to the abbots of Vale Royal, who had a
fishery there. By an Act of 1812, certain commissioners were auth
orized to inclose all that remained of the forest. The waste lands
at that time amounted to 7755 acres, two roods, and thirty-five poles.
In the division of this land, one-half was given to the crown, the
other half to the adjoining landed proprietors. The Lake of Oakmere
was allotted to the Cholmondeleys of Vale Royal, together with the
stone quarries on Eddisbury Hill ; and the two lakes, named Fish
Pool and Halchew Mere, were assigned to the Egertons of Oulton.
One moiety of the whole forest was allotted to the crown, to be
kept under the direction of the surveyor-general of Woods and
Forests, as a nursery for timber trees. The land allotted to private
proprietors has been inclosed and let in farms; that allotted to
the crown has been planted with oak and larch timber. In driving
from Northwich to Chester, in crossing the forest from east to
west, you pass through the plantations for a distance of two or
three miles; but their full extent is only seen by those who cross
the forest from north to south, from Frodsham to Tarporley. As
a whole they are well-grown and healthy, but they vary in luxuriance
with the nature of the soil. This in some places is a drift of sand

and gravel, in others a hard rock, and in others a deep red mari—
the last being particularly suitable for the growth of oaks Dr.
Ormerod, writing forty years ago, in his learned and valuable

"History of Cheshire," of the ancient forest of Dekmere, and of
the woods and timber of Cheshire, observed :-" In most parts of

VOL. I.

42 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Cheshire the hedgerow timber, and the extensive plantations which
adorn the principal seats, amply atone for the loss of these (ancient)
forests. Among the latter may be particularly mentioned the noble
oak woods of Dunham Massey, and a similar scene will be exhibited
in the course of this century by the plantations of Vale Royal and
other seats near Delamere Forest, and those made there, under the
recent Inclosure Acts, on royal allotment. In many parts of the
country, land abandoned to itself would be spontaneously covered
with ash and alder."* Great care is taken to guard and watch
the plantations, and to preserve them from injury. Even the
squirrels, which are very numerous in these woods, are not altogether
allowed —
" To bound from tree to tree,
And shell their nuts at liberty,"
but are kept down in numbers, lest in eating too many acorns they
should destroy the germs of future forests.
The land at the foot of these new red sandstone hills is very
fertile; and in Cheshire it usually presents the appearance of a
wide grassy plain, grazed by numerous herds of cattle of almost
every variety of colour. In Lancashire it is more undulating, and
a larger portion of it is under the plough. The soil is generally
composed of beds of earth, with much marl and clay, except where
the rock rises near the surface of the ground. There the soil is
generally thin, and requires to be well marled, to render it capable
of bearing grain, or even the better kinds of grasses, for any length
of time. Many parts of the plain of Cheshire are dotted with meres,
or small lakes. These meres are formed in natural hollows in the
deep clay of the trias formation. Into these hollows the waters of
the adjoining districts flow in small streams, or springs of water
rise from them and fill the basins, until the water finds an exit
either at the surface, or. by openings in the higher strata. Many
of these meres contain several kinds of fish, and are frequented by
wild fowL as well as by great flocks of swallows and starlings, in
the autumn months. About Budworth Mere we have seen flocks
of starlings, in the month of September, that completely darkened
the air when they rose from the reeds around the mere. These
meres form drinking places for the numerous cattle of the adjoining
pastures. There are from thirty to forty meres of considerable size
in the county of Chester, and a few in Staffordshire and Shropshire.
* Ormerod's History of Cheshire.

PAST AND PRESENT. 43

They are beautiful objects in the landscape, as seen from the neigh
bouring hills, glittering on the grassy plains in the sunshine, like
rnirrors of polished silver.
The stiff soils of the trias branch of the new red sandstone for
mation, in Lancashire and Cheshire, are also spotted in many places
with brown peat mosses, some of the largest of which extend over
several thousand acres of land. These mosses are produced by the
gradual accumulation and partial decay of heaths and moss, on
wet clayey soils, which afford no sufficient outlet for the abundant
moisture of a rainy climate, either downwards by openings into
the more pervious soils, or laterally by a natural fall into streams
or rivers. On the clayey soils of the Lancashire and Cheshire plains,
these mosses, in a long course of ages, and when land was of little
value, gradually spread over great extents of ground; and the
mosses, and other bog-plants which compose them, accumulated,
till they formed beds of peat, in some cases from twenty to thirty
feet in thickness. These peat mosses hold water like immense
sponges, never becoming thoroughly dry, even in the hottest sum
mers. Very large tracts of the Lancashire and Cheshire mosses
have, however, been reclaimed during the last fifty years, and
some of them turned into good arable land. When thoroughly
drained to a great depth, and if possible to the bottom of the
peat, and well worked, marled, and manured, they form good light
land, well suited for the growth of oats, potatoes, turnips, and clover.
They also make excellent garden ground, producing every kind of
garden vegetable in abundance, and generally of very good quality.
In former times, when these mosses were altogether neglected,
they sometimes became so full of water as to burst and spread a
lava-like stream of peat mud over the adjoining lands, sending it
down even into the brooks and rivers. Thus Chat Moss burst, with
an eruption of peat mud, a little before the time when Camden
visited Lancashire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, as
he tells us, "the great peat moss or swamp of Chat Moss burst,
and sent down a torrent of peat, earth, and water, into the river
Irwell," through the pretty little valley of Glazebrook. But nothing
of this kind has now happened for many years, or is likely to
happen again ; for large portions of all the Lancashire mosses have
been drained, and are now under cultivation; and the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway has been carried across the softest and
deepest part of Chat Moss, by the bold and enterprising genius

44 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

of George Stephenson. Since this great moss was drained the soil
has collapsed, so that the moss has lost many feet of its previous
thickness. By constant draining it is gradually changing from
the condition of a bog, twenty-eight to thirty feet thick, to that
of a bed of solid peat earth, only a few feet in thickness.*
The peat mosses of Great Britain and Ireland are a continuation
of that region of heaths, which Humboldt, in his " Views of Nature,"
describes as extending on the Continent from the extremity of
Jutland to the mouth of the river Scheldt.! In the British Islands,
the regions covered with heath are chiefly found in the northern
and western districts, where the vicinity of the ocean produces a
yearly rainfall of from thirty-five to forty inches on the plains,
and of fifty to sixty inches amongst the mountains. Wherever peat
and heath are found on the eastern side of England, it is in districts,
like the Isle of Ely and the Fens of Lincolnshire, which have been
flooded by rivers. Those immense swamps were formed about the
twelfth century or earlier, by the accumulation of alluvial silt, near
the mouths of the rivers Welland, Ouse, and Nene, causing a
great backwater, which overspread the lower portion of the Bedford
level and the Fens of Lincolnshire, and produced extensive tracts
of peat moss. But in districts that are at once cool and moist,
like Lancashire and Cheshire, the constant rainfall produces peat
mosses without any overflow of rivers. "Peat," says Sir Charles
Lyell, "has seldom if ever been discovered within the tropics, and
rarely occurs in the valleys even in the south of France and
Spain. It abounds more and more in proportion as we proceed
from the equator, and becomes, not only more frequent, but more
inflammable in northern latitudes." On the sides of hills and moun
tains peat seldom attains a greater thickness than three or four
feet, but on the plains and in the valleys it swells to a thickness
of forty or fifty feet.:]; In those cases, however, it owes fully one-
half of its volume to the water that it contains, which is held up
in the pores of the moss by capillary attraction, as it is held in
the pores of a sponge.
The production of peat is thus confined to moist situations,
where the temperature is low, and where the vegetable substances
from which it is formed are produced in abundance. It is formed
by the decay of a great variety of plants, even of the grasses ; but,
* Camden's Britannia , Lancashire. f Ansichten der Natur, Alexander von Humboldt, vol i., p. 5.
X Lyell's Principles of Geology, p. 719.

PAST AND PRESENT. 45

according to Forchamer, vegetation does not throw down peat at
a higher mean temperature than 43° to 44° of Fahrenheit. Frost
occasionally causes its precipitation in warmer climates ; but in
such climates the attraction of the carbon for the oxygen of the
air mechanically mixed with the water, increases with the increasing
temperature, and the dissolved vegetable matter, or humic acid, being
converted into carbonic acid, rises and is absorbed into the atmos
phere* At a lower temperature, the matter of peat is deposited
in abundance in moist climates, and when deposited it produces
and sustains a vegetation of its own. The plant named Sphagnum
constitutes the principal part of the mosses found in Northern
Europe. It possesses the property of throwing up new shoots in
its upper part whilst its lower extremities are decaying; and thus,
by its rapid growth and partial decay, it is always adding some
thing to the beds of peat in which it flourishes. The growth of
this and other bog-plants, continued through a long course of ages,
has produced the enormous beds of peat which exist in the northern
parts of Europe.
Many of the larger mosses of Lancashire and Cheshire have
been reclaimed with extreme difficulty, and portions of them still
remain unreclaimed, owing to the lowness of the ground on which
they are situated, compared with the level of the rivers and estuaries
into which they have to be drained, and even with the sea itseE In
some of them a deposit of peat seems to have taken place in deep hol
lows in the marl beds of the trias formation, which have become filled
in the course of ages. In others, peat has been formed in hollows
on upland plains, from which the half fluid moss has spread over
the adjoining lands. Thus the highest point of the surface of Chat
Moss is 100 feet above the level of the sea; whilst the bottom of
the lowest of the peat beds of Chat Moss is stated by Mr. G. W.
Ormerod, to be 100 feet below the sea level. On the peat mosses
in the Fylde even the surface is so low as to give a fall of only a
few inches per mile into the sea. In Martin Mere there is no natural
fall into the sea, and there the water has to be pumped up by means
of a steam-engine, into sluices embanked on both sides, which carry
it down into the Ribble.
These extensive mosses still afford food and shelter to numbers
of grouse, which, however, are very wild and difficult to shoot
although they allow the railway trains to rush and scream past
* Lyell's Principles of Geology, p. 179.

46 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
them without rising from their nests. The bittern was also formerly
found among the deep pits around the larger mosses. Snipes are
still pretty common, and wild ducks are occasionally found. Before
the winter sets in, these mosses are also visited by large flocks
of wild geese, driven southward by the freezing of the northern
marshes ; and in the spring months they are revisited by the same
flocks, in their flight back to the Highlands, and to the marshes of
Scandinavia. The flocks of wild geese generally rest and recruit
themselves on the Lancashire mosses for a few dayB. During that
time their cries may be heard as they cruise above high in the air,
sometimes flying in long lines, at other times in two sides of an acute-
angled triangle, according to their usual mode of advancing on their
great migrations. The main body generally disappear in a few days,
flying northward or southward, according to the season of the year,
with that unerring instinct which Providence has given them for
their preservation. The weaker birds sometimes stay a week or
a fortnight, and occasionally a disabled bird remains during the
winter, and disappears with the flocks of birds which fly northward
in the spring. In old times, when hawking was one of the favourite
sports of our ancestors, footpaths, called hawk-paths, were formed
into these mosses, whence the hawks could be seen darting on
their prey. They are still much frequented by wild hawks in
pursuit of grouse and other birds. The windhover hawk is often
seen poising itself in the air by the beating of its wings, watching
for its prey, and rushing, like a flash of lightning, through the air
to seize it.
A few of the most extensive improvements that have been
effected on the peat mosses of Lancashire and Cheshire, from the
commencement of this century to the present time, may be noticed
in passing. Fully one-half of the great swamp of Chat Moss, which formerly
extended over between 6000 and 7000 acres of land, and was the
largest as well as the most celebrated of all the mosses of Lancashire,
has been reclaimed, from a state of utter barrenness and desolation,
during the present century. Fifty years ago Chat Moss was an
impassable wilderness, without a tree, a field, a house, or -an inhab
itant. About that time, and in a season when the whole country
was suffering from scarcity and high prices of food, William Roscoe,
of Liverpool — a man alike distinguished by his talents and his
benevolence — first undertook the arduous task of reclaiming a large

PAST AND PRESENT. 47

portion of that great waste, with a view of rendering it available
for the support of man. For this purpose he obtained a lease of
nearly 3000 acres of mossland, granted, under the authority of a
private Act of Parliament, by the De Traffords of Trafford Park,
who have been lords of the manor of Barton-on-Irwell, in which
this part of Chat Moss is situated, for many ages. With this
permanent tenure, and at a rent of not more than one shilling an
acre, Mr. Roscoe commenced his improvements. He built, drained,
marled, planted, and reclaimed several hundred acres of land, forming
wide and deep out-fall drains from the middle of the moss into the
river Irwell ; and whilst his affairs prospered, carried on cultivation
with great spirit. About twenty years after Mr. Roscoe had com
menced the cultivation of Chat Moss, the late Mr. Edward Baines,
M.P., of Leeds, took from Mr. Roscoe, for the remainder of his term,
between 1100 and 1200 acres of the raw moss. This he began to
cultivate about the year 1822-23 ; and during the last thirty years
of a most active life, chiefly spent in towns and cities, it was
his favourite recreation to visit and watch the progress of the
farms, plantations, orchards, and gardens, which he had formed on
this great waste. He had the pleasure .of seeing a large tract of
land, that he found a wilderness, transformed into fertile fields and
flourishing plantations. More than half the land held by Mr.
Baines was sub-leased by him to Mr. Edward Evans, formerly of
the Haigh Foundry, near Wigan, and was cultivated by him
and his partners with very great spirit and skill. The farms that
lie along the south side of the Liverpool and Manchester Rail
way, near the middle of the moss, were formed by Mr. Evans.
In these improvements light railways, both fixed and movable,
and worked by horses, were first used for farming purposes,
and steam-power was applied to every kind of indoor work in
which it could be made available. The land was abundantly
marled, from the immense marl beds that lie under and around
the moss.
During the last five and twenty years a considerable portion of
Chat Moss, lying on the north side of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, was reclaimed by the first earl of Ellesmere, and formed
part of the numerous improvements made on the Worsley estate,
and elsewhere, by a most amiable and accomplished nobleman, whose
life was unfortunately too short to enable him to carry out the many
plans of public usefulness which he steadily pursued from the com-

48 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

mencement to the close of his useful and honourable career. Exten
sive improvements have also been made, on that part of Chat Moss
that lies near to Astley, by Colonel Ross of Astley Hall, and on the
parts adjoining Tildesley by Mr. G. W. Ormerod, who has published
a sketch of his improvements, together with many curious particulars
as to the natural history of this great morass, along with other
valuable papers, in the " Reports of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science." On the south-west side of Chat Moss,
that portion of it known as Cadishead Moss was reclaimed, inclosed,
and divided amongst the owners of the adjoining lands about the
years 1852-53. Much waste land has also been reclaimed on the
central plain, which forms the highest part of the moss, by Mr-
Makinson, and others, chiefly connected with Manchester. The
general result of all these improvements is that some thousand
acres of land, that had not produced a blade of useful grass or an
ear of corn in the memory of man, are now converted into good
land. In a few years the several plans of improvement commenced
on all sides of Chat Moss will meet in the centre, and meadows,
pastures, and cornfields will everywhere take the place of barren
heath. Very extensive mosses, covering an area of 20,000 acres, exist
in that part of North Lancashire which is known as the Fylde.
These mosses, which are named Pilling, Rowcliffe, and Nately, rest,
like the mosses of South Lancashire and Cheshire, on thick beds
of clay or marl, and are situate near the junction of the trias
formation, with the millstone grit on one side, and the alluvial
deposits of the Fylde on the other. That part of this extensive
range of mosses, which is named Rowcliffe Moss, was cultivated
with great spirit and success by the late Mr. T. R. Wilson Ffrance
of Rowcliffe Hall. The principal difficulty in this case was in the
lowness of the land, in comparison with the level of the adjoining
sea, into which the water drained from these mosses had to be
carried. Mr. Wilson Ffrance, in commencing his improvements,
found it necessary to open a great out-fall drain from the mosses
into the sea, which had to be carried by a winding and circuitous
route, for a distance of five or six miles, before a fall of even seven
or eight inches to the mile could be obtained from the mosses into
Lancaster Bay, into which they had to be drained. By means of this
outfall an escape was formed for the waters of the district. Rowcliffe
Moss has been drained into this outfall, and many hundred acres

PAST AND PRESENT. 49

of that moss have been cleared from stagnant water and brought
into, a high state of cultivation.*
The late and the present earls of Derby have reclaimed a
large portion of the extensive mosses of Rainford and Kirby, which
are their property. Mossbury Hall, the centre of these mosses, is
surrounded by a large extent of land which has been reclaimed
from the waste in a very superior manner. The land, besides
being well drained and marled, is fenced with flourishing white
thorn hedges, provided with commodious farm buildings, and rendered
accessible by a wide road formed through it, and leading from
Knowsley Hall to Bickerstaffit
Whitley Reed, one of the wildest and deepest mosses in Cheshire,
was reclaimed in the years 1850-51-52, under the superintendence
of Mr. Henry White, of Warrington. From being a mere swamp,
in which it is said that snipes occasionally bred in the summer,
and in which the members of the Cheshire Hunt were frequently
in danger of being ingulfed in the hunting season, Whitley Reed
has been converted into solid land, covered with pastures and
meadows. The new red sandstone formation extends from Morecambe Bay
and Lower Furness, in the north of Lancashire, to the borders of
Staffordshire and the south of Cheshire, and forms more than half
the soil of the two counties. To the east it is overlaid by the
alluvial soils of which we have already spoken ; to the west it
overlies the coal, limestone, and millstone grit, forming the carboni
ferous system, of which we have still to speak. It varies in breadth,
from three or four miles, in the north of Lancashire, to forty or fifty
miles, in the south of Cheshire.
In the north the new red sandstone forms the rich arable land
of Lower Furness, which is one of the most fertile and best cultivated
districts of Lancashire.
Passing southward, across Morecambe Bay, it appears near Cleveley
in Lower Wyresdale, and runs in a narrow band from that point,
through Garstang, to the neighbourhood of Preston on the Ribble.
To the west it is bounded and covered by the alluvial beds of the
Fylde ; to the east it runs up into the valleys and openings in the
millstone and limestone formations, presenting the appearance of
» Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire, by William James Garnett, Esq. Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England, vol. x.. p. 28.
f Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of the County of Lancaster, pp. 34-41.
VOL I. °

50 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

the arms of a dried-up sea, whose waves seem once to have flowed
amongst the hills. It forms several very deep indentations both
into the millstone grit and the mountain limestone formation. The
new red sandstone soil in this district is generally good land, and
is kept chiefly in grass. The old vaccaries, or cow pastures of
Wyresdale, which have existed from the most ancient times, and
yielded a considerable income to the dukes of Lancaster, extended
over parts of this formation, and up to the tops of the wilder hills.
From the river Ribble to the Mersey the new red sandstone runs in
a south-westerly direction, passing between Ormskirk and Scarisbrick,
in a narrow band ; and then widening, so as to fill up the whole
district of country between Liverpool and Widness. It thence
extends up the valley of the Mersey and the Irwell to Manchester
and Stockport, running up the valley of the Irwell to Ringley above
Manchester, and also up the valley of the Tame for a considerable
distance above Stockport.*
South of the Mersey the new red sandstone formation stretches
over the length and breadth of Cheshire, covering the whole of that
county, except in the mountainous range on the borders of Derby
shire, which belongs to the coal formation. The quality of the
land throughout Cheshire is in general very good. It is chiefly
kept in grass, owing to the great demand for the cheese of that
county. It is said, by a competent judge, that the produce of the
grass lands of Cheshire has been, at least, doubled during the last
thirty years.t
To the east of the new red sandstone of Lancashire and Cheshire
lie the soils which rest on the rocks of the carboniferous system,
that is to say, the coal formation, the millstone grit, and the
mountain limestone. These soils cover only a small part of Cheshire,
but they extend over more than the half of Lancashire.^
The soil of the coal formation is in general stiff and wet, and
not well suited for the growth either of roots or grain. In Lan
cashire it is generally kept in grass, and when well drained and
manured, forms excellent pasture land, besides yielding large crops
of hay. During the last thirty years the grass land on the coal
formation of Lancashire has been greatly improved by drainage
and manuring. From the elevation and the nature of the soil
this land does best in dry summers, such as those of 1864 and
* Geological Maps of Lancashire and Cheshire. Ordnance Survey. fMr. Henry White of Warrington.
X Geological Maps of Lancashire and Cheshire. Ordnance Survey.

PAST AND PRESENT. 51

1865, in both of which the stiff soils of this district were covered
with grass crops greatly superior to those of most parts of England*
The millstone grit, which also belongs to the carboniferous system,
and sometimes contains thin beds of coal, is one of the most barren
formations found in the kingdom. It almost defies cultivation.
Its natural herbage is heath and bent, without any mixture of the
finer grasses. The rock is everywhere close to the surface. In
general the millstone grit rises to a great elevation, with steep
declivities, down which any good soil that may ever have covered
them has been long since washed, by the heavy bursts of rain
that fall on these hills. The millstone grit is very extensively
spread over the county of Lancaster, both in the north and in the
south. It forms the great range of mountains, from 1200 to 1500
feet in height, that constitutes the eastern boundary of the two
counties, running northward from the lofty height of Mowcop,
where the Trent rises, on the borders of Staffordshire, to the
northern bank of the river Lune.
South of the river Ribble, on the hills of the coal and millstone
grit formation, in the neighbourhood of Accrington, the late Sir
Robert Peel drained almost all his land, to the extent of 1000
acres, and improved the moorlands attached to his estate, in the
township of Oswaldtwistle, situated at a height of 500 to 600 feet
above the sea. Extensive improvements have also been made at
a still greater elevation in the same neighbourhood, in the township
of Haslingden, which rises 1000 feet and more above the level
of the sea, by Mr. John Hoyle of Haslingden, who is mentioned, in
Mr. Bothwell's Report, as one of the most successful cultivators of
waste or moorland ; as well as by several other -gentlemen who own
property about Haslingden. The method of improvement generally
adopted in this neighbourhood has been to inclose and drain, and
then to spread lime on the surface, and, in some cases, both lime
and marl. "In a few years that beautiful plant, in the summer
and autumn, the red heath {Erica vulgaris rubra), and those sweet-
smelling ones, the long myrtle, and the Lancashire asphodel, all die
away, and better herbage springs up in their place." Improvements
of the same kind have also been made on Horwich Moor and Turton
Moor, at a still greater elevation. Cockey Moor, lying between
Bolton and Bury, and belonging to the earl of Wilton, has also
been reclaimed, trenched eighteen inches deep, and planted with
* MS. Notes made hy the Author.

52 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

forest trees. Bolton Moor and Dean Moor have been inclosed and
improved, and so also has Siddal Moor, near Heywood. Mr. Both-
well mentions that part of Siddal Moor, purchased by Mr. John
Owen, of Prestwich, has been reclaimed in a very superior manner.*
Nearly the whole of the long and lofty ridge of Longridge Fell,
rising to the height of 1000 feet, has been planted, and partly with
larch ; there is also a good deal of planting in the wild doughs
and glens in the higher parts of Roeburndale, Wenningdale, Grize-
dale, and Wyresdale, to a height of 800 to 1000 feet.
On the high grounds rising above the valley of the Greta, in
the neighbourhood of Wittington and Dalton, where the mountain
shale and limestone, the millstone grit, the coal measures, and the
red marls are strangely intermingled, considerable quantities of land
have been reclaimed, on the line of road that crosses the hills from
Burton to Kirkby Lonsdale. Mr. Bothwell states that the draining
in these improvements is not sufficient, but adds that good fencing,
and in some situations, planting, thorough draining, and a sufficient
dressing of lime or bone dust would make a great portion of this
land good pasture ground ; whilst some of the flat, sheltered, or mossy
parts would make excellent meadow, and might be irrigated at
slight expense. He says that in improving these high-lying
moors, stone walls are the fences principally used for the inclosures ;
but recommends, as a better fence and shelter, that a cop should
be raised eighteen inches above the surface of the ground, three
feet thick at the top, with a quantity of lime, with guano or other
manure mixed in on the top of the cop, and that on the soil thus
prepared, hollies and gorse, or whins, should be planted. These
hardy bushes grow at great elevations, and if properly trained
for a few years, not only serve as fences, but give that shelter against
storms and winds which is so much needed on these lofty hills.t
A few miles south of Lancaster considerable improvements have
been made on Ellel Moor, where the millstone-grit formation approaches
near to the sea. The height of the ground is upwards of 300
feet, and the position of the land fully exposed to the western
winds. The soil is from two to five inches deep, producing in its
natural state whins, or gorse, alder bushes, heather, and rushes. The
subsoil is a yellow bastard clay, full of stones, frequently contain
ing large quantities of iron, which makes the cutting of drains
very difficult, the subsoil resting on the millstone-grit rock. This
* Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire, pp. 22 and 21. -j- Ibid, p. 23.

PAST AND PRESENT. 53

wild land was greatly improved by Mr. Ford, of Ellel, and Mr. Richard
Hinde,.of Lancaster, and' was made so friable and rich, as to enable
the latter to gain the prize of the Lancaster Agricultural Society for
Swedish turnips, and to produce the heaviest crops of mangold, rye
grass, oats, and beans. Thorough draining, the removing of upwards
of a thousand one-horse cart loads of stones, and trenching on
the deeper, stiffer soils, were the means of improvement adopted in
this case.*
The mountain or carboniferous limestone is, on the contrary, a good
soil, at almost all elevations. It is the prevailing formation in the
valley of the Lune, and in the upper part of the valley of the Ribble.
It contains much rich land on the lower grounds, and good sheep
pasture on the hills. The meadows on the banks of the Lune and the
Ribble are as fertile as they are beautiful, and the hills of this forma
tion are covered with short sweet grass, even amongst the cliffs and
scars. The mountain limestone is not found either in South Lancashire
or in Cheshire, except in the township of Newbold Astbury, on the
borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
Nearly the whole of the limestone lands of Lancashire are in
meadow or pasture, and yield the best herbage that is found in the
country. Lunedale and Ribblesdale are amongst the richest districts
in England. The most ancient geological formation existing in Lancashire, but
which is not found in Cheshire, is that of the Cumbrian shales and
slates, closely connected with the Silurian formation. This is found in
the district of Higher Furness, the extreme northern division of Lan
cashire, adjoining the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland.
This district presents the aspect of lofty mountains, intersected by
narrow valleys, with numerous streams and lakes. That portion of
Furness which consists of limestone shale has a fertile, though shallow
soil, and is covered with short sweet grass, grazed by sheep. At the
extreme northern part of the county of Lancaster, near the springs
of the river Duddon, the land rises into lofty mountains of slate,
intersected here and there with dykes of porphyry, and other primitive
rocks. Here vegetation nearly dies away, the mountains scarcely
yielding sufficient herbage to support a few mountain sheep.t
On the limestone and limestone-shale hills of Cartmell and Furness
many thousand acres of ground have been reclaimed, during the
* Mr. J. W. Gernett's Report on the Farming of Lancashire, in Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, pp. 10-35.
t Ordnance Survey, Lancashire.

54 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

present generation, in the neighbourhood both of Broughton and
Cartmell. The reclamations on Cartmell Fells have been very exten
sive, and much of the reclaimed land has been planted with larches
and other kinds of trees. The rest is under the plough or in
pasture. The method of reclamation adopted in this case was by
inclosing, draining, and dressing the land with marl, clay, and sand.
No lime was used, the whole district lying on the limestone rock.
In Higher Furness there are many thousand acres of thriving
woods, consisting principally of the oak, the common and mountain
ash, the elm, the hazel, and all such trees as shoot again quickly when
cut down. These woods are cut every fifteen years, and the produce
sells at from £5 to £25 per acre.* The woodlands of North Lan
cashire, as of most hilly districts, have been rendered much more
valuable during the last fifty or sixty years, by the introduction of
that hardy and useful tree, the larch, which has taken the place of the
firs and pines that formerly darkened the hills. The larch being
a native of the lower ranges of the Alps, where it grows in the
chasms and gullies of the mountains, at an elevation of 5000 feet
above the sea, and flourishing most in the coolness of a northern
aspect, grows well in the highland districts of England and Scotland.
The decomposing rocks of the primary and transition formations, as
granite, gneiss, mica, and clay slate, as Selby informs us in his valuable
work on British Forest Trees, are its favourite ground. Fixed in such
a soil, on the steep and shelving sides of glens and narrow valleys,
the roots of the larch are cooled and refreshed by the constant percola
tion of moisture, and receive the nourishment that is most favourable
for the luxuriant growth and perfect development of the treat
The wood of the larch, according to Selby, is remarkable for its
strength and durability, at every period of its growth; and it is
pervaded by a resinous matter that gives it the power of resisting
moisture. As a mere stake it is of some value ; at ten or twelve years'
growth it becomes useful for railing; at fifteen or twenty years for
posts, coal-mine props, and railway sleepers. At a later growth it
forms a durable piling for the foundations of buildings, especially
on the banks of rivers and in the beds of estuaries ; and when fully
grown it is available for nearly every purpose to which timber is
applied. This most useful and hardy tree has given a greatly
increased value to the woodlands of this and other mountain districts,
and might be still more extensively planted with advantage, on nearly
* Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire. f Selby's History of British Forest Trees, p. 483.

PAST AND PRESENT. 55

all ground situated at an elevation of from 500 to 1500 feet above
the level of the sea.
Lancashire and Cheshire are separated from the adjoining counties
of Cumberland, Westmoreland, York, and Derby by lofty ranges of
mountains, running southward from the Lake district of England,
to the lofty height of Mowcop, on the borders of Staffordshire.
The length of this range from north to south is nearly one hundred
miles, its breadth is from ten to twenty miles, and the height of the
mountains which compose it is from 1500 to 2500 feet. It forms
a large portion of what is called the Backbone of England, or more
classically, the Pennine chain.
In the district of Higher Furness, between the river Duddon and
Windermere Lake, the highest point of this grea,t chain rises steeply
at the head of Coniston Water, in the mountain known as
Coniston Old Man (the last word being a corruption of the ancient
British word maun, a rock or stone), to the height of 2597 feet above
the level of the sea. The Coniston mountain is surrounded by several
other peaks, not more than 100 to 200 feet less lofty, some of which
are in Lancashire and others in Westmoreland or Cumberland. The
whole of Higher Furness is a region of mountains, lakes, and deep
ravines, the sides of the latter overgrown with larches, firs, and pines.
A hardy breed of sheep grazes the mountain pastures of Higher
Furness and the adjoining counties, and furnishes the wool that in
former times rendered the woollen manufactures of Kendal and
Cartmell famous throughout England. A few years ago the black
cock was very frequently found in the heather on these hills, and not
many years before, the roe deer and even the red deer were sheltered
in the woods of Higher Furness.
Further south, between the Lune and the Bibble, the peaks and
fells that separate Lancashire from Yorkshire rise almost as high as
those of Furness. The Colm or County stone, at the junction of
Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire, stands at a height of
2253 feet. The adjoining height of Greygarth Fell rises to 2057 feet.
The Wolfshole Crag is 1731, and the Wardstone, or Beacon, on
Littledale Fell is 1836 feet above the sea. Further southward the
Trough bank, above the mountain pass known as the Trough of
Bowland, rises to the height of 1383 feet, being the highest point in
the ancient red deer forest of Bowland. The highest point of the
Bleasdale Fells, where there was also another forest of red deer, in the
time of Leland, rises to the height of 1750 feet, and the land around

56 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

the springs of the Wyre, where there was a third forest of red deer
in the same age, is of equal height. Even the long outline of
Longridge Fell planted with larches and firs, rises to the height
of more than 1000 feet. The Roman road from Ribchester to Over-
borow, on the higher part of the Lune, runs through the midst of these
mountains, and can still be clearly traced at many points.*
South of the river Ribble, the country on the borders of Yorkshire
and Lancashire is a mass of mountains. These mountains run west
ward almost across South Lancashire, and form a sort of amphitheatre
of lofty heights, extending along the northern boundary of the Salford
hundred and the southern boundary of the Blackburn hundred,
sending almost innumerable streams both into the Mersey and the
Bibble. Pendlehill is really the head of the dale, and towers over
Ribblesdale to the height of 1830 feet. The Wolfstones in Trawden
Forest rise to the height of 1400 feet; the Gorplestones to 1535 feet"
Knoll-hill to 1375 feet; and Rivington Pike, almost in the centre of
South Lancashire, and serving as a landmark to vessels in the Irish
sea, to the height of 1545 feet. Most of the hills in the ancient deer
forest of Rossendale are of the height of from 1200 to 1500 feet.
Boulsworth-hill, which divides the watershed of the Yorkshire Calder
from that of one of the Lancashire rivers of the same name, rises to
the height of 1689 feet. These mountains contain numerous remains
of antiquity, in the form of Druidical circles, hanging stones, tumuli,
and camps erected by the Britons or the Romans. Three Roman
roads run through these mountains from west to east ; one a little to
the south of Clitheroe, another to the south of Colne, and the third
near Littleborough ; and the great Roman road from Mamucium, or
Mancunium (the present Manchester) to Ribchester, crosses it from
south-east to north-west, passing close to the present town of Black
burn. To the south of Boulsworth-hill extends the long range of
Blackstone-edge and Stanedge, the former of which is 1553 feet in
height. Holme Moss, on the borders of Lancashire, Cheshire, and
Yorkshire, rises to the height of 1859 feett
The land on the borders of Cheshire and Derbyshire, to the south
of the Mersey and of its tributaries, the Etherow and the Goyt, though
wild and mountainous, is not so barren as that of the district above
described. The mountain chain is narrower, being bounded by the
* Memoirs of tho Manchester Philosophical Society ; second series, vol. vi. Papers on the Roman Roads in
Lancashire, by John Jnst, Esq., Corresponding Member of the Society.
f All these heights are from the Ordnance Survey.

PAST AND PRESENT. 57

limestone district of Derbyshire on one side, and by the rich plains of
Cheshire on the other. Cultivation is here carried higher up the sides
of the hills. The highest parts of Lyme Park, the ancient residence
of the Leghs of Lyme, rise nearly 1000 feet above the Cheshire plain,
and in these lofty pastures still roam in safety some specimens of the
ancient breed of British cattle, that wandered at large on the hills of
Lancashire and Cheshire as late as the reign of Henry VII. In this
district the Cwm rocks rise to the height of 1377 feet. Chinley
Churn rises to the height of 1403 feet, and the highest points of
Macclesfield Forest to 1800 feet. In the reign of Edward I. the
wolves were so numerous and ferocious in Macclesfield Forest, that
the king allowed a sum of money in the sheriffs' accounts, for the cost
of wolf traps to destroy them. South of Macclesfield Forest, Axeridge,
on the borders of Cheshire and Derbyshire, rises to the height of 1750
feet, whilst Mowcop, on the borders of Cheshire and Staffordshire,
rises to about the same elevation. The range of mountains above
described encircles the counties of Lancaster and Chester on the
northern and eastern sides. A range of hills rising more gradually to
a height of 500 or 600 feet, runs along the southern border of
Cheshire, separating that county from the greater part of Stafford
shire and Shropshire, whilst the river Dee divides it from the loftier
mountains of North Wales.
There are several Boman roads and other remains of antiquity on
the mountains near, or to the south of, the river Mersey. Two of
their lines of road pass up the valley of the river Tame above
Staleybridge ; one up that of the Mersey and the Etherow, near
Mottram ; whilst a fourth crosses the heights of Macclesfield
Forest, near Eainow. There are also three great camps, probably
of British or of Roman origin, now known by the names of Buckton
castle, Melandra castle, and Monslow castle, iii these mountains.
There are also numerous tumuli and circles of stone and hanging
rocks, which are generally attributed to the age of the Druids.
On the northern and eastern sides of Lancashire and Cheshire
the names of several of the mountains and hills have still a wild
and desolate sound; the Wolf's Crags, the Wolfhole Rocks, Wolfenden,
and Wild Boar's Clough, carry us back in imagination to the times
when the ferocious animals, from which they took their names, were
the terror of the surrounding districts. We also meet with numerous
places named after other wild animals, as the beaver, the badger,
the otter, the fox, and the raven, all of which were formerly

VOL I.

58 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
¦m
found in these mountains. In our own happier times, the grouse
share the produce of these heath-covered hills with the mountain
sheep, and it is worthy of note amongst naturalists, that the earliest
brood of young grouse known to have been seen in England, was
found on the side of Pendlehill.* Hawks and falcons are still
numerous on these hills, and in the old coaching days an eagle
might occasionally be seen on the higher parts of the moors, sailing
along over the heaths and rocks in search of its prey.
Having described the various soils that are found in the counties
of Lancaster and Chester, we shall next proceed to give a brief
account of the plants which they produce, and of the animals which
those plants sustain, including as well those that may be considered
indigenous to the soil as those that have been introduced within the
historic period. It will be necessary at the same time to add a
few observations, as to the climate of this division of England,
and its influence on the growth and production of plants and
animals. A most observant and discriminating writer of antiquity, in
describing the soil and climate of Britain, says, that they are such
as to produce all the ordinary cultivated plants, except the vine
and the olive, the products of hot countries ; that the soil is fertile
and patient of crops ; but thai the plants produced in Britain grow
more rapidly than they ripen, owing to the abundance of moisture
in the earth and the air.t This observation is not only applicable
to Britain as a whole, and as compared with the drier countries of
the continent of Europe, but it is also applicable to the western and
north-western districts of England and Scotland, and to the whole
of Ireland, as compared to the eastern and southern districts of
England. In ordinary years wheat ripens and is generally harvested
from a fortnight to three weeks earlier in Kent and Surrey than it is
in Lancashire and Cheshire, and nearly a month earlier than it is in
most parts of Ireland. In the very early summer of 1864, for
instance, wheat was cut and carried in the Isle of Thanet, which
is considered the earliest spot in Kent, in the last week in July ; in
Lancashire and Cheshire a fortnight later; in the first week in
September, in the neighbourhood both of Belfast and of Limerick.
In early summers, like those of 1864 and 1865, this difference is
of little consequence ; but, when the time of ripening is late all over
the three kingdoms, it becomes difficult to secure the grain crops in
* Yarell's British Birds— Grouse. f C C Tacitus' Life of Julius Agricola.

PAST AND PRESENT. 59

good condition, in the more westerly and backward districts bordering
on the Irish Sea and the ocean. The difference of climate has
always had the effect of inducing the cultivators of the soil to
pay more attention to the production of grain in the southern and
eastern counties, and to the production of grasses and roots, and
the breeding and rearing of cattle, in the western and southern
counties. In ancient times, when cultivation was very rude, this
was so much the case that one of the Roman historians, in describing
the people of Britain, says, that in the eastern and northern parts of
the island they subsisted chiefly by the cultivation of the soil and
the growth of grain, whilst in the interior and more remote parts
they subsisted almost entirely on the produce of their cattle. This
continued to be the case to a considerable extent until much more
recent times. William of Malmesbury, writing five hundred years
ago, spoke of Cheshire as a country poor in grain, but rich in cattle.
Even in the reign of Henry VIII., when Leland visited the north
western counties, he notes very particularly the districts in which
wheat and other kinds of grain were grown. Thus, in travelling
between Northwich and Manchester, he observes, "that the soil was
sandy, and that little corn was grown, owing to the deer that strayed
out of Delamere Forest and devoured the young corn." But in proceed
ing forward by way of Altringham to Manchester, he observes, in
passing Dunham Massey ("Mr. Booth's house," as he calls it), "that
about that place, by good, culture, there had been made very good corn
ground." Continuing his journey northward from Manchester to the
house of his friend Mr. Leland at Morley, in the parish of Leigh,
he remarks, " that he passed by inclosed ground, partly pasture, and
partly fruitful of corn." Further north, between Morley and Preston,
he observes, "that the ground was inclosed for pasture and corn,
except where the vast moors and mosses were." In travelling between
Preston and Garstang, he remarks, " that wheat is not very commonly
sown in those parts;" but about Lancaster, he observes, "that the
soil is very fair, plentiful of wood, meadow, pasture, and corn." A
few years later, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Camden in his
" Britannia," in describing the more level parts of Lancashire, states,
" that it produced good crops of wheat and barley, and that the land
nearer the hills yielded good crops of oats." But even to the present
day both Lancashire and Cheshire are much more remarkable for
their meadows, pastures, oats, root crops, and garden produce, than
for their crops of wheat and barley. This is not because the art of

60 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
growing grain is not perfectly well understood everywhere in those
counties, and is not practised with great skill in some districts, such as
Lower Furness, the Fylde, the Ormskirk district of South Lancashire,
and the peninsula of Wirral, but because both the soil and climate
are better suited for green crops than for white, and because it is
more profitable to raise those descriptions of produce that cannot
be brought from a distance.*
The climate of Lancashire and Cheshire, on the average of years, is
much milder than that of the corresponding districts on the eastern
side of the island, which are more exposed to the land winds blowing
over the northern parts of Europe and Asia. The lofty bills on
the east of the two counties, and on the north of Lancashire, rise
like a great natural wall more than 1000 feet high, and shelter
them from these winds. But they lie entirely open to the winds
from the south and west, blowing over the Atlantic ocean,' and
rendered mild by the waters brought by the Gulf stream from the
tropics. The warmth of that great ocean river, we are told,
tempers the severity of the climate even to Spitzbergen, and
indeed, that but for its mild influence, the shores of the British
islands would be ice-bound even in June, like those of Labrador.!
In general, therefore, the winters are mild, especially on the great
estuaries that open towards the south, such as those of More
cambe Bay and the Lune. Thus in average winters the thermo
meter does not sink below 40° in the month of January at Liverpool,
or in the middle of the Irish Sea, at the Isle of Man ; whilst in
London it sinks on the average in the same month to 37°, and on the
coast of Yorkshire to 33°J Even in very severe winters the cold is
seldom so intense in Lancashire and Cheshire, as it is on the eastern
side of the island. Thus in the winter of 1819-20 which was an
intensely cold winter all over England, the thermometer sank to 9° or
10° below zero in the neighbourhood of London, whilst it never sank
quite to zero in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, where the temperature
was very carefully marked at the Botanic Gardens. Still the winters
are occasionally intensely severe even in this district ; as, for instance,
in 1829-30, when all the rivers and canals were frozen for several
weeks, when the wild animals came around the houses and into the
gardens, when the rooks had to seek their food on the sea-shore,
* C C Tacitus' Life of Julias Agricola. Dion Cassius. William of Malmesbury. Leland's Itinerary, and
Camden's Britannia.
t Physical Geography, by Mrs. Somerville, p. 234. J Keith Johnstone's Physical Atlas.

PAST AND PRESENT. 61

and when numerous wild birds were shot on the Lancashire estuaries,
including wild swans as well as wild geese, and other more ordinary
visitors. But winters of this kind are very unusual, and sometimes
winter can scarcely be said to be felt. Thus in the winter of 1840
there were flowers in the gardens during the whole of December and
January, including monthly roses, snowdrops, and polyanthuses,
whilst the gorse or furze was covered with blossoms. The most
remarkable characteristics of the climate of the north-west are its
rapid changes, and the general abundance of moisture. It appears
from a register of the time at which the different kinds of vegetables
and early fruit are brought to market at Liverpool, that there is a
difference of six weeks between the time at which potatoes, asparagus,
and gooseberries are brought to market in early seasons, and that at
which they are brought in backward seasons. The summer heat, on
the contrary, is less on the Lancashire and Cheshire coast than it is in
the south and east of England, the average summer heat in those two
counties, in the month of July, being 61°, whilst in the south of
England at London it is 64°, at York 63°, and even as far north
as Elgin 61°.* In very early seasons there have been summers in
which the greater part of the hay crops were cut and carried in
the first fortnight in June, but in later seasons they are often out till
near the end of July. In one year early rye, quite ripe, was cut in
Lancashire in the second week in July ; in another barley was cut
near Ulverstone in the last week of July, and in the year 1844 wheat
grown on the sandy lands near New Brighton in Cheshire, was shown
in Liverpool Exchange in the first week in August. But on the
average of years there is not much ripe grain, either in Lancashire
or Cheshire, before the third or even the fourth week in August.
Something, however, in this respect depends on the nature of the
soil and on its cultivation. Those causes make a difference of ten
days or a fortnight, independent of climate.
Cheshire was described in one of the Agricultural Beports in the
early part of the present century, as consisting of " 665,600 acres of
verdant surface," and the same description applies to a considerable
portion of Lancashire. They are amongst the most productive grass
land districts in the kingdom, the grass retaining its growth and
verdure in a great degree during the whole year, owing to the
moistness and mildness of the climate. The same report describes the
natural meadows of Cheshire as numerous, rich, and fertile. They are
* Keith Johnstone's Physical Atlas.

62 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
many of them situated on rivers, which, from the frequency of heavy
rains on the high grounds from which they descend, overflow and
enrich the soil. The extent of upland pasture is very considerable.
That on tolerably stiff clay, with a good substratum of marl, is
reckoned the best for the dairy. More milk may be had from the
cows fed on a rich loamy soil, and such soils are sought for where the
sale of fresh milk is the principal object ; but on dairy farms, land of
the kind described above is considered more useful. In Lancashire
there is much less permanent grass than in Cheshire, but still the
meadows on both sides of the Mersey are very fine, and nothing can
surpass the grass land on the banks of the Bibble and the Lune.
Nearly every kind of natural grass that grows in England is found in
the meadows or on the uplands in the two counties, the nature and
quality of the herbage varying chiefly with the different degrees of
moistness and of richness in the soil. In the meadows the principal
grasses are the fescue, foxtail, meadow grass, white clover, cow grass,
or perennial red clover, with cat's-tail or timothy grass in the moister
places. White clover and the more lasting variety of red clover grow
very freely in most parts of the two counties. A wonderful effect has
been produced on the pasture lands of Cheshire during the last fifty
years, by the use of bone dust, which was first introduced, in that
county, on the estates of the late Viscount Combermere. It is now
very extensively applied in many parts of Cheshire, as well as in
Lancashire, and on the poorest soils it produces a luxuriant herbage,
consisting of red and white clover, trefoil, and other fine grasses, which
the cattle devour eagerly. Thistles and rushes soon disappear before
this richer herbage, especially on land that is naturally dry or has
been sufficiently drained. A great improvement has also been made
during the last thirty years, in the manner of laying down grass lands.
Formerly this was done chiefly with red clover and rye grass, which
yield a large crop the first year, but then die away, leaving little in
the land except weedy grass. This mode of laying down grass lands
has in a great measure been abandoned, and in place of one or two
exhausting annual grasses, a good selection of permanent grasses is
sown, including such as come at different times of the year, and thus
supply cattle and sheep with more or less food at all seasons.
The principal artificial grasses grown in Lancashire are red clover
and rye-grass, which are both excellent grasses when not allowed to
kill everything else, and to exhaust the land. Italian rye grass was
introduced about thirty years ago, in the neighbourhood of large

PAST AND PRESENT. 63

towns, where it is grown in small plots, chiefly by cowkeepers, whom
it furnishes with early green forage. The rapidity of its growth is
extraordinary. Soon after Italian rye-grass was introduced, a crop
of it was grown on the land of Mr. Harold Littledale, at Liscard
in Cheshire, which was 33 inches in length in the first week of May.
Lucerne, which does so well in the dry gravelly soils in the south
of England, is not much cultivated either in Lancashire or Cheshire,
though it grows very well on the sandy soils near the sea, from
Seafbrth to Southport. The variety of clover with the blood red
flowers, the trifolium incarnatum, was tried some years ago in
Lancashire, but was soon abandoned, though it is still occasionally
grown on the chalk lands in Berkshire and Devonshire. It is a
native of the south of France, where it generally grows in very
dry soils. Vetches, and Belgian or St. John's Day rye, are pretty
extensively cultivated as green forage, though not so extensively
as Italian rye-grass.
Wheat, barley, and oats are grown very successfully in some dis
tricts, but not over a very wide range of country. Owing to the
wetness of the climate, neither the colour nor quality is quite
equal to those of the eastern counties. The best wheat lands are
along the coast, especially in Lower Furness, the Fylde, the country
from Bufford through Ormskirk to the neighbourhood of the river
Mersey, and part of the peninsula of Wirral. Very fine barley is
also grown in Lower Furness, and oats are grown extensively in
many parts of Lancashire. Formerly much oaten and barley bread
was consumed, especially in the hilly districts, and oaten cakes are
still eaten in the hilly country on the borders of Yorkshire; but it
is because the people prefer them, and not that they are unable to
buy wheaten bread. The import of wheat is enormous, from all
wheat-growing countries, as well as from other districts of the United
Kingdom. Beans and peas grow very luxuriantly, as well in the field as in
gardens, especially on the stronger class of soils. But both the soil
and climate of the two counties are more especially suited for the
growth of roots, of nearly every description produced in England.
Turnip husbandry is carried on with great success in Lower Furness
and the Fylde, and considerable quantities of turnips are grown on the
lighter lands of South Lancashire, within ten or twelve miles of the
sea-coast, and also in the district of Wirral in Cheshire. Further
inland the turnip is not extensively cultivated, except on the moss

04 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
lands, where it grows very luxuriantly, and seldom fails, even in the
driest summers, owing to the moisture remaining in the ground.
Potato cultivation is carried on almost as extensively in South
Lancashire, and in those parts of Cheshire that extend along the
banks of the Mersey, as it is in Ireland. The soil and climate of the
two counties are especially suited for the growth of the potato plant,
which has been extensively cultivated in the open fields, as well as
in the gardens of Lancashire and Cheshire, for more than two hundred
years. "The history of the first introduction of the potato into
Europe," says Humboldt in his "Views of Nature," "is involved in
much obscurity; but the merit of the introduction is still very
generally supposed to be due to Sir John Hawkins, who is said to
have brought the plant from Santa Fe, in South America, in the
year 1563 or 1565. But the fact which appears to be better authen
ticated is, that the first potatoes were those planted by Sir Walter
Raleigh on his estate at Youghal, in Ireland, from whence they were
conveyed into Lancashire." Both farmers and cottagers in Lanca
shire cultivate the potato, the former generally in drills worked
with the horse-hoe, and the latter in beds or dibbled in rows, and
hoed with the hand. The earliest kinds of potatoes are cultivated
in rich sheltered spots, and no sooner are they cleared off the land
than, some other crop takes their place. The demand for the potato
is almost unlimited, in a district which contains a population of
3,000,000 persons, or nearly 600,000. families, in each of which, from
the highest to the lowest, the potato forms an article of daily food.
The cultivation of this valuable root forms a considerable portion of
the agriculture of South Lancashire. It is there, however, grown
on farms of all sizes, and the loss of the crop, when it does
occur, is more a question of profit and loss, than one of the sub
sistence of the whole people, as it unhappily has been in Ireland.
The varieties of the potato grown in Lancashire and Cheshire are
very numerous, and as old varieties disappear, new ones spring up
and take their place.
In the years between 1846 and 1849, at the time of the potato
famine in Ireland, the failures in the potato crop in the north-west of
England were so frequent and so disastrous, as to create a general
apprehension that the cultivation of the root would have to be aban
doned. But these fears have not been realized, for the disease
appeared to lose its intensity in a few years, and the cultivation is
probably as extensive now as it ever was in this part of the kingdom.

PAST AND PRESENT. 65

Whatever may have been the cause of the potato disease, the dis
ease itself both came and passed away very gradually. For five or
six years before it became a matter of national importance the local
failures were very frequent. So early as the years 1840 and 1841
there were considerable failures in the pink-eye, then considered the
finest potato grown in Lancashire, and in many other varieties; and
the disease spread until it became almost universal. Even at that
time, however, the peaty soils were found to be much less exposed to
the ravages of the potato disease than the older and richer soils. On
many of the moss farms the disease was scarcely felt at all, whilst on
the richer lands, at a distance of not more than a few hundred yards,
the most luxuriant crops when in full bloom, and with every appearance
of perfect health, were completely blighted in a single night.
Market gardening in all its departments is carried on very exten
sively around nearly all the large towns of Lancashire and Cheshire.
The whole valley of the Mersey and Irwell, from the neigbourhood of
Manchester to that of Liverpool, as well as the banks of the Bridgewater
and the Leeds and Liverpool canals, abound in market gardens ; and
much even of the farm cultivation of some districts of the two counties
is a mixture of horticulture and agriculture. Through a considerable
part of the two counties there are good gardens and orchards around
most of the farm houses. All the varieties of garden fruit and pro
duce are met with in the farm and cottage gardens, and still more
abundantly in the large market gardens. The common fruit trees,
such as the apple, pear, cherry, and plum, are found everywhere. The
damson plum is the most abundant, and is an article of profit to the
cottagers, as well as to the small farmers. Wall fruit also grows well
in the hotter summers. The vegetables that come to the greatest
perfection in Lancashire are celery and asparagus, both of which grow
luxuriantly in the lighter soils, with a mixture of peat. Dickson, in
his " Beport on the Agriculture of Lancashire," published some years
ago, says, " There is a certain farm in Kirkby, about eight miles
north-east of Liverpool, the soil of which is composed of loamy sand,
which produces great quantities of early and strong asparagus, and
another farm, a part of which is of the same nature, at Orrel, four
miles north-east of Liverpool, both of which produce this plant, with
less attention and less manure than is requisite in the rich vale of
Kirkdale, about two miles from Liverpool, where the greatest quan
tity of land, in any place in that neighbourhood, is appropriated
solely to horticulture." Since this Avas written the market gardens
VOL. I. I

66 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of Kirkdale have been turned into streets and docks, and covered
with houses and warehouses ; but all around Liverpool and Man
chester, as well as Warrington, Frodsham, Altringham, and numerous
other places, garden culture is carried on to a great extent, and with
constantly increasing skill.
When Dickson wrote the report above quoted, many of the
mechanics of Lancashire had gardens, to which they paid great atten
tion, and in which they raised many beautiful varieties of flowers.
" A small patch of ground, appended to his cottage, furnishes the
weaver, smith, or carpenter with health and pleasure, and contributes
to his sobriety ; intemperance frequently proceeding from want of
recreation to fill up a vacant hour. This small space is devoted to
the cultivating of his young seedlings, trimming his more mature
plants, contemplating new varieties, in expectation of honours through
the medium of promised premiums. Thus starting, at intervals, from
his more toilsome labours, the mechanic finds his stagnating fluids
put in motion, and his lungs refreshed with the fragrant breeze,
while he has been raising new flowers of the auricola, carnation,
polyanthus, or pink of the most approved qualities, in their respective
kinds ; and which after being raised here have been dispersed over
the whole kingdom. But not only flowers, but fruit, have been
objects of their attention. The best gooseberries now in existence had
their origin in the county of Lancaster; and to provoke this spirit
meetings are annually appointed at different places, and premiums
given for different kinds of fruit and flowers."
Since the above was written, which is now nearly fifty years ago,
the towns of Lancashire have increased two or threefold, and the
hand-loom weaver has given place to the much better paid workman,
who labours with, and not in rivalry with, machinery. Multitudes of
small gardens must have been swept away in the change, though
cottage horticulture is still pursued wherever it is possible. Happily
the forming of people's parks in all the large towns, and the greater
facility which now exists for getting into the country, do something
to familiarize the labouring population with the beauties of nature.
The extent of garden cultivation as a whole must have greatly
increased during the last thirty years, in which period omnibuses,
railways, and steamboats have given the middle classes the power of
residing in the country, whilst actively engaged in the pursuits of
trade. Within that period thousands, if not tens of thousands of
houses, each possessed of its plot of land and pleasant garden, have

PAST AND PRESENT. 67

been built around the towns in the manufacturing . districts, and
multitudes of persons have now the pleasure of living in the country,
who were formerly shut up from one end of the year to the other in
the streets of large towns. Most of the villas now erected by our
more successful merchants and manufacturers, are handsome and
agreeable residences, and surrounded by gardens and pleasure grounds
laid out and planted with excellent taste.
The parks of the more wealthy classes, scattered over the two
counties, include some of the finest residences, the most tasteful
gardens, and the most beautiful pleasure grounds in the kingdom.
In these also we find the greatest variety of beautiful plants, and the
noblest specimens of timber. Speaking of the woods and plantations
of Cheshire, a writer observes, " that few of them are of large extent,
yet that much timber is scattered about in woods and hedgerows. In
some parts of the country the number of trees in the hedgerows and
coppices is so considerable, that from some points of view, the whole
country has the appearance of an extensive forest." The most con
siderable ancient woods are in the park of the earl of Stamford and
Warrington, at Dunham Massey. Few spots could boast such an
assemblage of stately oaks, elms, and beeches. During a storm of
wind on the 21st January, 1802, several hundred trees were torn up
by the roots in this park. One of these, when barked, contained 403
cubic feet of timber, and was sold at 6s. 6d. per foot, to the extent of
373^ feet. An elm, blown down at the same time, measured 146 feet
in height. A colony of herons had for ages fixed their residence on
the summit of these trees, but when the oaks were blown down they
settled on the neighbouring beeches. There are still many noble trees
at Dunham Massey, and in others of the great parks in the rich valleys
of Cheshire. Lancashire is not so favourably situated for producing
fine timber, the winds being very trying along the whole coast, and
the soil in the interior being seldom suited for the growth of oak
timber. The beech, the elm, and the sycamore all grow to be fine
trees, when they are well taken care of in the early years of their
growth. The larches are also very fine on the hills of Higher Furness.
Formerly this district was celebrated for its yew trees, which furnished
the archers — for whom it was still more famous — with the great
national weapon, the bow. But these are now only found growing
wild in the clefts of the rocks in the northern districts of the county,
or in a few of the parks. Amongst the finest yew trees in England
are those growing in Gresford churchyard, about ten miles south of

68 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Chester, but across the Welsh border. One of these yew trees is fifty
feet in girth below the branches, and is supposed to be more than
1400 years old.* During the last fifty years numerous shrubs and
trees, either ornamental or combining use with ornament, have been
introduced into this in common with other districts. The rhododen
dron and the azalea are now amongst the most beautiful ornaments
of our gardens and shrubberies, and both grow with extraordinary
luxuriance in the light peat soils, and under the mild climate, of the
north-western district. The pines of South America, and the cedars
of the Himalaya mountains, also now adorn our shrubberies, and may
possibly, like the larch, at a future time become timber trees on
our hills.
A district diversified with woods, meadows, corn-fields, and gardens,
always contains abundance of birds, and most of the principal song
birds of England are found in the two counties. Early in January
the missel-thrush, the earliest and largest of the song-birds of this
country, is heard singing in the woods, even amidst the storms, from
which it takes its local name of the storm-cock. In February, the
skylarks are heard singing as they rise, from their nests in the grass,
into the skies. In the same month the loud cheerful note of the
song-thrush begins to be heard, and increases in richness and in
power as the season advances. In the course of March and April,
the mellow note of the blackbird is heard in gardens and orchards.
In the month of April the swallow begins to fly around the streams
and brooks, and its chirp or twitter is heard under the eaves of the
houses. Early in May the cuckoo is heard, and occasionally seen,
before the trees are fully covered with leaves. " The voice of the
turtle-dove is heard in the land" in the months of April and May ;
and towards the end of the latter month the sound of the land-rail,
or corn-crake, resounds from the long grass. The principal birds that
come in the spring, and more especially the swallow, appear to arrive
in Lancashire about three weeks later than the time of their arrival
in the south of England. In the spring of the year 1774, the swallow
was seen at Selborne, in Hampshire, on the 4th April, the swift on
the 24th, and the bank-marten on the 12th April, and the house-
marten on the 30th April; whilst in the same year at Blackburn,
in Lancashire, the swallow was first seen on the 29th April, the swift
on the 28th, and the house-marten on the 1st of May.t
There is some uncertainty as to the furthest point northward to
* Humboldt's Views of Nature, p. 273. f White's Natural History of Selborne, p. 17-1.

PAST AND PRESENT. 69

which the nightingale extends its migration. It is generally allowed
that it is heard on the eastern side of England, as far north as Don-
caster, and it has been heard repeatedly on the western side, as far
north as the valley of the Mersey and the Irwell, in the woody
district between Stretford and Dunham Massey. Scarcely a year
passes in which its beautiful song is not heard, in the stillness of
the night, in that neighbourhood. It has seldom, however, been
found much further north, and that may be considered the extreme
limit of its migration on the north-western side of the island.
In a country abounding in grass and herbage, and with a mild,
moist climate, the presence of numerous tribes of birds is absolutely
necessary to keep the ravages of insects and reptiles within the
limits that are required for the protection of vegetable growth. In
mild winters, the wheat fields of this district are frequently laid
waste by innumerable swarms of the shell-less snails, too well known
to the farmer by the name of slugs. The gardens, especially in mild
seasons, abound with caterpillars. In the summer months, the
turnip fly makes great ravages in the turnip fields. All these
creatures no doubt have their use in the system of creation, but
they all have a tendency to increase to such an extent as to be
injurious to cultivation. They are infinitely too numerous and too
minute to be destroyed by the efforts of man ; but they are kept
within safe limits by the incessant attacks of the feathered tribes,
to which they afford the larger part of their subsistence.
Bees find an abundant supply of honey in the heath-flowers on
the Lancashire mosses, and the vegetation of the newly reclaimed
lands around their edges, consisting chiefly of red and white clover,
beans and peas, and other plants, producing rich and fragrant flowers.
In those situations the yield of honey is large, and the swarms
increase very rapidly.
Much the larger portion of the produce of the soil of the two
counties consists of grasses, hay, and roots ; and much the larger part
is consumed in the feeding of cattle, horses, sheep, and swine. The
whole number of domestic animals existing in the two counties, in
ordinary times, appears to be from 900,000 to 1,000,000 — a large
number, but not more than is required to supply the various wants,
and to answer the different purposes, of a population of 3,000,000 of
persons. This is independent of fat cattle, sheep, and swine imported
from Ireland, Scotland, Wales,, and other parts of England, and
immediately consumed within the district. These also are very

70 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
numerous, the cattle imported into Liverpool alone being about
150,000 a year, the sheep about 400,000, and the swine about 200,000,
in round numbers. The quantity of cattle usually kept in the
counties of Lancaster and Chester appears, from a return recently
laid before Parliament, to be rather less than 300,000, of which
number nearly 200,000 are milk cows. The number of horses kept
in the two counties cannot be ascertained with equal certainty, but
probably amounts to upwards of 100,000. The number of sheep is
rather more than 300,000, and the number of swine upwards of 100,000.
The native breed of long-horned cattle that formerly covered the
plains, as well as the hills of Lancashire, is now nearly extinct, having
been supplanted, except in a few remote and hilly districts, by a finer
and larger breed. In former times, before turnip husbandry was
invented and. artificial grasses or oil cake were introduced, and
when little provision was made for feeding cattle in the winter
months, the hardy, active, long-horned breed of Lancashire cattle,
with thick hides and long shaggy hair, were the only race of cattle
that could five, and keep up their strength, during the winter
months, and guard themselves in the vaccaries, in the hollows of the
mountains, against the wolves that then infested the wilder parts
of the district. The Lancashire cattle are spoken of, by the old
English writers, as the finest breed then existing in the country;
especially Camden, in his "Britannia," says that the fertility and
healthiness of the region of Lancashire may be judged of from the
appearance of the people, who are remarkably handsome, and from
the fineness of the cattle, which, with their long horns and well-
formed bodies, possess all the good points that the ancient writers
on agriculture, namely, Mago the Carthaginian, and Columella in
his work on rural affairs, state that cattle should possess. This
eulogium was no doubt well deserved; but during the last hundred
years the breeding of cattle has been greatly improved, and a new
breed created, by carefully cultivating the best points in several
existing ones. The result is the short-horned breed, which has
now spread over the whole of England, and seems likely to supersede
all the others. The Lancashire breed of long-horned cattle, as des
cribed by Culley, the great improver of the breed of cattle, are said
to have been distinguished from others by the length of their horns,
the thickness and firm texture of their hides, the length and closeness
of their hair, the large size of their hoofs, and their coarse, leathery,
thick necks. He states that they are deeper in their fore quarters,

PAST AND PRESENT. 71

and lighter in their hind quarters, than most other breeds ; narrower
in their shape ; less in weight than the short horns, though better
weighers in proportion to their size ; and though they give consider
ably less milk, it is said to afford more cream in proportion to its
quantity. The Lancashire cattle, he says, are more varied in their
colours than any other breed ; but whatever the colour may be,
they have in general a white streak along the back, which the
breeders term finched, and mostly a white spot on the inside of the
hough. The short-horned, or Yorkshire, Durham, or Northumber
land breed, as they are called in different places, have in a great
measure superseded the Lancashire cattle. According to the same
writer, the bone, head, and neck, of the short-horned cattle are fine,
and the hide is very thin; the chine is full, the loin broad, the
carcass throughout large and well-proportioned, and the flesh, or
fattening quality, equal or perhaps superior to that of any other
large breed. The short-horns give a greater quantity of milk than
any other cattle ; a cow yielding usually twenty-four quarts a day,
and making three firkins of butter during the grass season. The
colours of the short-horned breed are much varied, but they are
generally red and white mixed, or what breeders call flecked. The
cattle on the cheese farms in Cheshire are of various breeds, includ
ing a large number of short-horns, but also many other breeds ; the
quantity of caseine matter in the milk being of more consequence
than the quantity of milk, or the amount of butter, that it contains.
The number of horses kept in the two counties is also very great,
and probably bears a close proportion to the number of persons
resident in the district, and the amount of goods, merchandise,
minerals, and building materials transported within it. The number
of horses employed in the cultivation of the ground may be somewhat
less than in other counties, owing to the large quantity of land that
remains in permanent grass ; yet it is not so much less as might be
supposed, owing to the large quantities of farm produce that are
carted into the towns, and the large quantity of manure that is carted
from the towns into the country. Lancashire and Cheshire farmers
have a very good useful breed of horses, both for the farm and the
road, though neither of these counties can rank with Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, and some others, in the breeding of horses. When
railways were invented, and mail coaches, stage coaches, post chaises,
and waggons, were driven from the road, it appeared as if the demand
for horses would almost cease. But this is very far from having

72 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
been the case ; and there are probably a greater number of horses,
of all kinds, employed in the two counties, than there were in those
days when Bartholomew Bretherton kept 1200 coach horses in his
stables at Rainhill, near Prescot, and when his partner, Mr. Lacy, had
nearly as many at the other end of the Liverpool and Manchester
roadj-near Irlam, and when those roads resounded, from early morning
till late at night, with the tramp of horses and the rattle of coaches.
Since stage coaches and post chaises disappeared, omnibuses, cabs,
and hansoms have come in, and probably occupy as many horses as
were formerly employed in travelling on the high roads. There are
also a greater number of private carriages kept now than were ever
kept at any previous time, and also a greater number of saddle
horses. Some of the Lancashire landowners have paid great atten
tion to the breeding of the finest class of horses, especially Lieutenant-
colonel Towneley, of Towneley Park, near Burnley, whose racers
have been amongst the finest and most successful ever produced
in England. Many of the hunters that turn out with the Cheshire
foxhounds, are also amongst the finest animals in the kingdom.
But, in addition to the number of horses kept for pleasure or for
drawing light vehicles, there is an immense demand in Liverpool and
Manchester, and all the other towns of the two counties, for draught
horses, both for carts and waggons. The quantity of merchandise
moved for greater or smaller distances, by means of horse-power,
amounts to several million tons yearly, and the quantity of coal and
of building materials is still greater. These articles are now moved
for long distances by steam, but they are almost all either originally
collected at the railway stations, or removed from those stations, or
from docks to warehouses, by means of horse-power. Thousands of
teams, of the most powerful draught horses, are continually in use in
Liverpool, Manchester, and all the other towns of the two counties,
assisting in the removal of goods, coal, and building materials. For
horses of this kind, as well as of a lighter breed, the horse fairs of
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cumberland, Shropshire, and Denbighshire,
as well as those of Lancashire and Cheshire, are constantly visited by
the horse dealers of Manchester and Liverpool, and a large quantity
of the hay, forage, oats, and beans, grown in the two counties, is used
in feeding these powerful and most useful animals.
The native breeds of sheep, like those of cattle, have almost
disappeared on the plains of Lancashire, and Cheshire, though they
are still found on the hills. The Haslingden breed, found on the

PAST AND PRESENT. 73

moors extending from Haslingden, the. highest town in Lancashire,
to the borders of Yorkshire, are probably remains of the ancient
Lancashire breed. In the hilly district of South Lancashire, of which
Haslingden and the ancient forest of Rossendale are the centre, the
farmers of the highlands have a hardy breed of sheep of a fair size,
generally known as the Haslingden breed. These sheep are horned,
and have gray faces ; their wool is said to be quite as good as that
of the Cheviot sheep, and with as heavy a fleece. They make
excellent mutton when fat, weighing from 18 to 20 lbs. per quarter,
and being by many preferred even to the mutton of the highland
blackfaced sheep. They are probably remains of the original breed of
Lancashire sheep.* Another native breed of sheep, known as the
Herdwick, is found in Higher Furness, which is a continuation of the
Cumberland and Westmoreland range of mountains. The Herdwick
sheep are natives of that rocky mountainous district, at the head of
the river Duddon and the river Esk. They are without horns, have
speckled faces and legs, and short wool, weighing from 2 lbs. to %\ lbs.
per sheep. The wool, though coarser than that of any other short-
woolled breed, is yet much finer than the wool of the heath sheep.
In the plains of Lancashire and Cheshire the native breeds of sheep
have given way to finer breeds, introduced from other districts. The
white-faced Cheviots are very prevalent in the north of Lancashire,
and the Shropshire sheep have been extensively introduced in
Cheshire. In South Lancashire there are very few sheep, except on
the hills ; but some landowners have introduced small numbers, both
of the Leicester and the South Down sheep, the two great breeds of
the midland and the southern counties. These do well with great
care and attention, but neither the soil nor the climate of Lancashire
and Cheshire is well suited to either of the breeds. The principal
supply of sheep for immediate use is obtained from Ireland and
Scotland. Ireland also supplies the greater part of the pigs consumed in
Lancashire, though some of the native breeders, in the large towns
have taken great pains to improve the breed. Until the potato
failure Irish pigs had continued to improve very rapidly, and 'from
being amongst the worst in the United Kingdom, they had become
amongst the best. The number of pigs in Lancashire and Cheshire
amounts to about 100,000, but this is independent of the supplies
that are continually arriving from Ireland.
* Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire.
VOl.. I. K

74 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The quantity of poultry and of game produced in these counties
is very considerable. The Bolton grays are the best known poultry
of the Lancashire breed ; but the greatest pains have been taken
during the last twenty years to introduce all the newest and best
breeds of poultry existing in England. Poultry shows now take
place every year in different parts of the two counties, and some
of the very finest birds are presented as competitors for the prizes.
Game of all kinds is abundant, but hard to keep, poachers gen
erally getting the lion's share. Hares are numerous, and increase
very rapidly. A few years ago, upwards of 700 hares were killed,
in about five weeks, on the Bold Hall estate, the then owner of
which had issued an order or given permission for their destruction.
Pheasants are found in tolerable abundance in some of the larger
parks and deeper covers, but are difficult to preserve. Partridges
find abundant food, and breed quickly, wherever the land is farmed
in turnip husbandry. The red grouse are still pretty plentiful on
some of the larger mosses and wilder ranges of heath, but they are
generally wild and difficult to shoot. Snipes are found in most of
the large mosses. The black grouse was formerly pretty frequently
met with on the Lancashire hills, but has been exterminated or
driven northward by the increase of cultivation and of people.
Several of the larger parks are well-stocked with fallow deer, and
a few of them contain specimens of the ancient red deer, which
once wandered over the hills of Lancashire and Cheshire, and which
are still found at large on the moors in the west of England and in
the Highlands of Scotland.
Ravages of the Cattle Plague or Rinderpest in Cheshire. — We
cannot pass from the subject of the animals of Lancashire and
Cheshire, without referring to the terrible ravages made amongst
the cattle in the county of Chester, in the years 1865 and 1866, by the
cattle plague or Binderpest, as it is called in some of the countries
through which it passed on its way to this country. This disease has
prevailed more or less severely in all parts of England, but in no part
of the kingdom with anything like the severity with which it has
raged in the county of Chester. In the adjoining county of Lan
caster the cattle disease destroyed, from the time when it broke out
in June, 1865, to the 21st of April, 1866, 3841 head of cattle, in a
stock of 205,130. But this is nothing in comparison with the
destruction that took place in the same period in the county of
Chester, where the number of cattle destroyed, either by the disease

PAST AND PRESENT. 75

itself, or for the purpose of arresting its progress, amounted to
42,922 head of cattle in a stock of 125,092. Up to that date the
average decrease in the stock of cattle, from the ravages of this
disease, in the whole of England was 4"14 per cent, whilst in Cheshire
it was no less than 3 4 "2 8 per cent. This is a difference so enormous,
as to be almost unaccountable, but the causes of which require to
be investigated with the utmost care. In England generally, the
malady was little more than a slight aggravation of existing maladies,
whilst in Cheshire it amounted to a destroying plague.
According to the reports and the information collected by the
commissioners appointed by the Crown, at the request of Parliament,
to inquire into the origin and nature of the cattle plague, the original
seat of this fatal disease was in the steppes, or vast grassy plains,
of Russia and Central Asia. The primary cause of the disease is
supposed to have been the great droughts to which those plains are
subject in dry summers, and the deprivation of proper supplies of
green pasturage or other fresh vegetable aliments suited for cattle.*
It is worthy of note, in passing, that the summers of 1864 and
1865 were two of the driest summers ever known in England, and
were seasons in which cattle, sheep, and all other animals suffered
greatly from want of water. In Russia the belief is that this disease
has broken out at intervals during a long course of ages, but has
died out in a few years, on each occasion, after making greater or
smaller ravages. According to the researches of the Imperial
Agricultural Society of Southern Russia, the disease appeared in
Europe in the years, 809, 820, and 850, commencing on the shores
of the Black Sea, and spreading over the whole of Europe as
far as Germany, France, and Spain. According to the same
researches, the disease again appeared in 1240, first showing itself
in Hungary, and thence spreading throughout nearly the whole of
Europe. In the year 1514 it appeared in Spain. In 1625 it
reappeared in Hungary, passing thence into Italy. In 1709 the
disease ravaged the whole of Tartary, passing thence into Russia,
Podolia, Bessarabia, Poland, Moravia, Dalmatia, Croatia, and destroy
ing immense numbers of cattle, so that between the years 1711
and 1713, 2,000,000 head of. horned cattle are known to have
died in Europe from this plague. From 1740 to 1756, cattle plague
* Third Report of Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Origin and Nature, &c, of the Cattle Plague,
with an appendix, presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command of her Majesty, May, 1866. Report of
Consul Paton to Earl Russell, dated Ragusa, October 18, 1865.

76 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

ravaged nearly every country in Europe. In the year 1765 it was
brought from Turkey into Illyria, Moldavia, and Hungary, whence it
again spread throughout Europe, and only ceased in the year 1770,
after destroying 300,000 head of horned cattle in Holland alone.
In 1795 it appeared during the wars in the south of Europe. In
1801 it again appeared in Illyria, Switzerland, France, Saxony,
Prussia, Poland, and Russia, ravaging all those countries constantly,
during the wars of Napoleon. In 1827, during the war between
Russia and Turkey, the disease appeared in Russia, Poland, Podolia,
Hungary, Bessarabia, Moldavia, and Austria, lasting three years.
In 1844 it appeared in Poland, Hungary, and Wallachia. In 1857
it again appeared throughout New Russia, and the countries border
ing on the Lower Danube. In 1861 it appeared again in Southern
Russia, Moldavia, Poland, Podolia, Hungary, and Bessarabia, lasting
till the year 1863. According to the statistics collected by Dr. Faust,
Europe has lost 200,000,000 head of horned cattle, by the cattle
plague, since its first appearance.*
The researches of the commissioners, appointed by the Crown to
inquire into the origin and nature of the cattle disease in this
country, induced them to believe that it made its appearance in
England in the month of June, 1865. They state that the first
known cases were all in animals collected from different parts of
England and Holland, brought to the metropolitan market on one
particular day, viz., the 19th of June. These cattle were purchased
by different dairymen, and were taken to five sheds in different parts
of London, viz., to Islington, Hackney, Lambeth, and Paddington. As
there was no cattle plague in the parts of England whence those
cattle came on their way to market, and none in the sheds to which
they were taken, the commissioners believe that the cattle must have
caught the disease whilst standing for sale in the metropolitan
market. This market the commissioners consider to be the most
likely place in England for cattle plague to be brought to from
abroad, and an unlikely place for it to spring up in by spontaneous
origination. It ought, in the opinion of the commissioners, to be
a matter of no surprise that we have been unable to indicate the
precise channel by which the poison came into the market ; for from
the universal ignorance of the signs of the disease at that time, and
the probable slaughter of the affected animal soon after, evidence
* Report of Commissioners. Letter of Consul-general Murray to the Earl of Clarendon, dated Odessa,
March 23, 1866.

PAST AND PRESENT. 77

which might have led to the detection of it at the time would pass
unnoticed, and would soon be lost altogether. But as we have since
traced several introductions of the disease from the Continent, there
can be little doubt that it was introduced in the same way, in the
first instance, and was overlooked. Moreover, in most places in
England where the disease has broken out, its introduction can
be traced. It follows the lines of cattle traffic, and does not arise
spontaneously. In confirmation of this, we find the Austrian and
Prussian veterinary surgeons declare, that whatever may be the
origin of the disease in other countries, it is always brought by
diseased cattle to them. The way in which the disease broke out and
was destroyed in the Jardin dAcclimatation in Paris, and over and
over again in Aberdeenshire; its comparative absence from Ireland;
the manner in which it spread in England and Scotland during
the summer, autumn, and winter — all these facts are conclusive
against the assumption of an occult atmospheric condition, and in
favour of its spread by contagion, in the bodies of living animals.
The progress and symptoms of this fatal disease are stated by the
commissioners to be as follows : — It results from the inquiries set
on foot in this country, first by Professor Gamgee, and then by
Dr. Sanderson, that a rise of temperature in the body of the animal
affected, precedes any other symptom of the disease. Within a period
ranging from thirty-six to forty-eight hours after an animal has taken
the cattle plague by inoculation, the natural temperature of its body
rises from 102° Fahr., or a little above, to 104°, or even to 105^°.
This occurs at a time when the animal appears to be in no way ill,
and by means of this premonitory symptom the disease can be
detected at least two days earlier than had been previously supposed.
Two days after the perceptible rise of temperature has begun, the
next sign occurs, viz., an eruption on the lining membrane of the
animal's mouth. Dr. Sanderson found this symptom in every case
(eighty in all), seen by him, and in every instance he was able to
recognize the disease from this sign alone. On the day following the
appearance of the eruption, or about seventy-two hours after the first
elevation of temperature, the animal may be observed to be a little
ill, to have less appetite than usual, and to ruminate irregularly.
Even at this time, however, the pulse may be unaltered. On the
following day, the fourth from the first rise of the temperature, the
animal for the first time shows marked symptoms of illness, and
this period, which may be 110 hours after the real commencement.

78 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
is usually considered by superficial observers to be the beginning
of the disease. After the fourth day is over the constitution of
the animal is thoroughly invaded. Then ensue the urgent symp
toms, the drooping head, the hanging ears, the distressed look, the
failing pulse, the oppressed breathing, the discharge from the eyes,
nose, and mouth, the eruption from the skin, the fetid breath, and
other well known signs of the disease. During the sixth day there
occurs a great diminution of the contractile, force of the heart and
voluntary muscles, the pulse becomes very feeble and thready, the
respiratory movements are modified, and the animal sometimes shows
such weakness in the limbs, that it has even been thought that some
special paralytic affection of the spinal nerves must exist. The
temperature now rapidly falls, and signs of a great diminution in the
normal chemical changes in the body appear. Death usually occurs
on the following or seventh day, from the first perceptible elevation
of temperature. Although this is given as the typical course of this
disease, there are great deviations from it; as some animals live
a longer, many a much shorter time, and the severity and sequence
of the symptoms vary considerably.*
Coincident with the first elevation of temperature, and long before
there is the least appearance of ill health, the blood of an animal
that has taken the cattle plague contains an agent which can
produce the plague in another animal ; in other words, the blood
contains the poison of the disease. But no examination of the blood
textures, although tried by a microscope that magnifies 2800 dia
meters, shows any substance which can be supposed to be the agent
that poisons the blood, though it would be perceived if it was of the
magnitude of the one-millionth part of an inch, t
The conditions which the commissioners mention as apparently
affecting the origin, progress, and results of the disease, appear to
them to be as follows : — 1. The disease seems to be most prevalent
on low lands and in the plains, not a single outbreak of cattle disease
being recorded at an elevation of 1000 feet. In several counties —
Norfolk, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Buckinghamshire — the disease
has been observed to be more .severe, if not more prevalent, in
marshy and low-lying districts. 2. The commissioners state that
there can be no doubt that overcrowding, or what is the same
thing, deficient ventilation, and the custom of retaining the manure
* Third Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Origin and Nature, &c, of the Cattle Plague.
f Report of Commissioners.

PAST AND PRESENT. 79

within or close to cattle sheds, cause the plague to spread faster,
and to be more fatal. 3. They consider that the use of impure
water appears to increase the fatality of the disease. 4. They
believe that the true mode of preventing the spread of the cattle
plague is to treat it as an entirely contagious disease, and to pre
vent all contact between animals affected and those that are free
from disease. 5. The commissioners believe the best disinfectants to
be chloride, ozone, sulphur, and the tar acids (carbolic and cresylic).
They produce some evidence to show that, by judicious feeding,
with soft mashes of easily digestible food, the proportion of re
coveries has been considerably, and in some places very largely
increased. They add that it does not appear that any advantage
is to be obtained by giving large quantities of stimulants, and state
that there can be no question that powerful drugs of all kinds
greatly heighten the mortality of the cattle plague. 6. They con
clude that perfect cleanliness, ample ventilation, constant disinfection
of the - air by tar acids, and the most careful feeding, with soft
mashes of the most digestible food, such, and such only, are the
measures which our present experience sanctions for the treatment
of the disease. 7. With regard to the method of stopping the disease
by slaughtering the animals attacked with it, the commissioners
state, that the very principle of stoppage by slaughter is to make
the killing follow immediately on the attack. If there be any
delay — if treatment be resorted to, and killing be delayed till hope
of recovery is lost — the object of slaughter is frustrated.
The districts in which the mortality by the cattle disease, has
been greatest are the following : — In the county of Huntingdon,
which is a very level country, and close to the marshes of the Isle
of Ely, the mortality, from the commencement of the disease to
the 21st April, 1866, was 11*30 per cent. In the metropolitan
police district, where. the cattle are almost entirely kept in lairs or
shippens, it amounted to 15 "80 per cent. In the county of Cam
bridge, a very level, and in some parts a very marshy district, the
mortality was 17'90 per cent. But in the county of Chester, a very
level and fertile country, indifferently drained- in some parts, and
where the cattle were kept in large herds in the fields in summer,
and in barns and shippens during the winter months, and are chiefly
fed with dry food at that season, the mortality amounted to 3 4 '2 8
per cent. The average mortality of the whole of England was
4'14 per cent., and that of Lancashire was only 1*87 per cent. It

80 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
is impossible to account for these extraordinary differences in the
rate of mortality; but we have brought the above facts and
opinions together, from the reports of the commissioners, who
have inquired into the history and progress of this fatal disease,
in the hope that they may be of some use in checking its future
progress, if it should still continue to rage amongst the cattle, on
the beautiful farms of Cheshire and the adjoining districts. The
loss of property by the cattle disease in Cheshire and Lancashire
cannot be less than a million sterling, and renders the question one
of painful interest to all who are concerned in the agricultural
prosperity of the two counties.
The Rivers, Streams, and Water-power of Lancashire and
Cheshire. — The amount of water-power furnished by the numerous
rivers and streams of Lancashire and Cheshire is much greater
than that of most districts of England of equal extent, owing to
their proximity to the ocean, to the heaviness of the rain-fall on the
mountains that bound the two counties on the east and north,
and to the height and steepness of the mountains from which
the streams, fed by that rain-fall, flow down into the level country,
and ultimately into the sea. "The invisible vapour which rises
from both the land and water, but more especially from the latter,
ascends into the air until it is condensed by the coldness of the
atmosphere into clouds, that restore it again to the earth in the
form of rain, hail, and snow." * The greater portion of this aerial
moisture falls in hilly or mountainous regions, from which much
of it flows immediately down by streams and rivers into the sea ;
but a considerable portion of it is retained for a time by imper
meable strata in the mountains, which prevent its rapid escape
from the ground into which it sinks, and thus a system of natural
reservoirs is formed in the mountains, from which streams and rivers
receive a continual supply.t
It has been computed that the quantity of moisture that is
raised from the sea and the earth by evaporation, in the course of
a single year, amounts to not less than 186,280 cubic miles of
water. This is carried by the winds in all directions, over sea
and land, to water the earth and feed the rivers and streams. In
a few spots on the coast of South America, and one or two other
places on the coast of Africa and Arabia, there is no rain-fall
whatever, and those regions seem to be condemned to perpetual
* Physical Geography, by Mrs. Eomerville. f Ibid., page 254.

PAST AND PRESENT. 81

barrenness, although they furnish the supplies of guano that fer
tilize other lands. But these are rare exceptions, for rain descends
in greater or less amount in almost every part of the globe, and
is everywhere the great means of producing fertility, and of form
ing the rivers and streams, which are amongst the greatest means
of advancing industry, communication, transport, and all the arts
of civilized life.
The North Atlantic ocean, which washes the shores of the
north-western division of England, furnishes the whole of Europe
with greater or smaller supplies of moisture and of rain. The
amount of evaporation in different parts of the ocean depends in
a great measure on the temperature of the water and the air,
being much the greatest within the tropics. The Gulf Stream
pours a continual supply of water, warmed by the equatorial cur
rents and the tropical heat, into the North Atlantic, and thus
produces a continual evaporation, which spreads large masses of
clouds and moisture over all the countries of western Europe, and
more especially over the British islands.
The amount of rain-fall varies greatly in different countries and
districts, depending chiefly on their proximity to the sea, and on the
elevation and position of their mountains. In the loftiest mountains
of the world, as for instance the Himalayas, the rain-fall at the heads
of mountain valleys, so placed as to catch the greatest masses of
clouds and vapour borne by the prevailing winds from the ocean,
amounts to not less than 600 inches per annum. This is the source
from which the Ganges and other great rivers of India are fed, and
by means of which the plains of Bengal are watered and fertilized.
Even amongst the Alps, at a great distance from the ocean, the rain
fall at particular points amounts to 100 inches in the year, and
supplies the streams which spread beauty and fertility over the
Italian plains. On the sea-coasts, especially in tropical regions, the
amount of rain-fall is also very great, amounting on the Gold Coast
of Africa to 187 inches per annum, and at some spots to from 500 to
600 inches. There is also a heavy rain-fall along the western shores
of Europe, especially at those points where ranges of mountains
approach the sea-coast, and catch the clouds in their progress into
the interior. Thus amongst the mountains of Portugal, between
Cintra and Coimbra, there is a rain-fall of 118 inches, although the
amount of rain in the neighbourhood of Madrid is not much more
than 10 inches in the year. There is also an enormous rain-fall in
VOL I L

82 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
the south of Ireland, amongst the mountains which surround the
lakes of Killarney, where a vegetation prevails as rich as that of
Italy. On the west coast of England and Ireland the average
rain-fall is about 35 inches yearly ; but amongst the mountains
which surround the Westmoreland lakes, where the clouds are
caught by lofty ranges 3000 feet in height, as they are carried by
the winds inland from the Atlantic, the average rain-fall is not less
than 89*93 inches. At some of the highest points amongst these
mountains, it is much greater. Thus at Wastdalehead it is said
to amount to 101*4 inches; at Stonethwaite to 111*4 inches; at
Gatesgarth to 114*7 inches; and at Seathwaite, amongst the lofty
mountains rising above the higher part of the valley of the
Duddon, to 140*5 inches.* In North Wales the rain-fall amongst
mountains nearly 3000 feet in height, is between 65 and 70 inches
per annum.t Proceeding inland from the Atlantic, the amount of
rain-fall diminishes rapidly. Thus about London the average is
25 inches; at Paris it is 20 inches; at St. Petersburg it is 19
inches ; and in central Russia it is about 12 inches ; whilst in the
centre of Spain it is not more than 1 0 inches. J
Lancashire and Cheshire have both of them a much greater rain
fall than the average of English counties. This they owe partly to
the circumstance of their being situated on the western shores of the
Atlantic, and partly to the fact of their being bounded on the east
and north by a lofty range of hills and mountains, from 1500 to
2000 feet high, which arrest the progress of the clouds in their
flight inland. Owing to these causes the rain-fall of Lancashire and
Cheshire is nearly, and in some years twice, as great as that of the
eastern counties ; though not equal to that of the lake district, which
is twenty miles nearer to the sea, and where the mountains are about
a thousand feet higher than they are in the Pennine chain, that
bounds Lancashire and Cheshire on the east. The amount of rain
fall about London is not more than 25 inches, whilst the driest season
that has been known in Lancashire for many years, viz., that of 1865,
gave a rain-fall of 34*80 inches, on the sides of the Lancashire hills.
During the seventeen years from 1849 to 1866, the average yearly
rain-fall on the Lancashire hills in the neighbourhood of Riving-
* Table showing the average Rain-fall in the Lake District, by the late Dr. Miller, F.R S., from 1844 to 1853.
t See Table from Observations of Captain Mathew, of Wern, near Portmadoc, quoted in appendix to Pamphlet
on the Supply of Water to London from the sources of the River Severn, by John Frederic Bateman C.E.
F.R.S., F.G.S., 1865. X Keith Johnstone's Atlas of Physical Geography.

PAST AND PRESENT. 83

ton was 45*70 inches, and in the season of 1861, which was the
wettest in that period, the rain-fall amounted to 61*70 inches.*
Amongst the hills at the head of the Mottram valley, from which
the city of Manchester obtains its supply of water, the average
rain-fall of the district is 45*786 inches, and at the Woodhead
reservoir, at an elevation of 680 feet above sea-level, the rain-fall
is 48*104 inches. At the Holme reservoirs, and at Dinford bridge,
on the eastern slopes of the summit ridge dividing this district
from that of the Manchester water-works, the mean rain-fall of the
district is 49*69 inches per annum. The average rain-fall on the
range of hills that bounds the hundred of Salford on the north and
east sides may therefore be taken at from 45 to 46 inches, amounting
in wet seasons to 55 to 60 inches, and in dry ones to 35 to 36 inches.
The yearly rain-fall of the whole of Lancashire and Cheshire, which
cover 2,000,000 acres of ground, supposing that it could all be
collected in a lake or reservoir covering an area of 50,000 acres,
would fill it to the depth of from 50 to 100 feet, according to the
nature of the seasons. How vast a quantity of water this is may
be judged from the fact, that the immense reservoirs formed for
the supply of Liverpool and Manchester, which places together
contain a million of inhabitants, do not together cover an area
of much more than from 1000 to 1200 acres of land, with the
same depth of water.
But it is not merely this immense supply of rain, discharged
from the clouds on the Lancashire and Cheshire hills, that is the
cause of the great water-power of the district ; that is also due to the
great elevation at which it falls, and the number of the streams by
which it flows down from the mountains. The force of every cubic
foot of this mass of water, falling at a rate of twelve feet per second,
is computed to be equal to one horse-power, and as the greatest rain
fall in these counties is at elevations of from 500 to 1500 feet, some
notion may be formed of the momentum of such a mass of water,
flowing from so great a height, and rushing from the mountain
chain which we have described, through a hundred streams. It is
one of the grandest powers of nature, and one of the principal
sources of the wealth and population of this crowded district.
Hundreds of years before the steam-engine was invented, this was
the great moving power of the industry of Lancashire ; and it is said
that even James Watt, when he invented the steam-engine, doubted
* Report to the Corporation of Liverpool, by Thomas Duncan, Esq., C.E., on the Rivington Water-works.

84 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
  • 
whether it could contend successfully against the great natural
water-power of the northern counties.* It was nearly twenty years
after the steam-engine had been perfected by the genius of Watt,
and had been applied to the pumping of mines in Cornwall, and to
other purposes in the midland counties, before it began to take the
place of the rivers and streams of Lancashire. From the time
when the first fulling mill was erected at Manchester, in the reign
of Edward I. or Edward II., to the year 1790, the only power used
in the manufactories of that city was the one supplied by the three
streams that run through the dty, namely, the rivers Irwell, Irk,
and Medlock. Bolton, whose manufacturing prosperity dates at
least from the time of the early Tudor kings, also owed much
of its early success to the numerous and abundant streams of
water that flow from the mountains on the north of that
town, and pass through or near it, in their course to the river
Irwell. All the other Lancashire and Cheshire manufacturmg
towns, including Bury, Rochdale, Ashton, Stockport, Macclesfield,
Congleton, Haslingden, Bacup, and Darwen, began their career
with no other power than that of falling water, though they have
continued and extended it with the still greater power of steam.
There are at least a hundred streams, small and great, flowing from
the hills of the two counties ; and there is not one of them, from the
Duddon on the north, to the Dane and the Dee on the south, that
has not done much to promote the prosperity of the district through
which it flows. They are still amongst the great sources of the
manufacturmg, as well as of the pastoral and agricultural wealth of
the two counties, and we therefore proceed to give a sketch of their
rise amongst the mountains, and their course back to the ocean,
from which their waters originally came. An eminent writer observes,
that there is probably not a drop of water on the earth's surface,
that has not been borne on the wings of the wind; and we may add,
that there is not a drop that has not rendered service to man. t
The beautiful river Duddon, rendered a classic stream by the
genius of Wordsworth, rises in a mountainous region, at Three
Shire Stones, on the borders of Lancashire, Cumberland, and
Westmoreland, gushing from an abundant spring, at an elevation
of upwards of 1200 feet above the level of the sea; and flows down
into Morecambe Bay, after a rapid course of 27^ miles, through a
valley or water-shed of 117 square miles. The Duddon rises
* Samuel Smiles, Esq : Boulton and Watt. f Mrs. Somervjlle's Physical Geography.

PAST AND PRESENT. 85

amongst the Cumbrian beds of the Silurian rocks, and in its course
to the sea receives the streams that flow eastward, from Black-
combe, 1919 feet high, Stoneside Fell, Coney Fell, Hest Fell,
Birker Fell, and Harter Fell; and on the east side, the streams
that flow westward from the Old Man of Coniston, 2577 feet high,
and from the western side of Furness Fells. The land about Wry-
nose Fell, where the Duddon rises, is wild and barren, and scarcely
affords subsistence to a few mountain sheep. The river descends
rapidly through wild sheep pastures, and past Cockley Beck
copper mine to Dalehead, where cultivation commences, in the
narrow valley through which it flows. At that point it is still
650 feet above the level of the sea. From Dalehead, the Duddon
flows southward through a fringe of meadow land — past Donner-
dale, or the vale of thunder ; Stainton slate mines, in a hollow
of the mountains ; and Ulpha, the river of the elves — to Duddon
bridge, and the wooden fishguard across the river. Thence it flows
to the neighbourhood of Broughton in Furness, where there is a
tarn in the hills, an extensive park, and Broughton Tower, once
the seat of the ancient family of the Broughtons, famous adherents
of the house of York in the wars of York and Lancaster; there
it becomes navigable at Mine Stage, for vessels of twenty tons.
The Duddon, in its descent from the mountains to the sea,
receives several abundant streams, all of which rise in the moun
tains of Higher Furness, or of Cumberland. Amongst these is
Tarn Beck, which flows from Seathwaite Tarn, at the top of the
Furness Fells, where the rain-fall is said to be not less than 140
inches per year. In flowing through the village of Seathwaite,
this stream formerly turned a carding mill. Before the invention
of the steam-engine such sites were eagerly sought, for their
abundant water-power. The river Leckle, which also flows from
the Furness hills, turns extensive cotton machinery at Broughton
mills, and formerly turned a walk or fulling mill at the same
place, at an elevation of about 150 feet above the level of the sea.
In the same region of Higher Furness, the river Brathay also
rises near the Three Shire Stones, on the borders of Cumberland,
Westmoreland, and Lancashire, at an elevation of 1200 feet above
the level of the sea, and flows down into Windermere Lake, after
a course of 16-^ miles; there it is joined by the Bothay, Trout-
beck, and several smaller streams, all of which discharge their
waters into the same beautiful lake. After passing through

86 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Windermere they flow out of the lake by the stream of the Leven,
23 miles in length, into Morecambe Bay. The whole area of the
watershed or valley of the Leven is 172 square miles, including
Windermere Lake, Brathay, Rothay valleys, and the main valley
of the Leven. The Brathay, in its course from the mountains to
the lake, rushes through wild mountain passes, with frequent falls
and rapids, flowing through Langdale Tarn, down Little Langdale,
to Colwick Force, where it is still 250 feet above the level of the
sea ; thence it flows on through Elter Water, amongst woods and
scars, to Skelwith Force, where it springs down the rocks from a
height of twenty feet. From that point the Brathay flows through
a beautiful grassy valley to Brathay bridge, and enters the head of
Windermere near Gale Nase Crag.
The river Brathay is the favourite breeding place of the char,
which is caught in Windermere Lake. According to Yarrell, in
his "History of British Fishes," the char remains in the lakes,
except at the time of breeding, and then retires to streams in which
the water is clear and the bottom hard. Windermere has two
principal feeders, the Rothay and the Brathay. These streams
unite just before entering the lake ; but in the breeding season,
which is in November and December, the char enters the river
Brathay and deposits its ova in the rocky channel, while the trout
at the same season prefers the Rothay. A few char also spawn
in the lake, and it is observed that they frequent the hard rocky
parts only, which resemble the bottom of the Brathay. The char
is from nine to twelve inches in length; and the best season for
catching it is from July to October, when it is in the greatest
perfection. Windermere Lake is 10^ miles in length, 1 mile in width, and
116 feet above the level of the sea. It fills a deep and winding
hollow in the mountains, its waters moving slowly from north to
south like a majestic river, with wooded banks, presenting every
form of natural beauty. Near the middle of the lake there are
a number of beautiful islands, of which Belle Isle is the largest
and most beautiful, and also numerous woody promontories. Below
this point the stream from Esthwaite Water, a beautiful little
lake a little higher in the hills, enters Windermere, and with
several other streams swells the lake which extends down to
Landing, near Newby bridge. Thus passing through the lake of
Windermere, which divides Lancashire from Westmoreland, the

PAST AND PRESENT. 87

collected waters take the name of the river Leven, and flow out of
the lake at Newby bridge. In its descent to the sea, the Leven
turns a corn mill near Newby bridge, and lower down it supplies
the power for working cotton mills, iron foundries, and the Low-
wood gunpowder works.
The Leven in its course to the sea receives the river Crake.
This stream takes its rise from Bed Dell Beck, Lever's Water Beck,
Yewdale Beck, and other large brooks on the side of the Coniston
mountain, and, in flowing down to the lake of the same name, turns
the wheels and machinery of the Coniston copper mines. These
and several other smaller streams unite to form Coniston Water, at
the head of which the Coniston mountain rises suddenly, over-
towering all the other mountains of Higher Furness. Coniston
Water is a beautiful river-like stream, though with only one island,
and with banks less varied than those of Windermere. Its waters
flow to the sea through Thurston vale, by the river Crake. This
river, before it joins the Leven, turns a bobbin mill at Lower
Nibthwaite, a cotton mill at Lowick bridge, and a cotton mill and
foundry at Spark bridge. At Greenod it passes the pier at which
the produce of the district is shipped on the Leven. At Ulverstone
the Leven receives two or three large brooks that rise in the hills
and flow through that town, turning several cotton mills, a paper
mill, and the machinery of an iron foundry, and feeding the canal
which connects the town of Ulverstone with the Leven. The stream
known by the name of the river Winster, 11^ miles in length,
rises in Helston Tarn in Westmoreland, and flows down by Brough
ton East, so named to distinguish it from Broughton in Furness,
and enters the sea near Castlehead, at the top of Morecambe Bay,
at a point where the Bomans are supposed to have had a military
station, and where great numbers of Roman and British coins have
been found.
The river Kent, which also flows into Morecambe Bay, and
divides Lonsdale beyond the Sands from Lonsdale on this side the
Sands, rises in the mountains of Westmoreland, and flows through
the valley of Kentmere, and by way of Kendal, to the sea. The rain
fall on the mountains of Hill Bell, 2436 feet high, on High Street,
2700 feet, and on Harter Fell, is enormous; and the river Kent
rushes down after heavy rains like a mountain torrent, but in the
summer months sinks into a comparatively narrow stream. To
secure a more regular supply of water and of water-power in the

88 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

mills and manufactories about Kendal, a great reservoir or artificial
lake has been formed in the higher part of Kentmere. In this
reservoir the rain-fall is collected in the wintry and wet months,
and is there stored up to be discharged in the dry months in such
quantities as will keep a steady flow of water in the river at all
times. This has also been done in numerous rivers in the county
of Lancaster, as well as in other districts ; and the effect of thus
collecting the floods of water that fall in wet weather and reserving
them for periods of drought is, to render the rain-fall much more
available for purposes of consumption, and much more valuable as
a motive power, by giving a regular flow of water at all seasons,
instead of a succession of floods and droughts.
The river Keer enters the county of Lancaster from the east, at
an elevation of 360 feet above the level of the sea, and flows into
the estuary of the Kent.
Proceeding southward we come to the river Lune, which rises
at Lune Head, near Orton, in the same mountainous region of
Cumberland and Westmoreland in which the river Eden and one
of the branches of the Tyne also rise. The Lune flows down to
Lancaster Bay, with a course 53^ miles in length, and through a
valley or water-shed extending over an area of 434 square miles.
The Lune rises amongst lofty slate mountains, but in its course
through Westmoreland flows through ranges of mountain limestone,
down a grassy upland valley. It enters the county of Lancaster in
Tunstall parish, at an elevation of 150 feet above the level of the
sea, and winds rapidly down to Barrow, or Over Barrow, the supposed
site of the Roman station of Bremetonicse, which stands in the angle
of land where the Leek brook flows into the river Lune. From
Barrow the Lune descends through the rich pastures known as the
Priory Holmes, by the ruins of Hornby priory. From this point
it rushes with rapid windings and beautiful meanders through what
is called the Crook of Lune. In flowing down to Lancaster, the
stream turns cotton mills at Force Bank and Halton. The river
Lune abounds with salmon, and a valuable salmon fishery exists in
the river a few miles above Lancaster. The Lune, after flowing
under the railway and the county bridges, winds round the green
hill on which the ancient town and castle of Lancaster stand, and
passes down by Aldcliff and Ashton Hall to the sea.
The Lune, in its progress to the sea, receives numerous smaller
streams. Amongst these is the river Wenning. This stream rises

PAST AND PRESENT. 89

in the Yorkshire hills, and enters Lancashire at an elevation of 200
feet above the level of the sea. It flows through meadows down to
Wennington, where it turns a corn mill, and then passes below
Tatham bridge, near which place it receives the streams of the
Hindburn and the Boeburn. The Wenning enters the Lune about
a mile south-west of the village of Hornby, after winding round the
ancient and beautiful castle of Hornby, the seat of the Harringtons,
and, after their downfall, in the wars of York and Lancaster, of the
Stanleys, barons of Monteagle. The Hindburn river rises amongst
the barren mountains of" the millstone-grit formation, that separate
Lancashire from Yorkshire, at an elevation of 1200 to 1500 feet
above the level of the sea. It flows northward through wild sheep
pastures, receiving numerous mountain streams, amongst which are
Botton Mill Brook and Croasdale Brook, and entering a more fertile
country, joins the Wenning, near Tatham bridge. The Boeburn
river rises in the same range of hills as the Hindburn, and at an
elevation of 1300 feet. It flows through moors and sheep pastures
to the village of Wray, where its waters turn a silk mill. It soon
after falls into the Hindburn, and joins the Wenning and the Lune.
The river Greta also rises in Yorkshire, and enters Lancashire, at an
elevation of 150 feet. It passes by Greta bridge, and the ruins of
the ancient castle of Thurland, the seat of the Tunstalls, famed in
border wars. A little lower down the Greta turns a corn mill, and
then flows into the river Lune. Artie Brook rises in the moors to
the east of Lancaster, and flows into the Lune at Caton ; near which
place its stream turns very extensive cotton mills. In Artie Brook
there was discovered, a few years ago, a Roman milliarium, or mile
stone, marked with the name of the Emperor Hadrian, which had
probably been washed down by heavy floods, from the Roman road
that passes over the hills in which the stream rises. A very
copious stream named the river Conder, eleven miles in length, also
rises on the moors to the east of Lancaster, and flows into the
Lune by Ellel, where it turns two silk mills, entering the Lune
a little to the south of Ashton Hall. Further south a stream, named
the river Cocker, flows into the sea through Cockerham sands ;
and another, named the Broadfleet, drains the mosses of the Fylde.
The river Wyre rises in the mountain range of millstone grit
that divides Lancashire from Yorkshire, at Tarn Brook Fell, at an
elevation of about 1500 feet above the level of the sea. Its course
is thirty-five and a half miles from Tarn Brook Fell to the sea at
VOL. I. M

90 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Fleetwood, and the valley or water-shed, through which it flows,
extends over an area of 179 square miles. There are two streams
flowing down from different points in the mountains, one named the
Tarn Brook Wyre, and the other the Marshaw Wyre. These two
streams meet near Abbeystead, and flow on to Dolphinholme, where
the waters of the Wyre turn the machinery of a large manufactory.
The river then flows by Cleveley mills to Garstang, the principal
place of the district, where it turns other mills. From this point
the Wyre runs on to St. Michael's-on-Wyre, and passes by Carsford
bridge into the estuary of the Wyre. The river Wyre receives
numerous other streams in its course to the sea. Amongst these is
the Grizedale river, a mountain stream that rises at Grizedale Head,
at an elevation of 1400 feet, and descends rapidly into the valley of
the Wyre, joining that river near Lower Lee. Another of the
tributaries of the Wyre is the river Calder, one of three rivers of
the same name found in Lancashire. This stream rises in the higher
parts of the Bleasdale moors, and flows down by Calverdale mill and
Pyrmont cotton works, joining the Wyre near Garstang church.
A third stream is the river Brock. This mountain stream rises at
an elevation of nearly 1500 feet, and after a rapid course of seven
teen miles, in which it turns the machinery of several mills, flows
into the Wyre, a little above the village of St. Michael's-on-Wyre.
After heavy rains the grass lands in the valley are subject to
great floods, and to guard against these the earl of Derby and other
landowners have formed a very extensive water-course, for the pur
pose of carrying off the water. This water-course is four miles in
length ; at its outfall at St. Michael's-on-Wyre, it is eight feet deep,
twelve feet wide at the bottom, with sides sloped at an angle of
thirty degrees, and embanked on both sides to a height of about
three feet.*
The river Bibble rises at Ribble Head, above Settle in Yorkshire,
and flows down with a course of sixty-one miles, through a valley
or water-shed of 501 square miles, watering the grassy limestone
district of Craven in Yorkshire, until it reaches the borders of
Lancashire, which it enters a few miles north of the town of Clitheroe.
There it turns cotton mills, and receives several smaller streams
which furnish water for the extensive print and bleaching works in
the neighbourhood of Clitheroe. At Clitheroe it flows past the ruins
of the ancient castle built by the De Laceys, earls of Lincoln and
* Report on the Agriculture of the County of Lancaster, by William Rothwell, p. 107.

PAST AND PRESENT. 91

constables of Chester, and descends through a beautiful grassy
valley, to the ancient Roman station at Ribchester, which stands on
its north bank. From Ribchester the Ribble flows to Preston,
where it becomes a large and wide estuary, capable of receiving
vessels of considerable size. Below Preston, the Bibble widens into
a broad but shallow stream. There is an extensive salmon fishery
on the Ribble, which also contains many other kinds of fish, and
amongst them very large pike.
The river Ribble receives numerous smaller streams, both from
the north and south. Amongst those from the north is the river
Hodder, which flows through the limestone district of Bowland Forest,
receiving the river Langden from Bleasdale Fell, and the river Loud
from Longridge Fell. The Hodder is one of the favourite breeding
places of the salmon, which ascend its stream from the Bibble
into the cool waters amongst the hills. The hills to the east
of Preston abound in springs and brooks, and there extensive reser
voirs have been formed to supply the town of Preston with water.
There are two sets of reservoirs — one near Alston, and the other
near Longridge. In the same district is an extensive reservoir
for the supply of Stoneyhurst college. From the south, the
Ribble receives the river Calder, the second stream of that name
which we have had occasion to mention. In addition to the river
Calder previously described, two streams, both named the Calder, rise
from one hill, at an elevation of 754 feet. One of them, known
as the Yorkshire Calder, flows down to Todmorden, and reaches the
river Aire, after a course of forty-seven miles, ultimately flowing
into the Ouse and the Humber. The other, commonly known as
the Lancashire Calder, flows westward, and after a course of
nineteen miles, joins the river Ribble. This stream flows through
Towneley Park to Burnley, where it is joined by the river Brun.
These two streams supply the principal part of the water-power
of Burnley. From that place the Calder flows on to the flourishing
town of Padiham ; and thence passes by the ruins of the beautiful
abbey of Whalley, founded by the De Laceys, to the Ribble,
which it joins a few miles lower down the stream. The Lancashire
Calder, in its course to the Ribble, receives numerous streams from
Pendlehill and the hills of the Padiham range. Amongst these
are Pendlehill Brook, Roughlee Water, White-hough Water,
Lanshaw River, the river Don, Colne Water, Sabden Brook,
and Branden Brook. The whole of this lofty region abounds in

92 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
streams. Here also, at Foulridge, are the three principal reser
voirs of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, constructed above the
tunnel which carries the canal through the mountains. There are
numerous mills and manufactories along the banks of all the
principal streams of this district, which flow from the northern
edge of the Lancashire coal-field. The river Darwen, celebrated by
Milton, in his lines on Cromwell, as
" Darwen's stream with blood of Soots embrued,"
which was the scene of a desperate battle in the great civil
war between Cromwell and the duke of Hamilton, rises at a
height of more than 1000 feet on the lofty hills between
Darwen Moor and Crowberry Moss. It flows down through the
towns of Over and Lower Darwen, turning numerous cotton mills.
In its course it approaches near to the still larger and more
flourishing town of Blackburn, one of the principal seats of the
cotton manufacture, and there receives the waters of the river
Blackwater, which flows through that town, with those of Harwood
Brook, Kudzen Brook, and several smaller streams. There is
another large reservoir, for supplying the Leeds and Liverpool
canal with water, at Rishton in this neighbourhood; and the
town of Blackburn is supplied from extensive reservoirs situated
on the hills to the north of the town. Near Fennischoles bridge,
the Darwen receives the waters of the river Roddlesworth. The
Roddlesworth supplies one or two of the reservoirs of the Liverpool
water-works, though the larger portion of them derive their supply
from the rivers Douglas and Yarrow. Very recently the Corporation
of Liverpool has obtained permission to take a still larger supply
of water from the river Roddlesworth. After being joined by
that stream, the Darwen flows past Houghton Tower, and Salmes-
bury mill to Walton-le-dale, where it enters the river Ribble.
All along the stream of the Darwen there are mills, manufac
tories, and printworks, in which the cotton manufacture is most
extensively carried on in all its branches. This county abounds
with coal, as well as with water-power.
The river Douglas, which also reaches the Ribble, though very
much lower down and by a most circuitous course, rises at a height
of more than 1000 feet in the same range of hills, and flows for
several miles in a south-westerly direction, until it reaches the
large mining and manufacturing town of Wigan. The Douglas

PAST AND PRESENT. 93

flows into the Rivington water-works, and draws from them a
daily supply of 4,000,000 gallons of water, both in summer and
winter. The Douglas, in its course down to Wigan, turns num
erous mills, and, previous to the introduction of the steam-engine,
was employed in pumping the water from several coal mines. At
Wigan, the Douglas, which has hitherto flowed in a south-westerly
direction, is tumed in its course by the hills of the coal formation,
and from that point flows in a north-westerly direction, finally
reaching the sea at the entrance of the Ribble, through Hoole
Marsh. The river Douglas was the first Lancashire river that was
rendered navigable ; the line of navigation, made in the reign of
George I. and George II., extending from the coal-field of Wigan
to the sea. This was greatly improved when the Douglas navi
gation was transferred to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company,
in the early part of the reign of George III.
The river Yarrow rises in the same range of hills from which the
Douglas flows. The first use made of the waters of the Yarrow, is to
supply the reservoirs of the Liverpool water- works. These reservoirs,
with the connecting goit, are from twenty-four to thirty-five miles
distant from Liverpool, being nine miles from end to end. They
were constructed under the powers of an Act of Parliament passed
in the year 1847, and derive their supplies of water from the
Douglas, the Yarrow, the Roddlesworth, and a number of smaller
streams. The mean daily yield of water in the Rivington district,
on an average of five years, from 1861 to 1865, amounted to
20,772,692 gallons, but only about half that quantity was available
for use in Liverpool, namely, 10,542,800 gallons. The reservoirs of
the Liverpool water-works are six in number, cover an area of
549 acres, and when full contain 3,268,000,000 gallons of water.
They are, together, three and a half miles in length, and from fifty
to seventy feet in depth. The names and capacities of the reser
voirs are as follows : — 1. The Roddlesworth upper reservoir, with
an area of thirty-eight acres, and a depth of sixty-four feet,
capable of containing, when full, 180,000,000 gallons of water.
2. The Roddlesworth lower reservoir, covering 16^- acres, of the
depth of seventy-eight feet, containing 99,700,000 gallons. 3. The
Rake reservoir covering 13^ff acres, of the depth of seventy-
eight feet, containing 79,600,000 gallons. These three reservoirs
are connected with the others by means of a goit or canal
three and a half miles in length. The other reservoirs are —

94 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
4. The Anglezark reservoir, covering 191-r% acres, of the depth
of thirty-five feet, and containing when full 1,019,400,000 gallons
of water. 5. The Chorley reservoir, covering 10^ acres, of the
depth of thirty-nine feet, and containing 48,3000,000 gallons.
6. The Rivington reservoir, covering 275 acres, with a greatest
depth of forty feet, and capable of containing 1,841,000,000
gallons of water. The filter beds cover 4^ acres, and in ordinary
work, and with a sufficient supply of water, will filter 14,000,000
gallons of water daily. In consequence of the deficiency of the
supply, the Corporation of Liverpool have obtained powers from
Parliament to take an additional quantity of about 2,000,000
gallons a day from the river Roddlesworth, instead of sending it
down the stream as compensation water ; and to construct an
additional reservoir, to store up water in wet seasons, and retain
it for use in dry. In this manner they hope to obtain a further
daily supply of 3,000,000 gallons, in addition to the 2,000,000 per
day which they will obtain from the river Roddlesworth.
The Rivington water-works, at their highest point, that is to say,
at the Upper Roddlesworth reservoir, are 619*8 feet above the level
of the Old Dock sill at Liverpool. At the lowest point of the works,
that is, at the filter beds below the Rivington reservoir, they are
382 feet above the Old Dock sill. The extreme distance from the
Upper Roddlesworth reservoir to Liverpool is thirty-four and a half
miles. From the foot of the filter beds to Liverpool the water is
conveyed through iron pipes, for a distance of about twenty-four
miles. On the line of the pipes there is a reservoir for storing a
quantity of water for immediate use, at Eccleston near Prescot, and
there are also smaller reservoirs around the town of Liverpool.
The river Yarrow, after contributing its share to supply the
reservoirs of the Liverpool water- works, flows down into the Lanca
shire plain through rich meadows, supplies several mills and print
works, and joins the river Douglas near Rufford ; its waters being
carried, along with those of the Douglas, into the estuary of the
Ribble. But by far the greatest source of water-supply and water-power
in Lancashire and Cheshire is the river Mersey, with its great
tributaries the Irwell and the Weaver. The length of the Mersey,
from the junction of the Etherow and the Goyt, at Water Meeting
near Crumpstall, to the mouth of the river at the Black Rock, below
Liverpool, is 68 miles. The length of the river Irwell is 45f miles ;

PAST AND PRESENT. 95

and the length of the Weaver is 57f miles. The area of the valley
or basin, through which these rivers flow, is 1706 square miles;
being one of the largest in England, and only inferior to the Thames,
the Severn, the Trent, the Humber in Yorkshire, and the Great
Ouse in Northamptonshire. We shall describe the Mersey, the
Irwell, and the Weaver separately, beginning with the main stream
of the Mersey, which is the longest, though not the largest, accord
ing to the quantity of water that it brings down from the mountains
to the sea.
The river Mersey is formed by the union of the streams of the
Etherow and the Goyt, the former of which rises among the moun
tains on the borders of Yorkshire, and the latter on the borders of
Cheshire and Derbyshire.
The river Etherow rises at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet above
the level of the sea. It flows down from the moors, in which it
rises, at the western end of the summit tunnel of the Manchester and
Sheffield railway, passing down by Woodhead, into the valley of
Longdendale, with a south-westerly course. The Etherow, when
not swollen by floods, caused by heavy rain among the mountains,
sends down from fifteen to thirty cubic feet of water per second ;
but after the heavy falls of rain, which frequently take place in that
mountain district, it has been known to discharge 1500 cubic feet
of water per second for twenty-four hours, and when at its highest,
between 3600 and 4000 cubic feet per second.
The first great public use to which the waters of the river Etherow
are applied, is that of feeding the reservoirs constructed by the
Corporation of Manchester, for the supply of that city. These reser
voirs are formed in the valley through which the river flows. They
are three in number, and fill the valley for a distance of nearly five
miles in length. They cover about 344 statute acres of land, and
contain, when full, rather more than 515,000,000 of cubic feet, or
3,218,500,000 gallons of water. 1. The Woodhead reservoir, which
first receives the waters of the Etherow, covers an area of 134
acres, and contains when full very nearly 198,000,000 cubic feet
of water, or 1,237,000,000 gallons. The embankment of the reser
voir is ninety feet high at its greatest elevation. It is about a
mile and two-thirds in length, and receives the water of an area
of about 7500 acres of high mountain land. 2. The Torside
reservoir covers an area of 160 acres, and is capable of containing
nearly 237,000,000 cubic feet, or 1,731,000,000 gallons of water.

96 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
The embankment of this reservoir is 100 feet high at its greatest
elevation. The Torside reservoir is nearly two miles in length.
3. The Rhodes Wood reservoir covers an area of fifty-four acres,
and is capable of holding upwards of 80,000,000 cubic feet, or
1,481,000,000 gallons of water. Its embankment is eighty feet
high at the highest point, and its length is about one mile. The
whole collecting ground for the three reservoirs is 15,400 acres.
The elevation of the Manchester water-works at the Woodhead
reservoir, is 680 feet above the level of the sea. The height of the
Rhodes Wood reservoir, which is the lowest of the Manchester
reservoirs, is 520 feet above the sea.
The river Etherow, after supplying the Manchester water-works,
flows down the valley of Longdendale to the flourishing manu
facturing town of Mottram in Longdendale. At Mottram the river
turns to the south, and winding round by an old Roman station,
passes by Bankwood Mill, Broadbottom and Hopwood Tor, down
to Crumpstall. Near that point it is joined by the river Goyt,
at Water Meetings, where the two streams become one, and take
the name of the river Mersey.
The river Goyt also rises at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet,
in the highest part of the hills of Macclesfield Forest, and runs
almost due north across Goyt's Moor. It flows past How Moor and
Taxall, through a wild and thinly peopled district ; but at Whaley-
bridge enters a much more populous country. From Whaieybridge
the Goyt flows by the populous village of Newmills, turning the
machinery of many manufactories, and supplying water for print
works. At Newmills it is joined by the waters of the Settbrook,
flowing down the Hayfield valley. Below Newmills the Goyt flows
through the populous and industrious township of Marple. At
Marple bridge it receives the streams that descend from the exten
sive and populous township of Mellor. Thence the Goyt flows
almost due north, until it joins the Etherow at Water Meetings
near Crumpstall, where it loses its name, and becomes a part of
the river Mersey.
The river Mersey, thus formed by the union of the Etherow
and the Goyt, is the boundary of the counties of Lancaster and
Chester, from the junction of those two streams to the sea. In
ancient times it was the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon king
doms of Northumberland and Mercia, and probably took its name
from the latter kingdom. At present it flows between the boundaries

PAST AND PRESENT. 97

of Lancashire and Cheshire, from the junction of the Etherow and
Goyt, with a W.S.W. course towards Chadkirk, near which place it is
crossed by the aqueduct of the Peak of Derbyshire canal It then
flows by Atterspool bridge and the print-works in that neighbourhood,
and turns northward towards Stockport, passing by Waterside and
Woodbank, in the township of Bredbury. There it furnishes water
to the reservoirs of the Stockport water-works, from which the
Portwood reservoir, in the town of Stockport, is supplied.
The river Mersey flows through the town of Stockport, turning
numerous cotton mills, and supplying water for condensing purposes,
and for dyeworks, foundries, and other branches of industry. At
Stockport the river Tame enters the Mersey from the north. The
Mersey, winding round the reservoir of the Stockport water-works,
flows through the town. At Heaton Mersey it supplies bleachworks
and mills, and passing under Cheadle bridge, turns the corn mills at
Didsbury. At this point the Mersey is still 100 feet" above the level
of the sea. A.t Didsbury the " eeas," or river peninsulas, formed by
the windings of the Mersey, commence, which continue all the way
down to Warrington. After passing the woods of Bedbank and
Barlow Hall, the Mersey flows under Jackson's bridge, and receives
the Chorlton Brook from the north-east. At Barfoot bridge the
river is still seventy-five feet above the sea. From this point the
Mersey enters a rural country, adorned with villas belonging chiefly
to the merchants and manufacturers of Manchester, and flows down
to Stretford, which is now almost within the limits of the city of
Manchester. There it passes under ' Stretford bridge, near the point
where the old Roman road — the stratum or street, from Chester to
Manchester — crossed the river Mersey.
The district south-west of Manchester is one of the richest and
best cultivated in England. This district comprises the townships
of Stretford, Flixton, and Urmston, lying between the Mersey and
the Irwell, or along the banks of these rivers. Some years ago,
a new cut, or overflow river, was made through the townships
of Stretford and Urmston, for the purpose of relieving the Mersey
in time of high floods. This has been of very great advantage .
to the occupiers of land adjoining the river. A canal was made
at the joint expense of the trustees of the Bridgewater estate, of
the late Sir Thomas de Trafford, of Trafford Park, and of Lord
Egerton, of Tatton; they being the principal landowners in the
neighbourhood. It is twenty yards wide at the bottom, and the
VOL. I. u

98 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

sides are well sloped, so as to be convenient to mow and to pasture.
The embankments on each side are from four to eight feet high
above the surface of the meadow, varying with the undulations of
the land. The overflow river commences above the village of
Stretford, where there is a very substantial weir or overflow, and
no water runs down the new river until the water in the Mersey
rises to the height of the- overflow ; thus, in dry seasons, there is
a considerable produce of hay and pasture in the bed of the new
river. It enters the Mersey again in Urmston, its length being
three miles and a quarter*
From Stretford the Mersey winds round the Stretford "eeas"
or meadows to Urmston, through meadows and willow plantations
down to Flixton, which is also one of the most fertile districts in
South Lancashire, chiefly laid out and cultivated in market gardens
and orchards. Below Flixton the Mersey continues to flow west
ward to Higher Irlam, where it is joined by the much larger stream
"of the river Irwell. But the united stream of the Mersey and the
Irwell retains the name of the Mersey for the remainder of its course.
Here the river is navigable, having been rendered so from Manchester
to Warrington in the reign of George I., and from Warrington to
Runcorn in the reign of William III. But the natural course of
the Mersey is excessively winding, and it has been necessary to form
short cuts, at several points, to shorten and straighten the navigation.
Near Cadishead the river receives the stream of Glazebrook, which
flows down from the north, bringing the drainage of Chat Moss,
and that of the hills lying to the north of Bury Lane. The country
is very moist about Glazebrook bridge, and large quantities of willows
are grown in osieries, near the junction of the two streams.
Below Glazebrook the Mersey flows westward past Hollins ferry,
which is an ancient ferry between the two counties. Near that point
it receives the river Bollin, which enters it from the south-east, flowing
down from the heights of Macclesfield Forest. The Mersey then
passes by Martin's Croft, and at Woolston weir reaches the tide
water of the sea. Thence it flows on to Warrington, through
meadows that are flooded at high tides, passing Thelwall, where
also there is an ancient ferry, and where there was a fortified borough
in the time of the Anglo-Saxons. Below Warrington the Mersey
flows, chiefly through salt marshes, to Widness and Runcorn, where
there has been long a very ancient ferry, and where a magnificent
* Rothwell's Report on the Agriculture of Lancashire, p. 50.

PAST AND PRESENT. 99

railway bridge is now being built by the London and North
western Railway Company, to shorten the journey from Liverpool
to London. Below this point is the estuary of the Mersey, which
has been already described.
The river Mersey, flowing from east to west, receives all the
streams of South Lancashire that flow from north to south, and
the greater part of the streams of Cheshire, flowing from south
to north and north-west.
The first river that the Mersey receives on the north, or Lanca
shire side, is the Tame. This river rises in Yorkshire, among
the hills generally known as Stenage, over which the old road
from Manchester to Huddersfield formerly passed. The Tame flows
through the manufacturing district of Saddleworth, in Yorkshire,
in the first part of its course, turning the machinery of numerous
woollen mills. It enters Lancashire at the manufacturing village
of Mossley, where it is still 500 feet above the level of the sea.
Thence it flows nearly due south to Staleybridge and Dukinfield,
turning numerous cotton mills in its course, and supplymg water
for all manufacturing purposes. From Staleybridge the Tame runs
westward to Ashton-under-Lyne, where it contributes greatly to
the manufacturing prosperity of that flourishing town, being exten
sively employed in the working of mills, dye-works, and foundries.
From Ashton-under-Lyne the Tame flows south-west to the Guide
Bridge railway station ; and from that point nearly due south to the
flourishing town of Hyde. Thence it flows southward by Haughton,
and through Haughton-dale to Beddish mills. There the Tame
turns westward, and flowing through the town of Stockport, dis
charges its waters into the river Mersey.
The river Irwell, which also flows into the Mersey, is the largest
of all the streams that join that river. The Irwell rises in the
mountains of Rossendale Forest, at a height of 1427 feet above
the level of the sea, and in its course of forty-seven miles through
Bury and Manchester to the river Mersey, collects and brings down
with it the waters of nearly all the streams of South Lancashire.
There is no other river in England that has been rendered so useful
for manufacturing purposes ; and it was on the banks of the Irwell,
and its numerous tributaries, that the manufacturing industry of
Lancashire was founded, at least three hundred years previous to
the discovery of the steam-engine.
The river Irwell rises at Irwell Spring, on Deerplay Hill, one

100 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of the highest points in that range of hills which forms the northern
boundary of the Salford hundred, and separates the streams flowing
southward into the Mersey, from those flowing northward into the
Bibble. The stream of the Irwell rushes rapidly down from the
hills into a narrow valley, passing by the print-works and the
cotton mill of Irwell Spring to Broadclough, where it is still 924
feet above the level of the sea. In flowing down the higher part
of Bossendale it turns numerous mills, and supplies many reservoirs
before it reaches the flourishing town of Bacup, at an elevation of
847 feet above the sea. Here the Irwell works the machinery of
numerous manufactories. From Bacup it flows southward to Water-
foot, where it receives Whitwell Brook. Thence it runs to Rawten-
stall, and to the rising manufacturing town of Newchurch, in
Rossendale, where it receives Limy Water. Thence it flows on
to Holme mill, near Ewood bridge, where it is still 500 feet above
the level of the sea, and to Ramsbottom, 418 feet above the sea.
At Summerseat the Irwell has still an elevation of 350 feet above
the sea. Near that point it receives the waters of the river Croal,
from Bolton, and those of the river Tonge, which flow within a
short distance of that busy town. Thence it descends by Barlow's
Croft to the flourishing town of Bury, where its elevation is still
270 feet above the sea.
Leaving Bury the river Irwell flows down to Badcliff bridge,
where it receives the river Boch, from Rochdale, at an elevation of
250 feet. At Prestolee the Irwell is still 200 feet above the level
of the sea; at Ringley 165 feet; at Kersley Hall 157 feet; and at
Agecroft 100 feet. From Agecroft the Irwell flows down through
a rich well-wooded valley to Manchester and Salford, where it turns
or supplies water for innumerable mills, dyeworks, foundries, and
every kind of industrial establishment in which water is used.
At Manchester it receives the rivers Irk and Medlock, and several
smaller streams. Passing through Manchester with a most wind
ing course, the river Irwell flows between Trafford Park and
Eccles down to Barton-on-Irwell, and thence through meadows
and orchards by Flixton and Lower Irlam to Higher Irlam, where
it joins its waters to those of the river Mersey; swelling them
to at least twice their original volume.
From the west the river Irwell receives numerous streams,
descending from the hilly district around Bolton. The river Tonge
rises on the doughs of the hills to the north-west of Bolton, and

PAST AND PRESENT. 101

flows past Dean mill, approaching very near to the town of Bolton.
After passing through the populous manufacturing townships of
Great and Little Lever, Farnworth, and Kersley, the Tonge flows
into the river Irwell. The river Croal rises in the hills to the west
of Bolton, flows through that town, and joins the river Tonge. The
river Eagle, or Eagle Brook, rises in the millstone hills above
Eagley Bank, where the clearness of the waters has caused several
bleachworks and printworks to be established. The Eagle flows
down to Astle Bank, where it joins the river Tonge. The Bradshaw
Brook, a very abundant stream, rises in the same hills, and flows
through Bradshaw into the Tonge below Bolton, carrying with it
other small streams that descend from the hills above Harwood
and Ainsworth.
From the east the Irwell receives numerous streams. Amongst
these is the river Roch, which rises in the wild ravines of Black-
stone Edge. Thence it flows down to Littleborough, and winds
through Wuerdale and Wardleworth to Rochdale. After leaving
Rochdale the Roch flows north of Heywood and Heap, and south
of Chadwick and Birtle to Heap bridge, Bedvales, and Blackford
bridge, and so on to Redcliffe, where it joins the Irwell.
At Manchester the Irwell receives the waters of the rivers Irk
and Medlock. The Irk rises, near Royston, at a height of 500
feet above the sea. It flows to Middleton, which is a flourishing
rrianufacturing town, and then by way of Heaton Park, Blackley,
and Lower Crumpsall, through Harpurhey to Manchester, where
it joins the river Irwell. The river Medlock, rises at a height of
upwards of 1000 feet above the level of the sea, in the millstone-
grit hills that there separate Lancashire from Yorkshire. At the
height of 800 feet above the sea the Medlock fills the reservoirs
of the Oldham water-works, and thence flows southward to Water-
head mill, leaving the town of Oldham to the west. Descending
through Strine Dale, the Medlock flows southward to Lees, turning
the cotton mills at Springside. At Holt's mill the Medlock receives
another large brook from the east, and flows on to Park bridge.
Here it is still 425 feet above the level of the sea. Thence it
flows towards Bardsley, and so down Medlock vale, and by the
Medlock and Clayton-bridge print-works to the city of Manchester,
where it joins the river Irwell.
Such is this great manufacturing stream, with its numerous
tributaries. The immense and incalculable amount of water-power,

102 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and of water available for every manufacturing purpose, furnished
by these streams, may be considered as the first natural cause of
the development of manufacturing industry in South Lancashire.
At the time when the last great Ordnance Survey of Lancashire
was made, the persons employed in the survey marked more than
a thousand manufacturing establishments of various kinds, including
cotton and woollen mills, print-works, dye-works, iron foundries,
and workshops of various kinds upon its banks. This survey was
completed about the year 1852, and between that time and
the present the manufacturing establishments of Lancashire have
increased from 30 to 40 per cent, in number and importance.
In addition to the streams that flow into the Mersey from Lanca
shire, and enter it on the north, it also receives numerous important
streams from the south, or Cheshire side of the river.
First is the river Bollin, which rises in Macclesfield Forest, at an
elevation of nearly 1800 feet, and flows down into the plain of
Cheshire by the town of Macclesfield. The Bollin receives numerous
small streams in the neighbourhood of that town, which gave a great
impulse to its manufactures more than 100 years ago, and power
fully assisted in fixing the silk manufacture, as well as a portion
of the cotton trade, in that place. In the same manner the river
Dane was the primary cause of the manufacturing prosperity of the
town of Congleton, the most southerly manufacturing town of the
two counties. The river Dane rises on the summit of the lofty
hills that divide Cheshire from Derbyshire, and rushes down from
the mountains by the town of Congleton, cutting itself a deep
channel through the red marls of the Cheshire plain. After turning
the mills of Congleton and the neighbouring villages, where the
silk and cotton manufactures are both carried on, the Dane flows
across the plain of Cheshire, through a deep alluvial bed, to Middle-
wich, where it turns northward and soon after discharges its waters
into the river Weaver at Northwich. The numerous springs in
the hills from which the Bollin and the Dane descend, fill the
reservoirs, by which the Grand Trunk canal and its branches
are supplied with water.
The above are the principal rivers connected with the manu
facturing system of the two counties. We shall now have to speak
of the river Weaver, and some small streams that flow through
the salt-field of Cheshire, and the river Dee, which separates the
north-western division of England from the Principality of Wales.

PAST AND PRESENT. 103

The river Weaver springs in the slopes of the hills of the new
red sandstone formation, which rise to the south of Cheshire and
separate that county from Staffordshire and Shropshire. These
hills are of no great height, but the rise of the land is sufficient
to divide the streams that flow from their northern slope, from
those that flow from their southern. The waters that flow down the
southern front of these hills run into the river Trent, and after a
long and winding course reach the Humber and the German Ocean.
Those which flow towards the north run across the salt-field of
Cheshire, and pass by way of Northwich and Frodsham bridge into
the Mersey and the Irish Sea. The Weaver soon after its rise
flows across the permian branch of the new red sandstone forma
tion, down to Audlem and on to Nantwich. This was formerly the
chief place in the salt district of Cheshire, but ceased to be so when
the firewood on the neighbouring hills was exhausted, and when it
became necessary to bring coal from the Lancashire coal-field to
seethe the brine, from which the salt is obtained by evaporation.
From Nantwich to Winsford bridge the Weaver flows through a
country rich in salt and brine ; but it is only when it reaches
Winsford bridge that the manufacture of salt commences. The
river Weaver has been rendered navigable to that point, so that
there is no difficulty either in bringing up coal from the banks of
the Mersey, or in conveying the salt down the river to Liverpool.
The Weaver was rendered navigable in the reigns of George I. and
George IL, and now supplies the means of conveying three-fourths
of the salt that is made in England. Northwich is the principal
town engaged in the salt manufacture, and at that point, as already
mentioned, the Weaver is joined by the river Dane and by other
smaller streams. From Northwich to the Mersey the river Weaver
flows through a deep, rich, alluvial valley, cut out by the stream
of the river to a great depth in the red marls, which form the
principal strata of the district.
The beautiful and classic Dee, the last river of which we shall
have to speak, rises in the eastern slopes of the lofty granite moun
tains of Merionethshire, and flows through the lake of Bala, down
to Corwen, bringing with it the waters of the Treweryn and many
other copious streams. Near Corwen the Dee receives another set
of beautiful streams flowing down from the east side of Snowdon.
At Llandisillio the waters of the Dee are collected and raised by
means of a wear, and a portion of them turned into an artificial

104 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE t
channel, which supplies the Chester and Ellesmere canal with
water. The river Dee then flows down the valley to Llangollen,
and so on to Ruabon and Wynnstay Park, round which it winds
amongst the most lovely river scenery. After passing Wynnstay
the river Dee descends into the plain of Cheshire, flowing by
Overton bridge and Bangor, the ancient seat of learning and religion
in the time of the early British Christians. From Bangor the Dee
flows, with innumerable windings, down to Holt bridge. This
ancient bridge was in former times one of the principal means
of connection between England and Wales; and was guarded by
the castle of Holt, supposed to have been built on the site of an
old Roman fortress. From Holt bridge the river Dee flows down
to the ancient city of Deva, Devana, or Chester, where its. waters
mingle with those of the sea.
A bold and original plan was brought forward several years
ago by Mr. Rawlinson, C.B., C.E., for furnishing the town and neigh
bourhood of Liverpool, which now contain a rapidly increasing
population of 600,000 persons, with a supply of water from the
Dee. The proposal to have recourse to the Dee as a source of
supply has recently been revived by Mr. Duncan, C.E., the engineer
of the Liverpool water-works. He proposes to construct works
at Bala Lake, through which the Dee flows, and to draw his
supply of water from the lake. The water of the Upper Dee is
known to be pure and soft in quality, and Mr. Duncan calculates
that a supply of 60,000,000 gallons per day might be brought
from Bala Lake to Liverpool, a distance of seventy-eight miles.
Bold as is this scheme, it must yield in boldness to a plan recently
brought forward by Mr. Bateman, C.E., the constructor of the
Manchester and Glasgow water-works, who proposes to supply
London and the metropolitan district, containing upwards of
3,000,000 inhabitants, with a daily supply of 100,000,000 gallons,
capable of being increased to 200,000,000 gallons of water, from
the streams that flow down from the Welsh mountains into the
river Severn. The distance which it is proposed to carry the
water in this case is 180 miles*
The length of the course of the river Dee is ninety-three miles,
and the area of the valley or watershed over which it flows is
* Borough of Liverpool : Report of the Water-works Engineer (Thomas Duncan, Esq., C.EI) on Exten
sion of Water-supply and New Works, 1866. Metropolis Water-supply : on the Supply of Water to London
from the Sources of the River Severn ; by John Frederick Bateman, C.E., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. 1865.

PAST AND PRESENT. 105

850 square miles. It is not navigable above Bangor. At this
point it loses the character of a wild romantic mountain stream,
and acquires that of a beautiful English river.
Such are the principal streams of the counties of Lancaster and
Chester, and it is not too much to say of them that they have
had the most powerful influence in the development of the pros
perity of the counties through which they flow. Nearly all the
more ancient towns of the two counties stand on one or other of
these rivers, and none of these towns could have attained their
present position of population and wealth, without the advantage
which they have derived from their proximity to the streams that
flow by or through them.
The quality of all rain-water when it falls from the clouds must
be much the same, but, after it has reached the earth, it varies
with the contents of the rocks and soils over which it flows, or
through which it percolates. Thus the waters of mountainous
countries, composed of the more ancient strata, are generally soft.
" All the highland rivers," says Dr. Bamsay, " as a rule, are soft ;
the mountains being composed of granitic rocks, gneiss, mica, schist,
and the like — a very small portion of limestone being mtermixed
therewith, and the other rocks being comparatively free from lime.
Again, the waters which flow from the Pennine chain, that extends
from the southern borders of Scotland into Derbyshire, are all hard,
because they drain areas composed chiefly of carboniferous limestone ;
and all the rivers that run east from this range, and all those that
flow in areas as far south as the British Channel, over the new red
sandstone and lias, and the oolitic and the cretaceous rocks, are
of necessity charged with those substances in solution that make
water hard. The water from the Welsh mountains is in great part
soft, the country being composed of silurian rocks, here and there
slightly calcareous, from the presence of fossils, mixed with the
hardened sandy or slaty sediment that forms the larger part of that
country. From this cause, so sweet and pleasant are the waters
of Bala Lake, compared with the inferior mixtures that we drink
in London, that it has been more than once proposed to lead it all
the way for the supply of water for the capital."*
A large portion of the water supplied by the rainfall on mountains
and hills runs at once into streams and rivers, and discharges itself
* Physical Geography and Geology of Great Britain, by A. C Ramsay, F.R.S., Local Director of the Geological
Survey of Great Britain, 1864.
VOL. I. O

106 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
into the sea, through these channels, along the surface of the ground.
But even in hilly districts it is seldom found to be possible to collect
more than eighty per cent, in wet seasons, and more than from sixty
to seventy per cent, in dry seasons, of the total rainfall of the district,
into reservoirs formed for the purpose of containing it. The
remainder is either lost, for a time, by evaporation, or sinks into
cracks and crevices of the earth, to levels below that of the reservoirs.
Thence it either finds its way into the streams and rivers at still
lower levels, or it sinks into the earth, spreading itself, with much of
the water that falls on the plains, through the different strata under
the ground. In some of these strata, especially in the mountain
limestone, the water forms subterranean rivers, like those that run
through the caves of Adelsburg, of Derbyshire, and of Craven in
Yorkshire, and that which gushes out of the earth with the force of a
mill stream at Holywell in Flintshire, sending forth more than twenty
tons of water per minute. In other formations, as in the chalk
under the London clay, the water collects in great natural reservoirs
in the chalk ; and rushes to the surface, when deep Artesian wells are
driven through the thick beds of clay, into the chalk which contains
the water. In some of the brine pits in Cheshire, the brine is found
at great depths under thick beds of plaster of Paris, but rushes up
nearly to the surface when those beds are pierced by the miner's
auger. In general, however, the water is very widely diffused, and
is found almost everywhere. In the new red sandstone the water
is most abundant in what are called the waterstone rocks, which
form one of the divisions of what is now known to geologists as
the trias formation. The rocks of the waterstone run through the
whole of Cheshire, from Malpas and Overton to the river Mersey
at Frodsham and Helsby ; thence they extend through the peninsula
of Wirral to the sea at New Brighton. They are also found in
Lancashire in and around Liverpool, where the public wells yield a
supply of between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 gallons of water daily*
The Mineral Resources of Lancashire and Cheshire. The Coal
field of the Two Counties. — But fire, water, and steam (the product
of both united) are the great instruments by which the irresistible
and inexhaustible powers of nature are brought to the aid of the
feeble strength of man, in his efforts to adapt and fashion the most
useful products of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms to the
* See Ordnance Maps of Geological Survey, where the line of the Waterstone is marked both in Lancashire
and Cheshire.

PAST AND PRESENT. 107

purpose of supplying human wants, and developing human industry.
The force of steam- applied in the working of the steam-engine is
incomparably the greatest and most useful of these powers. But
fire and water are also used for numerous purposes connected with
industry, besides that of generating steam. Fire especially is an
instrument of immense power in changing the forms of substances,
both internally and externally, and is so applied in all districts in
which coal is found in abundance. Previous to the great improve
ment in the steam-engine made by James Watt, the force of running
water, as already stated, was the chief power of inanimate nature used
in propelling machinery; and the hilly districts of Lancashire, Cheshire,
and Yorkshire, abounding in streams of water, were already the prin
cipal seats of the manufacturing industry of England. But the power
of steam has to a great extent superseded, and to a still greater extent
has been united to water-power, as the chief instrument of manu
facturing industry. Coal is now the only means of producing steam
found in sufficient abundance in thickly peopled and highly culti
vated countries, in which the primeval forests have been consumed or
cleared away for the purposes of cultivation. Hence the comparative
power of this and other countries, and of the several districts of this
country, depends chiefly on the greater or smaller quantities of coal
which they possess. Without an abundant supply of this kind of
fuel, manufacturing wealth and greatness are now scarcely attainable
in many of the most important branches of industry. With an
abundant supply of coal there is no practical limit to the capacity of
generating motive power, or of producing the articles to which it can
be applied. The manufacturing superiority of Great Britain arises
chiefly from the circumstance, that this country possesses much more
abundant supplies of coal than any other country of Europe. In the
same manner, the superior wealth and more abundant population
of several districts of the United Kingdom depend chiefly on the
comparative abundance of their supplies of coal, and on the manner
in which the coal produced in each district is applied to the purposes
of industry. The coal-field of Lancashire and Cheshire is one of the richest and
most productive in Great Britain. It extends with an irregular
area about forty-six miles in length from north to south, commenc
ing northward near Colne in Lancashire, at a short distance from
the river Ribble, and running southward to the neighbourhood of
Congleton in Cheshire, within a few miles of the sources of the river

108 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Trent. At its broadest point it is about forty miles in breadth,
extending from Todmorden, on the borders of Yorkshire on the east,
to Whiston and Croxteth on the west, which latter places are within
three or four miles of the estuary of the Mersey, and of the Irish
Sea. But the outline of this great coal-field is too irregular, to render
these data of much value in computing the area covered by the
whole field. In round numbers, however, it may be stated that it
covers an area of about 400,000 statute acres of land, or about
the fifth part of the area of the counties of Lancaster and Chester.
In the number and the richness of its beds of coal, as well as the
amount of its produce, the Lancashire coal-field is one of the most
valuable of the coal-fields of England. The aggregate thickness of
the coal measures of this coal-field is about 6200 feet, the measures
forming a mass of strata which, heaped on each other, would rise to
twice the height of the highest mountain in England. But these
strata are now scattered about in all positions, some of the beds being
nearly horizontal, and not more than about 150 feet above the level
of the sea, whilst others rise rapidly to the height of 1500, and in a
few cases, of 1800 feet, above the level of the sea. The number
of beds of coal existing in the coal measures of Lancashire and
Cheshire is about 120, and of these upwards of thirty are of suffi
cient thickness to be worked with advantage. The amount of coal
raised yearly from this coal-field is about 12,000,000 tons, with
a continual tendency to increase.
The numerous seams of coal found in the two counties exhibit
all the fosilized plants that are usually found in the coal formation.
" All these plants," says Professor Sedgwick, speaking of the carbo
niferous plants in general, " are of extinct species ; many of them
are of extinct genera, and they are of forms which indicate a
high tropical temperature. Amongst them are coniferous trees, like
those found in some of the South Sea Islands ; gigantic reeds ; tree
fems ; enormous creeping plants, with sharp pinnated leaves ; trees
with fluted stems ; and many other strange but beautiful forms of
vegetable fife, forced to rankness and luxuriance by great heat
and moisture." Upwards of 500 varieties of fossil plants are
enumerated by Adolphe Broingniart, as belonging to the carboni
ferous system. These, according to Sir Charles Lyell, must be
regarded as mere fragments of ^he ancient flora, since in Europe
alone there are now 11,000 living species of plants.*
* Lyell's Principles of Geology, p. 133.

PAST AND PRESENT. 109

The plants found in the greatest abundance in the Lancashire
coal-field, are the fluted stems of Sigillaria, so named, from the seal
like impressions with which they are covered. The Stigmaria, covered
with innumerable marks, like punctures, are almost equally abundant.
These were formerly supposed to be the remains of different plants,
but it is now clearly ascertained that the Stigmaria are the roots of
the Sigillaria. This was discovered several years ago, by Mr. William
Edward Binney, president of the Manchester Geological Society,
whose researches have thrown so much light on the natural history,
both of the Lancashire and Cheshire coal-field, and of coal-fields
in general. In addition to the above-named plants there are also
found, in the coal of this field, the remains of the plants known
as Lepidodendra, covered with seale-like leaf-marks, together with
numerous ferns. All the above are found buried in masses of
carbonaceous matter, something like charcoal, being probably the
compressed remains of smaller plants, all of which show a woody
structure under the microscope
The stems of the trees or plants known as Sigillaria, and the roots
of the same, known as Stigmaria, have been discovered by Mr.
Binney in about 100 of the seams of coal, in the coal-fields of
Lancashire and Cheshire. Rootlets of the Stigmaria have also been
found in the thin partings of the fine silt and fire-clay of this
formation. Large specimens of the Sigillaria have been found in
some of the coal seams of this field. Several fossil trees, most of
which exhibit the undoubted characteristics of Sigillaria, have been
traced into the strata, to a height of twenty-five feet, and one of
them has been traced by Mr. Ray, the engineer of the Duchess of
Lancaster colliery at Patricroft, to a height of fifty or sixty feet.
A portion of the stem of this tree, converted into coal, is now in
the Museum of the Manchester Geological Society. A magnificent
specimen of Sigillaria was also discovered a few years ago in the
Victoria mine, Dukinfield, a few miles from Manchester, at the
depth of 1100 feet from the surface. Mr. Binney observes that the
stem of this tree exhibits the respective characters of the species
Pachyderma reniformis and organon. The stem was about two feet
high, and true Stigmaria, eighteen or twenty feet in length, were
traced as its roots. Four main roots appear to have proceeded from
the base of the trunk, one of which Jias been preserved entire, and
has been deposited in the Museum of the Manchester Geological
Society. This root, after running some distance, divides into two

110 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
branch roots, and each of these into two more. They run in a
horizontal direction, as Stigmaria, at a depth of two feet under the
coal. But their extremities have not been reached, although they
were traced for upwards of twenty feet. Four fossil trees, all
Sigillaria, have been found at St. Helen's in the coal-field. "Sufficient
evidence" says Mr. Binney, "has not been adduced to prove that
the various other plants found in the coal measures were grown on
the places where they are now found ; for we have not been able
to detect their roots in situ. This remains to be done." With
respect to the Sigillaria there can scarcely be a doubt that it grew
in water, on the deposits where it is now discovered, and that it is
the plant which in a great measure contributed to form our valuable
beds of coal. On this subject Sir Charles Lyell observes, " The
progress of modern discovery has led to the very general admission
of the doctrine, that beds of coal have for the most part been formed
of the remains of trees and plants that grew on the spot where the
coal now exists ; the land having been successively submerged, so
that a covering of mud and sand was deposited upon accumulations
of vegetable matter. That such has been the origin of some coal
seams is proved by the upright position of fossil trees, both in
Europe and America, in which the roots terminate downwards in
beds of coal." On the same subject Sir Boderick Murchison makes
the following observations in the last edition of his " Siluria" : — " An
opinion has been gradually gaining ground amongst geologists and
naturalists, that by far the greater part of the coal is the result
of littoral growths in sea-water, or swamps, of succulent vegetables
suited to those conditions ; and that the occurrence of marine spoils
among and over the beds of coal has been the normal condition of
many basins. It is certainly more likely that there should have
been a gradual subsidence, with periodical pauses, in a mass of coal
strata 12,000 feet thick, as in South Wales, than that there should
have been repeated oscillations of the land, descending to receive
marine productions, and raised again to sustain the growth of
terrestrial plants. We are perhaps warranted in believing, that a
theory of the formation of coal which should embrace, as its chief
element, a widely extended series of shallow and partially inclosed
seas, fringed with swampy forests of water-loving plants, subject to
frequent subsidence, is most in harmony with observed phenomena."
It is stated by Mr. Steinhauer in the American " Philosphical
Transactions," that the Sigillaria, which, with the Stigmaria appears

PAST AND PRESENT. Ill

to be the chief constituent of several of the American coal-fields,
as well as of those of England, was a cylindrical stem or plant,
growing in a direction very nearly horizontal, in the soft mud
in the hollows of lakes and seas, without branches, but sending
out fibres on every side. Lindley and Hutton state that it was a
prostrate land plant, the branches of which extended from a com
mon centre. This opinion was founded on the inspection of very
perfect species found in the Jarrow colliery. Mr. Binney is of
opinion that Sigillaria grew in rich mud, like the mangrove at
the mouth of the river Niger, and other great rivers in the tropical
regions, where intense heat, an abundant supply of moisture, and
a soil continually refreshed by the mud washed down by the
rivers, produces a richness and rankness of vegetation that is
not to be found in any other part of the world. The physical
condition of the earth must have been very different from what
it is at present, either from internal or external heat, when the
immense masses of plants which now form the coal-fields of Europe
and America were produced in the seas adjoining, or which then
covered what are now the British Islands, British America, and
the United States. Professor Dawson, of Montreal, states in a
paper read before the Geological Society of London in January,
1866, that Stigmaria are found under every bed of coal in Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick, and placed in such a manner as to
prove that the coal was accumulated by the growth of those plants
in situ, and that the intervening strata show abundant deposits
of mud and sand by water, as in the deltas of rivers. Cannel
coal, in his opinion, was formed of the fine vegetable mud that
accumulates in ponds and in the hollows of swamps.*
A careful examination of the animal remains discovered in the
coal-fields of Lancashire and Cheshire, has convinced the ablest of
our local geologists that the coal of this district is the product of
submarine, and not of terrestrial forests. The presence of specimens
of bivalve shells, and of fossil fishes in cannel coal, is believed to prove
that it was formed under water ; though different opinions have been
held as to whether the waters that prevailed during the deposition
of the carboniferous series were fresh or salt. Mr. Binney states
that upwards of 150 varieties of fossil fishes have been discovered
in the coal measures generally, and though comparatively few fishes
or shells have been discovered in the coal seams of the Lancashire
* Athenasum, January 6, 1866.

1 12 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ;

and Cheshire coal-field, yet the black bass roofs in the upper coal
field are many of them entire masses of cyprides, microconchi, shells,
fishbones, and teeth, mixed with decomposed vegetable and animal
matter. The shells of the genus Unio are found in the middle
coal-field, and the Pecten, Goniatites, and other marine shells in the
lower coal-fields. "Different opinions," says Mr. Binney, "have
been held as to whether the waters which formerly prevailed during
deposition of the higher strata of the carboniferous series were fresh
or salt. The authors who take the former view adduce, in support of
their hypothesis, the remains of Cypris, (a bivalve shell inhabiting the
waters of lakes, marshes, and estuaries), and a questionable species
or two of Unio ; while those of the latter adduce shells of the genera
Goniatites, Nautilus, Posidonia, Pecten, Modiola, and Nucula, and
great sauroid, and squaloid fishes, as well as those of the Platysomus,
Scalacanthus, Palaioniscus genera, common to the carboniferous and
the magnesian limestone formation. Wherever the strata contain
the remains of fishes, Pecten, Goniatites, or Unio, the remains of such
plants as Sigillaria and its Stigmaria roots are equally present,
which would not be expected to be the case if sudden changes of
the waters from fresh to salt had taken place ; for a flora is quite
as sensitive of such a change as a fauna. The balance of evidence,
therefore, is much in favour of the water having been of one kind,
and on the whole probably salt, and not fresh.*
Though coal is found over extensive regions of Europe, America,
Asia, and Australia, there are few portions of the earth's surface
that have benefited mankind by their mineral products to the extent
to which it has been benefited by the coal-fields of Lancashire
and Cheshire. There may be coal-fields of larger area in Eng
land; but for richness and position, and taking into consideration
the number and thickness of the beds of coal, as well as the extent
of the area covered, it is probably inferior to none.
The coal-field of Lancashire and Cheshire is usually divided
into three parts, differing from each other in the number and
richness of the beds of coal that they contain, and in the nature of
the strata in which those beds of coal are included. These three
divisions are : — 1. The upper or Manchester coal-field. 2. The
middle or principal coal-field, extending completely across Lanca
shire from Oldham, Ashton, Dukinfield, and Poynton in Cheshire,
to St. Helen's and Wigan. 3. The lower coal-field, so called from
* E. W. Binney, Esq., on the Origin of Coal: Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical Society, vol. x. p., 158.

PAST AND PRESENT. 113

having been originally deposited at the lowest depths of the sea,
but which has now been forced up to the greatest heights by
mternal convulsions, and extends over great part of the hilly and
mountainous region of South Lancashire and Cheshire.
The upper or Manchester coal-field is small, in extent, and not
very rich in its deposits of coal. The strata forming this division
of the coal-field commence with the Ardwick limestones, close to
Manchester, and extend from the Ardwick limestones to the coal
measures under Smedley old hall, near to the same city.
The middle or principal coal-field is of great extent, and of
extraordinary richness. The strata of which it is composed com
mence with the Bardsley-bridge rock, and end with the Lower
Woodley coal measures. The intervening strata include the thick
coals of Poynton, near Stockport, Bench Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne,
Oldham, Middleton, Heywood, Bury, Redcliffe, Clifton, Worsley,
Atherton, St. Helen's, and Wigan.
The third or lower coal-field comprises the coal measures from
the stratum of the Lower Woodley mine, which is known as the
last thick bed of coal, to the thin strata of coal in the upper mill
stone grit, and to the edge of the lower millstone grit, where coal
ceases to be found. The coal of the Lower Woodley mine is
identical with the Riley mine, Oldham ; the Dogshaw mine, at
Bury ; and the Arley mine, at Wigan. Below it are the coals of
Whaleybridge, Newmills, Mellor, Ludworth, Staleybridge, Rochdale,
Todmorden, Bacup, Birtle, Cheesden bridge, Newchurch, Quarlton,
Burnley, Colne, Blackburn, Rivington, and Chorley.
Taking the coal measures for Lancashire and Cheshire as a
whole, they comprise the strata extending from the freshwater
limestones of Ardwick near Manchester, and of Whiston near Pres-
cott, to the quartz or rough rock that crops up in many places,
rising to a great height on the wild hills of Parbold on the north
west, Werneth Low on the south-east, and along the line of barren
heights which divides Lancashire and Cheshire from Yorkshire and
Derbyshire. The quartz rock is called the old mother rock at
Werneth. There are some small seams of coal in the upper mill
stone grit at Cheesden bridge, in Shuttleworth near Rochdale, and
in other places, but they are seldom of much value. It was formerly
supposed that the upper boundary of the Lancashire coal-field was
the new red sandstone ; but coal is now extensively worked under
that formation at Pendleton, Patricroft, and other places. Mr.
VOL. I. P

114 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
E. W. Binney states in a paper, vol. ii., 3rd series, of the " Memoirs
of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society," published
in 1865, that the coal measures have also been found in Medlock
Vale near Manchester, at the Park-bridge print-works, where Mr.
Wood has succeeded on a second attempt, after having failed in
the first, in penetrating through both the trias and permian forma
tions of the new red sandstone, and in finding the coal measures
at a depth of 250 yards. Mr. Binney also mentions that the coal
measures have been met with about a mile south-west of All Saints
church, Manchester, at a depth of 400 feet. "This," he adds, "is
of great importance, and proves that coal measures are met with
at places under trias and permian deposits, much nearer to the
surface than was previously expected, and where the upper rock
gives no evidence of their existence." He suggests that borings
should be made at Heaton Norris, to ascertain the thickness of
the permian beds at that point, and whether an extensive coal
field does not lie under Heaton Norris and Stockport, and extend
all the way to Manchester.
Some very interesting natural sections of the Lancashire and
Cheshire coal-field, are obtained along the banks of the streams
that flow through the coal measures at various points. The river
Goyt, which rises in the higher ranges of the coal measures, in
Macclesfield Forest, and flows northward to swell the river Mersey,
shows a fine section of the inferior and lower coal-field, from Fog-
brook in Offerton to Mellor. The river Etherow, which flows to
join the river Goyt, from the higher hills near the summit tunnel, on
the Manchester and Sheffield railway, also affords a view of the
lower coal beds at Crumstall bridge and Ludworth; of the rocks
and shales of Broadbottom; and of the millstone grits and lime
stone shales of Tintwistle and Hollinsbrook. The valley of the
river Tame, in the course of the stream from the high hills on the
eastern side of the two counties to the neighbourhood of Stockport,
shows a good section of the whole coal-field from Beddish mills
by Arden, Dukinfield, Ashton, and Staleybridge to Saddleworth.
A portion of the middle coal-field is well shown in the valley of
Norbury brook, to the south of Stockport. The valley of the Irk,
near Manchester, displays the best section of the lower members
of the new red sandstone, overlying the coal formation, that is
to be found in the north-west division, of England. The valley
of the river Medlock shows the freshwater limestones of Ardwick,

PAST AND PRESENT. 115

and the upper portion of the coal measures of the Manchester
coal-field. But by far the best view of the coal-field of Lancashire is
obtained on the sides and in the valley of the river Irwell, the
great manufacturing river of Lancashire, in the course of that
stream from the lofty hills above Bacup, where it rises in the most
ancient of the coal measures and millstone grits, to near Ringley,
above five miles above Manchester, where it begins to flow over the
new red sandstone formation. The river in this part of its course
crosses the main coal-field of Lancashire, and runs over between
thirty and forty beds of coal, including nearly the whole of the
richest coal seams of Lancashire. Mr. E. W. Binney has traced
the superposition of the coal strata along the banks of the
Irwell, from the edge of the new red sandstone at Bingley, near
Manchester, to the upper millstone grit at Brooksbottom, in the
higher part of the hills. The following is a summary of the infor
mation which he has obtained, and recorded in a tabular form : —
Commencing at the northern point of that great indentation of
the new red sandstone, which in ancient times probably formed a
bay of the sea, running up into a hollow in the coal formation at
Ringley, the coal is met with under a bed of shale six yards thick.
This first bed of coal is two feet in thickness. Immediately below
the first bed are shales or clay hardened into thin laminae, and
binds thirty feet in thickness. Beneath these is a second bed of
coal five feet thick. This is what is called the Ellams mine coal.
A bed of white rock twenty yards thick, with layers of shale, and
a black stone roof, covers the third bed of coal. This seam of
is only nine inches thick, at the point where it is here seen ; but
Mr. Binney states that it is supposed by some persons to be
identical with the Pendleton and Worsley four-foot coal, and if
so, with the coal of the same name found at Bradford, near Man
chester. A bed of shale, four yards thick, interposes between the
third and fourth bed of coal This fourth bed is one foot thick,
and is of the quality named " bassy." Beds of blue shale, eight
yards in thickness, and forty-five yards of solid red rock, cover the
fifth bed of coal, which is only nine inches in thickness. A gray
folding rock more than fifteen yards thick, and a blue metal ten
yards thick, separate the sixth from the fifth bed of coal. This rock,
Mr. Binney says, cannot be identified with the Bardsley-bridge
rock. The coal of the sixth bed is one foot four inches in thickness.

116 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

A stony shale, twenty yards in thickness, covers the seventh bed
of coal, which is one foot thick. Beds of shale fifteen yards thick ;
shale two yards thick, with ironstone nodules ; and shale and white
earth sixteen yards thick — cover the eighth bed of coal, which is
three feet thick. A bed of light-coloured dirt, one yard thick,
covers the ninth bed of coal, known as Garbutt's mine. This ninth
bed of coal is three feet thick. A bed of shale two yards thick;
one of brown rock two yards thick; twelve yards of gray slate,
with ~ limestone bands ; and six yards of black shale — cover the
tenth bed. This tenth bed is four feet ten inches in thickness;
of which twenty inches is good coal, fourteen inches bad, and
twenty-four inches middling;
Between the tenth and the eleventh bed of coal are three yards
of fine white rock, and thirty yards of strong metal, with layers of
ironstone. The eleventh bed of coal is two feet three inches in
thickness, and is divided into three folds. Above the twelfth bed
of coal is shale with ironstone nodules, six yards, and red rock with
layers of blue shale. The twelfth bed of coal is that known as the
Five-quarters mine. This coal is six feet thick, or rather one foot
coal, one foot dirt, and four feet coal. Below the Five-quarters
mine is reddish rock with layers of slate, twenty yards in thickness.
The thirteenth bed of coal is three feet thick. Below this is strong
gray slate, fifteen yards thick. The fourteenth bed of coal is what
is called the old Doe mine, containing coal nine feet thick, in
three folds. Blue shale sixteen yards thick, and whitish rock
twelve yards thick, overlie the fifteenth bed, consisting of six feet
of good solid coal, known as the Trencherbone coal. The sixteenth
bed of coal is covered with forty yards of white rock, " ladyshore."
The coal of the sixteenth bed is three feet thick. The next metal
is not well-known. The seventeenth bed of coal is two feet three
inches thick. The eighteenth bed is covered with ten yards of red
rock ; fifteen of white rock ; and fifteen of light-coloured shale.
The eighteenth bed of coal is two feet thick, the next bed is covered
with forty yards of light-coloured strong metals. The nineteenth
bed, known as Hind's coal, is ten feet thick, but only five feet is
good coal. This is succeeded by sixteen yards of white and brown
earth, below which is the twentieth bed of coal, one foot three inches
in thickness. The twenty-first bed of coal, known as the Gingham mine, is
four feet thick. Above it are twenty yards of light-coloured metals,

PAST AND PRESENT. 117

and below it a floor two yards thick. At Bury bridge is red rock,
with shale thirty-five yards thick, and six yards of black shale.
These cover the twenty-second bed of coal, one foot three inches
in thickness. The twenty-third seam of coal, one foot thick, is
covered by nine yards of strong gray metals, with ironstone nodules,
and six yards of light shale with bands of ironstone. Light-coloured
rock six yards thick covers the twenty-fourth bed of coal, which
is nine inches thick. The twenty-fifth vein of coal, five feet thick,
and known as the Lees or Dogshaw coal, is covered with thick
beds of shale, white soapy earth and black shale, altogether more
than sixty yards in thickness.
Mr. Binney observes on this rich vein of coal : — " This coal is
the last thick seam of coal, and identical with the Lower Woodley
mine of Dukmfield, the Riley mine of Oldham, and the Arley
mine of Wigan. At Harwood it is very thin."
Below this bed of coal is a bed of black heavy stone of a
crystalline structure, one yard in thickness ; six yards of blue
shale ; twenty-one yards of. light-coloured rock, which has a red
tinge at Harwood ; sixty yards of white earthy shale ; thirty
yards very black shale ; two feet of a stone resembling impure
gannister coal ; ten yards light shale ; six yards flaggy rock, Old
Lawrence, with thirty yards of black stone shale. Mr. Binney
remarks on the above gray flaggy rock, " It sometimes exceeds
twenty yards in thickness, but is always parted by layers of shale
three or four feet thick. It is worked at Kerridge near Bollington
in Cheshire, at Holyfold in Romilly, at Catlow near Colne, at
Harwood, at Doffcocker near Bolton, and at Enfield near Accring-
ton." Beneath these beds of slate are black iridescent shale,
containing shells of the genera Pecten, Goniatites, &c, six yards
in thickness. Below this is the twenty-sixth bed of coal, one foot
thick, which, however, is eighteen inches thick in the neighbour
hood of Bacup. The twenty-seventh bed of coal, which is only
eight inches thick, is covered with gray lumpy shale, three yards
thick ; brown dirty rock, full of black streaks ; hard sharp sandstone
four yards thick, well seen at Ending near Whitworth, and dark
gray shale forty yards thick. White flaggy rock, marked with
red streaks-, and a dark shale containing the shells mentioned
above, cover the twenty-eighth bed of coal. This is gannister
coal, excellent for smithy purposes, and often called the Rabbit
or Mountain mine, from the circumstance of its being generally

118 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
worked by means of levels made like rabbit holes, in the hill
sides. Mr. Binney observes on the above coal : — " The principal
mine of Staleybridge, Rochdale, Bacup, Burnley, Blackburn, Halli-
well, Darwen, and Chorley. It varies in thickness from five feet
eight inches in Dulesgate, Todmorden, to about two inches at
Aftside and Harwood near Bolton." Next is a hard heavy stone
full of Stigmaria ficoides. This rock is excellent material for roads.
Beneath is light-coloured stone four yards thick, gray metals five
yards thick, and two yards black shale. These cover the twenty-
ninth seam of coal, which is the principal mine of Quarlton and
Aftside, where it is four feet thick. Beds of black shale cover the
thirtieth bed of coal (bassy). This coal is never worked in the
neighbourhood of Bury, but it is the chief mine in Newmills,
Mellor, Crumpsall, and Ludworth.
The thirty-first bed of coal is covered by six yards gray and
brown shale ; three yards close-bedded rock, which divides into
cubes; seven yards of excellent light-coloured building stone (Wood-
head-hill, Lomax-wood rock, sometimes much thicker); six yards of
stony gray shale ; and fourteen yards of very black shale, containing
Pecten, Goniatites, &c. The thirty-first bed of coal is only nine
inches thick, and rests on a shale floor one yard thick. The thirty-
second or Featheredge coal is covered by eight yards of coarse-grained
rock, and by dark shale full of the Pecten, Posidonia, Goniatites,
mixed with ferns and Lepidodendra. The Featheredge coal is the prin
cipal mine of Walmesley, Lomax-wood, Fecit, and Birtle-dean, and is
the lowest mine worth working in the vicinity of Bury. Below
the Featheredge coal is rough or quartz rock, full of large rounded
quartz pebbles. Mr. Binney observes, "This rock is often taken
for one of the millstone grits. It is exposed at Wibbersley,
Werneth Low, Blackstone Edge, Birtle Moor, Pilsworth, Turton
Tower, Horwich Moor, Holcombe, and Parbold."
Next is found gray stony shale often approaching to flags,
twenty-five yards thick; rough flaggy rock provincially termed
"ragg," four yards; fine smooth flags,, two yards; strong brown stone
parted with shale, containing thin beds of flags, fifty yards, found
on Bowley Moor, Summit, and near Whitworth ; fine-grained rock
of a bluish-colour, two yards ; gray shale, eight yards : and black
shales containing Pecten. These cover a bed of coal six inches
thick. This rests on two yards of black shale, below which is
another bed of coal eight inches thick. Under these is eight

PAST AND PRESENT. 119
yards of bluish shale and six yards of black shale, with layers
of stone. Below them is the last bed of coal, which is one foot
three inches in thickness. Underneath this bed is four yards of
dark shale. After that comes the upper millstone grit' of unknown
depth, found at Brooksbottom, Cheesden bridge, Sunnyside, Hol-
combe-hill, and the Summit tunnel.
Such are the principal beds of coal, thirty-five in number, over
which the river Irwell flows in its course from the mountainous
district in which it rises, to the plain at Ringley, near Manchester.
They are by no means the whole of the beds of coal existing in
Lancashire, for there are no less than 120 seams of coal of greater
or less thickness ; but many of them are amongst the most valuable
beds of coal in the two counties, and they may be regarded
as the principal cause of the crowded population and the great
wealth of the north-western district.
To obtain an adequate view of the mineral wealth of particular
districts of South Lancashire, it is necessary to trace the beds of
coal through their different workings, in several parts of the county.
The richest points in the coal-field are in the neighbourhood of
Manchester, in the neighbourhood of Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne
and Dukmfield, about St. Helen's, and in the neighbourhood of
Wigan. At all those points the beds both of coal and of ironstone,
as well as those of building stone, are of the greatest value, and
have largely contributed to, indeed have chiefly produced, the pros
perity of the districts in which they are found. This information
is given in the general sections of the Lancashire and Cheshire
coal measures, which accompanied the Annual Report of Joseph
Dickinson, Esq., F.G.S., Inspector of Mines, dated Manchester, 27th
February, 1858. These sections show very clearly the succession
of the strata, and the number and thickness of the seams of coal
found in the whole of the 6600 feet of coal measures, which con
stitute the coal-field of Lancashire and Cheshire. These sections
were compiled from memoirs furnished by Mr. Edward William
Binney, aided by valuable contributions from John Hall, Esq., of
Nangreaves, William Peace, Esq., F.G.S., Andrew Knowles, Thomas
Knowles, of Ince, Andrew Bay, George Peace, James Oliver, John
Evans, Josiah Evans, John Daglish, James Darlington, John Mercer,
George Gilroy, Bobert Daglish, senr., Ralph Fletcher, Esq., and
others, who possessed, or still possess, the fullest knowledge of the
coal-fields of Lancashire and Cheshire.

120 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIEE :
The first section is that of the upper or Manchester coal-field,
the most recent part of that great coal-field. This division of the
coal-field is only found in the neighbourhood of Manchester, and is
best traced in sections commencing at Ardwick, on the east side of
that city, and extending through strata of the thickness of about
1800 feet. This part of the coal-field lies immediately below the
permian beds of the new red sandstone, and was deposited at the
time when the luxuriant vegetation that produced the richer beds
of the coal formation was beginning to lose its richness.
In the upper part of this formation the beds of clay now hardened
into shale, and of sand now hardened into sandstone, are of great
thickness, whilst the seams of coal are few in number, and only of
the thickness of a few inches. But as we descend, the thickness
of the seams of coal increases ; and before we reach the middle
coal-field, which lies immediately under the upper, the beds of coal
become large and valuable, and everything indicates the existence
of a luxuriant growth of the coal plants, at the time when they
were here deposited.
The first 100 yards of the strata of the upper or Manchester
coal-field, does not contain any coal, but is chiefly composed of the
sands and shales belonging to the coal measures, with a few beds
of limestone varying from one to three feet in thickness. The second
100 yards of this coal-field contains two thin seams of coal, the
upper six inches, and the lower three inches in thickness. It also
contains a bed of blackband ironstone four inches in thickness ; and
a bed of limestone five to seven feet in thickness. The coal in the
upper of these two beds is very sulphurous. The upper bed of
coal and the blackband ironstone, which latter contains a large
quantity of coal mixed with the iron, rest on a bed of warren earth
and shale, in which the plants that form the coal originally grew.
The rest of this portion of the coal measures consists of shale and
of sandstone. Amongst the sandstones is one of a reddish colour,
called the Holt-town sandstone. In the third 100 yards there
is no coal. The strata consist entirely of shale and sandstone;
amongst the latter is the Openshaw sandstone. The fourth 100
yards contains two beds of coal. The first is one foot one inch
thick ; the second, called the Openshaw coal, is two feet in thickness.
There are thick beds of warren earth and shale, which is hardened
clay, under both these seams of coal. The fifth 100 yards con
tains two beds of coal. The first of these, named the Charlotte coal

PAST AND PRESENT.

121

is two feet two inches in thickness ; the second, named the Three-
quarters coal, is one foot eight inches. The rest of this portion
of the strata consists of warren earth and shale.
In the sixth 100 yards the coal becomes very rich, and the beds
are much more numerous. In this part of the strata there are
seven beds of coal, namely, the Four-feet or Big coal, in two bands —
the upper one foot, the lower two feet nine inches in thickness,
separated by four inches of bass. Below this is a seam of coal
nine inches thick, succeeded by what is called the Yard coal, two
feet ten inches in thickness. That is succeeded by the New coal,
one foot four inches thick ; the Smut coal, one foot one inch
thick ; and the Coarse coal, twelve inches thick. These beds of
coal are separated from each other by beds of warren earth and
shale. The seventh and lowest 100 yards of the upper or
Manchester coal-field, contains five seams of coal. The first, named
the Doctor coal, is one foot eight inches in thickness ; the second,
named the Two-feet coal, consists of two beds of coal each ten
inches thick, separated by four inches of earth. The next consists
of coarse coal, one foot six inches in thickness ; and the lowest is
a seam of coal one foot thick. The rest of this part of the strata
consists of warren earth and shale.
The whole number of seams of coal in the upper or Manchester
coal-field is fifteen, and the aggregate thickness of all the seams of
coal of which they are composed is thirty feet.
SEAMS OF COAL IN THE UPPEB OR MANCHESTER COAL-FIELD AT ARDWICK,
NEAR MANCHESTER.

Yds.

In First 100 yards-
Coal, 
In Second 100 yards —
Coal, 
Coal, 
In Third 100 yards-
Coal, 
Openshaw coal, . . .
In Fourth 100 yards-
Charlotte coal, . .
Three-quarters coal,
In Fifth 100 yards—
Four-feet or Big coal,.
Coal, 

Ft. Ins.

— 1

— 1

Yard coal, . . . ,
In Sixth 100 yards-
Coarse coal, . . ,
Coal 
New coal, . . .
Smut coal, . . ,
Coal, 
Coarse coal, . . ,
In Seventh 100 yards-
Doctor coal, . .
Two-feet coal,
Coarse coal, . .
Coal, 
Coal, 

Yds. 1

8
8
10 4 1

The general sections of the Lancashire and Cheshire coal measures

VOL. I.

122 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
drawn up by Mr. Dickinson, contain plans of the middle coal-field
at four different places. The first is in the great manufacturing
district lying between the city of Manchester and the large manu
facturing towns of Bolton and Bury, and includes the rich mines
of Pendleton, Patricroft, Worsley, Atherton, and Hulton. The second
is in the neighbourhood of, and extends to, the great manufacturing
towns of Oldham, Ashton, Staleybridge, and Stockport, and includes
the mines of Dukinfield, Ashton, Oldham, and Poynton. The third
is the coal-field of St. Helen's, the principal seat of the glass and
chemical manufactures of South Lancashire. The: fourth and last
is the great coal-field of Wigan, one of the richest coal-fields of
England, and the source from which Liverpool draws its large
supplies of coal for industrial and domestic purposes, as well
as for the purposes of export. These subdivisions all belong to
the middle coal-field, and from them much the greater part and
the best varieties of coal produced in Lancashire and Cheshire are
derived. The first division of the middle coal-field of Lancashire of which
we shall speak is that of Pendleton, Patricroft, Atherton, Worsley,
and Hulton, extending to Manchester, Bolton, and Bury, and
from which those great seats of manufacturing industry derive
their principal supplies of fuel. In some of the mines of this
district, the coal measures have to be sought by sinking through
thick beds of drift, and then by boring, first through the trias
or upper new red sandstone, and then through the permian
or lower division of the new red sandstone, which immediately
overlies the coal measures. The first 100 yards only contains a
thin seam of coal, two inches thick, and a bed of bass and coal
one foot thick : but it contains a bed of ironstone two feet thick,
and a great number of beds of limestone and of red shale, together
with a bed of hard sandstone. The ironstone rests on a bed of
warren earth. The second 100 yards contains no less than eight
beds of coal, and numerous beds of black bass. The first of these
beds of coal is one foot ten inches in thickness, the second is also
one foot ten inches; the third is only two inches; the fourth is
three inches ; the fifth is one foot one inch ; the sixth is four
inches ; the seventh is one foot three inches ; and there is a bed
of coarse coal, bass, &c, five feet in thickness. Nearly all these
seams of coal rest on thick beds of earth, forming the floors of
the mine, and known among the miners by the name of warren

PAST AND PRESENT. 12

O

earth. In the whole of this series the roots of the Sigillaria,
known to geologists by the name of Stigmaria, have been found,
generally imbedded in the warren earth. There are also ironstone
bands in one of the strata, and large quantities of gray shale and
white sandstone ; the former being hardened clay, the latter hardened
sand. The third 100 yards contains three seams of coal. The
first of these is nine inches thick, the second is eleven inches, and
the third is three inches. These seams of coal rest on beds of
earth. There are also several beds of black bass, some of which
also rest on beds of earth. The remainder of this portion of the
strata is composed of brown and white sandstone, or of a blue
shale. The fourth 100 yards contains six beds of coal. The
first of these, which is coarse coal mixed with earth, is four inches
thick ; the second is coal of a better quality, nine inches thick ;
the third is a seam two feet thick ; the fourth is three inches ;
the fifth nine inches ; and the sixth also nine inches. All these
lie on beds of warren earth. There are also several beds of black
bass, which contain some of the constituents of coal, mixed with
earth and shale. The rest consist chiefly of beds of blue and gray
shale, with a very thick bed of white sandstone. The fifth 100
yards contains immense quantities of coal, divided into eleven seams.
The first seam is seven inches thick, the second one foot two inches.
The third is the celebrated Worsley four-feet coal, which is four
feet three inches in thickness, and rests on a bed of warren earth.
Below the Worsley four-feet coal is another bed, one foot seven
inches in thickness, which is succeeded by a bed eleven inches
thick ; another bed composed of coarse coal eight inches thick ;
another one foot six inches thick ; a fourth ten inches thick ; and
two others, one only four inches thick, but the other two feet six
inches. There are thick beds of earth under all these seams of coal,
and there are also numerous thick beds of black bass. Ironstone
is also found in a bed two inches thick, mixed with blue shale in
a bed five feet thick, and mixed with cannel coal in a bed four
feet six inches thick, and with blue shale in a bed four feet thick.
There are also beds of blue shale and several beds of sandstone,
but neither the shale nor the sandstone beds are as thick as in
the higher strata. In the sixth 100 yards there are nme beds of
coal, the first one foot thick ; the second ten inches ; the third
one foot; the fourth subdivided into three beds, containing alto
gether about four feet of coal, and the remaining three containing

124 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
from seven inches to one foot of coal. The earth beds are very
clearly seen in all this part of the coal measures. Iron is found
in hard black stone, containing spar and ironstone, in light shale
with ironstone, and in dark shale, also with ironstone. There is
a considerable quantity of gray, blue, and dark shale in this part
of the coal measures, together with some beds of gray and red
sandstone. The seventh 100 yards contains no less than fifteen
beds of coal ; the first seven inches thick, with black bass of coal
one foot five inches, and six inches of cannel coal lying under it.
This is succeeded by a bed of coal one foot five inches thick. Then
come in quick succession six beds of coal, varying from one
foot nine inches and one foot ten inches to half an inch. These
are succeeded by four beds of coal from one foot two inches to
four inches. There are numerous beds of earth in this part of
the strata. Iron is also found in the form of mussel-shell iron
stone, brown ironstone, and shale with ironstone. There are also beds
of shale and a few beds of hard sandstone. The eighth 100 yards
contains a very large quantity of coal in twelve beds. The first
is two feet three inches. The second, called Bin coal, consists of
two beds of coal — one two feet nine inches in thickness, the other
ten inches, and separated by a thin bed of earth. This is succeeded
by a bed of coal one foot four inches thick, and a bed of cannel
coal six inches thick. The seam known as the Shuttle or Albert
coal comes next, containing two feet nine inches of thick coal, and
six inches of coarse coal. The Crumbouke four-feet coal, four feet
thick, but with one foot of bass and coal above it, and two feet
of bass and coal below it, comes next. Then are seams of coal
six inches thick and eight inches thick. Ironstone is found, in
this part of the coal measures, in the form of mussel-shell iron
stone. The beds of earth are very numerous and thick, and there
are also several beds of shale and sandstone. The ninth 100 yards
is very rich in coal. It commences with the Bams or Seven-feet
coal, which, however, is not more than five feet five inches in thickness.
Next comes the Kays coal, two feet thick, and the Windmill coal,
one foot one inch thick, and a number of other thick beds of
coal. These are succeeded by two beds of coal each three feet
thick, named the White coal and the Black coal, separated from
each other by seven yards of warren earth, containing three large
beds of bass and coal mixed with the earth. There are also thick
beds of shale and sandstone in this part of the coal measures.

PAST AND PRESENT. 125

The tenth 100 yards includes a portion of the great mass of coal
last mentioned and also several thinner seams, including a seam
six inches thick, another two inches thick, and a third nine inches
thick. There is much warren earth and several beds of sand
stone and shale in this part of the coal measures, including seven
yards of red sandstone. In the eleventh 100 yards coal is very-
abundant. There is first the Old Doe coal, in three beds of the
total thickness of eight feet. There is next the Five-quarter coal,
in two beds of two feet ten inches. Then comes the Hill-hole
coal, two feet thick ; and this is succeeded by another seam of coal
one foot in thickness. The above seams of coal are separated by
thick beds of sandstone and shale. The twelfth 100 yards is also
very rich, containing altogether sixteen beds of coal. The first
of these is only three inches thick ; the second, known as the
California coal, is one foot six inches ; and the third, the Trencher-
bone coal, is three feet six inches. The Dyehouse coal is one foot
six inches, and below it is a bed of coal nine inches thick. This
is succeeded by the cannel coal, in three beds, six inches, two
feet nine inches, and one foot ten inches in thickness ; and these
are immediately followed by coal in two beds ten inches thick.
Next comes the Tapling coal, consisting of a bed one foot two
inches, and of coarse coal two feet ten inches. These are suc
ceeded by coal two inches thick. Then comes what is called the
Plodder coal in six seams — respectively, one foot two inches, seven
inches, two feet, three feet two inches, one foot two inches, and
one foot five inches thick. This is succeeded by the Yard coal,
three feet two inches thick ; the Half-yard coal, one foot six inches ;
and the Three-quarters coal in two seams, one two feet three inches,
and the other one foot two inches. The last seam of coal in the
middle coal-field in this neighbourhood is the .Daub-hill Arley
mine, in three seams ; namely, the top coal two feet, the coarse
coal nine inches, and the bottom coal nine inches, with a fourth
seam immediately below, one foot thick.
The whole thickness of the coal measures in this division of
the coal-field is nearly 1200 yards. The number of seams of
coal is 100 ; the aggregate thickness of the coal in all these seams
is upwards of 140 feet. To this is to be added about twenty-
four feet in thickness of coal found in the upper or Manchester
coal-field. Together, these constitute that immense mass of mineral
that is found in the neighbourhood of Manchester, which has had

126

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

so great an influence in producing the manufacturing prosperity
of that city. Bolton and Bury also stand within easy reach of
two great coal-fields ; namely, the middle coal-field, part of which
has been just described, and the lower coal-field, which remains
to be described. The following is the succession of the seams of
coal in the middle coal-field, in the mines of Pendleton, Patricroft,
Worsley, Atherton, Hulton, and other places, lying to the north
west of Manchester.

SEAMS OF COAL AT PENDLETON, PATRICROFT, ATHERTON, AND HULTON, IN THE
MIDDLE COAL-FIELD, ON THE WEST SIDE OF MANCHESTER.

In First 100 yards-
Coal, 
In Second 100 yards-
Coal,Coal,

Yds.

Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
¦Coarse coal, .
Coal, . . .
In Third 100 yards
Coal, ....
Coal, ....
In Fourth 100 yards —
Coarse coal and earth,
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
In Fifth 100 yards-
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Worsley Four
Coal,. . .
Coal, . .
Coarse coal,
Black bass,
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
In Sixth 100 yards-
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coarse coal,
Coal, .
Coal, .

foot coal

— 1
— 1
— 2
— 1
— 1
— 1
— 1
— 1

Ins.

1010 3 1
30 7
9
11 4
93
9

7
2
3 7
6
86
10 66

Yds.

Ft.

coal,

Ins. 67
6 5
9
3
10

In Seventh 100 yards
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Cannel coal,
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal,. . .
Coal  l
Coal, . . .
Coal,. .
Coal, . . .
Coal, . .
Coal, . . .
Coal, .. . .
Coal, . . .
In Eighth 100 yards
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal,. . .
Shuttle or Albert
Coarse coal,
Bass and coal,
Crumbouke,
¦ Coal, . . .
Coal,. . .
In Ninth 100 yards-
Kay's coal, . .
Windmill coal, .
White coal, .
In Tenth 100 yards-
Warren earth, bass, and coal, 7 . — —
Black coal  i — _
Coal,  . — — 6
Coal,  — — 2
Coal,  — i 
Coal, . . ..... — — 9
In Eleventh 100 yards-
Old Doe coal,  2 2 — .

— — 3

— 8
— 4
2 3
- 10
2 9
1 4
2 9
— 6
1 —
1 —
— 6
8

PAST AND PRESENT.

127

In Eleventh 100 yards —
Five-quarter coal, . .
Hill-hole coal,
Coal, 
In Twelfth 100 yards-
Coal, 
California coal, .
Trencher-bone coal, . .
Coal, 
Bassy cannel coal, . .
Coal, . ¦ •
Coal, . ¦
Tapling coal,
Coarse coal,
Coal, . ¦
Plodder coal,
Coal, . • •
Coarse coal,
Coal, ¦ . •

Yds

22 1

.— 1
— 2
— 3

10

3 6 6969
10 2
10 2 2 7

In Twelfth 100 yards-
Coarse coal, 
Gray earth and coal, .
Coal, 
Coal 
Coal, ... . .
Yard coal, ......
Bone coal, ...
Coal, . .
Half-yard coal, .
Coal, 
Three-quarters coal,
Coal, 
Daubhill Arley mine top
coal, 
Coarse coal, . •
Bottom coal, . .
Coal, 

Yds. Ft.

-- 1

2 1

27569
2 36 653 2

- 2 —
— — 9
— — 9
— 1 —

The middle coal-field is also very extensively developed in the
neighbourhood of the flourishing manufacturing towns of Oldham,
Ashton-under-Lyne, Staleybridge, Dukinfield, and in the neighbour
hood of Stockport ; it forms the main source of the manufacturing
prosperity of those places. In this part of the middle coal-field
there are also numerous beds of ironstone, as well as very large
quantities of fine and durable building stone. The following par
ticulars as to the number and thickness of the beds of coal found
in this neighbourhood will go far to account for the industrial
prosperity of these great and flourishing towns, and of the numerous
villages by which they are surrounded.
In this district, described as the Dukinfield, Ashton-under-Lyne,
and Oldham coal-field, the coal measures are met with after
penetrating through the thick beds of drift that everywhere cover
the harder strata. In the first 100 yards there are several beds
of valuable coal. One of these is one foot thick ; the second two
feet three inches; a thud five inches, and in a fourth bass and
coal are found mixed together, in a seam of the thickness of one
foot five inches. There are also beds of warren earth under all the
seams of coal. Ironstone is found in the form of ironstone balls,
spread through a great mass of soft dark shale more than thirty
feet thick. There are also several thick beds of black bass, with
numerous beds of sandstone and shale. The second 100 yards
also contains several thick beds of coal. One of these is one foot
ten inches in thickness ; another one foot four. In what is called

128 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the Sod mine there are two beds of coal, the top one two feet three
inches in thickness, the lower four feet. These rest on beds of
warren earth. Ironstone bands are also found in a thick bed of
gray shale. There are also thick beds of red sandstone and
numerous beds of shale — blue, black, brown, and gray. In the third
100 yards both coal and ironstone are extremely abundant.
First is the Blenfire coal, the top bed of which is five inches thick ;
then there is coal one foot four inches, and another bed of the same
thickness, together with large quantities of coal mixed with shale.
The Great mine coal, six feet thick, comes next ; then is a bed of
coal two feet thick, succeeded by the Roger mine coal four feet thick,
and a seam of inferior coal seven inches thick. Black shale mixed
with coal is next found, four feet eight inches thick. The beds of
warren earth are all strongly marked. A bed of iron pyrites is found
in this part of the coal measures, with strong gray sandstone and
ironstone of great thickness, ironstone in bands mixed with warren
earth and mixed with shale. There are also beds of hard gray
sandstone, and numerous beds of blue, gray, and black shale. The
fourth 100 yards is also very rich in coal. It contains the
Furnace-hill mine coal, one yard three inches in thickness ; the coal
under the Furnace-hill mine, one foot eight inches ; and another seam
of coal of good quality, two feet two and a half inches thick. The
earth beds are very clearly marked under all the seams of coal.
There is a thick bed of blue shale with ironstone bands, and also
a thick bed of dark shale with balls of peroxide of iron. There is
also a thick bed of very hard gray sandstone, and numerous beds of
shale of various colours. The fifth 100 yards is also very rich in
coal. There is the Colonel mine, the top bed of which is ten and a
half inches thick, and the bottom bed three feet three inches. There
is also coal of good quality in a vein one foot three inches thick ;
and in what is called the Hard mine there are two thick beds of
coal, the first eight inches thick, the second two feet seven inches.
The coal of Cooks Folly mine is one foot six inches thick. There
are three beds of ironstone in this part of the coal measures. There
is also much sandstone, brown and red (Huncliffe), with some thick
beds of purple, motley, gray, and red shale.
The sixth 100 yards is also very rich in coal. It contains
the Mary's mine coal, (Foxholes) two feet seven inches thick, and
another bed of coal two feet two inches thick. These are succeeded
by the Town-lane mine in three seams. The first of these, or top

PAST AND PRESENT. ' 129

coal, is one foot thick ; the middle coal is three feet seven inches ;
and the bottom coal one foot three inches. Next is the top Shuttle
mine coal, two feet thick, and the bottom Shuttle mine coal, two feet
eleven inches thick. The warren earth beds are very fully developed
in this part of the coal measures. Ironstone is also found in very
great abundance in this part of the coal measures. There is, first,
strong gray shale with ironstone, hard gray shale with ironstone,
shale with ironstone and sandstone, three beds of dark shale with
ironstone bands, then dark shale and cakes of ironstone. These are
succeeded by what is called the Danes Ironstone mine. There are
also several beds of hard gray sandstone, and hard gray shale in this
part of the coal measures. The seventh 100 yards also contains
large quantities of coal. There is first the Osey Coes coal in two
beds, the upper five inches thick, the lower one foot one inch thick.
There are then three beds of what is called inferior coal, one three
inches thick, another one foot two inches thick, and a third one
foot four inches thick. After this comes black bass with seams of
coal five feet four inches thick; then the Old Man's or Fog's mine,
with three beds of coal, first one foot thick, second four inches, the
third one foot five inches. In this portion of the coal measures
there are other large beds of ironstone. There are thick beds of red
hardstone, and there is also a bed of gray shale with fossil plants.
The eighth 100 yards is also very rich. The first is the Rusty
mine, with two beds of coal — one nine inches, the other one foot four
inches. There are then three beds of coal, the first one foot five
inches thick, the second four inches, the third ten inches. There are
then beds of black bass and dark shale, with coal mixed up with it.
Then comes what is called the Saltpetre mine, in three beds of
coal, six inches, two feet two inches, and two feet five inches thick.
This is succeeded by the Little Smithy mine coal, two feet four
inches in thickness. The warren earth is found under these several
seams of coal. There is little ironstone in this part of the strata,
but a great quantity of very hard red and gray sandstone. The
ninth 100 yards also contains much valuable coal. There is
first the Black mine coal, four feet eight inches thick. This is
succeeded by a seam of coal one foot five inches thick, and by
inferior coal three inches thick. Next is the Stone mine coal three
feet thick, succeeded by the Upper Bent mine coal, two feet thick,
The warren earth is found through this part of the coal-field. There
is little ironstone, but very hard sandstone bands.
VOL I. R

130

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

The tenth 100 yards commences with the Lower Bent or
Peacock mine coal, two feet eleven inches in thickness. This is
succeeded by the Nealy mine in two veins, the upper one foot six
inches, the lower eight inches in thickness. The Davis mine coal,
one foot five inches thick, comes next. Then is the Seddons mine
coal, one foot thick ; the Water mine coal, one foot eight inches ;
and the Jonah Lees mine coal, one foot two inches thick. The
Hurst old mine comes next in three seams, the first one foot eight
inches, the second one foot, and the third ten inches. These are
succeeded by the New mine coal, three feet six inches thick. The
earth beds are very perfect. There are thick sandstone beds, includ
ing the Bradshaw rock. The eleventh 100 yards also contains
several valuable beds of coal. The first is one foot thick ; the second,
third, and fourth are each of them six inches. The rest of the strata
consists chiefly of sandstone and shale, with some ironstone. In
the twelfth 100 yards is the Boyley mine coal, three feet thick,
which is the lowest of the beds of the middle coal-field, and the last
bed of thick coal.
The number of beds of coal in this part of the- middle
coal-field, from which Oldham, Ashton, and Dukinfield draw their
supplies, is ninety-two. The aggregate thickness of the seams of
coal, from which the industry of this neighbourhood draws its
supplies, is 126 feet.
The following is the succession of the seams of coal in this great
and productive coal-field : —

SEAMS OF COAL AT DUKINFIELD, ASHTON-TJNDER-LYNE AND OLDHAM.

In First 100 yards-
Coal, 
Coal, . ...
Coal, 
In 200 yards-
Coal, ....
Coal, . .
Sod mine, .
In 300 yards —
Coal, top bed, .
Bolt coal, ....
Blenfire coal, top bed,
Shale with coal, .
Coal of good quality,
Great mine coal, . .
Coal, 
Coal, .
Boger mine coal, , ,

Yds. Ft.

Ins.

5
3
10 4

— — 5
— 2 2
— 1 4

In 300 yards-
Inferior coal, 
In 400 yards—
Furnace-hill mine coal,
Coal under Furnace -hill
mine, .......
Coal of good quality, . .
In 500 yards,
Colonel mine, top bed coal,
Colonel mine, bottom bed
coal, 
Coal,. . . . . .
Coal, 
Coal, 
Coal of good quality, . .
Hard mine, 
Coal, top bed, .
Coal, bottom bed, , . .

Yds.

Ft. Ins.
— 7
— 3
1 6
2 2j
— 104

1 —

32
4 7
38J 7

PAST AND PRESENT.

131

Yds. Ft.

In 500 yards-
Coal,  —
Coal  . _
Coal  —
Cook's Folly mine coal, . —
In 600 yards-
Mary's mine coal (Foxholes), —
Coal,  —
Town Lane mine, . . —
Top coal, 
Middle coal, . . ,
Bottom coal, . . . .
Top Shuttle mine coal,
Bottom Shuttle mine coal,
In 700 yards —
Osey Coes coal, . . .
Coal, top bed 
Coal, bottom bed, . .
Inferior coal, top bed, .
Inferior coal, middle bed,
Ditto, bottom bed, . .
Old Man's or Fog's mine,
Top bed coal, .
Middle bed coal,
Dark earth seams
Bottom bed coal,
In 800 yards-
Rusty mine, .
Top coal, . .
Bottom coal, .
Coal good quality.
Coal, ....
Coal, ....
Saltpetre mine,
Top bed coal, .
Middle bed coal,
Bottom bed coal,

of coal,

1 —

Ins. 44
4
6 7
2

7
3
11

5 1
10 2
4

645
3
10 6
2
5

Yds. Ft.

In 800 yards-
Little Smithy mine coal, . —
Coal,  —
In 900 yards-
Black mine coal, .... l
Coal, ... ... —
Coal,  —
Inferior coal, . . —
Stone mine coal, .... 1
Upper Bent, or Two-fee't
mine coal,  —
In 1000 yards-
Lower Bent, or Peacock
mine coal, . .
Coal, 
Coal, . . .
Nealy mine, . .
Top coal, . . .
Bottom coal, . .
Davis mine coal,
Seddons mine coal.
Coal, 
Water mine coal,
Jonah Lees mine coal
Hurst Old mine, .
Top coal, . . .
Middle coal, . .
Bottom coal, .
New mine coal, .
In 1100 yards —
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
Coal, .
In 1200 yards—
Royley mine coal,

— 2
— 1
— 1
— 1
— 1
— - 1
— 1
— 2
— 1

Ins. 4
3

3
4
3

2 —

11 5
2
6
8 5
382

10 6

— 1 —
— — 6
— — 6
— — 6
— — 3

1 — —

In the western parts of South Lancashire, in the hundred of
West Derby, as well as the eastern and the central parts, the middle
coal-field is very extensively developed. The richest portions of
the middle coal-field, in the western division of the county, are
those of St. Helen's and Wigan ; and both those places are the
seats of flourishing branches of industry, and of rapidly increasing
trade. Both the St. Helen's, and the Wigan coal-fields also supply
large quantities of coal for export as well as for steam navigation.
There is also a large export of steam coal from Atherton at another
point in the middle coal-field.
In the St. Helen's coal-field the coal is met with at a very short

132 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
distance from the surface, and at some points it rises to the surface.
In the first 100 yards of the St. Helen's coal-field there are six
beds of coal, of very considerable thickness. The first is the coal
of Loons delf, or mine, two feet eight inches in thickness ; the second
is that of the London delf, two feet six inches thick ; the third is
a seam of coal ten inches thick ; the fourth is a seam nine inches
thick ; and the fifth and sixth is the coal of what is called the
Potato delf, in two seams, one of them four feet thick, and the other
nine inches. The other portions of the coal measures in the
first 100 yards, consist of beds of warren earth, bass, shale, and
sandstone. In the second 100 yards there are six beds of coal. The
coal of the Earthy delf is in three seams — the first one foot four
inches, the second one foot six inches, and the third one foot
eight inches in thickness. What is called the Little coal, which is
the next seam, is two feet in thickness. There are then three seams
almost close together, and respectively ten inches, seven inches, and
one foot two inches in thickness. These are succeeded by a bed
one foot eight inches in thickness. The coal measures consist of
very thick beds of warren earth and shale, with a bed of silicious
sandstone. The third 100 yards is also very rich in coal.
There is first the St. Helen's main delf, or mine, containing five
seams of coal. The first of these is one foot seven inches, the
second eight inches, the third eight inches, the fourth four feet
six inches, and the cannel coal below it two feet three inches in
thickness. Next is the Four-feet delf coal, as it is called, three
feet two inches in thickness; then the Pigeon-house delf coal in
two seams, the higher one foot six inches, the lower two feet.
Below this is a thin seam of coal three inches thick, and a little
lower a thicker bed one foot seven inches in thickness. In this
part of the coal-field there are beds of warren earth, thick beds of
shale with ironstone bands, large quantities of shale, and some beds
of sandstone. The fourth 100 yards is extremely rich in coal.
There is first the Ravenhead main delf, or mine, with two thick
beds of coal — one three feet ten inches in thickness, the other seven
feet. Below this is the San Sebastian delf, with a bed of coal
four feet three inches in thickness. Next comes the Boger delf
with four seams of coal, six inches, three inches, two feet, one foot
nine inches, and six inches in thickness. There are also a bed of
ironstone and numerous beds of shale in this part of the coal

PAST AND PRESENT.

133

measures. The fifth 100 yards is also rich in coal. The coal
mine known as the Sir John delf is three feet four inches thick,
and below it there is another seam ten inches thick. Below that
is a bed of coal ten inches thick, and two masses of bassy cannel
coal — one one foot thick, the other eleven inches. This is succeeded
by the coal of the. Flaggy delf, in two beds, each of them two feet
thick. Next comes the coal of the Sir Roger delf, in three seams,
two feet, nine inches, and one foot in thickness. There is some iron
ore in this part of the strata, but they are chiefly composed of
warren earth, shale, and sandstone. The sixth 100 yards contains
one very rich and valuable bed of coal, known as the Rushey Park
delf. This is in two seams, the higher one ten inches thick, the
lower one three feet six inches thick. There is also another small
seam of coal six inches thick. The Rushey Park coal rests on a very
thick bed of the warren earth. The rest of the strata consists
chiefly of sandy shale and sandstone. The seventh and last 100
yards contains the coal of the Little delf, three feet in thickness.
The rest of the strata is composed of beds of blue shale and
white sandstone.
The number of beds of coal in the St. Helen's coal-field is forty-
four, and the aggregate thickness of the coal is seventy-four feet.
The following is the succession of the seams of coal in the St.
Helen's coal-field.

ST. HELEN'S, LANCASHIRE.

Yds. Ft.

Ins.

In First 100 yards-
Coal Loons delf, . . . . — -2
Coal London delf, . . — 2
Coal,  — —
Coal,  — 1
Potato delf, . . . . — — —
Coal,  - 2 —
Coal,  — — 11
In 200 yards —
Earthy delf coal, . ... — 1
Coal,  — 1
Coal,  - 1
Coal, Little coal,. . . — 2
Coal,  — —
Coal, .... — —
Coal,  — 1
Coal,  — 1
In 300 yards—
St. Helen's main delf, . . — —
Coal,  — 1

Yds. Ft. Ins.

In 300 yards-
Coal,  —
Coal  . . —
Coal,  1
Cannel coal and coal delf,
Coal, Four-feet delf, . . 1
Coal, Higher Pigeon- house
delf, 
Coal, Lower Pigeon-house
delf,  —
Coal,  —
Coal,  —
In 400 yards —
Ravenhead main delf, . . 1
Coal,  3
Coal, St. Sebastian delf, . 1
Coal,  —
Coal, 
In 500 yards —
Coal, 

— 1

8 84 3
2

3 7
10 36
3

— 2 —

134

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

In 500 yards —
Sir John delf,
CoaL . . .
Coal,. . .
Sir Roger delf,
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal, . . .
Coal and bass,

Yds. Ft. Ins.

— 1 9
— — 6

2 —
— 9
1 —

In 600 yards—
Rushey Park delf,
Coal, 
Coal, ....
Coal, . . . . ,
In 700 yards —
Coal, Little delf, .

Yds. Ft. Ins.

. — — 10
. 1 — 6
. — — 6

. 1 —

The Wigan coal-field, which also belongs to the middle coal-field,
is one of the richest in Lancashire, both on account of the number
and thickness of the beds of coal that it contains, and on account
of the varieties of coal found within it. This coal-field has now
been worked for upwards of 300 years, and is still very productive
in all the most valuable descriptions of coal.
In the Wigan coal-field thick beds of coal are found close to the
surface. A bed of coal two feet eight inches thick crops out of
the ground at the beginning of the series. This is followed by
the coal of the Burgy delf, in two seams, the upper nine inches
thick, the lower two feet two inches. The large bed. of coal known
as the Big mine coal comes next, and is five feet two inches in
thickness. This is succeeded by the Little mine coal, two feet five
inches in thickness. The beds of warren earth mixed with shale
form nearly the whole of the strata in the upper part of the
Wigan coal measures. The second 100 yards contains five large
beds of coal. The first is two feet eight inches thick, the second
two feet three inches, the third two feet eight inches. The fourth,
consisting of Bone, coal with bass, is three feet four inches thick,
and the fifth seam is two feet seven inches. The other strata
are chiefly composed of warren earth and shale. The third 100
yards contains seven beds of coal. The highest of these is two
feet thick. Then comes the Ince four-feet coal in two seams, the
higher one foot six inches in thickness, the lower four feet.
The Ince seven-feet coal succeeds. This is also in two seams, the
higher one foot two inches in thickness, the lower four feet six
inche's. The Gidlows or Furnace coal comes next, and is five feet
two inches in thickness, though with a slight parting in the middle.
The beds of warren earth and shale are of great thickness, and one
of the thickest beds of shale contains ironstone. The fourth 100
yards is also extremely rich in coal. The first seam is that named
the Little coal, two feet two inches in thickness. Next is the rich

PAST AND PRESENT. 135

bed called the Pemberton five-feet coal, which is as nearly as possible
five feet in thickness ; then is the Two-feet coal, exactly that
thickness; and next the Pemberton four-feet coal, which is four
feet six inches in thickness. All these veins of coal rest on thick
beds of warren earth, and are divided either by beds of shale or of
sandstone. The fifth 100 yards is not so rich. There is a bed
of coal one inch thick ; another six inches thick ; and a bed of
bass with coal partings six feet five inches thick. There is also a
mass of black stone mixed with coal. There is also a large
quantity of sandstone and shale containing ironstone. The sixth
100 yards is much richer. It contains, first, the Wigan five-feet
coal in five seams. This is succeeded by cannel coal, five inches ;
slaty coal, four inches ; the Wigan four-feet coal, and two thinner
beds o'f coal, one three inches thick, and the other one foot nine
inches thick. These are again succeeded by the Wigan nine-feet
coal in three beds, together nearly nine feet in thickness. There is
much ironstone, chiefly in the form of ironstone balls, in this part
of the strata. In the seventh 100 yards there are several rich
beds of coal. The first of very considerable thickness is a seam
two feet two inches in thickness. Then comes the Cannel King
coals in four beds, the highest consisting of two feet two inches
and a half of cannel coal, the second of eight inches, the third
of two feet, and the fourth of one foot five inches. Dark shale
with coal, and the Bavin or Rubbishy mine coal with bass, come
next, and are altogether of the thickness of seventeen feet, of which
the greater part is coal of various qualities. There is much warren
earth and shale in this part of the coal measures. In the eighth
100 yards is a thick bed of coal, known by the name of the Yard
coal, which is, however, four feet ten inches in thickness. There is
also a thin bed of coal of eight inches, and the Bone coal in two
seams, each of eight inches. In the ninth 100 yards are two veins
of coal of great value. The first of these is the Orrel five-feet coal,
or Smith coal, in two seams, the upper one one foot ten inches in
thickness, the lower three feet one inch. This is succeeded by the
Arley mine coal or Orrel four-feet coal, the lowest seam of the
middle coal-field, of the thickness of three feet nine inches. These
seams rest on thick beds of warren earth and shale of various kinds.
The number of beds of coal in the Wigan coal-field is fifty-eight
to sixty. The aggregate thickness of the coal is sixty-two feet.
The following is the succession of seams in the Wigan coal-field:—

136

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

SEAMS IN THE WIGAN COAL-FIELD, LANCASHIRE.

Yds. Ft. Ins.
In First 100 yards-
Coal,  — 2 8
Burgy delf,  — — —
Coal,  — — 9
Coal,  — 2 2
Big mine coal, .... 1 2 2
Little mine coal, .... — 2 5
In 200 yards-
Coal,  — 2 8
Coal,  — 2 3
Coal,  — 2 8
Bone coal with bass, ... 1 — 4
Coal,  — 2 7
In 300 yards-
Coal,  — 2 —
Coal, good,  — 1 6
Ince Four-feet coal, . . 1 1 —
Ince Seven-feet coal, . . 1 2 8
Coal,  1 — 6
Coal,  — 1 2
Gidlows or Furnace, . . 1 2 2
In 400 yards —
Little coal,  — 2 2
Pemberton Five-feet coal, 12 —
Do. Two-feet coal, — 2 —
Do. Four-feet coal, 116
In 500 yards-
Coal,  — — i
Coal,  — — 6
In 600 yards—
Wigan Five-feet coal, . . — — —
Coal,  — 1 10
Coal,  — 1 l
Coal,  — — 7
Coal,  — — 9

Yds.

In 600 yards-
Coal, 
Cannel coal, ....
Slaty coal, ....
Wigan Four-feet coal, .
Coal, 
Coal, 
Wigan Nine-feet coal, . ,
Coal, 
Coal, 
Coal, 
Coal, 
In 700 yards-
Coal, 
Coal, 
Coal, 
Cannel King coal, . . .
Cannel coal, good, . . .
Coal, 
Coal, 
Coal, 
Dark slate with coal, . .
Ravin or Rubbishy mine
coal, 
In 800 yards-
Yard coal, 
Coal, 
Bone coal, . . .
Coal, ........
In 900 yards—
Orrel Five-feet coal, . .
Coal, 
Bottom coal, 
Arley mine coal, or Orrel
Four-feet, 

— 2

— 2

1 —

Ins. 945
4 4
39 7
3
3 14
86
24
24 8
54

n4
10 8
88

10 1

The four portions of the middle coal-field above described are
the four richest divisions of the coal-field of Lancashire and Cheshire.
They all belong to the middle coal-field, and appear to have been
produced in the ages in which the carboniferous vegetation was
most luxuriant. The plants of which they are the fossilized remains
seem to have grown on beds of earth, of clay, and sand, in tranquil
waters, and to have sunk gradually and without any violence to
greater depths in those waters, where they were covered by beds
of sand, which sealed them up and preserved them for the use
of man, in ages thousands of years subsequent to those in which
they were thus engulphed. The mineral wealth of Lancashire and
Cheshire is chiefly derived from these immense beds of fossil

PAST AND PRESENT. 137

vegetation, and industry has been most abundantly developed in
the districts in which the deposits of coal are most abundant.
Manchester, Oldham, St. Helen's, and Wigan, may be regarded as
the centres of the districts at which the deposit of coal was greatest,
and each of those places is the centre of a district abounding in
population, industry, and wealth. We have traced the history of
the coal formation in the middle coal-field of Lancashire somewhat
fully, that being the chief natural, cause of the manufacturing
prosperity of the north-western division of England.
Ascending into the hills which extend to the north-east and
west of the middle coal-field, we come to what was originally the
lowest, but what is now the highest part, of the coal-field of Lan
cashire and Cheshire. In this part of the field the deposits of
coal are much thinner than they are in the middle coal-field, and
the coal measures in which they are embedded consist chiefly of
hard strong-grained rocks, or of very coarse shales. The coal
of the lower coal-field consists of three seams, each of them
three inches in thickness ; of one seam two inches thick ; of what
is called the Forty-yard coal, one foot six inches in thickness ; of
the Upper-foot coal, one foot in thickness, and containing iron
balls ; of the gannister coal, excellent for furnaces, two feet thick ;
of the Lower-foot coal, one foot six inches in thickness ; of a bassy
coal, three feet two inches thick ; of another seam nine inches in
thickness ; of the Sand Rock or Featheredge coal, one foot six
inches ; and of two other veins of coal, one six inches, the other
one foot eight inches in thickness. The last' of these lies on the
strata which rest on the main bed of the millstone grit, where
the coal ceases to be found. The lower coal-field is of great extent,
running through the whole of the more hilly district of Lancashire
and Cheshire, where in some places coal is mined for at elevations
of 1000, 1500, and even of 1800 feet above the level of the sea.
The thickness of the coal measures of the lower coal-field is nearly
1800 feet. The seams of coal in the lower coal-field are fifteen in
number, and of the thickness of ten feet. They are as follows : —
SEAMS OF COAL IN THE LOWER DIVISION OF THE LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE
COAL-FIELD, COMMENCING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ROYLEY MINE COAL.
- Yds. Ft. Ins.
Coal,  '— — 6
Forty-yards coal, . . . — 1 6
Upper foot coal with balls, — 1 —
Gannister coal,  — 2 —
s

Yds. Ft. Ins.
Coal,  — - 3
Coal  — — 3
Coal,  — — 2
Coal,  - — 3
VOL. I.

138

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Lower-foot coal 
Bassey coal, 
Coal, 
Sand Rock or Featheredge
coal, 

Ft. 1

— 1

Ins. 62 9

Coal, .........
Coal, 
Resting on main strata of
millstone grit, ....

Yds. Ft. Ins.
— — 6
— 1 8

The nature and composition of the various beds of sandstone,
shale, and earth known as the coal measures, are the main character
istics that enable us to judge of the circumstances under which
the coal was deposited. The thicker beds of the coal measures
may be conveniently divided into sandy, or arenaceous, and clayey
or argillaceous beds. The circumstances favourable to the pro
duction of coal appear to have varied very greatly at the periods
when different parts of the coal measures were deposited. The lower
seams of coal seem to have been deposited in stormy seas, in which
coarse gritty sand and clay existed, and were in frequent motion.
The seams of coal in that part of the field are few in number
and of no great thickness. In the middle coal-field fine-grained
white sands and light-coloured clays appear to have been
quietly deposited, and there the most numerous and valuable
seams of coal are found. In the upper coal-field, so long as the
rock deposits resemble those of the middle field, the seams of
coal are pretty much the same; but as soon as they become red
in colour and are mixed with beds of limestone, the seams of coal
become thin and of little value. The changes in different parts
of the coal-field are supposed to have arisen from the more or
less favourable condition of the waters in which the coal plants
grew to sustain vegetation. They were also more or less influ
enced by the force of the currents that prevailed while they were
being deposited. The strong currents which must have existed
when the coarse grit-stones of the lower coal-field were deposited,
were not favourable to the growth of plants, and were therefore
unfavourable to the formation of thick and numerous beds of
coal. The tranquil and quiet waters in which the fine sands
found in the strata of the middle coal-field were deposited, were,
on the other hand, most favourable to vegetation. It was whilst
these conditions prevailed that those immense and numerous masses
of vegetation were produced, which in their fossilized state con
stitute the wealth and sustain the industry of this district of
England. When the upper coal-field was formed the waters were
charged with peroxide of iron and carbonate of lime, and were

PAST AND PRESENT. 139

not favourable to the production either of thick or of numerous
beds of coal. Hence the seams of coal found in the higher part
of the coal-field of Lancashire are few in number and of no great
thickness, being separated from each other by thick beds of shale
and sandstone. But although the different parts of the coal-field
vary in richness, there is no part of it in which the coal is not
sufficiently abundant to give support to numerous and flourishing
branches of industry. The quantity of coal raised yearly from
the mines of these two counties, amounted in the year 1865 to
12,812,000, five-sixths of it being raised in Lancashire. The total
quantity of coal used in the United Kingdom in the same year
was 98,150,587 tons. The Lancashire and Cheshire coal-field thus
yielded about the seventh part of the quantity of coal produced
in the United Kingdom.
The coal found in different parts of Lancashire and Cheshire,
and at different levels in the same part, presents numerous differ
ences of quality, according to the earthy impurities mingled with
the vegetable mass, the nature of the plants themselves, and
the degree of decomposition they may have undergone before they
were finally engulphed and mineralized. Coal is generally divided,
for purposes of industry, into steam-coal, gas-coal, furnace-coal, and
house-coal. Coals suited for all these purposes are found in Lanca
shire and Cheshire ; but the especial excellence of Lancashire coal
is in its power of generating steam, and of forming gas. The
gannister coal, found in the mountainous or hilly district, is good
for furnaces ; and the Orrel, Ince, and various other kinds of coal,
are chiefly valuable for household purposes.
The Salt-field and Brine-pits of Cheshire. — In the stratified rocks
and gypseous marls of the new red sandstone, we also find, in the
north-western district, other mineral deposits of the greatest value
for the purposes of commerce and manufactures. Amongst these
is the rock-salt of Cheshire, with the brine, holding salt in solution,
and formed by the washing of subterranean waters against the rocks
of salt, or by the percolation of water through soils charged with
saline particles. Deposits of salt are not found in the beds of the
new red sandstone formation in any part of Europe except in the
English counties of Chester and Worcester, and in the county of
Down in the north of Ireland, where they also exist to a smaller
extent. The great deposits of the continent of Europe are in
entirely different geological formations. Thus the salt deposit of

140 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Saltzburg in Austria, is in the oolite ; that of Spain, in the chalky
green-sand ; and those of Poland and Sicily, in the tertiary marls.
It is stated by De la Beche, that salt in its mineral state is not
found in the older stratified rocks, but that it appears in all the
recent formations.
The new red sandstone, as already mentioned, is one of the
most extensive of the formations of England. It stretches across
the kingdom in a strongly-marked diagonal band, from the mouth
of the river Tees to the mouth of the river Severn, forming what
Professor Sedgwick calls the great red plain of England. South of
the Severn it is continued, though in a somewhat broken line, to
the coast of the British Channel. It is also found, to a slight extent,
in the north of Ireland and in the west of Scotland. On the Con
tinent it covers immense regions, forming in the Russian empire
two-thirds of an enormous natural basin, extending over an area of
4000 square miles. In South America, as appears from the recent
researches of Agassiz, it extends across the continent from the foot
of the Andes to the mouth of the Amazons river, forming the soil
of the almost boundless pampas of South America. In the north
western district of England it is very fully developed, extending
over at least five-sixths of the county of Chester, and over one-
third, if not more, of the county of Lancaster.
The new red sandstone has been divided, within the last thirty
years, into the two subdivisions of the trias or upper new red sand
stone system, and the permian or lower new red sandstone system.
Both these systems exist in Lancashire and Cheshire, and both of
them yield valuable products to industry; but their development
and the value of their products vary greatly in the north-western
district. The trias, or upper new red sandstone, extends from the
banks of the Dee very nearly to the banks of the Lune, and is found
to the north of Morecambe Bay in the district of Furness. It thus
stretches sixty or eighty miles from north to south, and in some
places, from thirty to forty miles from east to west. The permian
or lower new red sandstone formation, on the other hand, is much
less fully developed, being only found in a thin line along the edge
of the coal formation, where, however, it yields a quantity of mag-
nesian limestone for purposes of industry.
"The upper new red sandstone or trias formation," says Mr.
Binney, " occupies a considerable part of England, overlies, the true
coal formation, and contains the valuable mines of salt and gypsum

PAST AND PRESENT. 141

for which Cheshire is famous." It is more perfectly developed in
the county of Chester than in any other part of England, though
even there it is wanting in those thick beds of shell limestone, that
form one of the three divisions from which it derives its name
of the trias or triple formation. This shell limestone, known in
Germany as the " Muschel-Kalk," scarcely exists in England, and
the rich copper slates which abound in this formation in Germany
are also very slightly developed in this country. The trias, as found
in England, consists of variegated marls, red, with blue, green, and
white laminated clays or marls containing gypsum or rock-salt.
Interstratified with these marls are certain gray and whitish sand
stones, known as waterstones, and also sandstones of variegated
colours, red, white, and yellow, the lower strata being in some
districts full of pebbles, and forming breccias and conglomerates.
The new red sandstone formation of Lancashire and Cheshire, as
drawn and coloured in the Geological Maps which are now in course
of publication by the Board of Ordnance, is divided into five sections.
Beginning from the lowest layers and ascending to the highest, the
first, second, and third consist of the pebble beds and soft red
sandstone, and yield building stone, though of somewhat inferior
quality. The fourth consists of the waterstones, generally white in
colour, and furnishing good building stone. The fifth consists of
thick beds of red marl, containing the rock-salt and brine springs
of Cheshire. It will be more in accordance with our plan to describe
these strata, and the products which they yield, in the descending
order, beginning with the new red marls, and going down afterwards
to the pebbly conglomerates of the upper new sandstone, taking the
permian formation or lower new red sandstone afterwards.
The upper new red sandstone or trias formation, as already stated,
is more fully developed in the county of Chester than in any other
part of England. The depth of that formation is stated to be
upwards of 2000 feet. The thickness of the respective beds is
stated by Mr. Edward W. Binney to be as follows : — Feet.
Red and variegated marls,  .... 800
Waterstones, . . . • • • ... ... 440
Variegated stones, (Bunter),   900
Total  2140 *
* On the Permian Beds in the North-west of England, by E. W. Binney, Esq., F.G.S. Memoirs of the
Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, vol. xii., p. 209.

142 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

Mr. G. Waring Ormerod, who has described the salt formation
of Cheshire much more completely than it was ever described before,
in his " Outlines of the Principal Geological Features of the Salt
Field of Cheshire and the adjoining Districts," published in the
fourth volume of the Journal of the Geological Society, states that
the thickness of the trias formation in the county of Chester is
considerably more than 1700 feet, and there is no doubt as much
more as is shown by the above calculations and observations of Mr.
Binney. Of the whole thickness, Mr. G. W. Ormerod states that
the upper group, including the salt and gypseous marls, occupies from
700 to 800 feet. This he has ascertained by examining the borings
made through the salt-field at Northwich and at Middlewich. The
middle group, containing the laminated sandstone found in the
centre of Cheshire, Mr. Ormerod estimates at upwards of 400 feet
in thickness ; and the subjacent sandstones, mostly red, and partially
conglomerate, and believed to correspond with the " Bunter sand-
stein" of Germany, at considerably more than 600 feet. This Mr.
Binney's observations induce him to extend to 900 feet.
The valley of the Weaver, forming the south-eastern district of
Cheshire, is the richest salt-field in England. The river Weaver
rises on the gently sloping hills of North Staffordshire, near the
point at which the waters that flow into the Mersey separate from
those that flow into the Trent. The Weaver flows with a quiet
course, and in a north-westerly direction, towards the estuary of the
Mersey. The valley through which it flows consists of deep red
marls, in which are found both the springs of brine and the masses
of rock-salt from which the springs are derived. The salt-field of
Cheshire extends in length about thirty miles, and in breadth from
ten to fifteen miles, but its greatest riches are collected near the
centre of the valley, in the neighbourhood of Northwich and
Winsford. The red marls which constitute this valley of salt, are
bounded on the east by the lofty hills belonging to the coal and
mountain-grit formation that divide Cheshire from Derbyshire ; on
the south by the permian, lias, and Bunter sandstein of North
Staffordshire, which rise with a gentle acclivity to a height of 300
feet, and separate the waters flowing northward by the river Weaver
into the estuary of the Mersey, from those that flow southward into
the. river Trent, and ultimately into the estuary of the Humber ;
on the west by the lofty range of the Peckforton and Delamere. hills,
formed by the white sandstone or waterstone rocks; and on the

PAST AND PRESENT. 143

north by the range of new red sandstone hills that runs along the
southern bank of the river Mersey, from Altringham and Bowden,
through Lymm, Walton, and Daresbury, until they join the hills
of Delamere forest. Mr. G. W. Ormerod describes this region as
resembling a great natural trough, which is very much its form. It
was probably in very remote times an arm or lagoon of the sea, the
drying up of whose waters produced the immense deposit of salt
that is found within it. This may perhaps have been only one of
a series of lagoons of the same kind, for there are other beds of
salt found to the south of the Cheshire salt-field, in the neighbour
hood of Stafford ; and there are others still further south in the same
formation, in the county of Worcester. The salt beds of Staffordshire
are situated at Ingestre, about five miles from Stafford. The brine
alone is worked there, and yields about two pounds two ounces to
the gallon. The beds from which the salt is derived at Ingestre
consist of red marl and gypsum, to a depth of 324 feet ; of similar
beds with particles of salt to the thickness of fifteen feet, succeeded
by red marl and gypsum of the depth of sixty-nine feet — in all 408
feet, of which 378 feet have been sunk and thirty bored. This
Staffordshire deposit of salt is separated from the Cheshire salt-field
by the coal-field, by the permian bed, the variegated sandstones, and
the lias of North Staffordshire and Shropshire. The salt deposits
of Worcester are much more extensive than those of Staffordshire,
though much less extensive than those of Cheshire.'"''
The southern part of the broad valley which extends across the
eastern part of the county of Cheshire, from Malpas to Congleton,
sweeping in a crescent from the coal formation and millstone grit
of Mowcop to the high grounds of the Peckforton hills, appears
to be occupied by the saliferous and gypseous beds of the salt
formation. The only point in the higher part of this southern
range of hills in which the rock-salt is found, is at Lawton near
Congleton, where thick beds of rock-salt have been met with at
an elevation of 290 feet above the level of the sea. Although
rock-salt has not been found in the higher part of the valley of
the Weaver, there must be considerable deposits of mineral salt
in those hills, as the waters that spring from them, and rise above
the level of the ground, are charged with salt.
Proceeding from south to north, brine has been met with at
Dirtwich or Foulwich, situated on the boundary of Cheshire, about
* Ormerod's Salt-fields of Cheshire ; Journal of the Geological Society, vol. iv., p. 263.

144 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
two miles south of Malpas. In a pit at Foulwich, sunk to a
depth of 450 feet below the level of the sea, the brine comes into
the shaft, at the depth of sixty feet, in a small stream about the
thickness of a finger. At Combermere Abbey, the brine burst
into the Mere in the reign of Henry VIII., about the year 1533,
in such abundance as to induce the last abbot of Combermere to
establish a salt manufactory. But the brine has long disappeared
from the lake at Combermere. At Bickley, about three miles
to the east of Malpas, a great subsidence of the ground and a
sudden irruption of brine took place in the year 1659, at a spot
called Barrell Fell, that is now dry land and overgrown with brush
wood. Still further to the south, at a place named Kent Bough,
near Adderley, brine was found about two miles to the south of
Audlem, at a depth of 300 feet, whilst boring for coal through
the edge of the lias formation. Between Audlem and Nantwich,
a distance of seven miles, the brine is found on both banks of
the river Weaver, in some places under the soil, in others rising
through the surface of the ground, and flowing into the river from
both sides of the stream.
The town of Nantwich was formerly the principal seat of the
salt manufacture ; but not having, until recent times, any means
of water communication with the coal-field of Lancashire or that
of Staffordshire, it lost the trade when the neighbouring hills
ceased to supply fuel, in the form of wood, for the heating of the
pans in which the brine is evaporated. Brine has, however, been
found in the neighbourhood of Nantwich at Acton, a mile from
Nantwich on the Chester road; at Hatherton, about three miles
to the north-east of Audlem ; at Austerton and at Baddington,
on the western side of Audlem; and at Baddiley, five miles to
the north-west of Audlem.
The brine is not again met with in the valley of the Weaver
until within a little distance to the north of Church Coppenhall.
Proceeding northward down the river Weaver, brine and rock-
salt are found in great abundance at Winsford. The rock-salt
is met with there at a depth of from 150 to 180 feet below the
sea level. The level at which the brine is found at Winsford is
above that of the sea. At Winsford the salt-works commence,
and continue by the side of the river to Newbridge or Moulton.
The works at Winsford are mostly of brine, and when the brine
is pumped its level is lowered many feet.

PAST AND PRESENT. 145

From Winsford towards Northwich the land sinks along the
whole course of the valley, from the working of the salt mines
and brine pits, both above and below, and the river spreads over
its banks into large pools, named "the Flashes."
The rock-salt has been found from Winsford to below Newbridge.
In most cases, however, the brine has made its way into the shafts,
and the mines are now converted into brine pits. The strata that
overlie the salt consist of red and blue marl with gypsum. There,
as elsewhere, the brine lies on the surface of the rock-salt. From
Newbridge or Moulton to Northwich there are no salt-works ; and
no rock-salt has been found between those two places. The brine
at Northwich is found at a lower level than at Winsford. Instead
of being met with at the level of the sea, it is found about fifty-
five feet below that level ; and when the pits are at work,, it is
still further lowered to the extent of thirty to forty feet. The
rock-salt is found in great abundance at Northwich, and is
extensively worked at that place, which is now the capital of
the Cheshire salt district.
It is a remarkable circumstance that the existence of the rock-salt
deposits of Cheshire was not known until after the brine pits had
been worked for many centuries. The rock-salt was first discovered
accidentally at Marbury, near Northwich, in the year 1670, in a vain
search for coal.
Next to the brine springs and rock-salt of the main valley of the
Weaver, those on the banks of the small stream known as the river
Wheelock are the most abundant and most valuable. The Wheelock
rises at the foot of the lofty hills that divide Cheshire from Derby
shire, and falls into the river Dane at Middlewich. The Dane joins
the Weaver at Northwich, at which point all the waters of the salt
district unite.
The saliferous beds abut on the coal, millstone grit, and mountain
limestone, near Mowcop and Cloud Edge ; and at Lawton, near this
lofty range of hills, deep beds of rock-salt were found in the year
1779. This rock-salt is said to be equal in quality to that of North
wich, but from want of water-carriage, to bring up supplies of coal
and to take down the manufactured salt to the shipping ports, it was
soon abandoned. Since the introduction of railways this is no longer
a serious obstacle to the working of the salt mines at Lawton, or
either of mines or brine pits in any part of Cheshire, if it should
become desirable. T
VOL. I.

148 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Following the course of the river Wheelock, the brine has been
worked in the neighbourhood of Church Lawton, on both sides of the
stream. The depth of the brine springs at this point was 225 feet in
the year 1848, and the level at which the brine stood was 210 feet
from the surface, or about 200 feet above the sea level. The spring
from which the brine rises is abundant, and the brine strong. Lower
down the Wheelock, at Malkin's Bank, on the north-east side of the
stream, there is an abundant supply of brine, and it is believed that
the rock-salt also exists there at a depth of 183 feet. "At this
point," says Mr. G W. Ormerod, " a shaft six feet in diameter was
sunk to the depth of 1 73 feet, and a boring of five inches diameter
was then made. When the boring instrument had penetrated the
saturated plaster or gypsum beds to the brine spring, it suddenly
dropped eighteen inches, and seemed to rest on a solid substance.
Immediately on the spring being tapped, it rushed in with such
rapidity as to carry one of the men to the height of ninety feet before
he could be rescued." Brine pits continue to be worked at Wheelock.
Following the course of the Wheelock to the point where it joins
the river Dane, we come to Middlewich, where brine pits have been
worked for many ages, probably from the time when Middlewich,
under the old British name of Condate, was the point of meeting of
all the old Boman roads in the north-western district of England, as
Crewe, only a few miles south of Middlewich, is now the point of
junction of all the railways in the same district.
The rock-salt has not been found at Middlewich, although the
strata have been penetrated to a depth of 214 feet below the sea
level ; and in seven of the brine pits there the brine oozes out of a
layer of black gravel nine inches in thickness, between two horizontal
beds of indurated clay or rock. At the remaining pit the brine rises
so near to the surface as to be within reach of the hand. Brine has
been found about one mile north-west of Middlewich, at Flint mill,
but has not been worked.
No brine or rock-salt has been found in the valley of the river
Dane, from the point where it receives the Wheelock to that where
it falls into the Weaver at Leftwich, opposite to Northwich. The
whole valley of the Dane, although it flows through the middle of
the salt-field of Cheshire, is almost destitute of brine, and entirely so
of rock-salt, either from causes connected with the original formation
of the deposit, or from the effect of faults in the rock, on the subter
ranean course of the waters impregnated with brine.

PAST AND PRESENT. 147

The Witton brook, which enters the Weaver a mile or two below
Northwich, flows through a rich salt-field as it approaches Northwich,
at Anderton. The whole of the rivers and brooks rising in or flowing over the
salt-field of Cheshire discharge their waters by the main stream of
the river Weaver, a little below Northwich, through a narrow pass
that forms the only means of communication between the upper and
lower part of the salt valley of Cheshire. Below the fine of high
ground that stretches eastward from Delamere forest to Winnington
and Castle Northwich, and beyond the valley of the Weaver by
Witton brook, Barnton, and Bellmont, in the direction of Ashley
Park and High Leigh, the deposits of salt, from being excessively
rich above, suddenly become quite insignificant. A great fault in the
strata is supposed to be the cause. The boundary of the salt-field
below Northwich seems to be the line of the valley that runs
between Pickmere and Budworthmere. Here are the most northerly
traces of the great salt-field, and that it exists to that line may be
inferred from the gradual sinking of the ground that is there taking
place. Near Budworthmere the water from the Lake has gradually
increased on the fields, and a farm-house situated near that point has
been shaken by the same cause. There it is probably cut off by a
fault in the strata, and runs northward towards the Lancashire coal
field below the western mere.
On the surface of the salt-field frequent subsidence takes place in
the land. From this cause the locks and banks of the Weaver have
frequently been raised. The land on which a factory stood near
Northwich bridge has sunk so low as to form a wharf. A few years
since the subsidence near the junction of Witton brook and the
Weaver was at the rate of three inches per week ; at this point a
lake is now rapidly forming. The salt pans at the works of the
Weaver have been frequently raised, and many are now abandoned
The bed of Witton brook, which in 1811 was six feet deep, is now
from ten to thirty feet.*
There are no salt-works of any importance below this fine, though
brine has been found in small quantities down the valley of the
Weaver as far as Frodsham, the point where that river enters the
Mersey. There a- weak brine was discovered at a depth of 250 feet
below the level of the sea. Brine has also been found at other
* Sixteenth Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Transactions of Sections,
l>. 63. By Mr. G. \V. Ormerod.

148 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIEE :
places. There was a salt-work at Weaverham, in the valley of the
Weaver, in the seventeenth century ; and it is stated by Holland
that a bed of rock-salt was found at Whitley, in boring for coal,
about the year 1803. Brine is also said to have been found at
Dunham Massey, on the borders of the county of Chester; and in
the valley of the Mersey brine has been met with at Woolston, near
Warrington, at a depth of 104 feet, or about ninety feet below the
sea level. Also at Woolden, on the south-west edge of Chat moss, a
brine spring has been found whilst sinking in the variegated sand
stone of that district."" Very recently the water of a deep well
sunk at Hulme, near Manchester, was found to be too salt to be
used for the purpose of dyeing.
The following table will show the points and the levels at
which salt and brine have been sought for successfully and
unsuccessfully : —
LEVELS AT "WHICH ROCK-SALT AND BRINE HAVE BEEN SOUGHT FOR IN CHESHIRE.
Feet.
At Lawton, the rock-salt found  290 above sea level.
Near the same place brine found  185 " "
Near the same place brine stands at . . 200 " '
Hassall Green, brine not found at  . .84 " "
Malkin's Bank, brine found at  . . 70 " "
Malkin's Bank, brine stands .  171 ' "
Wheelock Salt-works, brine found  . 3 below "
Wheelock Salt-works, brine stands  93 above "
At Sandbateh, brine not found at  . 143 " "
Near Elton, a spring rises to surface ... . 130 " '
Near Warmington, brine not found at  22 below "
At Sproston, near Middlewich, brine not found at a little above sea level-
At Middlewich, brine rises to surface  120 above "
At Middlewich, rock-salt not found . . . . . . 7 "
At Middlewich, rock-salt not found .. . . . . 214 below "
At Winslow, no workable salt or brine found at . . . . 200 " "
At Winsford, rock-salt and brine stood at  90 '' "
At Winsford, brine stands at about sea level.
At Hartford, neither rock-salt nor brine found at . . . 138 " "
At Northwich, rock-salt and brine found at . . . 55 to 59
At Northwich, the level at which brine stands . . 34 to 46 '' "
At Marston, Mr. Nieuman's pit rock-salt found . . . 27 " "
At Marston, when at pit's head  5 above "
At Marston, level of brine standing .... 33 " "
At Barnton, brine found  ... 130 below "
At Barnton, brine rises to the surface . . . 50 above "
At Acton, brine not found at  230 below '¦
At Frodsham Bridge, rock-salt not found at  450 "
At Frodsham Bridge, weak brine found at  250 " "
* Ormerod's Salt-field of Cheshire; Journal of the Geological Society, vol. iv., p. 258.

PAST AND PRESENT. 149

It will be seen from the above table that the rock-salt has been
found and worked in three neighbourhoods, namely, at Lawton,
Winsford, and Northwich. It has also been found, though not
worked, at Wheelock, and perhaps at Whitley, though that is not
quite certain.
The first place at which the rock-salt was discovered, as already
stated, was at Marbury, near Northwich ; and subsequent discoveries
have shown that the salt-rock underlies the town of Northwich, and
is extensively found at Marston in the same neighbourhood. Beds
of rock-salt, at least sixty yards thick, are marked in the Geological
Maps of the Board of Ordnance, as extending from Winsford to
Marston, below Northwich, a distance of eight miles. These have
not been proved for the whole of that distance, but the resemblance
of the strata at Winsford to those of Northwich and Marston, shows
that they are nearly identical.
The rock-salt, as already mentioned, has been proved from Wins
ford down the valley of the Weaver as far as New Bridge. The
upper stratum of the rock-salt at Winsford is 120 feet in thickness,
but it is full of earthy impurities, and is not worked. It is separated
from the second bed of rock-salt by a stratum of indurated clay or
stone. This clay is from thirty-three to thirty-six feet in thickness,
and is traversed by veins of salt, called leaders, reaching from the
upper to the second stratum of salt. The higher portion of this bed
of rock-salt at Winsford is also full of earthy impurities for a depth
of sixty or seventy feet ; then a bed of pure and almost transparent
rock-salt, about fifteen feet in thickness, is come to. This is the
part of the salt-rock from which the supplies of rock-salt used for
the purposes of trade are obtained. After sinking through this
part of the rock for a distance of fifteen feet, the salt again becomes
discoloured and impure. The second bed of rock-salt at Winsford
has been penetrated to the depth of 120 feet, but has not been
sunk through.
The rock-salt at Northwich, at Marston, and at other places
in the immediate neighbourhood of Northwich, also presents two
beds. The upper bed at Northwich is eighty-four to ninety feet
thick, and, like that at Winsford, of fittle value, in consequence of
its earthy impurities. A bed of indurated clay thirty feet thick,
separates it from the lower bed of rock-salt. The upper part of the
second bed is impure at Northwich, as at Winsford, for a depth of
sixty to seventy-five feet, and is not worked. Then comes a stratum

1 50 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of pure and beautiful salt from twelve to fifteen feet in thickness.
From that point the second bed again becomes impure. Till within
the last few years, the second bed of the Northwich salt-field had
not been penetrated ; but in a pit at Marston, to the north of the
town of Northwich, belonging to Mr. Nieuman, a shaft has now been
sunk through the second bed, proving it to be ninety-six feet in
thickness at that point. At other places the rock-salt has been
penetrated to a depth of 117 feet without being sunk through.
Beds of rock-salt of a totally different stratification have been
found at Lawton, on the south-eastern edge of the Cheshire salt-field.
In the Lawton salt-field the succession of the strata is as follows : —
Soil and gypseous marls, 126 feet; salt, four feet; indurated clay,
thirty feet ; salt, twelve feet ; indurated clay, forty-five feet ; salt,
penetrated to the depth of seventy-two feet : total, 289 feet.
Taking the rock salt-field of Cheshire as a whole, the succession of
the strata is as follows : — Ft. Ins.
Two upper salt marls, about  87 0
Upper salt  . ... . ' .. 80 to 90 0
Hard clay  30 0
Second salt, from  90 to 170 0
Stone,   5 8
Salt and clay,  .  g 7
Pale-red salt, . •   3 4
Stone, with thin laminae of salt, ... ., . .. .139
Pale-red salt,  g 0
Stone, with veins of salt,   7 g
Lowest bed of salt reached,   116
Stone,   77 0
Stone, with detached crystals of salt, ... . . . .-70
Stone, with salt laminae,  . .110
" The brine-springs of Cheshire," as Sir Charles Lyell observes,
" are the richest in this country : those of Northwich are almost
saturated." The brine of Northwich and Winsford is of the best
quality. It is charged with saline matter to the amount of twenty-
five per cent, of its own weight. The brine found at Nantwich
was examined by Daubeney, and was not found to differ to any
considerable extent from the Northwich brine. Comparing this
with the saltness of the sea, we find, from the experiments of
Schweitzer, that the sea-water of the British Channel contains
rather less than three per cent, of chloride of sodium, or seventy-
seven parts in 1000. According to Forchhammer, the greatest
quantity of saline matter in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean is
found in the tropics, far from land. In such places the sea-water

PAST AND PRESENT. 151

contains more than three and a half per cent, of saline matter, or
more precisely, 3*56 per cent.
Some difference of opinion exists amongst eminent geologists as
to the origin of the immense masses of rock-salt which are found
in Cheshire, and the other salt-fields of this and other countries.
Two of the most distinguished authorities on this subject, Professor
Phillips and Sir Charles Lyell, thus express themselves. Professor
Phillips observes, "The salt and gypsum usually associated in this
remarkable system present their difficulties. Not that it is hard
to suppose the waters of the ancient sea to have been so evaporated,
as to permit first the crystallization of the sulphate of lime, and
finally of muriate of soda. But in this case we should expect to
find almost over the whole area regular strata of gypsum below,
and regular layers of salt above, while, in fact, we more commonly
find salt in great broad masses rather than beds below, and gypsum
in scattered masses above. A general drying of the waters in
which the saliferous system was deposited is plainly inconsistent
with probability ; and we must have recourse to local causes, some
thing analogous, perhaps, to those which influenced the deposit of
the primary limestone, namely, the development of subterranean
heat, which directly by change of temperature, or by intermediate
chemical agencies, rendered the calcareous matter insoluble over
limited areas. It may be conceived that the solubility of muriate
of soda in water is capable of diminution through the admixture
of other substances in the liquid, or through the effect of great
pressure, or of pressure and heat combined. It may be maintained
that the" fimited deposits of salt happened in separate lagoons of
the sea, exposed to local desiccation, as perhaps in Cheshire." On
this subject Sir Charles Lyell observes, "The gypsum and saline
matter, occasionally interstratified with red clays and sandstone of
various ages, primary, secondary, and tertiary, have been thought
by some geologists to be of volcanic origin. Submarine and sub-aerial
exhalations often occur in the regions of earthquakes and volcanoes,
far from the point of actual eruption, and charged with sulphur,
sulphuric salts, and with common salt or muriate of soda. In a
word, such ' salfateras ' are vents, by which all the products which
issue in a state of sublimation from the craters of active volcanoes
obtain a passage from the interior of the earth to the surface. That
such gaseous emanations and mineral springs, impregnated with
the ingredients before enumerated, and often intensely heated,

1 52 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
continue to flow out, unaltered in composition and temperature for
ages, is well known. But before we can decide on their real instru
mentality in producing, in the course of ages, gypsum, rock-salt, and
dolomite, we require to know more respecting the chemical changes
actually in progress in seas where volcanic agency is at work."
Again, Sir C. Lyell observes, " The brine-springs rise up through
strata of sandstone and red marl, which contain large beds of rock-
salt. The origin of the brine may therefore be from the salt ; but
as muriate of soda is one of the products of volcanic emanations and
of springs in volcanic regions, the original source of salt may be as
deeply seated as that of lava. In Auvergne (a region of extinct
volcanoes), a hot spring rising through granite at St. Nectaire may
be mentioned as one of many which contains a large portion of
muriate of soda, together with magnesia and other ingredients.""""
At the village of Sproston in Cheshire, there is also a curious mineral
spring containing salt.
But whatever may have been the origin of salt in Cheshire, and
of salt generally, there can be no doubt that it has long been, and
is, a great source of national wealth and individual prosperity. The
salt-fidd of Cheshire, being beyond comparison the largest and
richest in the United Kingdom, and the most available for com
mercial and manufacturing purposes in the whole world, has been
one of the principal sources of the prosperity of the county of
Chester, certainly from the time of the Domesday survey, and pro
bably from the time when the Bomans ran their great roads through
the midst of it. Its importance has increased greatly in modern
times, especially during the last thirty years, in which period the
great practical chemists of the age have succeeded in decomposing
muriate of soda or common salt, and in extracting from a few
hundred thousand tons of salt chemical products of the value
of several millions sterling.
The manufactories of salt in the United Kingdom are about
eighty in number. Of these upwards of sixty are situated in
Cheshire, two in Staffordshire, thirteen in Worcestershire, two in
Durham, one in Lancashire, and one or two in the county of
Down, Ireland. . According to the mineral statistics for 1864, the
quantity of salt sent down the river Weaver yearly from the
salt-works of Cheshire amounted to from 750,000 to 800,000 tons,
on an average of several years ; and to this must be added 300,000
* Sir Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, p. 247.

PAST AND PRESENT. 153

to 400,000 tons of Cheshire salt otherwise disposed of, making the
total yield of Cheshire upwards of 1,200,000 tons. The Worcester
salt-field produced 167,000 tons, and the county Down salt-field
15,662 tons. The total quantity is thus about 1,500,000 tons per
annum. The total exports of salt, on the average of the last three
years, was thus upwards of 600,000 tons per annum.
The works in which this enormous supply of salt is produced,
chiefly from brine, are formed of the following apparatus : — First,
of a reservoir into which the brine is pumped from the spring;
second, of the pans into which the brine is conveyed by means of
pipes from the reservoir ; third, of the furnaces which heat the brine ;
fourth, of hothouses for stoving the salt ; and fifth of storehouses
for storing the salt. The ordinary size of a salt-pan is forty-feet
long, twenty-four feet wide, and fifteen inches deep. A salt-work
of average extent will produce about 250 tons of salt per week. At
Northwich there are from 1500 to 1600 men employed in the salt
works, of whom three-fourths work through the day, and one-fourth
at night. It is an interesting sight to see the salt forming in crystals in
the brine. It commences in small cubes, which gradually increase
until their density carries them to the bottom of the pan. It may
be remarked that the salt is always found in cubes, even its most
minute particles. As the salt forms and falls, it is raked to the
side of the pans, and piled on the barrows, as they are caUed, at
the side, where it is allowed to drain, the drainage being carried
back into the pans. It- sometimes happens in seething the brine,
that the crystals will not form. In that case a little oil is thrown
into the pan, which soon spreads over it, and causes a scum to rise
from the brine. When this scum is taken off, the crystals commence
forming. After the salt has sufficiently drained, it is removed to
the stove-house and stoved according to quality and texture. There
are three or four kinds of salt made. Bay salt is very large-grained j
this is made by very slow evaporation at a temperature of 110°.
Common salt, which is coarse-grained, is produced at a heat of
175°; stoved, or fine table salt, at 220°. The last description of
salt is put into boxes from the pans, whence it is transferred to
stoves, and there consolidated and dried in the course of five or
six days.*-
* Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. The Salt Trade of Cheshire, by John
Stonehouse, vol. v.
VOL I.

154 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

' The quantity of coal used in the manufacture of salt may be
taken in these proportions — two tons of coal are reqtiired to pro
duce three tons of fine or table salt, and one ton of coal to produce
two tons of common salt. Probably 1,000,000 tons of coal are
consumed annually in the manufacture of salt in Cheshire.
In mining for rock-salt, the second bed of salt, as already
stated, is the only one used, the other being impure from a
mixture of earth. The depth of the shaft is about 330 feet.
The old way of boring the mine was by puddling the sides and
casing them with wood as the men went down, but iron cylinders
are now used ; the water is pumped up from the first or top brine
spring, to prevent its flooding the mine below. There are two
or more shafts to each mine. On looking down the yawning
mouth of a rock-salt pit it certainly does require some nerve, in
any one unused to such a style of locomotion, to descend 330
feet in a bucket. The entrance to the mine is roofed over, and
from a lofty pulley there is suspended a ponderous chain, to the
end of which the bucket or tube used to bring the rock up
to the surface is appended. Each bucket will hold about two
tons of rock-salt. There is a sliding platform over the mouth of
the pit, which is withdrawn when the bucket is in motion. On
being drawn to the surface, the bucket rests upon the platform,
and is then wheeled away to the barge or flat waiting to be
loaded. The miners find their way about very easily. The mine
is dry at the bottom, and the work is not of an unhealthy nature,
nor so liable to danger as in coal mines. A mine fully lit up is
an extraordinary sight, the gigantic pillars supporting the roof
having some resemblance to sugar-candy. The "cavity" says
Holland, " presents a striking appearance, and when illuminated
with candles fixed in the rock, the effect is highly brilliant. In
some of the pits the roof is supported by pillars eight or ten yards
square, which are in general regularly disposed ; others are worked
out in aisles." There are railways running from the workings
to the mouth of the pit.. The rock-salt is detached by blasting.
The temperature of the mine is about 53°. There are upwards
of twenty-three mines in Cheshire, and the quantity of rock-
salt brought to the surface averages about 100,000 tons annually.
The cost of the machinery in these mines may be estimated at
£500,000. Examining a section of the rock-salt bed taken horizontally,

PAST AND PRESENT. 155

the surface presents various figures, differing in form, size, and
colour. Some of them appear to be circular, others approaching
to an oval shape, whilst in others an irregular pentagon may be
traced. Some of these figures are two or three feet in diameter,
others as much as ten or twelve feet. The lines which form the
boundaries of these figures are white, and from two to five or
six inches wide. On examination, these appearances are found
to be owing to the rock-salt in the white lines forming the
division of the figures being perfectly pure and free from earthy
matter. The general effect is that of mosaic work. The whole
stratum of rock-salt may be compared to a mass of basaltic
columns, the lines of separation in each pillar being marked by
the pure and transparent rock-salt."""
The Iron and Copper Ores of Lancashire and Cheshire. — Next in
importance to the coal and salt of the north-western district are
its rich beds of iron ore, of which those found in the district of
Lower Furness, at the northern extremity of Lancashire, are the
richest .and most abundant. But much iron ore also exists in
the southern parts of the county.
It has been customary to assume that the coal-field in the
southern part of Lancashire has no beds of ironstone worth work
ing. In ancient times, however, considerable quantities of iron ore
were manufactured from its argillaceous ores, especially those in
the middle and lower coal-fields near Burnley, which occupy the
same position as the beds of Low Moor in Yorkshire, from which
that justly celebrated iron is made. In modern 'times, it is true,
there have only been in operation the furnaces of Messrs. Swire
& Co., of Dukinfield. These were supplied, with argillaceous ore
procured from the middle coal-field, but were soon discontinued.
Whether this arose from the poor quality of the ore, or the
unfavourable position of the measures, which there dip at an angle
of 30°, and render the minerals expensive to work, is uncertain ;
but it was most probably owing to the latter cause, which would
tell seriously both on the price of coal and iron.
In the lower division of the Lancashire coal-field, there are,
as Mr. Binney informs us, numerous beds of argillaceous ore, of
such thickness as would cause them to be worked in many iron-
making districts.
In the middle coal-field of Lancashire, also, are many argillaceous
* Holland's Cheshire, p. 37

156 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

and blackband ores, fully as rich as those wrought in other places,
and so situated that they could be calcined together with great
advantage. Among the former are those of Clifton and St. Helen's,
and doubtless many other places in the same position; and amongst
the latter are the blackband above the Cannel mine at Wigan,
and impure cannels and blackbands in that neighbourhood and
about Dukinfield. Below the four-feet coal at Pendleton, near
Manchester, a carbonaceous blackband was found, in sinking
Mr. Fitzgerald's new pit, about four feet in thickness. A fair
average specimen of this was analyzed by Mr. John Leigh, F.C.S.,
and was found to contain in 200 grains, 57 grains of peroxide
of iron, with 98 grains of bituminous matter and of carbon. This
gives 49 per cent, of combustible matter, and 28*5 per cent, of
peroxide of iron, equivalent to 19 '95 per cent, of metallic iron.
This is certainly not a rich ore, but if mixed with the argillaceous
stones of Clifton, and calcined together, it is capable of yielding a
fair description of iron. In Lancashire many beds of cannel sink
into blackbands, in a similar manner to what often takes place in
Scotland. But the upper or Manchester coal-field is that which yields
the most valuable iron ores found in South Lancashire. Above
the Four-feet mine at Patricroft, and extending under Chat Moss,
is a bed of the carbonate of protoxide of iron about two feet six
inches in thickness. This was found on sinking the shafts at
the colliery of Messrs. Lancaster & Co., at Patricroft, not far from
the Liverpool and Manchester railway. On analysis this ore
yielded about 72 per cent, of carbonate of iron ; and the gentle
man — a medical man — who analyzed it, informed Mr. Binney that
it was pure enough to be used for medicinal purposes.
There are beds of blackband of twelve and six inches thick,
respectively, above the Three-quarter mine at Bradford, near
Manchester, and over the main limestone at Ardwick, the represen
tatives beyond, all doubt, of the redstone of the Pottery coal-field,
as their geological position and the fossils they contain are exactly
the same.
"Some of the above beds," says Mr. E. W. Binney, writing
in the year 1853, "only want thoroughly investigating to make
them worthy of attention. Coal is no doubt much in demand
for manufacturing purposes throughout the district ; but for the
last five years the average price has not been greater, if so much,

PAST AND PRESENT. 157

as that paid by the ironmasters in South Staffordshire. Lime
stone is not very favourably placed ; for the Derbyshire, North
Lancashire, and Cheshire deposits are all at considerable distances.
The two last, however, are now accessible by rail."
The thick bed of carbonate at Patricoft, before mentioned, is
free from the remains of fossil shells and fish, which will cause
it to be in a great measure destitute of the compounds of phos
phorus and sulphur, so detrimental to many of the argillaceous
and blackband ores found in the carboniferous strata, and which
are known to make so much cold short iron."'
But by far the most valuable of the iron ores of Lancashire are
found in the northern division of the county, in the district of
Lower Furness, in the strata of carboniferous or mountain limestone.
The southern boundary of this limestone is generally given in the
geological maps on a line running from a little north of Alding-
ham, on the Leven, to the village of Stank, where magnesian
limestone has been found. Its north-west range, by Marston and
Dalton to the Duddon at Kirkby-Ireleth, is pretty well known.
The most valuable as well as interesting points in this deposit
are the mines of red oxide of iron which are contained in it. These
have been worked for many ages, and so far from being exhausted,
are at the present time yielding five times as much ore as they
formerly yielded. The Furness or limestone ore is now used in
most of the iron-works of England and Scotland, for the purpose
of mixing with the poorer ores of the coal measures.
The Furness iron ore appears to lie in fissures in the limestone,
which in general run from south-east to north-west; but these
main lines are sometimes united by cross fissures. The iron mines
occur in the limestone, near the junction of that deposit with the
upper new red sandstone. The depth of the vein has not yet been
found. In some mines it has been proved to a depth of seventy
yards, without ascertaining its lowest limit.
One of the richest deposits of iron is situated on Lindal Moor,
on the estates of the duke of Buccleuch and Lord Muncaster. It
is partly an open work. The fissure or valley in the limestone, where
the iron occurs, must be from forty to fifty yards in width, and
runs from north-west to south-east. On the north wall of the vein
the limestone is coated with kidney iron ore ; but the bulk of the
deposit is a red paste called "raddle", consisting of nearly pure
* Mr. E. W. Binney, on the Origin of Ironstones, p. 38.

158 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
hydrate of the peroxide of iron, in which are mingled numerous
crystals of smoke-coloured quartz and pieces of kidney ore. The
limestone composing the walls of the vein is so much saturated
with silica, that it will scarcely effervesce when treated with hydro
chloric acid.*
" The beds of iron," says Mr. Binney, in his " Glance at the
Geology of Low Furness," "appear to' have been formed after the
deposition of the carboniferous limestone, and before the deposition
of the upper new red sandstone. The fimestone rock, in some
instances, seems to have been only fissured, but in others eroded or
water-worn, before the introduction of the iron. During the forma
tion of the old red, as well as of the new red sandstone, a vast
amount of the pure oxide of iron appears to have been mingled
with the waters of the ancient ocean. But still, the quantity in
the iron mines of Low Furness is such as to indicate a proximity
to the source from which it originated. It appears to have been
thrown up by volcanic action, and then carried by some means into
the valleys and fissures where it is now found. But whether the
iron was injected into the places where it is now met with through
the fissures immediately below, or was first mingled with the waters
of the sea, which then flowed through the fissures and crevices of
the limestone, and gradually filled them up with the metallic matter,
held partly in solution, as Professor Sedgwick trunks, is difficult to
determine. The neighbouring district, towards the mouth of the
Duddon and Black Combe, shows abundance of proofs of having been
formerly much disturbed by volcanic agency."
The quantity of ore produced from the heematite iron mines of
Furness amounted to 691,421 tons, at the time when the Memoirs
of the Geological Survey of Great Britain were published, in the
year 1865 ; and it is constantly increasing as several improve
ments have been made in the process of mining in this district
during the last half dozen years. In the year 1864, 224,729 tons
of ores were shipped at Barrow; 223,431 were shipped via Ulver
stone; 239,523 tons were forwarded to Hurdpool furnaces; and
430 to Duddon furnaces. At that time the number of haematite
iron mines in the neighbourhood of Barrow and Ulverstone was
twenty-two, and they were situated at the following places : —
Adgarley, Adlingham, Bolton Heads, Carr Kettle, Crossgates, Eure
* A Glance at the Geology of Low Furness, Lancashire, by E. W. Binney, Esq., F.G.S: Memoirs of the
Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, vol. viii., p. 442.

PAST AND PRESENT. 159

Pits (two mines), Elliscales, Gillrow, Lindal Cote, Lindal Moor
(two mines), Newton Heads, Mousell, Old-hills, Park, Boanhead,
Bickethills, Stainton, and Whiteriggs (two mines). The ore of
these mines is exported to the Staffordshire mining districts, South
Wales, and the West of Scotland, by Barrow, Pile of Fouldry, More
cambe, and Fleetwood, the latter chiefly for Yorkshire ; and a small
quantity to France. The yield of iron ore in the Furness district
in the year 1864 was 691,421 tons/"
Though neither copper nor lead can be said to be abundant in
Lancashire, yet they are both found to a moderate extent. The
Coniston copper mines are extensive and valuable, yielding, accord
ing to the "Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain," 1896
tons of copper ore yearly, of the value, at the prices of 1864, of
£13,808. ' There are also a number of smaller mines in the district
of Higher Furness. They are found, as Professor Sedgwick informs
us, in the middle division of the Cumbrian slates, chiefly on
the line where different strata join each other; bearing out the
opinion, that the prevalence and richness of mineral veins are
intimately connected with the proximity or junction of dissimilar
rocks, where the electric, molecular, and, electro-chemical actions
are most energetic. The Coniston mines are found on the line
at which the lower and upper Silurian rocks unite. Valuable
deposits of copper have also been found at Alderley Edge, and at
Mottram in Cheshire. The former yields 14,696 tons, the latter is
estimated to yield 1000 tons.
Several small mines of lead ore are found in the mountain lime
stone, in the northern district of Lancashire.
Sand, Clay, and Stone.— hx addition to the coal, salt, and iron,
which form the most important part of the mineral wealth of the
two counties, there are several other mineral products which also
add considerably to it.
Commencing a few feet below the surface of the ground, in those
beds of sand and clay to which geologists give the name of the post-
tertiary formation, and which contain the remains of animals closely
resembling some of those of the existing species, we find a pure
silicious sand, admirably suited for the glass furnace. This, when
melted, affords the best material for the making of plate and
other descriptions of glass, which are amongst the most beautiful as
* Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, &c, by Eobert Hunt, F.E.S, Keeper of Mining
Records, p 56. Mineral Statistics for 1865, by Eobert Hunt, Esq., F E.S.

1 60 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
well as the most useful products of British industry. The sand owes
its value as a material for making glass to the purity of its silex or
flinty base, and to its freedom from oxide of iron and other metallic
oxides, which render ordinary sands unsuitable for that purpose.
The sand used for glass-making in Lancashire is found in beds of two
or three feet in thickness, chiefly on the edges of the peat mosses,
which have been spoken of as occupying so extensive an area in that
county. It is met with in great abundance, and of the finest quality,
in the neighbourhood of St. Helen's, which is now the principal seat
of the glass manufacture of Lancashire. This sand appears to have
been deposited at a comparatively recent period, in hollows in the
marl beds of the upper new red sandstone or trias formations. These
hollows seem to have resembled originally those in which the meres,
or small lakes, of Cheshire and Lancashire are held ; though they
are now filled with beds of peat. From the extreme fineness of this
sand, it would appear to have been deposited by slowly moving
streams, or perhaps to have been produced by the friction of the
waters of small lakes on the rocky beds in which they were con
tained. The slower and gentler the action of water, the finer is the
sand that it produces. The boulders, or masses of stone originally
borne along by ocean currents, are all. large ; and any gravel
produced by such action is of the coarsest kind. The sand of rapid
rivers is also coarse, in proportion to their rapidity. It is only in
streams flowing along gently, or on the edges of small and sheltered
lakes, where the water vibrates in its bed at the rate of a few inches
per second, that the finest kind of sand is formed. At the present
day a fringe of sand, beautifully fine and white, is formed around the
edges of the Cheshire meres, by the movement of the water in their
beds, and the action of the rills that flow into or issue from them.
A still finer kind of silicious sand or powder has occasionally been
found under peat mosses. Under one of these mosses near Gains
borough, Lincolnshire, Mr. Binney found a stratum of sand four to
six inches in thickness, supposed to consist of the silicious skeletons of
small fossil plants, in the form of a white impalpable powder. These
plants appear to be pure silica, in a state of extremely minute sub
division. On submitting this powder to the highest power of the
compound microscope, it was found to consist of a mass of transparent
squares and parallelograms of different relative proportions, whose
edges were perfectly smooth and sharp, and their areas traced with
very delicate lines. On comparing them with some existing con-

PAST AND PRESENT. 161

fervae, the resemblance was found to be so strong as to prove
the close alliance, if not perfect identity, of the two. They were
therefore supposed to be the counterparts of the fossil infusoria of
Ehrenberg, and to occupy the same place in the vegetable kingdom
which those do in the animal/'' The extremely fine sand found in
the neighbourhood of St. Helen's, joined to the abundance of coal
found in that neighbourhood, and the large production of soda, has
fixed the glass manufacture in that district. The sea-sand found
at no great distance in the estuary of the Mersey, has also been
useful in the rubbing and polishing of glass. This sand is produced
by the action of the waves of the sea on the soft sandstone rocks
which exist on the shores or form the beds of those estuarips. This
sand is met with in abundance in the bed of the river Mersey, near
Widness and Buncorn. As much as twenty or thirty tons of this
sand is used daily in some of the glass-houses, in rubbing off the
irregularities of the rough plates of glass as they come from the
furnace, which is the first step towards smoothing the plates. They
are afterwards rubbed with seven or eight coats of emery, from Naxos
in the Greek Archipelago, and thus prepared to receive the final
polish, which gives to the glass the transparency and brilliancy
that enable it to transmit light and to reflect the images of objects.
Moulding sand is also found in the permian' beds in the neighbour
hood of Manchester, and is extensively used in the iron foundries
of that city and the neighbouring towns.
The materials for the building of mills, workshops, warehouses,
and houses, exist in great abundance in most parts of the two coun
ties, and have already been employed in erecting nearly half a
million of buildings, public and private, of the yearly value of seven
or eight millions sterling.
The thick beds of clay-marl and clay found in the alluvium, on
the new red sandstone, and in the coal measures of Lancashire
and Cheshire, supply the material, when burnt into bricks, with
which nine-tenths of the buildings of the two counties are con
structed. It is only in the neighbourhood of the limestone and
Cumbrian hills, where stone is abundant, or in the case of large
public buildings constructed with a view to durability and archi
tectural effect, that stone is used as a material for building.
The numerous and immense mills and workshops of the manufac
turing district, the not less large and numerous warehouses of
* Ninth Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science: Transactions of Sections, p. 72.

VOL. I.

162 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the sea-ports, and all public works not requiring extraordinary
strength or beauty, are built of brick, or of brick faced and
ornamented with stone. During the last thirty years the same
kind of clay from which bricks are made has been very exten
sively used in the manufacture of draining tiles, of which many
millions are now made every year, and used in draining the stiffer
soils of the two counties. Tileries have been established on many of
the larger estates. The clay of the north-western district has been
used for the purpose of forming bricks and tiles from the time of the
Boman occupation of Britain. Many bricks and tiles made by the
Bomans, and remarkable for their hardness and durability, have
been dug up in the foundations of the four great Boman stations of
Chester, Manchester, Bibchester, and Lancaster; and in the smaller
Boman stations. Most of these remains of ancient times are marked
with the initials of the Twentieth Victorious Legion, L.V.V. (Legio
Vicesima Victrix). The Twentieth Boman Legion had its head
quarters at Chester for a period of nearly 300 years ; and the
engineers of the legion planned, and the soldiers formed, the great
roads, walls, and buildings, whose remains still exist in this part of
England after a lapse of 1500 to 1600 years. Many of the bricks
and tiles dug up in the Boman stations in the north-western district
are also stamped with the emblem of the Twentieth Legion, which
was a wild boar rushing to battle.
But the solid rock on which this part of England rests also
furnishes an abundant supply of building materials.
The upper new red sandstone, or trias formation, besides con
taining the deposits of rock-salt and the springs of brine above
described, furnishes inexhaustible supplies of building stone, easily
worked and of considerable durability. A sandstone generally red in
colour, though also showing other colours, and soft in grain, is found
throughout the two counties, from the point where the river Dee
enters Chester on the south, as far north as Walney Island in
Furness, and from the river Tame, near Stockport, to the sea. The
formation in which it is found includes the beds known as the
upper soft red sandstone, the pebble beds, and the lower soft red
sandstone. These rocks are many hundred feet thick, and consist
of a soft red stone, very easily worked, but soon destroyed by the
action of the elements.
Portions of the walls of the cathedral of Chester are formed of
this stone, and wherever that is the case the stonework soon becomes

PAST AND PRESENT. 163

weather-worn and requires frequent repair. Amongst the most cele
brated buildings constructed with this stone was the ancient castle of
Holt, on the river Dee, once a place of great military importance, as
commanding one of the principal bridges across that river into Wales.
A large portion of the stone used in constructing Holt castle seems
to have been got out of the ditches which surround the walls. The
ditches are deep and wide, and are cut regularly into the solid rock.
The castle is gone, the stonework having either crumbled to pieces or
been pulled down to erect other buildings ; but the excavations of
the ditches are nearly perfect.
But the white sandstone of the trias, often known as waterstone,
from the abundance of water found in its fissures, is a very superior
building stone. The white sandstone rocks of the upper new red
sandstone are supposed to have been the bold shores of the seas
which formerly covered the more recent beds of this formation.
Their surfaces are marked with ripples, which are thought to have
resulted from the action of the wind on the shallow water with which
they were occasionally covered. Other ripples traced on the surface
are supposed to mark the course of rills which formerly traversed a
muddy shore. Tracks of footmarks, supposed to have been produced
by the wanderings of marine animals over the mud and soft sand,
are still found at numerous places on the waterstone rocks of
Cheshire. In fact, all the conditions that are observed on the shores
of existing seas at the present day may be traced on the triassic
rocks of the new red sandstone/1"
The waterstone rocks rise abruptly above the plain of Cheshire, to
the height of 300 and 400 feet, at Overton Scar, near Malpas, on the
southern border of Cheshire, and run through the county northward
to Helsby Hill, on the banks of the Mersey. They also send out a
branch in a westerly direction, which runs through the peninsula of
Wirral fo the sea. The hills rise to a still greater height, with a
rocky outline, at Bickerton Hill, and along the range of hills to
Peckforton, Beeston, and Eddisbury. There are extensive stone
quarries in these hills at several points, which have in different ages
supplied the material used in building many noble piles. Amongst
these we may mention Beeston castle, built about the year 1229 by
Banulf de Blundeville, earl of Chester, and still a very fine specimen
of a Norman castle ; Eddisbury and Buncorn castles, built by
"* On the Records of a Triassic Shore, by Professor Harkness, F.R.S. Twenty-seventh Report of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 68.

164 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the Great, 300 years earlier, and
of which nothing now remains except the outline of the foundations ;
the harder parts of Chester cathedral, including the modern repairs ;
Halton castle, still a stately pile, though built soon after the Norman
conquest ; and, it is believed, the foundations of the walls of Chester,
built by the Bomans from 1600 to 1700 years ago. It is supposed
that the stone employed by the Bomans in building these walls was
obtained from some of the quarries in these hills. ' A small portion of
the Boman stonework is believed still to exist in the north part of
the walls of Chester, near the Northgate. This stone is cut into
much larger blocks than those used in- the Saxon, Norman, and
mediaeval times in repairing and rebuilding the walls, and is much
harder than any stone found in the neighbourhood of Chester. " In
the walls of Chester, where any of the Boman walls or foundations
exist, they appear as imperishable as when first built, but the
mediaeval structure erected upon them is crumbling to decay. On
closer inspection every Boman stone will be found to have its
peculiar silver-gray lichens (Urceolaria scruposa), whilst those of the
middle ages have a different species. The older portion of the wall
is supposed to have been brought from Helsby Hill, or some other
part of Delamere Forest." Large masses of building stone, of the
kind above described, are found in the hills which extend from
Chester to Birkenhead and New Brighton. Amongst the largest and
best quarries in this formation are those on Storeton Hill, about five
miles south of Birkenhead. These have supplied immense quantities
of building stone for the docks, on both sides of the Mersey. Stone
of the same kind exists at many places around Liverpool. The
fine columns in the interior of the old Exchange news-room, and
those in front of the chapel in Great George Street, Liverpool, are
both from this formation.
In the quarries sunk in rocks of this formation, are found the
footmarks of an animal which is supposed to have been one of the
earliest, if not the earliest, of created animals capable of breathing
the open air, and living on land as well as in water. Near Tarporley,
in Cheshire, there were found, deeply imbedded in the sandstone, the
footmarks of this gigantic animal, to which geologists have given the
name of the Cheirotherium, or "handed" animal, from the extra
ordinary resemblance of the shape of its feet to that of the human
hand. The footmarks found in the sandstone rock at Tarporley are
preserved in specimens of that rock in the collection of Sir Philip

PAST AND PRESENT. 165

Egerton, Bart., M.P., who has described them in a paper read before
the Geological Society of Great Britain. They are of gigantic size,
being fifteen inches in length and ten inches in breadth; and Sir
Philip Egerton, in compliance with the old adage, " Ex pede Eer-
culem," proposed to name the animal by which they were made,
Cheirotherium Herculis. Similar footmarks were discovered in the
quarries at Weston and Higher Buncorn ; and in them, says Mr. E.
W. Binney, " we have the earliest positive evidence of the existence
of dry land. At Weston, about thirty feet from the surface, and in
the higher part of the deposit, there is a thin bed of red clay about
half or three-quarters of an inch in thickness. This clay affords
impressions of the footmarks of the cheirotherium, the rhyncosaurus,
several other reptiles, and numerous worm-marks, besides lines of
desiccation similar to what a bed of clay would undergo under a hot
sun at the present day." Mr. Hawkshaw, CE, states in a paper in
the Twelfth Beport of the British Association, that footmarks of this
description have been discovered in the quarries at Lymm, also in
Cheshire. " The length of the footmark," he says, "in the largest speci
men was nine and a half inches. The impressions are left on a thin
specimen of the finest clay, which was so well prepared to receive the
mould as to leave a cast so delicate as to give us the texture of the
skin that covered the sole of the foot. This appears to have been
covered with small papillae — about 100 to the square inch on the
larger specimen, and about 220 to the square inch on the smaller;
showing that the sole of the foot was furnished with a rough skin
such as might have been expected in a creature that walked on
a sandy shore." Similar marks were discovered in the Stourton
quarries, near Liverpool, and were very clearly described by Mr. John
Cunningham, of Liverpool. There the casts discovered were situated
in the upper surface of three beds of sandstone, each about two feet
thick. It appeared as if each of the thin seams of clay on which the
sandstone casts were moulded had formed successively a dry surface,
over which the cheirotherium and other animals walked, leaving
impressions of their footsteps. The lowest seam of clay was so thin
that the marks penetrated into the subjacent sand, which sand after
wards hardened into sandstone. The extreme length of the foot was
nine inches, its extreme breadth six inches. One hind-foot measured
twelve inches in its greatest length. From the appearance of the
casts, the sole of the foot must have been amply supplied with
muscles, the casts of the ball of the thumb and the phalanges of the

166 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
fingers being prominent. The toes are thick and strong, and the
terminations are stout conical nails or claws. The casts of the
cheirotherium, although the most remarkable, are not the most
numerous. Many long slabs are crowded with casts in relievo, some
of which are supposed to have been derived from the feet of saurian
reptiles, and others from those of tortoises/'
A bed of limestone known as magnesian limestone, and belonging
to the permian system, is found at Ardwick, near Manchester. Of
this limestone the great chemist, Dalton, says : — "A bed of limestone
is found at a considerable depth underground, to the east of Man
chester. It has the property of forming a good cement under water.
Geologists call it a magnesian limestone, but it has very little
resemblance to the true magnesian limestone from Yorkshire. When
analyzed, it appears to be pure carbonate of lime united or mixed
with two per cent, of clay, and a considerable trace of iron, perhaps
half a grain -per cent. It is probably to the two last ingredients
that its peculiar qualities are ascribed. It contains no more mag
nesia than chalk or mountain limestone in general does, which is a
slight trace ; whereas in the true magnesian fimestone found in some
parts of Yorkshire the lime is to the magnesia as twenty-four to
seventeen. Their specific gravity is generally below that of moun
tain limestone." Magnesian limestone is also found and extensively
worked in the townships of Ashley, Bedford, and Atherton, in the
parish of Leigh, in Lancashire, and furnishes a very valuable kind of
, cement, used in building bridges and piers. At Bedford, near Leigh
there- is a depth of ten feet of magnesian limestone, arranged in
twelve beds. The limestone of Bedford, which has been analyzed
by Mr. Watson, chemist, of Bolton, was found to contain in 100
parts 56'5 parts carbonate of lime, 38*5 parts of aluminous and
silicious earths, 2*5 parts oxides of iron, and 2*5 parts of water. In
the north of Lancashire, in the district of Furness, magnesian lime
stone, really containing a considerable quantity of magnesia, has been
met with at a place named Stank. This has been analyzed by
Mr. James Gibb, and has been found to yield the following products,
in 100 parts : carbonic acid, 38*40; silica, 11*65; magnesia, 9*95;
oxide of iron, 9*45; lime, 29*75; water, 1*75. t
The permian or lower new red sandstone, as found in the neigh-
* Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. p. 15. Twenty-seventh Report of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, p. 68.
t Memoirs of Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, vol. v. p. 8. (Second Series.)

PAST AND PRESENT. 167

bourhood of Manchester, is chiefly composed of a dark red sand,
variegated by patches of yellowish-drab colour. The upper part of
it is much used in foundries for the purpose of iron moidding ; but
the lower part is not so well suited for that purpose, owing to the
nodules of iron found in the stone. The thin ribbon beds of lime
stone, containing much clay and iron, lying in the lower parts of
the red marls in the neighbourhood of Manchester, become thick,
and more like the Yorkshire and Durham limestone in grain, colour,
and composition, in proceeding northward to Stank and Barrow
Mouth in Furness. " The sandy conglomerate beds, containing
rolled pebbles, of Hug Bridge, Norbury, Cheetham Weir-hole, and
other places in South Lancashire, appear to pass gradually at first
into the arenaceous conglomerate of Barrow Mouth, and then into
the calcareous conglomerates of Bougham Point, Kirkby-Stephen,
Brough, and West-house. When the deposit is near a coal-field,
it is generally arenaceous in character, and when in a limestone
district calcareous ; thus showing that most of the materials com
posing it were derived from or near the neighbourhood in which
it is now found, and not brought from a distance. But certainly
the cement in many places has a real resemblance to volcanic ash."
Mr. Binney adds to the above, in a note, "I am convinced that
some of the mottled clays and shales of the upper coal-field, as
well as many of the permian beds, have a great deal of volcanic
ash in their composition.""5''
The finest building stone in Lancashire is that of which Furness
Abbey is constructed. It is a fine-grained stone, obtained "from
quarries in the neighbourhood of the abbey. At the end of 600
years it is still almost perfect.
The coal measures of Lancashire and Cheshire furnish numerous
varieties of building stone, and contain several thick beds of flags.
Most of these are mentioned, with their names and positions, in the
account of the coal strata already given in this chapter. Building
stones of great value are found in the coal measures in the
neighbourhood of Manchester, Dukinfield, Oldham, Bochdale,
Littleborough, Bolton, Haslingden, and Blackburn. Longridge Fell,
composed of the millstone grit, is a mass of building stone.
Mountain limestone, suited both for purposes of building and
cement, exists in large quantities on the banks of the Bibble, the
* Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester : vol. viii., p. 431; vol. xii, p. 266.
(Second Series.)

168 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Hodder, and the Lune, and around Morecambe Bay. The limestone
also shows itself, though in small quantities, at Chipping in North
Lancashire, and at Newbold-Astbury in Cheshire ; but South Lan
cashire and Cheshire are chiefly supplied with lime from the
Derbyshire quarries near Buxton, and from the coasts of Furness
and North Wales, where limestone is very abundant.
Boofing slate is also found in abundance in the Silurian beds of
Higher Furness. Amongst the most productive and valuable beds
of that district are those worked at Kirkby-Ireleth, on the estate
of the duke of Devonshire. The greater part of Coniston mountain
also consists of beds of roofing slate.
A small quantity of granite is also found on the sides of the
Old Man of Coniston ; but it does not appear in any. quantity on
the Lancashire side of the river Duddon. Veins of porphyry
are found on the banks of that wild and beautiful stream.
The various rocks existing in Lancashire and Cheshire have been
examined by Mr. William Fairbairn, of Manchester, for the purpose
of ascertaining their comparative powers of resisting pressure. Mr.
Fairbairn found, in the course of these experiments, that a cubic
inch of the new red Buncorn sandstone would bear a pressure of
2185 lbs. weight before it crumbled into sand. He found that
the much stronger sandstone of the coal formation would bear a
pressure of 6127 lbs. before it crumbled into sand; and that there
were sandstones of this formation in the quarries of Littleborough,
on the borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire, which did not give
way until exposed to a pressure of 10,000 lbs. Limestone was
found, in the same experiments, to bear a pressure of 8528 lbs. to
the square inch before it gave way. Granite bore a pressure of
11,528 lbs. before it crumbled into sand. The grauwacke of the
slate or Silurian rocks resisted a pressure of 16,893 lbs. ; and it
required the enormous pressure of 40,416 lbs. to crush a cubic inch
of porphyry into sand.*
These ancient rocks may be regarded as the solid framework or
foundation of the earth, into which man has not yet succeeded in
penetrating to a greater depth than 2000 to 3000 feet. With this
sketch of the more penetrable strata of the earth, and of such of
their contents as have been rendered available for the service of
man, we conclude our general sketch of the natural history of the
north-western district of England.
* Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, sol. iii., p. 15.

PAST AND PRESENT. 169

Natural Products of the different Districts of Lancashire and
Cheshire, and their Influence on the Population, Industry, and Wealth
of those Districts. — The natural products of Lancashire and Cheshire,
like those of England in general, and indeed those of all countries,
are very unequally distributed in different districts ; and this is the
principal cause of the various degrees of population and wealth that
we find existing in different places. In some portions, even of
these crowded and wealthy counties, the people are still a race of
shepherds, herdsmen, and woodmen ; in other districts they add
agriculture to pasturage ; in others they seek wealth by mining in
the recesses of the earth and rock, or by tilling its surface ; in others
they use the produce of their mines, as well as the power of their
streams, in working machinery and producing articles of universal
use ; whilst in others they avail themselves of their position on the
sea-coast in opening a vast commerce hi raw materials of industry,
food, and in the products of manufacturing skill. In each of these
pursuits great skill is shown, and industry and capital are freely
expended. But a nation engaged in pastoral pursuits, as in Australia,
can only increase rapidly when it has the pastures of a continent at
its disposal. An agricultural people only increases rapidly when
it has the soil of vast and fertile regions at its disposal, as in
the United States and in Canada. Space is of less importance
in a country rich in minerals, or in facilities for manufactures,
trade, and commerce. Thus in Lancashire and Cheshire there are
3,000,000 persons, possessed" of an aggregate yearly income of about
£50,000,000 sterling, crowded together on an area of 2,000,000 acres
of land ; or, in other words, there are the tenth part of the people
of the United Kingdom collected on about the fortieth part of its
surface. But within these two counties we have almost as great
differences in population and wealth in the several districts; and
those differences may be chiefly traced to the difference in the
natural resources available for industry in those districts. In Eng
land, taken as a whole, the population doubled its number in the
first fifty-one years of the present century ; whilst in the north
western division, formed of the counties of Lancaster and Chester,
it increased nearly fourfold. But there are districts of Lancashire
and Cheshire in which the increase of the first fifty years of the
present century is less than the average increase of England ; others
in which it is about equal ; and others in which it is vastly greater.
This will be clearly seen from the following rapid sketch of the

1 70 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

natui*al resources, wealth, and rate of increase of population during
the present century, in each of the divisions into which Lancashire
and Cheshire are divided in taking the census of the numbers of
the people : —
The County of Lancaster. — The county of Lancaster, according to
ancient arrangement, is divided into the six hundreds of Lonsdale,
Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Salford, and West Derby. In
taking the census these six hundreds are subdivided into the dis
tricts of Ulverstone, Lancaster, Garstang, Fylde, Preston, Clitheroe,
Burnley, Blackburn, Haslingden, Chorley, Bolton, Bury, Bochdale,
Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Chorlton, Manchester, Salford, Barton-
on-Irwell, Leigh, Warrington, Wigan, St. Helen's, Ormskirk, West
Derby, and Liverpool.
The County of Chester. — The county of Chester, according to its
ancient arrangement, is divided into the seven hundreds of Mac
clesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Broxton, and
Wirral. In taking the census these are divided into the census
districts of Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton, Nantwich, Northwich,
Altringham, Buncorn, Boughton or Chester, Wirral, and Birkenhead.
The Hundred of Lonsdale.— The Hundred of Lonsdale, forming
the most northerly hundred of Lancashire, and bordering on Cum
berland and Westmoreland, is divided into two districts. One of
these is named Lonsdale beyond the Sands, and corresponds pretty
nearly with the census division of Ulverstone ; the other is named
Lonsdale south of the Sands, and corresponds nearly with the
census division of Lancaster.
The District of Ulverstone and Higher and Lower Furness. — The
Ulverstone district, corresponding in extent with the division of
Lonsdale beyond the Sands, includes Higher and Lower Furness,
as well as Cartmel. It is one of the most extensive census districts
in Lancashire, extending over an area of 135,043 acres of land and
water. Three-fourths of the district, including the whole of Higher
Furness, is mountainous ; the wilder parts of the hills being grazed
by sheep, or planted with woods of larch, Scotch fir, and other
mountain trees, and thinly peopled by a scattered population of
small farmers, shepherds, and woodmen. In former times the rich
copper and iron ores of Furness were smelted with charcoal made
from the woods that then covered the whole of the hills ; and one
or two smelting-houses still exist in which charcoal is "used. The
slate is the prevailing formation in Higher Furness ; and at a few

PAST AND PRESENT. 171

points, on the side of Coniston Old Man, the granite has forced
its way through the slate, whilst boulders of syenite and other
varieties of granite are scattered over the hills. The Coniston
limestone commences west and north of Broughton in Furness,
passing north of Coniston Lake above Waterhead, and running in
a north-easterly direction by the line of Low Wood, Troutbeck, and
Long Sleddale to Shapfells. The mountain of Coniston Old Man
is composed chiefly of fine roofing slate ; but several veins of copper
are found in the lower part of the mountain, which are extensively
worked. There are also extensive quarries of slate and limestone
at Coniston, Kirkby-Ireleth, and several other places. But the
chief mineral wealth of the district consists in the rich haematite
iron ores found in the neighbourhood of Dalton and Lindale, the
greater part of which are exported to South Wales and Staffordshire,
whilst a portion are smelted at Barrow. The soil of Lower Furness
consists principally of the new red sandstone, with mountain lime
stone in close proximity. The land in this district is extremely
fertile, especially in the neighbourhood of Furness Abbey; and it
is cultivated in large farms, and on a better system than prevails
in almost any other part of Lancashire. The crops consist of wheat,
barley, oats, turnips, and grasses ; and large quantities both of sheep
and cattle are reared. The lakes and rivers contain trout, char,
pike, and most freshwater fish : and the bays are visited at the
season by large shoals of herrings. The climate of Lower Furness
is moist, but unusually mild, owing to the high ranges of mountains
that shelter it on the north and east.
The wildest and most thinly peopled portions of the Ulverstone
district, are those in the mountainous country about Hawkeshead,
and on the banks of the river Duddon, above West Broughton.
In the Hawkeshead district, lying along the upper part of the
Windermere Lake, the population is very thin, not amounting to
much more than one person to every ten acres, which is about the
fifth part the average density of the population of England. In
the West Broughton district, where the river Duddon issues from
the Cumberland mountains, the population is equally small. In
the -central and lower districts, where there is a greater quantity
of arable land, the population is in the proportion of about one
person to every five acres. In the Dalton district, in which the
great iron mines of Lower Furness are situated, there is one inhabit
ant to every three acres ; and in the subdivision of Ulverstone, in

1 72 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
which the town of Ulverstone is situated, there is more than one
inhabitant to every acre.
At the beginning of the present century, the whole number of
inhabitants living on the area of 135,043 acres comprised in the
division of Ulverstone or Lonsdale beyond the Sands, was 17,881.
This number increased during the first fifty years to 30,550, a rate
of increase somewhat less than the average rate of increase in the
population of England and Wales, which doubled itself in the first
fifty-two years of the present century. Between the census of
1851 and that of 1861, there was a further increase of 5178 persons,
raising the population of the Ulverstone district, at the census of
1861, to 35,728 persons.
At the valuation for the property and income tax, made in the
year ending the 5th of April, 1860, the property and income of
the Ulverstone district, or North Lonsdale, were returned at the
yearly sum of £451,414. This was derived from different sources,
in the following amounts : — The land of the district produced a
rent of £108,184; the profits of farming were assumed at the
same sum ; the messuages or buildings were valued at £45,343 ; the
fines for manorial rights, which are more than usually valuable on
account of the seigniorage paid to the owners of mines and quarries,
were valued at £27,762 ; the quarries produced a direct revenue of
£8676 ; the mines yield an income of £45,060 ; the iron-works,
exclusive of the mines, were valued at £272 ; the fisheries in the
rivers and lakes were valued at £84 ; the canal that unites the
town of Ulverstone with the sea was taken at> £536 ; the rail
ways, which have greatly increased during the last few years, were
valued at £33,870; the gas-works were taken at £327; other
property of the same kind was returned at £1316 ; and the profits
of trade of the whole district were returned at £71,800. The
value of the property of the town of LTlverstone, the chief place of
the district, was returned at £59,840.
The District of Lancaster, or Lonsdale South of the Sands. —
The census district of Lancaster, or Lonsdale south of the Sands,
is still more extensive than that of Ulverstone, stretching over
an area of 138,746 acres. This includes the whole of that part
of the fertile and beautiful valley of the Lune that lies in the
county of Lancaster, and narrow slips of good pasture and meadow
land on the banks of the smaller rivers ; but it also includes an
extensive range of barren hills, resting on tlie millstone grit forma-

PAST AND PRESENT. 173

tion. There are no mines of any value in the Lancaster district,
and whatever manufactures exist are dependent either on water-
power, which is very abundant, or on coal brought from a distance
of more than twenty miles. But since the Furness railway has
been carried across the head of Morecambe Bay, extensive iron
works have been erected at Carnforth, where that railway joins
the line from Lancaster to Carlisle.
In the mountain districts of Arkholme, Tunstall, and Wray, in
which the population is chiefly employed in pasturage, there is
not more than one person to every ten acres of land. The soil is
better and the population somewhat more numerous in the districts
of Wharton, Heaton, and Ellel, where there is a considerable
quantity of good land, and also down the valley of the Lune.
At the commencement of the present century the population
of the census district of Lancaster, or Lonsdale south of the Sands,
was 24,942 persons. During the first fifty years of the present
century the population increased to 34,660, which is about one-
half the average rate of increase of the whole kingdom. But
during the ten years between the census of 1851 and that of
1861,. the increase was very slow, only 639 persons having been
added to the population of the district. At the census of 1861
the population of the Lancaster, or South Lonsdale district, amounted
to 35,299 persons.
The value of the property of the Lancaster district as returned
to the property and income tax, in the year ending April 5th, 1860,
was £678,837. This was derived from various sources. The
yearly rent of the land of the district was £130,552 ; the tenants'
profits were estimated at the same sum ; messuages and buildings
were valued at £63,407 ; fisheries at £140 ; railways at £232,691 ;
gas-works at £1376; and profits of trade at £198,191. The
property and income of the borough of Lancaster were returned
at £380,726. The whole hundred of Lonsdale North and South included
property and income of the value of £1,130,251 per annum, in the
year 1860. This was derived from the following sources: — Bent
of land £238,736; farming profits the same; messuages and build
ings £108,750; quarries £9015; mines £45,100; fisheries £224;
railways £266,561 ; gas-works £1703 ; other works £2793 ; profits
of trade £170,091.
The Borough of Lancaster. — This ancient borough contained 9030

174 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
inhabitants at the commencement of the present century, and
nearly doubled its numbers during the first fifty years of the
century, having increased to 16,168 persons- in that period. In
the ten years between 1851 and 1861 there was scarcely any
change in the population of Lancaster, but the figures of the
census of 1861 show a slight decrease, the numbers at the time
having been 15,996 persons.
The Hundred of Amounderness. — The ancient hundred of Amoun-
derness is divided pretty nearly into the three census districts
of Garstang, Fylde, and Preston, of each of which we shall give
a separate account.
The District of Garstang in Amounderness. — The Garstang census
district extends over an area of 62,617 acres of land. The eastern
part of this district is one of the wildest and most mountainous
regions of Lancashire, the land rising to an elevation of 1500 to
1800 feet. There is much good grass land in the lower part of the
district, in the neighbourhood of Garstang, and along the banks of
the Wyre. The formation of the higher part of the hills is chiefly
millstone grit, whilst that of the lower ground is new red sand
stone. There is much water-power in the Garstang district, but
no coal, and scarcely a single spot where limestone is to be found.
The general character of the soil is that of a wild moorland or
grassy district, with extensive plantations in the higher doughs
of the mountains. Cattle and sheep, milk and butter, are the
principal products. There are a few mills at the most commanding
points on the streams, and those mills obtain their supplies of coal
from South Lancashire, by railway and canal.
The population of the Garstang district is small, and its pro
gress in numbers has been very slow. At the beginning of the
present century this district contained 9647 inhabitants. In fifty
years the population had increased to 12,695, which is about equal
to one-half the average rate of increase of England and Wales.
Between 1851 and 1861 there was a slight decrease of 271 persons
in the population of the Garstang district, the numbers at the
census of 1861 amounting to 12,424 persons.
The Fylde District in Amounderness. — The Fylde district, which
is the lower part of the .valley of the Wyre, is in general a level
country, and contains, in addition to rich meadows and fine
pastures, much good arable land, in many places cultivated with
great spirit and skill. The Fylde district is bounded by the sea

PAST AND PRESENT. 175

on the west, and a considerable population is collecting along the
sea-coasts. This is the case at Blackpool, which is now a hand
somely built, well situated, and much frequented watering-place.
It is also the case in some degree at Fleetwood, at the mouth
of the river Wyre. There are considerable manufactures at
Kirkham, which derive their supplies of coal by canal and railway
from South Lancashire ; but there is no coal, nor are there any
minerals, in the Fylde district.
At the beginning of the present century the Fylde district
contained a population of 11,327 persons. This number nearly
doubled itself in the first fifty years of the present century, having
increased in 1851 to 22,002, showing a rate of increase as nearly
as possible equal to the average rate of increase of England and
Wales. Between 1851 and 1861 the rate has been fully main
tained, the increase having been 3679 persons in ten years, making
the population of the Fylde district, in the year 1861, 25,681
persons. The Preston District. — The Preston district is the most northern
district of Lancashire, in which we obtain evidence of that wonderful
increase of population and wealth, that has taken place in all the
manufacturing districts of this county during the present century.
The district itself, with the exception of the town of Preston and
its immediate neighbourhood, is purely agricultural, and contains
land of every quality, from the richest meadow and arable to the
wildest mountain pasture. There are no mines nor minerals in
the Preston district, with the exception of some quarries of good
building stone at Longridge. But there is a very easy and cheap
communication from Preston, both by canal and railway, to the
adjoining coal-fields of South Lancashire ; and the manufacturers
of Preston are able to supply themselves with fuel, and to work
their mills by steam-power, almost as well as if they were on the
coal-field itself.
The rural districts of the Preston division are rather thinly
peopled. In the Broughton subdivision, near to the hills, there
is not more than one person to every four acres of land, which
is about one-half the average population of England and Wales.
The subdivision of Alston, which contains much good land, and
the site of the Boman position of Bibchester, has about one
inhabitant to every three acres. The district of Longton con
tains one person to every two acres, and the fertile district of

176 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
Walton-le-Dale, extending over the richest part of the valley of the
Bibble, contains about one person to every single acre.
The census division of Preston contains nearly four times as
many inhabitants as it possessed at the beginning of the present
century. At the -census of 1801 this district contained only
29,899 inhabitants. During the first fifty years the population
of the district increased to 96,545 persons. Between 1851 and
1861 there was a further increase of 13,943 persons, and the
Preston district at the census of 1861 contained a population of
110,488 persons.
The Borough of Preston. — The town of Preston, although one of
the most ancient parliamentary and municipal boroughs in Lanca
shire, with charters which date from the reign of Henry IL,
contained only 12,174 inhabitants at the commencement of the
present century. About that time the population began to increase
rapidly, under the influence of the inventions of their celebrated
townsman Sir Bichard Arkwright, and of the canals constructed
by Brindley through the coal-fields of South Lancashire. These
together brought the cotton manufacture into the town, and at
the census of 1851 the population of Preston had increased to
69,542 persons. Between the census of 1851 and that of 1861
there was a further increase of 13,419 persons, raising the popu
lation of the borough of Preston, in 1861, to 82,961 persons.
According to an estimate laid before Parliament in 1866, the
population of the borough of Preston in that year was supposed
to be 90,652 persons.*
The yearly value of property and income in the hundred of
Amounderness, which includes the three districts of Garstang,
Fylde, and Preston, amounted in the year ended 5th April, 1860,
to the sum of £1,198,179. The rent of the land in the whole
hundred was valued at £215,488; farming profits at the same;
messuages or buildings, including those of the town of Preston, at
£269,211 ; quarries at £472, there being no mines within the district ;
the salmon fisheries of the Bibble at £100 ; railway property at
£87,294; gas-works at £10,147; other property and profits at
£13,154 ; and the profits of trade at £386,768. More than one-
half in value of the property of Amounderness hundred was within
the borough of Preston. The total yearly value of the property
returned in that borough was £634,567. This consisted of the
* Electoral Returns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66.

PAST AND PRESENT. 177

following items : — Farming land £2652 ; farming profits the same ;
messuages or buildings £202,950 ; tithes £57 ; quarries £150 ;
fisheries £50 ; railway property £87,294 ; gas-works £9500 ; other
property and profits £11,737; and profits of trade £317,525.
The Hundred of Blackburn. — The hundred of Blackburn includes
the divisions of Clitheroe, Burnley, Blackburn, and Haslingden.
The Clitheroe District. — The extensive census district of Clitheroe,
covering an area of 114,697 acres, is a region of grassy hills seldom
rising to a greater height than from 600 to 800 feet above the
level of the sea, but with some lofty and rugged moors of twice
that elevation, and with a few still loftier points, of which Pendle
hill, rising to the height of nearly 1800 feet, is the highest, and
overlooks the whole dale of which it is the undoubted head.
The river Bibble flows through the green and beautiful valley of
Bibblesdale, over a fimestone bed, and receives the rivers Calder
• and Darwen from the south, and the river Hodder from the north,
with many smaller streams. The soil is very fertile in the valleys
through which those rivers flow, and also on the limestone hills
which rise on both sides of the Bibble and the Hodder. But it
is thin and barren on the loftier hills, most of which are formed
of the millstone grit. The most valuable mineral in this district
is the mountain limestone, which is very abundant. There is
scarcely any coal in the Clitheroe district, but the great coal-field
of Lancashire bounds it to the south ; and now that railways have
been extended into the higher part of the valley of the Bibble,
coal will be obtained at a moderate cost. In addition to this,
numerous rivers and streams supply water-power, and the purest
water for bleaching and print works. Thus, though the general
character of the Clitheroe district is rural and pastoral, there are
many manufactures carried on, especially such as are dependent
on an abundant supply of pure water. Still, in comparison with
other districts of Lancashire, the progress of the Clitheroe district
has been slow during the present century, and in the last ten years
there has been a small decrease of population. The Clitheroe
census district at the commencement of the present century
contained a population of 15,143 persons, and in the first fifty
years of the century the population increased to 22,368 persons.
Between 1851 and 1861 there was a decrease of 1892 persons,
reducing the population in 1861 to 20,476.
The subdivisions of the Clitheroe district are Gisborn, Slaicl-
VOL. I. z

178 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
bum, Chipping, Whalley, and Clitheroe. The first two of these
districts are chiefly in Yorkshire, and do not call for any notice in
this work, except as relates to the wild district of Bowland Forest
in Slaidburn. This forest is chiefly situated in Lancashire, and
contains 19,055 acres of mountain land, with a thinly scattered
population of about 500 persons. The greater part of Bowland
Forest is in the parishes of Whalley and Slaidburn. A very
extensive range of lofty hills also exists in the subdivision of Chip
ping, in which district the population is not more than one person
to about six acres of land. In the subdivision of Whalley there is
some good land on the banks of the river Calder, and considerable
manufactures, owing to the proximity of the coal-field. The sub
division of Clitheroe contains much fine land along the banks of
the Bibble, and several flourishing manufactories.
The town of Clitheroe is an ancient parliamentary and muni
cipal borough, with charters that date from the Henrys and Edwards.
Clitheroe contained 14,480 inhabitants in 1851, but between that
year and the census of 1861, had declined to 10,864 persons.
The Burnley District. — The Burnley census district, covering an
area of 54,126 acres, contains much good land along the banks
of the river Calder, especially in the neighbourhood of Towneley
Park, near Burnley, where there is very ' superior cultivation and
some of the finest herds of cattle that are to be found in England.
But a great portion of the land of the Burnley district is very
high and moorish, and chiefly suitable for mountain sheep and
young cattle. Innumerable streams flow down from the lofty hills
that bound the county of Lancaster on the east, affording water-
power in abundance. The Burnley district also possesses much
coal. Hence it is thickly peopled, and rapidly increasing in popula
tion and wealth.
The Burnley district contained a population of 33,173 persons,
at the commencement of the present century. This population
was nearly doubled during the first fifty years, having advanced
to 63,868 at the census of 1851. It increased still more rapidly
between 1851 and 1861 ; the increase during that period having
been 11,720 persons, swelling the population of the Burnley district
to 75,588 persons at the census of 1861. The subdivision of
Pendle is the most thinly peopled portion of this district ; yet its
population is nearly equal to the average of England and Wales,
being about one person to two acres. All the other subdivisions

PAST AND PRESENT. 179

of the Burnley district are more thickly peopled. The subdivision
of Colne, including the town of Colne, contained a population of
21,764 persons in 1851, and of 21,203 in 1861. The subdivision
and town of Padiham have also increased rapidly in population,
the town containing 5675 persons. But the greatest increase
has been in the subdivision of Burnley, which contained 31,853
inhabitants in 1851 and 42,702 in 1861.
The town of Burnley, including its suburb of Habergham Eaves,
contained 28,700 persons in 1861.
The Blackburn District. — The census district of Blackburn extends
over an area of 43,569 acres. It is in general a hilly and even
mountainous district, but with some good land along the banks
of the river Darwen. Numerous streams flow from the lofty hills,
and great part of the district abounds in coal. These natural
advantages have been improved with great energy. Blackburn
has also possessed the advantages of cheap water carriage, by the
Leeds and Liverpool canal, for more than eighty years, and it is
now well supplied with railway communication. Hence this dis
trict is one of the most populous in England, and is every year
increasing in numbers and wealth.
The Blackburn district at the commencement of the present
century contained a population of 33,173 persons. This increased
nearly three-fold during the first fifty years of the century, having
advanced to 90,738 persons in the year 1851. The increase was
still more rapid between 1851 and 1861, having been 29,199 persons
in ten years, thus raising the population of the Blackburn district
to 119,937 persons in 1861. The most thinly peopled of the sub
divisions of the Blackburn district is Bilfington, on the banks of
the river Bibble. This is a pastoral and agricultural district, not
containing more than one person to every three acres of land. The
subdivision of Harwood, though situated in a more hilly district,
is well supplied with coal and water-power, and contains about
one person to every acre. The population of Whitton and Mellor
is about the same in proportion to the area. The subdivision of
Oswaldtwistle is high up among the hills, but it is well supplied
with coal and water-power, and contains three or four persons to
every acre of land. The population of the Darwen district is
still better supplied with water-power and coal, and is equally
numerous. The subdivision of Blackburn is still more so.
The Town of Blackburn. — This town, made a parliamentary

180 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and municipal borough under the parliamentary and municipal
Acts of 1832 and 1835, contained 11,940 inhabitants at the com
mencement of the present century. This number increased during
the first fifty years of the century to 46,536. The increase was
still more rapid between the the census of 1851 and that of 1861 ;
the numbers having increased during that ten years by 16,985 and
having amounted at the census of 1861 to 63,521 persons. Accord
ing to an estimate laid before Parliament, the population of the
borough of Blackburn in 1866, was computed to be 73,522 persons/'
The property and income of the town of Blackburn were valued in
1860 at £397,933, consisting of the following items : — Bent of land
£6446 ; profits of cultivation the same ; messuages and buildings
£143,757; quarries £1201; gas-works £6000; other property
£13,299 ; and profits of trade £220,806.
The Haslingden District. — The Haslingden census district extends
over an area of 26,601 acres, and is altogether a region of lofty
hills, divided from each other by narrow valleys, through which
rapid streams descend flowing to the south. Many of the hills
rise to the height of 1200 to 1500 feet. The Haslingden district
includes the ancient forest of Bossendale, which was for ages the
wildest district in Lancashire. Previous to the reign of Henry
VII., it was a royal forest, in which there was nothing but deer
or other wild and savage beasts. It was disforested in the
time of the . Tudors, and gradually became occupied by herds
men and cultivators of the soil, though the number of inhabitants
at that time was only about eighty. In the reign of James I.
the forest lands were apportioned into nineteen vaccaries or cow-
pastures, and let at the annual advanced rent of £122 13s. 8d.
On the spread of the woollen manufacture in the north of England,
many of the inhabitants of the Bossendale district began to engage
in that trade, being much aided by the abundant water-power
supplied by the streams of the district, and by the wool of the
Haslingden sheep that grazed on the forest hills. About the
beginning of the present century the cotton manufacture began to
spread up these valleys, and it now extends through the whole of
this district. The greater part of the hills are still uncultivated,
and are too high and too much exposed for the growth of grain.
But the valleys, though narrow and winding, are carefully cultivated,
and are kept green both in winter and summer by constant irriga-
* Electoral Returns, Boroughs aud Counties.

PAST AND PRESENT. 181

tion. Coal abounds throughout the whole district, and coal mines
are sunk even in the highest hills. Both steam and water power
have been applied with the greatest care and industry in the Has
lingden district, and from being a mere forest with eighty inhabitants,
it has become one of the most flourishing manufacturing districts
in England, with a population of nearly 70,000.
The subdivision of New'church in Bossendale is the most popu
lous part of the district, and includes the town of Bacup and the
upper part of the valley of the Irwell. In 1861 the population
of Bacup was 10,935. The subdivision of Bossendale is also very
populous. That of Edenfield, though containing a greater quantity of
good land,, is somewhat less so. The subdivisions of Haslingden and
Accrington are also very thickly peopled. The town of Hasling
den contained 6154 inhabitants at the census of 1851, and 6929
at the census of 1861.- It is the loftiest town in England, being
situated at an elevation of nearly 1000 feet above the level of
the sea. In 1851 the population of Accrington, New and Old,
was 7481, and in 1861 it was 13,872.
The yearly value of the property and income of the principal
places in the Haslingden district in 1861, was — Haslingden
£59,576 ; Bacup £73,350 ; and Accrington, New and Old, £124,492.
The value of property in the Blackburn hundred, as esti
mated for the property and income tax, amounted in 1860 to
£1,924,973. The rent of the land in the Blackburn hundred was
£212,966; the farming profits were estimated at the same; the
messuages and buildings were valued at £540,866 ; the tithes at
£437 ; the fines at £80 ; the mines at £80,430 ; the quarries
at £10,101 ; the fisheries at £72 ; the gas-works at £14,158 ;
other property and profits at £24,138 ; and the profits of trade at
£791,654. The Leyland Hundred and the Chorley District. — The Chorley
district extends over the greater part of the hundred of Leyland.
It covers an area of 52,213 acres. On the east it consists chiefly
of wild mountain land, rising in the Bivington district to the
height of 1500 feet. On the west side it contains a considerable
quantity of good arable and pasture ground at a small elevation.
Coal is very abundant in the neighbourhood of the town of
Chorley, and water-power and water available for bleaching
and print works are found along the course of the Douglas, the
Yarrow, and many smaller streams that rise among the hills to

182 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the north and east of the town of Chorley. In the subdivision
of Brindle there is a considerable quantity of good land ; there are
several manufactories, and the population is more than one person
to two acres. The land is still better, and the population more
numerous, in the subdivision of Leyland. In the Bivington dis
trict the soil is excessively wild and the country mountainous,
rising at the highest point in the Bivington hills to 1545 feet,
and at several points to from 1000 to 1200 feet. In this
district are the reservoirs of the Liverpool water-works, already
described. But this elevated district has great advantages for indus
try, in its numerous streams of water and its abundant supplies of
coal. The Croston district is a level tract of rich meadow, pasture,
and arable land, well-drained in many parts, though exposed to
floods after heavy rains among the mountains. The Chorley dis
trict, being rich in minerals and possessing numerous manufactories,
contains about two inhabitants to every acre of land. Coal is
found and worked in the Chorley district, in the townships of
Chorley, Coppull, Duxbury, Heath Charnock, and Charnock Bichard.
The hundred of Leyland, which includes the greater part of
the census district of Chorley, in 1860 contained property and
income valued at £489,613 a year. This included the items of
rent of land £137,160; profits of cultivation the same; messuages
and buildings £85,113; quarries £1393; mines £18,094; fisheries
£30; railways £330; gas-works £1220; other profits £977; and
profits of trade £107,620. The property and income of the town
of Chorley were valued in 1860 at £94,022.
The Salford Hundred. — We come now to the great manu
facturing hundred of Salford, containing the census districts of
Bolton, Bury, Bochdale, Oldham, part of Ashton-under-Lyne,
Manchester, Salford and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Barton -on -Irwell
and Leigh, districts containing upwards of 1,000,000 of inhabitants,
and yielding an income of upwards of £12,000,000 sterling per
annum. The Bolton District. — The census district of Bolton, or Bolton
in the Moors, as it used to be called, extends over 43,806 acres
of land. It is naturally one of the wildest districts in Lancashire ;
but industry and skill have rendered it one of the richest and most
populous. The land in the northern part of the Bolton district
rises to the height of 1000 to 1500 feet, and much of it is still
uninclosed, and overgrown with heath. The valleys are narrow

PAST AND PRESENT. 183

and winding, and there is little either of arable or of level ground,
though much of the grass land is rich and verdant. But there is
no part of Lancashire that is more abundantly supplied with running
streams, and with water and water-power. The rivers Croal, Tonge,
and Eagle, with numerous large brooks, flow down from the Turton,
Horwich, and Halliwell hills, all ultimately discharging their waters
into the river Irwell. Coal also is very abundant. The town of
Great Bolton stands on the northern edge of the middle or main
coal-field of Lancashire, and the town of Little Bolton on the
southern edge of the lower coal-field. Coal is also found in the
adjoining townships of West Houghton, Blackrod, Ainsworth,
Tottington, Little and Middle Hulton, Little, Great, and Darcy
Lever, Brightmede, Halliwell, Farnworth, Harwood, Horwich, Tonge,
Kersley, Quarleton, and Turton.
The district of Bolton contained 40,763 inhabitants in the year
1801, and during the first fifty years of the present century that
number increased threefold, or to ] 14,712 persons at the census of
1851. Between the census of 1851 and that of 1861 there was a
further increase of 15,558 persons, raising the population of the
Bolton district to 130,270 in 1861.
The subdivision of Turton lies amongst lofty hills, in the wildest
part of the Bolton district. It contains very little arable land, and
much of the ground is still covered with heath and moss. Yet from
its great manufacturmg resources, and the industry of its inhabitants,
it is more populous than many of the richest districts of England,
containing about one inhabitant to every acre of land, which is
about twice the average rate of population throughout the whole of
England. The Horwich subdivision is equally wild, but it contains
numerous fine springs of water (which have caused bleachworks to
be established on the banks of some of the purest streams), and also
much coal. During the last few years immense reservoirs have been
formed in this and the neighbouring townships for the supply of
Liverpool and Bolton, and of the numerous mills in the valleys.
The subdivision of Edgeworth is also lofty and barren, but abounds
in water-power and coal, and is inhabited by an industrious popu
lation, fully as numerous in proportion to the extent of the district
as that of England generally. In the subdivision of Halliwell, which
is also situated amongst the hills, the population is twice as
numerous in proportion to the area as the average population of
England; whilst the population of Tonge with Haulgh is four

184 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
times as numerous. The subdivisions of Farnworth, Hulton, West
Houghton, and Lever, are still more densely peopled; and in the
subdivisions of Sharpies, Little Bolton, and Bolton Eastern and
Bolton Western, a population of 70,000 persons is collected on a
few thousand acres of land.
The Town of Bolton. — The town of Bolton obtained a charter from
King Henry III., in the year 1252, authorizing the inhabitants to hold
a market and a fair. The manor of Bolton at that time belonged to
William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, to whom the charter was granted
by the king. A few years previous to the granting of this charter,
Banulf, earl of Chester, from whom William de Ferrers inherited the
manor of Bolton, had purchased the manors and townships of Bolton
and Little Bolton, Hilton, Brightmede, Bedcliffe, Urmston, Sharpies,
Haigh, Adlington, Darwen, Eccleshill, and Heaton, from Boger de
Mersheya, for the sum of 200 marks of silver, to which forty marks
were afterwards added on the completion of the purchase ; the two
sums being equal to about £2400 of modern money/''
Between the reigns of Henry III., and Henry VIII., Bolton had so
much advanced, that Leyland described it in his " Itinerary of Eng
land," drawn up for the information of the king, as having " a market
which stood mostly by cottons " (really woollens) " and coarse yam,"
and adds, that "divers villages in the moors about Bolton did 'make
cottons." He further adds, " that they burn at Bolton some cannal,
but more sea coal, of the which the pits be not far off." From that
time to the commencement of the present century Bolton continued
to advance steadily in industry and prosperity, but since that time it
has advanced with constantly increasing rapidity. In 1801 Bolton
contained 17,977 inhabitants, which number had increased in 1851
to 61,171. Between the census of 1851 and that of 1861 there was
a still further increase of upwards of 9000, and in 1861 the popula
tion of Bolton was 70,396 persons : according to a return recently
laid before Parliament, the population of the borough of Bolton
in 1866 was computed to be 75,516 persons.!
The yearly amount of the property and income of the town of
Bolton in 1860 was £586,363. Of this amount £215,947 was derived
from messuages and buildings; £3600 from cultivation of land; and
£366,812 from profits of trade.
The Bury District. — The census district of Bury lies to the east
of Bolton. The river Irwell runs through it. The land extends
* Duchy Office, Carta; Regum, No. 79. f Electoral Returns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66, p. 96.

PAST AND PRESENT. 185

over an area of 32,990 acres. In the valley of the Irwell the land
is very rich, especially in the meadows along the stream. There
is also some good land on the sides of the hills, and the tops of
the hills are in many places planted with larches, firs, and other
mountain trees. The river Irwell and several smaller streams sup
ply abundant water-power to the whole district. The middle or
principal coal-field of Lancashire extends to the town of Bury on
the south, and the lower coal-field joins it on the north and east.
In and around Bury there are coal mines, at Bury, Batcfiffe,
Batcliffe bridge, Prestwich, Elton, Shuttleworth, Halcombe Hill, and
Walmersley. The Bury district is increasing rapidly in population. In 1801 it
contained only 31,853 inhabitants. During the next fifty years
that number had increased to 88,515, and during the next ten years
there was a further increase of 12,627 persons, raising the population
in 1861 to 101,142 persons.
The Town of Bury. — The town of Bury is of great antiquity.
In the time of Leyland, that is, in the reign of Henry VIII., iron
was made in the neighbourhood of Bury ; but at that time the art
of smelting iron ore with coal was not known, and as Leyland says,
" from lack of wood the blow-shops (furnaces) decayed there."
At the beginning of the present century the town of Bury con
tained 9152 inhabitants. In fifty years this increased to 31,262,
and between the census of 1851 and that of 1861 the population
of Bury increased to 37,564 persons. According to a recent return
laid before Parliament, the population of Bury in 1866 was computed
to amount to 41,175 persons/''' In 1860 the property and income
of the town of Bury were returned at £356,875. Of this amount
£206,28~4 was derived from buildings and land, and £145,660 from
profits of trade. All the subdivisions of the Bury district are densely
peopled, and abound in industry and wealth. The subdivisions of
the Bury district are Halcombe, Tottington, Walmersley, Birtle,
Heywood, Elton, Badcliffe, and Pilkington.
The Rochdale District— The census district of Bochdale, covering
an area of 40,340 acres, lies chiefly among lofty hills that rise into
rugged heath-covered mountains in the ridges which divide Lanca
shire from Yorkshire. There is a range of rich meadow land along
the banks of the Boch, and of several of the smaller streams, and
also a fair quantity of arable and good pasture land on the west
* Electoral Returns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66, p. 95.
VOL. I. 2 A

186 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
side of the district. The rivers and streams are numerous, and
the water-power is abundant. The lower coal-field of Lancashire
extends over the greater part of the district.
The Bochdale district contained only 26,577 inhabitants at the
census of 1801. This number had increased to 72,514 in 1851.
The increase was still greater, in proportion, between 1851 and
1861, having amounted to 19,243 persons, raising .the population
of the Bochdale district in 1861 to 91,757 persons. All the sub
divisions of the Bochdale district are thickly peopled : they are,
Blachinworth, which extends up the sides of Blackstone Edge, above
Littleborough, and along the banks of the river Boch, which flows
down from those heights, and turns many mills in its course towards
Bochdale ; Wuerdale, on the banks of the same stream ; Whitworth,
in a hilly region towards the north; Spotland, Wardleworth, and
Butterworth ; with the subdivisions of Castleton Within and Castleton
Without, containing the greater part of the town of Bochdale.
The Town of Rochdale. — Bochdale is a very old town, being
mentioned in the Domesday Survey under the name of Becedham.
The woollen manufacture has flourished in that neighbourhood since
the reign of Edward III., when some of the Flemish weavers, who
came over to England in that reign, are said to have settled there.
In 1801 Bochdale contained 8 5 12 inhabitants, and in the first fifty
years of the present, century its population had increased to 29,198.
In 1861 it had still further increased to 38,184 persons, and,
according to a return laid before Parliament in 1866, the population
of the borough of Bochdale was computed to amount to 43,668
persons/1" The value of the property and income of Bochdale in
1860 was £328,620. Of this amount £146,030 was derived from
buildings and land, and £145,741 from profits of trade.
The Oldham District. — The Oldham census division extends over
the range of hills known as Stennage, which divides Lancashire from
Yorkshire, and over a portion of the plain that lies at their feet.
The division rises on the east into lofty and barren mountains,
from which the waters of the river Medlock and of several smaller
streams rush down to the plain. There is very good grass land along
the banks of these streams, and still more on the level ground. But
the great wealth of the Oldham district is in its rich veins of coal,
belonging to the middle coal-field of Lancashire, which extend over
nearly the whole district.
* Electoral Eeturns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66, p. 202.

PAST AND PRESENT. 187

The area of the Oldham district is 16,872 acres. The subdivisions
of Boyton and Crompton, though rising into lofty hills, are very
thickly peopled ; and those of Chadderton and Middleton, that lie
nearer to the plain, are much more so.
At the commencement of the present century, the Oldham census
district contained 26,646 inhabitants. During the first fifty years of
the century that number had increased to 86,788. The rate of
increase during the ten years between 1851 and 1861 has been
still more rapid, having amounted to 24,479 ; thus raising the
population of the Oldham district in 1861 to 111,267 persons.
The Town of Oldham. — The town of Oldham has increased with
great rapidity. In 1801 it contained 21,677 inhabitants, and in
1851, 72,357. The increase was still greater between 1851 and
1861, Oldham having contained a population of 94,344 inhabitants
at the census of 1861. According to a return laid before Parlia
ment, the borough of Oldham was computed to contain 107,729
persons in the year 1866*
The yearly value of the property and income of the town of
Oldham in 1860 was £433,459. Of this sum £188,858 was derived
from buildings and land, and £196,173 from profits of trade.
The District of Ashton-under-Lyne. — The extensive district of
Ashton-under-Lyne, which covers an area of 38,657 acres, lies chiefly
among mountains and hills, and extends up the Longdendale valley
to the summit of the mountains that divide Lancashire and
Cheshire from Yorkshire. The division consists chiefly of wild
moors and mountain pastures on the eastern side, with some good
grass land and rich meadows towards the plain. Numerous streams
flow from the mountains, the most considerable of which are the
Etherow and the Tame. Coal is found in great abundance, not only
in the lower parts of the district, but nearly to the tops of the
mountains. The district of Ashton-under-Lyne contained only 27,361 persons
at the beginning of the present century. In 1851 it contained no
less than 119,199 persons. The increase was also very rapid between
1851 and 1861j having amounted to 15,562 persons during those ten
years ; thus raising the population of the census district of Ashton-
under-Lyne, in 1866, to 134,761 persons.
The Town of Ashton-under-Lyne. — The town of Ashton-under-
Lyne has increased very rapidly during the present century. In
* Electoral Returns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66, p. 187.

188 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
1801 it contained only 6391 inhabitants. The number had increased
to 30,676 persons in 1851, and to 34,886 in 1861. According to the
estimate of a recent parliamentary return, the population of the
borough of Ashton-under-Lyne in 1866 was 36,190/'r The yearly
value of the property and income of Ashton-under-Lyne, in 1860,
amounted to £216,635. Of this sum £107,621 was derived from
buildings and land, and £100,665 from profits of trade.
The City and District of Manchester. — Manchester, the capital
of the manufacturing district of Lancashire, now really extends over
the census divisions of Manchester and Chorlton, and is closely
connected with that of Salford, from which it is only separated
by a narrow river.
The census district of Manchester covers an area of 12,628 acres.
It is very thickly built over in many parts, and the population is
overflowing in vast numbers into the districts of Chorlton and
Salford. It has required a period of 1500 to 1600 years, if not longer,
to raise Manchester to what it now is, although nearly three-fourths
of its growth has taken place during the present century.
The great natural advantage of Manchester, in former times,
was the fertile range of country that extends up the river Irwell
to Bury, and down the same river to Warrington, together with
the abundance of water and water-power supplied by the con
fluence of the three rivers — -Irwell, Irk, and Medlock — within its
limits. In modern times the greatest natural advantage of
Manchester has been its position in the immediate neighbourhood
of two of the Lancashire coal-fields. The upper or Manchester
coal-field comes close upon the city, and even within it on the
east, while the great middle coal-field of Lancashire approaches
as near as to Pendleton on the west. It thus possesses, and
has for ages possessed, every advantage as a manufacturing city,
that Nature could supply, and these have been improved by
intelligence, skill, and the most persevering industry.
The original recommendations of the site of Manchester to the
Bomans, who either founded or greatly improved the city (which
was known in ancient times as Mamucium, or Mancunium), were
the fertility of the soil, the healthiness of the position, and the
neighbourhood of rivers, which they used for the purpose of
defence as well as that of communication. These natural advantages
* Electoral Eeturns, Boroughs and Counties, 1865-66, p. 73.

PAST AND PRESENT. 189

maintained Manchester in existence during the whole of the Saxon
period, with the rank of a burgh or town, which it held in the time
of Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder, even after it had
been almost ruined in the wars between the Danes of Northumber
land and the Saxon kings. At the time of the Domesday Survey
Manchester was the most considerable place in South Lancashire,
though at that time much decayed, from the desperate wars that had
been waged for so many hundred years in the north of England.
In the year 1222 King Henry III. granted the right to hold a weekly
market and a yearly fair at Manchester ; and in the year 1301
Thomas de Gresley, baron of Manchester, granted a charter to the
burgesses of Manchester, with the usual privileges of local govern
ment and of trade.
Between this period and the accession of the Tudor princes,
Manchester became a considerable manufacturing town. When
Leland visited it, in the reign of Henry VIII., he states .that
'•'Manchester was the fairest, best builded, quickest, and most
populous town of all Lancashire, with divers fair mills on the river
Irk, and with two market places," and speaks of the manufacturers
of Manchester "as buying much Irish yarn at Liverpool." A few
years later, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Camden speaks of
Manchester "as excelling all the neighbouring towns in ornament,
populousness, in its woollen manufacture, its court-house, church,
and college," and speaks of the superiority of its woollen cloths, then
known by the name of " Manchester cottons." These manufactures
were known in the Brazils in the year 1573. In the reign of James I.
cotton wool began to be imported into Manchester from the Levant ;
and, in the reign of Charles' II., Andrew Yarranton, one of the
principal writers on trade of that age, spoke of Manchester as
being "the great master in all things that it trades in." About
the year 1730 Manchester obtained the great advantage of cheap
water-carriage to Liverpool, by the improvement of the Irwell and
Mersey. About the year 1760 it obtained the advantage of canal
navigation with the Worsley coal-field, and about fifteen years
afterwards, of canal navigation with Liverpool by the Bridge-
water canal. Cotton machinery was introduced at Manchester soon
after it was invented, and the steam-engine was applied to the
working of that machinery during the last fifteen years of the last
century. During that period Manchester was connected by canal
navigation with the adjoining towns of Bolton, Bury, Bochdale,

190 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Oldham, Ashton, and Stockport ; besides being connected by the
Bochdale and Huddersfield canal and the High Peak canal with
the West Biding of Yorkshire, the coal-field of Cheshire, and the
limestone district of Derbyshire. At the beginnmg of the eighteenth
century the population of Manchester amounted to 10,000 to
20,000 inhabitants; at the accession of George III. in 1760 it
was from 30,000 to 40,000 ; at the close of the century it was
very nearly 100,000; in 1851 the population of Manchester had
increased to 316,213 inhabitants. It 1861 it had further increased
to 357,604 inhabitants; and according to a return recently laid before
Parliament, the population of the city of Manchester in the year
1866 was computed to be 380,887 persons. In a subsequent part
of this work we shall trace the rise of this great city more fully,
through successive ages, from the time of its origin to the age
in which we live.
The wealth of Manchester is enormous. According to the returns
of the Property and Income Tax in the year 1860, the yearly value
of property and income in Manchester was £5,775,453. Of this
immense sum £2,060,181 was derived from buildings, land, and
public works, and £3,715,272 from profits of trade. According to
the same return the valuation of property and income in the division
of Manchester was £7,2 12,05 4. Of this £1,63 7,5 70 was derived from
messuages and buildings, and £4,239,416 from profits of trade.
The Chorlton District. — The rapid increase in the population of
the Chorlton district, which adjoins on Manchester, arises chiefly
from the overflow of the population and the spread of the wealth
of Manchester into the adjoining townships. The Chorlton district
covers an area of 11,549 acres. At the census of 1841 it contained
9342 inhabitants, and fifty years after, at the census of 1851, it
contained a population of 123,841 persons; its population having
increased more than twelvefold in that period. Between 1851 and
1861 the Chorlton district still further increased by no less than
45,738 persons, making its population in 1861, 169,579.
The District and Borough of Salford. — The census district and
borough, of Salford cover an area of 4830 acres. Salford has had a
separate jurisdiction from Manchester for many hundred years, and
probably gave its own name to the hundred of Salford previous to
the Norman Conquest. The sources of its prosperity are, however
the same as those of Manchester, being derived from the same river
which flows between the two places, conferring equal advantages

PAST AND PRESENT. 191

on each, and from the proximity of the same coal-fields. In early
times the coal-field was first worked in the upper field, which lies
nearer to Manchester than it does to Salford; but at present
valuable coal-fields are also worked on the Salford or western side
of the Irwell.
Salford contained only 18,525 inhabitants at the commencement
of the present century. Fifty years later the number had increased
to 87,523 persons. Between 1851 and 1861 the population of Sal
ford increased to 105,335. According to an estimate recently laid
before Parliament, the population of Salford in 1866 was computed
at 112,403 persons. The yearly value of property and income in
Salford in 1860 was £546,329. Of this amount £258,761 is derived
from messuages and buildings, and £255,236 from profits of trade.
District of Barton-on-Irwell. — Following the course of the rivers
Irwell and Mersey towards the sea, we come next to the census
district of Barton-on-Irwell, covering an area of 23,279 acres. This
district contains much good land on its eastern and southern sides,
but on the west and north it extends over the wide range of
Chat Moss, formerly the largest of the peat mosses of South Lanca
shire, but now much reduced in extent by cultivation. The new
red sandstone is the prevailing formation of this district, but coal
has recently been found by sinking to a great depth through that
formation into the coal measures that lie below it. The first canal
formed by Francis duke of Bridgewater runs through this district,
furnishing a cheap and easy communication from the Worsley coal
mines to the city of Manchester. The navigable river Irwell
also flows through it, and both the high road and the railway
from Liverpool to Manchester pass through the district, and cross the
canal at Patricroft, which is rapidly growing up into a considerable
manufacturing town. The subdivision of Worsley, in this district,
is rich in coal, and contains the great coal mines of the Worsley
estate, to facilitate the working of which the duke of Bridgewater
commenced his schemes of inland navigation. These works were
commenced in the year 1759; and when the first earl of Ellesmere
wrote an account of them, about twenty years ago, the total length
of the tunnels which had been opened in seeking for a working coal
was forty-two miles and one furlong, of which, however, somewhat
less than two-thirds were in disuse, and had been rendered inac
cessible/' These works have now supplied Manchester with large
* Quarterly Review, No. 146 : Article, Aqueducts and Canals.

192 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
quantities of coal for more than a hundred years. The adjoining
subdivision of Barton-on-Irwell is chiefly agricultural ; but of late
years very valuable coal mines, and a rich vein of the iron ore, known
as the blackband, have been discovered at Patricroft in this district.
The subdivision of Stretford, lying between the river Irwell and the
river Mersey, is a rich district, consisting chiefly of meadows, market
gardens, and villas, into which the city of Manchester is rapidly
extending. Trafford Park, the ancient seat of the old Lancashire
family of that name and place, fies immediately south of the river
Irwell; and Davy Hulme Park, the seat of one of the branches of
the ancient family of Norris, is situated at a little distance lower
down the stream. The subdivision of Stretford is one of the richest
and most carefully cultivated districts of Lancashire or Cheshire.
The Leigh District. — The census district of Leigh, covering 23,610
acres, is chiefly an agricultural and pastoral district on the southern
side, and a mining and manufacturing district on the north. It
contains much good and rather strong land, very -suitable for dairy
purposes, and produces cheese of very superior quality. Several
large streams flow from the hills on the north side of the district,
and unite in the larger stream of Glazebrook, which flows down
by the side of Bury Lane into the river Mersey. Great part of
the district lies on the middle or principal coal-field of Lancashire,
and magnesian limestone of great value for forming cement or
mortar, which retains its hardness under water, is found on the edge
of the coal formation. The Atherton collieries in this district are
among the largest and most productive in Lancashire, and furnish
large quantities of steam coal for purposes of navigation.
The census district of Leigh contained 17,577 inhabitants in 1801.
In the middle of the century, at the census of 1851, it contained
32,734, and at the census of 1861, 37,700. The town of Leigh in
1861 contained 10,621.
The yearly value of the property and income of the hundred of
Salford was returned in the year 1860 at the enormous sum of
£12,339,410. This amount was divided amongst the four collecting
districts of the hundred as follows: — Manchester, £7,212,054;
Salford, £1,206,090 ; Bolton, £2,007,423 ; Middleton, £1,913,843.
The Hundred of West Derby. — The hundred of West Derby
extends over the census districts of Warrington, Wigan, Ormskirk,
Prescot, West Derby, and Liverpool, and contains nearly a million
of inhabitants.

PAST AND PRESENT. 193

The Warrington District. — The census district of Warrington
extends over 36,164 acres, including land both on the Cheshire and
Lancashire side of the Mersey, which flows through it. The soil of
the district is in general very good, resting on the new red-sandstone
formation on the uplands, and on deep beds of alluvium on the banks
of the rivers. Coal is found in the northern part of this district,
and manufactures of various kinds are carried on both in the town
of Warrington and in the neighbourhood of Newton, and of Ashton
in Makerfield. The subdivision of Newton contains much very good
land, besides beds of coal at considerable depth. The subdivisions
of Winwick and Sankey, on the banks of Sankey Brook, are almost
entirely agricultural. That is also the case with the subdivision of
Bixton, in which there is much good land, but also some extensive
peat mosses. The land is excellent in the subdivision of Warwick,
and in that of Latchford, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey.
The Town of Warrington. — The town of Warrington stands on the
river Mersey, at the point where the old Boman road, running north
and south, crossed that river, and for many ages Warrington bridge
has been the chief means of communication between Lancashire and
Cheshire. At the time of the Domesday Survey, Warrington was the
chief place of the hundred of Warrington, which, like the hundred of
Newton, has been incorporated with the hundred of West Derby.
The town of Warrington has increased considerably during the
present century. In 1801 it contained 11,321 inhabitants; in 1851,
22,894; and in 1861, 26,431. According to a return laid before
Parliament the population of Warrington was computed to amount
to 28,940 persons in 1866.
The Wigan District. — The Wigan census district covers an area of
47,018 acres. A considerable part of the land towards the north is
hilly, almost mountainous, but there is some very good land along the
banks of the river Douglas. Numerous streams flow from the hills,
most of which discharge themselves into the river Douglas. The
whole district abounds in coal, and there is scarcely any part of
England in which coal is produced in larger quantities, or in forms
appficable to a greater variety of purposes. The subdivision of
Standish contains a considerable quantity of good land, and also much
coal. The Aspull district is wild and hilly, but also rich in coal.
The Hindley and Pemberton districts abound in coal, and the former
has very extensive manufactures. The district of Upholland rises
into lofty hills, containing coal and building stone of superior quality.
vol. i. 2 b

194 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Ashton in Makerfield has much good land and many mines of coal.
The Wigan census district in 1801 contained 42,565 inhabitants.
In the next fifty years the population of the district increased to
77,539 persons. Between the census of 1851 and that of 1861,
there was a further increase of 1 7,022 persons, raising the population
of the Wigan district in 1861 to 94,561.
The Town of Wigan. — The town of Wigan is a very ancient
place, standing on the line of the principal Boman road through
Lancashire, and dates from the time of the Anglo-Saxons. It had
charters in the year 1329. In 1343 the commissioners for collecting
the tax of one-ninth on moveable goods voted by Parliament to
Edward III., reported that the true value of the ninth part of the
moveable goods of the men dwelling in the borough of Wigan
was £5. 9s. id*
In the reign of Henry VIII., when Leland visited Wigan, he
reported of it that it was as big as Warrington and better built, with
a parish church in the midst of the town, and a population, some of
whom were merchants, some artificers, and some farmers. He further
stated that " Mr. Bradshaw had a place at Haigh, a mile or two from
Wigan, where he had found much cannel, like sea-coal, in his ground,
which was very profitable to him." Leland further states that cannel
and coal pits were worked in divers parts of West Derbyshire, but
that the great mine of cannel was at Haigh, two miles from Wigan.
In the civil war Wigan was fortified and held for King Charles,
but was taken by the Parliament, and was the scene of a' fierce battle
between James, earl of Derby, and the Cromwellian general, Lilburne.
Early in the eighteenth century, about the year 1 725, the river
Douglas was made navigable from Wigan to the mouth of the Bibble.
But the great cause of the progress of Wigan was the forming of the
Leeds and Liverpool canal, which runs through Wigan, and gives
it communication with Liverpool and the Mersey in one direction,
with Preston and North Lancashire in another, and with Chorley,
Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Colne, as well as the West Biding
of Yorkshire, in a third.
At the beginning of the present century the town of Wigan
contained 10,989 inhabitants. In the first fifty years of the century
this number increased to 31,941. In 1861 it had further increased to
37,658. According to a return laid before Parliament the population
of the borough of Wigan, in 1866, was computed at 40,889 persons.
* Nonarum Inquisitiones. Lancashire.

PAST AND PRESENT. 195

The Ormskirh District. — The Ormskirk census district fies between
the Wigan district and the sea. It is very extensive, covering an
area of 111,968 acres, and is the most purely agricultural district
of South Lancashire. It extends from the foot of the hills to the
sea-coast over a wide fertile plain, the eastern part of which rests
on the new red-sandstone formation, and the south on the great
alluvial beds. Nearly the whole of the land in the Ormskirk
district is suitable for the plough, and much of it is very skilfully
cultivated. It is furnished with every kind of tillage by the
Leeds and Liverpool canal, which winds through it with a most
serpentine course, from Liverpool to Burscough, in the neighbourhood
of the river Douglas. The crops grown consist chiefly of grass,
clover, potatoes, turnips, oats, and wheat ; and large quantities of
garden produce, as well as milk and butter, are raised for the
Liverpool market. The streams of the district are not numerous,
and have very little fall owing to the flatness of the country ; there
is no coal except a little in the neighbourhood of the town of
Ormskirk. The Ormskirk district is sub-divided into the sub-districts of
Bickerstaffe, Aughton, Halsall, Formby, North Meols, Tarleton, and
Scarisbrick. The occupations of the people in all these are almost
entirely agricultural, and the only towns are Ormskirk and South-
port, the latter a rapidly increasing watering-place on the sea-coast.
At the census of 1801 the district of Ormskirk contained 21,585
persons. Fifty years later, at the census of 1851, the population
had increased to 38,307. Between 1851 and 1861 there was a
further increase of 7945 persons, raising the population of the
Ormskirk district in 1861 to 46,252. The population of the town
of Ormskirk in 1861 amounted to 6426.
The Prescot and St. Heleris District. — The .Prescot and St. Helen's
district extends over an area of 56,859 acres. On the east of this
district are the coal-fields of St. Helen's, which are amongst the
richest in Lancashire ; to the south is Widness on the river Mersey,
which is rapidly becoming a manufacturing town ; to the west are
Huyton and Woolton, studded with villas, with the rich plain,
known as the Broad green of South Lancashire, lying below them ;
¦ and to the north are Prescot, Bainford, and Knowsley, with its
extensive woods, undulating park, and ancient mansion, for ages the
seat of the earls of Derby. The resources of this district are great
and varied. Much of the soil is of excellent quality, resting on the

196 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
new red-sandstone rock ; but the coal-measures cover the whole
eastern side of the district, running down southward to Whiston,
and westward under Knowsley and Croxteth parks to within
five miles of the sea.
The census district of Prescot in 1801 contained 20,703 inhab
itants, and fifty years afterwards the population had increased
to 56,074 persons. Between the census of 1851 and that of
1861 the population of the district received a further increase of
17,053 persons, raising it to 73,127 in 1861. The town of St.
Helen's contained, in 1851, 14,866, and in 1861, 18,396 inhabitants.
The town of Prescot in 1861 contained 6066 inhabitants.
The West Derby District. — The district of West Derby extends
over an area of 50,567 acres. It includes the whole of the country
around the town and port of Liverpool, and a large portion of the
densely peopled district that now forms the suburbs of Liverpool.
It is in general a fertile and pleasant country, resting on the new
sandstone formation, which rises in this part of Lancashire to a
height of from 250 to 300 feet above the level of the sea. The
West Derby district does not contain either coal or any other
minerals, with the exception of brick -clay and building stone ;
but out of these materials the town of Liverpool and the surrounding
villages have been built. The general character of the district is
suburban, villas and villages being scattered over nearly the
whole. Towards the north, in the direction of Bootle and Lither-
land, there is a quantity of level ground resting on the southern
part of the alluvial plain of Lancashire. This is of a particularly
fertile though somewhat light soil. It is carefully cultivated, and,
like the rest of the neighbourhood, is covered with villas.
At the commencement of the present century the West Derby
district contained only 11,994 persons, but in the first fifty years of the
century the population had increased to 153,279 persons. Between
1851 and 1861 the increase of the population of the district was
even more extraordinary, having amounted to 72,566 persons, raising
the whole population of the West Derby district to 225,845 persons
in the year 1861.
The Port and Borough of Liverpool. — Liverpool is now the
greatest seaport of the world according to the extent of its trade.
It owes its existence and its capacity for commercial greatness
to a wide, deep, and safe harbour, capable of receiving at one time
thousands of the largest ships that traverse the ocean.

PAST AND PRESENT. 197

It is now between 600 and 700 years since the first impulse
was given to the commerce of Liverpool by a charter of King
John, who granted to all persons, who might take the king's
burgages at Liverpool, all the rights that were at that time
enjoyed by any other borough on the sea in the king's
dominions. These rights were fully confirmed in the year 1227
by a second charter granted by Henry III., in which he gave to
the burgesses of Liverpool all the rights of local government that
were -usually granted to boroughs in those times, together with
freedom from the ancient customs paid to the crown, and the
right to form a " Hanse," or mercantile trading body, to govern and
direct the trade of the port, and to protect its rights. In the year
1298 Liverpool obtained the right of sending members to the
first Parliament assembled by King Edward I., in which both the
knights and burgesses of the kingdom were represented. In 1345
the commissioners appointed to collect the ninths of the moveable
goods payable to the king, under a grant of Parliament, reported
that the true value of the ninth part of the moveable goods of the
burgesses of Liverpool was £6 16s. 7d. — a sum equal to about
£100 in the money of the present time. In the reign of Henry
VIII., Leland, on his journey through England, found Liverpool
to be a paved town, with a chapel, a castelet, belonging to the
king, and a stone house — the tower — belonging to the earl of Derby.
Hither "Irish merchants then resorted much, as to a good haven
where there was small custom paid." These two circumstances
caused the resort of merchants, "who brought good merchandise
to Liverpool, including much Irish yarn that Manchester men did
buy." In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Camden speaks of Liver
pool "as the most frequented passage to Ireland, and as a place
more noted for its elegance and its populousness than for its anti
quity." A hundred years later, in the reign of Charles IL, Blome,
in his "Britannia," describes it as a place "in which there were
divers eminent merchants and tradesmen, whose trade and traffic,
especially to the West Indies, have made it famous." He further
added that the situation " afforded in greater plenty, and at
more reasonable rates than most places in England, imported
commodities from the West Indies, as likewise a quick return for
such commodities, by reason of the sugar bakers and great manu
facturers of cotton in the adjacent parts, and the rather that it
is found to be the most convenient passage to Ireland, and divers

198 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
considerable counties of England with which they have intercourse
of traffic." In 1699 it was stated in a public petition from Liverpool
that it was. formerly a small fishing town, but many people coming
from London in tbe time of the sickness (the plague of London),
and after the fire, caused them to trade to the American plantations
and other places. This caused sundry other tradesmen to come and
settle there, which had so enlarged their trade, that from scarcely paying
the salary of the officers of the customs it is now the third port of
trade in England, and pays upwards of £50,000 a year to the
king. In 1708, in the reign of Queen Anne, powers were obtained
to form the first dock at Liverpool ; the second was formed in
the reign of George II. ; and a third soon after the accession of
George III. Two others were formed between the first American
war and the breaking out of the French Bevolution. Another
dock was formed about the year 1810, and soon after the close of
the great French war docks began to be formed in rapid succession.
This has continued to the present time, when the docks of Liverpool
extend six miles in length, give accommodation to about 4,000,000
tons of shipping, and afford the means of carrying on an export
trade of the value of £73,000,000 yearly in British goods and
produce, and an import trade in foreign and colonial produce of
not much smaller magnitude.
The growth of the population of Liverpool during the last
hundred years has been extremely rapid. In the year 1700 the
population was not more than from 8000 to 10,000 persons. At
the accession of George III. it was from 25,000 to 30,000. Previous
to the breaking out of the great French war about the year 1792
it was 60,000. At the census of 1801 Liverpool contained 83,653
inhabitants, or, including the whole of the present limits of the
borough, 89,250. At the end of fifty years, at the census of
1851, the number of inhabitants ih the borough of Liverpool was
375,955, and in 1861 the number had increased to 443,874, making
Liverpool the most populous town in the United Kingdom, after
the metropolis. According to a return recently laid before Parlia
ment, the population of Liverpool in the year 1866 was computed
at 482,409 persons.
If the suburbs of Manchester and of Liverpool, over as wide an
area as those of London, were included within the population of the
two places, so as to comprise within them an area of 78,000 acres,
which is the area of the metropolitan district, both Liverpool and

PAST AND PRESENT. 199

Manchester would be found to contain from three-quarters to
a million of persons. The population at present returned as
belonging to Manchester is confined to an area of 12,000 acres, and
that included in Liverpool is contained within an area of 4000 acres.
The inhabitants of the borough and port of Liverpool possessed
in 1860 a yearly income, under the heads of property and income,
amounting to £6,575,455. Of this immense sum £1,425,965 was
derived from buildings, land, and public works, and £5,149,490
from profits of trade.
The yearly value of the property and income of the West Derby
Hundred in the year 1860, was £9,916,841. This was derived from
six collecting districts, in the following proportions : — Liverpool,
£6,575,455; Prescot first, £981,201; Prescot second, £634,567;
Warrington, £976,132 ; Ormskirk, £482,924 ; and Wigan, £266,562.
The County of Chester. — Passing on to the county of Chester, we
find a similar connection between the natural resources of each of
the districts into which it is divided, and its population and
wealth. Cheshire is divided into the hundreds of Macclesfield,
Nantwich, Northwich, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Broxton, and Wirral.
It is subdivided into eleven census divisions. Three of these may
be regarded as manufacturing and mining districts—viz., Stockport,
Macclesfield, and Congleton. One of them is at once an agricultural
and a mining district — namely, Northwich, the seat of the salt
trade ; two are purely agricultural — Nantwich and Altringham ;
three unite agriculture with commerce — namely, Buncorn, Boughton,
or Chester, and Wirral ; and Birkenhead, which has recently been
formed into a separate district, depends entirely on trade, commerce,
and shipping.
The Stockport District. — The district of Stockport covers an area
of 3709 acres, and is the most thickly-peopled portion of Cheshire.
The greater part of the land is hilly and almost mountainous ; but
the whole of it abounds in streams, and much of it possesses rich
beds of coal The subdivision of Marple in this district consists
chiefly of lofty moors, through which the river Goyt descends to
join the river Etherow, and thus to form the river Mersey. Coal is
found on the sides and even on the summits of these hills, at an
elevation of 1500 to 1800 feet; and this abundant supply of fuel,
with the water-power furnished by numerous streams, has filled the
valleys and covered the hill-sides with population and industry.
The district of Hyde is still richer in minerals and manufactures,

200 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and Hyde itself has rapidly grown up into a large town of 13,722
inhabitants. The districts of Cheadle and Hazlegrove possess a good
soil and culture, and are within easy reach of the Poynton coal-field,
from which Stockport also draws its chief supplies of coal. This is
a continuation of the richest part of the coal-field of Lancashire.
The population of the Stockport division in 1801 amounted to
32,772; in 1851 to 90,208; and in 1861 to 94,360 persons.
The Town of Stockport. — The town of Stockport is an ancient
place, and has charters several hundred years old ; but it contained
only 14,850 inhabitants at the commencement of the present century.
In 1851 the number had increased to 53,835, and in 1861 to 54,681.
The yearly value of the property and income of the borough of
Stockport in 1860 was £271,582. Of this amount £149,741 was
derived from buildings, &c, and £121,821 from profits of trade.
The Macclesfield District. — The district of Macclesfield, covering
an area of 80,560 acres, is in general wild and mountainous, rising
on the east side to the height of 1500 to 1800 feet. In former
times it was known as the forest of Macclesfield. On the higher
grounds there is little good ground ; but the western side of the
district, close to the Cheshire plain, is very fertile. Coal is found
even to the tops of the highest ranges of hills ; and this, with the
numerous streams, of which the river Bollin is the largest, has
created the prosperity of Macclesfield, where the silk and the cotton
trades have been long established. The subdivision of BainoWj
rising to the tops of the lofty hills that separate Cheshire from
Derbyshire, is very thinly peopled. It consists almost entirely of
mountain land, and owes whatever population exists to the coal
mines and slate quarries that are found amongst the hills. The
district of Prestbury is somewhat less lofty, and also contains
mines of coal. The district of Bollington, in the neighbourhood
of Macclesfield, has numerous streams and many mills, which is
also the case with the extensive district of Sutton. Gawsworth,
approaching and extending over the plain, is chiefly an agricultural
and grazing district. That is also the case with the district of
Alderley, although a copper mine has been discovered there, and
although the beauty of the scenery on Alderley Edge has caused
numerous villas to be erected along its sides, which command
extensive views of the Cheshire plain and the distant hills. The
census district of Macclesfield contained 24,215 inhabitants in the
year 1801. From that time to the year 1851 the progress of

PAST AND PRESENT. 201

population was rapid, the numbers having increased to 63,327 at
the census of that year. During the ten years between 1851 and
1861 there was a slight decrease in the population of the Macclesfield
district, which in the latter year amounted to 61,543 persons.
The Town of Macclesfield. — The town of Macclesfield in the year
1801 contained 10,613 inhabitants; in 1851 it contained 39,048;
and in 1861, 36,095. The yearly value of property and income
of the borough of Macclesfield in 1860 was £171,977. Of this
amount £10,927 was derived from buildings, &c, and £91,050 from
profits of trade.
The Congleton District. — The census district of Congleton,
covering a wide area of 52,889 acres, is the third and last of the
manufacturing districts of Cheshire. This district rises to the tops
of the hills, and to an elevation of nearly 2000 feet on the eastern
side, but stretches far into the plain on the west. The river Dane,
with numerous smaller streams, flows from the highest hills, and,
passing through the town and neighbourhood of Congleton, does
much to create and sustain the manufacturing prosperity of the
place. With the exception of the town and neighbourhood of
Congleton, the whole district consists of agricultural or grazing land.
But extensive salt-works exist on the banks of the Wheelock river
in the district of Sandbach. The Congleton district contained
14,803 inhabitants in 1801, 30,512, in 1851, and 34,328 in 1861.
The Town of Congleton. — The town of Congleton had 10,520
inhabitants in 1851, and 12,334 in 1861.
The Nantwich District. — The Nantwich district, covering an area
of 111,126 acres of land, forms the upper part of the fertile valley
of the Weaver. It is at present a purely agricultural district,
containing no minerals that are worked, although salt is very
abundant in the neighbourhood of the town of Nantwich, and was
extensively worked in former times. When Leland was in this
neighbourhood in the reign of Henry VIII., he found that there
were 300 salters, or manufacturers of salt, in the town of Nantwich,
and that the brine from which the salt was made was conveyed by
a canal to the different furnaces where it was evaporated. At that
time there were large quantities of firewood on the hills, but there
is no coal within a considerable distance, and when the firewood was
consumed the manufacture of salt died out.
The Town of Crewe.- — -But a large town is rising in the
Nantwich district, at the Crewe railway junction, where all the
vol. i. 2 c

202 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
trains passing along the London and North-western railway from
and to Lancashire and Cheshire, and places still further north, as
well as those passing between London, Wales, and Ireland, now
stop to re-arrange the carriages. There, also, immense manufactures
of railway machinery are now carried on. In ancient times the great
system of Boman roads met at a place a few miles north of the
present Crewe station, named Condate, which is supposed to have
been Middlewich, or its suburb, Kinderton, on the banks of the
river Dane.
The Nantwich census district contained 24,163 inhabitants in
1801, 35,941 in 1851, and 40,954 in 1861,
The Northwich District. — Descending the valley of the Weaver,
we come to the Northwich district, containing 65,445 acres of land.
Tliis is a rich agricultural and grazing country, and it also contains
the most valuable and extensive salt mines and brine springs, that
exist in Great Britain. The subdivision of Middlewich contains the
town of the same name, with several salt-works. The district of
Over is also the seat of flourishing salt-works, in the neighbourhood
of Winsford, on the Weaver. Northwich, on the same river, is
the principal seat of the salt manufacture, and the capital of .the
district. Weaverham is a beautiful grazing district, on the banks
of the river from which it takes its name.
The Northwich census district contained 17,253 inhabitants in
1801, 31,202 in 1851, and 33,338 in 1861.
The Altringham District. — The Altringham census district extends
over 73,665 acres of land, and lies along the southern bank of the
river Mersey. It is chiefly a grazing and agricultural district, and
is one of the richest and most beautiful districts of Cheshire,
containing many extensive parks, as Dunham Massey, and great
numbers of handsome villas, in the neighbourhood of Bowden, and
in other townships within a moderate distance of Manchester. The
Bridgewater canal and several railways pass through this district.
The Altringham district contained 21,681 inhabitants at the
census of 1801, 34,086 in 1851, and 40,517 in 1861.
The remaining census districts of Cheshire are Great Boughton,
or Chester, Buncorn, Wirral, and Birkenhead. These all com
municate with the sea, and three of them unite trade and commerce
with great agricultural resources.
The Chester District. — The Chester or Great Boughton district
includes a large portion of the plain of Chester, and reaches to the

pAst and present. 203

hills of Hawarden on the west, and to those of Delamere Forest on
the east. It possesses a great range of the finest pasture and
meadow land, together with the ancient and most interesting city
of Chester, for ages the capital of the north-western division of
England. The most inland and upland part of the Great Boughton district
is that of Tattenhall, including the upper part of the hundred of
Broxton. This district consists almost entirely of rich grass land,
with hills rising at some points to the height of 500 to 600 feet, and
commanding magnificent views of the plains of Chester and the
mountains of Wales. The district of Hawarden runs up the valley of
the Dee to above Eccleston, and then extends over the hills to
the borders of Flintshire.
The City of Chester. — The city of Chester is the oldest, and was
for many ages the greatest and most celebrated city, in the north-west
of England. Its history extends over a period of nearly 1800 years,
and will be fully traced in another part of this work. It owed its
origin chiefly to military considerations, and long maintained its
position as a fortress on the borders of Wales, which was then a
hostile country. In more modern times the fertility of its soil, and
the advantages of its position on the river Dee, together with the
residence of the bishop and the clergy of the cathedral, of numerous
families connected with the country, and an extensive trade with
North Wales and the interior of Cheshire, have maintained its
position. It has also a considerable trade at its port of Saltney,
in coal, salt, iron ore, potter's clay, and other articles ; and it is
the centre of a rapidly increasing railway communication, not only
with North Wales, but with the Irish capital and all parts of Ireland.
The city of Chester has more than doubled its population in the
present century. In 1801 it contained 15,052 inhabitants. This
number had increased at the census of 1851 to 27,766, and in 1861 to
31,110. According to a return laid before Parliament, the population
of Chester was computed to amount to 32,950 in the year 1866. The
yearly income of the city of Chester in 1860 was £465,831 ; of
which £314,453 was derived from buildings, land, and public works,
and £151,378 from profits of trade.
The Runcorn District. — The Buncorn district covers an area of
45,776 acres, and lies on the southern bank of the estuary of the
Mersey, near the point where the river Weaver flows into that
stream. The land is extremely rich, both on the banks of the

204 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Mersey and up the valley of the Weaver, but it rises into very lofty
hills behind Frodsham in Delamere Forest. The subdivision of
Budworth in this district consists chiefly of pasture land, much of it
of the best quality. The subdivision of Daresbury is more hilly than
that of Budworth. The district of Frodsham is very fertile, especially
in the neighbourhood of the town, where the soil is deep and rich,
and much of it laid out in market gardens. Delamere Forest is a
wild, recently reclaimed, and only partially cultivated district, rising
to the height of 600 to 700 feet, and chiefly consisting of pasture
land, with very extensive plantations of oak and other kinds of
timber, belonging to the crown.
The census district of Buncorn contained 11,408 inhabitants in
1801. This had increased to 25,797 in 1851, and to 26,792 in 1861.
The Town of Runcorn. — The town of Buncorn is a place of extreme
antiquity, but owes its present prosperity to the improvement of the
Mersey and Irwell navigation, effected about the year 1730, and to
the forming of the Duke of Bridgewater's canal from Manchester to
the river Mersey at Buncorn, which was completed about the year
1776. Its prosperity was still further increased by the forming of
the Grand Trunk canal, from the river Mersey to the river Trent. By
the formation of these several lines of water-carriage, Buncorn became
the port for a very extensive inland communication. It is now about
to become an important railway position, the London and North
Western Bailway Company having constructed a magnificent bridge
across the river Mersey at Buncorn, which will turn the passenger
traffic between Liverpool and London through this place. Buncorn
has also very considerable manufacturmg advantages, being situated
within a moderate distance both of the coal-field of Lancashire and
the salt-field of Cheshire, and with cheap and easy communication
with Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, and all the populous
districts around those great centres of trade, commerce, and industry.,
The population of Buncorn at the census of 1861 was 10,434.
The Wirral District. — The Wirral district, extending over an
area of 112,110 acres, was an exclusively agricultural and grazing
district until about forty years ago, when the introduction of steam
navigation, and the establishment of steam ferries between Liverpool
and the Cheshire side of the Mersey, began to cause a large popu
lation to pour into Wirral, and to establish itself at Birkenhead, and
at all the ferries from Eastham down to New Brighton. The interior
of Wirral still consists almost entirely of an arable and grazing

PAST AND PRESENT. 205

district, occupied by a rural population ; but with many handsome
villas, chiefly belonging to the merchants of Liverpool, springing
up at numerous points. In former times there was sufficient depth
of water in the river Dee to enable the communication with Ireland
to be carried on from Neston and Parkgate in this district ; but
that has long ceased to be the case. Some attempts have also been
made to work coal mines in the neighbourhood of Neston, but the
works have not hitherto been very successful, although it is certain
that the coal measures of North Wales do extend under the river
Dee, and crop up in Wirral near Neston.. The Eastham district
is an agricultural country, in which cultivation has been greatly
improved during the last twenty years, chiefly from the influence
of capitalists from Liverpool, who have made extensive purchases
of land in that neighbourhood. The district of Woodchurch, forming
the highest part of the hundred of Wirral, is still comparatively
thinly peopled ; but that of Wallasey, which was at one time con
sidered the wildest part of Wirral, is now overflowing with popu
lation, and covered with beautiful villages and villas.
New Brighton has risen within the last thirty years to the
position of a populous and attractive watering place, with a resident
population of 2404 inhabitants.
The Town and Port of Birkenhead. — By far the greatest increase
both in population and wealth, in this district, is in the newly created
parliamentary borough of Birkenhead. So recently as the census
of 1811, the township of Birkenhead did not contain more than 110
inhabitants. At the census of 1851 it contained 34,000 inhabitants ;
at that of 1861, 51,649 ; and in 1866 Birkenhead was computed
to contain 60,504. The introduction of steam navigation, and the
establishment of steam communication between Liverpool and Birk
enhead gave the first impulse to the progress of Birkenhead.
Within the last twenty years most extensive docks have also been
formed in the arm of the sea, formerly known as Wallasey Pool
These are now among the most extensive and perfect works of the
kind in England. They are united with the docks of Liverpool,
under the government of the Mersey docks and harbour board,
and cannot fail to give a great and rapid extension to the prosperity
of Birkenhead, and to afford greatly increased facilities to the
extensive and ever increasing commerce of the Mersey. These works
will be fully described in a succeeding chapter of this work.
The yearly value of property and income in the parliamentary

206 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
borough of Birkenhead in the year 1860 was £429,218 ; namely, in
Birkenhead £364,797; in Tranmere £50,051; and in Claughton
£14,370. The total amount of the property and income of Lancashire and
Cheshire, together forming the north-western district, amounted in
the year 1860 to £32,376,246, forming about the tenth part of the
property and income of the United Kingdom for the same year. To
this, however, ought to be added the sum of £12,000,000 paid yearly
as wages in the cotton manufacture, and a large but uncertain
sum, either paid in wages in other occupations, or derived from
incomes of other kinds of less than £100 a year. Altogether the
property and income of the two counties cannot be less than about
£50,000,000 a year. The population of the two counties amounted,
at the census of 1861, to very nearly 3,000,000 of persons, and at
the present time amounts to somewhat more than that number.
In extent, they form about the fortieth part of the territory of
the United Kingdom, whilst both in population and wealth they
form about the tenth part.
Such are the natural resources, and such the population and
wealth, at the present time, of the north-western district of England,
composed of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. We now
proceed to trace the rise and progress of society, invention and
industry, from the earliest ages to the times in which we live.

PAST AND PRESENT. 207

CHAPTEB II.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE
NORMAN CONQUEST.
In commencing the history of a portion of Great Britain, in which
trade and commerce have been carried to so great an extent in
modern times, it is not uninteresting to remark, that it was the
enterprise of a commercial and trading people that first discovered,
and brought to the knowledge of the more civilized nations of
ancient times, that there existed in the Atlantic Ocean, far beyond
the Pillars of Hercules and the passage from the Mediterranean,
two large and several smaller islands, yielding many valuable
products, and inhabited by a people willing to trade with foreign
nations. The merchants and . navigators of Tyre, Carthage, and
Cadiz — all of the Phoenician race — were amongst the earliest traders
to, if not the first discoverers of, the British Islands ; and it was
from them that the Greeks, and the Greek colonists settled along
the shores of the Mediterranean, obtained the knowledge which
induced them to open a trade with these islands, at a somewhat
later period. According to the statement attributed to Hamilco,
the Carthaginian navigator, which claims to be • the oldest notice
that we possess of the British Islands, the earliest traders with the
British Islands were the Tartessians, the ancient inhabitants of
Andalusia, in the south of Spain, subjects of Tyre and Carthage,
and residing in the neighbourhood of Cadiz or Gadira, where the
Phoenicians had formed a colony, as early as from 1000 to 1100
years before the birth of Christ. This trade, having once originated,
was carried on from Cadiz by the, Phoenicians for many hundred
years. The voyage from that port to the iEstrymnian or Scilly
Islands, off the coast of Cornwall, at that time occupied about four
months. The principal trading stations were in the small group of
islands above named, which were stated to be close to the isle of
Albion, and two days' sail from the sacred island of the Hibernians
— a position answering closely enough to that of the Scilly Islands.
The inhabitants of these islands were reported by" Hamilco to be

208 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
numerous, ingenious, and proud. They were fond of trade and
commerce, but understood nothing of shipbuilding or .navigation, and
had no vessels except small canoes formed of skins and hides. The
principal article which they supplied to the traders frequenting their
coasts was tin — a metal that is still found, though in decreasing
quantities, on the coasts of Cornwall, and which is scarcely found
in any other part of Europe. The metal tin was known to the
Greeks by the name of kassiteros as early as the time of Homer, and
was no doubt purchased by them from the Phoenicians, who were
the great merchants and navigators of ancient times, and whose
voyages extended to the Indian Ocean in one direction, and to
the west and north of Europe in another. It is not at all certain
whether the earliest supplies of that valuable metal were obtained
from the Indian or the British mines. According to the illustrious
Humboldt, the Greek name for the metal tin is derived from the
Sanscrit name for the same metal, which, as he informs us, was
kastira. It is possible, and not improbable, that the Phoenicians of
Tyre and Sidon, who made long voyages in the Indian Ocean at
least a thousand years before the Christian era, may have found
that metal in Banca or other islands of the Indian Archipelago,
where it is still met with in large quantities, or in the great
commercial entrepot of Ceylon or Taprobane, where they traded with
the merchants of the furthest East. They may have brought the
name as well as the metal into Europe from the East, even previous
to the discovery of the tin mines of Cornwall. But wherever the
name was first used, it was applied from a very early period to
the British Islands, which were known as the Cassiterides, or
tin-producing islands, long before they were known as the Islands
of Britain/-' It was also the enterprise of a commercial people that first
brought the merchants and traders of the Greek colony of Massilia
— the present Marseilles — who had settled on the southern coast of
Gaul, upwards of 600 years before the Christian era, to the British
Islands at a very early period. These enterprizing traders carried
on a large commerce with the interior of Gaul, and with the shores
of the Atlantic Ocean, which they reached by ascending the river
Bhone, and then descending the river Loire to the ocean. They
also used the Garonne and the Seine for the same purpose ; and
* Heeren's Researches: the African Nations, i. 170. Heeren's Eesearches: the Asiatic Nations, i. 318,
340. Humboldt's Cosmos, ii., note 128.

PAST AND PRESENT. 209

after the conquest of Gaul by the Bomans those rivers became the
established mode of communication, from the shores of the Medi
terranean to those of the Atlantic Ocean. One of the earliest
accounts that we possess of Britain is that given by Pytheas, a
navigator of Massilia, who professed not only to have visited and
travelled through Britain, but even to have carried his explorations
as far as the northern island of Thule, which was probably one of
the islands either of the Orkney or the Shetland group. According
to the account of Pytheas, the Cassiterides, or Tin Islands — the
Scilly Islands — were ten in number, and were all inhabited except
one/ The inhabitants traded with the Phoenicians of Cadiz, sup
plying them with tin, lead, and hides, and in return purchasing
earthenware, vessels of brass, and salt. They subsisted chiefly on
milk, and on the flesh of their cattle, and led wandering lives.
They wore long beards, and dressed in dark robes, fastened with
leathern belts. The geographer Strabo, who has preserved the
account left by Pytheas, states that for many ages the Phoenicians
of Cadiz had the whole trade with Britain in their own hands.
They were so anxious to conceal it from other nations, that the
captain of a Phoenician vessel, on its way to Britain, having been
followed by a Boman galley for the purpose of observing his course,
ran his own ship on shore, to avoid the danger of giving any
information as to the best mode of reaching the British Islands, and
afterwards received the value of his ship and cargo from the senate
of Cadiz, as a well-deserving citizen who' had sacrificed his property
for the good of the state. But after the destruction of Tyre by
Alexander the Great, the ruin of Carthage, and the conquest of
Cadiz and all the Carthaginian possessions in Spain by the Bomans,
the trade with Britain seems to have fallen chiefly into the hands
of the Greek colonists of Massilia, who were friends and allies of
the Bomans, and possessed the advantage of their protection and
support.* Expedition of Julius Cozsar to Britain. — About fifty years before
the commencement of the Christian era, the conquest of the whole
of Gaul by Julius Caesar extended the frontiers of the Boman
empire to the southern shore of the British Channel, and brought
the Bomans into immediate contact with the people of Britain.
But the Boman armies did not reach the north-western districts of
England until nearly 100 years after Julius Caesar's expeditions into
* Strabonis Geographia, lib. iii.
VOL. I. 2d

210 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Britain. In Caesar's first expedition, B.C. 55, he remained in the
island little more than three weeks — that is, from the 26th of
August, according to the present computation, to the 20th of
September, and at that time advanced only a few miles beyond the
limits of his own encampment on the coast of Kent. In his second
expedition, in the following year, Caesar landed in the month of
May, and remained about three months in Britain. During that
period he marched through the part of Britain that now forms the
counties of Kent and Surrey, led his army across the river Thames,
and overran considerable part of the present counties of Middlesex,
Hertford, and perhaps Essex. In this second expedition Caesar
captured the chief town in the dominions of Cassivelaunus, the most
powerful prince in the southern part of the island, to whom the
other British chiefs had committed the management of the war
against the Boman invaders. After the capture of tins city, which
is supposed to have been the place afterwards known to the Bomans
as Verulamium, now known as St. Alban's, the British chiefs in the
valley of the Thames, and to the south of that river, submitted to
the Boman authority, and agreed to pay tribute to Caesar*
After the departure of Julius Caesar from Britain, and the
commencement of the civil wars of Caesar and Pompey, and their
successors, the influence of the Bomans in Britain declined and
became merely nominal. Some years after the accession of the
Emperor Augustus, in the year 35 B.c, a demonstration was made
against Britain. This was renewed ten years later, when the
Britons, hearing of the intention of the emperor to invade Britain,
sent an embassy to him, offering to acknowledge the Boman
authority, and to pay the accustomed tribute. This was all that
the emperor required, and, owing to his influence and prudence,
Britain remained free from attack, not only during the reign of
Augustus, but also during that of two of his successors, t
Strabds Account of Britain. — It was during the peaceful reign of
Augustus that Strabo — "that noble old geographer," as Humboldt
calls him — -visited Borne, and collected the valuable information
that he has left us as to the productions of the British Islands,
the commerce of the people with the Bomans, the appearance and
manners of the people, and the policy of Augustus towards Britain.
He states that the greater part of the island is level, with much
* Dion Cassius, lib. xlix. and Iii., sec. 38 and 22. C C Taciti de Vita Agricolse, u. xiii.
f C Julii Czesaris, lib. v.

PAST AND PRESENT. 211

wood, but that there are several ranges of hills. It produces com,
cattle, gold, silver, iron, tin,- and lead ; and those articles, with
slaves and dogs of matchless sagacity, form the principal exports.
The imports, he says, are articles of small value, consisting of ivory,
bits for horses, collars, amber, glass vessels, and personal ornaments.
The Britons, Strabo says, are taller than the Gauls, but their limbs
are not so well knit. He states that, whilst at Bome, he saw
several young Britons, who were half a foot taller than the tallest
men there, but who were weak and not well formed. These were
probably overgrown youths, taken to Bome to be shown. Yellow
hair, he says, was not so common among the Britons as among the
Gauls. In disposition the Britons resembled the Gauls. In manners
they were ruder and simpler, some tribes not even knowing how to
make cheese from the milk of their cattle, or to cultivate gardens,
or to perform the more difficult operations of husbandry. With
regard to their political relations with the Bomans, Strabo says,
that Julius Caesar had twice passed over into Britain, but returned
without effecting anything of much importance, or proceeding far
into the island, on account of commotions amongst his own soldiers,
the resistance of the barbarians, and the loss of many of his ships
by the high tides of the ocean. Still, he defeated the Britons in
two or three battles, and brought away hostages, slaves, and great
booty. In the succeeding age several of the chiefs of Britain had
joined themselves to the fortunes of Augustus, and had offered gifts
in the Capitol ; so that nearly the whole island had been rendered
familiar to the Bomans. The Britons, Strabo adds, paid duties
readily on articles imported into Britain from Gaul, and on articles
exported from Britain into Gaul. Hence it was not thought
necessary to maintain garrisons in the island to collect other taxes.
To do that would have required at least one legion, and some
cavalry ; and if an attempt should be made to collect a direct tribute
of the inhabitants, the amount raised would scarcely defray the
expenses of the garrison, and the existing duties would be
diminished and their payment endangered by the commotions to
which an attempt to enforce a direct tribute would give rise.*
The policy of the two next emperors, Tiberius and Caligula, did
not differ materially from that of Augustus. Like him, they were
satisfied with nominal submission. In the reign of Caligula, dissen
sions in the family of Cynobellinus (a British prince, more familiar
"¦ Strabonis Geographia, lib. iv.

212 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
by Shakspeare's name of Cymbeline) induced Adminius, one of the
sons of Cynobelfinus, to pass over into Gaul with a small body of
troops, and to throw himself on the protection of the emperor.
Caligula, who was at that time in Gaul, affected to consider this as
a second conquest of Britain, and sent laurelled letters to Bome
announcing the glorious event. These letters were ordered to be
delivered to the consuls themselves, in the temple of Mars, in the
presence of a full assembly of the senate.*
It was not until the reign of Caius Claudius, the fifth of the
Caesars, that the great military operations were commenced, which,
after a long and desperate contest, brought the Boman armies to
the banks of the Dee and the Mersey, the Bibble and the Lime,
and established the power of Bome in the north-western district of
England. In the forty-third year of the Christian era, and nearly 100
years after Julius Caesar's first expedition to Britain, the Emperor
Claudius, having determined to make his name memorable by the'
conquest of Britain, commanded Aulus Plautius, a distinguished
senator and general, to lead an army into Britain. This army con
sisted of four legions — the second, ninth, fourteenth, and twentieth.
The last of these was afterwards established at Chester, where it
has left innumerable marks of its presence. The pretext for this
expedition was an appeal to the emperor by a British' chief, named
Bericus. He had been driven from his dominions by an insurrec
tion of his own subjects, aided by Caractacus, or Cataracticus, and
Tagodumnus, two of the sons of Cynobelfinus. t Britain was at that
time divided amongst upwards of thirty tribes,! who were generally
at war with each other, and were only too ready to call in the
Bomans to assist them against their domestic enemies.
So fittle was known of Britain at that time, and so great a fear
existed of passing into what was considered a new and unknown
world, that the soldiers of Aulus Plautius rose in open mutiny when
they were ordered to proceed into Britain.* But at length they were
induced to embark, and to pass over into the island. §
On the landing of the Boman army, the Britons, commanded by
Caractacus and Tagodumnus, the sons of Cynobelfinus, fell back
behind a deep and wide river, proBably the Medway, on the
opposite bank of which they encamped, and prepared for battle.
*- C Suetonii de Vita Caligula?, lib. iv. sec. 44. f Dion Cassius, lib. vi. sec. 10.
X G. Claudii Ptolomasi Geographiaj, lib. iv. § Dion Cassius, lib. vi. sec. 19 and 20,

PAST AND PRESENT.

213

The Bomans immediately sent a body of Gaulish troops, trained to
swim across wide rivers, to attack the Britons ; but the Gauls were
themselves attacked so fiercely by Caractacus that they were driven
back almost into the river. Seeing the peril of the auxiliaries,
Flavius Vespasian, afterwards the Boman emperor, and his son,
Titus, afterwards the conqueror of Jerusalem, passed the river, and
with difficulty held the position till nightfall. In the course of the
night the Boman army crossed the river, and on the following day
it gained a victory over the Britons.* The British army then
retired across the Thames, and the Gauls, pursuing it hastily, were
cut to pieces. The Boman soldiers followed more deliberately ; and
Aulus Plautius, seeing that everything was ready for a great victory,
sent to the emperor, to reap the laurels which it might have been
too dangerous for a subject to gather for his own brow. Claudius
immediately passed over into Britain, put himself at the head of
the Boman army, and obtained another victory, which was followed
by the capture of Camalodonum, the present Colchester. After an
absence of six months from Bome, Claudius returned there in
triumph ;t but the war in Britain continued to rage with undi
minished fury. Aulus Plautius retained his command to A.D. 50.
He succeeded at length in conquering the districts lying to the
south of the river Thames, and some territory on the north bank,
but did not advance beyond the valley of the Thames. In the course
of the- obstinate conflicts in this part of Britain, Vespasian and
Titus, his lieutenants, are said to have gained thirty battles and to
have stormed twenty cities. But the spirit of Caractacus and the
Britons was unbroken ; and when Aulus Plautius left the island,
that great chief was still in arms in South Wales and Herefordshire,
the country of the Silures.J
Aulus Plautius was recalled in the midst of an obstinate struggle,
and was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula, another Boman general of
great skill. Under his command the Bomans pushed their conquests
as far as the rivers Avon and Nene. To render their position more
secure, Ostorius Scapula determined to form a line of forts or castles
across the island, from the Avon to the Nene, as was afterwards
done by other Boman commanders, from the Solway to the Tyne,
and from the Forth to the Clyde. The attempt to carry out this
plan produced an insurrection amongst the Iceni, who resided on the
banks of the Nene and the Ouse, in the present counties of Norfolk
* Dion Cassius, lib. vi. sec. 19-23. t Dion Cassius, lib. Ix. c. 23. J Dion Cassius, lib. Ix. c. 23.

214 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and Cambridge, and who saw themselves in danger of being inclosed
by the proposed fortifications within the Boman lines, and of being
thus cut off from communication with the other British tribes
which were still resisting the Boman dominion. They rose in great
strength, and fortified themselves in a very strong position. But
the fortune of Bome prevailed : their position was stormed success
fully, and they were compelled to receive the Boman yoke, although
a native chief was left amongst them, with a shadow of authority.*
This great victory, joined to the earlier victories of Aulus
Plautius, seems to have given the Bomans influence beyond the
limits of their immediate conquests. Amongst those who sought
their friendship and support was Cartismandua, queen of the
Brigantes — the people of ancient Lancashire and Yorkshire — a weak,
selfish, and profligate woman, who seems to have been in everything
the tool of the Bomans. She apparently reigned in her own right,
but scarcely ruled ; for her husband, a chief named Venusius, was
a resolute opponent of the Bomans. After various conflicts, he
succeeded in expelling her from the Brigantine throne, though not
until she had betrayed Caractacus, and done irreparable mischief to
the independence of Britain.
Caractacus, having been driven back from the level country, had
taken a position in the country of the Ordo vices, the people of
North Wales, who, like the Silures of South Wales, had made a
determined resistance to the Boman armies. The Boman com
mander, having secured his own rear by the slaughter of the Iceni,
and having brought over Cartismandua and, as he supposed, her
subjects to the Boman interest, advanced towards the position of
Caractacus, through the country of the Cangi (probably a people of
North Wales). He had laid waste the Cangian territory, and
plundered the whole country, compelling the inhabitants to flee to
the forests and mountains; and marching westward, "had almost
reached the sea that fies opposite to Ireland," when he received
the unwelcome news that the British party, in the country of the
Brigantes, had risen against the adherents of Bome. This intelli
gence induced him to fall back, it being his policy not to push his
conquests until he had secured his rear. Such of the Brigantes as
resisted him were cut to pieces ; but a free pardon was granted to
the rest. Ostorius Scapula then marched back to the borders of
* C. C Taciti Annalium, lib. xii. sec. 31. According to a note of Brotier, the learned editor of Tacitus
the line extended from Gloucester to Northampton. See note, see. 31, lib. xii. of Annalia.

PAST AND PRESENT. 215

North Wales, to the country of the Ordovices, where Caractacus
was defeated and compelled to flee to the country of the Brigantes.
There he was seized by Cartismandua, and delivered up to the
Bomans, who put him in chains, and sent him captive to Bome,
where his noble demeanour excited admiration even amongst his
enemies.* But the capture of Caractacus did not put an end to the resist
ance of the Britons. A camp had been formed in the country of
the Silures, and a chain of forts was about to be erected, when the
Silures rose, and in a sudden attack killed the praefect of the camp,
eight centurions, and the bravest of the soldiers. Ostorius Scapula
immediately hastened to their support with the light-armed cohorts,
but was repulsed by the Silures. He then brought up the legionary
soldiers, and after an obstinate battle repulsed the Britons, though
with considerable loss. From that time the Britons kept him in
constant alarm. Bepeated battles or skirmishes took place between
detached parties roving in search of plunder. " They met," says
Tacitus, " in, sudden encounters, as chance directed or valour
prompted, in the fens, in the forests, or in the narrow defiles, the
men on some occasions led by their chiefs, and frequently without
their knowledge, as resentment or the love of plunder incited their
fury. Of all the Britons the Silures were the most determined.
They fought not merely with obstinacy, but with inveterate hatred.
It seems the Boman general had declared that the very name of
the Silures should be exterminated, like that of the Sigambri,
formerly driven out of Germany and transplanted into Gaul. This
threat reached the ears of the Silures, and roused their fiercest
passions. Two auxiliary cohorts, whom the avarice of their officers
had sent out in search of plunder, were surrounded by this daring
people and made prisoners. By a distribution of the spoils and
captives the neighbouring states were drawn into the confederacy.
Ostorius Scapula at this time was worn out with anxiety. He
sank under fatigue, and died, to the great joy of the Britons, who
saw a great and able commander, not indeed slain in battle, but
overcome by the war."t
The death of Ostorius Scapula was followed by a general insur
rection, headed by Venusius, the Brigantine, " who, since the loss
of Caractacus, was the first in fame and military skill." In the
course of this insurrection one of the legions, commanded by
* C. C. Taciti Annalinm, lib. xii. sec. 32, 33, 37. t 0. C. Taciti Annalium, lib. xii. sec. 39.

216 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Manlius Valens, risked a battle, and suffered a defeat in the
country of the Silures. In the Brigantine territory, Cartismandua
seized by stratagem the brother of Venusius and the rest of his
kindred. The Brigantes were roused by this outrage, and " scorning
to submit to a female government," with the flower of their youth
attacked Cartismandua in the heart of her territories. But this
attack was foreseen, and a detachment from the Boman army was
sent to her assistance. After an engagement, in which the result
was at first doubtful, victory inclined to the Bomans. By this
victory, and the success of the legion commanded by Cesius Nasica,
the Bomans barely held their ground in Britain during the adminis
tration of Didius Gallus and Veranius.*
Caius Suetonius Paulinus, an officer of much greater talent but
of a fierce and tyrannical character, was appointed the successor of
Veranius. When he obtained the command the Bomans had just
sustained a severe defeat from the Silures, and the country of the
Brigantes was again in the utmost confusion. ' In the hope of
striking a great and decisive blow at the nationality as well as the
religion of the Britons, the Boman general determined to attack
the Druids, the priests and leaders of the British people, in their
sacred and -hitherto inaccessible island of Mona, the present Anglesea.
With this view he led the Boman armies across the plains of the
Cornavii of Cheshire, forced the mountain passes of the Ordovices
of North Wales, and suddenly appeared on the banks of the
Menai Strait. Here the Druids received him with shouts of defiance,
and kindled fires to consume the Boman prisoners. Suetonius
Paulinus, however, found the means of crossing the strait, attacked
the Druids, cut down the sacred groves, and consumed the Druids
in their own fires, t
At the time when Suetonius Paulinus appeared to be marching
to the conquest of the whole of Britain, a great national insurrection
broke out in the southern and eastern provinces, which the Bomans
had supposed to be effectually conquered. This insurrection was
raised by Boadicea the queen of the Iceni, a people whom we have
already spoken of, as the inhabitants of the present counties of
Norfolk and Cambridge, in revenge for intolerable wrongs inflicted
on herself, her daughters, and her people by the Bomans. The
husband of Boadicea had been allowed to retain a show of power
and some property after the insurrection of the , Iceni, in the time
* C C. Taciti Annalium, lib. xii. f C. C Taciti Annalium, lib. xiv., c. 20.

PAST AND PRESENT. 217

of Ostorius Scapula. Dying about this time, he left his property
equally between his two daughters and the Emperor Nero, hoping
thus to secure friends for his family amongst the Bomans. This
disposition of his property did not, however, save it from plunder
by the Bomans, and the attempts to resist their violence brought
the last cruelties and indignities on his wife and daughters. The
queen, rendered desperate by these atrocious wrongs, called on the
people to rise against the Bomans, and was answered by a general
insurrection throughout the whole of the southern and midland
districts. Upwards of 120,000 men are said to have crowded round
her standard. With this vast host she destroyed the Boman colony
of Camalodunum or Colchester; routed the ninth Boman legion,
under the command of Petilius Cereafis ; seized upon London, which
was already a great and flourishing city ; and compelled Suetonius
Paulinus to abandon all his conquests, and hastily to concentrate
the whole of his troops, and to fight a great battle for existence.
Unfortunately for the Britons, they had no general worthy pf the
name in command of their vast army, whilst the Bomans, in Sue
tonius Paulinus, possessed a general of consummate skill. After
drawing the Britons into a narrow position, in which their great
numbers only rendered any successful movement impossible, the
Boman commander suddenly attacked them and put them to the
rout, slaughtering not less than 80,000 of their number. Boadicea
died soon after, from grief, disease, or poison. From that disastrous
day the whole of Britain south of the river Trent and east ¦ of
the Severn, bowed without resistance to the Boman yoke. But
although the insurrection of Boadicea was subdued, yet it had
the effect of introducing a milder spirit into the administration
of the . southern part of Britain. It was felt at Bome that the
insurrection had been caused by the cruelty of Suetonius Paulinus
and his lieutenants. He was soon after recalled, and was succeeded
by a governor of a milder spirit. Under his rule the southern
province was tranquillized. This system, however, was not agreeable
to the commanders of the Boman legions, especially to the commander
of the most formidable of all — the Twentieth Legion. In con
sequence of these proceedings they raised an insurrection, and
drove the governor out of the island."""
About the year 60 of the Christian era, the Britons, encouraged
by the dissensions amongst the Boman commanders in Britain, and
*" C C. Taciti Annalium, lib. xiv., u. 31. Dion Catsius, Ixii.
VOL. 1. 2 E

218 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
by the civil war which then distracted the empire, again rose in
arms against them. This insurrection was headed by Venusius
the Brigantine, the husband of Cartismandua the queen of the
Brigantes. Of Venusius and Cartismandua the great historian
Tacitus says : — " To his own natural fierceness he added a rooted
hatred of the Boman name. He was besides the sworn enemy
of Cartismandua the queen of the Brigantes, a woman of high
descent, and flourishing in wealth and power. In the reign of
Claudius she had treacherously delivered up Caractacus to swell
the pomp of the emperor's triumph. From that time wealth had
flowed in upon her with its usual consequences — luxury and dissipa
tion. She had banished Venusius, her husband, and taken Vello-
catus, his armour-bearer, to her throne and bed. By this shameful
act she lost her authority. Convulsions shook her kingdom. The
discarded husband had the people on his side, whilst his rival had
nothing but the passions and the cruelty of the queen. Venusius
was in a short time at the head of a powerful army. The sub
jects of the queen flocked to his standard, and a body of British
auxiliaries joined him. Cartismandua was reduced to the last
extremities. She invoked the protection of the Bomans, who sent
some cohorts and squadrons of cavalry to her relief. . Several battles
ensued with various success. The queen was rescued from peril, but
she lost her kingdom. Venusius wrested the sceptre from her hands,
and the Bomans were again involved in war."*
On the accession of the Emperor Vespasian to the imperial purple,
Petilius Cerealis, who had been so signally defeated in the insur
rection of Boadicea, but who had subsequently distinguished himself
in the civil war which placed Vespasian on the throne, was appointed
to succeed Vettius Bolanus as propraetor, and Julius Agricola was
appointed to the command of the Twentieth Legion in Britain.
During his command Petilius Cerealis attacked the Brigantes, and
though he did not subdue them, yet, according to the expression of
Tacitus, "he fought many battles, and those not bloodless, and
involved in war or acquired by victory great part of the country
of the Brigantes."
On the recall of Petilius Cerealis, Julius Frontinus was appointed
as his successor. He directed the Boman arms against the Silures
of South Wales, and claimed the honour of having conquered a
tribe which had successfully resisted the Bomans for thirty years.
* C C Taciii Historiarum, lib. iii., u. 45.

PAST AND PRESENT. 219

Yet his victory was only partial : and when he was recalled the
Ordovices, the people of North Wales, were in arms, and had recently
destroyed a body of Boman cavalry stationed amongst them. At
this time every thing threatened a general insurrection against the
Bomans in the northern and western districts of Britain.*
It was towards the close of the summer of the year 78, of
the Christian era, that Julius Agricola was appointed to the govern
ment of Britain. He was a man worthy of a better age, uniting a
great capacity for war, and for administration, with a generous temper
and an enlightened intellect. It was his singular good fortune to
possess in his son-in-law, Cornelius Tacitus, an historian able to do
justice to his character and his actions, t
When Julius Agricola was appointed to the command of Britain,
the southern and eastern parts of the island were completely sub
dued ; but the Ordovices of North Wales were in arms against the
Bomans, the Brigantes were in commotion, and the countries now
forming the highlands and lowlands of Scotland were untouched
by the Boman arms.
Agricola commenced his operations in the north-west district of
Britain, probably the present counties of Cheshire and Lancashire,
and perhaps at Deva or Chester, which was so long the head-quarters
of his own legion. From the valley of the Dee he advanced into the
country of the Ordovices, forming the present counties of Denbigh,
Carnarvon, and Flint. Here he defeated the native tribes in a
great battle, and advancing rapidly to the Menai Straits, crossed
them without ships, and again subdued the island, which Tacitus
names Mona, and which is the Anglesea of modern times.;]; In
his second campaign Julius Agricola advanced northward into the
country of the Brigantes, that is, into the present counties of
Lancaster and York. The force under his command is supposed to
have consisted of about 30,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry. Before
involving himself in a country of mountains and forests, and amongst
the changing waters and rushing tides .of the estuaries, which so
deeply indent the western side of the island, Agricola examined the
country in person, especially the estuaries, of which his historian has
left us a striking description. " Nowhere," says Tacitus, " is the
wonderful power of the ocean to be seen to a greater extent than
here; driving back the waters of the rivers or forcibly carrying
* C. C Taciti de Vita Agricola?, c. 17. f c- c- Taciti de vita Agricola?, c. 18.
t C. C. Taciti de Vita Agricola?, c. 18.

220 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
them away with its own. Neither are its Sowings and ebbings
confined to the usual limit of land and shore, but it works and
winds itself far into the land, and even forms bays in rocks and
mountains, as if the same were its natural bed." After carefully
exploring this unknown region in person, and forming camps in
the strongest positions of the country, Agricola advanced, offering
the inhabitants their choice .of war or peace, keeping them in
constant alarm by sudden attacks, but at the same time tendering
them his own friendship and the clemency of the emperor. By
this union of mildness and force he strengthened the Boman party,
and gradually broke down the resistance of the Brigantes. Thence
many cities and states, which had hitherto refused to acknowledge
the authority of Bome, were induced to lay aside their hostility,
and to allow their cities to be surrounded with fortifications, and
occupied by garrisons. Amongst these were probably, not only
Chester, but Manchester, Bibchester, and Lancaster, whose names
proclaim that they were great Boman encampments. Not satisfied
with a mere military occupation, Agricola, like a statesman and a
man of generous and enlightened mind, spent the succeeding winter
in introducing the refinements of civilized life amongst the people
whom he had subdued ; urging them, both in public and private,
to assume the Boman dress and manners ; to educate their children
in the Boman language and literature ; to adorn their cities with
temples, forums, and well-constructed houses ; and even to cultivate
the pleasures of the bath, of the portico, and other refinements of
civilized life. Although the fixed idea of Boman policy, which was
that of bending the whole world to submit to the authority of
imperial Bome, had its full, share in this advice, yet it was in the
circumstances generous as well as wise. It was also successful;
the toga, the badge of the race, whom one of their greatest poets
has described as — "rerum dominos, gentemque togatam" — began
to be worn and honoured; the Brigantine and Cornavian youth
aspired to speak the language of Cicero, not only for the purpose
of conversation, but also for that of oratory ; and the cities built
on the banks of the Dee, the Irwell, the Mersey, the Bibble, and
the Lune, were gradually adorned with all the requisites of civilized
life. Numerous memorials of these have been discovered in modem
times, and are still discovered daily. It is not only as the conqueror,
but as the civilizer of this district, the advocate and promoter of a
policy of mildness and justice, and the generous eulogist of the

PAST AND PRESENT. 221

temper and understandings of its earliest inhabitants, that the
name of Julius Agricola is entitled to the respect of all succeeding
generations. *
In the following campaigns of Agricola he completed the conquest
of the Brigantes, and carried the Boman arms to the foot of the
Grampians. Much of what Agricola conquered was afterwards lost ;
but the country of the Brigantes, and that of the Cornavii, includ
ing the whole of the present counties of Lancaster and Chester,
remained a part of the Boman empire. About forty years after
the retirement of Agricola from Britain the Emperor Hadrian formed
a mound eighty miles long, extending from the mouth of the Solway
to that of the Tyne. A stone wall was afterwards built along the
same line, which continued to be the boundary of the Boman empire,
almost as long as the Bomans remained in Britain.
The result of the victories of Agricola and of his successors
was to reduce the southern part of Britain to submission to the
Boman dominion, and establish the Boman authority permanently,
but less securely, in the northern districts of England and along
the borders of Wales. But the countries north of Hadrian's wall,
though sometimes overrun, were never conquered. There is also
reason to believe, from the fact that the Bomans stationed and
kept two of the three legions which formed the garrison of Britain
on the frontiers of Wales, that the resistance to their authority
continued in that mountainous region long after the age of Agricola.
York and the Boman wall in the north, and Chester and Caerleon in
the west, were the four great military positions of the Bomans in
Britain during three hundred years, and we may very safely conclude
that those were the points longest threatened by the unsubdued
resistance of the Britons.
The avowed objects of Boman policy were to conquer the world,
and to hold it in submission. Hence the Boman government was
altogether military, and more especially so in recently conquered
countries in which the spirit of resistance was only partially subdued.
The task of governing the Boman provinces in Britain, and of
resisting the inroads of the daring tribes which still held the uncon-
quered parts of the island, was committed, as we have said, to three
legions. The Second Legion was stationed in South Wales, at Isca
Silurum, afterwards Caerleon, on the river Usk ; the Sixth was
stationed at Eboracum or York, ; and the Twentieth was stationed
* C. C Taciti de Vita Agricola?, c. 20.

222 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

at Deva or Chester. The Twentieth Legion, whose head-quarters
were fixed at Chester for upwards of three hundred years, ruled
the north-western district of Britain, occasionally assisted by the
Sixth Legion, which seems at times to have furnished garrisons for
Manchester and Bibchester. The Twentieth Legion took part in
constructing nearly all the great works that were formed by the
Bomans in Britain, and seems itself to have constructed nearly
everything that was formed by the Bomans in the present counties
of Chester and Lancaster.
Ptolemy s account of the Cornavii and ihe Brigantes.— The
earliest detailed account that has come down to us of that part
of Britain which lies between Morecambe Bay on the north, and
the river Dee on the south, and of the British tribes by whom
it was inhabited, is contained in the Geography of Claudius
Ptolemy, of Alexandria, which contains a brief account of the
different regions of the ancient world, from India and the islands
of the Indian Sea to Britain. This work is supposed to have
been written in the reign of the Boman Emperor Hadrian; and
that part of it which relates to Britain is believed to have been com
posed after the year 130, in which year that emperor came over to
Britain. He brought with him the Sixth Legion, and established
it at Eboracum, or York, which from that time became the Boman
military capital of Britain. Ptolemy mentions Eboracum, or York, as
the head-quarters of the Sixth Legion ; but he is silent as to the
existence of the vallum, or mound of earth and turf, which Hadrian
erected across the island, from the present Wallsend, near the
mouth of the Tyne, to the mouth of the river Eden, near Carlisle.
Hence it has been conjectured that Ptolemy's information with
regard to Britain was collected soon after the arrival of Hadrian in
Britain, but before he had constructed the most celebrated work
formed by him in the island. At that time the greater part
of the southern portion of Britain had been nominally subject to
the Bomans, from the time of Agricola's campaigns, which ended
a.d. 80. But the northern parts even of the present kingdom of
England had been very partially conquered, and Caledonia, the
present Scotland, not at all. Many years after the death of Hadrian
the struggle between the Bomans and the Brigantes and other
northern tribes of Britain was renewed with very doubtful results.
At the time when the work of Ptolemy was composed the
southern part of Britain was a Boman province,^ but the native

PAST AND PRESENT. 223

inhabitants still formed upwards of thirty different tribes or clans,
and the greater part of the territory was known by their names.
The banks of the river Dee, now forming the county of Chester,
were at that time inhabited by a British tribe named the Cornavii,
whose territory extended northward to the river Mersey, and ended
at the present Buncorn, the promontory of the Cornavii. The
territory of the Brigantes had for its southern boundary the river
Mersey on the western side of the island, and the Ouse and
Humber on the eastern.
In the most flourishing period of the Cornavian tribe its
territory is supposed to have extended from the river Dee to the
mouth of the river Severn, and to have included the greater part
of the counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Stafford, and Worcester.
Deva, or the city of the Dee, the present Chester, is mentioned
by Ptolemy as the chief town of the Cornavian tribe, and the
head-quarters of the Twentieth Boman Legion. The territory of
this ancient British tribe formed one of the richest portions of
Britain. The grassy plains lying between the Mersey, the Dee,
the Trent, and the Severn, afforded pasture for the herds of cattle
which formed the chief wealth of the ancient Britons; the virgin
soil yielded grain in abundance, with slight cultivation ; the woods
and forests abounded with game ; the streams and rivers, and the
adjoining seas, supplied all the most valuable kinds of fresh and
salt water fish ; numerous springs of brine furnished inexhaustible
supplies of salt for home use and for commerce ; and iron, copper,
lead, and silver, were found in the hills and mountains of the
Cangi, a subdivision of the Cornavian tribe. But their territory
was almost everywhere level, and easily accessible to the Boman
soldiers ; and the Bomans, having once established the head-quarters
of the Twentieth Legion at Chester, or, as it was then called,
Deva or Devana, seem to have held that position for upwards of
300 years.
But even these, which are amongst the more level parts of
Britain, do not appear to have been conquered without a most
determined resistance on the part of the inhabitants. After so
many hundred years we can still trace some of the camps of the
ancient Britons, on the most commanding points of the Cornavian
territory. One of the strongest of these camps stands on the brow
of a Inll about 500 feet high, in the range of the Peckforton hills,
a chain of heights that extends from Beeston castle to the river

224 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Dee. The hill on which this fortress was erected now bears the
name of Bickerton Hill, and the fortress is called the Maiden castle.
One front faces the plain of Chester, and is protected on that side
by precipitous rocks, more than 100 feet high. The rear and sides
of the camp are defended by a double line of earthworks of a
semicircular form, which are still very strongly marked, though
overgrown by heath and gorse. The breadth of the camp from
north to south is about 140 yards; the thickness of the rampart
is eight yards ; the width of the ditch that separates the inner
from an outer line of defence is fifteen yards ; and the only entrance
into the camp is through a narrow passage near to the precipice,
guarded by strong earthworks. The view from the Maiden castle
extends over a large part of the territory of the ancient Cornavii.
Northward it reaches to the estuaries of the Mersey and the Dee,
and to the hills of Lancashire beyond the former ; eastward it
extends to the hills that divide Cheshire from Derbyshire ; west
ward it reaches to the most distant ranges of the Denbighshire
mountains ; southward it includes Shropshire and the highest points
of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Similar fortifications of
greater extent existed on the summits of the Wrekin and the Clee
lulls of Shropshire, both of which are very conspicuous from the
ramparts of the Maiden castle. There are also several other
British camps on different parts of the Cheshire hills. There is
one 300 yards in breadth, and covering nine acres of ground, in
Delamere Forest, a fittle to the south of the village of Kelsall.
Near this camp, and further within the forest, are seven ancient
mounds, known as the " Seven Lows," or hills, which are supposed
to indicate the tombs of British warriors. There are five other
tumuli at Twemlow, in the same neighbourhood. The remains of
a third camp are found at the northern extremity of Delamere
Forest, at the point where the steep rocks of Helsby hill rise above
the river Mersey. This may have served as a place of refuge
against the pirates who in early times infested the neighbouring
seas, or against the attacks of the hostile tribes that then inhabited
the northern bank of the Mersey. The promontory on which this
camp at Helsby stands commands an extensive and beautiful view
of the shores and the entrance to the Mersey, and of the plains
and the distant hills of Lancashire. One of the strongest of these
ancient entrenchments, now known by the name of Buckton castle,
is situated amongst the wild ravines at the north-eastern extremity

PAST AND PRESENT. 225

of Cheshire, between Staleybridge and Saddleworth. It is protected
on one side by a precipice, on the others by ditches and ramparts
of earth ; and it commands a magnificent view, extending on one
side far over the Cheshire plain, and on the other to the summits
of the Yorkshire and the Lancashire hills.
The mountains of Lancashire, and the valleys which they divide,
were inhabited at the time of the Boman conquest by a most powerful
British tribe, named the Brigantes, of whom we have already had
occasion to speak. Their territory extended across the island, and
included the whole of the north of England from the Mersey and the
Humber to the Tweed and, the Solway, and perhaps even further,
as an image dedicated to the goddess Brigantia has been found as
far north as Annan dale, in Scotland. The Brigantes are more
frequently mentioned by Greek and Boman writers than any other
British tribe, and they seem to have maintained a long and desperate
struggle with the Bomans. Seneca, in one of his poems, claims for
the Emperor Claudius (who never approached to within 200 miles
of their territory) the honour of having conquered the azure-armed
Brigantes. Juvenal proposes to a needy centurion to make his
fortune by plundering the castles of the Brigantes. Tacitus speaks of
them as the most numerous of the tribes of Britain, and describes
the intrigues of their queen, Cartismandua, with the Bomans, and
the wars of their great chief, Venusius. Ptolemy, in his Geography,
mentions that their territory extended from sea to sea, and gives
the names of ten of their principal towns, of which Eboracum, or
York, and Bibodunum, or Bibchester, appear to have been the
most important. After being partially subdued by the Bomans,
they appear to have risen again ; and in the time of the Emperor
Antoninus Pius they not only expelled the Bomans from their
territory for a time, but overran great part of the adjacent territories,
where the Bomans were more firmly established.
The country inhabited by the Brigantes was naturally much
wilder and more mountainous than that inhabited by the Cornavii,
and gave greater facilities for resisting the attacks of an invading
army. A chain of hills and mountains, rising to the height of from
1500 to 2500 feet, intersected the Brigantine territory from north
to south, sending out numerous branches to the east and west.
At the base - of these hills there were great forests and extensive
swamps, stretching nearly to the German Ocean on one side, and
to the Irish Sea on the other. The prindpal approaches into the
VOL. i. 2p

226 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Brigantine territory on the east were by way of Danum, the present
Doncaster, and by Warrington and Mamucium or Mancunium, the
present Manchester, on the western side of the hills. These are the
points at which the Bomans formed their great roads from the
southern parts of Britain to the vallum, or fortification, extending
across the island from the Tyne to the Solway.
The only Brigantine town situated within the, limits of the
present county of Lancaster that is mentioned by Ptolemy, in his
account of the Brigantine territory, is Bigodunum, or more properly
Bibodunum, the fortress on the Bibble, the memory of which is
preserved by the Boman station of Bibchester. This ancient British
town seems to have been one of the most flourishing places in this
district. It stood on the banks of a fine river, in a fertile country,
and on the main line of communication across the northern part of
the island, from the port of the Setantii on the Irish Sea, and the
estuaries of the Bibble and the Wyre, to the German Ocean and the
estuary of the Humber. Either the Bibble, the Wyre, or the
Lune is spoken of by Ptolemy as the Setantian port ; and the same
geographer gives a sufficiently clear description of the bays and
harbours along the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire, from More
cambe Bay to the entrance of the Dee, to show that the coast was
tolerably well known. He describes the river Bibble and its estuary
by the name of the Befisama, from which it would appear as if he
supposed that there was some connection between the name of the
stream and that of Baal or Befisama, who were amongst the fancied
deities of the Phoenicians, the earliest visitors to Britain. It has
been thought that other traces of that great people are found in the
names of some of the promontories, especially that of Befinus, now
the Land's End of Cornwall. A number of traditions connected
with the worship of the sun, known to the Syrians as Baal, also
exist amongst the Celtic population of Great Britain and Ireland.
The result of recent researches into the ancient languages of
Britain, has induced some of the ablest linguists of modern times to
conclude that the early inhabitants of these islands belonged to
what is now called the great Indo-European family of nations.
This argument is fully traced in Dr. Pilchard's work on the eastern
origin of the Celtic nations, as proved by comparisons of their
dialects with the Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, and Teutonic languages,
and in other works of great authority. Although the descendants
of the people who spoke that ancient language in Britain have

PAST AND PRESENT. 227

either been driven back into the mountains, after centuries of
determined resistance, or have been so completely blended with the
Angles, Saxons, and Danes, as to render it impossible to trace the
extent of their influence, this at least is certain, that most of the
mountains, the rivers, the bays, and the wastes of Lancashire and
Cheshire still bear their original Celtic appellations. The names of
our most ancient cities and towns, such as Lancaster, Bibchester,
and Manchester, are also partly Celtic and partly Boman. There
are also mingled with the language of ordinary life numerous words
of Celtic origin, which still bear testimony to the influence which
the Celtic race has had, in forming both the language and the
character of the English inhabitants of this island.
The Bomans, having at length obtained possession of the northern
districts of what we now call England, proceeded to render their
dominion firm and lasting, by constructing military roads, by means
of which the territories of the Brigantes and the Cornavii, as well
as those of the other tribes of Britain, were united with the rest
of the Boman empire. The remains of these roads are still to be
traced in Lancashire and Cheshire, and many of them are so clear
that they are laid down on the Ordnance maps of the two counties,
from surveys made only a few years ago.
Roman Roads in Lancashire and Cheshire. — In order to give
the legions stationed at York, Chester, and along the Boman wall,
security in their position at the extremity of the empire, amidst
a disaffected population, and in the face of an active enemy, it was
necessary that they should have a secure fine of communication
with each other, and with the Boman troops in other parts of
Britain, as well as with the Boman legions in Gaul, and with Bome,
the capital of the empire. The most important military positions
in Britain in the eyes of the Bomans were — first, the ports of
Butupium (Sandwich), and Dubris (Dover), on the coast of Kent,
by means of which they communicated with Gaul and Bome;
second, London,' where they crossed the Thames, and where all the
principal military roads in Britain united ; third, the head-quarters
of the three Boman legions in Britain, namely, those of the Second
Legion at Isca Silurum, or Caerleon, on the river Usk, in Monmouth
shire, a few miles above the present town of Newport ; those of
the Twentieth Legion at Chester, and those of the Sixth Legion
at York ; and fourth, the line of the vallum, or military wall, from
the mouth of the Solway to the Tyne, which formed the northern

228 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
boundary of the empire. In addition to these four points, from
which the whole military system of Britain was directed, there
were also numerous fortified camps, which . were of importance in
carrying out the system of defence. Amongst these were nearly
all the towns and cities that still bear the name of "caster" or
"chester" in connection with some prefix of British origin, as Lan
caster, Bibchester, Manchester, and Chester, as well as some places
which have no such mark, as Exeter, Norwich, Lincoln, and York.
All these were connected with each other, with London, and with
the ports of Butupium and Dubris, by means of military roads,
constructed with great skill, and maintained with constant labour,
either of the Boman soldiers or of the British people.
The great line of Boman road, nearly 500 miles in length, which is
described in the Itinerary of Antoninus,* in the second Iter, was the
road by which the north-western division of England was connected
with London and Gaul, in the south ; with the head-quarters of the
Sixth Legion at York, on the east ; and with the line of the Boman
wall near Carlisle, and at Wallsend, near Newcastle, on the north.
The general course of this road may still be pretty well traced
through the counties of Middlesex, Hertford, Bedford, Northampton,
Warwick, and Stafford, into Cheshire. It followed a line not very
different from the present line of the London and North Western
railway, and like that railway, sent out a branch line into Shropshire
to Uriconium at the foot of the Wrekin, which branch was continued
into the valley of the Severn in one direction, and into that of the
Dee in another. The line thus described reached Deva, or Chester,
by way of Mediolanum and of Bovium. From Deva it ran eastward
across the present county of Chester by way of Condate — a station
twenty miles from Chester and eighteen from Mamucium or Man-
cunium — to Mamucium, the present- Manchester. Leaving that
city it crossed the hills into what we now call Yorkshire, and ran
by way of Cambodunum, a station in the neighbourhood of Hud
dersfield and Halifax, and by Calcaria, the present Tadcaster, to
York, then the head-quarters of the Sixth Legion, and the military
capital of Britain. From York the line of road described in the
second Iter ran due north to Cataractonium, a place supposed to
be the present Catterick bridge, near Bichmond, in Swaledale.
Thence it turned west by north, and so continued its course
through the deep valleys and over the lofty mountains of York-
* Monumenta Historic* Britannica, xxi.

PAST AND PRESENT. 229

shire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham, until it reached
the Boman wall, near the present city of Carlisle, and also the
mouth of the Tyne.
On comparing the lines of road described in the other Iters of
Antoninus, with the great line of communication described in the
second Iter, it will be found that several of them joined in with
it at different points. Thus the road described in the tenth Iter
joined that described in the second at Mediolanum, and ran by Condate
and Mamucium northward through Lancashire and Westmoreland
to Galava, probably the present Keswick, where it again came
within a short distance of the line described in the second Iter. The
fine described in the eleventh Iter joined that described in the second
at Chester, and ran through North Wales to the Menai Strait,
crossing the vale of Clwyd at Vara, now Bodvari, and the vale
of Conway at Conovium. On connecting these and the other Iters
with the great line laid down in the second, it will be found, that
the ancient inhabitants of Lancashire and Cheshire had pretty nearly
as good means of communication with all parts of Britain, by the
roads constructed by the Bomans, as they had by the modern high
roads, previous to the introduction of railways.
In addition to the lines of road which are described in the
Itinerary of Antoninus, other lines have been traced in the counties
of Chester and Lancaster. The following are the principal lines in
the two counties, including as well those mentioned in Antoninus,
as those discovered by modern research.
At least five lines of road ran from Chester in various directions.
Amongst them were the following : — A Boman road ran from Chester
up the valley of the Dee. This road has been traced in a direct
line across the river Dee, below the Old bridge, past Edgar's Cave,
along the Eaton road, across the ford at Aldford in a direct line
to Stocklach, beyond which place it reached Bangor, afterwards
celebrated in the history of the early British church.* From Bangor
this road was continued into the valley of the Severn, probably at
Uriconium, and joined the roads which ran along the borders of
Wales, as well as the main road from Butupium, in Kent, to
the vallum or wall on the Caledonian border. Another Boman
road, part of which is still marked on the Ordnance Map, con
nected the city of Chester, by a shorter route, with the great
* Journal of Architectural, Archa?oIogical, and Historic Society of Chester, &c., p. 189 : Observations by the
Eev. W. H. Massie, on the Site of Bangor Monachorum.

230 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
line of road from the north to the south of Britain. This road
crossed the fertile plain of Chester, ran through the pass at
Beeston, where it has been recently traced under the rocks on
which the castle stands, and joined the great road from north to
south, either at Kinderton, near Middlewich, or at some point not
very distant from that great centre of communication. A third
road ran from Chester across the range of hills, afterwards and still
known as Delamere Forest, to the valley of the Weaver near
Northwich, where it fell in with the main road from north to south.
From Chester, to the rise at the pass of Kelsall, the modern road
is carried either along the fine of this road or close to it. Near
Tarven the Boman road is still used as the existing highway, for
a distance of four miles, running into it from the direction of Street
farm. It rises into the forest west of Kelsall.* Thence it runs
towards Eddisbury Hill, a magnificent military position fortified
at a later period by Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the Great.
Here the road has the appearance of two rather high embankments,
from between which the gravel way has been removed. In one
part, sixty or seventy yards long, where the new red sandstone
crops out, there are two deep ruts, with the horse track between
them, whilst the soft rock has been cut down on each side, so as
clearly to define the breadth of the road. Beyond Eddisbury Hill
the road is nine or ten yards wide, with a well-marked crown, and
shallow ditches on each side, and traces of mounds or cops beyond
them. Gravel is spread over the surface, and it is said by the
foresters, that there is a strong bed of solid gravel eighteen inches
deep below. The road descends to the corner of the forest inclosures,
where it is planted over, and runs in a right line towards Northwich,
near which place it falls in with the great Boman road that ran
through Cheshire and Lancashire from north to south. Another
road, marked in the Ordnance Map through the greater part of its
course, ran directly from Chester to the present town of Warrington,
along the line of hills which overlooks the river Mersey. Here
it fell in with the western branch of the two great roads, which
intersected Cheshire and Lancashire from the valley of the Weaver
to the banks of the Lune.
By means of these numerous branch roads, the Boman garrison
of Chester communicated easily, rapidly, and in every direction
* Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historic Society : Paper " Ou the Cheshire Watling Street and
Traces of Roman Occupation in Lancashire and Cheshire," by John Kobson, Esq., vol. iii., p. 70.

PAST AND PRESENT. 231

with the great north-western road, and had the shortest possible
lines of communication with York, and with the north-eastern
districts of Britain and the Boman wall.
Another road, following an opposite direction, ran from Deva or
Chester through the midst of North Wales to the Menai Straits.
This is the road described in the eleventh Iter of Antoninus. The
stations beyond Chester were Vara, the present Bodvari, in the
valley of the Clwyd, and Conovium, supposed to be the present
Caer-Hen, on the banks of the Conway. By means of this
road, and the road up the valley of the Dee, the Twentieth Legion
ruled the country of the Ordovices. It had also a strong posi
tion at, and no doubt a good line of communication with Caer-
guerle, in the rocky pass which connects the vale of Gresford
with the valley of the Alyn and the ancient Boman fortress
at Mold. Kinderton, near Middlewich, was another great centre of com
munication in the present county of Chester. From this point
roads have been traced in six different directions, running north,
south, east, and west. One line ran to Chester, another towards
Derbyshire, and one if not two towards Shropshire ; whilst a line
of road, the most important of all, entered Kinderton from the
direction of Chesterton near Newcastle-under-Lyne, in Staffordshire,
and ran almost due north through the counties of Chester and
Lancaster, and so onward to the Boman wall.
The learned historian of Cheshire, Dr. Ormerod, states, in a
communication to the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire,
that the line of the Boman road from Chesterton to Kinderton,
which had not been examined at tbe time when he published his
great work, has since been fully investigated. The gravel bank of
the road was found in a course of excavations at Brindley Moor
farm, within the estate of Dr. Latham, to the east of Bradwall Hall
farm, and about four miles south of Kinderton. Upwards of 600
Boman denarii were also discovered near the edge of Bradwall
township.* The position of Kinderton was carefully examined in the year
1849, by the venerable archdeacon Wood, and other members of
the Archaeological Society of Chester. Amongst other things they
found there a great plateau or roadway fifty yards wide, with six
* Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. Communication by Dr. G. Ormerod,
vol. ii. p. 213.

232 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
roads branching from it in different directions.* The road running
northward from this point towards Northwich is named King or
Kind Street. When Camden visited this part of England in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth this road was extremely conspicuous, on
account of its elevation and the nature of its materials, which
were different .from any found in that part of Cheshire, t In the
year 1762 the whole line of road from Kinderton to Manchester
was carefully examined by Mr. Thomas Percival, who published an
interesting account of it in the first volume of the Archaeologia.
The line runs northward by Bavenscroft bridge, where it crosses
the Dane, to Broken Cross, near Northwich.
Near Northwich this road divides into two branches, one of which
runs to Manchester, by way of Dunham Massey, and then north
ward to the valley of the Lune, by way of Bury, Blackburn, and
Bibchester ; the other also runs northward, but by way of Stretton,
Warrington, Wigan, and Preston, to Lancaster.
The line of the Boman road from near Northwich to Manchester,
is the same as that of the present highway, with the exception
of a divergence at the Saxon borough of Altringham. It crosses
the Mersey at Stretford, and proceeds to the ancient Castle-field
at Manchester, near the point where the river Medlock falls into
the Irwell.
From Manchester to the northern limits of the county of Lan
caster, this ancient highway of the Bomans was examined with
extraordinary care, at the time of the Ordnance survey, by the late
John Just, of the grammar-school, Bury. The result of his labours
is seen in the Ordnance Map of that part of England, and will be
found described in three learned and interesting papers, two of
them contained in the Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical
and Literary Society, and the third in the Papers and Proceedings
of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.^ In the follow
ing sketch of this road we take that learned and sagacious antiquary
as our guide.
* Journal of the Architectural, Archa?ological, and Historic Society of Cheshire, Chester, and the neighbourhood,
p. 45 : Paper " On the probability that Kinderton, near Middlewich, is the Condate of the Eoman Itineraries "
by the Venerable Isaac Wood, Archdeacon of Chester. Bead at the Meeting of the Society, May 6, 1850.
f Camden's Britannia, p. 486.
X Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical Society, Second Series, vol. vi. p. 409 : Paper entitled "An Essay
on the Eoman Eoad in the vicinity of Bury, Lancashire," by Mr. John Just, corresponding member; a second
paper, in the Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical Society, entitled " On the Eoman Military Eoad between
Manchester and Bibchester," by John Just, Esq., corresponding member of the Society; and a third paper, in the
Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, entitled " On the Eoman Eoads in Lancashire
with a particular account of the Tenth Iter of Antoninus," by the same author.

PAST AND PRESENT^ 233

This road, as we have already stated, enters Lancashire at the
old ford over the Mersey at Stretford, or the ford of the stratum
or street. This was the boundary of the Boman provinces of
Flavia Caesariensis and Maxima Caesariensis, afterwards of the Saxon
kingdoms of Mercia and Northumberland, as it is now the boundary
of the counties of Lancaster and Chester. The present road through
Stretford fies on the site of the old Boman road. In constructing
the modern city of Manchester, with its thousands of streets and
hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, all traces of the ancient road
have been swept away on the surface of the ground ; but the gravel
of the road was found, six feet below the present level, in digging
a drain, so recently as the year 1821.
This road left the Castle-field, Manchester, either upon or
parallel to the road to Strangways (a name which is derived from
the road), and followed the new line of road thence to Bury.
There the line of the Boman road again corresponds with that of
the modern road at Prestwich. Hence it ran on, passing the Dales,
and crossing the river Irwell. The remains of the road are frequent
and conspicuous in the parish of Badcliffe ; it rises at Offyside,
passes through Edgeworth, and again rises to the heights at Black-
snape, where it falls into the same line as the public road between
Bury and Blackburn. Near Blackburn, as near almost all large
and populous towns, the traces of the road are lost amidst buildings,
streets, and gardens. They are soon found again towards Bivedge,
and may there be traced to the high grounds at Bamsgreave. From
Bamsgreave the road may be seen stretching down to the Bibble,
near Bibchester, and beyond that river to the limits of the horizon
on the top of Longridge Fell. A line of fences marks its course
to the Bibble, and a road, and the green lane on Longridge, its
direction beyond the river. Between Bamsgreave and the Bibble
there are places where the road is "nearly as perfect as when the
last Boman soldier marched homeward from the spot." Close to
the Bibble the road makes an angle to the ford below the bridge,
which leads from Walton-le-Dale to Bibchester. " Bibchester," says
Mr. Just, "an undoubted and extensive Boman station — a mine of
antiquities — is more than half a mile lower down the stream than
where the Bomans crossed it."
Crossing the Bibble the road re-appears at Stony Gate, and
fine remains of it are found to the summit of Longridge Fell. From
the top of Longridge Fell, the valley of the Hodder is seen in front.
VOL. I. 2 G

234 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

" Perhaps," says Mr. Just, " at this point, as extensive a bird's-eye
view of a Boman road may be seen as the north of England contains.
Backward it may be seen to Bamsgreave, four or five miles distant ;
forward to Browsholme heights, an equal or greater distance. So
true were the Bomans in their method of laying out their fines
of military road, that, with the exception of a very slight angle
indeed on the summit of Blacksnape, even the accuracy of the
Ordnance survey could not detect a deviation from a perfectly
straight line, between this place and Manchester, a distance approach
ing thirty miles. Amongst the mountains seen hence in the
distance, the top of Penygent stands most prominent ; with the
eye fixed upon its summit, the whole line of Boman road seems
to stretch directly towards it, as if it had been the object aimed at.
They appear hence to have had some striking object in the distance
to direct them. On Browsholme height Penygent disappears from
the horizon, and Ingleborough starts up. Again an angle is made
on the top of the hill, and the line of the road proceeds straight
from it towards Ingleborough, on the horizon. Bey6nd the Hodder
to the foot of Croasdale a continuous ridge marks the course of
the road. It ascends the height of Croasdale, care being taken
that it shall no where approach the steep part of the mountain,
from which troops on the march could be assailed with stones rolled
upon them, or with missiles. From Croasdale the road is continued
above Whitingdale, until it passes the heights of Botton Head Fell,
the present road from Slaidburn to Hornby occupying the site
the whole way.
Towards the foot of Botton Fell the road is again very con
spicuous, and is known as "the Boman road" to the inhabitants.
On the high ground on the Hill estate at Tatham some parts of the
road are still almost perfect. Here it deviated from the usual
straight line, on account of the steep banks of the river Wenning.
On the highest point of the Hill estate an angle is formed, to gain
the ford at Bentham bridge. Beyond the Wenning the road is still
known as the Boman road. The fine is less clear between the
Wenning -and the Greta, but north of the Greta the road is most-
conspicuous. Here the road turns northward ; " and forming, across
the flat grounds at Collingholme, as fine a specimen of remains
as can be found in the whole Iter, it passes into an old road leading
to Overtown, leaving the Boman station at Overborough, nearly
a mile to the west." After passing Leek Brook it joins the long

PAST AND PRESENT. 235

level of the high road from Kirkby-Lonsdale, to Ingleton ; and
having there crossed the boundary between Lancashire and West
moreland, stretches along Wandale's lane in Casterton, straight
up the vale of the Lune.
The line of road formed by the Bomans from the valley of the
Weaver, near Northwich, to the valley of the Lune at Lancaster,
passed by Stretton, Warrington, Winwick, Newton in Makerfield,
Haydock, Wigan, Preston, Garstang, and Ashton. It has been
traced at numerous points, by very careful and competent observers ;
and in the neighbourhood of Lancaster two of the Boman milestones
have been found, still bearing the names of the emperors in whose
reign it was either formed or reconstructed.
Between Northwich and Warrington this line of road is best
seen at Stretton, a place whose name is evidently taken from the
circumstance that a Boman road — one of the strata viarum of
Lucretius — ran in that direction. In the neighbourhood, of Stretton
and Appleton the course and construction of the road have been
very carefully traced by Mr. Lyon, of Appleton Hall, and the Bev.
Mr. Greenall, of Stretton. The road is eighteen feet wide at this
point, as is stated in an inscription by the roadside, at the point
where the modern road runs close to the road made by the Bomans.
It is here composed chiefly of gravel* The course of the road from
Stretton to the banks of the Mersey was traced from field to field
in the year 1849 by Dr. Hume, of Liverpool, Mr. Lyon, of Appleton,
Mr. Bobson, Mr. Beamont, and Dr. Kendrick, of Warrington, and
other members of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.t
In the grounds adjoining Appleton Hall, where a section of the
road had been laid open, it was found to be nineteen and a half feet
in breadth. A fittle further north it is seen at the top of a stone
quarry, showing itself in the face of a deep cutting in the rock.
Proceeding towards Warrington, two sections of the road were laid
bare, one twenty and the other fifteen feet wide. At the Townfield,
where the road had been carefully examined so early as the year
1831, by Mr. Beamont and Mr. Bobson, of Warrington, the road
was twelve or fourteen yards wide ; and in a field, named the Stony
Lunt, another road was discovered branching off from the main line,
and running westward, nearly parallel with the present highway to
* Communication by J. Eobson, Esq., in Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire,
vol. ii. p. 77.
t Notes on a Eoman Eoad near Warrington, by the Eev. A. Hume, LL.D., F.S.A., in Transactions of the
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. ii. p. 27.

236 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Chester. This is no doubt the point of junction of the line of road
from Chester to Warrington, already described, and the course of
which, across the hills that skirt the southern bank of the Mersey,
is laid down in the Ordnance Map.* At Wilderspool, opposite to
Warrington, the road is composed of a broad foundation of ashlar
stones, with a bed of gravel on the top. From this point it runs
straight towards the Mersey, which it passed by a ford.
After crossing the river Mersey, the road is again found at the
top of the Orford avenue, running northward.t Its course was
traced from Warrington to Wigan by the late Bev. Edmund Sibson,
of Ashton in Makerfield; J and the part of it near Warrington has
been traced with great care by Mr. Bobson, of Warrington.
Little remains of the road between Wigan and the valley of the
Bibble — a circumstance easily accounted for by the scarcity of road-
making materials in this part of Lancashire ; a fact which has no
doubt caused the stone and gravel of the Boman road to be applied
to the constructing or repairing of the modern roads of the district.
When Sir William Dugdale, and, a few years later, when Dr.
Kuerden, the earliest of Lancashire antiquaries, visited the neigh
bourhood of Preston, in the reign of Charles IL, the line of the
Boman road from the Bibble to the Lune was easily traceable across
Fulwood Moor, in the direction of Broughton and Garstang. The
" rampire," or raised fine of the road, was at that time " conspicuous
to the observations of many learned men, as well as vulgar people "
— to adopt the language of Dr. Kuerden. This road has been
recently traced by Mr. Hardwick, of Preston, and is described by
him in an interesting paper in the Transactions of the Historic
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. § He states that he found a
large fragment of the ancient road, now used as a private road, to
the south of the Bibble. This is described in the Ordnance Map as
Mainway Gate. On the north side of the river, opposite the ford
where the road is supposed to have crossed, a zigzag indentation
on the face of the bank may still be seen. From this point Mr.
Hardwick supposes that the road ' passed in a straight line over the
end of Church Street to Preston Moor. A small portion of the
* See Ordnance Map of Cheshire.
t Historical and Antiquarian Notes on Warrington and its Neighbourhood, by John Eobson, Esq., in
Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. iv. p. 203.
% Baines' History of Lancashire, vol. iii. p. 574.
§ On the Eoman Eemains recently Discovered at Walton-le-Dale, Preslon, by Charles Hardwick, Esq. in
Transactions of Historic Sociely of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. viii. p. 127.

PAST AND PRESENT.

237

agger may still be seen on the moor, where the land slopes towards
the brook. This road, running from south to north, was here inter
sected by another road running from west to east, and hence ran
northward, by way of Broughton and Garstang, to Lancaster.
Striking memorials of this road have been found in the neigh
bourhood of Lancaster, in the form of two " milliaria," or milestones,
which formerly directed travellers in their course upon the road.
Both these milliaria bear the name of the Emperor Philip, in whose
reign they were doubtless erected.""' One of them was turned up
by the plough in the township of Ashton, near Lancaster ; the
other was found at Borough, south of that place, in cutting the
bed of the canal. As the Emperor Philip murdered his predecessor,
Gordian the younger, in the year 244, and was himself murdered
in the year 249, we may fix the date at which the western branch
of the Boman road through Lancashire and Cheshire was either
formed or extensively repaired, at that time. We are also able to
fix a date to the eastern branch of the road, so ably described by
Mr. Just. Another Boman milestone, of a much earlier date, was
found some years ago at Caton, near Lancaster.t It had been
washed down the brook called Artlebeck, no doubt, from the Boman
road which ran along the higher grounds. This milestone bears
the much more illustrious name of the Emperor Hadrian. As his
reign commenced in the year 117, and ended in the year 138, we
may fix the date of this first and greatest of the works formed by
the Bomans in Lancashire and Cheshire at that time, and may
assign the honour of it to this emperor, who claimed, on one of
his coins, to be the restorer of the Boman dominion in Britain,
and who certainly did much to preserve it, by the magnificent
works which he caused to be constructed.
It is worthy of notice, that' the older and more perfect line of
road formed by Hadrian was in the course of time superseded, as
the main line of communication from north to south, by the line
of road formed or improved in the time of the Emperor Philip.
This was the natural result of a transition from war to peace.
The north of Britain was not tranquillized, and scarcely conquered,
in the time of Hadrian ; for in a subsequent reign, that of Antoninus
Pius, between the years 138 and 161, the Brigantes, the original
* Whitaker's History of Eichmondshire, vol. ii. pp. 211-213.
f Whitaker's History of Eichmondshire, vol. ii. p. 215 ; and the History and Antiquities of Lancaster, by tbe
Eev Eobert Simpson, M.A, p 119

238 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
inhabitants of what we call the North of England, were not only
in insurrection, but had overrun a considerable portion of the Boman
province lying to the south of the Mersey and the Humber. In
this state of things the roads were constructed for purely military
purposes, and were carried through the mountainous districts, where
the means of resistance were the most formidable, with a view
of keeping the people in subjection. In the interval of 100 years,
between the death of Hadrian and the accession of Philip, the
Boman dominion had become firmly established, and the wants of
peaceful industry had superseded the stern requirements of war.
Hence the easiest and shortest line of communication was chosen,
and thus the line from Lancaster, by way of Preston, Wigan, and
Warrington, became, what it has long been and still is, the chief
line of communication from north to south. The railway from
Lancaster to Warrington now follows this fine, with very trifling
deviations. In addition to the lines of road intersecting the present
county of Lancaster from north to south, was a line of road which
crossed that county from west to east, running from the river
Wyre, near the present town of Poulton in the Fylde, to the eastern
border of Lancashire at Chadburn, from which point it was con
tinued to Olicana or Ilkley in Yorkshire, to Eboracum or York,
and ultimately to the Humber, thus forming a line of road from
the Irish sea to the German Ocean.
At the time of the Ordnance survey this line of road was very
carefully examined by Mr. Just, of Bury, and the Bev. Mr. Thornber,
of Blackpool, both of whom published accounts of it, to which some
particulars were added by Mr. T. Langton Birley.* The following
is the substance of these accounts : —
The line of this road is first traced about a mile from Poulton in
the Fylde. On the cultivated land the indications of the road are
only slight, but on the turfy ground, where it had been piled up in
an immense agger, it still serves, as it has done for ages, as a gravel
bank, for supplying materials to repair the common roads of the
neighbourhood. Across the mossy flats in the neighbourhood the
line of the road is very clear, and many sections of it are presented
where wide ditches have been dug in place of fences. At Weeton
* The Roman Eoads of Lancashire, Part ii. ; On the Seventh Iter of Richard of Cirencester, Transactions of
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 3, by John Just, Esq.; Evidences of Eoman Occupation
in the Fylde District, by the Eev. William Thornber, B.A, ibid. iii. p. 57 ; and Additional Notes on the Seventh •
Iter, by T. Langton Birley, ibid. iii. p. 55.

PAST AND PRESENT. 239

Moss it is seen in the form of an immense embankment of several
yards in height, its base standing in water, which cannot be got off
owing to the nature of the levels. On the higher and dryer ground
a substratum of gravel is all that remains ; but at Weeton Moss
there is an excellent specimen. " Here,'' says Mr. Just, " modern
plunder is fast despoiling the laborious workmanship of the Bomans,
the lack of gravel in the district leading the inhabitants to the road
of the Bomans. The gravel here seems to have been brought from
the debris of some river." About midway in the town of Kirkham
the line of the Boman road falls in with the main street, and con
tinues to the windmill at the top of the town. Nearly the whole
length of the long street at Kirkham is either upon the Boman road,
or in close proximity to it. " In the Fylde country the Boman road
has crossed the swampy low grounds between hill, and hill, and
made angles or slight curves on the summits in threading its course
through the morasses. This seems highly probable, for, by bringing
the lines to bear on the Ordnance Map, every deviation from an
intersection with the line it diverges from is on the very apex of
the hill intervening." The road all along this part- of its course is
known as the Danes' pad or path ; but the Danes were no road-
makers in the age when Earl Agmund and his fierce companions in
arms ruled, and gave their leader's name to this part of Lancashire.
From the top of Loxham Hill there is no difficulty in tracing the
agger to Preston Moor. At Newton, Mr. Hornby cut through it in
sinking a marl pit. Numerous and continuous remains mark the
line of the road near Clifton, frequently bold and prominent on the
headlands of the fields, and close to the fences. From Cfifton church
the road passes through Lea towards Fulwood Moor. Across several
fields together a bold ridge shows its course before the investigator.
Approaching Fulwood Moor, it appears again in the road leading to
Preston, and there for a couple of miles it shoots past that town,
under the ancient familiar name of Watfing Street. Beyond this
point its remains are still quite evident, until the line of the Preston
and Longridge railway is passed. From Pedder hall it inclines
northward, running directly towards Pendlehill. At Nook the
road is suddenly lost, at the high point of ground which brings
Bibchester in sight.
In Bibchester the road has been met with in draining below the
present level of the ground, near the parsonage, and a complete
section of it is exhibited on the banks of a rill which there runs

240 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
down from the high grounds. Then the line falls in with the road
leading up to the parsonage, and again shows its bold agger, till,
crossing the footpath to Anchors Hill, it falls in with the midway
point of the side of the rectangle of the station, where would be the
Decuman gate, and where a causeway under the soil in the gardens
of Bibchester shows the buried remains of the " via principalis," within
the area of the station.
It is not until we have got over Bibchester bridge, and gained
the rising ground to the south of Samlesbury hall, that we again
find the track of the Bomans. Ascending the elevated ground, we
discern the Boman remains again close to the modern road to the
hall. Having gained the crest of the hill, the road makes a curve,
and then directs its course along the ridge towards Pendlehill, in
the distance. Fine continuous remains here mark the course of the
road. Advancing about three miles, the road approaches the river
Calder ; but no trace can be seen at any of the crossings. At
Pendleton Brook there is a remarkable specimen of the road. " The
agger," says Mr. Just, " has been levelled near the brook, and a
specimen made, worthy of inspection. The gravel has been spread
on the surface of the ground, and a thin charred line marks out the
sward covered over by -the road-makers. Upon this stratum of
gravel a course of flags has been laid, nicely fitting one with another,
though not apparently of any definable shape or size. The flags
form a nice, rounded, compact surface, now covered with eight or
ten inches of soil, and of the exact width of twenty-one feet. This
is the most complete patch of the Boman road to be met with in
Lancashire along this Iter." The brook being crossed, no difficulty
exists in tracing the line. It runs about a mile to the south-east
of Clitheroe, and beyond that town it falls in, as is frequently the
case, with a long continuous fence, which has been set up upon it
for convenience. At length the line begins to ascend the higher
ground towards Chatbum. Between Chatburn and Downham the
line again becomes obvious, and forms a perceptible ridge along
the rich limestone pastures of this fertile district. Having passed
Pendlehill, the ridge directs itself straight towards Downham hall,
passes in front of the same by the present public road, and ascends
the high ground to the north of the village of Downham. Along
the crest of the hill it is very marked. At some distance beyond,
considerably to the right hand, it keeps along the high ground,
and a little further it passes Chatburn Brook, which is the boundary

PAST AND PRESENT 241

betwixt the counties of Lancaster and York, making its way to the
city of York by Olicana (Ilkley) and Calcaria (Tadcaster). From
York it was carried on to the Humber, and thus formed a complete
line of communication across the island, and much the easiest that
existed at that time.
A Boman road has also been traced from Manchester to Wigan ;
but passing through a populous district of country, and through fields
in a high state of cultivation, few traces of it now remain. When
Whitaker published his "History of Manchester" in the year 1773,
it could be traced with great ease in the neighbourhood of Hope
hall and Worsley. Traces of it are still found in Worsley Park,
on Moseley Common, near Cleworth hall, on Little Shakerley
Common, and on Amberswood Common. It approached Wigan to
the south of Ince hall*
In addition to these numerous roads, the Bomans seem also to
have formed a road across the district of Furness from Conishead
Bank to the banks of the Duddon. This road is said to have
proceeded from the Thorn at Conishead Bank, west, through Street
Gate, to a place where it passes the line of the present Ulverstone
road, and thence by Lindale to Dalton. Here it turned up what
is now called Dale Lane, and slanting over the rocks by St. Helen's,
crossed Godwene, and bending a little took the direction of Boan
Head, to Duddon sands, t
The Cities, Towns, and Stations of the Romans in Lancashire and
Cheshire. — Such are the remains of the principal Boman roads of
Lancashire and Cheshire, after a lapse of fifteen to sixteen hundred
years. They were the earliest, the greatest, and the most useful
works that were constructed in the two counties, and many of
our most flourishing cities and towns owe both their origin and
their continuance, through times of difficulty and depression, to the
advantages afforded by these admirable lines of communication.
Amongst the cities and towns whose prosperity has been developed
or sustained by these great works, we may confidently name the
following places :— In Cheshire ; Chester, Nantwich, Middlewich,
Northwich, Stockport, and Altringham : in Lancashire ; Lancaster,
Manchester, Bibchester, Preston, Kirkham, Wigan, Warrington,
Newton in Makerfield, Clitheroe, Blackburn, and Bury. All these
* An Account of the Eoman Way from Manchester to Wigan, by the Eev. Edmund Sihson, minister of
Ashton in Makerfield. Bead before the Manchester Philosophical Society, April 15, 1845, vol. vii. p. 529 of
Transactions. t West's Furness.
VOL. I. 2 H

242 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*
cities and towns are on, or in close proximity to, the ancient
Boman roads, and for many hundred years had no other means
of commiinication. The object of the Bomans in forming the roads above described
was to unite the camps which they constructed in different parts
of the two counties with each other, and to connect them with the
general military system of the empire. Chester, Manchester, Bib
chester, and Lancaster, the chief places in the valleys of the Dee,
the Mersey and Irwell, the Bibble and the Lune, were the four
great camps of the Bomans in those counties, as their names
clearly indicate, and as the numerous remains found at each place
plainly prove : but marks of the residence of the Bomans have also
been found at Northwich, Kinderton near Middlewich, Stockport,
and on the Cheshire side of the Mersey, opposite to Warrington,
as well as at Wigan, Walton-le-Dale, Kirkham, and Overborough,
in Lancashire ; whilst indications of their occasional presence have
been discovered in many other parts of the two counties.
In choosing the positions of their great permanent camps in
Cheshire and Lancashire, the Bomans were influenced by the general
considerations which always guided them in making such a choice.
The great recommendations of a position for a Boman camp were,
that it should be in a position naturally strong and defensible ; that
it should not be commanded from any neighbouring height; that
the situation should be healthy at all seasons of the year, and not
liable to be flooded after heavy rains; and that the surrounding
country should furnish wood, water, and forage, in as great abun
dance as possible. The Bomans generally secured all these advan
tages by constructing their camps on slightly rising grounds, situated
in the bends of rivers, as at Lancaster and Chester, or at the
point of junction of two streams, as at Manchester and Bibchester ;
and by choosing the most fertile districts of the valleys through
which these rivers ran, as the places for their encampments. This
observation applies to all their encampments in the north-western
counties. The advantages of these positions, in point of external
resources, of strength in war, and of facilities of communication
at all times, have caused most of them to become and remain the
sites of flourishing cities and towns, in all states of society*
The City of Deva, Devana, or Chester.— First in rank and im
portance of all the Boman stations in the north-west of England
* Vegetius, lib. i. c. 2.

PAST AND PRESENT. 243

was Deva, or Chester. " An illustrious city " says Camden, " which
Ptolemy names Devana, and Antonine, Deva, from the river Dee ;
which we name Chester and Westchester; which the Britons
named Caerlegion (the camp of the" legion), Caerleon Vaur (the
camp of the great legion), Caerleon ar Dufyr Dwy (the camp of
the legion on the Dee), to distinguish it from the camp of the
Second Legion on the Usk, and caer, or the camp, par excellence ;
and which the Saxons named Legeacester (the camp of the
legion), names all derived from the Twentieth Victorious Legion.
"Under the Bomans," says the late Beverend Chancellor Baikes,
" Chester became a colony, a military station, a centre of warlike
operations whilst conquest was being pursued, a centre of civili
zation and commercial intercourse when the dominion of the
empire was established." The position of Chester united all the
advantages which the Bomans sought in the positions of their
camps, with the additional advantages of a safe and commodious
port, and an easy communication both by land and water with a
rich and fertile district. The river Dee, which is here so broad as
to require one of the largest arches in the world to span it, protected
the position on the side of the mountains, which was the one most
liable to attack. Within the inclosure formed by the winding of
the Dee, and opposite to the point where the shallows of the river
created a ford, a natural mound, easily increased by art, furnished
the place for a citadel, which commanded the passage of the river ;
whilst a line of red sandstone rocks, and a bank rising steeply
from the Dee, furnished a steep vantage-ground for a line of walls
around the camp, and the city which grew out of it. It is impossible
to tell what British works, if any, the Bomans found here, when
they first encamped on the banks of the Dee ; but whatever they
may have been, they disregarded them, and constructed their
fortifications according to their own well-devised principles of
castrametation. The form of the works and walls of Chester is
entirely Boman, and at all parts presents the figure which that
great people preserved in their camps, when the nature of the
ground rendered it possible. It is, in fact, the most perfect outline
of a Boman fortress that exists in the north of Europe.*
A tower on the present castle mound bearing the name of Julius
* Camden's Britannia, 483. Inaugural Address of the late Eev. Henry Eaikes, Chancellor of the Diocese of
Chester, delivered at the first meeting of the Architectural, Archa?ological, and Historic Society for the county,
city, and neighbourhood of Chester: Journal of Proceedings, vol. i. p. 16. Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol., i. p. 208.

244 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Caesar, but more probably founded by Julius Agricola, formed the
strongest point of the fortification, and, as we have said, commanded
the ford across the river, leading into the country of the ancient
Ordovices, as more recently it did the bridge leading into North
Wales. From this commanding point the Bomans ran the wall
of the city along the brow of a steep hill, through which the rocks
occasionally crop out on the western front of the camp or city,
until it again reached the river Dee at the north-west angle of
the works, near the outwork which now connects the water tower
with the walls. In doing this they inclosed, between the western
side of the wall and the bend of the river, that beautiful meadow
now named the Boodee, containing nearly a hundred acres of land,
and forming at once a fertile pasture, a healthful ground for exercise,
and a delightful place of amusement, on which the officers and
soldiers of the legion and the Boman colonists could indulge them
selves in horse and chariot races, and in the athletic and gladiatorial
games, which formed the delight of the Boman people and soldiery.
It was at once calculated to serve. as a Campus Martius and an
amphitheatre, the walls and the sloping banks on both sides of the
river affording accommodation for a greater number of spectators,
than were ever crowded within the walls of the great amphitheatre
at Verona, or even into the mighty Colosseum itself. One of the
four principal gates — the present Watergate — was on this front of
the walls, opening towards the Boodee and the river.
It is probable that the north-west angle of the Boman walls was
originally washed by the waters of the Dee, and that thus the camp
and fortress were thoroughly protected on the west side by the
stream of the river. But in the course of ages the channel of the
Dee declined from the wall, and rendered it necessary to construct
a new outwork. This work, known as the Water tower, belongs
to a much later age, and consists of a round tower of red sandstone,
joining to the ancient walls by a long open gallery embattled on
each side. Beneath it was a wide arch, through which the waters
of the tide ran, before the reclamation of land from the bed and
stream of the river during the last century. This tower formerly
ran out into the river, and there vessels lay, which fastened their
cables to its sides by great iron rings fixed in the stone.
With the exception of the Water tower, the whole of the walls
of Chester stand on the old Boman foundations. From the north
west to the north-east angle of the walls the fine of wall runs along

TAST A.ND PRESENT.

245

the edge of an elevation, which at the highest point rises to the
height of sixty-four feet. On this side the massy foundations of the
Boman wall may still be seen, deeply imbedded in the rock ; and
on this front of the wall was the Northgate, a curious piece of
antiquity, founded by the Bomans, but strengthened or remodelled
in later ages to suit the military necessities of the times. This
gateway stood till the year 1808, when it was pulled down, to form
a more commodious entrance into the city.
The Phoenix tower stands at the north-east angle of the wall.
The present erection (named from the crest of one of the city
companies) was built in the year 1613 ; but in the time of the
Bomans the walls were strengthened with towers at this and in
many parts, especially on the north and east sides, where they were
most liable to be attacked. These towers were within bowshot of
each other, in order that the archers and slingers might discharge a
cross-fire on an enemy attempting an attack at any point between
them. They were generally round, according to the recommenda
tions of the Boman engineers, who considered that round towers
were less liable to be crushed by the blows of the battering-ram
than square ones. The thickness of the walls of Chester answ.ers
to the breadth prescribed by Vitruvius. Two persons can walk
abreast upon them, and the great architect and engineer directs that
the walls of fortified cities should be of such a breadth that two
armed men may pass each other without any impediment.*
From the Phoenix tower to the Eastgate, the wall was protected
at intervals with towers. The Eastgate was the chief entrance to
the city — the " porta principalis " — the termination of the great road
named Via Devana by the Bomans, and Watfing Street by the
• Saxons, which crossed the island from Dover to Chester. This gate
was of Boman architecture, and consisted of two arches, much hid
by a tower erected over it in modern days. The Eastgate was
pulled down in the year 1769 to make a wider entrance to the city.
" I remember," says Pennant, in his delightful " Tours in North
Wales," " the demolition of the ancient structure, and on taking
down the more modern case of Norman masonry, the Boman
appeared full in view.. It consisted of two arches, formed of vast
stones, fronting the Eastgate Street and the Forest (or Foregate)
Street, the pillar between them dividing the street exactly in
two. This species of double gate was not unfrequent. The Porta
* Vitruvius, lib. i. c. 3 & 5. Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. pp. 209, 210.

246 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Esquilma and the Porta Portese at Bome were of this kind. I
must conclude that the mode seems to have been derived from the
Grecian architecture ; for at Athens stood a dipylon, or double gate,
now demolished. The gate in question faced the great Watling
Street Boad, and near the place where the military ways united.
Through this was the greatest conflux of people, which rendered
the use of the double portal more requisite." With regard to the
ancient gates of Chester, Pennant, who had the advantage of seeing
them all, states that from each side of the gates projected a
propugnaculum, or bastion, in order to assail an enemy in flank
who might attempt to enter. Between them, in the entrance, was
the cataracta, or portcullis, ready to be dropped in case the enemy
forced the gates, so that part of them might be caught within the
walls and the rest excluded. To provide against the danger of the
gates being set on fire, there were holes above, in order to pour
down water to extinguish the flames.*
From the Eastgate to the river outside the walls is a deep fosse,
formed in the rock, which was probably cut by the Bomans to
strengthen the defences on this the most vulnerable part of the city.
The line of this fosse continues the rectangular shape of the original
Boman camp, out of which the city of Chester was formed.
With regard to the south or Bridgegate entrance into the city,
Pennant, writing in the year 1778, says: — "I must now descend
towards the bridge, in search of the few further relics of the ancient
(Boman) colonists. After passing through the gate on the right is
a sunk flight of steps, which leads to a large round arch, seemingly
of Boman workmanship. It is now filled up with more modern
masonry, and a passage left through a small arch of very eccentric
form. On the left of the gate, within the very passage, is the
appearance of another round arch, now 'filled up. This postern is
called the Shipgate, or Hole in the Wall. It seems originally to
have been designed for the common passage over the Dee into the
country of the Ordovices, either by means of a boat at high water,
or by a ford at low, the river here being remarkably shallow. What
reduces this to a certainty is, that the bank on the Handbridge 
Welsh — side is cut down as if for the convenience of travellers, and
immediately beyond, in the field called Edgar's, are the vestiges of
a road pointing up the hill, which, we shall hereafter have occasion
to say, was continued towards Bonium, the present" Bangor." Other
* Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 209. i

PAST AND PRESENT. 247

branches of the same road extend to the Menai Strait, crossing the
valleys of the Alyn, the Cluyd, and the Conway, winding round the
mountains of the Snowdonian range, and giving an easy access to
the whole of North Wales to the soldiers of the Twentieth Victorious
Legion, encamped at the ancient Deva.*
The walls of Chester are nearly 2000 Boman paces, or two
Boman miles, in circumference. As the Boman passus, or pace,
contained five feet, this is not much less than two English miles ;
the exact circuit of the walls being one English mile, three-quarters,
and one hundred and twenty -one yards. Although the super
structure of the walls has been more than once rebuilt, it has
always been constructed on the Boman foundation. Hence the
original form of the outline is retamed, and thus the walls of
Chester form the most perfect specimen of a Boman camp and
Boman fortress that now exists in the north of Europe. The views
from the walls included a wide range of country, and brought within
view of the Boman garrison all the most commanding points in the
mountain ranges of Denbigh and Flint — the rock of Beeston, rising
suddenly from the Cheshire plain, the line of the Peckforton and
Forest hills, the rich plains of Chester, and the graceful windings of
the Dee through the green meadows that adorn its banks, t
The city of Deva, or Chester, which grew up within the line of
the Boman encampment, was well supplied by the engineers of the
Twentieth Legion, and the indefatigable soldiers of that energetic
corps, with all the appliances of Boman civilization. Four massive
gates formed entrances to four principal streets, which crossed each
other at right angles ; and numbers of cross streets struck off, also
at right angles, from the principal streets, so as to divide the city
into many smaller parallelograms. " The present form and arrange
ment of the city," says the late Chancellor Baikes, "is precisely
that which was drawn out by the Boman general."
The spot where the four main streets intersected each other was
the praetorium, the residence of the Boman governor, and the seat
both of military and civil government. It occupied a considerable
space of ground. Beside the apartments required for the accom
modation of a man of the highest rank, it contained the quarters of
his " contubernales" — the young Boman noblemen who were trained
to war under his care — as well as the " augurale," where prayers,
sacrifices, and all the other rites of religion were performed, and the
* Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 154. f C S. Plinii, Hist. Nat., lib. ii. c. 21.

248 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
tribunal where the governor decided on the lives and fortunes of the
soldiers and subjects of Bome.*
No pains were spared in furnishing the city with other appliances
of Boman civilization, and enough remains to the present time to
show that it was one of the best constructed, as well as one of the
most flourishing, cities of Britam. In ruder, times, long after the
departure of the Bomans from this island, the remains of their
works excited wonder and even fear amongst our ancestors, as great
as the admiration which they excite at the present day. The massy
foundations of their palaces, baths, and their deep and wide excava
tions, which probably existed in greater number at that time than
they do now, were supposed to be the remains of the caverns and
dungeons built by a monstrous giant, to whom they gave the name
of Leon Vaur— a name derived from a confused tradition as to the
great legion of the Bomans. " In this city," says the old translator
of Higden's " Poly chronicon" — whose translation was the second
work printed in the English language at the press of Caxton — " in
this city been ways under earth, with vowtes (vaults) and stone
work wonderly wrought, there been churches and vowtes, great
stones egraved (engraved) with old men's names thereon. There is
also Julius Caesar's name wonderly in stones egrave, and other
noblemen's names, with the writing about." The author of the
" Polychronicon" says, in another place, " Looking at the foundations
of stone, and the enormous ways, they seem rather to have been
founded by the labour of giants or of the Bomans than by the' toil
of the Britons." Several of the works which called forth these
expressions of admiration still exist, and stones are frequently found
inscribed with the names of the gods and men of imperial Bome,
although much that excited the admiration of our ancestors has been
destroyed, carried away, or again buried in the earth, probably to be
again dug up or laid open at some future time.
Amongst the works which have been frequently laid open, and
as often closed again, are the ancient pavements of the city.
These, though covered with a vast mass of earth and ruins, have
often been explored. So recently as the year 1849, two different
fines of pavement, formed in very distant ages, were discovered
in making an excavation near the Eastgate, the most frequented
of all the entrances into the city. One of these was three feet,
and the other no less than nine feet, below the present level of
" Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 226.

PAST AND PRESENT. 249

the streets. About the same time was discovered a wide exca
vation, thirteen feet in depth, and extending across Bridge Street
and other streets of the city. In addition to these works of
utility, lines of Grecian pediments and richly-carved Corinthian
capitals have recently been laid open, which are evidently the
remains of buildings of much greater beauty and magnificence
than any that have outlived the ravages of time and war.*
The ancient and famous rows of Chester, which are unique
in northern Europe, also probably originated in the portico, the
favourite lounging place of the Bomans. On this subject the
late Chancellor Baikes observes, "When Tacitus describes the pro
cess by which Boman manners diffused themselves through Britain,
and gradually completed the subjugation of the country, he speaks
of the natives of Britam as acquiring a taste for two of the
features of Boman civilization — 'porticus et balnea;' the portico
in which they delighted to stroll and sun themselves ; and the
baths, which were the national luxury." The rows, or covered
vestibules, which run along the principal streets of Chester are
supposed to be almost as ancient in their origin as the walls,
for had they been the work of a more modern age, or a different
race, there is no reason why they should have been exclusively
confined to the Boman city of Chester. From the description
given by Plautus of the "vestibula" and the "ambulacra" of Bome,
they appear to have been used for precisely the same purposes
as the rows at Chester. If there be any difference, it is in the
fact that in the latter city the promenade is on the level of the
first, instead of that of the ground, floor of the houses. This
circumstance renders the rows of Chester both drier and pleasanter
as places of exercise and amusement; and it may probably have
given considerable advantage to the soldiers and colonists of the
city, in defending the houses and streets of this frontier garrison,
in case of insurrection within the walls, or an irruption of an enemy
from without; The depth to which some of the streets are cut
in the rock, would also tend to make the streets more defensible
from the houses and rows.
The hypocausts or heating apparatuses which have been dis
covered at Chester, seem to have belonged to mansions of the
highest class, and to have been used for many purposes besides
that of heating baths. The hypocaust in Bridge Street, commonly
* Paper by William Ayrton Esq., in Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. i. p. 82.,
VOL. I. 2 I

250 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
known as the Boman Bath, has recently been fully exposed to
view, by pulling down, for the purpose of reconstructing, the
buildings by which it had been covered. During the excavations,
several huge pillars and beams of oak were found in their original
positions, as well as a low plinth of stone, which seemed to have
run round the interior of a hall of the same date. The work
men found long rows of hollow tiles, or bricks, in form almost of
a honeycomb, and acting as flues or cells for heating air, but in
after times filled up with grout and rubbish ; also many stone
pillars which had supported the ancient floor ; and from" under
neath the foundations of the adjoining houses some portions of
the original floor was dug up, as far back from the street as forty
feet at least. It was composed in the usual way, of a mass of
mortar, broken bricks, and hardened grout, about a foot in thick
ness; wherein were embedded fittle tesserae, white and black, one
inch square, forming the corner of an angular interlacing pattern.
A great quantity of Boman coins, pottery, and tiles of the ordinary
kind, were also found in the course of the excavations. It has
been the custom to call this the Boman Bath, but the hypocaust
was only an extensive system of hot-air flues and chambers, under
neath some large apartment, and the few pillars and openings
still left formed but one corner of the once extensive apparatus.*
In digging the foundation of a new house in Watergate Street
in January, 1779, another hypocaust was discovered, larger than
that in Bridge Street. It contained two sudatories, one having ten
pillars, and a vacant place in the middle. Adjacent to it was a
small apartment with the walls plastered, which probably was the
room where the slave stood, who supplied the apparatus with
fuel. Before this was a large chamber with a tesselated pavement
of black, white, and red tiles, each about an inch square. Adjoining
was a sudatory ; and beyond that a small tiled apartment, t
Part of a third mosaic pavement, but without any heating
apparatus, was discovered in the year 1803, in digging a cellar in
what was then known as the Nuns' Garden, near the castle. It
was five feet square, and was found about six feet below the present
surface of the ground. A fourth tesselated pavement was discovered
in the year 1814, near the gateway of the castle, part of which was
destroyed in making excavations, and the other part closed up.j^
• Observations of the late Rev. W. H. Massie, in Journal of Archaeological Society of Chester, vol. i. p. 356.
t Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 154. J The Chester Guide, p. 26.

PAST AND PRESENT. 251

In addition to structures which are still so perfect that their
plan and object can be understood, there have been found various
remains of ancient buildings, whose object is not so evident, and
immense quantities of fragments of buildings, broken up and scattered
about in all parts of the city. In 1847 several courses of masonry,
belonging to the original foundation of the old Eastgate, were laid
bare, just outside the present gate. They lay about four feet from
the surface, and extended sixty feet beyond the gate. From the
care with which they are pointed and finished it is probable that
they were more than meie foundations, and most likely served for
guard-rooms or dungeons. In 1813 the remains of an extra-mural
cemetery were discovered, in sinking the foundation of a cellar at
Netherleigh house, a short distance from Chester. It contained a
considerable number of large vases of red clay, regularly arranged
in vaults, each vault containing four or six vases. Several of these
were filled with calcined bones. One of the vases was perfect, but
the rest were fractured by the workmen who broke open the vault.
A half-length figure, dressed in a priestly costume, was discovered
at the same time. In Weaver Street, in excavating for a sewer, a
regularly formed road of marble blocks, set in sand, has been dis
covered, with four feet above it a layer of charcoal, and at a depth
of ten or eleven feet a quantity of Boman tiles. In Common Hall
Street a row of foundations was discovered formed of concrete,
composed of broken marble stones, in hard mortar, about nine feet
apart, at a depth of ten feet, and presenting the appearance of having
supported columns ; a large square block of stone four feet two
inches square, and sixteen inches deep, resting on a bed of concrete ;
a portion of a column of a very debased classical form, about two
feet in diameter, fixed in concrete at the depth of ten feet ; together
with mouldings, broken tiles and pottery, coins of Antoninus Pius
and Tetricus, a quantity of bones of various animals, including a
stag's head with the horns sawn off, and a wild boar's tusk. In
an adjoining street was also discovered a moulded block from a
cornice, with a rude inscription, and a pig of lead embedded in a
thick wall, also the capital of a pillar. The tiles are of various forms,
some overlapping each other, some with a kind of pattern or letters,
others with marks of animals' feet. In 1840 several tiles, marked
Leg. XXVV, were dug up in Water Street; and about the same
time the capital of a Corinthian column was discovered at Hand-
bridge, and near it a coin of Trajan. A quantity of remains of

252 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Boman origin have also been found on the site of St. John's
Hospital. *
In addition to walls, streets, and buildings, many remains have
been found at Chester connected with occupations, public amuse
ments, and with the arts of private fife. Amongst these was the
figure of a Boman soldier, over the old Boman Eastgate, in dress
and arms greatly resembling a Scottish highlander ; a figure of a
gladiator, of the kind called "retiarius," furnished with a net to
entangle his adversary (who was armed with a trident), and a dagger
to dispatch him ; a figure of a shepherd with a Phrygian cap, found
in a house in the White Friars ; Boman fibulae for fastening robes ;
vases of earthenware and slate ; innumerable specimens of Boman
earthenware of all kinds, from the finest Samian ware to the rudest
pottery, and often inscribed with the maker's name ; spear heads ;
portions of many articles for kitchen purposes ; a gold ring with an
onyx stone ; pigs of lead with Boman inscriptions ; and a gold
torque weighing thirteen dwts., recently found in St. Werburg.
Amongst the most curious and interesting remains of the Bomans
found at Chester, are the numerous altars raised by them to the
gods and goddesses of the Pantheon.
First in dignity amongst these is an altar devoted to Jupiter
Tanarus, " Greatest and Best," by Titus Elupius Galerus, the
prefect of the Twentieth Legion. According to Selden, who
quotes Lucan in support of his theory, the name of Tanarus,
which follows that of Jupiter in the above inscription, ought to
be Taranus. That, it seems, was the" name of a Gaulish, and
therefore of a British deity, whom the author of this inscription
attempted to identify with the classic Jupiter, according to the
politic custom of the Bomans, who taught the nations whom they
wished to hold in subjection, that their own gods and the gods
of Bome were the same divinities, under different names. The
date of this inscription is fixed, by the names of the consuls,
Commodus and Lateranus, as the year 154. A figure, supposed
to be that of Minerva armed, with her altar and bird of wisdom, t
was formerly very, visible, sculptured on a rock on the Welsh
side of the old bridge. This memorial of the daughter of Jove,
whom Horace places second in rank to Jupiter, is now nearly
* Paper by William Ayrton, Esq., in Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. i p. 79 :
First Beport of Chester Archaeological Society.
f Pennant's Tours in Scotland, vol. i. p. 4.

PAST AND PRESENT. 253

worn out by time. An altar without an inscription, but accom
panied by a medal struck in honour of Neptune, who is repre
sented with a ship and trident, and of Hercules and Pallas, was
found in the year 1828. A statue, supposed to be that of Cupid,
executed in a better style of art than any other found at Chester,
has been recently discovered. The winged, fiery boy was joined
in worship with Venus, who was supposed to be the peculiar
patroness of the Julian race. It was in the name of Venus the
Victorious that the army of Julius Caesar fought in the battle of
Pharsalia, when, as before and since, Venus proved more than a
match for Hercules, who was invoked by the soldiers of Pompey.
A small votive altar was recently discovered at Boughton, by Mr.
William Ayrton, dedicated by Julius Quintifianus to the Genius of
Avernus ; that is, to the ruler of the infernal regions, another entrance
of which was supposed to be found at the lake of Avernus. A
beautiful altar, dedicated to Fortune, Esculapius, and Safety, by
the freedmen and family of a distinguished Boman, no doubt
in memory of his having been restored to health. The inscrip
tion on this altar is much defaced ; but emblems of the deities
invoked, and various sacrificial instruments are cut on the stone.
Fortune was worshipped as a goddess in all parts of the Boman
empire ; and Pliny complains that the belief in this inconstant
being had destroyed all belief in any higher god. "All over the
world, in all places and at all times, Fortune is the only deity
whom any one invokes. She alone is spoken of, she alone is
praised and blamed. To her are referred all our losses and all
our gains ; and in casting up the accounts of mortals, she alone
balances the page. We are so much in the power of chance, that
chance is regarded as a god, and hence the existence of God him
self becomes doubtful."0 About the beginning of the last century
a statue was found at Chester, which, from its form and position,
was supposed to be that of one of the attendants, in a group
representing Mithras, or the sun ; who was worshipped as a god,
first amongst the eastern nations and afterwards amongst the
Bomans. The statue found at Chester was represented with a
Phrygian cap, with a fittle mantle across its shoulders, and a
short jacket on its body. It was placed standing, with a torch
in its hands, declining. This is supposed to have been an emblem
of the decline of the sun at midwinter. At that season of the
*C. S. Plinii, Hist Nat., lib. ii. u 5.

254 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
year, horse races and chariot races were celebrated in honour of
the sun ; and these, to annoy the Christians, were chiefly fixed
on the day on which they celebrated the birth of Christ.
A beautiful altar has also been discovered at Chester, raised to
the Genius of the Emperors by Flavius Longus, a tribune of the
Twentieth Legion, and Longinus his son, natives of Samosata, on
the Euphrates, but then serving on the banks of the Dee. The
emperors whose genius is invoked are supposed to have been Diocle
tian and Maximian. The altar was found in digging the foundations
of a cellar in Eastgate, on the ancient pavement, which consisted
of square stones. Around it were found the marks of sacrifice,
consisting of the heads, horns, and bones of the ox, the roe, and
the buck. And with these remains were two coins, one of Vespasian,
and the other of Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great.
On the latter, on one side, is the head of Constantius, with the
inscription : " Fl Val. Constantius Nob. C ;" and on the other a
figure of a genius, holding in one hand a sacrificing bowl, and in
the other a cornucopia. On the reverse of the coin are the words,
"Genio Populi Bomani." It has been supposd that this coin was
deposited at the time when the altar to the Genius of the Emperors
was erected, and that, together, they were intended to serve as a
memorial of the restoration of the power of the Boman emperors
in Britain by Constantius, after the overthrow of Carausius and
Allectus, who for a time usurped supreme authority in Britain,
and separated the island from the rest of the Boman empire. An
altar has also been discovered at Chester dedicated to the Genius
of Avernus ; another altar, dedicated to the nymphs and fountains,
by the soldiers of the Twentieth Legion ; a third dedicated to the
genius of the place— "Genio Loci;" and a fourth dedicated to
the deity of Augustus — "Numini August!" So recently as 1850,
an altar was discovered at Chester dedicated, by Hermogenes the
physician, to the preserving deities. The inscription on this altar
is in the Greek language. Translated, it reads, "I, Hermogenes
the Physician, set up this Altar to the Preserving and Almighty
Deities."* It is probable that the altar was erected by the physician
of the Emperor Hadrian, in memory of some escape that he had
experienced, whilst following the perilous fortunes of his master
in Britain. Hermogenes is spoken of as the physician of Hadrian
by Dion Cassius, who relates that the emperor, in his last illness,
* Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, p. 200

PAST AND PRESENT. 255

directed his freedman to stab him in a spot, under the breast, which
Hermogenes had pointed out to him as painlessly fatal. The freed
man fled in terror ; on which the emperor refused to take food, and
died of starvation, exclaiming in his last moment, "It takes many
doctors to kill an emperor." In addition to numerous inscriptions
discovered at Chester in honour of the gods of Bome and Greece,
an inscription has also been discovered in honour of the nymphs
of the Brigantes. This inscription is mentioned by Selden and by
Gale, and is probably genuine, for the worship of the ancient
divinities of Britain continued for many years after the Boman
conquest. A statue of a goddess named Brigantia has been dis
covered in Annandale, which appears to have been erected by order
of the Emperor Julian the Apostate, at the time when he was
attempting to restore the worship of the heathen deities. Coins
have also been discovered at Chester which bear evidence to the
prevalence of Christianity in Britain and Gaul about 350 years
after the death of Christ. These coins are marked with the head
and name of Magnentius, an emperor or usurper who headed a
great military insurrection in those provinces about that time.
It appears from these coins that Magnentius bore on his standard,
or "labarum," the cross — the emblem of the Christian faith — the
Alpha and the Omega, with the initials of the Saviour's name.
As this money was circulated in Gaul and Britain, it creates a
presumption that Christianity was at that time the religion of a
large portion of the British people, though it may be that paganism
still lingered in the wilder parts of the island.
Chester is also rich in Boman coins. These commence with the
arrival of the Bomans, and continue to the time of their departure
from the island. Amongst the earliest is a coin of the Emperor
Nero, A.D. 54 to 68 ; among the latest, one of Valentinianus, A.D. 367
to 375. These coins thus extend over a period of more than three
hundred years, beginning probably with the time of the advance
of the Boman legions through Chester, to storm the sacred island
of the Druids; and extending very nearly to the time when the
Twentieth Legion was withdrawn from Britain, to assist in defending
Italy and the walls of Bome from the attacks of Alaric the Goth.
It will be seen from the above details that quite enough still
remains at Chester — after the lapse of eighteen hundred years — to
show that it was a flourishing city under the Bomans. The great
sources of wealth in all ages and countries are agriculture, mining,

256 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
manufactures, and commerce, and it is a subject of interest to inquire
what was the foundation of the ancient as well as of the modern
prosperity of Chester, and of the other cities and towns of the north
western district of Britam.
There is no reason to doubt that the statement of Strabo as
to the rudeness of the agriculture of Britain, previous to the arrival
of the Bomans, is correct. He states that the Britons understood
none of the finer processes of cultivation, and did not even know
how to make cheese from the milk of their cattle. If so, we may
perhaps attribute the first manufacture of the famous Cestrian cheese
to these ancient masters of the world. However this may be, it
certainly was during the dominion of the Bomans in Britain that
agriculture, horticulture, and pasturage rose to importance, and that
the soil of Britain was so well cultivated as to be capable of
furnishing large quantities of grain for foreign consumption. The
Bhenish provinces of Gaul were fed with grain from Britain, in
the time of the Emperor Julian, during a terrible famine produced
by a desolating irruption of the Germans. The Bomans delighted
in agriculture and horticulture, and in the rearing and improving
of cattle, and practised these arts in every part of the empire.
" Almost all the flowers, the herbs, and the fruits that grow in our
gardens," says Gibbon, "are of foreign extraction, which, in many
cases, is betrayed even by the names. The apple was a native of
Italy, and when the Bomans had tasted the richer flavour of the
apricot, the peach, the pomegranate, the citron, and the orange,
they contented themselves with applying to all these new fruits
the common denomination of apple, discriminating them from each
other by the additional epithet of their country. In the time of
Homer the vine grew wild in the island of Sicily, and most
probably on the adjacent continent; but it was not improved by
the skill, nor did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of the
savage inhabitants. A thousand years afterwards, Italy could boast
that, of the four-score most generous and celebrated wines, more
than two-thirds were produced from her soil. The blessing was
soon communicated to the Narbonnese province of Gaul, but so
intense was the cold to the north of the Cevennes, that, in the time
of Strabo, it was thought impossible to ripen the grapes in those
parts of Gaul. This difficulty, however, was gradually vanquished
and there is some reason to believe that the vineyards of Burgundy
are as old as the age of the Antonines. The olive in the western

PAST AND PRESENT. 257

world followed the progress of peace, of which it was considered to
be the emblem. At length it was carried into the heart of Spain
and Gaul. The cultivation of flax was transported from Egypt to
Gaul. The use of artificial grasses became familiar to the farmers
both of Italy and the provinces, particularly lucerne, which derived
its Latin name and its origin from Media."""" The result of this
improvement of cultivation was that the famines, which were so
frequent in the early ages of Bome, were unknown when the empire
had reached its full extent. The accidental scarcity of any single
province was immediately relieved by the plenty of its more fortunate
neighbours. Thus, as already mentioned, Britain supplied the
occasional deficiencies of Gaul. " Six hundred vessels," says Gibbon,
"formed in the forest of Ardennes, made several voyages to the
coast of Britain, and returning from thence laden with corn, sailed
up the Bhine, and distributed their cargoes to the several towns
and fortresses along the banks of that river." t
Amongst the plants which the Bomans succeeded in naturalizing
in Britain, were flax, lucerne, and all the more valuable kinds of
fruit trees. They even introduced the vine, which continued to
be cultivated in the southern districts of Britain till after the
Norman conquest. As a product of luxury, the vine was grown
in the open air long after the retreat of the Bomans. So late
as the reign of Henry VIII., there was a vineyard attached to
one of the monastic houses of Chester, and, if we are to believe
Strabo, the county of Chester owes the art which gives value
to its rich pastures to the Bomans. On this subject Pennant
says, "I must not omit the most valuable memorial which the
Bomans left in a particular manner to this county — the art of
cheese-making ; for we are expressly told that the Britons were
ignorant of it till the arrival of the Bomans. The Cestrians have
improved so highly in this artiole, as to excel all countries, not
excepting Italy, the land of their ancient masters." X
The question as to whether the Bomans established a colony
at Chester, the head-quarters of the Twentieth Legion, as they
undoubtedly did at York and Caerleon, the head-quarters of the
Sixth and Second Legion, is now chiefly interesting in reference
to the tenure and cultivation of the adjoining lands. When the
Bomans established a colony, the colonists were generally the
soldiers of a favourite army or legion, who began by turning out
» Gibbon, vol. i. c. 2. f Gibbon, vol. ii. u. 19. t Gibbon, vol. i. c. 2.
2 K
VOL. I.

258 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the original proprietors of the soil. Thus, when Augustus estab
lished a colony at Cremona, the poet Virgil and all his neighbours
were expelled from their farms in the adjoining district of Mantua,
and the former only recovered his land by the special favour of the
emperor. We ought perhaps to hope, in the interests of the original
possessors of the soil around Chester, that it was not a colony, or,
at least, that it did not become so, until that title was assumed
as an honorary distinction, without any previous acts of confiscation.
This was the case, according to Gibbon, in the time of the Emperor
Septimius Severus : — " During the latter part of his reign, the calm
of peace and prosperity was once more experienced in the provinces ;
and many cities, restored by the munificence of Severus, assumed
the title of his colonies, and attested by public monuments their
gratitude and felicity." It was the boast of Severus to have
restored peace and order even in Britain, and it is very probable
that his son Geta, who possessed some of his great qualities, may
have been the restorer of the prosperity of Chester. He and his
brother assumed the purple at York, and were not likely to be
sparing in honours to the legions of Britam, which first saluted
them as emperors. The coin on which Chester is spoken of as a
colony, is one of the short reign of Geta, and bears the inscription
Col. Devana., Leg. XX. Victrix.
The principal commerce of Britain in the time of the Bomans
consisted in the metals, and those were and are found in great
abundance on the banks of the Dee, and in the adjoining district
of North Wales. Agricola, in animating his soldiers to fight
valiantly against Galgacus exclaimed : " Britain produces gold,
silver, and the other metals, the reward of victory ; " and Gal
gacus, in exhorting his soldiers to resist the invaders, reminded
them of the misery of toiling in the mines to supply tribute to
the Bomans. Gold was formerly found in Britam, if not abun
dantly, yet to such an extent as to render it worth collecting.
Silver is still extracted in considerable quantities from the silver-
lead ores of North Wales, and other mining- districts of Britain.
Iron, lead, copper, and tin are amongst the most valuable products
of the island. The workings of the Bomans can still be traced
amongst the lead mines in the hills which overlook the estuary
of the Dee, and pigs of lead bearing Latin inscriptions have been
recently dug up amongst the Bomans ruins of Chester. Even in
modern times, lead, silver, and other metals of the value of a

PAST AND PRESENT. 259

million and a half sterling, were extracted from the Halkin moun
tain, a small portion of this district, in the course of a few years ;
and in the time of the Bomans the lead mines of Britain were so
productive, that the emperors, who received tribute in that and
other metals, forbad the producing of more than a certain quantity
of lead each year, for the purpose of keeping up the price of
the metal. Immense iron pick-axes, resembling those used -by the
Bomans in mining operations, have been found in the Flintshire
hills, with wedges, fibulae, and many other relics of the Boman
miners. The scoriae of Boman iron-works have been met with in
the parish of Hope, and a great mass of copper, with a Latin
inscription, has been discovered on the banks of the Conway. All
these metals are found in abundance on the west bank of the Dee,
along with coal, and must have furnished the materials for an
extensive commerce. " These pigs of lead, the produce of Boman
industry," says Chancellor Baikes, "first mentioned in Camden's
'Britannia' as being found in the neighbourhood of Chester, and
two of which have been recently discovered, are memorials of
the early period at which the mineral wealth of this district was
known, and of the commerce to which it gave rise."
We have no information as to the extent to which the river
Dee was used for purposes of internal communication in the time
of the Bomans, but that eminently practical people never lost an
opportunity of turning natural advantages to the best account.
In Italy they made the Tiber navigable by damming up the waters
of the Tinia and the Glanis, and discharging them at stated intervals
into that river, and in Gaul they established lines of water com
munication from the mouth of the Bhone to the mouths of the
Garonne, the Loire, and the Seine. We know from Gildas that
the Thames and the Severn were both used for purposes of navi
gation after the departure of the Bomans from Britain, and no
doubt they were so used during the Boman occupation. The Dee,
though a wild mountain stream in the first part of its course,
becomes a fine navigable river when it reaches Bangor. At that
point it approaches near enough to the tributaries of the Severn,
to have aided in forming a line of water communication from
Chester to Gloucester, and thence down the valley of the Thames
to London. When the Bomans first landed in Britain, the seas between
Britain and Ireland had a bad reputation. Solinus says that the

260 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
sea between Britain and Ireland is stormy and restless, so that it
is only navigable during a few days in each year. But the Bomans
afterwards became more familiar with the western seas. Even in
Pliny's time the whole of the coasts of the Western Ocean were
navigated, from Cadiz and the Straits, round Spain and Gaul, to
Britain. The greater part of the Northern Ocean was also navigated,
the fleets of Augustus having coasted round Germany and the
present Denmark, as far as the promontory of the Cimbri, from
which point they saw a great sea "which extends to the country
of the Scythians."* Cadiz, or Gades, was the resting-place of the
Bomans, as it had previously been of the Carthaginians, in their
voyages- to Gaul and Britain. The products of those countries
were taken to Cadiz, and thence to Bome, and from Bome the
lead and tin of Britain were sent across, the Mediterranean, and
down the Bed Sea, to India and the East, to be exchanged for
silk, spices, and other oriental luxuries, t
At the time when Chester was the head-quarters of the Twentieth
Legion, the Bomans had outposts in several places in the valley
of the Dee, or of its tributaries. The most important of these
outposts were at Flint ; at the bridge or ford of the Dee between
Holt and Farndon; and at Caerguerle, in the pass leading towards
Mold. They probably also had a position at Bangor or Bonium,
and a very curious memorial of their presence has been found
near Malpas.
Many Boman remains have been found in the neighbourhood of
Flint castle. Amongst these are a button of twisted gold-wire,
studded with small globular pieces of solid gold ; part of a necklace
with golden links ; a fragment of a glass ornament of a rich blue
colour; part of a vase, a small brazen seal, a stylus or pen, a
spoon for a lachrymatory, a brazen bodkin, a fibula or brooch
gilt and enamelled with deep blue in front, a forceps, a bulla
or Boman amulet, a locket, a key and ring, a ring of brass, and
another of silver. J Pennant thought that he could trace remains
of a Boman fortification, on the ground on which the town and
castle of Flint now stand.
The castle of Holt, which is spoken of in an old document as
the castle of the Lion or Legion, was probably an outwork of
the Bomans, constructed to secure the course and passage of the
river. Coins of Antoninus, Galienus, and Constantinus, have been
• C S. Plinii, lib. ii. c. 27. f Gibbon, c. ii. p. 72. J Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 99.

PAST AND PRESENT. 261

found here, and there are the remains of ancient slopes on the
banks of the river, which have very much the appearance of
Boman workmanship. °
At Caerguerle on the banks of the Alyn, at the entrance of
Molesdale, are also remains of a Boman station, at the foot of the
rock on which the ruins of the castle still stand. The works seem
to have been rectangular, one side forming a slope along the banks
of the river. In Camden's time a hypocaust was discovered near
this place. The floor was of brick, set in mortar, the roof supported
by brick pillars, and consisting of polished perforated tiles. On
some of the tiles were the words "Legio XX.," which points out their
founders.! Large beds of iron cinders have been discovered at Caer-
Estyn, in this parish, the supposed refuse of Boman furnaces.jt
An interesting memorial of the presence of the Bomans in the
north-western district of Britam was discovered in the year 1812, at
Bickley, near Malpas, in Cheshire. It consisted of a tablet of
copper, inscribed with a decree of the Boman senate and of the
Emperor Trajan, by which the veterans of eleven alse, and four
cohorts of auxiliary troops, then serving in Britain, were presented
with the freedom of Bome. Amongst the troops mentioned in the
inscription as serving in Britain were men of numerous races,
including Thracians, Pannonians, Gauls, Spaniards, and moun
taineers from the Alps. The Bomans thus kept in subjection one
race by means of another ; for whilst troops from all parts of the
Boman empire were serving in Britain, British troops were serving
in the most remote provinces of the empire. In the " Notitia " it is
mentioned that the fourth ala of Britons was serving in Egypt, the
twenty-sixth cohort of Britons in Armenia, the " invincible young
Britons" in Spain, and the veteran Britons in Illyricum.§
Such are the traces of the Bomans in the lower part of the
valley of the Dee ; and ascending its wild and beautiful banks into
the recesses of the Welsh mountains, the remains of that great
people may be traced to the point at which it rushes from the lake
of Bala. They may also be found in the beautiful valleys of the
Clwyd and the Conway, and along the shores of the Menai Straits.
In the Boman times, Deva or Chester was the military capital of
the whole of this district; and there are few parts of it in which
* Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. i. p. 274.
t Camden's Britannia, vol. ii. p. 828. J Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. ii. p. 47.
§ Mr. Eoach. Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, vol. ii. p. 134.

262 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the marks of their power and greatness cannot be traced to the
present day.
Roman Stations at Northwich and Kinderton. — Leaving the plain
of Chester and the valley of the Dee, and crossing the Forest
hills, we find numerous remains of the Bomans in the valley of
the Weaver, and of its tributaries the Dane and the Wheelock.
Castle Northwich, standing on a lofty and almost precipitous
height which overhangs the present town of Northwich, was one
of the positions which the Bomans occupied in the valley of the
Weaver, and by means of which the Twentieth Legion, stationed
at Chester, kept up its communications with the garrison at Man
chester, and with the Sixth Legion at York. The Boman road, as
we have shown, can be clearly traced from Chester to the neigh
bourhood of Northwich, and from Northwich to Manchester and
York. It is difficult to trace it in the immediate vicinity of North
wich, owing to the obliterating effects of cultivation, of building, of
floods in the valley, and of the sinking of the ground caused by the
working of brine-pits and salt-mines. Owing to the last of these
causes, the modem road has sunk six feet, and much of the neigh
bouring land still more.
Castle Northwich possesses all the advantages which the Bomans
sought in a military position. The ground is lofty, commanding,
and almost encircled by the windings of the river Weaver. The
situation is healthy at all seasons, and the fertile banks of the river
furnish forage and supplies of every kind sufficient for the wants of
a numerous garrison. The river Dane, descending from the borders
of the Derbyshire hills, flows into the Weaver, opposite to the
heights on which the Bomans formed their camp ; and hence from
this point the garrison, which could at any time be easily reinforced
from Deva, commanded not only the upper and lower parts of the
valley of the Weaver, but also the valleys of the Dane and the
Wheelock. " Northwich," says Archdeacon Wood, in a communica
tion to the Archaeological Society of Chester, " is a Boman station,
and judging from its position, and from the large remains of foun
dations of buildings which have been dug up, and the antiquities
which have come to light, it must have been a station of com
manding strength, and of very great importance." Urns containing
calcined bones, large quantities of Boman pottery, and a mortarium,
inscribed " Marius fecit," have been recently found at Castle North
wich, within the position occupied by the Bomans in ancient times.

PAST AND PRESENT. 263

A salt-pit of very great antiquity, and which probably yielded
tribute to the Bomans, still exists in the town of Northwich. At
Hartford, near to the present railway station, three Boman funereal
urns have been recently found.*
A Boman road, still clearly marked, and which was almost perfect
when Camden visited this part of Cheshire, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, formed an easy connection between the Boman position
at Northwich and an equally well-marked position of the same
people at Kinderton, now a suburb of Middlewich, situated on a
point where the river Dane is joined by a smaller stream, named the
Croco. The outline of the Boman camp is still perfectly distinct, in
a field called the Harbour field. This name, Harbour, which occurs
continually on the line of the old Boman roads, is supposed to be
either a corruption of the old Saxon words heer-burh, the army's
hill or camp, or of hea-burh, the chief town or camp.t The camp
at Kinderton is not a perfect parallelogram, although approaching
as nearly to it as the formation of the land and the course of the
streams will allow. The sides are not exactly facing the card mal
points, but sufficiently so to be designated by them. The camp is
bounded on the north by the river Dane, and on the west by the
river Croco, their confluence being at the north-west angle. The
fosse is plainly discernible on two sides of the parallelogram, though
it has been greatly defaced by being levelled a few years ago.
Several coins and other small articles have been found in levelling
and ploughing the field; and in July, 1849, when the ground was
opened at several places, to ascertain how far the gravel of the road
extended, in each place opened small fragments of Boman pottery,
some of Samian ware, were thrown out, sufficient to show the place
to have been an ancient encampment of the Bomans. Its position
at the confluence of two rivers, in a healthy situation, and in the
midst of a fertile district, together with the form of the earthworks,
and the numerous Boman roads which radiate from it in various
directions, prove this not less clearly. This position, as 'already
mentioned, seems to have been a great centre of communication in
ancient times ; for fines of Boman road can be traced, running in the
following directions : — Towards Chesterton, near Newcastle-under-
Lyne, which was the high road to London, Gaul, and Bome,
* Transactions of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. ii. p. 138.
t. In the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem of " Beowulf," the Frieslanders are described as returning to their
" hamas and hea-burh," their homes and chief town or fortress. — Kemble's " Beowulf."

264 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
following very much the direction of the London and North-western
railway as far as London ; towards Nantwich, Wem, and the valley
of the Severn ; towards Holme's Chapel, by way of Saltersford, and
so on to the Derbyshire hills ; to Manchester and Warrington ; and
finally, towards Deva or Chester. This position seems to have been
to the Boman roads much what the Crewe station, which lies only
a few miles south of it, is to the modern system of railways.
The Roman Mamucium, or Mancunium., now Manchester. —
Passing eastward from the valley of the Weaver to that of the
Mersey and Irwell, we find another great Boman station at Mamu
cium or Mancunium, the present Manchester. This city has been
from the most remote times the chief place of the valley of the
Mersey and the Irwell, and of the hilly district from which those
rivers flow. It was in the time of the Bomans the military position
from which they governed the district, and kept up the communica
tions between the soldiers of the Twentieth Legion at Chester and
those of the Sixth Legion at York, through the narrow and difficult
passes in the mountains which separate the western from the eastern
side of the island. Few positions were of greater consequence, it
being of vital importance to the Bomans to have the power of
throwing their whole military strength at will, either on the east or
west side of that range. Mamucium, on the west side of the moun
tains, and Cambodunum, on the east, were the two fortified positions
by means of which this was effected. Mamucium was not only the
fortress by which the communication was kept open through the
mountains, but also the position from which the swampy forests
forming the Caet Maes, or woody plain of Lancashire and Cheshire
— of which Chat Moss, Carrington Moss, and other great swamps on
both sides of the Mersey, now form the remains — were kept in sub
jection. The roots of thousands of large trees, the remains of ancient
forests, probably destroyed in warlike operations, are still found in
these swamps. It is uncertain whether the trees of which they are
the remains were destroyed by the axe or by fire, but it is evident
that many of them did not perish from natural decay, the wood
being still quite sound. In the corresponding marshes on the
opposite side of the hills, as Hatfield Chace and Thorne Waste,
excavations appear at the roots and on the stems of numerous oak
trees, some apparently cut down with axes and wedges, others burnt
down, and Boman coins have been found with them.* In some of
* Le La Prime, Philosophical Transactions, 1701. Phillips' Yorkshire, p. 101.

PAST AND PRESENT. 265

the Lancashire mosses, that of Chat Moss especially, the trunks of
the trees seem to have been overthrown in a similar manner, to
have fallen across the natural water-courses by means of which the
country was drained, and thus to have enlarged the great peat
mosses which extend for so many miles down the valley of the
Mersey. The Bomans do not seem at any time to have formed
roads through the centre of this wild district, though it is encircled
by Boman roads running along the high grounds of Cheshire and
Lancashire, from which it still presents the appearance of an immense
woody plain. All these roads communicate with the old Boman
station of Mamucium.
Mamucium or Mancunium is first mentioned in 'the " Antonine
Itinerary," and is twice spoken of there as a Boman position — in the
second and in the tenth Iters — in the former of which it is called
Mamucium, and in the latter Mancunium. Both Mamucium and
Mancunium are said to be eighteen miles distant from Condate, and
Mamucium is said to be twenty miles distant from Cambodunum, on
the direct road from Deva, or Chester, to Eboracum, or York. There
is, therefore, no reason to doubt that both those names apply to the
same place, and to the city of Manchester. Opinions are divided as
to the origin of the name. Camden and Horsley both derive it
from Maen, the ancient British name for a rock, and justify the
application of the name on the ground that the Boman fortress at
Mamucium or Mancunium was built on the red sandstone rock which
forms the steep bank of the river Irwell. Whitaker, the historian
of Manchester, derives the name from Maencunion, which, he says,
means " the city of tents," it having been the site of an ancient
British encampment. This seems a less probable derivation than
that of Camden and Horsley ; yet, as it has been recently shown
by Mr. Harland, that Mamucium, and afterwards Mamcestre, were
the names of the present Manchester, for many ages, neither of
these derivations can be considered as altogether decisive of the
question. " There can be no doubt that the point where the Medlock falls
into the Irwell, near what is still called the Castle-field, would be a
favourite spot for the Bomans on which to raise their chief castrum ;
while the junction of the Irk with the Irwell, at the other extremity
of the Deansgate, being a like situation, it is probable that they
there placed one of their "castra aestiva," or summer camps. No
evidence exists of any British encampment having previously existed
VOL. I. 2 L

266 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

on the spot."* This position possessed all the advantages, in point
of strength and healthfulness, which the Bomans sought in their
camps, and the surrounding valleys of the Mersey, the Irwell, the
Medlock, and the Irk, furnished supplies for the wants of the
garrison and the population which collected round it. The lines of
the Boman camp,. and the remains of a castle of stone, were very
perceptible at Manchester until the middle of the last century, when
the prodigious increase of the city swept them away. Camden,
writing in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1590, in speaking of
Manchester as the ancient Mamucium or Mancunium, says that
it rises on the left side of the Irwell, at the point where it is
joined by the Irk, and scarcely three miles from the Mersey. " In
an adjoining park of the earl of Derby's," he adds, " I saw the
foundations of an ancient square castle, called Mancastle, at the
point where the Medlock falls into the Irwell. I do not say that
this is the ancient Mancunium," he observes, " but either some
Boman station, or perhaps the work which Edward the Elder con
structed, when, in the words of Marianus, ' In this year he sent an
army of Mercians into Northumberland, and restored and garrisoned
Manchester.' "t Subsequent investigations have clearly proved that
this was at least a part of the Boman camp at Mamucium. Stukeley,
who visited Manchester early in the last century, in 1724, says that
the Boman camp " is on the west side, going to Manchester from
Chester by way of Stretford, and on the north bank of the Medlock,
a quarter of a mile from the present town of Manchester." Horsley,
who visited the same place a few years later, says, " When I was at
Manchester, I examined with care the Boman station west from it.
The field in which it stands is called Castle -field. The river runs
near it, on the east side. The ramparts are still very conspicuous."
The remains of the Bomans are much more fully described by
Whitaker, in his " History of Manchester," a work of extraordinary
learning and ingenuity, though rather a history and dissertation on
the ancient Britons, and on the Boman and Saxon dominion in
Britain, than an account of the city of Manchester.
In addition to the ancient ramparts and the Boman road around
Manchester, many Boman remains have been found there, especially
* Mamecestre: being Chapters from the Early Recorded History of the Barony; the Lordship or Manor;
the Vill, Borough, or Town of Manchester. Edited by John Harland, F.S.A. 3 vols. 1861. Being vols
liii. Ivi. and lviii. of the Chetham Society's Remains, Historical and Literary, connected with the Palatine
Counties of Lancaster and Chester.
f Camden's Britannia, p. 613.

PAST AND PRESENT. 267

in the Castle-field. A stone with an inscription was found there
in the year 1793, from which it appears that the Boman garrison
of Manchester included the first cohort of Frisian troops — -about
700 men — and that that cohort, amongst other public works, had
constructed a length of twenty-four miles of the roads about Man
cunium. This inscription, according to Dr. Holmes' reading, is as
follows: — " Cohors prima Friseanorum quae viam munivit millia
passuum XXIIII." The remains of an altar found at Manchester, in
the year 1829, show that a corps of Norican troops, from the passes
of the Alps, also formed part of the garrison of the ancient Mamu
cium ; and in addition to these auxiliary troops, we find marks of
the presence of an officer of one of the praetorian legions, and of
detachments of the Twentieth and the Sixth Legions, in that
garrison. But the opinion that the garrison of Mamucium was composed
chiefly of Frieslanders is supported by other inscriptions discovered
at Manchester, some of them as early as the time of Camden, and
is curious, taken in connection with other facts, from the light which
it throws on the military system of the Bomans. There were three
principal garrisons in the present county of Lancaster, each of which
had its outposts ; and in order that these garrisons might be as little
likely as possible to combine against the Bomans, they were taken
from different nations. The garrison of Mamucium were Fries
landers and Noricana ; the garrison of Bibchester were Sarmatians,
raised on the edge of the great plains on which the emperor of
Bussia now raises the Cossacks of the Ukraine, and Asti from the
mountains of Thrace ; and the garrison of Alaune, or Lancaster, were
Gauls or Germans, raised on the banks of the river Sambre. With
regard to one of the tribes from which the garrison of Mamucium
was taken — namely, the Frisiabones or Frisavones, now known as
Frieslanders — they are mentioned twice by Pliny; first, as the
inhabitants of an island situated at the mouth of the Bhine, between
the river Meuse and the Zuyder Zee; and second, as a nation of
Belgic Gauls, who claimed a close -affinity with the neighbouring
Batavian and German tribes. The following inscriptions have been
found on funeral stones erected in honour of officers of this corps
who died at Mamucium, after serving, the one twenty-three years,
the other twenty : — " Cohors prima Frisingensium, Centurioni Marco
Savonio, Stipendiorum Viginti trium ;" and "Centurionis Candidi
Fidesii, annorum Viginti, mensium Quatuor."

268 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

In the year 1612 an altar was found under the root of an old
oak tree, on the banks of the Medlock, dedicated to Fortune the
Preserver, by a centurion of the Sixth Legion. According to
Horsley, the reading of this inscription is — " Fortunae Conservatrici,
Marcius, Centurio Legionis Sextae Victricis." This inscription renders
it probable that the garrison of Manchester included a detachment
of the Sixth Legion, whose head-quarters were at York, and whose
name and emblem — a Capricorn or sea-goat — is found on so many
inscriptions in Yorkshire. An oblong brick or tile found at Man
chester a few years since, with the inscription, " F. CXXVV. Fecit
Cohors Vicesima Victrix Veleriana," is perhaps the mark of the
occasional presence of a detachment of the Twentieth Victorious
Legion. A still more interesting object was found about the same
time, namely, an altar erected by a retired standard-bearer of one of
the praetorian legions to one of the emperors. All that is legible
are the following words, or parts of words : — " Neris Imperatori olim
signifer Legionis Vexillationis Praetoriae et Noricor. Votum solvit
libens merito." A specimen of pottery, probably the handle of an
amphora, has also been found in the Castle-field, at Manchester,
marked with the name of the first cohort of Frisians.
Many other articles connected with the Boman times have been
dug up or discovered on or near to the same site. Amongst these
were a number of Boman urns, of earthen vessels, with several coins,
and a lachrymatory of blue glass, found on the edge of the camp, in
the year 1765. A Boman bulla of gold, one of the personal orna
ments of Bomans of good family, was found about the same time in
deepening the Duke's canal, close to the second lock on the Irwell.
In 1777, a number of Boman coins were found on the banks of the
Medlock ; and in the year 1808 a number of Boman dishes, made of
pewter, were discovered, and sent to the British Museum.* Accord
ing to an analysis made by Dr. Woolaston, they were composed of
three parts tin, and one part lead.
In the year 1821, some workmen who were digging a drain in
the township of Hulme, near Manchester, came on the fine of the
Boman road from Mamucium to Deva, six feet below the present
level of the ground. At the same time three large stones were
discovered, embedded in the earth. On one was the figure of a
man standing upright; on another a carved representation of a
human head, with the hair turned backwards ; and on the third the
* Lyson's Reliquiae Britannico-Romanae, vol. i. part iv. plate 5.

PAST AND PRESENT. 269

representation of a man dressed in a flowing robe, and with his
hands crossed over his breast, and locked together. Subsequent
to this, a great variety of articles were discovered near the old
Castle-field, by the workmen employed by the Bridgewater trust.
These are deposited at Worsley hall, the seat of the earl of
Ellesmere. Amongst them were a small leaden bust of a female,
probably a household divinity, four inches high ; a lion's face, in
pottery ; a fragment of a bowl, representing a deer chase ; fragments
of another bowl, of red pottery, with figures representing a man
standing, another sitting, and a Cupid within a circle ; two iron
heads of spears or javefins ; the head of an iron axe ; a stylus of
iron ; a bronze and a copper bulla ; a circular metallic brooch, inlaid
with seven stones ; a votive altar, erected by a standard-bearer
to one of the emperors ; a Cupid inclosed within a coating of red
earthenware ; and numerous fragments of pottery of very beautiful
workmanship. A very deep well has been found in Castle-field,
which is supposed to have been that of the garrison.
The Boman coins found at Manchester are very numerous.
Amongst them are coins of Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Domitian,
Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Constantius, and Tetricus.
Many remains of the Bomans have been discovered at different
places in the valleys of the Mersey, the Irwell, and the smaller
streams that flow into them, or amongst the wild hills from which
those rivers descend. The arm of a silver statue of Victory, probably
belonging to one of the Boman legions, was discovered some years
ago on Blackstone cage, near Littleborough. It was probably lost
in a conflict with the tribes of the neighbouring hills. Ascending
the pass in the hills through what is now called Mottram-in-Long-
endale, there was a Boman camp, supposed to have been called
Melandra castle, just beyond the present limits of Lancashire.
It is also believed that the Boman garrison at Mancunium held
an out-post at Stockport. The head of a spear, supposed to be
Boman, has been found in the neighbourhood of Leigh, and a
beautiful bronze strainer or colander in Chat Moss.
Descending the Mersey to Warrington, remains of the Bomans
are found on both sides of the river. There are the outlines of a
camp at Wilderspool, on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. Large
quantities of pottery, and the remains of furnaces, supposed to
have been used in the manufacturing of earthenware, and still
containing ashes, were found in the same neighbourhood. Numerous

270 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
specimens of red and black pottery, and many coins, have been
found, including one of the Emperor Marcus. In a field near the
camp were found vases, fibulae, coins, and fireplaces, with ashes
still in them. At Appleton, urns full of calcined bones and other
remams of mortality have also been discovered, close by the line
of the public road. This seems to have been here, as everywhere
else, the favourite burial-place of the Bomans— the place where
the "Siste! Viator," engraved on the monuments of the dead,
continually met the traveller's eye.
Lower down the Mersey, on the shore of the estuary near
Buncorn, a very interesting memorial of the Boman dominion in
Britain was found, in the time of Camden, in the form of twenty
masses of lead, inscribed with the name of the Emperor Domitian,
the tyrant who recalled Julius Agricola from his command in Britain.
These pieces of lead are also marked with the name of the people
in whose territory, and by whose labour, they were produced. The
Cangi appear to have been the people who produced them, as the
Brigantes were the people who produced similar masses of lead
found in Yorkshire. Some difference of opinion exists as to the
position of the country of the Cangi ; but it seems to have been a
country abounding in lead mines, for pigs of lead stamped with that
name have not only been found on the banks of the Mersey, but
also at Hints Moor, Staffordshire,""" and even as far south as Hamp
shire, t It may have been Derbyshire, but the probabilities are
rather in favour of North Wales ; for Tacitus speaks of the country
of the Cangi as being almost within sight of the Irish sea, and
Ptolemy mentions a promontory of the Concangi, which was on the
coast of Wales.
Very few remains of the Bomans have been found in the south
western part of Lancashire, near the sea-coast ; but in the year 1838
an earthen vessel was dug up at Spink farm, in the township of
Tarbock, containing thirty-three silver, and forty-seven copper coins,
of the Boman period. Amongst them were coins of the Emperors
Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Aurelian, and one
struck in honour of Julia, the daughter of the Emperor Titus, and
of Venus, the august queen — B. Venus Augusta,^ or, as Horace has
it, " Venus, Begina Cnidi, Paphique."
* Pennant's Tours in Wales, vol. v.
t The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, by Thomas Wright, Esq., p. 238.
X Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. iv. p. 14.

PAST AND PRESENT. 271

Roman Stations on the Douglas and the Ribble. — Proceeding north
ward we come to the valley of the Douglas, closed on the north
and north-east by the Bivington hills, and separated from the valley
of the Mersey by the high lands which our Anglo-Saxon ancestors
named the Billenghaugh, of which the Billmge-hill is the highest
point. A Boman road runs through this valley, leaving Wigan
on the right, and another line of road, also of Boman origin, has
been traced from the neighbourhood of Wigan to Manchester. The
other principal remains of the Bomans found on the banks of the
Douglas, consist of a number of Boman urns discovered at Wigan,
and a gold coin of Vitellius found at the same place.'""
The Roman and British Station of Ribodunum or Ribchester. —
Bibchester on the river Bibble was a Boman station, and a flourish
ing city. It is mentioned as Bigodunum in Ptolemy's account
of the cities of the . Brigantes, and is the only town or city within
the limits of the present county of Lancaster that is named by
him. The evidences of Boman occupation found at Bibchester are
more striking than those found at any other place in the north
western district of England, with the single exception of Chester.
Bibchester, or the camp on the Bibble, stands on the north bank
of that river, which is there a wide and impetuous stream, and
between two small brooks, which flow into it from Longridge Fell
and the adjoining heights. Its position is strong, and easily defen
sible against the modes of attack in use in the time of the Bomans ;
and from its easy communication with the estuaries of the Bibble and
the Wyre on one side, and with the Yorkshire valleys on the
other, as well as from the natural fertility of the surrounding country,
it possessed sources of great prosperity. The ruins, which remain
to the present day, prove that it was a flourishing place, although its
wealth and prosperity have been transferred in modern times to
Preston, which Camden describes as the "succedanea proles" of
Bibchester. t
It appears from the inscriptions found at Bibchester, that the
garrison of that place was composed of a detachment of the Twentieth
Legion, and of an ala or wing of Sarmatian horsemen, probably
raised either on the banks of the Dniester or at the mouth of the
Danube. The name of the latter occurs so frequently as to create
the belief that they formed the ordinary garrison of Bibchester,
* Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. i. p. 41.
t Camden's Britannia, p. 618.

272 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
though other inscriptions induce us to believe that they were
occasionally aided by legionary soldiers of the Sixth and Twentieth
Legions, from Eboracum and Deva. Bibchester commanded the
passage of the Bibble, which has been at all times the most
important military position in Lancashire ; and from its vicinity
to the estuaries of the Bibble and the Wyre, and its close com
munication with the interior, it must have been a position of great
value, in furnishing supplies and reinforcements to the Boman
fleets in the western seas. We know from the fife of Agricola that
he was assisted in his operations against the Caledonians by a
powerful fleet, and there is no reason to doubt that his successors
availed themselves of the same means of attack and defence.
A circumstance which has served to bring to light the ancient
wonders of Bibchester is, that the current of the river Bibble is
continually wearing away its banks, and exposing to view the
foundations of ancient buildings, and other objects long buried
under ground. When Dr. Stukeley visited Bibchester in the year
1725, he remarked, "The river Bibble is very broad in this place,
rapid, and sonorous; running over the pebbles, and, what is much
to be lamented, over innumerable Boman antiquities, for in the long
tract of time it has eaten away a third part of the city." In the
account of "Boman Bibchester," drawn up by the late Mr. Just
and Mr. Harland, in the year 1850, for the information of the
members of the British Archaeological Association, they state that
" the river Bibble has encroached vastly upon the area of the station.
Taking the extent of the fosse on the western side as a complete side
of the station, and from the angle close to the river at the southern
extremity, making a straight line perpendicular to this side, we find
that the other angle to complete the rectangle would be on the other
side of the river, just over the fence of the field, and directly opposite
to the brook which forms the boundary of the station on the east.
At an estimate by the eye, there may have been one-fourth of the
area of the station washed away by the river ; burying within its
sandy bed Boman treasures and relics, probably for ever. In a line
with this, or nearly so, the fishermen state that the Boman wall
of the rampart extends into the river, and that at low water they
can stand about middle deep on the sunken remains ; when off the
remains, on either side, the water is beyond their depth." They add,
" So active are the encroachments of the stream during floods, that
houses have disappeared from the bank in our recollection, and many

PAST AND PRESENT. 273

more in that of the oldest inhabitants. Unless man more successfully
opposes the action of such floods, in a few generations the station
at Bibchester will disappear, not swallowed up by an earthquake,
as tradition affirms of its pristine glory, but by the stream which,
serpent-like, now insidiously winds past it. Most of the relics dis
covered have been washed up by the encroachments of the river."*
Although the walls of the ramparts around the station have
totally disappeared above ground, their foundations still exist, and
were laid bare in the year 1850, by means of excavations, with a
view of obtaining information for the congress of the British
Archaeological Association, which that year assembled at Manchester.
They were found to consist of loose stonework without mortar, or
the cement coating common to such foundations. The rectangle
inclosed within the fortification was 300 yards in length on its
longest side, and from 130 to 140 on its shortest. Except to
the west, no line of military way can now be traced up to the
station. This enters it midway in the rampart on the northern
side, where stood the Decuman gate. The Praetorium was opposite
this, and hence stood where the Bibble now flows.
The ancient city of Bibchester was adorned with a temple,
supposed to have been dedicated to Minerva Befisama, and with a
greater number of altars, dedicated to the gods of Bome, Greece,
and Syria, than almost any other city in Britain.
In the year 1811 some workmen employed in endeavouring to
stop the encroachments of the Bibble, nearly opposite the church,
met with the foundations of two parallel walls, nearly north and
south, strongly cemented, and about twenty-four yards distant from
each other. Within the wall was a ragged floor, and near the
south end the remains of a large flat stone with a Latin inscription.
The commencement of the inscription is destroyed, but it appears
from the latter part of it, that it records the restoration of a temple
which formerly stood on the spot, and its dedication "to a most
powerful divinity and queen," whom Dr. Whitaker, who investigated
the subject with admirable learning and sagacity, supposes to have
been the goddess Minerva. Further search was made in the summer
of 1813, and subsequently, for the remains of this interesting ruin,
the result of which was that a column and a square moulded corner
of the temple, still upright and in their original positions, were
* Paper on Roman Ribchester, by John Just and John Harland, Esqs. : Journal of British Archajological
Association, vol. vi. p. 229.
VOL. I. ^ M

274 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

found, which, with other remains, showed that a temple of the length
of about 112 feet, with sixteen columns, had stood on the spot.
Within the walls of this temple were found a stratum of charcoal,
supposed to have been produced by the burning of the roof and
windows, several skeletons of men scattered about, who are supposed
to have perished when the temple was destroyed, and many
beautiful remnants of amphorae and paterae of red Samian ware*
The inscription found in this temple was so much fractured and
worn, that the first portion is in a great measure conjectural. What
is quite clear is, that it records the restoration from the ground
and the dedication of the temple to a powerful goddess and queen.
The title of regina or queen is rarely applied in inscriptions to any
of the goddesses except Juno, of whom it is the almost invariable
title ; but Dr. Whitaker thinks that in. this case it is applied to
Minerva, on the ground that a helmet belonging to a statue of
that goddess was found close to this temple, and that the term
regina is applied by the poets to other goddesses besides Juno ;
as, for instance, by Horace to Diana, and, he might have added,
to Venus. What, perhaps, is even a stronger reason is, that the
temple stood on the banks of a river dedicated to Befisama, whose
worship was closely connected with that of Minerva.
In the year 1815 the removal of a very fine sculptured stone,
which lay imbedded in the stonework of Salesbury Hall, near
Bibchester, led to the discovery of an inscription to Apollo. " On
the front of the stone," says Dr. Whitaker, " is a basso-relievo of
Apollo reposing on his lyre, better designed than any work of a
Boman-British artist which I have ever seen. On the second are
the figures of two priests in long robes, holding the head of some
horned animal between them; on the third is the inscription in
question; the fourth is rough, having been originally attached to
the wall." A copy of the inscription on this stone was published
by Camden in his " Britannia," in the year 1590, but with his usual
frankness he confessed that he could make nothing of it. Dr.
Whitaker induced Lord Bulkeley to detach the stone from the wall
of Salesbury hall, in the year 1815, and then the whole inscription
appeared. It is not without its difficulties even now, but Dr.
Whitaker reads it thus : — " Pio sancto Apolfini Apono, ob salutem
Domini nostri, Ala equitum Sarmatum Breneten., sub Dionio Antonio,
centurione Legionis Sextae Victricis "—(To the sacred Apollo Aponus,
* Whitaker's History of Eichmondshire.

PAST AND PRESENT. 275

for the safety of our lord, the wing of Sarmatian horse of the
Brenetenni, under Dionius Antonius, a centurion of the Sixth
Victorious Legion). "It now turns out," says Dr. Whitaker, "to
be a dedication to Apollo Aponus, or the indolent Apollo, the god
of medicine, who restores health by relaxation or repose, on behalf
of an emperor, who unfortunately is not mentioned." He adds
that there were certain mineral springs at Aponi, near Padua, long
frequented by the Bomans under the name of Fontes Aponi. It
appears from the above inscription, if it be correctly read, that the
Sarmatian horse were under the orders of a centurion of the Sixth
Legion. A corner-stone has also been found at Bibchester, inscribed
" Leg. XXVV. fecit," showing that a portion of the Twentieth
Legion was also stationed at that place, and assisted in erecting
some of the buildings there. Many other inscriptions in honour of
the gods of the Pantheon have been found at Bibchester.
An altar, dedicated to Mars and Victory, " Deo Marti et Victoriae,"
is mentioned by Camden, in his account of his first visit to
Bibchester; and when he was there a second time, in 1603, he met
with the largest and finest altar that he had ever seen, dedicated to
the " Deis Matribus" — certain mysterious beings, worshipped as the
Mothers of the Gods, the Mothers, and the Mothers of the Gods of
Syria, Horsley reads the inscription on this altar, " Deis Matribus,
Marcus Ingenninus, Decurio alee Astorum, susceptum solvit liben-
tissime merito."""" Inscriptions to the Mothers of the Gods have
been found in many parts of Britain, and of the Boman empire.
They are generally figured as three females, especially in an inscrip
tion found at Cologne, where the figures are quite perfect. The
wing of Asti mentioned in the above inscription was another
body of troops, of the Thracian race, stationed at Bibchester.
Camden, in his account of what he saw at Bibchester, adds, " I
likewise saw a little altar there, turned out among rubbish, with
this inscription, ' Pacifero Marti Eleg. Aur. Ba. posuit ex voto.'
This was so small that it seemed to have been some poor man's
portable altar, and used only for incense and salt flour cakes, whereas
the other was much larger, and fit for offering the greater sacrifices
of animals. Here, also, was dug up a stone, on which was carved a
naked figure on horseback, without saddle or bridle, brandishing a
spear with both hands, and insulting over a naked man on the
ground, holding in his hand something square, probably a shield.
* Britannia, Roman, p. 303.

276 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Between the horse and the prostrate figure were the letters D. M.
(Dis Manibus), under the figure, Gal (or perhaps Al) Sarmata — Alae
Sarmatarum. " The rest of the many letters," he says, " are so
decayed as not to be read; nor can I form any conjecture about
them." In addition to dedications to the gods, a funeral inscription has
been found at Bibchester, in which Julius Maximus, an officer of
the Sarmatian horse, consigns to the earth the remains, and com
mends the virtues, of " his incomparable wife, his dutiful son, and
his mother-in-law, of dearest memory."
Amongst the objects of a miscellaneous nature found at Bib
chester are — a splendid helmet ; a handsome drinking cup ; Boman
paterae,, with figures of wolves and flowers upon them, from the
workshop of Probus ; a floor composed of Boman tiles ; a ruby ring,
with a figure of Mars ; the finger of a copper statue ; urns ; the
base of a pillar, and a most noble shaft, seven feet long and hand
somely turned, which was taken out of the river ; a Boman partition
wall ; the joists and boards of a floor of ash, found four feet under
the present surface ; the top of a great two-handed amphora or wine
jar ; a gold finger of a statue, and another brass finger, as large as
a man's ; two intaglios of Mercury, with wings on the feet ; a well-
balanced steel-yard ; and coins of numerous emperors. One of the
most interesting discoveries of Boman antiquities is that made at
Bibchester in the year 1796, the particulars of which were detailed
by the late Charles Townley, Esq., in the "Vetusta Monumenta,"
published by the Society of Antiquaries.* The remains are chiefly
of bronze, and were found in a hollow that had been made in some
waste land near to the church, and at the bend of the river. The
principal article was a helmet, of beautiful workmanship. It consists
of two pieces : one of these, the skull part, is ornamented with the
figures of eleven combatants on foot, and six on horseback ; the
other is the mask or visor to cover the face, which has very
effeminate features, and joins exactly to the skull part, to which it
is fastened by rings and studs, some of which still remain. The
helmet appears to be too slight for defence, and the mask is of very
superior workmanship to the head-piece. The articles found along
with it consisted of paterae of various dimensions ; a bust of Minerva,
three inches in diameter, with the remains of nails and cramps by
which it was fastened to a circular disk; four circular plates with
* Vol. iv. pp. 1-12.

PAST AND PRESENT. 277

mouldings ; a colon or colander ; two portions of a candelabrum, and
various other articles.
In the year 1833 an altar was dug up in the churchyard at
Bibchester, with an inscription, from which it appears that it was
erected as an offering for the safety of Caracalla, the worthless son
of the Emperor Septimius Severus, who died at Eboracum, or York,
in the year 211. The latter part of the inscription is illegible, but
the following portion of it is tolerably clear : — " Pro Salute et
Victoria Invicti Imperatoris Marci Aurelii Severi Antonini Pii, et
Juliae Augustae matris Domini, et Castrorum suorum" .... — (For
the Safety and Victory of the unconquered emperor, Marcus Aurelius
Severus Antoninus Pius, and of Julia Augusta, mother of our Lord,
and of his camps . . . .)
Numerous coins have been found at Bibchester, beginning even
before the date of the arrival of the Bomans in the north-western
part of Britain, and extending to the time of Constantine and his
successors. Amongst them are coins of Augustus, B.C. 29 to 14 ; of
Titus Vespasian, a.d. 79 to 81 ; of Nerva, a.d. 96 to 98 ; of Trajan,
A.D. 98 to 117; of Hadrian, A.D. 117 to 138 ; of Commodus, A.D. 180
to 192; of Septimius Severus, A.D. 193 to 211; of Caracalla, A.D.
211 to 217; of Diocletian, the persecutor of the Christians, a.d. 284
to 305 ; and one of a Christian emperor, bearing the cross and the
motto of Constantine, " In hoc signo vinces."
Many memorials of the Boman occupation of Britain have been
discovered between the Bibble and the Lune. Kirkham appears
to have been a Boman station. In that neighbourhood have been
discovered the umbo of a Boman shield, an urn filled with bones,
a battle-axe, and numerous coins.""" A collection of upwards of
400 Boman denarii, beginning in the reign of Vespasian and
extending to that of Caracalla, was found by some brickmakers
in the year 1820, near Bossal point, at the mouth of the Wyre.t
An urn, and another collection of Boman coins, were discovered
in the reign of Charles II. in Myerscough park, in the valley of
the Wyre. J A fibula, a spear head, a wine-strainer, a drinking-
cup, and a battle-axe, have been dug out of Pilling Moss.§ An
ancient anvil, a pair of scissors, and a number of plates of brass,
were found at Stalmine.||
The Roman Alauna or Longovico, now Lancaster. — Lancaster,
* Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 69. f Ibid- vo1- ilL P* 66,
X Ibid. vol. viii. p. 134. § Ibid. vol. iii. p. 114. || Ibid. vol. iii. p. 120.

278 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
or the camp on the river Lune (apparently named Alauna or
Aluana, after the river or after a god or goddess named Alaune,
Alauna, or Ialone), though by some writers supposed to be the
Longovico mentioned in the "Notitiae," is the third and last of
the Boman camps in Lancashire, which preserves the memory of
the Boman dominion. There also, as at Manchester, Bibchester,
and Chester, numerous evidences of the power and greatness of
the Bomans have been discovered. The position of Lancaster,
standing on a steep hill, on the bend of a wide river, is at once
commanding, beautiful, and healthy, and, like Chester, it united
to these advantages the further recommendation of possessing a
port, equal to all the requirements of Boman navigation, and
admirably suited to give shelter and furnish supplies to the fleets
employed in resisting attacks from the northern side of the wall
of Hadrian. There is evidence that one of the Boman roads,
which ran up the valley of the Lune, was formed by that emperor,
who also formed the first earthwork from the Solway to the Tyne,
to protect the northern frontier of the Boman province ; and there
is also evidence that a basilica or court of justice, and set of
public baths, were erected at Lancaster, at a very early period
of the Boman occupation. These are indications of a position of
the first order, and one that was probably formed for naval as
well as for military purposes ; for it was near Lancaster that the
road formed by Hadrian approached nearest to the sea, before
turning into the interior and ascending the hills of the Cum
brian range, through which it was carried over steep and almost
inaccessible heights to the vallum, the frontier of the empire in
Britain. From this circumstance, and from the fertility of the
neighbouring country, it is probable that Lancaster was one of
the principal ports of the Bomans on the north-west coast of
Britam for warlike purposes. Some writers are of opinion that
Lancaster was the "Portus Setantiorum" mentioned by Ptolemy.
The Boman camp, from which Lancaster takes its name, stood
on the bold hill on which the castle and church now stand, and
is supposed to have occupied the site of the present castle. Portions
of the castle still standing, or which were standing within a few
years of the present time, are believed to have been of Boman
origin. This was the case with regard to the foundations of
Hadrian's and the Dungeon towers. The general figure of the
Boman camp at Lancaster was an ellipsis. The walls were pro-

PAST AND PRESENT. 279

tected by several towers, and the work was defended by a double
wall and a moat. A wall so ancient as to be named "the old
wall," in deeds executed about the time of the Norman conquest,
encircled the Castle hill, and portions of this wall continued in
existence until modern times. When Stukeley visited Lancaster,
about the year 1724, he found "a great piece of the wall, on the
north-east end of the hill, still standing." He says that it was
built of white stone, held together by very hard mortar; that it
reached to the Bridge lane, and hung over the street, at the
head of the precipice, in a dreadful manner. "I suppose," says
Stukeley, "it originally inclosed the whole top of the hill, where
the church and castle stand, which is steep on all sides, and half
inclosed by the river Lune, so that it is an excellent guard to
this part of the sea-coast, and commands a very great prospect
both by sea and land. There was a spring of water inside the
walls, under the tower. All the space of ground north of the
church is full of foundations of stone buildings, Boman, I believe ;
and much stone has been taken up there."
The inscriptions discovered at Lancaster throw much light on
the history of the place in Boman times.
Amongst the most curious of these inscriptions is the following,
in which the horsemen of an ala of Belgian cavalry, raised on the
banks of the river Sambre, and then in garrison at Lancaster,
dedicated to one of the Boman emperors, supposed to be Caracalla,
a basilica or court-house, and baths, which they had rebuilt from
the ground, after the original building had been destroyed by
age. Dr. Whitaker, who expended extraordinary learning and
ingenuity in examining and restoring this inscription, read it as
follows : " Imperatore Marco Aurelio Antonino Augusto, Bafineum
refectum, et Basificam vetustate conlabsum, a solo restitutum,
equites alae Sebussianse Antoninianae, sub Octavio Sabino, viro
Consular! Praeside nostro, curante Flavio Ammansio, Prefecto equi-
tum dictorum, undecimo kalendas Septembrio, Censore secundum
et Lepidum secundum Consul" — (To the emperor Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus Augustus, these Baths restored, and this Basilica, decayed
by age, rebuilt from the ground by the Antonine wing of Sebussian
horsemen, Octavius Sabinus, of consular dignity, being President,
Flavius Ammansius, Prefect of the said horsemen, superintending,
the 11th of the Kalends of September, Censor and Lepidus, a second
time, Consuls.)

280 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The following facts appear to be established by the above
inscription : —
The Sebussian horsemen raised on the banks of the river Sabis,
now the Sambre, formed a portion at least of the Boman garrison
of Lancaster. These horsemen are mentioned more than once in
ancient inscriptions found in Britain — amongst other places, on an
altar discovered in the county of Durham. This altar is dedicated
to Silvanus, the god of forests and field sports, by Caius Tetitius
Viturius Micianus, prefect of the Sebussian horse, in memory of
his having slain an enormous wild boar, which had set at defiance
all hunters before him. Thus we have men from the banks of
the Sambre serving in Lancashire during the Boman dominion,
in addition to the Frisians, Noricans, Sarmatians, -and Thracians,
already mentioned.
Another fact which appears from this inscription is, that the
Boman position at Lancaster was provided with a basilica, and
with public baths. These must have been erected at a very early
period of the Boman dominion, for when restored by the Sebussian
horsemen, they had fallen into decay from time. The existence
of a basilica at Lancaster renders it probable that it was the
centre of the legal and judicial business of the district, as early
as the time of the Bomans.
Another inscription has been discovered near Lancaster, which
is also very curious, especially if we interpret it as Dr. Whitaker
does. The inscription is "Deo Mart. Sabino, P. et milit. N. Bare.
S. Eiios P. 0."
The altar containing this inscription was discovered at Halton,
near Lancaster. Dr. Whitaker, speaking of this inscription says,
" This is no less curious and valuable than the last ; indeed, both
as to the motive assigned and the expression, it is unique. Milite
in barca : the last is a semi-barbarous Latin word, which is exactly
translated by the modern bark, and it is evident that the altar
now before us was a votive offering raised when the body of
soldiers who made the offering were embarking on some military
expedition. Among all the formulae of Boman inscriptions, I have
never seen anything resembling this." It ought to be stated,
however, that this reading is by no means certain. N. Bare, may
possibly be a contraction of In barca ; but Mr. Just was disposed to
consider it a contraction of "Numerus Barcariorum," the company
of the Barcarii ; and his view is supported by the fact, that a body

PAST AND PRESENT. 281

of troops described by the title of Numerus Barcariorum is mentioned,
in the "Notitia Imperii," as serving in Britain, at the time when
that work was drawn up. If we take Mr. Just's reading, we may
infer that that corps was serving at Lancaster, and dedicated the
above altar to the god of war ; if Dr. Whitaker's, it would appear
that a corps of soldiers, name unknown, but commanded by Sabinus,
embarked there on service in the northern seas of Britain.
Another very curious inscription found, at Lancaster is the
following, in which the divinity, who was believed to preside over
the Lune, is supposed to be invoked : " Deo Mono Contre Sancissimo,
Julius Januarius Ex Decurione." The God Ialone thus invoked by
Julius Januarius, was not one of the gods of Greece or Bome, but
some British divinity, and probably the god who was supposed to
preside over the river Lune. An altar, dedicated to the goddess
Elauna, was discovered on the banks of the Greta in the year 1 702,
which is also supposed to have been dedicated to a nymph, who
was believed to preside over the same beautiful stream.* Another
altar has been discovered at Lancaster, dedicated to Mars Cocidius.
The inscription is, " Deo Sancto Marti Cocidio, Vibinius Lucius, Bene-
ficiarius Consulis, Votum Solvit Lubens Merito" — (To the sacred
Mars Cocidius, Vibinius Lucius, a consular beneficiary, willingly and
dutifully discharged his vow.) The Mars Cocidius of Lancaster is
even a greater mystery than the Jupiter Tanarus of Chester. The
title of Cocidius is probably given to Mars from the circumstance of
his having been more especially worshipped at some place, or in some
district in Britain, or elsewhere, bearing that name. A somewhat
similar case is that of an altar discovered at Caerleon, the ancient
Isca, in Monmouthshire, dedicated to Jupiter Dofichenus ; this name,
thus applied to Jupiter, is derived, according to Mr. Boach Smith,
from Doliche, a place in Macedonia, famous for its iron mines. A
similar inscription on an altar to Jupiter Dofichenus has been found
at Bome, and there Dofichenus is spoken of as a place where iron
is found — "Ubi ferrum nascitur." The Cocidius applied to Mars
in the Lancaster inscription is probably derived in a somewhat
similar manner. Dr. Whitaker supposes that the Cocidius of this
inscription is the same as the Cocis mentioned in an inscription
described by Horsley, in his "Britannia Bomana," as having been
discovered in the north of Britain ; this, however, throws no
light upon the subject, unless we are to conclude that Cocis or
* Phillips' Yorkshire, p. 48.
vol i. 2 N

282 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Cocidius was the British name of the god of war, or that he was
worshipped with peculiar honours at Coccium, on the banks of the
Bibble, or some other place of similar name.
Quite as interesting as the above inscriptions, and much more
intelligible, are the milliary stones or Boman milestones found at
Caton, Borough, and Ashton, near Lancaster. The inscriptions on
these stones throw fight on the origin of the two great lines of
road which the Bomans formed through the present county of
Lancaster. The first of them seems to have been formed by the
Emperor Hadrian, between the years 117 and 138, at the time when
he was constructing the great works which established the power of
the Bomans in the north of Britain. The second was formed by the
Emperor Philip, a successful Arabian soldier, who obtained possession
of supreme power in the year 244, by murdering his predecessor
Gordianus, and who was himself murdered in the year 249. The
inscription on the milliary stone erected on the line of road formed
by the Emperor Hadrian reads as follows : — " Imp. Caes. Tr.
Hadrianus Aug., Pont. Max., Trib. Pot., Cos. III., Pat. Patriae : Cen-
turia Secunda, Mill. Pass. Quinque" — (To the Emperor Caesar Trajan
Hadrianus Augustus, high priest, possessed of tribunitian power, in
his third consulship, the father of his country : the second century or
centuria, the fifth mile). It would be curious to ascertain what was
the starting-point from which this fifth mile was computed. On a
milliary stone found in Leicestershire the distance is stated to be
three miles from Batis, which is the old Boman name for what we
call Leicester ; and the probability seems to be that the stone above
described, which was found at Caton, near Lancaster, was erected at
a distance of five miles from Lancaster. Both the milliary stone
found at Caton, and that found near Leicester, bear the name of the
Emperor Hadrian, and seem to have been erected in the same year,
that is, in the year of his third consulship ; from which we may
infer that the main line of road through Britain was formed by that
very able and energetic emperor. The inscription on the mile-stone
erected in the time of the Emperor Philip is as follows : — " Imp. C.
M. Julio Philippo Pio Fel Aug."— (To the Emperor C. M. Julius
Philippus, Pious, Fortunate, and August). A monumental inscription
was also found in digging in the older part of the town in the year
1772; in this inscription the remains of Lucius Julius Apollinaris,
a native of Treves, are devoted to the gods of the shades.
In addition to the monuments with inscriptions, many other

PAST AND PRESENT.

Boman memorials have been discovered at Lancaster. Amongst
them is a headless figure of the goddess Ceres, who was much
worshipped among the Bomans. One of the epithets applied to
Ceres— that is, " Mater Divum," Mother of the Gods— is found on
an inscription at Bibchester, already mentioned; and many other
inscriptions to the mothers of the gods, in some of which they are
described as the Syrian goddesses, have been found, both in Britain
and on the continent. The above inscription is curious, as showing
the origin of the worship of Ceres to have sprung out of the super
stitions of Syria.
In addition to the figure of Ceres, a figure of Apollo playing on
a lyre has also been discovered at Lancaster. A large hewn stone,
about three tons in weight, was found some years ago, about six feet
below the surface of the ground, which is supposed to have been a
corner-stone of some large building. In addition to this, there have
been discovered four sculptured heads, two lions cut in freestone, a
Boman sepulchre containing half-burnt fragments of wood, bones,
and ashes; with broken paterae, urns, Boman bricks, coins, horns of
animals, a sepulchral lamp, a human skull, and two fragments of a
thick wall, about five yards distant from each other.
The coins found at Lancaster are extremely numerous, and extend
over the whole period of the Boman occupation, from the reign of
Otho, in the year 69, to that of Magnus Maximus, in the year 387.*
Amongst the emperors, or members of the imperial families, whose
coins have been discovered at Lancaster, are the following : — Otho,
Vespasian, Domitian, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius,
Commodus, Probus, Diocletian, Constantius Chlorus, Licinius, Con
stantine the Great, and Magnus Maximus.
The Bomans had another station on the banks of the Lune, at
the point where the stream known as Leek Beck falls into the river.
As usually happens in Boman stations, it was placed at the angle
formed by the confluence of the two streams. The modern name of
this station is Overburrow, from the Saxon, Overburgh — the higher
fortress — and it was probably so named to distinguish it from
Lancaster, situated lower down the stream of the Lune. Over-
burrow is supposed to be the site of the Bremetonacae of the
Bomans, which was situated twenty miles north of Coccium, on the
Bibble. Leland speaks of Burrow or Overburrow as the site of
" a notable town," from the remains of antiquity found there ; and
* Simpson's Antiquities of Lancaster, p. 121.

284 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
since his time many additional remains have been found, especially
an altar dedicated to a Sabine deity — Deo Sango — by Naulus
Trebius Atta, and also a golden bulla.
It will be seen from the above details that the ancient governors
of the world have left marks of their presence, and memorials of
their power, in every part of the north-western district of Britain.
The cities which the Bomans built became the residences, first of
British chiefs, and then of Saxon kings, after the departure of the
Bomans from this island. The most celebrated of those cities —
Chester, Manchester, and Lancaster — have been places of note from
the time of the Bomans to the present day. It is a proof of the
influence of the Bomans in developing the resources of Britain, that
they left behind upwards of 200 towns and cities when they retired
from Britain, according to a list given in the work of Anonymus
of Bavenna — having only found sixty towns and cities in Britain
when they arrived in the island, according to* the list given in
Ptolemy's Geography.
The dominion of the Bomans was never so firmly established in
Britain as in Gaul and in Spain. In Britain itself there was always
a part of the island in which the inhabitants defied the Boman
arms ; and the Bomans do not appear ever to have established
themselves either in Ireland or in the western islands. Tacitus
informs us that it was the intention of Agricola to have passed over
into Ireland with his army, in order that, by the conquest of that
country, he might have removed the dangerous spectacle of national
independence from the sight of the Britons. But he was withdrawn
from his command before he could make the attempt, and his suc
cessors soon found the difficulties of conquering Britain itself too
great, to leave either time or means to attempt the conquest of
another country. Hence the Britons never altogether lost the
animating example of independence in a neighbouring nation.
As early as the age of the Emperor Hadrian, the Bomans, after
having spent more than half a century in conquering the more
accessible and fertile parts of Britain, adopted a defensive attitude
towards the inhabitants of the wilder and more mountainous districts
of the north. That emperor, in running a. line of fortifications across
the island, from the mouth of the Solway to that of the Tyne, may
probably have intended to use it as the basis of further conquests ;
and it was employed for that purpose in the succeeding reign of
Antoninus Pius, when the Boman frontier was for a while pushed

PAST AND PRESENT. 285

forward to the banks of the Clyde and the Forth. But the ground
thus gamed was soon lost ; and when next we hear of the Boman
frontier in Britain, it had again been forced back to the Solway and
the Tyne. Not only so, but the British tribes dwelling to the north
of the Boman wall, the Maetae, who dwelt near the wall, and the
Caledonians, who dwelt further north, had either forced their way
across the wall, or had turned it, by an attack from the sea; and
were pressing forward into the Boman provinces of Britain.. This
happened in the reign of the Emperor Commodus, about the year
180 of the Christian era; and this attack was beaten back with
great difficulty.
About twenty years later, the position of Boman affairs in
Britain had become so alarming, that the Emperor Septimius
Severus proceeded thither with his two sons, Caracalla and Geta,
and with a large army. He established his head-quarters at
York, and from that city advanced not only beyond the wall, but
to the furthest limits of Britain, after fighting many and desperate
battles. In this campaign the emperor lost 50,000 men, partly
by the sword, partly by the hardships of a desperate contest
amongst mountains, swamps, and forests. The presence of the
emperor and of so vast a force produced a moment of tranquillity;
but no sooner had the legions been withdrawn to the south of
the wall, than the whole people rose again in arms. The news
was brought to the emperor as he was lying on his deathbed at
York; and he died there, breathing out vain threats of extermi
nation against the race which had so bravely resisted the masters
of the world. After the death of Severus, his sons patched up
,a peace as hastily as possible with the British tribes dwelling
north of the wall, and returned to Bome, there to intrigue and
conspire against each other, until the younger brother was mur
dered by the assassins of the elder, in the arms of his mother.
When next we obtain any clear fight as to the condition of
Britain, we find the whole island in open insurrection against the
Boman emperors, Maximian and Diocletian. The leader of this
revolt was Carausius, a Batavian or Manapian sea-captain, who
had been appointed by the emperors to the command of a fleet,
which they had formed in the British seas, to resist the incur
sions of the Saxons, Franks, and other German pirates, who had
made an attack on Britain, in the reign of the Emperor Probus,
in 287. This fleet was manned by Batavian and other seamen

286 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.*
from the neighbouring coasts, and placed under the command of
a daring and able chief of the same race, named Carausius, who
soon became so formidable that the emperors were induced to
buy his submission, by raising him to the rank of Caesar. Even
this did not secure his submission, for he at length rose in open
revolt, and, having obtained the command both of Britain and
the British seas, for thirteen years defied all the strength of the
emperors. In the thirteenth year of his reign, he was murdered
by contrivance of his minister, Allectus, who assumed a similar
power. His rule was very short, for his fleet was taken by Con
stantius, the father of Constantine the Great, and he was himself
defeated and killed in battle. By his defeat and death the Bomaij,
power was re-established in Britain.
It would appear that by this time the southern and central dis
tricts of Britain had become in a great degree Bomanized, especially
in the cities and towns, where the Bomans had formed colonies,
and kept up garrisons. At the same time, it is clear that a large
portion of the island was still in the hands of the native inhabit
ants. In the reign of the Emperor Valentinian, the Picts and
Scots — which latter name included the people of Hibernia — had
overrun the greater part of Britain. They captured London, and
defeated the Bomans in a great battle, killing Fallofaudes, the
Boman dux or commander in Britain, and Nectarinus, the com
mander of the maritime coasts. The genius of Theodosius, the
general of Valentinian, averted the threatened catastrophe for a
few years. He even defeated the Britons, and drove them back
as far as the Boman wall, if not further ; but this was merely a
temporary success, for the energies of the empire were exhausted,
and a few years later the Boman legions were withdrawn from
Britain, to defend Italy and Bome from the northern barbarians.
The first large body of troops withdrawn from Britain by the
Bomans was the Twentieth Legion, whose head-quarters had been
at Chester for upwards of 300 years. This legion was withdrawn
to enable Stificho, the general of the Emperor Honorius, to hold
his ground in Italy, and to defend Bome itself, from Alaric and
his army of Goths. In Claudian's account of the army which
assembled for that final struggle, he mentions a legion which came
from the extremity of Britain, where it had bridled the fierce
Scot, and noted the figures burned with hot iron on the body of
the lifeless Pict. This was no doubt the Twentieth Legion, for

PAST AND PRESENT. 287

the Second and Sixth Legions are mentioned in the " Notitia," or
muster roll of the Boman army, in the time of Honorius, as remain
ing in Britain after the Twentieth Legion had left the island.
The other legions left Britam about the year 449, and their depar
ture was the signal for the appearance of a new race of conquerors,
whose descendants still possess the land.

THE ANGLES AND SAXONS IN LANCASHIRE AND CHESHLHE.
Before the Bomans retired from Britam, the Saxons had made
themselves known and feared along the eastern and southern coasts
of the island; and soon after the departure of the Bomans, the
Angles, from whom England is named, poured into the northern
and central parts of South Britain, from Germany. As early as
the reign of the Emperor Valentinian, about the year 370 of the
Christian era, and long before the time of Hengst and Horsa, the
Saxons are mentioned, as having for many years wasted the shores
of Britain with continual ravages.* The Saxons were then so
well known, and so much dreaded, that one of the armies which
the Bomans maintained in Britain was especially appointed to
guard the coasts most exposed to their attacks, t Those coasts
were named the Saxon shore in Britain— " littus Saxonicum per
Britannias" — as the coasts on the opposite side of the channel were
named, for the same reason, the Saxon shores of Gaul and Belgium.
The Saxon shore in Britain was under the command of a military
officer, named the Comes or Count of the Saxon shore. This
officer had under his orders a force of about 3000 infantry and
600 cavalry, with which he garrisoned nine fortified positions.
The first and most northern of these positions was at Branodunum
or Brancaster, on the coast of Norfolk; garrisoned by a squadron
of Dalmatian cavalry Another body of horsemen guarded Gar-
riannonum, now Burghcastle, between Norwich and Yarmouth. A
third position, named Othonae, which cannot be identified with
certainty, was garrisoned by a company of Fortensian infantry.
On the south side of the estuary of the Thames, the first com-
* Ammianns Marcellinus, vol. i. p. 28. Gibbon, c. xxvi. .
t Notitia Utriusque Imperii, Monumenta Historica Britannica, p. 23.

288 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
pany of Vetasii were in garrison at Begulbium, now Beculver,
on the Kentish coast. Further south, the commander of the
Second Augustan Legion held Bitupae, or Bichborough, near the
present Sandwich. Bitupae was the port by which the Bomans
usually communicated with Gaul, and was of so much importance,
and in so much peril, in the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius,
when the Boman power was falling into ruin, as to be made the
head-quarters of the Second Legion, which for upwards of 300
years had been stationed at Caerleon in South Wales. The next
_ was the well-known position of Dubris or Dover, garrisoned by a
body of Tungrians. After Dubris came Portus Lemanis, or Lymne,
also on the coast of Kent. Further west, and on the coast of
Sussex, the commander of the Saxon shore had two garrisons.
The first was at Anderida, near Pevensey, a place so named from
the great primeval forest, afterwards called Andradswald by the
Saxons, which extended in length 120 miles, in breadth thirty
miles, and covered the wealds of Kent and Sussex, down to the
time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was the chief seat of the English
iron manufacture.* Further west was the Portus Adurni, situ
ated at the mouth of the river Adur, which enters the sea near
the present New Shoreham and Bognor. From the positions of
these places, it appears that the earliest attacks of the Saxons on
Britam were directed against the districts comprised in the present
counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex, being the
parts of the coast most accessible from the continent. If the
term Saxon shore means the shore peopled, not wasted, by the
Saxons, as is believed by writers of eminence, t we must carry
back the date of the first settlement of the Saxons in Britain to
a period 100 years before the landing of Hengst and Horsa; 150
years previous to the great conflict between King Arthur and the
Saxons on the banks of the river Douglas in Lancashire; 200
years previous to the advance of the army of the Northumbrian
Angles, under King Ethelfrith to the walls of Chester ; and nearly
400 years before the final conquest of Chester by Offa, king pf
the Mercians.
The Saxons or Anglo-Saxons, whose descendants are now found
in every quarter of the globe, are spoken of by Ptolemy the geo-
* Camden's Britannia : Sussex.
t J. M. Kemble's Saxqns in England, vol. i. p. 14. Lappenburg's History of England, vol. i. p 46. Palgrave
vol. i. p. 384. '

PAST AND PRESENT. 289

grapher, about the year 140 of the Christian era, as a German
tribe, occupying three islands near the mouth of the river Elbe*
Ammianus Marcellinus, speaking of the events of the year 364,
says : — " At this time the Picts, the Saxons, and the Attacoths
(the Scots, the original natives of Ireland), vexed Britain with
continual woes." A few years later, Orosius described the Saxons
as a people dwelling in the pathless swamps on the shores of the
ocean, t Egesippus, speaking of the terror produced by the arms
of Bome, says, that " Saxony ~ inaccessible in its marshes, trembled."
Claudian claims for his hero, Stilicho, that he moistened with
Saxon blood the shores of the Orkneys. Sidonius describes the
Saxons as a race of pirates, the terror of the ocean. He says of
them that they are of all enemies the most terrible, attacking
suddenly, escaping craftily, overwhelming those who resist, dis
persing those whom they surprise. He says that shipwrecks
only exercise their courage, do not affright them, for they are not
only acquainted but familiar with the perils of the sea, and make
their attacks in storm and tempest, as being then least expected.
Zosimus says of the Saxons of his age, that from their greatness
of mind, their strength of body, and their power of enduring
fatigue, they were regarded as the bravest of the Germans.
Though the Saxons are spoken of, in the first instance, as
the inhabitants of a few small islands off the coast of Germany,
they possessed, at the time when they undertook the conquest of
Britain, the extensive districts of Germany which are now known as
Hanover, Westphalia, and Holstein, but which were then known
as the country of the Westphali, the Eastphafi, and the Angles, i
Their territory was bounded by Friesland on the south, and Den
mark on the north. Many of the Frieslanders accompanied the
Saxons and Angles to Britain, for they were well acquainted with
the country, garrisons of Frieslanders having been stationed at Man
chester and other places during the Boman dominion in Britain.
The Angli or Angles, from whom the conquerors of Britain obtained
the name of Anglo-Saxons, and from whom the southern part of
Britain took the familiar name of England, were a powerful tribe
of the Saxon race. They were no doubt the Angli spoken of by
Ptolemy and Procopius, § and probably the Angli and Angri varii of
Tacitus. || A very ancient German poet speaks of the Angli as
* Ptol. Geog., vol. ii. p. 2. t Orosius, vol. vii. p. 32. X E. G. Latham on the English Language, vol. i. p. 51 .
§ Procopius, lib. iv. || C C. Taciti Germania. E. G. Latham on the English Language, vol. i. p. 76.
YOU I. '2 °

290 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the third people of Saxony, and gives the names of the Eastphafi
and the Westphafi as the other two. The venerable Bede states
that the Angles peopled all the country on the north side of the
river Humber, that is, the counties of York, Lancaster, Durham,
and Northumberland; and also the districts of the East Angles,
the Middle Angles, and the Mercians ;* whilst the Saxons peopled
the south and western districts of England, and the Jutes the
kingdom of Kent and the Isle of Wight. A law of the reign
of Edward the Confessor states, that "Yorkshire (which then in
cluded great part of the present county of Lancaster), Lincolnshire,
Nottinghamsmre, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and as far as
Watling Street, and seven miles beyond it, were under the laws
of the Angles." It also says that the division of counties, which
in all other parts of England was called a Hundred, was in these
counties called a Wapentake.!
Although the first expeditions of the Saxons to Britain, and
probably the first settlements on the Saxon shore, were made many
years previous to the time of Hengst and Horsa, who are said to
have landed on the coast of Kent in the year 449,J yet there is
historical evidence, independent of the traditions collected by Bede,
that the attacks of the Saxons on Britain became much more
formidable at that time than they had been previously; and also
that the Saxons then began to aspire to the conquest of the whole
island. Prosper of Aquitaine, in describing the events of the year
441, says, " Britain, long torn by slaughter and revolutions, at this
time fell under the hands of the Saxons." § This is very nearly the
time which Bede fixes for the landing of Hengst and Horsa, and the
conquest of Kent by the Saxons. ||
The invasion of Britam by the Saxons, though hastened and
facilitated by the confusion which then existed in the island, was not
an isolated movement of a single tribe, but part of that great
irruption of the Germanic race, into the provinces of the Boman
empire, which took place in the earlier part of the fifth century, and
received a fresh impulse, near the middle of that century, from the
irruption of innumerable swarms of Huns, from the plains of Scythia,
into Germany. So early 'as the year 396, the Goths, a Germanic
race, whose original home is supposed to have been in the forests of
Thuringia, but who had long been settled near the mouth of the
* Beda, lib. i. u. 15. t Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, folio edition, p. 196.
i Beda, lib. i. u. 15. Saxon Chronicle, a. 439. § Prosper Tyro, a. 441. || Beda, lib. i. c, 51-.

PAST AND PRESENT. 291

Danube,* overran the eastern provinces of the Boman empire, under
the command of their famous leader, Alaric, and advanced to the
gates of Constantinople. t In the year 400 the same Goths, under
the same commander, overran the greater part of Italy, but were
repulsed by the great Boman general, Stilicho. Six years later
another swarm of Germans, under the command of a chief named
Badagius, laid waste great part of Italy, and threatened Bome, but
were again repulsed by him. In the year 410, after the murder of
Stilicho by his worthless master, the Emperor Honorius, Alaric again
advanced into Italy, and took and plundered imperial Bome itself.
Two years after the capture of Bome, Adolphus, king of the
Visigoths or Western Goths, led the Goths into Gaul ; and between
the years 414 and 418 the Goths, aided by the Alani, Suevi, Vandali,
and other German tribes, crossed the Pyrenees, conquered Spain, and
established a Gothic dynasty in the Peninsula. About the same
time the Goths firmly established themselves in the province of
Aquitaine, in the south of France. The Burgundians also estab
lished themselves in the same kingdom ; and between the years 420
and 450 the Franks, also of the German race, overran and conquered
the other provinces of Gaul, and ultimately gave to the whole
country the name of France.
In the latter part of this period, from the year 440 to the year
452, the great German migration was urged forward with redoubled
violence, by the irruption of innumerable hosts of Huns, and other
Scythian tribes, into Germany, under the command of the terrible
Attila, named " the Scourge of God." The Huns were a Finnish or
Uralian tribe, who were driven forward into Europe, about the year
400, by the irruption into their territory of the Hionguae, a tribe of
herdsmen of Turkish origin, who dwelt in tents on the great plains
of Central Asia, and who were themselves driven from their original
homes and grazing grounds by the revolutions of the Chinese
empire. J The tribes thus expelled from their pastures traversed
the vast plains of Central Asia for a distance of more than 3000
miles, urging forward into Sarmatia — the present Poland and Ger
many — the Huns and other tribes, from the sources of the Ural
river. The resistance of the Germans, who were themselves pressing
forward into the richest provinces of the Boman empire, was for a
while comparatively feeble ; and hence the Huns, in the language of
* E. G. Latham on the English Language.
t Gibbon, c xsx. X Humboldt, Ansichten der Natnr, vol. i.

292 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Jornandes, ruled Scythia and Germany, never before united under
one sovereign. It was at the time when the power of Attila and
the Huns was greatest, between the years 440 and 452, that the
Saxon and other tribes of Germany began to pour into Britain,
in increased numbers, in search of new homes ; and thus a grand
migration of races and nations, originally dwelling on the frontiers
of China, gave a fresh impulse to the peopling of Britain by the
Germanic race. Three years after the date which Bede fixes for the
landing of Hengst and Horsa in Britain, Attila was defeated in a
great battle, at Chalons-, on the Marne, by the united armies of the
Boman empire and the Germanic invaders of that empire. But the
Huns maintained their ground in Germany for a considerable time ;
and it was during this period that the Saxons, Angles, and Frisians,
impelled, some by hope, others by fear, crossed the channel under
various leaders, and either began or gave a new impulse to the
conquest of Britain.
At the time when the Saxons commenced the conquest of Britain,
they found the island divided between two hostile races, engaged in
mortal strife with each other. At that time the Bomanized Britons
held the eastern and southern districts of the island, whilst those
tribes of Britons which had from the first resisted the Bomans, and
had been the first to throw off their yoke, held the west and the
north. The Boman wall continued to be the northern fine of
demarcation, probably until the time when the Bomans retired from
the island. But in the west, Deva or Chester was abandoned by
the Bomans before the year 408, and Caerleon shortly after. No
doubt those positions, and many others, fell into the hands of the
Britons, and for 100 or 200 years after the landing of the Saxons
were still held by them.
As far as the vague records of that age enable us to judge, the
western and northern parts of Britain were at this time divided into
several small British states. The first was Damnonia, the kingdom
of Arthur, which bore also the name of West Wales, and comprised
•the present counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset."""
Next was Cambria, the land of the Midland Britons, including the
whole of the present principality of Wales, and the greater part
of the present counties of Chester, Shropshire, and Hereford. Then
came Cumbria, comprising the present counties of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, and at least the northern part of Lancashire. Deira
* Lappenburg's History of England, vol. i. p. 120.

PAST AND PRESENT. 293

followed, including the rest of the country from the Humber and
the Mersey to the Tyne ; and Bernicia, comprising the country from
the Tyne to the Forth. Further to the north-west were the states
of Beged and Strath Clyde, forming the eastern part of the Low
lands of Scotland; and last, the country of the Scots and Picts,
north of the Forth and the Clyde.
The two most illustrious British names connected with this
contest, that have come down to modern times, are those of Arthur
and Cadwalla. The latter is strictly historical ; but with regard to
King Arthur, it is difficult to tell where fiction ends and history
begins, in the accounts which have reached us of his life and
exploits. Nothing is more probable than that the great struggle between
the Britons and the Saxons, which continued for so many ages,
produced both heroes and generals. " Then it was," according to
Nennius, " that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and
military force of Britain, fought against . the Saxons ; and though
there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times
chosen their commander, and was as often conqueror." That the
Britons fought well, and were ably led, is proved by the long dura
tion of the conflict. Arthur was probably the ablest and most
illustrious of these leaders. According to the account of his exploits
given by Nennius, he fought and won four battles on the banks of
the river Douglas, which is in the present county of Lancaster, and
one at Chester, the city of the legion. The district on the banks of
the Douglas is described by another early writer as the country of
the Lincii. This name seems to be partially retamed in the name
of Ince, near Wigan ; whilst the memory of a great battle, fought
in the times of the pagan Saxons, appears to be preserved in the
name of Wigan — the Saxon god of war — for Wig and Hilda were
the Mars and Bellona of the Saxon mythology. If this account is
correct, the Saxons made their way into Lancashire as early as the
year 516 ; but were then defeated, and driven back across the hills
which separate Lancashire from Yorkshire. We hear nothing more
of their progress in the north-western district of England until the
year 607, when Ethelfrid, king of Northumberland, having con
quered the whole country to the north of the Mersey, led his army
to Chester. The Saxon or Anglian kingdom of Northumberland, which
extended southward to the banks of the Humber and the Mersey,

291 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

and included the present counties of Lancaster, York, Durham, and
Northumberland, is stated by Bede and the Saxon Chronicle to
have been founded by Ida, an Anglian chief, who arrived on the
coast of Northumberland in the year 547 with an army of adven
turers; carried in forty to fifty ships. It is stated, on the same
authority, that he built a fortress on the coast of Northumberland,
which he named Bebbenburh, from the name of Bebba, his queen.
The original fortress at Bebbenburh, or Bamboro', consisted of a
stockade of timber; the Saxons and Angles of that age knowing
fittle, if anything, of the art of building with stone or brick. But
in a later age a strong castle of stone was built on the rock on
which Ida's fortress stood, and on which the ruins of Bamboro'
castle still stand. After reigning twelve years, Ida was killed in a
battle with Urien, king of Cumbria and Beged. His successors not
only held their ground, but conquered the kingdoms of Bernicea and
Deira, which Ethelfrid joined to form the kingdom of Northumber
land, about the year 600 ; in some cases reducing the Britons to
subjection, in others driving them out altogether, and setting Angles
and Saxons in their place. Both Walley on the river Calder, and
Manchester on the river Irwell, are mentioned as places situated in
the kingdom of Northumbria; and it is stated by Dr. Latham, in
his recent work on the English Language, that " an examination of
the provincial dialects still spoken in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the
other northern counties, shows that everything north of a line drawn
from Warrington, on the river Mersey, to Chesterfield in Derbyshire,
belongs to the ancient Saxon or Anglian kingdom of Northumber
land."* This includes the whole of the present county of Lancaster,
and a small portion of Cheshire. But the greater part of the latter
county belonged to the Saxon kingdom of Mercia, which rose into
importance as Northumberland declined, and ultimately comprised
the seventeen counties lying between the Humber, the Mersey, the
Thames, and the Severn, including the three great cities and ports
of London, Gloucester, and Chester.
The Angles and Saxons, like all the Germanic tribes, were dwell
ers in the forest and the field. They had no towns of their own in
those early times, but dwelt, scattered and divided, according to the
expression of Tacitus, " as a fountain of pure water, a fertile field, or
a sheltering grove attracted them." During their long wars with the
Britons, which continued for several hundred years, they formed
* R. G. Latham, vol. i.

PAST AND PRESENT. 295

themselves into numerous clans or companies, taking the names of
their leaders. Each of these tribes undertook to conquer and defend
the portion of territory that allured its taste. The names of more
than 600 of these tribes have been traced, of whom twenty-six
settled in Lancashire and twenty-five in Cheshire. They named
the lands which they conquered after the names of their tribes.
Thus Warrington was the town of the Varini; Altringham, the
home of the Altringi ; Bellingham, the home of the Belini ; Adfing-
ton, the town of the Athelings or Princes. Most of the English
names ending in " ing " are supposed to be those of ancient Anglian
or Saxon tribes. The land thus conquered belonged to the whole
tribe, was named the Mark, and was included within marks or
bounds, generally cut on the trees of the forest, to guard it against
the intrusion of other tribes. Each tribe thus dwelt within its own
mark, and in time of war the bravest chief was chosen to lead the
warriors of the different marks to battle. They had at first no
kings, as Tacitus informs us, speaking of their German ancestors,
but only chiefs chosen to lead them in war.
The movement of the Anglo-Saxons into the north-western
district of England appears to have received a great impulse, about
the year 600, from the military genius of Ethelfrid, king of North-
umbria. Of this chief and warrior the venerable Bede says, in his
account of his reign — " At this^ time Ethelfrid, a most worthy king,
and ambitious of glory, governed the kingdom of the Northumbrians,
and ravaged the Britons more than all the great men of the English,
insomuch that he might be compared to Saul, once king of the
Israelites ; excepting only in this, that he was ignorant of the true
religion. For he conquered more territories from the Britons, either
making them tributary, or driving the inhabitants clean out and
planting English in their places, than any other king or tribune.
To him might justly be applied the saying of the patriarch blessing
his son — ' Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf ; in the morning he shall
devour the prey; and at night he shall divide the spoil.'"* In the
year 603 Ethelfrid freed his dominions from the perils of invasion,
by repulsing and destroying the army of iEdan, king of the Scots,
at a place called Degaston ; and in the year 607 he turned his
arms against" the Britons of Cheshire and North Wales. " Having
raised, a mighty army," says Bede, " he made a very great slaughter
of that perfidious nation, at the city of Legions, which by the
* Beda, lib. ii. c. 34.

296 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
English is called Legacestir, but by the Britons, more rightly,
Caerlegion." On this occasion he caused to be slain upwards of 1100
priests of the British monastery of Bangor, who had accompanied
the Britons to the battle-field, to aid and encourage them with their
presence and their prayers. " Thus," adds Bede, " was fulfilled the
prediction of the holy Bishop Augustine (though he himself had
been long before taken up into the heavenly kingdom), that those
perfidious men should feel the vengeance of temporal death also,
because they had despised the offer of eternal salvation." t The sole
crime of the Britons on this occasion consisted in defending their
homes and national independence against the swords of the Saxons,
and their religious independence against the claims of Augustine and
the bishop of Bome. This the historian of the English church thinks
proper to speak of in the above passage as an act of perfidy ; but
he has left us ample particulars in other parts of the same work,
which enable us to judge how fittle any such term was justly appli-
- cable to the bishops and priests of the ancient church of Britain.
At the time when the Saxon armies first appeared on the banks
of the Dee under King Ethelfrid, the ancient British form of
Christianity was prevalent there ; and Bangor, on the banks of that
beautiful stream, was the principal school of British learning and
religion. In the monastery of Bangor there were so great a number
of monks, all living by the labour of their own hands, that the
monastery, being divided into seven parts, with a chief over each,
no one of these divisions consisted of less than 300 men — giving a
total of upwards of 2100 persons, all devoted to purposes of religion.
From ten to twelve years before that time Augustine the monk
had been despatched to Britam by Pope Gregory I., to teach the
Christian religion amongst the Saxon Pagans. He landed in Kent,
in the train of the Christian Princess Bertha, daughter of the king
of the Franks, who came over as the bride of Ethelbert king of
Kent, a powerful Anglo-Saxon prince, whose dominions included the
greater part of the south of England, and whose influence was felt
as far north as the river Humber. The teaching of Augustine and
the influence of a young wife moved the heart of Ethelbert, who
adopted the Christian faith himself, and used his influence with
great success in spreading it amongst his subjects. In a few years
the knowledge of the Christian religion, as taught by Augustine
and his companions, was widely spread in the southern districts
t Beda, lib. ii. c. 2.

PAST AND PRESENT. 297

of England ; but unfortunately, during the same period, an angry
feeling had sprung up between Augustine and his followers on one
side, and the bishops and teachers of the ancient British church on
the other, which gave additional malignity to the final struggle
between Christianity and paganism in Britain, and long delayed
the establishment of the Christian religion in the northern and
midland districts of England.
The real ground of difference between Augustine and the British
bishops seems to have been that Augustine claimed an authority
over the British church, which it firmly refused to admit. The
professed ground of difference was, that the British bishops would
not consent, on the demand of Augustine, to give up a mode of
computing the time at which the feast of Easter should be held,
which they had long employed. In the mode of calculating the
time for keeping Easter, the British, Scottish, and Irish churches
adhered to the traditions of the Eastern church, in opposition to
those of the Church of Bome.
From the account which Bede, has left us of the conference which
took place between Augustine and several bishops of the British
church at a place called Augustine's Dale, on the borders of the
West Saxons and the Wiccii (people of Warwick), and of a subse
quent conference, at some spot to which he does not give a name,
it appears that the British bishops were willing to act with Augustine
as equals, but refused to submit to him as a superior.
Seven bishops of the Britons, and many most learned men,
"particularly," says Bede, "from the most noble monastery which,
in the English tongue, is called Bancornbury" (Bangor), over which
Abbot Dinooth is said to have presided at that time, were present
at the second synod. Before attending that synod they consulted
" a certain holy and discreet man," who led the life of a hermit, as
to whether they ought, at the preaching of Augustine, to forsake
the traditions of their own church. He advised them to do so, if
Augustine appeared to be a man of God. " How shall we know
that ?" said they. He replied, " Our Lord said, ' Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart ;' if,
therefore, Augustine is meek and lowly of heart, it is to be believed
that he has taken upon him the yoke of Christ, and offers the same
to you to take upon you. But if he is stern and haughty, it
appears that he is not of God, nor are we to regard his words."
They demanded again, "And how shall we discern even this?"
VOL I. 2 P

298 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
" Do you contrive," said the anchorite, " that he may first arrive
with his company at the place where the synod is to be held ; and
if at your approach he shall rise to you, hear him submissively, being
assured that he is the servant of Christ ; but if he shall despise you,
whereas you are more in number, let him also be despised by you."
Unfortunately, Augustine did not receive the British bishops "with
the courtesy of an equal, but with the assumption of a superior.
He was seated when they entered, and remained seated ; on which
they became angry, charged him with pride, and, according to Bede,
contradicted all he said. The final demands of Augustine were, that
the British Christians should keep Easter at the due time — that is,
as the Church of Bome kept it ; that they should administer baptism
according to the custom of the " Holy Boman Apostolical Church ;"
and that they should jointly, with Augustine and his companions,
preach the gospel to the English nation. " On these conditions,"
said Augustine, " we will tolerate all the other things you do, though
contrary to our customs." They answered they would do none of
these things, nor receive him as their archbishop ; " for they alleged
amongst themselves," says Bede, " that if he would now not rise up
to us, how much more will he contemn us, as of no worth, when we
shall begin to be. under his subjection." " To whom the man of
God," continues Bede, " is said in a threatening manner to have
foretold that, in case they would not join in unity with their
brethren, they would be warred upon by their enemies ; and if they
would not preach the way of life to the English nation, they should,
at their hands, undergo the vengeance of death. All which, through
the dispensation of the divine judgment, fell out as he had predicted:
The venerable Bede, as already stated, speaks of the miserable
slaughter of the priests of the British church, by Ethelfrid's
army at the battle of Chester, as a fulfilment of the warning
or prophecy of Augustine. The conduct of Augustine has been
variously interpreted. Some, especially in former times, have
thought, as Bede evidently did, that Augustine spoke as a prophet,
by the inspiration of God, and that the slaughter of the British
priests was a just punishment for their refusal to listen to the
teaching of Augustine, and the authority of Bome ; others have
thought that it was nothing better than a malignant wish, which
being bruited abroad led to its own fulfilment ; whilst others,
neither raising Augustine so high as the former of these suppositions,
nor sinking him as low so the latter, have concluded that it was

PAST AND PRESENT. 299

only a sagacious warning, as to what must be the fate of the
Christian Britons if they did not make common cause with the
Christian Saxons. Such a warning or prediction would have been
well founded, both as relates to the Christian Britons and to the
Christian Saxons, for discord certainly brought great evils on both.
A union of the Christians of Wales and Kent might have averted
the massacre of the Britons at Chester. And such a union between
the Christians of Wales and Northumberland would have saved
the latter kingdom from conquest and desolation. A few years
after the slaughter of the Britons at Chester, Cadwalla, king of
the Britons, formed a close alliance with Penda, the pagan king of
Mercia ; and while together, they defeated and killed Edwin, the
first Christian king of Northumberland, and all his sons, ravaged
his dominions with fire and sword, and compelled Paulinus, the
most celebrated of the followers of Augustine, to save himself by
a hasty flight into the kingdom of Kent.
The conversion of Edwin, king of Northumbria, to Christianity,
ultimately cost him both his throne and his life, yet it was for a
while followed by a great increase of power and influence. Edwin
was the first king of Northumbria who held the rank of Bretwalda,
or paramount sovereign of Britam. He not only ruled the North
umbrians, that is, all those who lived north of the river Humber,
but with great power commanded all the nations, as well, of the
English and the Britons who inhabit Britam, except only the
people of Wales. He was also powerful by sea, as well as by
land, and conquered the Mevanian islands of the Britons — Anglesey
and Man — lying between Ireland and Britain ; at that time Anglesey
contained 960, and Man 300 families. Within his own dominions
all was for a while peaceful and tranquil. " It is reported," says
Bede, "that there was such perfect peace in Britain, wherever the
dominion of King Edwin extended, that, as is still proverbially
said, a woman with her new-born babe might walk throughout
the island from sea to sea, without receiving any harm. That
king took so much care for the good of this nation, that in several
places where he had seen clear springs near the highways, he
caused stones to be fixed, with brass dishes hanging at them, for
the convenience of travellers; nor durst any man touch them, for
any other purpose than that for which they were designed, either
through the dread they had of the king, or from the affection which
they bore to him."

300 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Unfortunately, not only the honours but the life of Edwin
were rapidly hastening to a close. The superstitions which his
ancestors had inherited from a remote antiquity were not to be
extinguished without a struggle ; and the conversion of Edwin
and the Northumbrians was followed by the forming of the new
and powerful pagan state of Mercia, which rapidly extended to all
the central districts of England, from the Humber and the Mersey,
to the Thames and the Severn. A chief was found in the person
of Penda, the first king of Mercia, possessed of courage and talents
which enabled him to wage a bloody, and for many years a
successful war, against the Christian kingdoms of Northumbria
and Kent.
The divisions of the Saxon and British Christians, which had
proved so fatal to the Britons at the battle of Chester, now proved
equally so to the Saxons of Northumbria. No sooner had Penda
become formidable in Mercia, than he found a powerful ally in
Cadwalla, a king of the Britons of Wales, who joined him eagerly
in an attack on Edwin and the kingdom of Northumbria.
In the year 633, the seventeenth year of the reign of King
Edwin, and the sixth after his conversion to the Christian faith,
Penda and Cadwalla, having united their armies, made a combined
attack on the dominions of Edwin, who hastened to the frontier
of his kingdom to meet them. The armies met on the plain still
known as Hatfield Heath, on the southern border of Yorkshire.
Here a great battle was fought on the ,12th October, in the year
.633, in which Edwin was slain, and his army destroyed or dispersed.
In the same year, but before Edwin fell, Osfrid, one of his sons,
a warlike youth, was slain; and Eanfrid, another of his sons, driven
by necessity, went alone to Penda, by whom he was afterwards
murdered. The victory of Penda and Cadwalla was followed by
a great slaughter of the Northumbrian nation and church. Penda
and all the nation of the Mercians, as worshippers of Woden,
Thor, and Frea, detested the Northumbrians, as apostates from
their own religion ; whilst Cadwalla, though a Christian in religion,
fiercely revenged the wrongs of his race and church, refusing to
pay any respect to the faith and religion of the English, or to
correspond with them, more than with pagans. The affairs of the
Northumbrians being thus in confusion, and death threatening on
every side, Paulinus, taking with him Queen Ethelberga, whom he
had brought to Northumbria, returned into Kent by sea, and was

PAST AND PRESENT. 301

honourably received by the king, Eadbald, and Archbishop Honorius,
at whose request he took the office of bishop of Bochester, which
office he held until the day of his death.
During ten long and ruinous years Northumbria groaned under
the tyranny of Penda and Cadwalla. Bede, who relates with
exultation the triumphs of Ethelfrid, shudders at the victory of
Cadwalla. Of him he says, that though he bore the name and
professed himself a Christian, he was so barbarous in his disposition
and behaviour that he neither spared the female sex nor the
innocent age of children, but with savage cruelty put them to
tormenting deaths, ravaging all the country far and wide, and
resolved to cut off all the race of the English within the borders
of Britain. The first attempt of the Northumbrians to re-establish their
independence only brought upon them greater calamities. Osric,
of the royal family of Deira, and Eanfrid, the son of Ethelfrid, of
the royal race of Bernicia, obtained the rule of their respective
provinces of Northumbria, and endeavoured to keep them, by apos
tatizing from the Christian faith ; but they were both slain by
Cadwalla, the one in battle, the other when he came, with only
a handful of soldiers, to sue for peace. After that Cadwalla reigned
over the provinces of the Northumbrians, " not like a victorious king,
but like a rapacious and bloody tyrant." " To this day," says Bede,
"that year is looked upon as unhappy and hateful to all good men,
as well on account of the apostasy of the English kings, who had
renounced the faith, as of the outrageous tyranny of the British
king. Hence, it has been agreed by all who have written about
the reign of the kings, to abolish the memory of those perfidious
monarchs, and to assign that year to the reign of the following king,
Oswald, a man beloved of God."
Oswald, son of Ethelfrid, the restorer of the independence of
Northumbria and of the profession of Christianity in that kingdom,
had taken refuge amongst the Scots after the defeat of his father,
and had amongst them been instructed in the Christian faith,
probably in the celebrated monastery of lona. On the death of
his elder brother, Eanfrid, he advanced into Northumbria with a
small but valiant army, and defeated and killed Cadwalla, although
the latter had more numerous forces, and boasted that nothing could
resist them. Oswald raised his standard of the cross at a place
called Heavenfield, near the Boman wall, and not far from the

302 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
present town of Hexham. The cross being made in haste, and
the hole dug in which it was to be fixed, the king himself, full of
faith, laid hold of it, and held it with both his hands till it was
made firm by throwing in the earth. This done, he raised his voice,
crying to his army, "Let us kneel, and jointly beseech the true
and living God Almighty, in his mercy, to defend us from the
haughty and fierce enemy ; for He knows that we have undertaken
a just war for the safety of our nation." All did as he had com
manded, and advancing towards the enemy at dawn of day, they
attacked him at a place named Denisburn, and gained a victory
which freed Northumbria from its invaders, and placed Oswald on
the throne of his ancestors.
King Oswald, having restored the independence of his country,
immediately set to work to restore the knowledge and practice of
Christianity, which had gone to decay since the death of King
Edwin and the retirement of Paulinus to the more peaceful region
of Kent. With this view he sent to the elders of the Scots, amongst
whom himself and his followers when in banishment had received
the sacrament of baptism, requesting them to send him a bishop,
by whose instruction the Northumbrians might be taught the
advantages and receive the sacraments of the Christian faith. In
compliance with this request they sent him Bishop Aidan, " a man
of singular piety and moderation." The king appointed Aidan to
the episcopal see in the isle of Lindisferne, or Holy Island, from
which many of the churches between the Tyne and the Tweed had
their beginning, as those from the Tyne to the Humber and the
Mersey had from York. The king himself in all cases gave ear
to his admonitions, and industriously applied himself to build and
extend the church of Christ in his kingdom : — "Wherein when the
bishop, who was not skilful in the English tongue, preached the
gospel, it was most delightful," says the venerable Bede, " to see the
king himself interpreting the word of God to his commanders and
ministers; for he had perfectly learned the language of the Scots
during his long banishment. From that time many of the Scots
came into Britain, and preached the word in those provinces of the
English over which King Oswald reigned. Churches were built in
many places, and the people joyfully flocked together to hear the
word of truth."
During a period of nine years King Oswald ruled the kingdom of
Northumbria, and besides assisting to restore the Christian faith

PAST AND PRESENT. 303

amongst his own subjects, did much to establish it amongst the
East Saxons in the valley of the Thames, and to the south of that
river. He also greatly extended the dominions of his ancestors ;
and through his good management the provinces of Deira and
Bernicia, till then at variance, were united and formed into one
people. Unfortunately the terrible Penda, the destroyer of Edwin,
still survived, and proved himself to be the evil genius of the
second, as well as of the first Christian king of Northumbria.
In the year 642 Oswald was killed in a great battle, with the
pagan king and nation of the Mercians, at Maserfield or Makerfield,
near Winwick and Warrington, on the frontiers of the kingdoms of
Northumbria and Mercia. Makerfield is the ancient Saxon name of
the district, through which the great Boman road that intersected
both Mercia and Northumbria passed, on its entrance into the latter
kingdom ; and as it is the only place which bears that name, there
is every reason to believe, both from the name and the position, that
it is the place where Oswald fell, uttering the exclamation, " The
Lord have mercy on the souls of my poor soldiers!" — who were
dying to save him.
" Oswald being translated to the heavenly kingdom," his brother
Oswy, an abler soldier, though not so good a man, succeeded to
the throne of Northumbria, and held it for twenty-eight years with
much trouble, being harassed by the pagan King Penda, and by the
pagan nation of the Mercians, who had slain his brother, as also by
his son Alfred, and by his cousin-german Ethelwald, the son of his
brother who reigned before him. The rule of succession to the
throne was very loose amongst the Northumbrians, as amongst all
the Anglo-Saxon nations; and though this occasionally placed a
man of talent on the throne, out of his turn, as in the cases of
Oswy, Offa, Alfred the Great, and Athelstane, yet it caused deadly
family feuds, and involved the whole of the Saxon kingdoms in
almost incessant wars of succession.
From the year 642 to the year 655 the kingdom of Northumbria
was tributary to Penda, though Oswy was allowed to retain a
shadow of authority ; but at the end of that time the tyranny of
the Mercians and of their king became intolerable, and King Oswy
headed an insurrection of his people. In the course of this insur
rection a great battle was fought between him and Penda, at a
place named Winweyde, in which the army of Penda was totally
defeated, and Penda himself was slain, with thirty of the chiefs who

304 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
had followed him to battle. In Bede's account of this battle, it is
stated that the greater part of the army of Penda was swallowed1 up
by the river Winweyde, the waters of which were at that time much
swollen by heavy rains. There is not at present any stream in
England that bears the name of Winweyde ; but the stream that
flows through the meadows below Winwick, and which is now
known as the Sankey brook, is as much liable to be suddenly
flooded as any English stream. ¦ It ought, however, to be stated that
Bede, in his account of this battle, states that it was fought in the
district of Leodis, which is generally supposed to be the district of
Leeds, in the West Biding of Yorkshire.
Wherever the battle of Winweyde was fought, it put an end to
the profession of the pagan religion amongst the kings of the Anglo-
Saxon race. The successors of Penda very shortly adopted the
profession of the Christian religion, and the seat of a bishopric was
established at Lichfield, on the banks of the river Trent, which for
a time almost rivalled Canterbury and York in the extent of its
authority. When the kingdom of Mercia was at the height of its
greatness, Lichfield obtained for a short time the rank of an arch
bishopric. The whole of the county of Chester, and that portion of
Lancashire that fies between the Mersey and the Bibble, were for
many ages included in this diocese.
But though the defeat and death of Perda was followed by the
spread of Christianity throughout the kingdom of Mercia, it was not
followed by the permanent subjection of the kingdom of Mercia to
the kings of Northumbria. On the contrary, the dynasty, which
Penda had founded continued to reign for more than 100 years, and
gradually extended its dominions until they stretched from the
Mersey and the Humber on the north, to the Thames on the south,
and from the Trent and the Ouse on the east, to the Mersey and
the Severn on the west. When the kingdom of Mercia attained its
greatest extent, under King Offa, it included seventeen of the
present counties of England, of which the present county of Chester
was the most northerly. It was in the time of King Offa that the
great fine of defence known as Offa's Dyke was formed, from the
banks of the river Dee, near Holywell, to the banks of the Severn,
near the point where it receives the waters of the Wye. In length
this dyke was about 130 miles, and it was formed for the purpose
of serving both as a line of demarcation between England and
Wales, and a line of defence against the attacks of the Welsh

PAST AND PRESENT. 305

mountaineers. In the early part of his reign, King Offa repulsed
the Welsh from Hereford, and afterwards overran the small British
kingdoms, of which Shrewsbury and Chester were the capitals.
After the Angles had firmly established themselves in the present
counties of Lancaster, York, and the northern and eastern districts
of the kingdom ; and after a mixed race of Angles and Saxons,
differing only in name, had formed the kingdom of Mercia, of
which Cheshire was the most northern shire, they both began
to cidtivate the arts of peace. Christianity was everywhere intro
duced ; the church of St. John's, outside the walls of Chester, was
built as early as the reign of Wolfhere, the grandson of the pagan
king Penda ; and the fame of St. Werberga, the daughter of
the above king, spread to the county of Chester, of which she
became the" patron saint. There .her bones were deposited in
the monastery of St. Werberg, and at her shrine the most stupen
dous miracles were supposed to be worked. The whole of the-
county of Chester, and much the greater part of the present
county of Lancaster, were included within the diocese of Litchfield,
whilst the northern parts of the county of Lancaster, as far south
as the river Bibble, were included in the diocese of York. At
an early but uncertain period, the whole of the territories of
what form now the two counties of Lancaster and Chester, were
divided into hundreds or wapentakes, and these were again sub
divided into townships, or probably tenships, that is, into com
munities of ten members ; each of the ten being held responsible
in case of offences committed by any of the rest. Parishes were
also formed in an early age, each of them comprising several
townships. These were generally, if not always, supplied with a
parish church, many of which existed at the time of the Domes
day Survey.
The cultivation of the soil, and the keeping of cattle, sheep,
and swine, were the chief occupations of the Angles and Saxons,
who delighted in rural life, and spread themselves over the whole
country, forming in the first instance " marks," in which the whole
community held the land in common, and afterwards separate
villages. At the time of the Domseday Survey there were from
200 to 300 small vills or villages scattered over the two counties,
most of which appear from their names to have been formed by the
Angles and Saxons, those only along the sea-coast having been founded
by the Danes. Ancient cities erected by the Bomans were occu-
2 Q
VOL. I. *

306 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
pied by the Saxon and Anglian chiefs, and became their seats of
government; but they do not appear to have built any other
places, deserving of the name of towns and cities. Chester, Man
chester, Bibchester, and Lancaster continued to be the principal
places in the north-western district, during the Anglian period,
though we have few particulars relating to them, beyond the facts
that Chester continued to be a fortified city, and that Manchester
was a Saxon or Anglian burg, which was the name given by both
Angles and Saxons to their principal towns.

THE DANES AND NORTHMEN IN LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.
The boundaries of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia,
formed by the Mersey and the Humber, remained without any
material change until the invasion of the kingdom by the Danes
or Northmen, by whom both those kingdoms, as well as the king
dom of East Anglia, were conquered and peopled, so extensively as
to produce a complete blending together of the Saxon and Danish
races in all the northern and eastern districts of England. Innumer
able traces of the presence and alternate ascendancy of these two
powerful races are still found in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
and indeed in all the counties in the northern and eastern parts of
England. The Danes and Northmen, though -originally, like the first
Saxons, mere pirates, soon became the founders of extensive settle
ments in the northern and eastern districts ; and at the present
time many hundred places exist which, from the terminations of
their names, are supposed to have been of Danish origin. This is
believed to be the case with nearly all places ending with the letters
by, that being the Danish or northern name of a town or place, just
as burgh or borough is the Saxon termination. It is only, however,
in the northern and eastern parts of England that this Danish
termination is found. Thus, while there are in Yorkshire 150, in
Lincolnshire 195, in Cumberland forty-two, in Lancashire thirteen,
and in Cheshire nine places still existing, whose names bear the
Danish or Norwegian termination by — "a town "—there is scarcely
a place with that termination, in the counties of Bedford, Berks,
Buckingham, Devon, Dorset, Hereford, Hertford, Middlesex, Oxford,
Salop, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, or Wilts.

PAST AND PRESENT. 307

In the counties of Lancaster and Chester the traces of the
residence of the Danes or Norwegians are very numerous along
the sea-coast, from the northern bank of the river Dee to the
northern boundary of the county of Lancaster; but they are
nowhere found in the interior. It would therefore appear that
though the Danes and Norwegians not merely overran, but peopled
the coasts of the two counties, they did not succeed in establishing
themselves firmly in the inland districts of either, though they
probably may for a time have succeeded in reducing even those
districts to nominal subjection. There is historical evidence that
both Chester and Manchester were ruined in the wars between.
the Saxons and Danes; but there is also evidence that the Danes
did not succeed in establishing themselves permanently at either
of those places or in the adjoining. districts. All, or nearly all, the
names of places in those districts are of Saxon, and not of Danish
origin. On the other hand, the names are almost entirely Danish
or Norwegian along the sea-coast ; and both on the Lancashire and
Cheshire coast we find the names still preserved of the ancient
courts held by the Danes, and known by the name of " Thingwalli,"
or Thingwalls.In Cheshire also the Danish names are found on the coast, at
Frankby, Pensby, Irby, Kirkby, Helsby, Childer, Thornton, Thingwall,
and other places ; but they are not found in the interior, the Danes
having never established themselves to the east of the fortress of
Chester. The Danish districts in Lancashire appear to have included the
whole of the sea-coast from the Duddon to the Mersey. Furness
was named and peopled by the Danes or Northmen, and most of
the older places in that district still bear Danish names. Amongst
these are Ulverstone, Ulpha, Donnerdale, Walney, Kirkby, Satter-
thwaite, and Conishead. The hundred of Lonsdale was also named
by the Danes. The name of Lancaster is Danish, " caster " being the
Danish way of spelling the word derived from "castrum;" as "chester,"
found in Manchester, Bibchester, and Chester itself, is the Saxon
mode of spelling the same termination. An ancient Bunic inscription
has been found at Lancaster. Amounderness, the name of the next
hundred, is purely Scandinavian, and is derived from the name of
the Danish earl Agmund, and the Danish termination "ness," a
promontory. Garstang, like Garston, is derived from the- name of
another Danish chief, and the names Kirkham, Fylde, and Blackpool,

308 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
are also northern. Leyland the name of the next hundred on
the sea-coast is probably Danish. The Derby hundred was certainly
named by the Danes, as we learn that the town and county of
Derby also were. Most of the other towns and villages in the
West Derby hundred were also named by them, including Formby,
Crosby, Kirkby, Boby, Ormskirk, Thingwall, Garston, and Widness.
In the interior, on the other hand, there are few Danish names.
The hundred of Blackburn was probably named by the Angles, the
termination " burn " being Angfian. Anglezark, or Arx, the citadel of
the Angles, also preserves the name of the same people. Salford,
and the ancient hundreds of Newton and Warrington, seem to have
been named by the Saxons, there being scarcely any Danish names
in those hundreds.
Until about the year 870 the river Mersey was the boundary
between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia ;
but about that time it became the boundary between the territory
of the Danes and that of the Saxons. The. Scandinavian sea rovers,
known in England as Danes, in France as Normans, and in Ireland
as Eastmen, first landed in England about the year 787. From
that time to the year 840, according to the Saxon Chronicle, bands
of these adventurers landed on the shores of England almost every
year. At first they appeared only in the summer months, and
having plundered the country, returned before the winter set in,
to their haunts on the coasts of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark,
carrying off their captives and other booty. But in the year 840
they first remained in England during the winter months ; and,
becoming bolder with success, formed plans of conquest and perma
nent occupation. These they ultimately carried into effect, conquering
the whole of England north of the Mersey and the Humber, and
the central counties as far as the river Thames. There they came
in contact with the kingdom of the West Saxons, and with that
race of heroic kings, of whom Alfred the Great was the first and
.the noblest. By them the course of the Danes was arrested ; the
central districts of England were gradually rescued from their grasp ;
and the Danish chiefs of Northumbria, though never permanently
subdued, were reduced to a nominal subjection to the Saxon kings.
The kingdom of Northumbria was one of the first of the conquests
made by the Danes in England. The invading army which made
this conquest was commanded by a chief named Heafdean. This
army landed on the eastern side of the island,, in the autumn of the

PAST AND PRESENT. 309

year 866, and after wintering there, marched forward in the spring
of the following year to York, the capital of Northumbria. The
invaders found that kingdom divided and weakened by civil war,
the king having been deposed, and a rival having seized the throne.
A desperate contest was still raging between them; but on the
approach of the Danes the two claimants of the crown joined their
forces to resist them. It was, however, too late for resistance ; and
in a great battle fought at York, in the year 867, both the Saxon
claimants of the throne of Northumbria were killed, and their armies
were defeated by the Danish invaders. Thus ended the Saxon
kingdom of Northumbria, which the Danes divided among them
selves, reducing the Saxons to subjection, and establishing themselves
in all the more fertile districts of the northern counties. There
innumerable traces of their presence are still found, both on the
eastern and the western sides of the kingdom; but they are not
nearly so numerous in the hilly and mountainous districts of the
interior, where the Saxons long held out against them.
The conquest of Northumbria only roused the eagerness of fresh
swarms of Danes, and other adventurers from the northern seas,
to overrun and conquer the whole kingdom. Having subdued
Northumbria, they poured into the central districts of England,
forming the kingdom of Mercia, in vast numbers ; and after a
succession of campaigns, they succeeded in overrunning the whole
country as far as the river Thames, and in subverting the king
dom of Mercia, as they had previously subdued the kingdom of
Northumbria. More than two-thirds of England having been thus conquered,
the invaders directed their attacks against, the kingdom of the
West Saxons, which at that time included the counties of England
lying to the south of the river Thames. Their first attacks were
successful, but in the end the valour, constancy, and military talents
of the great Alfred gave the victory to the West Saxons. The
Danes, after being defeated in numerous battles, were driven out
of every part of the kingdom of the West Saxons ; and were glad
to make peace, on condition of surrendering to King Alfred all
those parts of the kingdom of Mercia lying to the south and west
of the old Boman road, known to the Saxons by the name of Watling
Street, which ran across the kingdom from London to Chester,
dividing England into two tolerably equal parts. In this division
the Danes obtained the whole of East Anglia, the whole of the

310 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
kingdom of Northumbria, and a large portion of Mercia. There
they built numerous towns and villages, and became to a considerable
extent blended with the Saxon inhabitants, though they still retained
their Danish spirit of conquest and adventure.
The Danish king or chief with whom King Alfred concluded
this treaty, and whose name has come down to us as Gotherm
or Guthorm, consented to abandon paganism and to receive Chris
tianity, and he was accordingly baptized, Alfred acting as his
sponsor: and during the life of this chief, the boundaries agreed
upon in the treaty between Alfred and the Danes were faithfully
kept, and the kingdom had an interval of rest. But after the
death of Guthorm, an enormous host of Danes and Northmen poured
into the kingdom, under the command of Hasten, a Danish chief,
who appears to have rivalled Bollo, the conqueror of Normandy,
and even Canute, the conqueror of England, in the greatness of
his military talents ; and who would probably have rivalled them
in success, if he had not had to contend against the still greater
military genius and constancy of Alfred the Great.
The army of Hasten, which had previously laid waste the
northern provinces of France, embarked for England, at Boulogne,
in 251 vessels, in the spring of the year 893, and passed over to
Limnemouth in Kent, a place where a Boman fortification existed,
traces of which are still found. It there landed at the east end of
the great forest called Andrad's Wald, which then extended across the
wealds of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, for a distance of 120 miles.
The Danes formed an intrenched camp at Appledore, near Limne
mouth, in which camp they left their booty and the women and
children who accompanied the army. Hasten himself sailed up the
river Thames, and landed at Milton, on the southern bank of that
river, where he formed another camp. He then led over the mass
of his army to the north bank of the Thames, and formed a third
camp at Banfleet in Essex. From this point he marched through
the Danish provinces of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria,
everywhere calling the Danish settlers in those provinces to arms.
He thus collected a large army, multitudes thronging to his
standard; and with his troops thus reinforced, he commenced an
attack on the kingdom of the West Saxons, and that part of Mercia
which was then subject to Alfred. The contest between these two
great leaders of the Saxon and the Danish race was long and
arduous ; and it was not until Alfred had defeated Hasten in three

PAST AND PRESENT. 311

campaigns, in the course of which the seat of war changed rapidly
from the banks of the Thames to those of the Severn, and from the
Severn to the Mersey and the Dee, that he finally vanquished the
invaders, and compelled them to retire from England.
The first great battle between Alfred and the Danish army under
the command of Hasten was fought at Farnham in Surrey, where
the king gained a great victory. Scarcely was it gained when he
learned that the Northumbrian Danes, the inhabitants of Lancashire
and Yorkshire, had sailed round the island in their ships, had landed
in Devonshire, and were laying siege to the city of Exeter. Alfred
immediately marched into Devonshire, and defeated the Northum
brians, in a battle near Exeter. Meanwhile the citizens of London,
which was already a great city, had collected an army, with which
they attacked the Danes, and laid siege to the camp that Hasten
had formed at Banfleet, on the river Thames. This camp the
citizens of London took, and they found in it, amongst other
prisoners, the wife and sons of Hasten, the invading chief. These
Alfred, with his usual generosity, gave up in all honour to Hasten.
After the loss of their camp the Danes marched rapidly along
Watling Street, across the whole kingdom of England, to the
borders of Wales, where they took and fortified a position on the
banks of the river Severn, at Buttington bridge, above Shrewsbury.
This position was convenient for communicating with the Welsh,
who were the hereditary enemies of the Saxons. To this point,
however, the Danes were quickly followed by a powerful army,
under the command of Alfred's lieutenants, which blockaded them
in their camp at Buttington, and reduced them to the utmost straits
for food. The Danes, after eating their horses, being rendered
desperate by hunger, made a furious assault on the besieging army;
and though many of them were killed, the greater part succeeded in
cutting their way through the Saxon lines, and retreated rapidly
across the kingdom to the coast of Essex, where they found their
ships waiting for them.
" When they came to Essex," says the Saxon Chronicle, " to
their forces and their ships, the survivors gathered together a great
army from the East Anglians and the Northumbrians, before winter;
and committing their wives, and their ships, and their wealth to the
East Angles, they went or marched at one stretch, day and night,
until they arrived at a western city in Wirral, which is called
Legacester (Chester, the city of the Legion). Then were the forces"

312 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of King Alfred " unable to come up with them before they were in
the fortress ; nevertheless, they beset the fortress about for some
days, took all the cattle that were without, slew the men whom
they were able to take without' the fortress, and burnt all the corn,
or with their horses ate it every morning." The invaders, thus
pressed and straitened, abandoned Chester and retired into North
Wales ; but they were unable to remain there, having been deprived
of the cattle which they had taken in their march through England,
and with them of all means of subsistence. After plundering the
Welsh border as far south as Brecknock, they returned into North
Wales, and crossed the Dee and the Mersey into Northumbria, that
is to say, into Lancashire, which was at that time a part of the
Danish Kingdom of Northumbria. " They marched over North
umbria in such wise," says the Saxon Chronicle, "that the forces
of King Alfred could not overtake them before they came to the
eastern parts of the land of Essex, to an island in the sea, near the
mouth of the Thames, named Mersea." There they remained in
safety during the winter, the Saxons having no fleet, and no means
of annoying them in such a position.
In the following year several desperate battles were fought
between the armies of King Alfred and the invaders, on the banks
of the Thames and the Severn ; but in this campaign Hasten did
not succeed in reaching the banks of the Mersey and the Dee. All
these battles ended so unfavourably to the invaders, that the entire
army of Hasten broke up in despair, in the spring of the year 897.
Some of the men returned to East Anglia, others to Northumbria ;
whilst others, with Hasten, crossed the sea, to plunder the fertile
banks of the river Seine, along which they advanced, nearly to the
walls of Paris.
But even after the flight of Hasten and his host, the Danes
.settled in the northern counties of England, forming the kingdom
or earldom of Northumbria, continued to be formidable to the
Saxons. They plundered the adjoining districts of Mercia with
their armies ; and they also sailed round the coasts of the kingdom,
on plundering expeditions, in vessels of a peculiar kind, called Esks.
" Then the king" (Alfred) " commanded long ships to be built, to
oppose the Esks. They are full twice as long as the others. Some
had sixty oars, and some had more. They were built swifter, and
slenderer, and also higher than the others ; they were shaped neither
like the Frisian nor the Danish, but, as it seemed to him, that they

PAST AND PRESENT. 313

would be more powerful." These vessels were the commencement
of the navy of England. They were greatly increased in number
during the reigns of his successors, Edward the Elder, Athelstane,
and especially of Edgar, whose fleets commanded the British seas ;
but they were neglected, betrayed, or destroyed in the reign of
Ethelred the Unready, and the kingdom was thus again thrown
open, first to the Danes, under the great kings Sweyne and Canute,
and afterwards to William the Norman.
After the formation of a fleet by Alfred the Great, the yearly
incursions of the Danes ceased for a long time. It does not appear,
however, that he succeeded in establishing his own direct authority
in the Northumbrian provinces, though the Northumbrian Danes
paid him an occasional and partial homage.
After the death of Alfred the Great, and on the accession of his
son, Edward the Elder, the war recommenced between the North
umbrian Danes and the Saxon kings and chiefs. In this conflict,
Ethelfleda, the daughter of King Alfred, who was married to
Ethelred, whom Alfred had appointed Earl of Mercia, proved herself
to be as able a leader as her father, her brother, or any other
member of her heroic race.
The Northumbrian Danes began the war in the year 911. Accord
ing to the Saxon Chronicle, "they despised the peace which King
Edward and his ' witan ' (or parliament) offered to them, and overran
the land of Mercia." After plundering the province of Mercia,
and collecting a great booty, they began to march towards North
umbria; but on their return they were overtaken by the West
Saxon forces of Edward, and the Mercian army of Ethelfleda, who
defeated them in a great battle. Amongst the earls slain was
Agmund, "the governor," from whom the Lancashire hundred of
Agmunderness, now written Amounderness, was probably named.
The great Danish earls, Agmund, Orme, and Gair, have all left
memorials of their existence, if not of their exploits, in the names
of the hundreds, towns, and villages of Lancashire ; and traces of
a road, named "the Danes Path," can still be seen in that part
of North Lancashire which is named Amounderness.
After the defeat of Agmund and his followers, Ethelfleda and
Edward, to guard against future attacks from the same quarter,
began to erect fortresses in all parts of Mercia, and along the
borders of Northumbria. In the year 913, Ethelfleda built
fortresses at Stafford and Tamworth, to defend the approach into
2 K

VOL. I.

314 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
her dominions along the valley of the Trent; but the principal
line of defence fortified by Ethelfleda and King Edward her
brother, was that of the rivers Mersey and Dee.
The Boman fortifications of Chester and Manchester, destroyed
by the Danes, were restored by Edward and Ethelfleda ; and in
addition to these two main points, both commanding great roads
from north to south, they also constructed a line of forts along
the south bank of the river Mersey. The first of these forts was
built at Buncorn, where an ancient ferry exists between Lanca
shire and Cheshire, or, as they were called in the Saxon times,
between Northumbria and Mercia. This fort stood on a low rock,
which runs into the Mersey on the Cheshire side. The outline
of the fortress can still be traced, on what is called the Castle
rock, and when perfect and well garrisoned it must have com
manded the passage of the river. This fort of Buncorn was built
by Ethelfleda, in the year 915. A fort of less certain origin existed
at Latchford, opposite to Warrington, and commanded the ford
and passage of the Mersey at that point. A few miles higher
up the stream of the Mersey there was another fort at Thelwall,
which was restored and strengthened by King Edward the Elder,
in the same year in which he rebuilt the works at Manchester.
The Saxon Chronicle, in describing Edward's campaign in the year
923, says : — " He proceeded with his army late in the harvest to
Thelwall, and ordered the borough to be repaired and inhabited
and manned. And he also ordered another army from the people
of Mercia, while he sat there, to go to Manchester, in Northumbria,
to repair and to man it." •This passage shows clearly that the
boundary of Northumbria was south of Manchester. A third fort
was constructed on the banks of the Mersey, at Warburton in
Cheshire, opposite to what is now known as Holfins ferry. In the
rear of all the forts built on the banks of the Mersey, Ethelfleda
constructed a much stronger fort on Eddisbury Hill, one of the
highest points of Delamere Forest, which there rises nearly 600
feet above the level of the sea. This fort commands the Boman
road from Chester to Manchester, which runs within a bowshot
of its base ; and is within easy reach of the vale of Chester on the
west, and the Vale Boyal on the east. It has a distant view of
the estuary of the Mersey, and is the finest military position in
the county of Chester, commanding all the approaches to the south,
both from the Dee and the Mersey.

PAST AND PRESENT. 315

Including Chester and Manchester, this gives a line of seven
Saxon fortresses, erected or restored by the son and daughter of
Alfred the Great, along the line of the Dee and the Mersey, a
distance of not more than thirty miles in length. The erection
of these fortresses clearly shows that Edward the Elder and Ethel
fleda, though successful in driving the Danes from the kingdom
of Mercia, which extended as far north as the river Mersey, were
not able to subdue the Danes of the Northumbrian province. This
is further proved by a Saxon deed of the reign of King Athel-
stane, the son and successor of Edward, which deed is dated in
the fifth year of his reign over the Anglo-Saxons, and the third
year of his reign over the Northumbrians and Cumbrians. It
would appear, therefore, that Athelstane did not succeed to the
rule of Northumbria, but conquered that country, in the second
or third year of his reign over the West Saxons and Mercians.
It was not, however, without another and much more desper
ate struggle, that Athelstane succeeded in firmly establishing his
authority, in the provinces lying to the north of the Mersey and
the Humber. In the tenth year of his reign the whole of the
Danish and Norwegian chiefs who had established themselves in
the north of England, as well as those who had settled on the
east coast of Ireland, and in the numerous islands of the Western
seas, from the Shetland islands to the Isle of Man, and from
the Isle of Man as far south as the Channel Islands, united to
invade the kingdom of Athelstane, and succeeded in landing an
army, which was estimated by writers of the succeeding age at
30,000 men, on the shores of England. This army was com
manded by Anlaf, a Danish or Norwegian chief who had estab
lished a small kingdom at Dublin, and in the neighbouring districts
of Ireland, and who is described in the writings of that age as
"the arch pirate," being the leader of the sea-kings who then
infested the western seas. Anlaf is said to have been joined in
this expedition by Constantine, king of the Scots; by the king
of Cumbria, and numerous other chiefs, British and Danish. At
the head of this host Anlaf and his allies landed in the kingdom
of Mercia. They were there encountered by Athelstane and his
brother Edmund Atheling, at the head of the whole force of the
West Saxon and the Mercian kingdoms. A battle took place,
which is described as the greatest and most desperate that was
ever fought between the Danes and the Saxons, in which the

316 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
Danes were totally defeated. This battle was fought at a place
named Brunenburh, or " the town of the springs," which was probably
Bromborough, on the banks of the river Mersey, at the western
extremity of the fine of fortresses, formed by Edmund and Ethel
fleda to protect the north-western entrance into the kingdom of
Mercia. It appears from the accounts of this great battle, that the fleet
which brought the invading host consisted of 615 ships. The
accounts of the battle are somewhat various, much the finest of
them being a noble poem in honour of the victory, which is pre
served in the Saxon Chronicle. The prose accounts are rather
meagre. One of them, under the date 937, is as follows : — " This
year Athelstane and Edmund his brother led a force to Brunenburh,
and there fought against Anlaf, and, Christ helping, had the victory,
and slew five kings and seven earls." Another account is somewhat
fuller. Under the same date, 937, it says : — " Therefore, after
thirteen years, a fierce battle was fought against the barbarians at
Burnandune, and that fight is called ' great,' even, to the present day.
There the barbarian tribes are defeated, and domineer no longer.
They are driven beyond the sea. The lands of Britain are consoli
dated together ; on all sides is peace and plenty ; nor ever did a
fleet come again to the land except in friendship."
It is stated by Sharon Turner, in his "History of the Anglo-
Saxons," that great uncertainty prevails as to where this battle was
fought; but he mentions Bromborough in Cheshire, on the banks
of the river Mersey, as one of the places where it is likely to have
occurred. It should be mentioned, however, that Henry of Hunt
ingdon, writing about 200 years after the battle, speaks of it as
having occurred on the banks of the river Humber. The Saxon
accounts, however, do not confirm this statement, nor is there any
place named Brunenburh on the banks of that river.
Wherever the battle of Brunenburh was fought, it was followed
by the establishment of the authority of the Saxon kings in North
umbria, and more especially in that part of the ancient province of
Northumbria which lies between the Mersey and the Bibble, and
which is described in the Domesday Survey as the district "inter
Bipam et Mersham." In a subsequent part of his reign Athelstane
granted the lands about the present town of Preston to the monks
of the abbey of Bipon, in the kingdom of Northumbria; and we
find that the country south of the river Bibble was from this time

PAST AND PRESENT. 317

united to the earldom of Mercia and to the great bishopric of Lich
field, which at that time extended over the whole of the central
districts of England.
The actual government of the county of Chester, and of that
part of Lancashire which fies between the Mersey and the Bibble,
appears to have fallen at this time into the hands of the earls of
Mercia, several of whom are known in history by the title of the
Saxon earls of Chester. They were the descendants of the ancient
kings of Mercia, and inherited much of their power and pride. But
they were nominally subject to the West Saxon kings of the race
of Alfred, who had liberated the country from the Danish yoke, and
whom they acknowledged as their supreme lords, though reluct
antly, and not without frequent struggles for independence. These
struggles between the West Saxons and the Mercians again laid
open England to the Danes, who on one occasion landed near
Chester, and forced their way as far south as Tamworth, which
was the earliest residence of the kings and earls of Mercia ; and on
another occasion advanced from the south, under their great King
Canute, as far as the banks of the Dee and the Mersey, over
running the whole country, and receiving the submission of' Uctred,
the great thane of South Lancashire, as well as that of the principal
thanes of Cheshire. The names of the most powerful of the Saxon
earls of Chester or Mercia were Wolfric, Alfric, Edric, Leofric (who
repaired the abbey of St. Werberg at Chester), Algar, and Morcar,
the two last of whom were the representatives of that ancient and
powerful race at the time of the Norman conquest, in which they
and all their fortunes perished.
The country between the Mersey and the Bibble also seems to
have belonged to the Saxon earls of Mercia or Chester at the time
when it is first mentioned. This was in the year 1004, when Earl
Wolfric made a will, by which he left his estates between the
Bibble and the Mersey to his sons Elfhelme and Wulfarge, subject
to a payment by each of them of 3000 sceattas — a coin then in use
—to the abbey of Burton-on-Trent, of which he was the founder.*
But the country to the north of the river Bibble still continued
to be connected with the great Danish earldom of Northumbria,
and was ruled by the earls of Northumberland, until Harold, the
last of the Saxon kings, granted that earldom to his brother Tosti.
He did not retain it long, being expelled by the people. In his
* Dugdalo's Monastic™, vol. iii. p. 28. Palgrave's Eise of the Commonwealth, p. 292.

318 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE *.
desperate efforts to recover the earldom, he joined the king of
Norway, invaded England, and was killed in a battle fought with
his brother, King Harold, at Stamford bridge, near York. The
whole of North Lancashire is full of memorials of the Danes. The
termination of the name of Lancaster — " caster," as distinguished
from " chester" — is Danish ; and so also are the names of Lonsdale,
Amounderness, and Furness, the ancient divisions of that district.
In recent times the treasure of one of the Danish sea-kings, con
taining coins of every nation, from England to Constantinople, has
been dug up at Cuerdale, near Preston. A Bunic stone, supposed
however, to have been of Saxon origin, has been discovered at Lan
caster, inscribed with the words — " Gebiddeth fo Cynibold Cuthburut"
— (Pray for Cynibold, the son of Cuthbert.) """
From the time of the battle of Brunenburh to the Norman
conquest the Saxon kings maintained their authority in the north
western district, though not without occasional struggles with the
Danes. King Athelstane established a mint at Chester, many of
the coins of which are still in existence ; and one of the most
remarkable events in the life of King Edgar, whose power both by
land and sea was greater than that of any other Saxon king, was
his visit to Chester. In that city he is said to have received the
homage of all the kings of the western seas, who, in sign of their
submission, rowed Edgar in his royal barge, from his palace to the
ancient church of St. John the Baptist, outside the walls of Chester.
This story is very likely to be true, for Edgar shares with Alfred
the honour of having founded the British navy ; which during his
reign had attained sufficient strength to overawe all the piratical
chiefs of the neighbouring seas.
Unfortunately for the English people, the death of Edgar was
followed by a long period of misgovernment and confusion, in the
course of which the navy, constructed with so much care, was either
disbanded or betrayed to the Danish chiefs, who again began to
pour into the kingdom at the head of formidable armies. The great
leaders of the Danes were Sweyne and Canute, kings of Denmark,
the latter of whom succeeded in rendering himself king of England
as well as of Denmark, and ruled the kingdom much more wisely
and ably than most of his predecessors. After his death the king
dom fell into the hands of one or two kings of the Saxon line, men
* Transactions of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. i. p. 126 : Paper on Reading of
Lancaster Eunic Inscription, by John Just, Esq., John Harland, Esq , and J. M. Kemble, Esq.

PAST AND PRESENT. 319

alike destitute of energy and ability. On the death of Edward the
Confessor, the last of the royal line of the Saxons, the crown was
claimed by Harold and by William the Norman, the latter of whom
established his claim by the battle of Hastings, in which Harold
was slain, and the Saxons were compelled to yield to the superior
energy and military discipline of the Norman race.
At the time when the Saxons were vanquished by the Normans,
the territory included in the present counties of Lancaster and
Chester was divided into three parts. The first of these was the
county of Chester, which was held by the Saxon earls of Chester,
or, as they were generally called in the Saxon times, the earls of
Mercia. The second was the county included in the present Lanca
shire hundreds of West Derby, Salford, Blackburn, and Leland,
known as the country between the Bibble and the Mersey — "inter
Bipam et Mersham." This was held by King Edward the Con
fessor at the time of his death. The third division consisted of
that part of North Lancashire which fies between the river Bibble,
the borders of Yorkshire on the east, and Westmoreland and
Cumberland on the north. This district was at this time, and for
a considerable time afterwards, regarded as part of the ancient
Danish earldom of Northumberland, and was returned under the
head of " Yorkshire," or as it was then called " Euroicshire ; " York
or Eboracum being the capital of the earldom of Northumberland.
At the death of Edward the Confessor, that part of the present
county of Lancaster was held by Tosti, earl of Northumberland,
the brother of Harold, who afterwards became the last Saxon king
of England. In the year in which the battle of Hastings was
fought Earl Tosti joined the Danes in an attack on his brother
Harold, and was defeated and slain in a great battle fought at
Stamford Bridge, near York. This occurred about twenty days
before the battle of Hastings, in which Harold himself was defeated
and slain by the Normans.

320 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

CHAPTEB III.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO
THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.
The progress of society in Lancashire and Cheshire from the Norman
conquest to the downfall of the Stuart dynasty, that is, from
the commencement of the reign of William I., in the year 1066,
to the expulsion of James IL, in the year 1688, was even
slower than in the kingdom in general. During that period the
increase of population, the improvement of industry, the augmen
tation of wealth, were all checked in those counties by the frequent
recurrence of internal strife, and by incessant wars with the Welsh,
Scotch, and Irish nations, which fell with more than ordinary
severity on the people of the northern and north-western districts
of England, whose numbers were drained by incessant levies. Yet
even in those turbulent times progress was made ; for the king
dom was secure, by its perfect military organization, against the
attacks of the foreign invaders who had so long wasted its shores ;
the barons joined with the people in extorting the great charter
of their rights from the Crown ; parliaments elected by the land
owners of the counties and the burgesses of the towns were
established, with an acknowledged right to control the public
purse ; numerous charters secured the right of self-government for
local purposes ; and many of the cities and towns, both of Lanca
shire and Cheshire, came into existence, and made the first steps
in their progress towards population and wealth.
Lancashire and Cheshire under the Norman and Plantagenet Kings.
— Immediately after the Norman conquest, the counties of Chester
and Lancaster were formed into earldoms or honours (as several
of the earldoms of the kingdom were then called) under great
military chiefs. It was at that time that the Norman earldom
of Chester, which still exists, and is held by the heir-apparent to
the throne, was created, with the same style and titles which
continue to the present day. At that time also the honour of
Lancaster was created, which soon received the more familiar name

PAST AND PRESENT. 321

of the earldom of Lancaster, and later rose to the still higher
dignity of the dukedom of Lancaster, a dignity which the sovereigns
of England also continue to hold to the present time. The first
of these dignities, the earldom of Chester, existed as an indepen
dent power for a period of nearly 170 years, that is, from the
year 1070, when it was created by William the Conqueror, to
1238, when it was united to the crown, and made an appanage of
the heir to the throne, by Henry III. The honour, earldom, and
duchy of Lancaster were more or less independent of the crown
from the year 1068 (when the whole county of Lancaster was
granted, with other extensive estates, to Earl Boger de Mont
gomery, known as Boger de Poictou or Boger Pictavensis), to the
year 1399, when Henry of Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, seized
upon the throne of England, and made himself king, by the style
and title of Henry the Fourth.
In the earlier part of the above periods, the earldom of Chester
was the more powerful of these two great feudal dignities, and it
will therefore be well first to trace its history, and afterwards
that of the honour, earldom, and dukedom of Lancaster, to the
time when they were both united to the crown.
The Earldom of Chester. — The first Norman earl of Chester
was named Gherbod, and was a Fleming by nation. He was
appointed by William the Conqueror to the earldom of Chester,
two or three years after the battle of Hastings. But he never
succeeded in establishing his authority, either in the county of
Chester, or in that district of North Wales over which both the
Saxon and the Norman earls of Chester claimed authority. Accord
ing to Ordericus Vitalis — a monkish historian of that age, who
was born in the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, and who was
well acquainted with English affairs, especially with the wars
carried on on the borders of Wales — Earl Gherbod met with great
difficulties, both from the English and the Welsh ; and without
having effected anything, returned to Flanders, where he had
large hereditary possessions. There he had the misfortune to be
taken prisoner by a neighbouring chief, by whom he was kept
in imprisonment for many years.*
After the expulsion of Gherbod the Fleming, .the united forces
of the Saxons and the Welsh advanced from Cheshire into Shrop
shire, and laid siege to the town of Shrewsbury, which had been
* Ordericus, p. 522.
VOL I. 2 S

322 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
made the seat of another powerful earldom, under Bobert de
Belesme or Bobert de Montgomery, the elder brother of Boger
Pictavensis, and the founder of the castle and town of Mont
gomery ; which still bear his name. On hearing of the insurrection
of the Cheshire men and the Welsh, the Conqueror advanced to
meet them, compelled them to retire from before Shrewsbury, and
himself marched with his army to the city of Chester, which he
besieged and took. He strengthened the works by building a
Norman castle, to command the city ; and appointed his nephew
Hugh Lupus, or Hugh the Wolf, as he was called from his ferocity,
and Hugh d'Avranches, from his place of birth in Normandy, to
be the governor and earl of Chester.*
Hugh Lupus is supposed to have been appointed earl of Chester
about the year 1070. As he had both to hold in subjection a
hostile Saxon population, and to resist the incessant attacks of
the Welsh, whose spirit was unbroken after centuries of conflict,
the Conqiieror determined to render the city and the county of
Chester the seat of a great military power, always ready to resist
insurrection within or invasion from without, and prepared to
spread the authority of the English crown, over as much of North
Wales as could be brought into subjection to it. For this pur
pose he gave to his nephew, Hugh Lupus, the city of Chester,
and the whole counties of Chester and Flint, with the exception
only of the lands which were held by the bishop. In addition
to these vast possessions in Cheshire and Flintshire, William also
gave his nephew extensive estates in twenty others of the counties
of England, thus creating a principality rather than a mere earl
dom. Moreover, the king gave to Hugh Lupus the right to hold
the earldom of Chester by the sword, as freely as the king
himself held the kingdom of England by the crown. He thus
rendered Cheshire a county palatine, within which the earl was
legally entitled to exercise an authority very little, if at all,
inferior to that of the king himself, in his dominions at large.
Hugh Lupus and his successors were not slow to avail them
selves of the all but regal powers thus given to them. They
surrounded themselves with the most warlike barons and knights
of that warlike .age, to whom they gave lands, and whom they
established in castles erected in the strongest positions in Cheshire
and Flintshire. These barons the earls of Chester called together
* Ordericus, p. 522.

PAST AND PRESENT. 323

at their pleasure, in parliaments held in the city of Chester,
which were framed on the model of the early English parliaments,
composed of the great barons and great ecclesiastics of the whole
kingdom, held by the kings of England at Westminster. They
also made war and peace at their pleasure, against the people
and princes of North Wales ; against the king's enemies, when
they were on good terms with the crown ; and against the king
himself, whenever they quarreled with the reigning sovereign.
Few if any particulars have been preserved of the wars which
Hugh Lupus carried on against the Welsh ; but we are informed
by >the annalists of that time, that Hugh Lupus, with his lieuten
ants, Bobert de Bodalent, or Bobert of Bhudlann, and Bobert de
Malo-Passu, or Bobert of Malpas, with others of his fierce barons,
shed much Welsh blood.* We also find from well authenticated
records, that they built several fortresses or castles within the
county of Chester, and that they organized a system of military
defence against the incursions of the Welsh chieftains, whom,
however, they never completely subdued.
The most celebrated of the retainers of Hugh Lupus were the
following : — Bobert Fitz Hugh, baron of Malpas and seneschal or
steward of Cheshire, who is supposed to have been a natural son
of the earl himself, and whose name is preserved in the town of
Malpas ; Bobert de Bodalent, a baron who took his name from
the ancient castle, built by the Saxons previous to the Norman
conquest, at Bhudlann, at the foot of the beautiful vale of Clwyd;
William Fitz Nigel, baron of Halton, the founder of the great
family of de Lacy, who were for many generations constables
of Chester, or commanders in chief of the armies of the earls of
Chester, and who, after the union of the earldom of Chester with
the crown, received the title of earls of Lincoln, retaining the dignity
and power of constables of Chester ; William Maldebeng, baron
of Nantwich ; Hugh de Mara or Delamere ; Fitz Norman, baron
of Montalt, who was lord of the great castle at Mold in Flint
shire, and of the valley of Molesdale, through which the river Alyn
flows down to the Dee ; Hugh Fitz Osborne, lord of Pulford ;
Hamo de Masci, baron of Dunham Massey ; Bigot, lord of Alford ;
Gislebert de Venables, baron of Kinderton ; Bichard de Vernon,
baron of Stockport ; Bichard de Bulos ; and Banulf Venator, the
founder of the family of Grosvenor.
* Ordericus, p. 522.

324 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
" Under Hugh, the first earl of Chester," says the late Chancellor
Baikes in his inaugural address, " and his immediate successors,
we may suppose that most of the castles were built which form
objects of antiquarian research in the neighbourhood of Chester,
but which are melancholy evidences of the state of society at the
time, since they were evidently built to protect the frontiers from
the continued invasions of the Welsh. Some of these still remain,
and from their extent and magnificence, appear to have been the
residences of the earls themselves. Many more have perished,
and can only be traced by the banks which form the outline of
their plan. They were probably of an inferior description, and
are rather to be considered as guard-houses, for the protection of
some particular posts, than as regular fortresses. It shows us,
however, the fearful insecurity under which men lived at that
time, when we see that every ford where a passage might be
found for men or cattle, through the morasses with which the
surface of the country was overspread, was occupied in this manner
by a stronghold. There are traces of this kind at Dodleston,
at Alford, at Pulford, at Holt, at Shotwick, besides the larger
and more distinguished holds at Beeston, Halton, Chester, and
Hawarden ; and probably few years passed but that some inroad of
the Welsh carried fire and slaughter to the very gates of Chester,
and swept the cattle and produce from the field. The Welsh name
of the suburb of Hand-bridge or Beyond -bridge, which is still
denominated the Burnt City, bears record of the insecurity of
those times. During all this period Chester must have been a
scene of never-failing excitement and continued interest. It was
the entrance to the northern part of the principality; and within
its walls must have been collected the armies which gradually
effected the subjugation of Wales, and annexed it to the crown
of England." *
Besides forming a local aristocracy and a line of military defence
in Cheshire, and along the borders of North Wales, Hugh Lupus,
the first earl of Chester, reorganized and endowed on the most
lavish scale the abbey of St. Werberg, which stood on the site on
which the cathedral of Chester now stands. This abbey had already,
before the Norman conquest, been liberally endowed by the Saxon
* Inaugural address by the Eev. H. Eaikes, A.M., chancellor of Chester and historian to the society, delivered
at the first quarterly meeting of the Chester Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society, on Easter
Monday, April 1, 1850.

PAST AND PRESENT. 325

earls of Mercia ; but in the latter years of Hugh Lupus, that noble
man determined to atone for his many sins, and to secure, as he
imagined, eternal happiness for himself and his wife, by making
grants to the monks of the abbey of St. Werburg the Virgin, " who
should assiduously pray God for the soul of King William (Bufus),
and of his mother, Queen Matilda, and of his brothers and sisters,
and for the soul of King Edward (the Confessor), as well as for
the salvation of their own souls, and for the souls of their fathers,
and mothers, and predecessors, and heirs, and kinsmen, and their
barons, and all Christians, whether living or dead."*
The date of the above charter of the abbey of St. Werburg is
the year 1093, being the seventh year of the reign of William
Bufus. The earl continued to hold the earldom until the year
1101, the second year of King Henry I. Thus, dating his acces
sion to the earldom in the year 1070, he ruled over the counties
of Chester and Flint for a period of thirty-one years. According
to the authority of Ordericus, this earl was rapacious and pro
fuse, more a lover of hunters and falconers than of tillers of the
ground and ministers of religion. He was loose in his life and
morals, gross in his habit, and though a formidable soldier in
his youth and early manhood, he became unwiddy in his later
years. On the death of Hugh Lupus, in the year 1101, he was suc
ceeded in the earldom of Chester by his only son, Bichard, the
second earl, who was then a boy of ten or twelve years of age.
He only held the earldom until he reached his twenty-fifth year,
when he was drowned, on his return from Normandy with his
youthful bride, the daughter of Stephen, earl of Blois, together
with Prince William, the eldest son of King Henry I., and with
many other young men of the highest rank amongst the nobility
of England and of Normandy, t The only acts recorded of Earl
Bichard are that he still further enriched the abbey of St. Wer
burg at Chester, by granting to it the land of Ulfric, outside the
north gate of Chester, and three dwelling-houses, two in the city,
and one outside the walls. At the same time further grants were
made to the same church and abbey by his barons. £
* Eemarks on the charters of Hugh Lupus and Eanulf Second to the Abbey of St. Werburg, by the Eev.
W. H. Massie; with appendix, containing a translation of the Charter, in the Journal of the Architectural,
Archaeological, and Historic Society of Chester, part third, pp. 270 to 297.
f Ordericus, p. 871. X Charter of Hugh Lupus and Bundle Gernons.

326 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Bandle or Banulf the first, surnamed de Meschines, succeeded
to the earldom of Chester, on the premature death of Earl Bichard,
in the year 1119. He was the eldest son of Margaret, the sister
of Hugh Lupus, and of the Border earl of Cumberland. That
earldom was surrendered by Earl Bandle on his accession to the
earldom of Chester. Earl Bandle added greatly to the wealth of
the earldom by his marriage with Lucy or Lucia, the daughter of
Algar, the Saxon earl of Mercia, and widow of Boger Bomare,
one of the Norman favourites of the Conqueror. The Countess
Lucy was the sister of the two great Saxon chiefs, Edwin, earl of
Mercia, and Morcar, earl of Northumberland, and was the inheritor
of a great portion of their wealth. By this Saxon lady Earl
Bandle had several children. He appears to have been peaceful
in his dispositions and domestic in his habits. Few incidents of
importance are recorded of his life, but according to the custom
of his time, he was a liberal benefactor of the church, and of the
abbey of St. Werburg.
Banulf or Bandle, the second of three earls of Chester who bore
that name, was the son of Earl Banulf the first, and succeeded to
the earldom on the death of his father, in the year 1128. Earl
Banulf the second, named de Gernons, and de Briscard, was an
active intriguer, and made the best use of the troublous times in
which he lived, to increase the wealth and power of his earldom,
though in the end his intrigues were crowned with no great success.
On the death of Henry I. in the year 1135, Stephen, earl de
Blois, the nephew of William the Conqueror, seized the crown of
England in defiance of Maude or Matilda, the daughter of the king,
who had married, first, Henry V, emperor of Germany, and after
wards Geoffrey de Plantagenet, from whom the royal family of that
name, which ruled this country for 300 years, sprang. The claim of
Stephen was vehemently resisted by a large portion of the nobility,
and nearly the whole of his reign was a continued civil war, in
which sometimes the adherents of the king, and at others the sup
porters of the empress and of her son, Henry Plantagenet, duke of
Normandy, afterwards King Henry II. , were triumphant. Early in
this conflict the earl of Chester seized upon the castle and city
of Lincoln, which were then among the most considerable in the
kingdom ; and King Stephen having brought up an army to
recover them, was defeated and taken prisoner by the earl, in the
year 1140.

PAST AND PRESENT. 327

In the course of the following year King Stephen escaped from
prison, and having got together another army, was on this occasion
successful in. defeating the earl of Chester and his associates; but
the earl being still formidable, a treaty was entered into between
them, by which the king agreed to purchase the earl's support, by
presenting him with numerous and extensive estates, in addition to
those already possessed by him.
It appears from a deed preserved in the office of the duchy of
Lancaster, that King Stephen on this occasion conferred on Banulf,
earl of Chester, the castle and city of Lincoln ; the castle of
Belvedere ; Grantham with the soke ; the castle of Newcastle-under-
Line, in Staffordshire ; Bolea, with Torksey ; the towns of Derby
and Mansfield ;. Stanley and Oswardbec, with all the land of Boger
de Bulay ; the whole honour of Blida, and all the land of Boger
Pictavensis, from Northampton to Scotland, except the land of
Boger de Montbegon in Lincolnshire. The king further gave to
him and his heirs the honour of Lancaster, with its appurtenances,
and all the land between the Bibble and the Mersey. He also gave
him Grimsby and Horncastle in Lincolnshire. With these and
other grants, and with his hereditary estates, the earl of Chester is
supposed to have held nearly the third part of the kingdom.
But Earl Banulf was not a man to be either subdued or won,
and on the very earliest opportunity he was again found in arms
against King Stephen. On this occasion he was on the winning
side. Having joined his forces to those of Henry Plantagenet, the
son of the Empress Maude, they pressed King Stephen so closely
that he was at last compelled to come to terms with the Plantagenet
party. The conditions agreed upon were, that Stephen should retain
the throne for the remainder of his life, but that on his death the
crown of England should descend to Henry Plantagenet, whilst
Stephen's private estates, including the great earldom of Morton and
the honour of Lancaster, descended to his own son, William de Blois.
But Earl Banulf did not serve either Henry or Stephen without
being well rewarded for his services ; and one condition of his sup
porting Henry was, that he should confirm to him all that had been
granted by Stephen, and something more. In a deed dated 1152
(17 Stephen) we have an account of numerous grants made to
Earl Banulf of Chester by Henry, duke of Normandy, before he was
raised to the throne of England. In this deed are named all the
estates granted in the previous deed of King Stephen to the same

328 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
earl, and some others. Amongst them Henry gave or confirmed to
the earl of Chester the castle of Vere and other places in Normandy ;
the whole honour of Boger Pictavensis, wherever he possessed any
thing ; the whole honour of Blida ; the whole honour of Ely, as
Bobert Mallet and his ancestors held it ; Stafford and the whole
county of Stafford, except the lands of the bishop of Chester, those
of Earl Bobert de Ferrers, Hugh de Mortuomar, Gervase Paganes,
and the forest of Cannock, which Henry retained in his own hands ;
the fee of Alan of Lincoln ; the fee of Hugh de Scotiney ; the fee
of Bobert de Chaly ; the whole fee of Bobert the son, of Otho ; the
whole fee of Norman de Vere ; the fee of Bobert de Stafford ; thirty
pounds' worth of land in Grimsby ; the town and castle of Notting
ham, and whatever Henry had in Nottinghamshire ; the whole fee
of William Peveril ; Derby, and Stanley, near Coventry ; and to
each of his six barons, one hundred pounds' worth of yearly rent
from land. There is no clear information as to the causes by which
this powerful earl was induced to part with the estates in Lancashire
granted to him both by Stephen and Henry IL, but we find that,
after the death of Stephen, they descended to his son, William de
Blois, and not to the earl of Chester.
A year or two previous to the death of King Stephen, Banulf
the second earl of Chester of that name died, and was succeeded by
the second earl Hugh, known by the name of Hugh de Keveilioc,
from the castle of Keveilioc.
Earl Hugh Keveilioc succeeded to the earldom of Chester about
a couple of years before Henry Plantagenet, duke of Normandy,
ascended the throne, with the title of Henry II. When Earl Hugh
succeeded to the earldom, the Welsh were in arms, had overrun the
county of Flint, and approached even to the walls of Chester. In
the year 1155 Earl Hugh de Keveilioc succeeded in defeating the
army of the Welsh, commanded by the great Welsh chief, Owen
Gwynedd, in a battle fought at Balderton bridge, within sight of
the walls of Chester. The Welsh, though repulsed, were not dis
couraged; and they collected so large a force in the more moun
tainous parts of the county of Flint as to place the whole English
frontier in great danger. To guard against invasion, King Henry II.
brought together a large army, which he united with the forces of
the earl, and encamped at Saltney, near Chester. Having fittle or no
experience of mountain warfare, King Henry advanced incautiously
into the wilder parts of Flintshire, which were at that time covered

PAST AND PRESENT. 329

with thick forests. With his army in this position he was suddenly
attacked by the Welsh, commanded by David and Conan, the sons
of Owen Gwynedd, at Coleshill; when his army was totally defeated,
and driven back into the castle of Basingwerk, near Holywell, and
into the city of Chester. After this severe lesson, the king and the
earl became much more cautious in their methods of attacking the
Welsh. They restored the fortifications of Basingwerk, in which
they placed a garrison of Knights Templars ; and they also restored
and strengthened the castle of Bhuddlan, at the foot of the vale of
Clwyd. These efforts, however, were only partially successful; for
in the year 1165 the gallant Welsh prince, Owen Gwynedd, laid
siege to Basingwerk castle, took it, and levelled it with the ground.
In the latter years of his fife Earl Hugh de Keveilioc joined the
sons of Henry II: , Henry, Bichard, and John, in their unnatural
rebellions against their father, and though defeated, succeeded in
retaining his earldom. He died peacefully in the year 1181, and
was succeeded by his son, the third Banulf, named de Blundeville.
Earl Banulf de Blundeville became earl of Chester in the year
1181, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Henry II. , and held
the earldom for no less than fifty-one years, during the reigns of
Henry IL, Bichard I., John, and Henry III. He passed his life in
the midst of great events, in the course of which the foundations of
the English constitution were laid, by the granting of Magna Charta,
and the great charter of the forest. In these, and in all the events
of the troublous times in which, he lived, he took an active part;
and in all the great events of his fife proved himself to be a lover of
his country, and a true and upright man.
At the time when Banulf de Blundeville succeeded to the
earldom of Chester he was still under age, and during his minority
the earldom was administered, under the king, by Gibert Pipard as
vice-comes or sheriff. It appears from the accounts which he ren
dered to the exchequer that the whole money value of the earldom
at that time was only £252 12s. 7d. a year, a sum equal to about
£3000 a year of our present money.
The first great public service rendered by Earl Banulf was in
joining with, other great lords, in resisting the rebellion of Prince
John against his brother, Bichard I. With their united forces they
drove his supporters from the field, and captured all his castles,
more especially that of Nottingham, which was then considered one
of the strongest places in the kingdom.
VOL. I. 2 T

330 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
After the accession of King John to the throne, Earl Banulf de
Blundeville directed his attention principally to the affairs of his
own earldom. He waged war against the Welsh, sometimes with
great success, at other times merely holding his ground against their
attacks. In one of his campaigns he was besieged by a large Welsh
army in the castle of Bhudlann, where he was reduced to great
straits, and was only saved by the rapid advance of the constable of
Chester, at the head of a tumultuous army, hastily assembled at the
fair of Chester.
In the wars between King John and the barons, the earl of
Chester endeavoured to act as a mediator between the contending
parties, supporting both the rights of the crown and those of the
people. He was hence more than once denounced as a traitor by
both parties ; but he steadily maintained his position, and was able
to render great services to the country.
After the death of King John, the earl of Chester was one of
the three earls to whom the administration of the kingdom was
committed. At that time the dauphin of France was in England,
with a strong military force, which had been sent for by the barons,
to assist them in their conflict with King John. The first object of
Banulf de Blundeville was to free the kingdom from the presence
of the dauphin and his army. Having failed to do this by peaceful
means, he gave battle to the French in the neighbourhood of Lincoln,
and inflicted on them so severe a defeat that they were glad to retire,
and to leave the English parties to fight out their own battles. After
the retirement of the French; Henry III., then a boy of eleven years
of age, was placed on the throne, under the guardianship of Hubert
earl of Kent, and William Marshal earl of Pembroke ; and Magna
Charta, and all the charters granted by King John to the barons,
were solemnly confirmed.
After the settlement of the crown, Earl Banulf returned to his
hereditary possessions, where he made peace with Llewelyn, king or
prince of North Wales ; and having thus secured peace at home he
proceeded to the Holy Land, where he arrived in the year in which
Damietta was taken by the Christians. He remained in Syria three
years, performing the part of a gallant soldier of the cross, after
which he returned to his own country, and again assumed the
direction of the earldom.
On the return of Earl Banulf from the Holy Land, he built the
castle of Beeston, the largest and strongest of the Norman castles, in

PAST AND PRESENT. 331

Cheshire. He also built the castle of Chartley in Staffordshire, and
founded the abbey of Delacrosse, near Leek, in the same county,
removing to it the monks who had been previously established at
Pulford, near Chester.
In the year 1227 the earls of Chester and de Ferrers took arms
against King Henry III., who was pretty nearly as great a tyrant
as his father King John, and compelled him again to re-enact and
confirm Magna Charta and the charter of the forests.
In the year 1229 King Henry assembled all the nobles of his
kingdom at Portsmouth, with the intention of leading a large army
into France to recover the territories of the dukes of Normandy and
counts of Anjou, which had been seized by the French, during the
civil wars in the reign of King John. Whilst the nobles of the
kingdom were assembled at Portsmouth, the king presented the earl
of Chester with the honour of Lancaster ; and with all the land
which belonged to the- crown between the Mersey and the Bibble.
With a view of adding still more to the value of his estates in
the honour of Lancaster, the earl of Chester, in the year 1230,
purchased the estates of Boger de Merseia, a wealthy knight, who
possessed large property in many parts of the kingdom. Among
the estates purchased by the earl from Boger de Merseia, were the
manors of Bolton, Little Bolton, Tonge, Haigh, Brightmede, Bad-
cfiffe, Urmeston, West Leigh, Sharpies, Haighe, Standish, Longtree,
Swinton, Charnock, Heath Charnock, Duxbury, Adfington, Whithull,
Hirlton, Scarisbrick, Heaton near Lancaster, Darwen, and Eccleshill.
These estates, now worth millions, were- purchased by the earl of
Chester for 240 marks of silver.
In the year 1232 the king assembled a parliament in London, at
which he demanded large supplies, for the purpose of carrying on
the war in France. As he had hitherto met with nothing but
defeats, after incurring enormous expenses, the peers of his kingdom,
headed by Earl Banulf of Chester, refused to grant further supplies
until the affairs of the kingdom were better administered.
This was the last public act of Earl Banulf, who died at his
castle at Wallingford on the Thames, in the year 1233, after having
held the earldom of Chester for fifty-one years.
John the Scot, the nephew of Banulf de Blundeville, the great
earl of Chester, succeeded to the earldom on the death of Earl
Banulf, and was the last earl unconnected with the Boyal Family
who held that honour. He died in the year 1238, with some sus-.

332 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
picion of poison, and on his death the king seized on the earldom
of Chester and united it to the crown. From that time to the
present the earldom has been held by the heir-apparent to the crown,
or by the reigning sovereign, when there was no heir-apparent.
At the time when the earldom of Chester was resumed by the
crown, a considerable portion of the lands originally belonging to it
had been alienated in various ways, and granted to different persons
and public bodies, including the barons, the knights, and the
religious houses of the country ; but the earldom was still a very
valuable possession. This will be seen from the following summary
of the revenues and expenditure of the earldom, taken from the
yearly account of William de Melton, treasurer of Chester, in
the thirty -first year of King Edward, the son of King Henry
(Edward I., 1301) :—
The mayor and citizens of Chester at that time paid to the earl
a yearly rent of £100 — fully equal to £1000 of our present money —
for the fee farm of the city of Chester, including all the ordinary
rights of the crown (Jura Begalia).
Master Bichard, ingeniator (the engineer of the earldom of
Chester), paid the sum of £200 for the rents of the mills, salmon
fishery of the Dee, and the bridge of Chester, which he held at fee
farm for his life.
Banulph de Merton paid 12s. id., as tenant in the fee of the
countess of Warwick.
Diverse men of the city and county paid 62s. ll^c?. of chamber
lain's rent, which amounted in full to 30 marks. Others paid 8s. 4c?.,
towards the same rent.
Diverse villages, which owed a rent of seventeen head of swine,
for having their swine in Delamere Forest, paid 60s. in money.
Diverse villages paid £17 12s. 4 c?. for frithmote.
Master John Burgoillon, bailiff of the manor of Macclesfield and
Overton, paid £232 for the farms of these manors.
The abbot of Vale Boyal paid £76 for the farm of the town of
Northwich. Sir Hugh de Calveley and Matthew de Hulgrave paid £84 for
the farm of the town of Middlewich.
Sir Bobert de Brescy, sheriff of Chester, paid 210 marks for the
farm of the sheriff.
Sir William de Spinstorne, tenant of the office of advocate of the
earls of Chester, paid £48.

PAST AND PRESENT. 333

Adam de Lawton, tenant of the passage or ferry of Lawton, paid
66 s. 8 c?. for the farm of the ferry — the full rent being 5 marks.
Traherne ap Howel (a poor Welsh prisoner) paid 2s. for the fruit
of the garden of the castle.
Sir Beginald de Grey paid 8s. 8c?. for the rent of 13 acres of
land in Handbridge, thus paying 8c?. per acre, equal to about 12s.
per acre of present money.
The sum of £8 4s. 5^d. was paid from the returns of two parcels
of land which belonged to Hugh de Thornton at Thornton, in Wyrall,
and at Poulton, in Walleye ; the whole rent being 30 marks.
Master John Bourgoillon, escheator of Chester, paid £41 7s. 5-|c?.
from the rents of the manors of Trafford and Dunham, which
belonged to the earl of Arundel, deceased, and were in the hands of
the earl of Chester on account of the nonage of the heir.
Bad. de Hardeswell did not pay anything from the wardship of
the manor of Wermington, which had been in his hands, because
Warin de Mayn waring, the heir, had not attained his majority.
Banulf de Praers, parson of Bertunleh, paid £6 for the wardship
of the lands and heirs of Thomas de Crue (Crewe).
John de Legh paid £4 8s. 10^c?. for the wardship of the lands of
Banulf de Buter.
Thomas de Worth paid £4 8s. 10c?. for the wardship of two
portions of land which belonged to Hugh de Tyderington,
deceased. Alda de Sannford, sister and heir of Sir Thomas de Sannford,
paid £10 for the relief of her brother's estate.
Diverse men on the borders of Delamere Forest paid 3s. 7d., for
sending swine into the forest, " although this year there were no
acorns." Diverse men in the neighbourhood of Delamere Forest paid
£6 12s. for the trespasses of themselves and their cattle on the forest.
Four casks of wine from the prises of the earl of Chester, at
Chester, produced £10, being sold at 50s. each.
The carcasses of 98 pigs sold for £6 2s. 4c?.
A cask of wine, sold to Jordan de Bradeford, produced 50s.
The carcasses of two oxen sold at the castle of Flint produced
£9 8s. 4c?.
William de Donecastre, David de Gignon, and other merchants,
paid £19 Is. 8-g-c?., for customs of wool and skins, shipped to foreign
parts.

334 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The abbot of Chester paid 6s., being part of the arrears of a
yearly sum of Is. charged under title of Chamberlain's rent.
The amercements on the common pleas of the earl of Chester,
before Sir William Trussell, justice of Chester, produced the sum of
£27 16s. lOd.
The damages in the pleas of the crown produced £15 19s. lie?.
The defaults and amercements before the justice on his circuit
produced £12 5s. 6c?.
Various fines, felonies, and causes, produced £188 10s. 6 c?.
The sum total of the receipts of the county of Chester was
£1889 8s. l^c?.
The sum total of the receipts of the county of Flint, which were
also payable to the earl of Chester, was £426 13s. 5c?.
Total receipts of earldom in Cheshire and Ffintshire, £2316 Is. 7^d.,
equal to at least £30,000 of present money.
In the same year the payments from the revenues of the earldom
were as follows : —
To the lord abbot of St. Wereburge of Chester, 10s. of ancient
alms, granted to him to find lights in the chapel of St. Mary of
Hilldeburgheye (Hilbre Island).
To the same abbot, 100s., as tithe of the fishery at the bridge of
Chester. To the same abbot, £4, for the tithes of Frodsham, which he
resigned at the request of the king, to the abbey of Vale Boyal,
founded by Edward the First.
To the prioress and nuns of Chester, receiving yearly £16 from
the king, in return for certain tithes at Over, given up to the abbot
of Vale Boyal— £4 16s.
To the same, in recompense for four acres of land at Godesbache,
which they surrendered to the king, for the service of the same
abbot; and for the small tithes in the township of Bradeford,
Littleowres, Sutton, and Merton, belonging to the parish of Over,
which township was assigned by our lord the king to the abbot of
Vale Boyal— £26 12s. 2c?.
To the brothers preachers of Chester receiving yearly 13 marks,
at the exchequer at Chester — £8 13s. 4c?.
To the master and brethren of the hospital of St. John, out of
the north gate of Chester, £4 lis. of ancient alms.
To the Lepers of Boughton, 20s.
To the abbot of Whalley, 20s.

PAST AND PRESENT. 335

To the abbot of Vale Boyal, receiving yearly a cask of wine for
celebrating mass in his abbey, 50s.
To Sir William Trussell, justice of Chester, and keeper of the
Castles of Chester, Bhudllan, and Flint, £100.
To William de Melton, chamberlain of Chester, £20.
To Gilbert de Wyley, rider of Delamere Forest, 40s.
To Master Bichard, ingeniator of Chester, daily Is. — £18 4s.
To Bobert de Bosby, gardener of the castle of Chester, 3c?. per
day — £4 lis.
To Walter de Mandlan, keeper of the forest of Wyrall, 6c?. per
day— £11 2s.
To Bichard de Buges, forester of the forest of Wyrall, in the
place of William de Stanlegh, removed for certain offences, 9c?. per
day— £30.
To Bichard de Sutton, and Isabella, his wife, for the sergeancy
of the peace,, giving them Is. for every thief beheaded ; namely, for
Bobb of Cristelton, Is. ; for William de Wrennebury, Is. ; and Ade
le Sigueleer, Is. — 3s.
To Walter de Friburgh, Conrad de Bibslayn, Hayne le Scheller,
and Frie Froule, German miners, retained at wages in the service
of the prince, by order of the chancellor and treasurer, to work in
the mines of copper at le Dessard in Englefield (Flintshire), £6 10s.
Memorandum — That the said miners could not do anything with
the mine, and after trial were dismissed.
To Ade, son of Bichard Suel, for carrying letters of the prince
from Chester to Carnarvon, Is.
To Henry de Wakefield, for carrying letters to Newcastle-on-
Tyne, 2s. 6c?.
Bepairs of Chester Castle, £15 16s. 6d.
Bepairs of Talynt Castle, £12 12s. 10c?., £15 17s. 2c?., £14 10s. 3c?.
To Peter Balistro (the engineer) for going from Chester to Flint
to amend the balistas, 32s. 8 c?.
Bepairs of Bhudllan Castle, £26 17s. 8 c?.
To Master John Burgoillon, farmer of the manor of Macclesfield,
6s. 10c?., for repairing certain defects in the houses, for repairing
the fences of the parks, and for making a machine for taking the
wolves, frequently coining into the park and destroying the game.
To Traherne ap Howel ap Bes, and Lewellin ap Gronow ap
Heilin, Welsh hostages in the castle at Chester, £6 Is. 8c?.
Paid to Walter Beginald, treasurer of the prince, £1687 16s. 4c?.

336 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Sum total of payments, £2048 lis. 4c?.
Owing to the chamberlain, £552 4s. 5^c?.
The Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster. — Having traced the
history of the earldom of Chester from the Norman conquest to the
time when it was united to the crown by Henry III., let us trace
that of the honour, earldom, and duchy of Lancaster from the first-
named period, to the time when the possessors of the dukedom of
Lancaster became sufficiently powerful to seize upon the crown itself.
The honour of Lancaster, with nearly the whole of the lands of
the present county of Lancaster, was granted by William the Con
queror to one of his great military followers, Boger of Poictou, soon
after the battle of Hastings, fought in the year 1066. The date of
the grant to Earl Boger was probably about the year 1068, for
Matthew Paris and other authors inform us, that William returned
from a visit to Normandy in the year 1068, and then proceeded to
bestow the lands of the Saxon nobles and thanes . on 'his own
followers, with a lavish hand. Of the family of Boger of Poictou,
the first possessor of the honour of Lancaster, we have the following
particulars, from a manuscript discovered by Andrew Duchesne, and
republished by Sir William Dugdale,* in his account of the Alien
Priory of Lancaster.
Boger of Poictou was the third son of Boger viscount de Mont
gomery, and of Mabile, countess of Alencon, his wife. They were
the founders of the abbey of St. Martin de Sees in Normandy, to
which their son Boger of Poictou gave the church of Lancaster and
other estates, after the conquest of England. The sons of Boger
de Montgomery rendered William great assistance in effecting the
conquest of the kingdom, and were afterwards most liberally rewarded
out of the lands of England. Bobert de Belesme, the eldest son,
received the earldom of Shrewsbury, and the greater part of the
lands of Shropshire ; which earldom was held by Hugh, the second
son, after the death of Bobert. Boger, the third son, received
the whole of the county of Lancaster, with nearly 200 manors in
other parts of England; and. Philip and Arnulf, younger sons, also
received large estates in Pembrokeshire. The husbands of the
daughters of Boger de Montgomery were not less splendidly
rewarded. The earl of Morton, or Mortaine, the husband of Matilda,
received the greater part of the lands of Cornwall and Devonshire ;
and Hugh de Novo Castello, married to Mabile, and Bobert Fitz
* Dugdale's Monasticon, p. 999.

PAST AND PRESENT. 337

Hamon, married to Sybilla, were also splendidly provided for at
the expense of the conquered.
But the immense possessions of the family of de Montgomery or
de Belesme did not prosper with them. On the contrary, they
rendered them so confident in their own strength, as to induce
them to join in'a conspiracy to dethrone the Conqueror, and again
to divide England into three parts, corresponding with the Saxon
division of the kingdoms of the West Saxons, Mercia, and North
umbria. The parties to this conspiracy were Adolfus, earl of Norfolk
and Suffolk, Earl Waltheof of Northumberland, and Earl Boger of
Poictou, each of whom was to have had a third of the kingdom.
This conspiracy, which was formed in the year 1074, was discovered
and defeated by the Conqueror, who returned hastily from Nor
mandy to crush it. This he did effectually, by beheading Earl
Waltheof, and first imprisoning, and then driving from the kingdom,
Boger of Poictou and his associates. Their estates were seized by
the king ; and at the time when the Domesday Survey was made,
in the year 1086, everything that had belonged to Boger of Poictou
was held by the king, in Lancashire and in all other parts of the
kingdom. This continued to be the case to the death of William
the Conqueror.
In the interval between the granting of these estates to Earl
Boger and their forfeiture, the earl granted portions of them to
several Norman knights, some of whose descendants still hold the
lands granted to their ancestors at the Conquest. In the hundred
of West Derby, Earl Boger granted lands to Norman knights
named Goisfrid, Boger, William, Warren, a second Goisfrid, Tetbald,
Bobert, and Gislebert ; in the Warrington hundred, he granted lands
to other Normans named Boger, Tetbald, Warm, Badulf, William,
Adelard, and Osmund. In the Blackburn hundred, Earl Boger
granted lands to Boger de Busli and Albert Greslet, the founders
of the old Lancashire families of De Boiseuil, lords of Penwortham,
and of de Gresley, lords of Manchester. In the Salford hundred,
he granted lands to knights named Nigel, Warin, a second Warm,
Goisfrid, and Gamel In the hundred of Leyland, he granted lands
to Girard, from whom the ancient Lancashire family of Gerard is
descended, and to Bobert, Badulph, -Boger, and Walter. It does
not appear, however, that the great mass of the tenants of the
crown were dispossessed, either by the Conqueror or by Earl Boger,
for Saxon and Danish thanes and drengs (which is the Danish
VOL. I. 2 u

338 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
equivalent for thane) were holding very nearly 200 manors, between
the Bibble and the Mersey, twenty years after the Conquest, that
is, in the year 1086, when the Domesday Survey was made.
But on the death of William the Conqueror, a war for the
possession of the throne of England broke out between WiUiam
Bufus, the second son of the Conqueror, and Bobert, his elder
brother, which ended (as is weU known) in the triumph of William
Bufus. In the course of this war Boger of Poictou, who had still
great estates in France, succeeded in gaining the favour of William
Bufus, by abandoning the cause of Bobert, which he had at first
adopted, and passing over to that of his younger and more suc
cessful rival. By this act of loyalty, or treason, Earl Boger regained
the favour of the king, and was rewarded by the# restoration of
his estates in the honour of Lancaster and other parts of England.
Whilst thus possessed of his estates in England for the second
time, Boger of Poictou and his foUowers made numerous grants,
from his property in the honour . of Lancaster, to the abbey of
Shrewsbury, founded by his brother Bobert de Belesme, the first
Norman earl of Shrewsbury, and to the abbey of St. Martin de
Sees in Normandy, founded by his father and mother. Thus, to
the abbey of Shrewsbury Earl Boger gave the fisheries of Thelwall,
Wolston, and Poulton, on the river Mersey ; and Godfrey, his
vice-comes or sheriff, gave to the same abbey the church of St.
Mary in Walton (Walton-on-the-Hill, which then included the
chapelry of Liverpool), also the town or township which is named
Gerstan (Garston, near Liverpool), and the church of Kirkham.
To the abbey of St. Martin de Sees, Earl Boger granted the
priory of Lancaster, with many other possessions. Thus, he
granted to that monastery the church of Lancaster, the church
and one-third of the town of Hesson (Heysham), the church and
title and fishery of Preston, the churches of Kirkham and of
Melfing, and Bolton (Boelton), with the church and the tithes of
Preesal. In the southern division of the county he gave to the
abbey of St. Martin de Sees the titles of Salford, Derby, Hale,
Everton, Walton, Crosby, Meols, &c. The witnesses of this grant
are the earl himself and- his daughter SybUla, Godfrey, the vice-
comes or sheriff, Albert Grelet, or Gresley, from whom the barons
of Manchester descended, B. FitzBobert, G. Boiseul or BusseU
(ancestors of the barons of Penwortham), Arnulfus (Earl Boger's
younger brother), P. de Wares or Vilfiers (baron of Warrington),

PAST AND PRESENT. 339

Ociu the son of Chetel, and Ulf the son of Torolf. The two
latter were probably Saxon or Danish landowners.
At the death of WiUiam Bufus, in the year 1180, from an
arrow shot by Walter TyrreU in the New Forest, Bobert, the
eldest son of the Conqueror, again claimed the crown of England,
but was a second time defeated, his youngest brother Henry
Beauclerc having succeeded in gaining it. On this occasion Duke
Bobert was supported by many of the Norman earls, including
the whole house of Montgomery and their friends and allies. On
his side were ranged Bobert de Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury,
Boger de Poictou, Arnulf Montgomery, lord of Pembrokeshire,
and their brother-in-law, the earl of Morton. But Henry had the
support of the English people, as weU as that of many of the
Norman lords ; and after defeating the Montgomerys in the field,
he besieged them and their supporters in the castles' of Shrews
bury and Arundel. Bobert de Belesme, finding his affairs desperate,
acknowledged Henry as king and surrendered at discretion, sub
mitting himself to Henry's mercy. His brothers submitted at the
same time ; and on surrendering Arundel and the rest of their
castles, the king granted them their lives, and a safe-conduct
into Normandy. Henry, however, confiscated the estates of aU
the Montgomerys, and of the earl of Morton, their brother-in-law.
Matthew Paris states that this occurred in the year 1105. The
confiscated estates of Boger of Poictou consisted of nearly 300
manors or townships in Lancashire, seventy-six in Yorkshire, three
in Essex, fifty-nine in Suffolk, eleven in Nottinghamshire, seven
in Derbyshire, ten in Norfolk, and forty-four in Lincolnshire. These
immense possessions were long known as the honour of Boger
Pictavensis. They were granted by Henry I., together with the
still larger estates of the earl of Morton, to Stephen, earl of Blois
and Champagne, the nephew of Henry I., and the grandson of
the Conqueror by his daughter Adela, married to Earl Stephen's
father. WhUst Stephen held the earldom of Morton and also the honour
of Lancaster, along with the other estates of Boger Pictavensis,
he founded the magnificent abbey of Furness, in North Lancashire,
whose ruins stiU excite the .admiration of aU beholders.
Simon Dunhelmis states, in his account of the events of the
year 1123, that Stephen, earl of Morton and Boulogne, afterwards
king of England, that year gave to the Abbot Geofridus Savinun-

340 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
censis, the town and township of Tulketh, in the province which
is caUed Agmunderness (Amounderness), on the banks of the river
Bibble, that he might found an abbey there. But the site was
afterwards changed for the secluded and beautiful valley of the
Deadly Nightshade in Furness. The abbey of St. Mary of Furness
was founded in the year 1127, the twenty-fourth year of the
reign of Henry I., by Stephen, earl of Morton and Boulogne, when
the monks were removed from Tulketh ; and was long the great
religious foundation of North Lancashire.
In the sheriff's account or pipe roU of the 31 Henry I. (1122),
which is the oldest sheriff's account now known to be in existence,
we find a brief account of the land between the Bibble and the
Mersey, then held by the men of Stephen, earl of Morton. The
particulars given are very few, but the title itself is sufficient to
show that both South and North Lancashire then belonged to
Earl Stephen. He continued in great favour until the king's
death, which occurred on the 2nd December, 1135; and evidence
that he held his possessions in Lancashire until that time wfil be
produced in the course of the present chapter.
Some years before the death of King Henry I. his only son
WiUiam perished by shipwreck, along with the youthful earl of
Chester, as already mentioned, whfie crossing from Normandy to
England. After the death of his son, King Henry, in the hope
of securing the crown of England to his only remaining child,
Maude or Matilda, compelled aU the nobles of the kingdom to swear
fealty to her. Matilda was the widow of Henry V, emperor of
Germany, by whom, however, she had no issue. She subsequently
married Geoffrey, surnamed Plantagenet, son of Fulk, count of
Anjou, by whom she had a son, Henry Plantagenet, who ultimately
ascended the throne. Stephen earl of Morton, the nephew of the
king, was one of -the great nobles who were thus compeUed to swear
aUegiance to the Empress Maude ; but no sooner was King Henry
dead than he seized on the throne, and caused himself to be crowned,
with the title of King Stephen, having the support of WiUiam the
archbishop of Canterbury, who swore that King Henry, whfist he
was in extremis, certain grounds of offence having sprung up between
himself and the empress, had disinherited her, and appointed Earl
Stephen, his nephew, to be his heir. But not relying on this
pretended title, Stephen proceeded to purchase friends amongst
the more powerful nobles of the kingdom, and especially the most

PAST AND PRESENT. 341

powerful of aU, Banulf I. earl of Chester. With a view to gain
his support, Stephen granted to him, along with other territories,
the lands between the Bibble and the Mersey, and aU the lands
belonging to the honour of Boger Pictavensis, from Northampton
to the borders of Scotland.
The general result of the war between King Stephen and Henry
duke of Normandy was, that Stephen retained the crown for his
fife, but that he was succeeded in the throne by Henry ; his own
great estates, as earl of Morton, passing to his son William, who
was at once earl of Morton, Surrey, de Warenne, and Boulogne.
That the honour of Lancaster was one of the estates held by
this powerful earl, is proved by several grants made by him in
that capacity. Thus, he granted or confirmed to William de
Walton, the office of bailiff of the hundred of West Derby and
the district of Makerfield, and gave to him lands in Walton,
Wavertree, and Newsham.* He also made an additional grant
to the abbey of Furness, founded by his father.
On the death of William de Blois without issue, the honour of
Lancaster, with the lands between the Mersey and the Bibble and
the Bibble and the Duddon, together with the other estates of the
earldom of Morton, reverted to the crown, and were held- by King
Henry II. during the greater part of his life. Amongst his acts
of ownership were the following : — The king granted to Warm
de Lancaster, baron of Kendal and governor of the castle of
Lancaster, the manors of Baven Meols, Ainsdale, Up-Litherland,
Liverpool, Lee Francais (near Preston), and 8 c?. per annum of rent
in the borough of Preston, which then belonged to the king,
to defray the expenses of the castle of Lancaster. This appears
from a deed of John, earl of Morton, afterwards King John, in
which he confirms the above-named manors to Henry, the son of
Warm de Lancaster, describing them as the lands "which Henry
my father, gave to Warin his father." This grant of Henry II.
is the earliest document in which the name of Liverpool is men
tioned. It appears from another deed of John, earl of Morton,
that his father King Henry II. confirmed to Walter de Walton
the lands in Walton, Wavertree, and Newsham, already mentioned,
as granted to him by William de Blois, earl of Boulogne, Warenne,
and Morton. King Henry also imposed a tallage or tax on the
tenants of aU his lands in the honour of Lancaster, the particulars
* Rolls de Quo Warranto, 20 Edw. I , p. 382..

342 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

of which are given in the sheriff's account, or as it is called the
Great BoU of the Pipe, for the 23rd Henry II. Amongst the
manors and townships which paid this tallage were Hest, Oxcfiffe,
Preesal, Hambleton, and Standi, in the northern parts of the county;
and West Derby, Hale, Formby, Crosby, Wavertree, Walton, Thing-
wall, Litherland, and Salford, in the southern parts.
The next possessor of the honour of Lancaster was John earl
of Morton, afterwards King John, the ungrateful and rebellious
son of Henry IL, and brother of Bichard the Lion-hearted. John
was created Earl of Morton in the year 1183, and on the acces
sion of his brother Bichard to the throne, in the year 1189, he
was confirmed in the possession of the earldom of Morton, and
many other vast estates. Wlulst holding, the earldom of Morton,
John confirmed a grant of Boger Pictavensis to the priory of
Lancaster of the tithes of his demesne lands, that is, of aU his parks
and chaces in the honour of Boger Pictavensis. Under this grant
Toxteth Park, originaUy a deer park of King John, and many
other parks and chaces, paid tithes to the priory of Lancaster ;
indeed, in a return made so late as the time of the great CivU
War, certain commissioners stated that Toxteth Park was in the
parish of Lancaster, though fifty-six miles distant from that place.
Bichard I. on his accession to the throne, to show his affection
for his only surviving brother, John, confirmed him in the pos
session of the earldom of Morton, in Normandy and England, with
the counties of Nottingham, Derby, and Lancaster. He still added
to his power and wealth by giving him the castles of the Peak
(Pec) and Bolsover in Derbyshire, and the honours of WaUingford
in Oxfordshire, and Tickhill in Yorkshire. He also gave to him
in marriage Avise the daughter and heiress of the earl of Glou
cester, with that earldom, which was then one of the richest in the
kingdom. " But," says TyrreU, " he afterwards found cause enough
to repent having made him too great for a subject." Shortly
afterwards, however, Bichard still further increased the power and
wealth of John, by giving to him the earldoms of Devonshire,
Dorset, and Cornwall.
On the 11th December, 1189, five months after his accession
to the throne, Bichard embarked for the Holy Land, according
to a rash vow which he had made. He appointed the bishops
of Durham, and Ely justiciaries of England, and associated others
with them to govern the kingdom in his absence. Of course,

PAST AND PRESENT. 343

everything feU into confusion ; and his perfidious brother avaUed
himself of his absence to contrive his destruction.
Bichard, after' performing innumerable feats of valour in the
Holy Land, was shipwrecked, on his return to England, at the
head of the Adriatic, and cast on shore in the dominions of his
mortal enemy, the duke of Austria. The duke, after keeping him
prisoner for some time, delivered him into the custody of the
. Emperor Henry of Germany, who refused to set the gaUant king
at liberty until he paid a ransom of 100,000 marks, a sum equal
to at least £1,000,000 of our present money. This sum was ulti
mately paid. But John, in connection with the king of France,
who had conspired together, the one to seize Bichard's possessions
in Normandy and Anjou, and the other to seize the crown of
England, offered the emperor 80,000 marks if he would detain
Bichard in prison until the Michaelmas foUowing, and £1000 per
month for every month that he was afterwards detained. He was in
fact detained, on one pretence or another, upwards of fifteen months.
The letters of John containing this perfidious offer were shown
to Bichard whilst still in prison,* and being seen and read, added
unspeakably. to the misery of the captive king. Fortunately, how
ever, other letters were discovered in England, which enabled the
loyal .subjects of Bichard to defeat the plans of his ungrateful and
treacherous brother. Adam of St. Edmunds, one of John's clerks
or secretaries, who had been sent over from Normandy, where John
then was, with letters and directions to fortify his castles against
the king his brother, was taken prisoner by the lord mayor of
London, and all his letters were read. On this it was unanimously
resolved by the king's councU that Earl John should be deprived
of all his lands, and that his castles should be besieged. This was
accordingly done. His lands were seized ; the bishop of Durham,
a warlike prelate, laid siege to the castle of Tickhill in Yorkshire ;
David, brother of the king of Scots, Banulf, earl of Chester, and
Ferrers, earl of Derby, besieged Nottingham ; and the archbishop
of Canterbury besieged and reduced the castle of Marlborough in
WUtshire. After that the castle of Lancaster, "which was held
by Theobald, the brother of Walter, for Earl John," was surrendered,
with that of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall ; but the castles
of Nottingham and TickhiU held out until the king's return
to England.
* Hoveden, p. 731.

344 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

On the 30th of May, 1194, immediately after the return of King
Bichard, a great council was held at Nottingham, and on the second
day he required judgment against his unworthy brother, Earl John,
who contrary to his fealty had seized his castles and wasted his
dominions, as weU in England as beyond seas, and had confeder
ated with his enemy the king of France. Thereupon the council
decided that John should be peremptorily cited, and if within forty
days he appeared not, nor stood to the law, he should forfeit his
right to return to the kingdom. John not appearing within the
time fixed, was adjudged to lose aU his honours and estates — a
sentence which was confirmed by a solemn resolution of the peers.
In consequence of the above judgment, the honour of Lancaster
and all the other estates of Earl John were seized ; and several
of his principal tenants in Lancashire were fined heavfiy, or as
the sheriff's accounts, or pipe roU, of the 6, 7, and 8 Bichard I.
express it, were compeUed to purchase the favour of the king.
The following is a translation of a part of the pipe roU of
the 6 Bichard I. : —
"Theobald Walter renders account of the fee of Lancaster, for
the 6th year of King Bichard, £100.
" New pleas and new agreements made by the men of Earl John,
in Lancaster, for having the favour of the king : —
"Adam de Kelett, for the king's favour, 20 marks.
" Henry de Bademan, for the same, 20 marks.
"Benedict Gurnett, that he may hold his land in peace, and the
forestership of which he is seized, and his inheritance, 20 marks.
" Adam the son of Osbert, for having the favour of the king,
10 marks.
"GUbert de Croft, for the same, 10 marks.
"Bichard de MolineU (Molyneux), for the same, 100 shillings.
" Henry Falconarius (owner of Liverpool), for the same, 15 marks.
" Bobert, priest of Walton, for the same, 30 marks.
" Walter de Paries, for the same, 100 shUlings.
" William Pincerna (Butler), lord of Warrington, 30 marks.
" Boger de Middleton, that he may have seizin (possession) of
his land, 5 marks.
"Alurus the son of Outram, for the same, 8 marks.
" Bobert Fitz-Henry, for having the pardon and the favour of
the king, 20 marks.
"Adam de Biri (Bury), for the same, 15 marks.

PAST AND PRESENT. 345

"WiUiam de Badclive (Badcliffe), for the same, 8 marks.
"Bichard de Urmeston (Urmston), for the same, 40 shillings.
"Bobert de Prestwich, for the same, 4 marks.
"Jordanus de Mamcastre (Manchester), for his services to Earl
John, £20.
"Hugo Boissel, for his relief, and because he crossed the sea
with Earl John, 40 marks (BoiseuU, baron of Penwortham)."
In the same pipe roU there occurs (under the heading of " Con
cerning those who paid the whole," that is, the whole fine, which
many did not do in the year in which it was imposed) as foUows : —
"The same Theobald renders account of 20 marks for the fine
of WiUiam of KeUet, for having the favour of the king ; and of
1 0 marks from Wfifiam Furneis, for the same ; and of 4 from
Daniel the clerk, for the same ; and of 1 0 marks from William of
Heste, for the same; and of 100 shillings from Galfrid of Gersing-
ham, for the same ; and  from Bobert the son of Gillcringhal,
for the same ; and of 40 shillings from Gilbert of Valeton (Walton),
for •the same; and of 20 shillings from Bichard of Ditton, for the
same; and of 40 shillings from Henry of HoUand, for the same;
and of 1 mark for Henry of MeUing, for the same; and of 10
marks from Matthew Gurnett, because he was in the army of
Kendal, with the men of Earl John, that he may again have pos
session (seizin) of his land, of which he was dispossessed (disseisitus) ;
and of 3 shillings from Hugh of Haye (Haigh), for peace and the
favour of the king; and 4 shillings from Adam of Chernock, for
the same. Sum £72, 1 mark."
The foUowing items are also added in this roll : —
"Bobert the son of Osbert owes 100 shiUings for the favour of
the king. The abbot of Furness paid 1 mark for the confirming
of his charters and liberties, and for having right between 
and GUbert Fitz-Beinfred in the land of Newby and Moelton, and
for having his goods."
In the sheriff's account, or pipe roU, of 7 Bichard I., also occur
the foUowing entries respecting the same transaction : —
"Theobald Walter accounts by Benedict Gurnett as foUows : —
"Bichard the son of Boger owes 20 marks, because he was
with Earl John.
"Wfifiam the son of Sucin owes 100 shillings, for the same.
" Giraldus de Claiton owes 5 marks for himself and his knights,
for the same.
vol i. 2 x

346 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
" Bad. de St. George pays 6 marks for having his lands of WaU-
ington." In the sheriff's roll of the 8 Bichard I. also occur the foUowing
entries : —
" Concerning the fines of the men of the Earl John —
"William de Bademan paid £48 6s. 8c?. for having the favour
of the king.
"William the son of Sucin paid 100 shfifings for the same.
" Giraldus de Claiton and his knights paid 5 marks for the same."
King Bichard died on the 5th AprU, 1199, having, it is said,
previously bequeathed his kingdom to his brother John, though
in point of legal right it ought to have passed to his nephew
Prince Arthur, whom John afterwards murdered, or caused to be
murdered, in prison. Along with the crown, John became pos
sessed of the estates of the earldom of Morton, including the
honour of Lancaster.
In the first year of the reign of King John, he confirmed to
the knights and thanes of Lancashire a charter which he had
granted as earl of Morton, authorizing them to thin their own
woods, and to kfil several kinds of game in the forests of the
honour. The price paid for this charter was £239 8s. lie?. — fully
£3000 of present money, and ten chaseurs or goblets.*
In the same year he confirmed to the church and priory of St.
Mary of Lancaster a grant of tithes in aU his demesne lands, which
grant was originaUy made by Boger Pictavensis shortly after the
Norman conquest.
In the same year King John also confirmed to Henry Fitz-Warin
the lands between the Bibble and the Mersey, which Henry II. had
granted to Warin, who was at that time falconer to the king.t
In the pipe roUs of the 3 and 4 John, the sheriff who
accounts for the revenues of the honour of Lancaster is Bichard
de Vernon ; but in the sixth year of his reign John conferred the
keeping of the honour on Gilbert Fitz-Beinfrid. He held that
office untU the seventeenth year of John's reign, when Gilbert
Fitz-Beinfrid joined the king's enemies (that is, the insurgent
barons), was fined 12,000 marks, as a traitor to the king, and was
deprived of the keeping'of the honour of Lancaster,"!; which keeper-
ship was afterwards conferred on Banulf earl of Chester. §
* Eot. Pipoj, 4 John. f Eot. Chart, m. 5, n. 35.
X Kot. Fin. 17 John, in. 6. § Rot. Pat. 17 John. m. 3.

PAST AND PRESENT.

347

But the most important act of John's reign, so far as the county
of Lancaster is concerned, was the granting a charter to the borough
and port of Liverpool, by which he conferred upon them aU the
liberties and free customs which any free borough on the sea in
his dominions possessed. The particulars of this charter and of aU
the other charters granted to the boroughs and cities of Lancashire
and Cheshire, wiU be given in a succeeding part of this work, in
which the rise and progress of those cities and boroughs wiU be
traced from the earliest times.
The reign of King John closed in confusion and civil war. After
having been compeUed by his barons to sign the Great Charter,
and the Charter of the Forest, John seized the earliest opportunity
to break his oath, and to renew the war with the barons. For
this purpose he brought into the kingdom an army of foreign
mercenaries, who were invited to take for their reward whatever
they could seize and subdue. At the head of this host he spread
destruction throughout the country, laying waste the lands and seizing
on the persons of aU who opposed him. The barons, driven to
desperation, caUed in the aid of the French king, Philip, who sent
to their aid a large army, commanded by the dauphin Louis, and a
celebrated soldier, the Comte de Perche. In the midst of this mur
derous strife, King John died suddenly, on the 19th October, 1216.
The death of King John saved the monarchy of England, as
weU as the liberties of the people. A great number of the barons,
headed by Banulf earl of Chester, William de Ferrers earl of Derby,
and other great nobles, at once declared for John's son, Henry III.,
then a boy only nine years of age, and against Louis the dauphin.
The party of the youthful king, under the command of the earl
of Chester (as already mentioned), summoned the dauphin to leave
the kingdom ; and that summons having been scornfully rejected,
they gave battle to him in the month of May, 1217, near Lincoln,
and defeated his army with . great slaughter. This defeat was
foUowed by the loss of a large fleet, bringing reinforcements from
France ; and Louis, finding his cause desperate, agreed to return
to France, and to give up all claim to the kingdom of England.*
On the accession of Henry III., Banulf earl of Chester received,
in addition to his other honours and estates, the rich earldom of
Lincoln, and was also made keeper of the honour of Lancaster.
The earl of Chester continued to hold the office of custodian of
* Kuyghton, Col. 2429, anno 1217.

348 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the honour of Lancaster on behalf of the king, until 10 Henry
III., Jordanus the son of Boger acting as his deputy. William de
Ferrers earl of Derby, who was brother-in-law to the earl of Chester,
acted as custos of the honour in the 10th and 11th Henry III.,
and Adam de Yoland in the 12th, 13th, and 14th*
In the year 1229 Henry, having reached the age of manhood,
was seized with an ardent desire to recover the p'ossessions of the
English crown in France, which had been lost during the turbulent
reign of his father. For this purpose he summoned aU the nobles
and tenants of the crown to meet at Portsmouth, on Michaelmas
day, 1229, for an expedition to France.
WhUst at Portsmouth, with the other great peers of the kingdom,
Banulf earl of Chester received from King Henry a grant of exten
sive lands between the Bibble and the Mersey. The foUowing is a
translation of this grant : t —
" For the earl of Chester and Lincoln. The king grants and
confirms to the earl of Chester and Lincoln all the land which he
has between Bibble and Mersey in the county of Lancaster, that
is to say, the town of West Derby with the wapentake and every
thing appertaining to it ; the borough of Liverpool with its appur
tenances; the town of Salforth (Salford) with the wapentake and
aU its appurtenances ; and the wapentake of Leyland with all its
appurtenances, to be had and held by him and his heirs, in demesnes,
forests, and inclosures, homages, services, and aU appurtenances,
and with aU liberties and free customs, to the aforesaid lands,
borough, wapentakes, forests, and inclosures pertaining : he paying
to the king and his heirs yearly at the feast of St. Michael, a falcon,
or in place of it 40 shillings at the exchequer, for all service. And
that the said earl and his heirs have and hold all things mentioned
above, with their appendages, weU and in peace, freely, quietly,
and undividedly, in demesnes, forests, inclosures, homages, services,
woods and plains, meadows and pastures, ways and paths, meres
and marshes, waters and miUs, and in aU their appurtenances,
with all liberties and free customs to the aforesaid lands, homages,
wapentakes, inclosures, and forests pertaining, by the aforesaid service
of one falcon (asturca) or of 40 shillings, at the feast of St. Michael,
for aU service. Witness : Thomas, bishop of Norwich, H. de Burgo,
earl of Kent, B., earl of Cornwall, and others. Given by my proper
hand as above, at Portsmouth, on the 18th October, and 13th of my
* See Rolls of the Pipe for those years. f Rot. Chart. 13 Henry III. m. 3.

PAST AND PRESENT. 349

•reign."""" This grant, whfist it passed the king's lands between the
Bibble and the Mersey to the earl of Chester, did not grant the castle,
town, or honour of Lancaster; those being still retained by the crown.
In the sheriff's roU of the foUowing year (14 Henry III.) the
earl of Chester's name is interleaved in each of the several manors,
and the rents formerly received are accounted for as foUows : —
" Nothing in the treasury. And to Banulf earl of Chester
£68 18s. 4c?., by the letter of the king, in which is contained,
that the king has given to him the whole land that he had between
the Bibble and the Mersey."
In the year 1230, being the year foUowing that of the preceding
grant, Banulf earl of Chester acquired by purchase, from Boger de
Merseia, a large addition to his lands between the Bibble and the
Mersey. The deed by which this purchase was made is as foUows : —
" To all present and future, inspecting this charter, Boger the son
of Banulph de Marresheya, greeting : Know that I have sold, and
perpetually from my heirs demised, to the Lord Banulf, earl of
Chester and Lincoln, the manor of Boulton, with aU its appurte
nances, and whatever I or my heirs may have in the said manor of
Boulton, in fittle Boulton, in Tonge, and in Haigh, in Brethmet
(Brightmede), in Badeclive (Badcliffe), in Ormeston, Applebey, in
Sharpley (Sharpies), in Haghe (Haigh), in Standishe, in Longtre,
in Sevington (Shevington), in Chernoe, in Hedchernoc, in Dacbera,
in Adelinton (Adlington), in WhithaU, in Hirelton, in Scarisbreck,
in Heton juxta Lancaster, in Meols, in Derwente (Darwen), in
Eccleshfil, and in aU other places, to the said lands belonging, in
homages, fees, customs, lordships, wardships, reliefs, rents, escheats,
presentation of churches, and in all things which I or my heirs have
or can have from the said lands, without reservation. To be had
and held from me and my heirs, by the said earl and his heirs,
freely and quietly, peacefully and entirely, with hereditary right,
in woods and plains, in meadows and pastures, and in aU places
to these manorial lands pertaining ; rendering to me and my heirs
one penny at Easter for all services ; the said earl paying me 200
marks in silver, &c.
"Witnesses : The Lord Abbot of Chester; William, justiciary of
Chester ; Budolf de Bray ; Bichard de Burney ; Godfrey de Dalton ;
Godfrey de Appleby ; John de Lexington ; GUbert de Uxton ; and
Boger de Derby, with many others."
* Close Eolls, 13 Henry III m. 2.

350 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Banulf earl of Chester, as already mentioned, died at his castle
of WaUmgford, on the 28th of October, 1232, after possessing the
earldom for fifty-one years. He left no issue, and was succeeded
in the earldom by his nephew, John, surnamed the Scot, earl of
Huntingdon, son of Earl David, brother to the king of the Scots,
by Maude, sister of Banulf III. The other lands and territories
of Earl Banulf were divided amongst his four sisters and coheirs.
Earl John enjoyed his title of earl of Chester only for a short
time. He died in the year 1237, without issue ; and in the year
1247, the 31st Henry III., the earldom of Chester was annexed by
the king to the crown."""
In the tenth year of the reign of Henry III. (1225), the estates
above mentioned being stiU in the hands of the king, a tallage or
tax was laid on the several towns and townships held directly by him,
as lord of the honour of Lancaster. The foUowing is an account
of this taxation of each manor or township, from the sheriff's account,
or pipe roU, of that year : —
Lancaster tallage, by Master Alexander de Dorsete and Simon
de Hal :—
The town of Lancaster taxed in the sum of 1 4 marks 2 shUfings.
Paid on account, £4 6s.
The town of Liverpool taxed in the sum of 11 marks 8 shillings
and 8 pence. Paid on account, £3 15 s.
The township of West Derby taxed in the sum of 8 marks 4
shillings and 4 pence. Paid on account, £3.
The township of Everton taxed in the sum of 5 marks 2 shillings.
Paid on account, 40s.
The township of Great Crosby taxed at 8 marks 5 shUfings.
Paid on account, £3 5 s.
The town of Saurford (Salford) and Barton, with Ordsal and Flix
ton, taxed at 8 marks 5 shillings and 4 pence. Paid on account, 42s.
The township of Singleton taxed at 4 marks 5 shillings and 4
pence. Paid on account, 20s.
The township of Brockton taxed at 4 marks 10 shfilings and 8
pence. Paid 40s.
The town of Preston taxed at 15 marks and 6 pence. Paid on
account, £5 10s.
The township of Sline taxed at 30 shillings and 8 pence. Paid
on account, 30s.
* Eot. Pat. 31 Henry III. m. 6.

PAST AND PRESENT. 351

The township of Wray taxed at 5 shillings. Paid on account, 4s.
The township of Biggebi (Bigby) taxed half a mark. Paid the
whole. The township of StanhuU taxed 3 shillings. Paid the whole.
The township of Overton taxed 23 shUfings. Paid the whole.
The township of Skerton taxed 15 shillings and 6 pence. Paid
the whole.
The tenants of the honour of Lancaster, holding in theinage,
paid 10 marks that they might not be taUaged.
This would include the barons, knights, and thanes who held the
other towns and townships of the county. These compounded for
the taUage by paying a gross sum ; but according to the custom
of that age, they reserved the right of imposing a tallage on their
tenants, whenever the king imposed a taUage on the tenants of
his own lands. Thus there is no doubt that aU the other towns
and townships were taUaged, at the same time with the places
mentioned above ; but their taUages were paid to the lords and
thanes, not to the crown, and hence they do not appear in the
sheriff's accounts.
On the death of Banulf, earl of Chester, all his lands, with the
exception of those in the county of Chester, were divided amongst
his four sisters and their husbands. In this division, the lands
between the Bibble and the Mersey were assigned to William de
Ferrers, earl of Derby, and Agnes, who was one of the sisters of Earl
Banulf of Chester.""" The earl and countess of Derby paid to the
king the sum of £50 for their relief or entrance to their estates.
In the foUowing year the king issued this order respecting these lands :
— "W. de Ferrers, earl of Derby. The king to the barons of his
Exchequer, greeting : Know that WiUiam de Ferrers,, earl of Derby,
and Agnes his wife, are bound to pay to us yearly, at our exchequer,
one asturca (hawk) or 40s., for the land between the Bibble and
the Mersey, that we gave to Banulf, formerly earl of Chester, and
which was assigned to the earl and Agnes, his wife, as a part of
the portion which feU to her, of the lands that belonged to the
said earl of Chester. And, therefore, we command you that you
receive the said rent from them yearly, and give them acquittance
for the same. — Witness myself, at Westminster, the 21st day of
October." In the 26 Hen. III. (1241-42), William, earl of Derby, paid a
* Eot. Clans. 17 Henry III. m. 17.

352 , LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
fine of £100 to the king, to have possession of the wapentake
between the Bibble and Mersey, which the king had seized and
taken into his own hands for some offence, real or pretended, on
the part of the earl.
In the year 1247 (32 Hen. III.) WiUiam de Ferrers died, and
within a month his countess, Agnes, followed him to the grave.
Matthew Paris makes the foUowing remark on their deaths : —
" In the same year, about the feast of St. Catherine, died William,
earl de Ferrers, a man truly peaceful and just, well-stricken in
years, and Jong afflicted with the gout. In the same month also
died the countess, Agnes de Ferrers, of the same age, repute, and
goodness." WiUiam de Ferrers, son and heir of WiUiam and Agnes de
Ferrers, succeeded to his father's titles and estates, in the 31 Hen.
III. ; and in the following year, on doing his homage, had livery
of Chartley castle, Staffordshire, and of the lands and castles of
his mother in Lancashire, as appears from the following extract
from the fine rolls of that year : — " For Wfifiam de Ferrers. — The
king has taken homage of WiUiam de Ferrers, for all the lands
and tenements which were formerly held by Agnes, countess of
Derby; and it is commanded to Henry de Wengham, and to his
escheator in the county of Stafford, that the said William have
full seizin of the castle of Chartley, and of aU the lands and
tenements which were of the said Agnes, without delay.
"Witness the king, at Windeshores (Windsor), the 10th day of
December. "Also, it is commanded to Thomas de Stanford and Bobert de
Crepping, escheators beyond the river Trent, that the said William
have full seizin of the castles of West Derby and Liverpool, and
of aU lands and tenements which were formerly of the said Agnes,
without delay.
"Witness as above."
In the 34 Hen. III., the king appointed Bobert de Latham to
keep the castle and county of Lancaster so long as the king thought
fit; thus showing that the earl of Derby, although he had the
lands between the Bibble and the Mersey, did not hold the honour
of Lancaster.* In the 36 Hen. III., the king granted permission to WiUiam,
earl of Derby, to maintain between the Bibble and the Mersey a
* Regalia, 34 Hen III. R.»t 4.

PAST AND PRESENT. 353

force established by Banulf, earl of Chester, for the preservation
of the public peace. The order is as follows : —
"For the Earl de Ferrers. The king has granted to WiUiam
de Ferrers, earl of Derby, one of the heirs of Banulf, earl of Chester,
that he may have his servants, for the preserving of the peace,
between the Bibble and the Mersey, as the aforesaid Banulf, for
merly earl of Chester, was accustomed to have in his time. And
the sheriff of Lancashire is commanded to grant him the same
liberties, and to maintain and defend the said earl, in the same,
and other liberties which Earl Banulf used to enjoy in his time."""'
There is another order on the subject of this early local police,
which is somewhat fuller and more explanatory. It is as foUows : —
" The king to the sheriff of Lancashire, greeting : Seeing that
we have granted, by our charter, to our beloved and faithful William
de Ferrers, earl of Derby, that he and his heirs may have their
servants (or others), to preserve our peace between the Bibble
and the Mersey, as Banulf, earl of Chester, formerly had (to whom
we gave the lands), of which earl he is one of the heirs, we order
you to maintain the earl in the said liberty, and to compel the
men of that county to supply to the said servants such victuals
and other things as they were accustomed to supply in the time
of the said earl of Chester. So conduct yourself in this matter,
that the- complaints of slackness may not be repeated.
"Witness myself, at Claverdon, 9th July. — By J. MaunseU."
The king, in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, granted to
William de Ferrers a charter of free warren, for himself and his
heirs, in all his demesne lands throughout his lordships in Lanca
shire and elsewhere. This curious and ample grant is as foUows : —
" For WiUiam de Ferrers, earl of Derby. The king, &c, greet
ing : Know that we have granted, and by this our charter confirmed,
to our beloved and faithful WUliam de Ferrers, earl of Derby,
that he may have free warren, in aU the demesne lands of his
manors of Liverpool, West Derby, Everton, Crosby, Wavertree,
Salford, Boulton, Penelton (Pendleton), Butterliton, Sweinhurst,
Bourtonwood, and Chorley, in the county of Lancaster."
The grant then gives sinfilar privileges on his estates in other
parts of England. After which it proceeds as foUows : —
" So far only as those lands are not within the bounds of our
forests ; and so that no one may enter those lands, to hawk or to
* Rot. Fin. 26 Hen. III.
VOL. I. 2 Y

354 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
take anything which pertains to warrenry, without the permission
of the earl and his heirs, under penalty of ten. pounds."
In addition to the charter of free warren, the king granted to
William de Ferrers the right to establish a market and fair at
Bolton in Lancashire, and at Hattoakes in Staffordshire.*
The king further granted to the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield,
whose diocese then extended over the whole of South Lancashire,
permission to establish a market and fair at Heywood (Heywode),
provided that market and fair should not prove injurious to any
other market and fair in the same neighbourhood.
WiUiam de Ferrers, the second earl of Derby who held the
lands between the Bibble and the Mersey, died in the reign of
Henry III., 1254, after a very short enjoyment of his extensive
estates. "At this time," says Matthew Paris, "died the Earl de
Ferrers, William, the son of WiUiam, a discreet man, skUful in
the laws of the land. He, suffering from the gout in his feet from
his earliest years, as his father had done, was accustomed to be
carried about from place to place on a bed or litter ; and one day,
travelling in this manner, his bearers, carrying the litter incautiously
across a bridge, threw him out. Though injured, he did not die
on the spot, but never thoroughly recovered, and soon after went
the way of aU flesh."
Earl WiUiam was succeeded by his son Bobert, then a boy
about fourteen years of age, whom the king, in order to secure
his great estates to the relatives of the queen, caused to be married
or betrothed to his niece, a girl of seven years of age, as appears
from the foUowing extract from the Annals of Burton : — " This
year Bobert de Ferrers, the son of WiUiam de Ferrers, earl of Derby,
a boy about ¦ eleven years of age, was married at Westminster to
Maria, a girl of seven years old, the niece of the king, and the
daughter of his brother (in-law) the earl of Angouleme and
March." Whilst the young earl's hand was thus disposed of, his estates,
which were held and enjoyed by the king during a minority of
twelve years, were treated with just as little ceremony — being
granted, during his minority, to Edward the king's eldest son,
who sold them to the queen and her brother, Peter of Savoy, the
most greedy and rapacious of all the members of her famfiy, who
foUowed her to England.
* Eot. Pat. 36 Hen. III. m. ] I.

PAST AND PRESENT. 355

These grants are curious, as showing the manner in which the
estates of the wards of the crown were treated : —
" The king has granted to Edward, his eldest son and heir, the
keeping of aU the lands which belonged to William de Ferrers,
formerly earl of Derby, on the day on which he died, to be held
to the full age of the heir of the said earl, in part payment of the
deficiency in the payment of the 15,000 marks in land, which in
addition to the lands given to him in England and Ireland, we
then agreed to grant to him — he allowing the widow of the late
earl a reasonable dower. And it is ordered to William de Wilton,
that he take the aUegiance of all the tenants of the said lands
to the same son of the king, as keeper of the same ; and that he
cause a reasonable tallage to be laid on the said lands, and to be
coUected without delay.
" Witness — Alienora the queen, and Bic, earl of CornwaU, at
Windeshores, the 15th day of April. By the queen and H. de Mara."
In the same year Prince Edward sold to his mother, Queen
Afianor, and to Peter de Savoy his uncle, for the sum of 6000
marks (fully equal to £60,000 of our money), the custody and
wardship of Bobert de Ferrers' estates. This large sum, and as
much more as could be extracted from the estates and the tenants,
had to be drawn from them in about eleven years ; so that
Bobert, earl of Derby, on coming into possession of his estates, no
doubt found them thoroughly exhausted.
The circumstances of the times in which Bobert de Ferrers
lived, afforded him opportunity for the gratification of every
feeling of dislike which he might entertain against King Henry
and his son, Prince Edward, and the adherents of the court. He
obtained possession of his estates in the year 1259, at a time
when the great barons of the kingdom, led by Simon de Mont-
fort, earl of Leicester, were about to take up arms against King
Henry III., for the purpose of putting an end to a system of
rapacity and extravagance which had exhausted the kingdom ; and
of obtaining guarantees, by means of a parliament representing
the barons, the freeholders, and the burgesses of England, against
the recurrence of similar abuses. Such a parliament was actually
assembled by Simon de Montfort, when the party of the barons
was in the ascendant; and though it feU, with the overthrow of
the barons, it was only to rise again, with all the attributes of
legality, in the succeeding reign.

356 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Bobert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, plunged into this conflict
almost as soon as he came into possession of his estates, but he
gained neither honour nor profit from his share in these trans
actions. Matthew Paris, in his account of the events of the year
1263, when the war between the king and the barons broke forth
with all its violence, says : — " Through this time Bobert de Ferrers,
earl of Derby, faithful neither to the king nor the barons, and not
counted in the number of the barons, did much evil. Leading a
powerful army to Worcester, he took and entered the city, and
destroyed the quarter of the Jews (the moneyed capitalists of the
age), at the same time plundering both priests and laymen, wasting
the king's parks, and perpetrating other crimes, for which he was
afterwards tried for his fife, and thrown into prison in London."
The result of this offensive and equivocal policy was, that Bobert de
Ferrers was in turn assailed by both parties. In the early part
of the year, when the king had gained a great victory over the
barons at Northampton, having taken the castles of Northampton
and Leicester, he sent his son, Prince Edward, and a great part
of his army into Derbyshire, where the prince laid waste the lands
of Bobert de Ferrers, and took his strong castle of Tutbury, which
he rased to the ground. In the latter part of the same year,
when the king and Prince Edward had been defeated by the
barons, at Lewes in Sussex, Bobert de Ferrers was caUed by Simon
de Montfort and his associates, in a great assembly of the nobles
held in London, to account for diverse "mischiefs and burnings of
towns," which he was said to have committed both before and after
the battle of Lewes. In the autumn of the same year, when the
king was again triumphant, and when the power of the barons was
completely broken, Bobert de Ferrers was once more denounced
as a traitor against the king. Bendered desperate by this fresh
denunciation, the unfortunate earl raised an army, on his estates
in Derbyshire, and broke out into open rebeUion against the king.
In this rising he was joined by Baldwin de Wake, John DayvU,
and a great number of barons and knights, who, like himself,
despaired of pardon, or hoped to extort better terms from the
king. The head-quarters of the army were in a great forest around
Suffeld Frith, near Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. A strong body of
nobles and knights, sent against them by the king, under the com
mand of his nephew, Prince Henry, surprised Bobert de Ferrers
and his army in the town of Chesterfield, on Whitsun eve, and

PAST AND PRESENT. 357

after a sharp fight, killed or captured the greater part of them.
The earl escaped from the field of battle, and took refuge in a
church. There he was discovered and betrayed by a woman. Being
taken, he was immediately sent off to Windsor castle, where he
was long imprisoned.
The defeat of the barons and of Bobert de Ferrers caused both
the earldom of Chester and the honour of Lancaster to pass into
other hands. Simon de Montfort, who had caused himself to be
made earl of Chester after the battle of Lewes, was killed at the
battle of Evesham. At his death the earldom of Chester reverted
to the king. At the same time, Simon de Montfort's earldom of
Leicester was given to Edmund Plantagenet, the king's second son ;
and the earldom of Derby, with all the immense estates of the de
Ferrers famfiy in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Lancashire, were
also given to him. This same Edmund soon after received the
formal title of Earl of Lancaster, and became the founder of that
great House of Lancaster, whose wealth and power soon rivaUed
those of the kings of England, and enabled them at last to seize
upon the throne itself.
On the 24th of August, 1266, after the death of Simon de Mont
fort, and the defeat and capture of Bobert de Ferrers, the king
held a parliament of his nobles at Kenilworth Castle, then one of
the strongest castles in the kingdom, and which had just surrendered,
after a long and obstinate siege. On that occasion was signed the
dictum or decree of Kenilworth, which assigned different degrees
of punishment to the barons who had been in arms against the
king. The less formidable of the number were aUowed to redeem.
their estates by paying moderate fines. With regard to Bobert
de Ferrers, the dictum of Kenilworth imposed on him a fine equal
to seven years' rents of his estates. That decree further declared,
that if the parties thus fined did not pay the penalties imposed
upon them, within periods of two, five, and seven years, as fixed
in the dictum, their lands should remain in the hands of those to
whom the king had given them. The lands of Bobert de Ferrers,
as already mentioned, were granted by the king to his own son
Edmund Plantagenet, whom he soon after created Earl of Lancaster ;
and Bobert de Ferrers having faUed to redeem them, they were
soon after granted to Earl Edmund and his heirs, along with the
estates of the deceased earl of Leicester.
The foUowing are copies and extracts of some of the deeds by

358 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE *'
which the estates of Bobert de Ferrers were trassferred to Edmund
Plantagenet, earl of Lancaster : —
" Charter respecting the lands and tenements which were formerly
of B. de Ferrers, earl of Derby.
" Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, &c. — Know
that we have given, granted, and by this our charter confirm to
Edmund our dearest son, the castles and all the lands, with their
appurtenances, which were formerly held by Bob. de Ferrers, late
earl of Derby, who took part with Simon de Montfort, formerly
earl of Leicester, an enemy and traitor, in enterprises in the war
which was recently carried on in our kingdom, by the said Simonj
to destroy and deprive us of our crown ; and which lands of the
said rebels and enemies have been declared forfeited by the com
mon consent and counsel of our nobles and faithful subjects," &c*
On the same day by letters patent, the king commanded the
lands and castles of Bobert de Ferrers to be delivered to his son,
Edmund : —
" For Edmund, the king's son : The king to all greeting, &c.
Know that of our especial favour, we have granted to our dearest
son Edmund, all the goods and chattels which belonged to Bobert
de Ferrers, earl of Derby, on the day of the battle at Chesterfield,
so that he may answer to us for the same at our command. Witness
the king, at KenUworth, the 28th day of June. And it is com
manded to Adam de Gesemuth, the keeper of the lands of the
said Bobert, that the said goods and chattels be delivered to him
as commanded." On the 11th July following, the king issued an order to his
niece Maria, countess of Derby, commanding her to deliver up
the castle of Liverpool, part of the possessions of her unfortunate
husband, to Adam de Gesemuth : —
" On delivering up the castle : The king to his beloved niece,
Maria de Ferrers, countess of Derby, greeting — As we have com
mitted to our beloved and faithful Adam de Gesemuth, the castles
and aU the tenements of Bobert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, to be
kept, so that' he may render account of them to us, we command
you, that you deliver up the castle of Liverpool to the said Adam,
or to WiUiam Syleby, on his presenting these letters to you. —
Witness the king, at KenUworth, the 11th day of July."
On the 5th and 15th of August, in the same year, the king
* Eot Chart. 50 Hen HI.

PAST AND PRESENT. 359

issued two other decrees with regard to the estates of Bobert de
Ferrers ; by the first of which he granted those estates to his son
Edmund, to be held as long as the king pleased ; and by the
second, to be held by him and his heirs for ever. The first of these
is as foUows : —
" For Edmund, the king's son : The king to aU, &c, greeting — -
Know that we have granted to our dearest son, Edmund, aU the
lands and tenements of Bobert de Ferrers, with their appurten
ances, to be held as long as seems good to us. — Witness the king,
at KenUworth, the 5th August.
In addition to the extensive estates of Bobert de Ferrers, earl
of Derby, in South Lancashire and Derbyshire, and those of Simon
de Montfort, earl of Leicester, in other parts of the kingdom,
Edmund Plantagenet received from .his father a grant of the
earldom and honour of Lancaster, with the castle of Lancaster and
the ancient possessions of the honour in North Lancashire.0 He
thus became the founder of the great, aspiring, and ultimately royal
house of Lancaster. This he still further enriched by his marriage
with Avelina de Fortibus, the heiress of the earls of Albemarle,
with whom he obtained great possessions in Yorkshire.
Edmund, the first earl of Lancaster of the Plantagenet family,
retained the earldom to the year 1296, when he died at Bayonne,
in command of one of the armies of his brother, Edward I.
Thomas, the second earl of Lancaster of that fanfily, succeeded
to the earldom on the death of his father, and added immensely
to the wealth and power of the house of Lancaster, by his marriage
with Alicia de Lacy, the only chUd and sole heiress of Henry de Lacy,
constable of Chester and earl of Lincoln, and of Margaret d' Espee-
his wife, who was countess of Salisbury in her own right. By
this marriage, and his paternal inheritance, the income of the
earl of Lancaster was raised to more than £110,000 a year of
present money, independent of receipts, in kind and feudal services.
He was able to raise an army of 20,000 men more than once,
besides garrisoning his Lancashire castles of Lancaster, Clitheroe,
and Liverpool ; the castle of Halton in Cheshire ; those of Ponte
fract, Driffield, and Tickhill in Yorkshire; Tutbury in Staffordshire;
Kenilworth in Warwickshire ; Leicester, Norwich, Beigate, and
several other places, in the West of England. Strong feefings of
rivalry and- hatred existed between himself and his royal cousin
* Rot. Cart. 51 Henry III. 1267.

360 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
Edward IL, which ultimately led to the destruction of both
of them. In the several conflicts of that turbulent time the earl of Lan
caster placed himself at the head of the ancient nobifity of the
kingdom, and in deadly hostility to Piers de Gaveston, and other
unworthy favourites of the king. In the earlier conflicts the king
was compeUed to give way; and was unable to save his favourite
Piers de Gaveston from the block. It was in the neighbourhood
of KenUworth castle, the powerful fortress of the earl of Lancaster,
that Gaveston was put to death by his enemies.
The murder of Piers de Gaveston gave rise to feelings of the
most deadly hatred between the king and the earl of Lancaster,
which did not cease to rage untU they had both perished by
violent deaths. Every year afforded evidence of the malignant
feelings with which they regarded each other.
In the year 1317 the Countess Alice, of Lancaster, eloped from
her husband, with a lover to whom she had been attached previous
to her marriage with the earl of Lancaster. She was taken by
him to the castle of Beigate; and then her lover, with her assent,
claimed her as his wife, pleading a contract of marriage with him
prior to the marriage with the earl, and an actual cohabitation.
He even went so far as to bring an action in the king's court
at Westminster, demanding in her right the earldoms of Lincoln
and Salisbury, of which she was heiress. The earl of Lancaster,
suspecting the king to be a party to the plot against his honour
•and fortune, after demanding satisfaction in vain, assembled an
army of 18,000 men, and compeUed the surrender of his wife.
By the interference of the papal legate another hoUow reconciliation
was effected, at a conference held at Leicester; after which the
king and the earl proceeded to plot each other's destruction with
redoubled fury.
The next few years were spent in intrigues and machinations, and
in the year 1322 open war broke out between the king and the
earl, the latter of whom was supported by a powerful confederacy
of barons, hostUe to the Despensers, who had taken the place of
Piers de Gaveston as favourites of the king. At the commence
ment of the campaign the earl of Hereford, the head of the great
house of Bohun, who was one of the allies of the house of Lan
caster, laid siege to the strong castle of TickhiU, on the borders of
Yorkshire arid Nottinghamshire. The king having also a powerful

PAST AND PRESENT. 361

party amongst the barons, collected an army, and advanced to raise
the siege. In the hope of resisting his advance the earl of Lancaster
marched with his army to Burton-on-Trent, intending to defend
the bridge across the river. This he did for three days, untU
the king succeeded in fording the river higher up the stream. The
earl of Lancaster then advanced to give him battle ; but finding
that the king's army was much more powerful than his own, he
retired hastfiy and in confusion towards Yorkshire. The earls of
Kent and Surrey, the generals of the king, pursued him rapidly;
cut off his communications with Pontefract castle, his chief strong
hold, in the West Biding of Yorkshire ; and occupied Borough bridge,
and the fords of the Eure and the Ouse, before the earls of Lancaster
and Hereford could reach them. The earl of Hereford succeeded
in crossing the river Ouse by a ford, but was kiUed before he could
mount his horse, on the opposite side of the stream; and the earl
of Lancaster, still more unfortunate, was driven back into Borough-
bridge, where he was taken prisoner, with upwards of a hundred
barons, knights, and gentlemen.
The king had now the opportunity of glutting his revenge on his
most dangerous enemy; and did it without scruple or remorse. He
proceeded to the earl of Lancaster's great and almost impregnable
castle of Pontefract, which surrendered immediately after the capture
of the earl There he caused the earl of Lancaster to be brought
before him, and after reproaching him for his perfidy, insolence, and
treason, he ordered him to be tried by the earls of Kent, Bichmond,
Pembroke, Surrey, Arundel, Athol, and Angus. By them he was
found gufity of taking arms against the king at Burton and Borough-
bridge ; and was condemned to be hung, drawn, and quartered as a
traitor. From respect to the blood royal this sentence was changed
for one of decapitation, and that sentence was immediately carried
into effect. The earl was mounted on a half-starved horse, without
saddle or bridle; was conveyed through the streets of Pontefract
with a hood over his head, to an eminence about a mile from the
town ; was there compelled to stand with his face towards Scot
land, with which country he was accused of having treasonable
relations; and was afterwards beheaded by an executioner brought
from London. Several of the knights and some of the barons
whom he had led into the field were put to death shortly after,
with all the penalties of high treason ; but few of the Lancashire
or Cheshire gentry were included in the number. Under the leader-
vol. i. 2 z

362 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
ship of Bobert de Holland they had most of them separated
themselves from the treasonable designs of their unfortunate lord ;
and had refused to foUow him to the field. Some of them, of whom
Bobert de.HoUand was the chief, had even opposed him openly, and
received large rewards for their conduct from bis confiscated estates.
Although there was nothing either in the public or the private
life of Thomas, earl of Lancaster, to entitle him to much respect,
yet his violent and unhappy death created a strong feeling of
sympathy in his favour ; and soon after his death it began to be
reported, that miracles had been performed by his statue or picture
in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The report of these miracles came
to the ear of the king, Edward II. , who addressed the foUowing
curious mandate on the subject to the bishop of London : —
" On the rumour that Thomas, earl of Lancaster, shines with
miracles. — That the said Thomas shaU not be worshipped as a
saint : — The king to the venerable father in Christ, Stephen, bishop
of London, greeting : It is loudly reported throughout the land, to
our great indignation, that many of the people of God committed
to your rule, deceived by a diabolical fraud, worship and adore as
a sacred object a certain picture in your church of St. Paul's, in
London, in which are sculptured the images of several persons, and
amongst them that of Thomas, formerly earl of Lancaster, an enemy
and rebel ; asserting without any authority from the Church of Bome
that it works miracles. This is done to the opprobrium of the whole
church ; to your and our disgrace ; and to the manifest perU of the
souls of the said people. And yet we are told that, though you are
acquainted with these abuses, you have connived at them, for the
lucre of gain, at which we are greatly disturbed in mind. We
therefore command you to look to the same matter, remembering
that the said church stands under our patronage, which is an addi
tional reason why you should look to the protection of our honour
and see that no one shall presume to approach the said picture with
invocations, oblations, or other things pertaining to worship without
the authority of the Church of Bome," &c*
After the death of Thomas, earl of Lancaster, his vast estates
escheated to the crown, and for some time the title of Lancaster
was not heard of; but in a few years Boger de Mortimer and Queen
Isabella became as formidable to the king as the earl of Lancaster
had ever been; and their final triumph, in their contest with the
* Eot. Eom. et Franc. 1 Edward III. m. 4 : Feb. 28, 1327.

PAST AND PRESENT. 363

king, was secured by the accession to their ranks of Henry, earl of
Leicester, the younger brother of Thomas, earl of Lancaster and
Leicester. After the dethronement and murder of Edward IL, aU
the titles and honours of the house of Lancaster were restored to
this Henry, who thus became the third earl of Lancaster.*
The Countess Alice, whose character did not stand high at the
time of her husband's death, was, however, aUowed to enjoy a portion
of his and her own estates. Amongst these was the beautiful castle
of Halton, in Cheshire. In the year of her husband's death the
foUowing mandate was issued in her favour : —
" For Alicia, who was the wife of Thomas, late earl of Lancaster,
Edward the king, greeting : Know that we have given and granted
to Alicia de Lasey, our dear kinswoman, countess of Lincoln and
Salisbury, the castle, town, manor, and honour of Halton, with their
appurtenances, in the county of Chester, to be held for the whole
of her life, with knights' fees and all other liberties, as freely and
entirely as Henry de Lasey, formerly earl of Lincoln, and father of
the said countess, held it in the times of our ancestors, formerly
kings of England. So, however, that after the death of the said
countess, the said manor, &c, may revert to us. Witness, the king,
at York, the 12th day of July, anno 16mo" (1323).
Some years after this the Countess Alice married a private
gentleman, named Ebelo l'Estrange, without the king's licence, in
consequence of which act all the lands which she held in capite
were forfeited. An arrangement, however, was made in the 4th
Edward III., by which a portion of them was restored to her for her
life ; but on her death, without issue, the whole were to pass, and
did pass, to the house of Lancaster, which thus regained aU that it
had ever possessed, both in the counties of Lancaster and Chester,
and in other parts of the kingdom.
Henry, the third earl of Lancaster, was naturally of a quieter
temper than his brother, and he also took warning by his brother's
fate. Moreover, he had to do with a very different king, in the
person of Edward III. from the feeble, vacillating tyrant with whom
his brother had to deal. He was satisfied with the rank and fortune
of the first peer and the wealthiest nobleman of England ; and lived
and died in peace, leaving his immense possessions to his son Henry,
the fourth earl and first duke of Lancaster.
The mandate of the king to the bishop of London perhaps checked
* Eolls of Parliament, 2 & 3 Edward III.

364 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the worship of Earl Thomas' memory during the reign of Edward IL,
but it broke out with increased vigour after his death. In the first
Parfiament of Edward III. the Commons petitioned the king to
apply to the pope for the canonization of Thomas, earl of Lancaster;*
and in compliance with this request the young king addressed a
long letter to the pope in conformity with the prayer of Parliament.
No record appears of any reply to this letter, and it is certain that
this victim of faction never was canonized. As the next best thing,
letters patent, authorizing the buUding and endowment of a chapel,
on the hiU on which Thomas of Lancaster was beheaded, were
issued by the king, and the custody of the chapel was given
to Bobert de Werington, priest, with power by himself and others
to coUect money for the bunding throughout the kingdom.
Some estimate may be formed of the wealth of the house of
Lancaster in the life of Earl Thomas from the items of expenditure
given in his cofferer's or steward's book for the year 1313. From
this book it appears that his expenditure that year amounted to
£7359, 13s. Ofc?. of silver, a sum equal in weight to £22,000 of
present money, and in its power of purchasing commodities to
upwards of £100,000. In the foUowing year the price of a fat ox
was fixed at 24s., and the prices of all other articles were in the
same proportion.
On the accession of Edward III., Henry, earl of Lancaster, was
restored to all the honours and estates of his brother; and the
person of the young king, then a boy of thirteen, was committed
to his charge. On the 7th March, 1327, Parliament reversed the
attainder of Earl Thomas, and declared the judgment passed on him
at Pontefract illegal. By the same vote Earl Henry was adjudged
to be his heir, t A simfiar act of restitution was passed in favour
of the adherents of Earl Thomas.
In the 5th Edward III., Earl Henry of Lancaster obtained an
exemplification of the grants of his grandfather, King Henry III.,
by which the lands of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and
those of Bobert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, were conferred on
his father, Earl Edmund.
In the 7th Edward III. the king ordered a levy of men in the
counties of Lancaster, Cumberland, and Westmoreland,, to resist the
attacks of the Scots on the northern counties; and in the 10th
year of his reign he appointed Henry of Lancaster captain and
* Rot. Pat. 1 Edward III. p. 2, m. 13: June 8, 1327. t Rot. Pat. u. 2, p. 3.

PAST AND PRESENT. 365

leader of his army, about to march against the Scots, and in support
of " his vassal, Edward de Baliol"
In the 11th Edward III., Henry Plantagenet, the son of Earl
Henry of Lancaster, was raised to the rank of earl of Derby during
the life of his father. That Henry, who succeeded his father in
the earldom, and who was afterwards raised to the dukedom of
Lancaster, was one of the greatest warriors of the warlike age of
Edward III., and greatly distinguished himself in the wars which
that monarch carried on in France and Flanders. In consequence
of his valour and skill he was raised to the rank of earl of Derby
in the year 1337-38 by the foUowing order : —
" The king, greeting : Considering the magnanimity, valour, and
skill of our dearest relative, Henry of Lancaster, and by the advice
of our Parliament, at Westminster assembled, we have created
the said Henry earl of Derby, and of the said county we have
given him the name and title, by girding him with the sword of
the said county, for him and his heirs."*
At the same time the king made a grant to the new earl of
1000 marks.
In the foUowing year, 1339, the king proceeded to Flanders, to
plan with the Flemings his operations against France. Before his
departure he appointed the earl of Lancaster associate of his young
son Edward, duke of CornwaU and prince of Wales, whom he had
appointed guardian of the kingdom in his absence. He took with
him as one of his generals and advisers Henry, earl of Derby ; and
having in the course of the campaign occasion to borrow large
sums of money from the Flemings, the earl of Derby consented to
remain in their hands as a personal security for the sums borrowed.
This appears from the foUowing order to the officers appointed to
coUect the revenue from wool, which was at that time the principal
commodity exported from the kingdom : — " The king to the sheriffs,
coUectors, and receivers of wools, and the bailiffs, greeting : Seeing
that our beloved Matthew Canaceon and his companions, the mer
chants of the .order of the Leopards, have undertaken to liberate
our beloved relative and faithful subject, Henry de Lancaster, earl
of Derby, who is detained prisoner in foreign parts on account of
certain debts of ours, we for that favour conferred have granted to
the said Matthew and his associates permission to export 1000
sacks of wool out of the kingdom, to the parts of Flanders, "t
* Eot. Pat. 5 Edward III. p. 2, m. 4. f Eot. Pat. 11 Edward III. p. 3, m. 26.

366 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

In the month of May, 1345, Henry, earl of Derby, was appointed
commander of the king's troops, and lieutenant of the king in the
province of Guienne, in the south of France. This appointment
was made in consequence of the earl's signal success in the previous
campaign. In June, 1344, he had landed at Bayonne, and imme
diately attacked and defeated the French army at Bergere on the
Dordogne. This able general also gained a great victory at Auberoche
against greatly superior numbers. In the spring of the foUowing
year he again returned to Guienne, and was equaUy successful.
Henry, the third earl of Lancaster, died in the year 1345-46, the
19th Edward III., leaving his son Henry, earl of Derby, heir to
his immense estates, and to the earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester,
Derby, Lincoln, and Surrey.
After the death of his father, Henry assumed the title of earl
of Lancaster, and again proceeded to France, where he fought with
great success. Besides the soldiers furnished by the king, he had
in his own pay 800 knights or men-at-arms, and 2000 archers, the
flower of the youth of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Leices
tershire. In these wars he expended £17,000 of his own money,
equal to at least ten times as much of the money of the present
day, in addition to the sums received from the king."""
The king being better able to reward the services of his kinsman
with honours than with money, conferred on him the since famous
title of duke of Lancaster. Up to the reign of Edward III. no English
nobleman, not even the members of the royal famUy, had received
the title of duke from the crown. Edward, the eldest son of
Edward III., better known as the Black Prince, was the first English
duke, by the title of duke of ComwaU; and Henry, duke of
Lancaster, was the second, t And at the same time when Henry
of Lancaster received the honour of dukedom, he also received the
honours of an earl palatine. The foUowing is a copy of the grant : —
" The king, with the assent of his Parfiament, has created Henry,
earl of Lancaster, duke of Lancaster, and has granted to the said
duke, for the whole term of his own life, that he shall have within
the said county his chancery and his writs, to be issued under his
own seal, belonging to the office of chanceUor, his justices likewise,
as weU for the pleas of the crown as for other pleas relating to the
common law, to have cognizance of them, and to have power of
making aU executions whatsoever by his writs and officers ; and
* Eot. Pat. p. 2, m. 15. f Eot. Pat. 11 Edward III. m. 7.

PAST AND PRESENT. 367

to have all other fiberties of royalty of what kind soever appertaining
to a county palatine, as freely and as fully as the earl of Chester
within the said county is known to have."*
Thus by one grant was the earl of "Lancaster at once raised to
the rank of duke of Lancaster, and gifted with fuU palatial powers.
" Counties palatine," says Blackstone, " are so caUed a palatio,
because the owners thereof, the earls of Chester, the bishop of
Durham, and the duke of Lancaster, had in those counties jura
regalia, as fuUy as the king hath in his palace — regulum potestatem
in omnibus, as Bracton expresses it."
The first duke of Lancaster married Isabella, the daughter of
the earl of Beaumont, by whom he had two daughters, Matilda
and Blanche. The eldest of these daughters, MatUda, was married
in the year 1352 to WiUiam, duke of Zealand and Bavaria; the
younger, Blanche, to John of Gaunt, earl of Bichmond, after
wards duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III. Henry,
the first duke of Lancaster, died in the year 1361-62, the 34th
Edward III., of the plague, which was then raging in England,
leaving a high character for valour, liberality, and char-icy. He was
buried at Leicester, according to his own directions, and his immense
wealth devolved on his two daughters.
In the following year, Lady Matilda, the eldest daughter of
Henry, duke of Lancaster, married to the duke of Bavaria, came
to England to claim her share in the inheritance of her father. The
estates were accordingly divided between her and her sister, Lady
Blanche, the wife of John of Gaunt. The Lady MatUda's enjoy
ment of her estates was, however, very brief; for in the words of
Knyghton, describing the events of the year 1362, this year " died
Matilda, duchess of Zealand and Bavaria, countess of Lancaster,
whom the opinion of the vulgar described as carried off by poison,
that the inheritance of the house of Lancaster might again be
united in one person, "t
Whatever may have been the cause of the death of the Lady
MatUda, the effect of her death was to render the Lady Blanche and
her husband, John of Gaunt, the richest subjects in England. On
the death of MatUda, John of Gaunt received the additional title
of earl of Leicester, and with that title the other moiety of the
duke of Lancaster's estates, in addition to the honour of Leicester
and the Savoy palace. J
• Speed, 693. t Knyghton, Col. 2642. J Eot. Pat. 25 Edward III. p, 1, m. 18.

368 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
In the foUowing November John of Gaunt was raised to the rank
of duke of Lancaster in full Parliament^ by the foUowing charter : —
" The king, greeting : Know that we, considering the distin
guished valour and the noble deeds which we see to flourish in
our dear son John, earl of Lancaster, and wishing to provide for
his person according to the greatness of his race, and his own
merits, that by his power and prudence the royal sceptre may shine
more brightly, and his own honour may be exalted and continued,
we give to the same earl the honour of a dukedom, and appoint
him to the duchy of Lancaster, and invest him with the same name
and honour, by the girding him with the sword and the placing of
the coronet on his head, to have and to hold the said name and
honour of duke of Lancaster, for him and his heirs for ever. Where
fore we wiU and command that our aforesaid son shaU have and
hold for himself and his heirs the name and honour of duke of
Lancaster for ever, as above commanded. Witness, and given by
our hand, in full Parfiament, at Westminster, the 13th day of
November, in the 36th year of our reign" (1362-63).*
By another deed the king conferred palatial honours on John of
Gaunt and his descendants within the duchy of Lancaster.
Neither of the daughters of Henry, duke of Lancaster, lived to
enjoy her wealth and state for any considerable time. The Lady
Blanche died in her youth, in the year 1366 ; having, however,
first presented her husband with a son, Henry of Bolingbroke, who
afterwards became king of England.
The death of the Lady Blanche did not deprive John of Gaunt
of any part of the immense inheritance of the house of Lancaster.
All that he had received he retained, and added to it numerous
honours and possessions in England and on the continent. In con
sequence of his brilliant exploits in the French wars he received
the title of duke of Aquitaine; and at a later period the stfil
higher titles of king of Leon and CastUe, but without being able
to obtain the territories of those kingdoms. By the early and
untimely death of his eldest brother, Edward, prince of Wales —
the Black Prince — and by his great superiority in wealth and
influence to his other brothers, he became the actual ruler of England,
during the long minority of his unfortunate nephew, Bichard II.
The first act of that weak and ill-advised prince was to quarrel
with his uncle, John of Gaunt, and with Henry of Bolingbroke, his
* Knyghton, Col. 2626, 1362.

PAST AND PRESENT. 369

son. But the power of the house of Lancaster had by this time
become greater than that of the crown ; and the efforts of Bichard
to shake off the influence and destroy the power of that great famUy
ended in his own dethronement and death.
Henry of Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt by his marriage
with the Lady Blanche Plantagenet, the heiress of the house of
Lancaster, and the possessor of the great estates of the De Bohuns,
earls of Hereford, by his own marriage with Maria de Bohun, heiress
of that great house, was one of the ablest men and best soldiers of
the age in which he lived. He soon became an object of hatred and
jealousy to his cousin, the youthful king, Bichard II. This jealousy
was well founded, and might have been the means of securing the
throne and life of the king had it rendered him more cautious and
circumspect. Unfortunately it served only to render him more rash
and violent. With very little regard to the law of the land, and
in defiance of the respect felt by the people for the house of
Lancaster, he sentenced Henry of Bolingbroke to banishment ; and
on the death of John of Gaunt he seized on the estates of the
house of Lancaster, in defiance of the rights of Henry of Boling
broke. This iUegal and despotic act ended in his own destruction.
About Whitsuntide, in the year 1399, Bolingbroke being stiU
in banishment, King Bichard embarked at Bristol for Ireland, to
revenge the death of his cousin, the earl of Marche, lord-lieutenant
of that country, who had been kUled in a battle with the Irish.
Biehard was proceeding successfully in his first campaign, when he
received the alarming news that his formidable rival, Bolingbroke,
had landed in England. The banished duke being informed of the
departure of the king for Ireland, hired three small vessels at Nantz,
in which he embarked with the archbishop of Canterbury, who had
also been banished by the rash young king, and with a retinue of
about eighty persons. After touching at several places on the coast
of England, and finding everywhere that the people were willing
to rise in favour of the house of Lancaster, Henry Bolingbroke
landed at Bavenspern, at the mouth of the Humber, a place long
since swaUowed up by the encroachments of the sea. There he
was joined immediately by Percy, earl of Northumberland, who was
closely connected with the house of Lancaster by marriage, and who
possessed large estates in Yorkshire, as weU as on the Scottish
border. Thus strengthened by the aid of the Percys, and by his
own Yorkshire and Lincolnshire followers, Bolingbroke advanced to
VOL. I. 3 a

370 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Doncaster, and was there joined by the adherents of his house from
Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire. Advancing southward, the
people everywhere rose in his favour, hoisting the chequered flag,
then the emblem of Lancaster. The duke of York, the uncle both of
Bolingbroke and the king, an old weak man, who had been left in
charge of the kingdom, finding it impossible to resist the torrent
of Lancaster's popularity, broke his staff of office and laid aside all
thought of resistance. Bofingbroke's progress being thus turned
into a triumph, he marched to London, at the head of an army of
60,000 men, and was there received as a deliverer.
Having secured the capital, Bolingbroke advanced on Bristol, and
after a siege of a few days, captured the castle, which was the only
place in the kingdom that offered any resistance to his arms.
The unfortunate and deserted king had in the meantime landed
at Milford Haven, and had proceeded with a few foUowers first to
Caermarthen, and then to Conway castle, in North Wales, then
one of the strongest places in the kingdom. Bolingbroke had
meantime advanced to Chester, and Bichard, by the advice of the
earl of Northumberland, proceeded towards Flint castle, where he
had been invited to hold a conference with Bolingbroke. Whilst
on the road to Flint he was seized by the soldiers of Northumber
land, who had been placed in ambush for the purpose, and was
carried a prisoner to Flint castle. From Flint, Bichard was taken
to Chester, and from Chester to London, where, after having been
exposed- to the insults of the populace, he was conveyed to the
Tower. There he consented — probably in the hope of saving his
fife — to abdicate his throne, which was conferred with the assent
of Parliament on Henry of Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, in
defiance of the superior claims not only of the king, but of the
house of Mortimer, the descendants, by the female fine, of Lionel,
duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III. and the elder
brother of John of Gaunt, through whom Bolingbroke claimed the
throne. The rights of the house of Mortimer passed by marriage
to the house of York, and became the cause of the wars of York
and Lancaster, which desolated the kingdom for nearly 100 years.
As for the unfortunate King Bichard, he was conveyed from the
Tower to the Lancastrian castle of Pontefract, in Yorkshire, where
he was soon after murdered by the jafier or by hired assassins — a
horrible crime, terribly avenged, in after times by the destruction
of all the princes of the house of Lancaster.

PAST AND PRESENT. 371

Henry IV. did not enjoy the crown, which he had wrested from
his unfortunate cousin, either long or peacefully. He died at the
age of forty-seven, and his reign was disturbed by frequent con
spiracies, and more than one dangerous insurrection. The most
formidable of these was the revolt of the Percys, who, after having
done more than any other family to place him on the throne, and
after having been most amply rewarded for their services, became
suddenly discontented, on the refusal of further requests urged in
the spirit of demands, and determined to set up Edward Mortimer,
earl of Marche, the grandson of Lionel, duke of Clarence, as a claimant
to the throne, in place of Henry Bolingbroke.
One effect of the insurrection of the Percys was to bring more
prominently forward Sir John Stanley, the founder of the Lancashire
branch of that distinguished family. This gaUant knight, after
acquiring great reputation in the wars of France, in the reign of
Edward III., had married Isabel, the daughter and heiress of Sir
Thomas Lathom, of Lathom House, the representative of the old
Norman famUy of the Fitz Henrys. The estates which he acquired
by this marriage were all situated in the duchy of Lancaster, and
on the ill-advised attempt of Bichard II. to seize on the estates of
the house of Lancaster, he made common cause with Henry of
Bolingbroke. Sir John Stanley long held the command of the forces
in Ireland ; and it was by his influence that that kingdom was
brought over to the house of Lancaster.
Sir John Stanley, in consequence of numerous services, was appointed
lieutenant of the king, in Ireland, in the first year of the reign of
Henry IV., and also received the manor of Neston, in Cheshire,
which had belonged to John Montague, earl of Salisbury, a resolute
supporter of Bichard II. About three years after the accession of
Henry IV.,' the Percys rose against the king, and advancing from
the north, with all the chivalry of the Northern border, attempted
to join the forces of the house of Mortimer, whose estates were
situated in Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire, and the
Welsh, under Owen Glendower. At this critical moment Sir John
Stanley brought together the adherents of the king in Lancashire
and Cheshire ; and the king and his son, Henry, prince of Wales,
advancing rapidly on Shrewsbury, compeUed the Percys to fight a
decisive battle at that place, before the Welsh and the greater part
of the supporters of the house of Mortimer had time to join them.
In this battle the Percys were defeated and destroyed. After the

372 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
death of Hotspur and the ruin of his cause, his estates, and those
of his father and his uncle, were confiscated. From these the king
made extensive grants to Sir John Stanley, and others of his
adherents ; granting to Sir John Stanley in fee the castle, peel,
and lordship of the Isle of Man, and the dominion pertaining to it.
He further granted, " that the heirs of Sir John Stanley might enter
on the castle and lordship immediately after his death ; " and also
allowed him to buUd a fortified house at Liverpool, from which he
could readUy communicate with the island.
Henry IV., on his accession to the throne, very prudently decided
to keep the great inheritance of the house of Lancaster separate
from the crown lands, and the revenue derived from the jura regalia,
both of which were liable for the expenses of the general govern
ment. He therefore conferred the title of Duke of Lancaster, along
with the titles of Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, on his eldest
son Henry, afterwards Henry V, and induced Parliament to pass
a law on the right of succession to the crown and kingdom, in which
it was provided that the duchy of Lancaster should be held as a
separate inheritance.*
Henry IV. died in the fourteenth year of his reign, and the forty-
sixth of his life, in the year 1413. It appears from the Parliamentary
BoUs of 1 Henry V, that at the time of the death of Henry IV.
his private income amounted to 25,000 marks per annum, equal to
not less than £200,000 a year of our money. This was stfll further
increased in the foUowing year, by an arrangement which provided
that on the death of the queen, who was one of the daughters and
heirs of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, the Bohun estates
should be separated from the crown of England, and united to the
duchy of Lancaster. The annual income of the Hereford property
thus added to the duchy of Lancaster was £1190, equal to about
£10,000 of our present money. t
Henry V. enjoyed the whole of the possessions of the house of
Lancaster, together with those of the earldom of Chester, during
his short and brilliant reign ; and had under his command the princi
pal knights and gentry of the two counties. The gallant yeomen
of the two counties, whose arrows had decided so many battles,
fought at Agincourt and Harfleur, under the command of their
earl, duke, and king.
Henry V died in his third expedition into France, in the year
* Eolls of Par. 2 Henry 3, P: 26, m. 30. f Rot. Par. 3, 580.

PAST A.ND PRESENT. 373

1422, leaving an infant son, of feeble mind and body, to succeed to
a disputed throne in England, and to a ruinous war in France. On
the death of Henry V., his brother Humphrey, duke of Gloucester,
was appointed Protector of the king and kingdom, whilst the charge
of the war in France was committed to his brother John, duke of
Bedford. The duke of Gloucester was allowed the sum of 8000
marks to maintain the cost and dignity of his office; and it was
arranged that 4000 marks of this sum should be taken from the
revenues of the duchy of Lancaster, the inheritance of the infant
king.* It is no part of the object of this work to trace, in detaU, the
history of the long and bloody wars of York and Lancaster. It has
already been mentioned that the claim to the throne of the Mortimers,
the descendants, by the female line, of Lionel, duke of Clarence, was
superior to that of the house of Lancaster, according to the principles
of succession long recognized in this country. These claims were now
settled, in right of his mother, Lady Anne Mortimer, in the person
of Bichard Plantagenet, duke of York, an ambitious and able man,
possessed of the ample estates of the Mortimers,* and strengthened
by marriage alliances with the Nevilles, the Stanleys, the Percys,
and other powerful famfiies. Still these claims would not have
sufficed to overpower the title of the king, derived from long pos
session and the frequent recognition of Parfiament, if Henry VI.
had been a man of even average capacity, and if the public mind
had not been soured by the losses and disgraces of a costly and
unsuccessful war in France. Even these causes might not have
proved fatal to the king, if his beautiful queen, Margaret of Anjou,
had not been as imperious as she was beautiful, and if the waste
of the public means, caused by the war with France, had not been
attributed to the extravagance of the court. The popular insurrec
tion, headed by Jack Cade, and arising out of the discontent of
the populace, was the precursor of the wars of York and Lancaster.
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Henry VI. the whole
revenues of the duchy of Lancaster were appropriated to pay the
household expenses of the king. The order in the original language
of the Act is as foUows : —
" Quod proventus Ducatus Lancasteriae applicatur ad expensos
hospicii Begis.
"Item, for so .much as the Kinge, our Soveragn Lord, havyng
* Rymer's Foedera, vol. 10, p 268.

374 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
knoweliche of grete murmour and clamour that shold be in his
Boiolme of England for non-paiment of the dispensis of his houshold,
graunteth and ordaineth bi th' assente of the Lordes spiritu'U and
temporel, and the Commones of the said Boiolme, in this present
Parlement assembled, and bi auctorite of the same Parlement, that
all the profits, issues, revenues, customes, and comoditees comyng or
for to come of all the castles, honours, maners, lordships, landes,
tenementes, rentes, reversions, services, fraunchises, fibertees, views of
francplege, hundredes, citis, countis, and all other inheritances, posses
sions of the duchie of Lancaster, remayning in his hands, and of his
Duchie of Cornwafile, while the same duchie shall be in his hands,
fro' the fest of Seint Michele, the ArchangeU, last passed, except all
fees, wages, annaytes, reparations, and other charges necessary goinge
out of the same, be ordeined, applied, and emploied to the dispensis
of the same houshold, and delyvered by th' receyvours generall of
the said duchies for the tyme beinge, to the Treasurer of the said
houshold for the tyme beinge, bi indentures therof betwene them to
be made. And that the receyvours generaU of the said duchies,
upon theyr accomp*te aUeweyes shall have allowance and discharge of
thaire payments made by said indentures. And if the same recey
vours make payement in any other wise, than in forme aforesaid,
that then therof they be disalowed upon theire accompte. Saving to
all the Kinge's Lieges, their title, right, and intereste that they have
in the said duchies, or on any parcele therof, this Acte notwith
standing, and that this ordinance endure to the ende of five years
next ensueinge."*
Towards the close of the parliamentary proceedings of the same
year, it appears that the revenue above named would not meet the
expenses of the household, and that consequently there was great
clamour and murmuring. The Commons therefore pray the king to
take one-fourth part of the tenth and fifteenth, which had been
imposed upon the country, for the current expenses, and to " pay
redie money in hand for the expenses of your said housholde, as
ferre as the said money wUl atteyn or stretch to."
At the opening of the Parfiament in the 33 Henry VL, Bichard,
duke of York, was appointed Protector. As we have already men
tioned, he was the lawful heir to the throne through his mother,
who inherited the rights derived from Lionel Plantagenet, the third
son of Edward III. In the foUowing year, however, the Lancastrians
* Eot. Par. vol. 5, p. 7.

PAST AND PRESENT. 375

held a Parfiament at Coventry, at which Bichard, duke of York, was
impeached, together with his principal friends, and amongst them
Thomas, Lord Stanley, who was committed to prison, " there to abide
according to law." In the foUowing year, 39 Henry VL, a Parfia
ment of the Yorkists, held at Westminster, set aside all that had
been done at Coventry.
In the thirty-fourth year of his reign, Henry VI. created his
eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, with all
formalities ; that is, by a coronet on his head, a gold ring on his
finger, and a golden wand. The grant of the county of Chester
contains the words " as fully and entirely as our progenitor, Edward
the Black Prince, or any other earl has held it.'*
In the 39th Henry VL, in the roUs of Parliament (5, p. 383), is
a document noted as " Concerning Ducatum Lancasteriae," in which it
is stated that special officers had been appointed for the management
of the lands of the duchy, and that these officers had been in the
habit of taking great and excessive fees and wages for exercising the
same office. In consequence of these complaints the patents of the
delinquent officers were declared to be void, and the ancient officers
were reappointed, who are described as having " honourably, wisely,
discreetly, and profitably ruled and governed."!
In the same year (5, p. 383) the Commons prayed that aU profits
arising from the duchy of Lancaster may be received by the proper
officer of the duchy, and by him be delivered over to the treasurer
of England "for the necessity and weal of the realm." To this the
king agrees, "saving always that it extend not to anything of the
said duchy, by his Highness put in feoffaint."
In the midst of aU this popular discontent the wars of York and
Lancaster broke out, and continued to rage at intervals for upwards
of thirty years.
In the wars of York and Lancaster the force of Lancashire and
Cheshire was chiefly used in favour of the House of York, except
in the final conflict at Bosworth-field, when it was thrown with
decisive effect on the side of the House of Lancaster. The principal
reason why the influence of the two counties was so used was, that
the house of Stanley, which had already become the most powerful
of-aU the resident families of Lancashire and Cheshire, was closely
connected with the Yorkists ; Thomas, the second Lord Stanley, having
married, as his first wife, Lady Eleanor Neville, daughter of Bichard
* Eot. Par. 5. 290. f Rot. Par. 5. 383.

376 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
NeviUe, earl of Salisbury. This earl of Salisbury was also brother-in-
law of Bichard, duke of York, the claimant of the throne, and father
of the famous Bichard NeviUe, earl of Warwick, the king-maker.
Lord Stanley was thus completely bound up by his family connections
with the Yorkist branch of the Plantagenets, and with the Nevilles,
their great aUies and supporters.
The only battles in the wars of York and Lancashire which were
particularly fatal to the two counties were those of Blore Heath
and Bosworth-field. In these nearly s all the leading famUies of
Lancashire and Cheshire lost one or more of their members.
At the battle of Blore Heath, the Lancastrians again attempted
to prevent a junction between the northern adherents of the house
of York and the foUowers of the house of Mortimer on the Welsh
border, as they had done at the battle of Shrewsbury ; but in this case
they were not equaUy successful.
In the spring and summer of the year 1459, the Yorkists having
determined to claim the throne for Bichard, duke of York, began to
assemble in great force at Middleham castle, in the North Biding of
Yorkshire, the principal residence of Bichard NevUle, earl of Salis
bury, the great leader of their party. AU the feudal retainers of the
Nevilles, and all the partizans of the house of York in those northern
parts, received an intimation to repair to Middleham as soon as the
harvest should be over. Accordingly the end of August in the year
1459 saw nearly 4000 men assembled at Middleham, prepared to
march southward under the command of the earl of Salisbury, and
with him to try the fortune of war.* They proceeded southward
through Craven and the eastern part of Lancashire and Cheshire,
and were joined on their march by Sir Bichard Molyneux, of Sefton
(who was the brother-in-law of Lord Stanley), by Sir Thomas Har
rington of Hornby castle, and by other Lancashire gentlemen. But
Lord Stanley stood aloof; and many of the knights and gentlemen of
Lancashire and Cheshire joined the banner of the house of Lancaster.
Whilst Salisbury was still coUecting his forces in the north, Mar
garet of Anjou, the heroic queen of the feeble-minded king, advanced
boldly to Chester, bringing with her the young prince of Wales and
earl of Chester, then a beautiful boy of only six years old. She was
herself only thirty years of age, and one of the loveliest women of the
time. In answer to her passionate appeals the greater part of the
* The Battle of Blore Heath ; by William Beamont, Esq. : Journal of Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic
Society for the county city, and neighbourhood of Chester. Part II. p. 84.

PAST AND PRESENT. 377

gentlemen of Cheshire joined her cause, and received from her the
emblem of the sUver swan, which had been worn by Henry V, the
conqueror of Agincourt, and the favourite hero of the house of Lan
caster. By the influence of the queen a powerful army was coUected
in Cheshire and Staffordshire, and placed under the command of Lord
Audley, a gaUant Cheshire soldier, who had served with much reputa
tion in the French wars, but who had survived the age of mUitary
vigour. At the head of this army Lord Audley threw himself across
the line of march of the Yorkists, under the earl of Salisbury. The
two armies met on Blore Heath, near Market Drayton, on the borders
of Staffordshire and Shropshire, on the evening of the 22nd Sep
tember, 1459.
On the arrival of the earl of Salisbury and the Yorkists near the
town of Drayton, on the evening of that day, they took their position
for the night on a commanding hfil, which overlooks the river Tern,
the boundary of the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Their
force was not more than 5000 men, and before them was drawn up
the Lancastrian army under Lord Audley, 10,000 strong. Salisbury,
who was much the abler general of the two, avaUed himself most
skUfully of the advantages of the ground. Having in the night placed
the mass of his army in a strong and thickly wooded position on the
brow of a hill, he sent forward his archers at break of day, with orders
to skirmish with the Lancastrians for a short time, and then to fall
back on the position of the men-at-arms. At early dawn, therefore,
on the 23rd September, the archers of Salisbury's army began to
discharge their arrows into Audley's camp ; but being resolutely met
they retreated in apparent confusion across the river Tern, and up the
hills towards Blore Heath. Deceived by this movement, and confident
both in the number and the valour of his troops, Lord Audley ordered
his soldiers to pursue the retreating Yorkists. The Lancastrians
advanced eagerly, and with little precaution, up the heights ; and on
reaching the top were suddenly charged by the whole of Salisbury's
army. Though surprised, the Lancastrians fought desperately for five
hours, at the close of which time they were totally defeated, with a
loss of 2400 of their best officers and bravest men. Lord Audley,
the leader of the Lancastrians, was killed, fighting in the front rank,
by Sir Boger Kynaston, a Shropshire knight. Lord Dudley, the
second in command, with several other knights and gentlemen, was
taken prisoner. The Cheshire men, to whom at their own solicita
tion had been assigned the vanguard, proved themselves worthy of
vol i. 3 b

378 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the distinction ; " and if their sfi ver swans were stained with gore, their
honour remained unspotted as the plumage of the bird whose emblem
was borrowed." It is recorded that they fought bravely and weU.
That so many of the noblest were left on the field was perhaps owing
to the place they had sought in the army. In those times history-
was afraid to record on which side men were arrayed in civU strife,
and out of the numbers of Cheshire men who fought at Blore Heath,
we know only the names of those who fell in the battle, and whom
we have enumerated in the foUowing list : —
Sir Bobert del Booth, of Dunham Massey; Adam Bostock, of
Bostock ; Sir Hugh Calveley, of Calveley ; Sir John Done, of
Utkington ; Bichard Done, of Crowton ; Sir Bobert Downes, of
Shrigley ; Sir Thomas Dutton, of Dutton, son-in-law of Lord Audley ;
Peter Dutton, eldest son of Sir Thomas, kUled fighting by his side ;
John Dutton, of Halton ; Sir John Egerton, of Egerton ; Sir John
Legh, of Booths ; Sir Bichard Molyneux, of Sefton ; Sir William
Troutbeck, of Dunham ; and Sir Hugh Venables, of Kinderton.
Sir John and Sir Thomas Neville, two of the sons of the earl of
Salisbury, and Sir Thomas Harrington, of Hornby castle, another
distinguished Yorkist, were taken prisoners by the king's army at
the battle of Blore Heath. Salisbury's two sons, being severely
wounded, were conducted with Sir Thomas Harrington to Chester,
where they were speedUy released from captivity, by a rising of the
Welshmen in their favour. But short was the triumph of the sur-
vivers. In a few months from the time of the battle of Blore Heath,
the victorious Salisbury was himself taken prisoner, at the battle of
Wakefield, and beheaded the next day ; his head being stuck up over
the gates of York with that of his son-in-law, Bichard, duke of York,
slain in the same battle. Sir Thomas Harrington, of Hornby castle,
was killed in the same fatal battle, and his son, Sir John Harrington,
was so severely wounded that he died on the foUowing day.*
EquaUy short was the triumph of the Lancastrians, for the battle
of Towton, fought on Palm Sunday, 1461, destroyed for a while
all the hopes of that party, and placed Edward IV., the chief of the
Yorkists, firmly on the throne.
Edward IV. having secured the crown proceeded to seize on the
private inheritance of the house of Lancaster, by annexing the
manors, castles, &c. of the duchy to the crown, but perpetuaUy
* The Battle of Blore Heath ; by W. Beamont, Esq. : Journal of Archaeological, &c, Societv of Chester
pp. 94-9-"

PAST AND PRESENT.

379

separate from all its other inheritances, from the 4th March, 1461.
The foUowing is a translation of the principal passage of the deed : —
" And further, it having been ordained with the consent of Parlia
ment, that aU the castles, manors, demesnes, &c, which Henry VI.
had of the duchy of Lancaster are forfeited ; the king, with the
authority of Parfiament aforesaid, has ordained that the same manors,
castles, demesnes, &c, in England, Wales, and Calais shaU be and are
incorporated as the duchy of Lancaster, and be named the Duchy of
Lancaster, and that by the same name they shaU be held separately
from all other hereditaments, by himself and his heirs, kings of
England, for ever. And that the county of Lancaster be a county
palatine, and that the king hold the same county palatine of Lan
caster as a part of the said duchy, and have his seal, chanceUorship,
justices and officers there for the same, and aU kinds of liberties,- jura
regalia, &c, there lawfully used ; and another seal called the seal of
the duchy of Lancaster, and a chancery for the keeping of the same,
and officers and councillors for the same, as Henry V. had in the
same, and that the said officers, and also the tenants and inhabitants
of the same duchy, have the same fiberties that they had in the reign
of Henry V And also that in the same duchy all such fiberties,
franchises, customs, privileges, and jurisdictions be exercised and had,
and in such manner in which they were before used. And that the
officers, ministers, tenants, and inhabitants of the same duchy be
dealt with according to the same fiberties, and not be constrained or
coerced otherwise.""""
In the Act of resumption of the 7th and 8th Edward IV. is the
following exception in favour of the duchy and county palatine of
Lancaster : — " Provided also that this Act extend not to any Act
made for the corporation or name of the duchy of Lancaster, or for
the corporation or name of the county palatyn of Lancaster, or any
annexation of the same county palatyn to the said duchy, nor to
any Act made for the said duchy or county palatyn, or for the officers,
ministers, tenants, inhabitants, or dweUers of or in the same duchy,
or county palatyn ; but that every such Act be of the like force and
effect as it should have been yf this Act had not been made."t
Edward IV, having secured the possessions of the house of Lan
caster, proceeded to grant them for fife to his brother Bichard, duke
of Gloucester, the fierce dark prince who had so often fought by his
side in the wars of York and Lancaster, and who after the king's
* Harl. MS. No. 2115, p. 226, G. f Eot. Par. o. 5, p. 574.

380 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
death, murdered his chfidren and usurped their throne. The foUow
ing is a copy of this grant or warrant, which was addressed to
Thomas, Lord Stanley, then the receiver of the duchy, in the counties
of Lancaster and Chester : —
" Pro Bicardo, Duce Gloucestriae. Edward, Bex, &c. To oure
right trusty and well beloved cousyn, the Lord Stanley, receyvour of
our duchye of Lancastr', within our counties of Lancastr' and Chestr',
and to his deputes ther and either of theyme gretynge.
" And for as moche as we now of late, by our lettres patentes
under the seal of our duchie of Lancastr, have geven and granted
unto our right dere and weU beloved broder, Bechard, due of Glou-
cestr, the honour, casteU, lordship, maner, and hundred of Clytherough
(Clitheroe) ; forests of Blaldienshire and Bowland ; manors of Pen-
wortham, Blaes, Walton, Padyngton, Colne, Penhulton, Werston,
Chatburn, Acryngton, and Haselyngdon, in our countie of Lancastr ;
the manors of Skerton, Overton, Slynes, Bygby and Wira, West
Derby, Crosby ; the castle and towne of Lytherpole ; forestes of
Quernmoor, Amoundernesse, West Darbishire, Blesdale, Wyresdale,
Penhule (Pendle), Bossendale, and Myrescogh ; the parks of Myres-
cogh, Toxtath, and Croxtath, in our said counties ; the casteU, maner,
and lordship of Halton ; the farmes of Buncorn, More, Wydnesse,
Whitlegh, Congleton, in the countie of Chester, with aU their
appurtenances. " We therefor wol (weU) and straitly charge you, that ye immedi
ately after the sight of this our lettres doe paye and contente unto
our said broder, aU the rentes, ferms (farms), issues, profites, and
revenues comen and growen of the saide honour, castelles, maners,
hundrodes, landes, and tenements, with theire appurtenances aforesaid,
from the Feste of St. MicheU, the arkanngle, the eighth year of our
regne hitherto, and that from hensfurth shall come and growe of the
same ; any assignment or assignments therof let before by or for us
to any other persone or persones made notwithstanding. And that
ye from the saide Feste of St. MicheU hitherto and from hensfurth be
accomptant unto our saide broder or his auditors of all th' issues and
profites, rents, and revenues aforesaide, not fayllyng herof, as ye wyU
answere unto us at youre peril. Geven, &c, at Westmr, the 12th
November, the ninth yere of our regne. Per bUlam manu regis
signatum." The large estates thus granted to Bichard, duke of Gloucester,
remained in his possession until the death of his brother, Edward IV.

PAST AND PRESENT. 381

and the murder of his youthful nephews, Edward V. and Bichard,
duke of York, in the Tower. Most of them probably were retained
by him until he paid the penalty pf his crimes on the bloody field
of Bosworth. The overthrow of Bichard III. was chiefly brought about by Lord
Stanley and Sir William Stanley, both of whom had been steady
supporters of the house of York, during the reign of Edward IV,
but who shrank with horror from an usurper, stained with the blood
of his brother's children. They were, however, compeUed to act with
the utmost caution ; for Lord Strange, the son of Lord Stanley, was
in the hands of the tyrant, and their own lives were in the
utmost perfi.
It was on the 7th August, 1485, that Henry Tudor, earl of Bich-
mond, afterwards King Henry VII., landed at MUford Haven, and
was eagerly welcomed by an army composed of his Welsh country
men, and of many English adherents of the house of Lancaster.
Henry Tudor was one of the descendants of John of Gaunt, duke of
Lancaster, by Catherine Swinford, and was accepted by the Lancas
trians as the lawful representative of that great house, though the
legitimacy of the immediate descendants of that connection was very
doubtful. His mother, the countess of Bichmond, was married to
Lord Stanley, a circumstance which rendered the position of the
Stanleys still more perUous, and probably ultimately decided them to
risk everything in support of Henry Tudor.
Bichard III., who was one of the most skilful and experienced
leaders of that age, on hearing of the landing of the earl of Bichmond
in South Wales, collected an army of 20,000 men at Leicester, near
the centre of the kingdom, and waited the attacks of his enemies.
To the last he seems to have hoped that Lord Stanley would join
him, with the forces of Lancashire, Cheshire, and North Wales,
rather than risk the life of his son ; and to the last Lord Stanley,
in the hope of saving his son's life, deluded the murderous tyrant
with the hope that he would do so.
On the 21st of August, 1485, the earl of Bichmond reached
Tamworth, in Staffordshire, within a few mfies of the position held
by Bichard's army, on the borders of Leicestershire. Lord Stanley
had meanwlnle coUected the forces of Lancashire at Lathom house,
by order of the king, and had advanced to Northwich, in Cheshire,
where he was joined by his brother, Sir WiUiam Stanley, with the
forces of Cheshire and North Wales. From Northwich the united

382 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE I
forces moved on to Stone, in Staffordshire, and then to Stafford,
where Lord Stanley secretly opened communications with the earl
of Bichmond. From Stafford, Lord Stanley marched to Lichfield
and Atherstone, finally taking a position, on the night before the
battle, in a vaUey near the latter town, from which he could join
either army on the following day.
The battle of Bosworth-field was commenced early in the morning
by the advance of the forces of King Bichard, led by the duke of
Norfolk and the earl of Shrewsbury, on the army of the earl of Bich
mond, commanded by the earl in person, and by John de Vere, earl
of Oxford, an able and experienced soldier. It was not until these
forces had become engaged that the army of Lord Stanley and Sir
Wfifiam Stanley quitted the ground that it had held at the beginning
of the battle, and rushed upon Bichard's army, the archers sending
flights of arrows into the ranks of the enemy. Desperate as the
position of Bichard was rendered by this double attack, he held
his ground for some hours, and even made a violent effort to bring
the earl of Bichmond to a personal combat. At that moment the
attack of the Lancashire and Cheshire forces became irresistible, and
bore down all opposition. Bichard was surrounded and slain, fighting
desperately to the last. A crown or coronet which was found in his
tent was placed on the head of Henry Tudor, by Lord Stanley and
Sir William Stanley, who were joined by the whole army in proclaim
ing him king of England, by the title of Henry VII.

PAST AND PRESENT. 383

CHAPTEB IV.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE UNDER THE HOUSE OE TUDOR.
Although the marriage of Henry Tudor with Elizabeth Planta
genet united in one family the rival claims of the houses of York
and Lancaster, and on the birth of an heir to the throne united them
in one person, yet it did not at once put an end to the struggles of
the two great factions, which had been arrayed against each other for
upwards of eighty years, under the banners of those two houses.
The partisans of the house of York were stiU strong in many parts
of the kingdom, and had powerful allies in Ireland, Scotland, and
more especiaUy in Flanders, where the duchess of Burgundy, the
sister of Edward IV, made it the object of her life to plot the over
throw and destruction of the house of Lancaster. The schemes of
the enemies of the house of Tudor were greatly aided by the conduct
of the king himself, who was so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
the Lancastrian faction as to insist on resting his claim to the throne
on his own most doubtful title, to the exclusion of the very superior
title of his queen, whose undoubted claim to the inheritance of the
house of York, if properly urged, might have induced the Yorkists to
submit to the rule of her husband, without direct resistance. The
consequence of the exclusive assertion of the Lancastrian claims was
to keep up the excitement of the Yorkist faction, and to render many
of them ready again to try the fortune of war, which had so often
declared in their favour during the conflicts between the two houses.
A head only was wanted ; and in the absence of legitimate represent
atives of the house of York, many persons were found ready to main
tain the rights of two notorious pretenders. One of these, Lambert
Simnel by name, claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, earl of Warwick,
the son and heir of George, duke of Clarence, the younger brother of
Edward IV. ; the other, Perkin Warbeck, claimed to be Bichard
Plantagenet, the second son of Edward IV. himself. The pretensions
of the first of these claimants to the throne brought an invading
army to the shores of Lancashire ; whilst the claims of the second
brought the most distinguished soldier and the wealthiest proprietor
of Lancashire and Cheshire to the block.

384 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Lambert Simnel, the pretended earl of Warwick, was trained by
Bichard Simon, an intriguing priest at Oxford, to act the part of the
son of George, duke of Clarence — the real earl of Warwick being at
that time a close prisoner in the Tower. His claims would not have
attracted a moment's notice if it had not been for the support which
he received from the duchess of Burgundy, the sister of Edward IV
Having been recognized by her, and furnished with money, and with
a body of about 2000 soldiers, commanded by Martin Schwartz, a
Flemish officer of some reputation, the false earl of Warwick landed in
Ireland, where he was eagerly received as a true prince, and welcomed
by the numerous adherents of the house of York, from the lord-deputy,
the earl of KUdare, to the lowest of the people. He there raised
a considerable body of Irish troops, which, however, were more formi-
able from their natural courage than from their arms and equipments.
With this mixed host of Irish and Flemings, Martin Schwartz and
the pretended earl of Warwick landed in the north of Lancashire, in
the harbour of the Pile of Foudry, and erected their standard on a
wUd moor near Ulverstone, which still bears the name of Schwartz
Moor. The pretender was there joined by Sir Thomas Broughton of
Furness, with some of his own tenants, and of those of the Harringtons
of Hornby castle, who, like the Broughtons, had stood by the house
of York from the commencement of the wars of the Bed and White
Bose. After remaining for a short time in that remote district, the
invading army marched eastward to the city of York, where it was
joined by a few more of the adherents of the house of York. The
most important of these was John De la Pole, earl of Lincoln, a true
Plantagenet by the mother's side, and so closely connected with the
crown that Bichard III. was said to have intended to adopt him as
his own heir and the heir to the throne. Had the insurrection suc
ceeded, the earl of Lincoln would probably have taken the place of
Lambert Simnel. A few other persons, deeply committed to the
Yorkist party, including Lord Lovel, the minister and favourite of
Bichard III., joined the invaders ; but the number of Englishmen
-who were willing to share their fortunes was never large.
King Henry VII., on hearing of the approach of the invading
forces, brought together a considerable army at Stafford, where it
was joined by the earl of Shrewsbury and Lord Strange, the son of
the earl of Derby, with 5000 to 6000 men. The two armies met at
Stokefield, near Newark, on the 6th June, 1487. The followers of
the pretended earl of Warwick and real earl of Lincoln, knowing

PAST AND PRESENT.

385

that they had nothing to hope for in the way of pardon, fought with^
the most desperate courage for three or four hours, but were finally
defeated and destroyed, leaving 4000 men dead on the field of battle.
Of the chiefs of the rebel army, the only one who survived was Lam
bert Simnel himself. The earls of Lincoln and Kildare, Lord Lovel,
Martin Schwartz, and Sir Thomas Broughton were amongst the
slain. The most notable prisoners were Lambert Simnel, and Simon,
the priest of Oxford, who had trained him to act the part of earl
of Warwick. The king had the magnanimity to spare the life of
Lambert Simnel ; and, in derision of his claims, made him a cook in
the royal kitchen. The life of the priest Simon was spared, but he
was long kept a prisoner. Many other persons of lesser note were
punished either with death, or with fine and confiscation. The king
rewarded the services of the Stanley famUy, by conferring on the earl
of Derby the estates of Sir Thomas Broughton in Furness.
A few years later a more plausible impostor appeared in the
person of Perkin Warbeck, claiming to be Bichard, duke of York,
the younger son of Edward IV. His story was that the murderers
who kUled his brother, the youthful Edward V, in the Tower, had
taken pity upon him, and had spared his fife. He is said to have
greatly resembled King Edward IV in person, and it is not impro
bable that he was an Ulegitimate son of that licentious prince.
The only manner in which the conspiracy of Perkin Warbeck is
connected with the history of Lancashire and Cheshire, is by the
disastrous effects which it produced on the fife and fortunes of Sir
William Stanley, the brother of the first earl of Derby of the Stanley
family, and, next to the earl, the most distinguished soldier and the
greatest landowner of the two counties. The early part of the
history of Perkin Warbeck's conspiracy greatly resembles that of
Lambert Simnel's; and, indeed, it is probable that they were both
got up by the same skfiful intriguer, the duchess-dowager of Bur
gundy. Like Lambert Simnel, Warbeck was recognized by her as a
true Plantagenet ; and as such he was also recognized in Ireland and
in Scotland, in the latter of which countries he was received as a real
prince, and was aUowed to marry a Scottish lady of high rank and great
beauty, Lady Catherine Gordon. He was also aUowed to march
across the border at the head. of a Scottish army. No one could have
less deserved these honours ; for when Warbeck ultimately landed in
the south of England, he showed a total want both of courage and
military conduct.
VOL. I, 3 Q

386 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
It is very doubtful whether any of the English Yorkists of rank
and influence took part with Perkin Warbeck, though several were
executed on suspicion of favouring his cause, and amongst them Sir
Wfifiam Stanley, the brother of the earl of Derby, to whom and to
his brother the king owed, not only his throne, but his fife.
The instrument of Sir. Wfifiam Stanley's destruction was Sir
Bobert Clifford. This man was either a spy and informer, who had
entered into the service of Perkin Warbeck at the instance of the
king, for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of his secrets and
those of his adherents ; or he was a double-faced traitor, who had
first deserted the king for the pretender, and afterwards betrayed the
secrets of the pretender to the king. It was on his information that
the king acted, in seizing on several of the leading Yorkists, amongst
whom were Lord Fitzwalter, Sir Simon Badcliffe, Sir Simon Mount-
ford, Sir Thomas Thwaites, and WiUiam Daubigny, all of whom were
tried for conspiring to dethrone the king, and were beheaded as
traitors. But the most important of the victims of Sir Bobert
Clifford was Sir William Stanley, who was charged with having
spoken words which in that age were held to be equivalent to
treason. What Sir Wfifiam Stanley was charged with having said
was, " That if he was sure that Perkin Warbeck was King Edward's
son, he would never bear arms against him." These words, though
far from bearing a treasonable character, and though reported by a
spy and informer, were sufficient to destroy Sir William Stanley.
On this charge he was arraigned for high treason, was found gufity
of that offence, and was beheaded as a traitor.
After the murder of Sir WiUiam Stanley, it was stated, in hope of
extenuating the gufit and odium ©f those who had destroyed him,
that Sir WiUiam had for some time been Ul affected towards the
king. It was further stated that his Ul-wiU arose from the circum
stance of his having been refused the earldom of Chester, to which
he was said to have aspired. His real offence was that he and his
family were too powerful, and too rich, not to excite the jealous fears
of the king. Sir William Stanley, and his brother the earl of Derby,
had been the means of dethroning Bichard III., and of placing the
crown on the head of King Henry; and it was feared that the
Stanleys might aspire to the office of king-makers, and might attempt
to dispose of the crown, as their relative, the great earl of Warwick,
had so often done during the wars of York and Lancaster. The
possession of a vast amount of power and wealth was the real offence

PAST AND PRESENT. 387

of Sir William Stanley, who, whether he sought the title of Earl of
Chester or not, possessed the greater part both of the power and
wealth of that great earldom, as his brother, the earl of Derby,
possessed great part of the power and influence of the earls and
dukes of Lancaster. This union in one famUy of powers which might
be dangerous, especially to a king reigning by a doubtful title, was
the real offence of Sir WiUiam Stanley. Something also was due to
his immense wealth, which surpassed that of any other subject of the
crown. When the castle of Holt, on the river Dee, which was the
principal residence of Sir WiUiam Stanley, was seized by the officers
of the crown, there was found there 40,000 marks of silver, together
with immense quantities of plate, jewels, and other effects. All these
were confiscated, and went to swell the hoards of the king, which at
the time of his death amounted to £1,800,000, a sum then equal to
ten times as much of the money of the present day.
After having destroyed one of the brothers of the house of Stanley,
the king spared no pains to conciliate the other; and in the year
after the death of Sir WiUiam Stanley, he determined to pay a visit
to his mother, the countess of Derby and Bichmond, and to the earl
of Derby, at Lathom house. An account has been preserved of this
royal progress, from which it appears that the king left London, or
Windsor, about the 20th June, 1496, and that he arrived on the
borders of Cheshire on the 16th of July. On that day he lodged at
the ancient abbey of Combermere, in later times the residence of the
gaUant viscount who took his title from that place. On the following
day the king went to Holt castle, the principal seat of the unfortunate
Sir William Stanley. On the day following he proceeded to Chester,
in which ancient city he was received with great honours, where he
remained tiU the 23rd of July. From Chester the king went through
Delamere Forest to the abbey of Vale Boyal, on the banks of the river
Weaver. From Vale Boyal he proceeded, by way of Warrington,
to Lathom house, where he remained as the guest of the earl and
countess of Derby untU the beginning of the month of August. On
the 3rd of August the king was at Knowsley. On the 4th he pro
ceeded to Warrington ; on the 5th to Manchester ; and on the 6th to
Macclesfield. On the 8th the king was at Newcastle-under-Lyne ;
and travelling slowly from that place, by way of Stafford, Derby,
Nottingham, Northampton, Woodstock, and Oxford, he reached
Windsor on the 1st October.
The reign of Henry VII. was the only interval of even com-

388 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

parative peace enjoyed by the kingdom during the whole of the
fifteenth century. The struggle between Henry Bolingbroke and
King Bichard IL, out of which the wars of York and Lancaster
afterwards grew, took place in the year 1400 ; and from that time to
the battle of Bosworth-field, fought on the 22nd of August, 1485,
England was scarcely ever free either from internal tumult or from
foreign war. The reign of Henry VII. was not interrupted by any
more formidable internal commotions than those raised by Lambert
Simnel and Perkin Warbeck ; and although the king, for the purpose
of amusing the minds of his people and opening their purses, more
¦ than once threatened to lead an army into France, and again to assert
the claims of Edward III. and Henry V to the crown of France, he
had too much prudence ever to engage in so costly and hopeless an
enterprise. To the end of his reign, however, he made this an excuse
for asking for money from his Parliament ; and one of the acts of his
last Parliament was to make grants of money to meet the expenses of
the marriage of Henry's eldest daughter with the king of Scotland,
of the knighting of his eldest son, and of " the great and inestimable
charges" which he had incurred for the defence of the kingdom.
Two "reasonable aids," producing together the sum of £40,000,
were granted for these purposes ; and the contribution of Lancashire
towards that amount was found to be £318 2s. 3\d.
On the accession of Henry VIII., the youthful king, inflamed by
the love of military glory, led a powerful army into France, and thus
laid his kingdom open to one of the most formidable attacks ever
made on it by the kings of Scotland. In the month of August, 1512,
the 4th Henry VIII., the king being absent in France, with the earl
of Derby and many of his nobles, it became known that James IV,
king of Scotland, was about to invade England with the whole mfii-
tary force of his kingdom. To meet this threatened invasion, the
king issued a proclamation, in which he stated that, confiding in the
loyalty, wisdom, valour, industry, experience, and integrity of Thomas
Howard, earl of Surrey, treasurer and marshal of England, he had
commissioned him to raise and muster all persons able to bear arms
in the counties of York, Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Lanca
shire ; to arm them, review them, and to march them where he saw
necessary to suppress the attempts of the Scots.* In reply to this
summons the whole nfilitary strength of the six northern counties,
aided by the knights and gentlemen of Cheshire, who came forward
* Eymer's Foedera, v. 13, p. 359.

PAST AND PRESENT. 389

without being summoned, rose in arms, and marched to meet the
Scottish army, which had already crossed the border. The earl of
Derby being with the king in France, the Lancashire and Cheshire
men assembled under the command of his son, Sir Edward Stanley.
They formed the left wing of the English army at the battle of
Flodden-field ; and according to aU the accounts that have been pre
served of that terrible battle, took a great, if not the greatest part, in
deciding the victory.
The battle of Flodden-field is familiar to every one from the noble
poem in which Scott, one of the greatest poets of Scotland, has im
mortalized the brave men who conquered or feU in that terrible conflict.
The services of all the leaders in this great battle were liberally
acknowledged by the king. The earl of Surrey had the ancient title
of his famfiy, the dukedom of Norfolk, restored to him ; Sir Edward
Stanley was made a baron, by the title of Lord Monteagle ; and
letters were addressed by order of the king to Sir Bichard Moly-
neux, of Sefton ; Sir Bichard Norris, of Speke ; Sir Bichard Ashton,
and others, thanking them for their services in the battle.
From the battle of Flodden-field to the commencement of the
Beformation this part of the kingdom enjoyed both internal and
external peace. On the Scottish border aU remained tranqufi ; and
King Henry VIII. soon became weary of the war with France, and
concluded a peace, which was mutually advantageous to the two coun
tries. During this period, as weU as during the reign of Henry VII.,
the kingdom increased in population and wealth ; the soil began to
be cultivated with greater skill ; and the woollen and other manufac
tures began to flourish in the towns and larger villages. Everything
promised a tranquil reign for Henry VIII., the first king who had
ruled in England with an undisputed title for more than a hundred
years. In the middle of his reign, however, the king became involved
in a violent quarrel with the pope, which ended in the overthrow of
the papal authority in England, and in the ultimate establishment of
new forms of religion, after many years of internal discord.
In the counties of Chester and Lancaster the Boman Catholic
party was extremely strong, both in numbers and in property ; and
it was with great difficulty that the principles of the Beformation
were established in those counties. For a considerable time the only
zealous adherents of those doctrines were found amongst the town
population of Manchester and Liverpool, both of which places began
to rise into importance about this time.

390 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The first open rupture between the adherents of the king and the
pope in England was foUowed by the suppression of the monasteries.
These were powerful everywhere, and were unusually numerous,
wealthy, and powerful in the northern counties. In Lancashire and
Cheshire especially, religious houses of great wealth and influence
existed in every district, and exercised a most powerful influence
both over the minds and fortunes of aU classes of the people. The
foUowing is a slight sketch of the several monasteries which existed
in the counties of Lancaster and Chester at the time of the Befor
mation, and which were then swept away by order of the king.
In the northern part of the county of Lancaster, the abbey of
Furness, founded by Stephen, earl of Morton and Boloigne (after
wards King Stephen), in the year 1127, and richly endowed by
succeeding earls of Morton, kings of England, and by the neigh
bouring landowners, ruled with almost regal sway over the hUls
and vaUeys of Furness. The revenue of the abbey at the time of the
dissolution was valued, according to Speed, at £966 7s. 10d., a sum
equal to not less than £10,000 of the money of the present day.
At Cartmell, in the same district, there was a priory of Austin
canons, founded by WiUiam MareschaU, the celebrated earl of Pem
broke, in the year 1188, which was dedicated to the Virgin, and at
the time of the dissolution was valued at £212 lis. 10c?.
At Conishead, near Ulverstone, was another priory of Austin
canons, founded in the time of Henry IL, and liberally endowed by
William de Lancaster, baron of Kendal. This priory was also dedi
cated to the Virgin, and at the time of the Beformation consisted of
a prior, of ten monks, and thirty-eight servants. It was valued at
£161 5s. 9c?.
At Lancaster was an alien priory, founded by Earl Boger, of
Poictiers, immediately after the Norman conquest, that is to say, in
the year 1094, and granted by him, along with the church of St.
Mary at Lancaster, and other churches, lands, and tithes in that
county, to the abbey of St. Martin de Sees, in Normandy, founded
by the father and mother of Earl Boger. At the dissolution of the
alien priories, the priory of Lancaster, with the land belonging to it,
was annexed to the abbey of Sion, in Middlesex. The value was
£80 a year.
There were also three other religious foundations at Lancaster : —
First, a hospital for a master, chaplain, and nine poor persons, whereof
three were to be lepers, founded by John, earl of Morton, afterwards

PAST AND PRESENT. 391

King John ; second, a house of Dominican or Black friars, founded
about the 44th Henry III., by Sir Hugh Harrington, knight; third,
a friary for Franciscan or Grey friars, near the bridge.
At Hornby, in the vaUey of the Lune, was a priory, with a prior
and three canons. It was dedicated to St. Wilfred, was attached to
the abbey of Croxton, in Leicestershire, and was of the value of £26
per annum.
At Cockersand was an abbey, which was first a hermitage, then
a hospital, but was raised to the rank of an abbey in the year 1190.
It was founded, or chiefly endowed, by William de Lancaster, baron
of Kendal, in the reign of Henry II. The abbey of Cockersand con
tained at the time of the dissolution twenty-two monks and fifty-
seven servants. It was of the value of £282 7s. 7d.
At Cockerham there was a priory.
In Wyresdale there was a Cistercian abbey founded about in 1188.
At Longridge was an ancient hospital dedicated to the Virgin.
There was there a master and brethren.
At Lytham there was a Benedictine ceU, founded by Bichard Fitz
Boger in the reign of Bichard I. It belonged to the cathedral of
Durham, was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Cuthbert, and was of
the value of £53 15s. 10c?.
At Preston there were two religious foundations. The first was
an ancient hospital, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen ; the second was
a priory of Grey friars, founded by Edmund Plantagenet, the first
earl of Lancaster.
At Penwortham, near Preston, was a Benedictine priory, founded
by Warine de Boiseul, baron of Penwortham, in the reign of William
the Conqueror. It was attached to the abbey of Evesham, in Wor
cestershire, and was of the yearly value of £114 16s. 9c?.
At UphoUand, near Wigan, was a Benedictine priory, founded by
Sir Bobert HoUand in the reign of Edward III., and dedicated to St.
Thomas the Martyr. There were there five monks and twenty-six
servants ; and the priory was valued at £78 12s. 0c?.
At Burscough, near Ormskirk, was a priory of Black canons,
founded by Bobert Fitz Henry, lord of Lathom, in the reign of
Bichard I. It was dedicated to St. Nicholas ; consisted of a prior,
five monks, and forty servants; and its value was £129 Is. 10c?.
At Whalley, near Blackburn, was a splendid abbey, founded by
the De Lacys, earls of Lincoln and constables of Chester. The
original site of this abbey was at Stanlow, in Cheshire ; but in the

392 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
year 1296 it was removed to Whalley. This abbey was dedicated
to the Virgin ; and at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries
its revenues were of the yearly value of £551 4s. 6 c?.
At KershaU, or Kyrkshaw, was a Cluniac ceU. King Henry II.
granted, and King John confirmed, to the monastery of Notting
ham the hermitage of this place, which became a small house of
Cluniac monks.
At Warrington there was a friary of Austin friars, founded before
the year 1379.
At Manchester was a cdUege founded by Thomas De la Warr,
rector of the parish of Manchester, and representative of the Lords
De la Warr, barons of Manchester. In the 9th Henry V, Thomas
De la Warr obtained permission to make the church collegiate, with
a warden and a certain number of priests. This church was dedi
cated to the Virgin, and was of the value of £213 10s. lie?. The
coUege was dissolved in 1547 by King Edward VI. ; but was
re-founded, first by Queen Mary, afterwards by Queen Elizabeth
in the year 1578, and again by King Charles I., in the year 1636,
for a warden, four fellows, two chaplains, four singing men, and four
choristers. These were incorporated as the warden and fellows of
Christ Church, in Manchester.
In addition to the above religious houses, there were chantries
in aU the principal churches in Lancashire, in which prayers were
offered up for the souls of the departed. Amongst these were
chantries in the churches of Wharton and Kirkby Ireleth ; four
chantries in the church of St. Nicholas and St. Mary at Liverpool ;
one each at Eccleston, at Sefton, and at Croston ; four at Man
chester ; one at Burscough, at Ormskirk, and at Eccles ; two at St.
Michael's on Wyre ; two at Halsall ; one each at Lancaster, at
Holfingfare, at Standish, and at Warrington; one at Preston, another
at Bibchester ; a third at SUverdale ; and a fourth at Clitheroe. The
right of sanctuary also existed at Manchester, where, however, it
was regarded as an intolerable nuisance.
The most celebrated of the monastic houses of Chester was the
abbey of St. Werburg; in the city of Chester, now forming the
cathedral of that ancient city. This abbey was founded in the time
of the Saxon kings, but was reorganized by Archbishop Anselm, and
richly endowed by Hugh Lupus, soon after the Norman conquest.
It was celebrated for the possession of the shrine and the remains
of St. Werburg, a female Saxon saint, which were believed to have

PAST AND PRESENT. 393

the power of working miracles. At the time of the dissolution of
the monasteries the abbey of St. Werburg was of the yearly value
of £1073 17s. 7d.
The abbey of Vale Boyal, on the banks of the river Weaver, was
founded by King Edward I., who was the first earl of Chester of
that royal line. It was liberaUy endowed by him and by others,
and at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries was of the
value of £540 6s. 2d.
The priory of Birkenhead was founded by Hamo de Masci,
the founder of the famfiy of the Masseys of Dunham-Massey, in
Cheshire. The priory possessed large estates in Wirral, and a right
of ferry across the river Mersey from Birkenhead to Liverpool, value
£102 16s. 10c?.
The abbey of Stanlow, on the banks of the Mersey, was founded
by the De Lacys, of Halton castle ; but the site being found
unhealthy, the abbey was removed to WhaUey, in Lancashire.
The priory of Norton, near Buncorn, was also founded by the
De Lacy famfiy; At the time of the dissolution it was of the
value of £258 lis. 8c?.
The abbey of Combermere, in the southern border of Cheshire,
was founded by Hugh de Malbedeng, in 1133. At the time of the
dissolution of the monasteries it was of the yearly value of £255.
It wfil be seen from the above statement that the monastic
houses were scattered over the whole of Lancashire and Cheshire,
from Furness to Combermere ; and that chantries existed in all the
principal churches of the two counties. In addition to these founda
tions within the two counties, the abbeys of St. Peter's in Shrews
bury, Merevale in Warwickshire, Dieulacres in Staffordshire, and
other religious houses in other parts of the kingdom, also held large
possessions in Lancashire and Cheshire. The monks were in general
indulgent and peaceful landlords ; and the religious houses had many
and powerful friends amongst the gentry and yeomen, and some even
in the town population. The suppression of the smaUer religious
houses, coupled with the denial of the pope's supremacy, and other
measures, by which the English Church was placed in direct antago
nism to the Church of Bome, produced a violent commotion in all
parts of England, and especially in the northern counties, in which
the religious houses were more than usually numerous and powerful,
and the population more than usually weU-affected to the Church
of Bome. Shortly after the rupture of the king with the pope,
vol. i. 3d

394 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
a violent insurrection, in opposition to the measures of the king,
broke out in Yorkshire and Durham, and spread into the north of
Lancashire. There it was arrested by the firmness of Edward,
earl of Derby.
The insurrection known as the " PUgrimage of Grace " broke out
in Yorkshire and Durham in the year 1535, and spread through
the district of Craven, down to the abbey of Sawley in Bibblesdale.
A similar insurrection also broke out in Furness and the other parts
of Lancashire lying to the north of Lancaster, and threatened to
spread through the whole country. The earl of Derby, on hearing
of these risings, assembled the strength of Lancashire at Preston,
and there presented so strong a front that the insurgents shrank
from the contest, and gradually broke up and dispersed. After
the suppression of this rising, John Paslaw, the abbot of Whalley,
was convicted of high treason, and hung in front of the abbey.
Wfifiam Trafford, abbot of Sawley, and the prior of the same place,
were executed at Lancaster, along with John Castegate and Wfifiam
Haydocke. This insurrection, instead of saving the monasteries,
only hastened their ruin. Commissioners were appointed to inquire
into the abuses of the greater monasteries, who drew up against
them a most formidable bUl of indictment, charging the abbots,
priors, and monks with incontinence, idolatry, and many other
offences. How far these charges were true is perhaps doubtful;
but Henry VIII., his advisers, and his Parliament held them to be
proved, and the greater monasteries, like the smaller, were dissolved.
Their property was disposed of,, in some cases by sale, and in
others by gift to favourites of the erown. Moderate pensions
were granted to many of the heads of these houses, and to the
monks and nuns.
The latter years of the reign of Henry VIII. were more peaceful
than might have been expected, from the course of his life and the
spirit of his rule. The spirit of the nobility and the power of the
church were bent, if not broken, by his stern and mercUess assertion
of the royal prerogative ; but he was rather popular than otherwise
with the middle and humbler classes of the people, who had long
suffered from the tyranny of those two classes, and were not sorry
to see them humbled.
Towards the end of the reign of Henry VIII. another war broke
out with Scotland, in which the Lancashire and Cheshire gentry
and people were again caUed to arms. This happened in the 36th

PAST AND PRESENT. 395

Henry VIII., 1544, in which year a powerful English army entered
Scotland, and took the city of Edinburgh. A number of books,
taken and brought away by Sir WiUiam Norris, knight, of Speke,
near Liverpool, are still in existence in the Athenaeum Library in
that town, containing the foUowing inscription, in the language of
the age, written by Sir Wfifiam Norris himself: —
" Md' Yt Edin Borow wasse wone ye viii. daye of May in ano
xxxvi. H [enry] et ano Dni m0ccccc0xlfifi. and yt this boke, Bartolus
sup. pern, de gesti veteris was gottyn and broughte awaye by me
Willm. Norres of the Speike Th. ye xi. day of Maye foursaide, and
now ye boke of me ye foursaid Sr Willm. geven and by me left
to remayne at Speke for an heireloume. In witness whereof wreityn
this, set my none hande and subscbed my name,
P. me Willm. Norres, Mifit."
The short reign of Edward VI. was chiefly remarkable for the
progress made by the Beformation, and for another short but bloody
war with Scotland. In the year 1547 aU Lancashire and Cheshire
were again in arms, and marched into Scotland under the duke
of Somerset. They encountered the Scottish army at Musselburgh
or Pinkie Clough, and after a desperate battle put it to the route.
William Norris, the eldest son of the Sir William Norris, of Speke,
mentioned above, was killed in this battle in a rash attack on the
Scottish pikemen. His father survived the battle, and brought
back to Speke the banner of David Boswell, of Balminto, whose
sons were slain at Musselburgh.*
In the reign of Queen Mary the events in the history of Lan
cashire and Cheshire were chiefly connected with the temporary
restoration of the Boman Catholic religion. The greater part of
the population of the two counties having still a strong leaning to
that religion, the measures of the queen for restoring it were in
general weU received. The chantries in all the churches in the
two counties were re-established ; and the leading men in both
counties eagerly concurred in restoring the old religion. But the
Protestants of Lancashire and Cheshire, though only a smaU minority,
were fuU of zeal and determination ; and several of them laid down
their lives for their religious convictions, in that age of martyrdom.
The foUowing is a list of the Lancashire men who died for their
faith in the Marian persecution : —
* Proceedings of Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. Session II. 1849-50. P. 168.

396 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
John Bogers, a Lancashire man by birth, was the first martyr in
this persecution. He was educated at Cambridge, and was one of
the first scholars of the age, having assisted in translating the Bible
into English in the reign of Henry VIII. He was tried on
a charge of heresy before a court composed of the bishops of
Winchester, London, Durham, Salisbury, Norwich, and Carlisle, in
company with Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, and was sentenced to
be burnt at the stake, after being first degraded from the priestly
office. When brought before Bonner, bishop of London, to be
degraded, he begged permission to take leave of his wife ; but was
refused, with the brutal taunt, that being a priest he could not
have a wife. When brought to the stake he was offered his
life if he would recant his opinions, but he firmly refused to
do so, and died with dauntless courage, being burnt to ashes in
Smithfield. The next Lancashire martyr was John Bradford, born at Manchester.
In his early fife he had ffiled the office of secretary to Sir John Har
rington, treasurer of Henry VIII. and Edward VL, but subsequently
he became a minister of religion, and a steady adherent of the
Beformed faith. He rose to the rank of a prebendary of St. Paul's,
but preached often in his native county. He was tried, along with
Dr. Taylor, for denying the doctrine of transubstantiation, and was
sentenced to be burnt as a heretic. His fife was spared for some
time, in the hope that he would recant ; but far from doing so,
he seized that last opportunity of addressing letters to the people
of the different towns of Lancashire and Cheshire, urging them to
be true to the faith which they had adopted. He was burnt in
Smithfield, in the month of July, 1555, along with a youth of
nineteen, name'd John Lease.
A third Lancashire martyr who lost his life in the Marian
persecution was George Marsh, a native of the parish of Dean, a
poor curate and an instructor of youth. Having become an object
of suspicion, he surrendered himself to the earl of Derby, at Lathom
house, and was by him subjected to various examinations, in the
course of which he addressed the earl with the foUowing reproof : —
"It is strange that your lordship, being one of the honourable
councU of the late King Edward, consenting and agreeing to acts
concerning faith towards God and religion, should so soon after
consent to put poor men to a shameful death for embracing the
same religion." After several attempts to shake his firmness, Marsh

PAST AND PRESENT. 397

was committed to Lancaster castle, and confined in irons, with
common felons. After being confined some time at Lancaster, he
was removed to Chester, where he was tried before the bishop, on
the charge of having preached most hereticaUy and blasphemously in
the parishes of Dean, Bury, and Eccles, as well as in other parishes
in the bishop's diocese, not only against the pope's authority, but
against the Church of Bome, the holy mass, the sacrament of the
altar, and the articles of the Bomish faith. To these charges Marsh
answered, that he had preached neither heresy nor blasphemy, but
only the doctrines sanctioned by authority of the king and his
Parliament in the reign of Edward VI. With regard to the pope,
however, he did not hesitate to declare that the bishop of Bome
ought to exercise no more authority in England than the archbishop
of Canterbury ought to exercise at Bome. The bishop of Chester,
on hearing this, stigmatized the prisoner as "a most damnable,
irreclaimable, and unpardonable heretic," and proceeded to pronounce
sentence of death upon him as a heretic. For some time he was
confined in the Northgate prison at Chester ; and on the 4th April,
1555, he was led out to the place of execution at Spittal, Boughton,
within the fiberties of the city. When brought to the stake, a
desperate attempt was made to rescue him by the people, headed
by Sheriff Cooper ; but they were beaten off by the other sheriff
and his retainers, and in the end George Marsh was added to
the martyrs, whose blood truly proved to be the seed of the
church. In the year 1553, the first of Queen Mary, a great muster was
made of the military force of the kingdom. The particulars of the
Lancashire muster have been preserved, and serve to show what
was the military system of that age. The whole force raised in
Lancashire was 1900 men, each of the six hundreds into which the
county is divided furnishing a quota, proportioned to its population
and resources.
In this levy the hundred of West Derby furnished 430 men,
commanded by Edward, earl of Derby, Sir Bichard Molyneux, of
Sefton, Sir Thomas Gerrard, Sir Peers Legh, Sir John Holcroft,
Sir John Atherton, and Sir William Norris, knights; and Thomas
Butler, of Bewsey, George Ireland, of Hale, William Tarbock, of
Tarbock, and Lawrence Ireland, of Lydiate, esquires.
The Salford hundred furnished 350 men, commanded by Sir
Edward Trafford, Sir WiUiam Badcliffe, Sir Bobert Longley, Sir

398 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Thomas Holt, and Sir Bobert Worsley, knights; and Bobert
Barton, Edward Holland, and Balph Ashton, esquires.
The Leyland hundred furnished 170 men, commanded by Sir
Thomas Hesketh, knight ; and Edward Standish, John Fleetwood,
Boger Bradshagh, John Langtree, Peers Anderton, and John
Wrightington, esquires.
The Amounderness hundred furnished 300 men, commanded by
Sir Thomas Hesketh and Sir Bichard Hoghton, knights ; and
George Brown, John Kitchen, Bichard Barton, William Westbie,
and WiUiam Barton, esquires.
The Blackburn hundred furnished 400 men, commanded by
Sir Bichard Shireburn, Sir Thomas Langton, Sir Thomas Talbot,
and Sir John Southworth, knights; and by John Towneley,
Thomas CottereU, John Osboldston, and John Talbot, esquires ; and
the Lonsdale hundred furnished 250 men, commanded by Lord
Monteagle, Sir Marmaduke TunstaU, knight ; and Thomas Carus,
George Middleton, Thomas Bradley, Hugh Dicconson, and Oliver
Middleton, esquires.
The later years of Queen Mary's reign were troubled by foreign
war, as weU as by domestic discontent. In the year 1556 there
was a levy of troops, in anticipation of a war with France, in which
Lancashire was caUed on to furnish 200 archers, under the command
of Sir Bobert Worsley, knight, and Edward Tfldesley. These
archers were furnished by the different hundreds of the county in
the foUowing numbers : — West Derby, 40 ; Salford, 36 ; Leyland,
17; Amounderness, 30; Blackburn, 39; and Lonsdale, 36.*
In the year 1557 the French government availed itself of the
opportunity afforded by the distracted state of England to seize
on the fortress of Calais, the last remnant of the great possessions
which England had so long held on the Continent. On that occasion
there was a general levy of troops throughout England, partly to
defend Calais, partly to resist a gathering of Scottish troops on the
border, promoted by Mary Queen of Scots at the request of her
relatives the Guises, who then governed France, and directed the
policy of the young Scottish queen, who was married to the youthful
king of France. With a view to " the Scottish doings," measures were
taken to array the levies in Lancashire and Cheshire. The foUowing
is a return as to this levy, addressed by Edward, earl of Derby, to
Francis Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, lord-president of the North : —
* Lancashire Lieutenancy, Part i. p. 14.

PAST AND PRESENT. 399

CAPTAINS OP LANCASHIRE SOLDIERS, AND THEIR FORCES.
Sir Bichard Molyneux, knight, his brother, or son and heir, a
feeble man himself,  .200
Sir Thomas Gerrard, knight, . . . . . .200
Sir Bichard Hoghton, knight, not able himself, but wiU fur
nish an able man to be captain ; because not able to go
himself, doth furnish but  100
Sir Thomas Hesketh, and others with him, . . . . 100
Sir Thomas Langton, Sir William Norres, neither of them
able, but wfil furnish an able captain,. . . . 100
Sir William Badcliffe, or his son and heir, Alexander, who
is a handsome gentleman, and Sir John Atherton joined
with him,  100
Francis TunstaU and others,  100
Sir John Holcroft, or his son and heir, and Sir Bichard
Assheton, of Middleton, and others, . . . . 100
Item. — The rest appointed in Lancashire be of my retinue.
Edward Derby.*
Calais was lost, in spite of this and other levies ; but the " Scot
tish doings" came to nothing, the Scottish nobles having refused
to declare war against England, to which country they looked for
support against the Guises and the Boman Catholic party.
The accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne, in the year
1558, was foUowed by the triumph of the Protestant party and of
the Protestant doctrines in England. The queen herself entertained
many of the doctrines of the Bomish Church, at least in the earlier
part of her reign, but she soon found that the Protestants were
her only cordial supporters. The Catholics, both at home and abroad,
regarded her as illegitimate, and favoured the claims of Mary Queen
of Scots, whose descent from the eldest sister of Henry VIII. gave
her an undoubted right to the throne of England, supposing the
claims of Elizabeth to be set aside. So early as the year 1559,
Mary and her husband, Francis II. of France, assumed the titles of
"Francis and Mary, by the Grace of God, King and Queen of
England, Scotland, and Ireland"; and her powerful relatives, the
Guises, deluded themselves with the hope of seeing the sceptre
of Britain united to that of France, t It was fortunate for Elizabeth
* Lancashire Lieutenancy. Part i. p. 17.
"¦ Lauder's Annals of the Life and Eeign of Queen Elizabeth, v. i. p. 54.

400 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
that the Protestant subjects of Mary Queen of Scots were as much
opposed to the claims of their own queen, on the ground of her
religion, as the Catholic subjects of Elizabeth were to hers on
account both of her birth and her religion. The result was that
Elizabeth always had a strong party in Scotland ; and that the
unfortunate Queen of Scots was at length compelled to flee from
her own dominions, and to throw herself on the mercy of her rival.
The rivalry of Elizabeth and Mary of Scotland, and the religious
district in which it originated, had the effect of keeping the north
of England in a perpetual ferment, of military preparation, during
the whole reign of Elizabeth; and the history of Lancashire and
Cheshire, during the forty-three years of the reign of Elizabeth, is
little else than an account of mUitary preparation, with the design
to weaken the authority of the Queen of Scots in her own dominions,
or to defend England from her friends, allies, or co-religionists in
Scotland, Ireland, France, and Spain, and amongst the subjects of
Elizabeth herself.
In the year after the accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne
of Scotland, a war broke out in Scotland between the queen regent
(Mary of Guise) and the Catholic party, who, with the aid of
French troops, attacked the Protestant lords and the other followers
of John Knox. On the 6th November, 1559, the Presbyterians,
commanded by the earl of Arran and the prior of St. Andrews, were
surrounded and defeated by a portion of the French garrison of
Leith. They retreated to Edinburgh, and afterwards fled to Stirling,
whilst the queen regent and the French entered the Scottish capital
in triumph. The councU of Elizabeth, on hearing of the triumph of
the French and Catholic party in Scotland, immediately prepared
to sustain their friends in that country. Beinforcements were
sent to the English garrison, and in the course of the winter a
powerful army was raised to besiege the French at Leith, and to
aid in driving them out of Scotland.
For the purpose of strengthening the garrison of Berwick it was
ordered that Lancashire should furnish 300 men, of whom seventy-
eight were to be archers, the whole under the command of Sir John
Southworth, knight, of Samlesbury, " a toward and tall gentleman,"
" desirous to know service in war." Immediately afterwards it was
ordered that Lancashire should furnish 200 soldiers and 277 pioneers,
under the command of Thomas Butler, Esq., " to serve the Queen's
Majesty at Leith."

PAST AND PRESENT.

401

In the month of January of the foUowing year (1560), a general
muster of the armed and unarmed men of Lancashire was made,
when it appeared that they amounted to 3992. The foUowing is a
copy of this curious return : —
" A general muster certified in the counties of Lancaster, in
January, 1559 (1560), Anno Regni Regince Eliz. Secundo.

HUNDREDTH. HA.UNISIIED.

UNIIARNISIIED.

Blackborne, . . . . . 407

359

Amoundernes,  223

369

Lonsdalle, . . . . . 356

114

Sallford,  338

649

Lay lond, . . . . . 24

122

West Derby, . . . . 459

413

Summa totalis of the harnished men,

1919

Summa totalis of the unharnished men,

2074

3993
In the month of AprU, 1560, the siege of Leith was commenced.
The French defended themselves with the greatest bravery and skill,
and beat back a general assault made on the 6th May ; but being
shut in by sea and land, without any chance of escape, a treaty
was shortly concluded at Edinburgh between Elizabeth and Henry
II. of France. In this treaty it was agreed that aU hostilities should
cease ; that King Francis and Queen Mary should be reconciled
with their subjects ; and that they should for the future cease to
use the title and insignia of England and Ireland. This treaty
was followed by the entire ascendancy of the Protestant party
in Scotland ; and gave peace along the northern borders of
England. In the year 1566 there was an insurrection in Ireland, under
Shane O'Neal, when fifty archers were sent from Lancashire to assist
in upholding the queen's authority, A memorandum respecting
these archers is as foUows : — Md., That each of the said archers was
furnished with a cassock (loose coat) of blue cloth, faced with two
smaU stripes of white cloth, a yew bow, a sheaf of arrows in a case,
a skull piece of steel or iron in a red cap, a jerkin of deer or bun's
hide, a sword and dagger, and every one in his purse had in ready
money 13s. 4c?., besides 4s. delivered for coat and conduct money at
their coming to Chester. And for the furnishing of the said soldiers

VOL. I.

3 E

402 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the country was taxed after the rate of 40s. for each of the archers
or soldiers. In the year 1568 Mary Queen of Scots fled into England, where
she was received rather as a prisoner than a guest, and soon became
mixed up with numerous intrigues, which ultimately cost her her life.
From the beginning of her reign Elizabeth had been considered
and treated as an usurper by the pope ; and on the 25th February,
1570, Pope Pius V. issued a papal bull declaring her an excom
municated heretic, and as such deprived of her pretended title to
the crown of England, and of aU dominion, dignity, and privilege
whatsoever; absolving all her subjects from every act of allegiance
and obedience to her, and commanding them to disobey her orders
and laws on pain of the papal anathema. This many of them had
already done and afterwards did; but with no other result than
to bring destruction on themselves, and to rouse a resolute, uncon
querable, and mercfiess spirit, on the part of the queen and of her
Protestant subjects. For the remainder of her reign, a war without
quarter on either side was waged between the Boman Catholics and
the Protestants.
Two or three months before the issuing of the BuU of Pius V.,
that is to say, in the month of November, 1569, the Boman Catholic
"rising of the North" broke out, under the command of Percy,
earl of Northumberland, and of Nevfil, earl of Westmoreland, whose
influence was sufficiently powerful to bring together an army of
4000 infantry and 600 horse. At the head of this force the two
earls overran Northumberland, Durham, and great part of Yorkshire ;
and hoped to have roused Lancashire and Cheshire, -by the aid of
the earl of Derby, whom they invited to join them. With this
view they addressed a letter to the earl, of the 27th November,
calling on him to assist them. Seven days previous to the date of
this despatch the earl had received a commission from the queen,
appointing him her lord-lieutenant. He was, moreover, a man of
eminent prudence and loyalty ; and though his leanings were towards
the old religion, he was not at all disposed to risk life and fortune in
so desperate an enterprise as that in which the earls of Northumber
land and Westmoreland were engaged. He therefore at once arrested"
the messenger of the insurgent earls, and sent their letter to the
queen, along with a similar letter addressed to his relative, Lord
Monteagle. But before this, namely, on the 24th November, the earl
of Derby had written to the queen, stating that he had received

PAST AND PRESENT. 403

information from the earl of Sussex, the queen's commander, that the
earls of Northumberlahd and Westmoreland were in open rebellion,
and declaring that he would use all diligence to keep the county of
Lancaster in obedience. Before the queen could have received this
letter she wrote to the earl of Derby, directing him to raise the
whole force of Lancashire and Cheshire, and with that of Nottingham
and Derby, under the earl of Shrewsbury, to join with the Lord
Admiral Clinton, and to proceed against the earls of Northumber
land and Westmoreland, then in open rebellion. The rebel forces
dispersed without a blow, on the approach of the royal army. A
letter is still in existence, dated Durham, December 22, 1569, from
the earl of Warwick (Ambrose Dudley), and Lord Edward Clinton,
the lord high admiral, stating that they had written from Bipon
to know the queen's pleasure as to the discharge of part of the
army. It is added that they had discharged and sent home 2000
men, being chiefly of the Lancashire and Cheshire forces ; but they
add that the country was still in some danger. Nor was the observa
tion unfounded ; for the rebellion of the two earls was soon foUowed
by another insurrection, raised by Leonard Dacres, second son of
WiUiam Lord Dacres; of the north, which was not suppressed without
considerable loss, by Lord Hunsdon and the garrison of Berwick. Of
those who took part in these .wild attempts 800 persons are said to
have been executed, and fifty-seven noblemen and gentlemen of the
counties of Northumberland, York, Durham, &c, were attainted by
Parfiament in the foUowing year. Thanks to the prudent counsels
and example of the earl of Derby, this fist did not contain any
Lancashire names, although it was well known that many of the
Boman Catholics of that county were strongly disposed to have
joined the rising.
To guard against these outbreaks, there were numerous levies
of troops, armour, and money in Lancashire and Cheshire in the
year 1570. On the 15th February the queen issued a letter to
the lords-lieutenant of all the shires in the kingdom, requiring them
to hold a general muster of aU persons chargeable with providing
horses and geldings; to see them properly armed and furnished;
and to make certificate of the same. On the 10th March the
queen's letters were addressed to knights and gentlemen, requiring
each to provide a lance or light horse ; and to esquires, to provide
one able man and horse, or able gelding, fully furnished with
armour, weapons, &c, to serve in the wars as a demi-lance, and to

404 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
be at York on the 1st April. On the 7th September of the same
year, the earl of Derby, as head of the lieutenancy in the counties
of Lancaster and Chester, assembled the justices of the peace of
the palatine counties in the different divisions, for the purpose of
arranging their forces, and of adjusting the assessments to which they
should respectively be liable. On the 29th September a memo
randum was drawn up by Burghley himself, which stUl exists in his
handwriting, of "things requisite to be done for putting the. coast
and realm of England in readiness against any invasion."
In the year 1574 there was again a general muster of arms in
the counties of Lancaster and Chester, the particulars of which show
not only the number of men, but the manner in which they were
armed and accoutred. The foUowing is a summary of the return : —
"A certificate of a general muster taken within the county of
Lancaster, in August, anno xvi. Eliz, Beginae, wherein was certified,
over and beside the 1230 men furnished by force of the Statute
of Armourers, the number of 2375 able men furnished by the
county, which be armed, and also the number of 2405 men able
to serve Her Majesty, and which be unarmed."
It appears from this return that the strength of the Lancashire
forces in the reign of Queen Elizabeth was in the infantry, and
especially in bowmen and bfilmen ; -but that fire-arms, though not
yet general, were coming into use. Defensive armour of various
kinds was still worn.
The cavalry at this time consisted of demi-lancers and light
cavalry. The demi-lancers were heavy cavalry, supplying the place
of the men-at-arms. They had steel fronts and backs to their
saddles. In the reign of Henry VIII. the lances of the cavalry
(caUed Lances d Armes, and used by men-at-arms in battle) were
exceedingly long ; but these being found unwieldy, the demi or half
lance was introduced, differing little from the lance except in length.
Light horsemen replaced the demi-lancers when those became more
heavily accoutred.
The infantry was composed chiefly of archers, bfilmen, and pike-
men. In the above muster of arms there were bows and arrows
for 490 archers ; bills or battle-axes for 305 bfilmen ; and pikes for
213 pikemen. The long bow used by the archers was usually formed
of one piece of wood, the best of yew ; others of BrazU wood, elm,
ash, &c. ; and wych-hazel was ordered for youth under seventeen,
to prevent too great a consumption of wood. The length of some

PAST AND PRESENT. 405

of the long bows was 6 feet 6 inches, or even more ; but the
best length was 5 feet 8 inches. The bow was usually tipped
with horn at both ends, to make such a notch for the string as
would not wear, and to prevent the extremities from breaking.
Bows were kept in cases to prevent warping. The best military
arrows were of ash ; those for sport were made of oak, hornbeam,
birch, or BrazU wood. The length was anciently a fuU yard — "a
cloth-yard shaft." The heads were of iron well bofied, brazed,
hardened at the points with steel, and marked with the maker's
name. The feathering was of goose; the best feathers, grey or white.
The sheaf of arrows was twenty-four in number. The quiver slung
at the back held the store of arrows ; ' those for immediate use
being hung in the girdle. The archers wore steel caps, sometimes
also caUed skufis, though these were generaUy of iron. The position
of the English archers in battle was always in the van and on the
outskirts, like that of the riflemen of modern times ; and from their
incomparable skill in the use of the bow, they decided many, if not
most, of the famous battles of early times. The bifimen, or, as
they were sometimes caUed, halberdiers, fought with a double battle-
axe, caUed a bill. The biU or halberd, as used by infantry, was
affixed to a long staff or handle. It had a long slender blade or
spit, and a side blade or blades with cutting edge, sometimes
crescent-form, with a concave side sharp, at others with a converse
side outwards, and edged. The opposite blade terminated in a sort
of beak or pick for splitting. The partizan was a sort of broad-
bladed bill, terminating in a crescent with concave blade. The
black bfil was so called from its blade being blacked, instead of
being kept bright. Though a formidable weapon in close fight, the
biU was less fatal than the spear, with which the Scottish infantry
were armed.
Fire-arms were at this time partiaUy used in the English armies,
and very soon after altogether superseded bows and arrows. At
the muster of arms in 1574 there were 163 calivers, in use in
Lancashire. The caliver was a sort of fight musket or harquebus,
so called from its calibre being originally fixed according to a
standard regulation. It was lighter than the unwieldy musket;
indeed, it was a harquebus of specified bore, had a wheel-lock,
and a magazine of buUets in the butt. It was 3 feet 2 inches
long, and was fired without a rest.
Defensive armour was still in extensive use, as wfil be seen

406 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
from the enumeration of corslets, coats of plate armour, steel caps,
and morions ; and continued to be used for a hundred years longer
both by infantry and cavalry.*
The commissioners for the muster of Cheshire wrote to the
Privy CouncU from Northwich castle, on the 2nd November, 1573,
with particulars of men, horses, armour, &c, and the provision
made for the defence of the shire. They also inclosed a certificate
of the common soldiers without armour in the county, whose
number they stated to be 2063 able men; and sent the muster-
book, with the names and number of all knights, esquires, gentle
men, and freeholders in the county of Chester, with horses, armour,
and other accoutrements, the number of men being 937. On the
19th July, 1574, the sheriff and justices of the county of Chester
wrote to the council from Tarporley, reporting on the muster and
other defences of the county, t
The musters of 1574, both in Lancashire and Cheshire, were
made by Henry, fourth earl of Derby, the lord-lieutenant of the
two counties palatine, who succeeded his father, Edward, earl of
Derby, in the year 1572, and lived to the year 1593. In the
words of Thomas Challoner, writing in 1576, he was "with
Elizabett Queene weU lik't, and of her subjects in grete favour." J
As early as the year 1567 rumours became current, of an inten
tion on the part of Philip of Spain to invade England. A letter,
dated Chester, December 29, 1567, from Bichard Hurleston to the
earl of Pembroke, gives inteUigence, "by good information," of
great preparations making by the king of Spain for the invasion
of England ; and adds that certain gentlemen in Lancashire had
taken a solemn oath not to come to the commission, and that they
rejoice greatly at the report of a Spanish invasion. § The discontent
of the Kngfish Boman Catholics soon after exploded in the " rising
of the North," in which so many of them perished ; but the rumours
of an intended invasion of England by Spain continued at intervals,
every year increasing in strength, until 1588 — the famous year
of the Spanish Armada. During the whole of that time great
efforts were made to prepare the country, both by land and sea,
to resist invasion; and though the regular army and the royal
navy of England were insignificantly smaU, in comparison with those
of Spain, the people were trained to the use of arms in aU parts of
* Meyrick, Grose, Nares, Foshroke, &c, as quoted in Mr. J. Harland's Lancashire Lieutenancy, i. p. 36.
t Cal. State Pap. Dom. J J. Harland's Lancashire Lieutenancy, &c, i. p. 35, note 18. § Cal. State Pap. Dom.

PAST AND PRESENT. 40 7

the kingdom ; and the commercial marine was armed, and rendered
capable of contending with signal success against the ponderous and
badly-worked navy of Spain.
In the year 1586 the preparations of the Spanish fleet and
army for the invasion of England had proceeded so far that all
doubt had ceased as to the intentions of Spain. In August of that
year Humfray Brooke, a merchant and master shipowner of Liver
pool, on his voyage from St. Jean de Luz, in the south of France,
to England, saw the Biscayan division of the Spanish fleet sail from
BUbao and Passages to join the other divisions. Like a good and
loyal subject, he forwarded an account of what he had seen to
his own government, of which the following is a copy (substituting
the spelling of the present day for that of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth) : —
"A.D. 1586. — The particular note of the king of Spain's fleet
departed out of Biscay and the provinces, the 13th August, whereof
is general (or commander), John Martinas de Becalde, natural
(native) of the town of Bilboa.
"Imprimis, viii. armadas, or great ships, of 700 to 800 tons
apiece. "Item, xfiii. osaveres, or small ships, of the burden of 60, 70,
and 80 tons.
"Item, vi. small barques, made gaily wise, that row thirty oars
upon a side.
"Item, 2000 mariners.
"Item, 4000 soldiers.
"Item, 2000 calivers.
"Item, 10,000 muskets.
" Item, 500 quintals of powder-
"Item, 300 quintals of match.
"Item, 20,000 long pikes for horsemen.
"Item, 178,000 quintals of biscuit.
"Item, 100 tons of garlic.
"Item, the king's ancient (or royal flag), that was made to him
to come into Ireland in Pedro Melendi's time, valued at 3000 ducats;
and all his men trained and mustered the same time in Passages.
"Item, 20,000 porkers for victuals.
"Item, 2000 quintals of Newfoundland fish.
" Item, the king's commission sealed up, not to be opened before
they are 30 leagues at sea.

408 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

" Item, the common speech of the vulgar is that they go either
to Ireland or else to Bochefie ; but the opinion of the most was
that they went for Ireland.
" By me, Humeray Brooke, of Liverpool, merchant, who departed
out of St. Jean de Luz, in France, the day after that the fleet set
safi, and that saw them when they departed from the Passiage to
go along the coast to meet the rest of the fleet, which was in
Casto" (a town and port in the province of Santander, a few
leagues west of Biscay).
The preparations described in the above letter continued during
the whole of the year 1586, and in the spring of 1587 the greater
part of the armada was assembled in the Tagus. According to a
letter of Sir John Hawkins to Sir Francis Walsingham (in the
State Paper Office), the main strength of the armada consisted in
a squadron of fifty-four "forcible and invincible ships," composed
of nine galleons of Portugal, twenty great Venetians and argosies
of the seas, twenty great Biscainers, four galfiasses, and one ship
of the duke of Florence, of 800 tons. Besides these, there were
thirty smaller ships and thirty hulks, making in all 114 vessels.
Another account, derived from Spanish historians, gives a higher
estimate, raising the whole naval force to 134 ships, and twenty
caravels or fight vessels, in all 154 vessels, of the burden of 57,868
tons. The number of men was 8450 seamen and 19,295 soldiers;
and the number of pieces of artillery 2639. The plan was first to
proceed to the coast of Flanders, to take on board the Spanish
army, commanded by Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, the
greatest general of the age ; and then, having effected a landing
at the mouth of the Thames, to march upon London.
To meet and encounter this tremendous armament, the whole
naval and military force of England was assembled. On land there
was a military force of 130,000 men, raised in the different coun
ties, and 10,000 men raised in the city of London. Of this army,
22,000 foot and 2000 horse was encamped at Tilbury, on the north
bank of the Thames, to cover the approaches to London, by land
and water; 28,900 men formed an army of operations, to which
was also intrusted the protection of the queen's person; 5000 men,
raised in Devon and Cornwall, with the force of the Stanneries,
commanded by Sir Walter Baleigh, defended Plymouth; 2000 foot
and 200 horse were stationed at MUford Haven; Portland, Ports
mouth, and the Isle of Wight were defended by strong garrisons ;

PAST AND PRESENT. 409

and the ports and coast of the whole kingdom were watched by
the forces raised in the neighbourhood of each. This army, though
inferior in discipline and training to the army of the duke of
Parma, was superior to it in numbers and enthusiasm ; and would
no doubt have s given a good account of the Spanish army, if
it had effected a landing. Great hopes were, however, founded
by the Spaniards of an insurrection among the English Boman
Catholics, and no doubt a deep and bitter feeling of resentment
existed amongst them, the result of the cruel persecutions to which
they were exposed; but the number of English Boman Catholics
who joined the army of the duke of Parma in Flanders was
insignificantly smaU, and in England the Catholics joined resolutely
with the Protestants in defence of their common country.
It appears from the abstract of the returns of lords-lieutenant
of counties that the number of trained soldiers raised in Lanca
shire, in April, 1588, was 1170, and in Cheshire 2189. The
number of armed men, not fully trained, in Lancashire was 3600 ;
and the number of able men was, in Lancashire 6000, and in
Cheshire 3600. In the month of June, when the approach of the
invading fleet and army was expected daily, the queen addressed
a letter to the earl of Derby and other lords-lieutenant, thanking
them for what had been done in their respective counties, but
urging them to make still greater exertions. The letter, as
addressed to the earl of Derby, is as foUows : —
THE QUEEN'S PROCLAMATION.
"Bight trusty and weU beloved cousin and councillor, we greet
you weU.
" Whereas heretofore, upon the advertisement from time to time,
and from sundry places, of the great preparations of foreign forces
with a full intention to invade this realme and other our dominions,
we gave our directions unto you for the preparing of our subjects,
within your lieutenancy, to be in readiness and defence against any
attempt that might be made against us and our realm ; which our
directions we find so well performed, as we cannot but receive
great contentment thereby^ both in respect of your careful proceed
ings therein, and also the great willingness of our people in general
to the accomplishment of that whereunto they were required, showing
thereby their great love and loyalty towards us, which we accept
most thankfully at their hands, acknowledging ourselves infinitely
vol. i. 3 F

410 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
bound to Almighty God, in that it hath pleased Him to bless us
with so loving and dutiful subjects. So would we have you make
it known unto them.
" For as much as we find the same intention not only of invading,
but of making a conquest also of this our realm, now constantly
more and more detected and confirmed, as a matter fuUy resolved
on (an army already being put to the sea for that purpose), although
we doubt not by God's goodness the same shall prove frustrate ;
we have therefore thought meet to require you forthwith, with as
much convenient speed as you can, call together, at some convenient
place or places, the best sort of gentry under your lieutenancy,
and to declare unto them, that considering these great preparations
and tiireatenings now burst out in action upon the seas, tending
to a proposed conquest, wherein every man's particular estate is in
the highest degree to be touched, in respect of country, liberty,
wife, chfidren, lands, life, and that which is especiaUy to be regarded,
for the preservation of the true and sincere religion of Christ, We
do look that the most part of them should upon this instant extra
ordinary occasion have a larger proportion of furniture, both for
horsemen and footmen, but especially horsemen, than hath been
certified — thereby to be in their best strength against any attempt
whatsoever, and to be employed both about our own person or
otherwise, as they shall have knowledge given them; the number
of which larger proportion, as soon as you shaU know, we require
you to signify to our Privy Coundl.
" And hereunto as we doubt not but by your good endeavours
they wfil be the rather conformable, so also we assure ourselves
that Almighty God wfil so bless those their loyal hearts, both
towards us their loving Sovereign and their natural country, that
all the attempts of any enemies whatsoever shall be made void and
frustrate, to their confusion, your comfort, and God's high glory.
Given under our Signet, at our Manor of Greenwich, the 17th of
June, 1588, in the thirtieth year of our reign.
" To our right trusty and weU beloved cousin and councillor, the
Earl of Derby, lieutenant of the counties of Chester and Lancaster.
And in his absence, to the right trusty and well-beloved, the Lord
Strange." The above letter was written whilst the Spanish Armada was
waiting at Corunna for a wind. The Armada sailed from the Tagus

PAST AND PRESENT. 411

on the 29th May, 1588 ; but being dispersed by a storm it took
refuge at Corunna, whence it again safied on the 12th July, and
entered the English Channel on the 1 9th. At that time the royal
navy of England was small, but the commercial navy was beginning
to be of some importance, and every English port furnished its
complement of ships to strengthen the royal fleet, raising in aU
a force of 117 ships and 11,120 men. The English sea captains
of that age were amongst the greatest names in history : Drake,
Hawkins, and Frobisher, the most intrepid and accomplished sea
officers in Europe, were in the vigour of their power. Lord Howard
of Effingham, high admiral of England (a Boman Catholic in religion),
assumed the chief command of the fleet. Drake, Hawkins, Lord
Henry Seymour, and Frobisher, were vice-admirals ; and under them
served the earl of Cumberland, Sir William Winter, Fenner, and other
distinguished seamen. Howard's division amounted to sixty-six vessels,
including the merchantmen by which he was reinforced : Lord Henry
Seymour commanded a squadron of thirty-three saU, and these fleets
were joined by eighteen merchant adventurers from the Thames.
The English fleet first saw the Armada on the 20th July, drawn up
in a crescent, covering an extent of seven miles. The first engage
ment was on the 21st; there were others on the 23d and 25th,
off the Isle of Wight. On the 27th the English fire-ships threw
the Spanish fleet into confusion off Calais ; and again on the 29th.
Had the Spaniards been in possession of Flushing, or of any other
good port on the coast of Flanders or HoUand, the history of this
famous expedition would have been different in its progress, if not in
its results ; for in that case the splendid army of the duke of Parma,.
intended for the invasion of England, would have been shipped, and
the battle would probably have been fought out on the banks of the
Thames. But the Dutch held Flushing, and aU the ports that could
have been turned to any useful purpose by the Armada; and the
army of Parma had no opportunity of showing its prowess on
English ground. On the 20th July the Armada, cut off from every
port of refuge, commenced its disastrous flight northward, driven by
storms, and closely foUowed by the English fleet.
Apprehensions continued to be entertained, for some time after
the Armada had been driven into the German Ocean, that the
Spaniards might effect a landing on the English or Irish coast. On
the 21st June, Lord Strange, who was acting for his father the earl
of Derby, then in Flanders, had issued an order to the justices in the

412 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

hundred of Salford, requiring them " to cause to be made ready all
such beacons as were next adjoining unto them, and the watch to
be kept at every one of them." From the 10th July to the 30th
September the great beacon on Biving*ton Pike, which is visible
from every part of South Lancashire, was watched day and night,
to be ready to give warning of the approach of the Spaniards, The
Pile of Foudry, in North Lancashire, where Martin Schwartz had
landed, in the reign of Henry VII., was thought to be a likely place
for the landing of the Spaniards, as appears from the following
communication to the privy council, found in the Burghley Papers : —
" Pylle of Foudry, a.d. 1588. — Between Milford Haven, in Wales,
and Carlisle, on the borders of Scotland, there is not one good
haven for great ships to land or ride in, but one, which is the furthest
part of Lancashire, called Pylle of Folder. The same pylle is an old
decayed castle, parcel of the duchy of Lancaster, in Furness FeUs,
where one Thomas Preston (a papyshe Atheiste) is deputy Stewart,
and commands the hunredes lands there, which were sometime
members appertaining to the Abbey of Furness. At this pyUe
or castle landed, in King Henry VIL's time, Martin Swarth, with
Perkyn Warbeck (Lambert Simnel), accompanied with 3000 or 4000
Flemings, who marched thence southward to Newark-upon-Trent,
before they were fought with; the country is so rude, waste, and
unprovided with gentlemen in those quarters. What the Spaniards
mean to do, the Lord knows ; but all that country being known
to Doctor (cardinal) Allen (who was born by the pyle), and the
inhabitants thereof, aU infected with his Bomish poison, it is not unlike
but his direction will be used for some landing there ; the rather to
entertain us in sundry parts by the northern men, and for that
it is not far off from Scotland, and the very best haven for landing
with great ships in all the south-west coast of England, caUed
St. George's Channel."
Fortunately the Spanish fleet, though it passed down the Irish
Sea on its return to Spain, was in no condition to effect a landing
any where, either in England or Ireland. After several conflicts in
the Channel, that fleet retreated northwards on the 31st July.
After rounding the Orkneys (where a tremendous tempest scattered
the Spanish ships, and shattered not a few of them), more than
thirty of them were driven on the coast of Ireland, where the
popular name of Port-na-Spagne, near the Giant's Causeway, stfil
perpetuates the memory of this catastrophe. A smaU squadron was

PAST AND PRESENT. 413

driven back into the English Channel ; where it was taken by
the English and Dutch. It was about the end of September that the
duke of Medina, the Spanish commander, arrived in Spain with no
more than sixty vessels, the remains of a fleet of 150; with their
crews suffering from hunger, cold, disease, and wounds, sustained in
a three months' conflict with the ships of England and the storms
of the northern seas.
Early in the month of September it was known throughout
England that the Spanish fleet was destroyed or disabled, and that
all danger of an invasion was at an end ; and on the 23rd of that
month the earl of Derby, as lord-lieutenant of the two counties,
issued the foUowing announcement of this great deliverance, and
order for a day of prayer and thanksgiving : —
THE EARL OP DERBY TO SIR JOHN BYRON, ETC. — THANKSGIVING EOR
THE DEFEAT OE THE ARMADA.
" After my very hasty commendations — Whereas I am credibly
informed that it hath pleased God to continue his goodness towards
our prince, church, and country — as in the late overthrow of our
enemies, taken upon the coast of Ireland, it may appear by this
calendar here inclosed— I have thought it expedient, in respect of
Christian duty, we should fall to some godly exercise of thanksgiving
for the same, by prayer and preaching, wishing you so to commend
the business to the clergy of your hundred, in their several charges,
as our God, by mutual consent, may be praised therefor. And this
is not to be omitted nor delayed in any wise, but to be put in
execution at or before the next Sabbath. And thus desiring God to
bless her Majesty with long life, and continual victory over all her
enemies, I bid you fareweU.
"Lathom, my House, this 23rd of September, 1588."
This is followed by a fist of the ships sunk, and the men killed,
drowned, or taken, on the coast of Ireland, on the side of the Spaniards.
In the spring of the year 1593, there were again considerable
apprehensions of another attempt at invasion by the Spaniards ; but
from that time the Spanish government directed its efforts against
Ireland, which was in fuU insurrection under Tyrone. During the
latter years of Elizabeth's reign there was a constant drain of men
and money, in Lancashire and other English counties, which at
length enabled Lord Mountjoy to gain a complete victory.

414 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

CHAPTEB V.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE UNDER THE HOUSE OF STUART.
Queen Elizabeth closed her long and glorious reign of forty-four
years and four months, on the 24th of March, 1602-3 ; and James
Stuart, the son of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, ascended
the throne, under the title, James I. of England, • France, and
Ireland, and James VI. of Scotland. The connection of the new
king with the house of Tudor being somewhat remote, the lords
of the council issued a proclamation immediately after the death
of the queen, informing the nation that the imperial crown had, by
the death of the high and mighty Princess Elizabeth, descended on
the high and mighty Prince James, lineally and lawfuUy descended
from the body of Margaret, daughter of the high and renowned
prince, Henry VII., king of England, his great-grandfather. The
proclamation further set forth that the said Lady Margaret was
the daughter of Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward IV., by whose
happy marriage with Henry VII. both the houses of York and
Lancaster were united, to the joy unspeakable of this kingdom,
formerly rent and torn by the dissensions of bloody and civil wars.
The nation at large cheerfully welcomed the accession of James I.,
glad to have once more a sovereign whose title to the throne was
entirely undisputed; and thus to be freed from the doubt and
anxiety that had prevailed during the latter years of Queen Elizabeth,
and had been encouraged by the jealous fears which that sovereign
entertained, of every possible claimant of the crown.
King James I. left Edinburgh to take possession of the crown
of England on the 6th of April, 1603 ; and travelling slowly and
with great state through the counties of Northumberland and
Durham, arrived at York, on the 16th of the same month, where
he remained three days, to receive the congratulations of his subjects
of the northern counties. He was there met and congratulated on
his accession to the throne by the leading gentlemen of Lancashire,
Cheshire, and Yorkshire, on whom he showered honours with a
liberal hand. Amongst the Lancashire and Cheshire gentlemen

PAST AND PRESENT. 415

charged with the expression of the loyalty and attachment of the
two counties were, Sir Edmund Trafford and Sir Thomas Holcroft,
both of whom were knighted by the king, in the garden of the
archbishop's palace at York, on Sunday, the 17th of April. On
the 18th of Aprfi the king reached Grimestone Park, Yorkshire,
on his journey southward, where he knighted Sir Thomas Gerard,
of Bryn, the representative of another of the oldest families of
Lancashire. At Worksop his Majesty conferred the honour of
knighthood on Sir John Byron, of Newstead Abbey, Nottingham
shire, and of Bochdale, Lancashire, and on Sir Thomas Stanley, of
Bickerstaff. Amongst the Lancashire and Cheshire gentlemen who
received the honour of knighthood on the king's arrival in London,
were Sir Thomas Hesketh, Sir Thomas Walmsley, Sir Alexander
Barlow, Sir Edward Stanley, Sir Thomas Langton, and Sir William
Norris. Sir GUbert Houghton, of Houghton Tower, was also
knighted by the king, in the course of the foUowing year.
On the accession of James I. to the throne, loyal addresses
were presented to him from aU the principal counties, cities, and
boroughs of the kingdom, most of them couched in language of
extreme adulation, and calculated to increase those extravagant
notions of the regal authority which did so much to render James
ridiculous, and his son and successor unfortunate. The Lancashire
address, which was neither more nor less fulsome than the others,
has been preserved, and is worth publishing, as a specimen of the
style and mode of thought of the age. It was signed by seventy-
nine gentlemen, who were at that time amongst the principal
landowners of the county of Lancaster, where the descendants of
many of them stfil hold large possessions. The address, which was
agreed upon at a public meeting held at Wigan, on the last . day
of March, within a week of the death of Queen Elizabeth, was
as foUows : —
ADDRESS OF THE LANCASHIRE GENTRY TO JAMES I. ON HIS
ACCESSION.*
" To the Most High and Mighty Prince, James, King of Scotland,
the Sixth, and of England, France, and Ireland, the First, our
most gracious and dread Sovereign Lord —
"Albeit, Most Gracious Sovereign Lord, that the loyal bond of
our aUegiance to your Majesty cannot receive force from our testi-
* Ha-l. MS. 2219, foi. 95, b.

416 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
mony or approbation, but remaineth in itself firm and inviolable,
as depending in regard to your Highness' undoubted right to be our
true, and lawful Sovereign, immediately upon God's holy ordinance,
who established the right of princes to their crowns and kingdoms :
forasmuch yet as the humble acknowledgment of duty is some
times, though not the greatest, yet not the least grateful part
of duty itself, and is, upon so just occasion as opportunity now
offereth, neither improper nor undue, we therefore, your most humble
subjects within the county palatine of Lancaster, have out of the
abundance of our loyal resolved hearts presumed to commend to
your most gracious acceptance this humble testimony and acknow
ledgment of our loyal duties and allegiance. That whereas the
Almighty God hath, to the manifold good and blessing of this our
nation, vouchsafed by the known course of lineal and lawful descent,
to caU your Majesty to the kingly government of these most noble
realms of England, France, and Ireland, with open proclamations
and general applause throughout our whole country, we do hereby
protest for ourselves and ours, That during our natural lives we
wfil perform faith and obedience to your Majesty as to our known,
undoubted, rightful Sovereign, and be evermore ready, though with
the hazard of our estate and expense of our dearest blood, as well
to protect and defend your Majesty's most royal person, as also to
withstand, resist, and pursue to death aU such as hereafter at any
time shaU interrupt, impugn, or gainsay your Majesty's most just
and lawful claim to the imperial crowns and dignities of these
aforesaid realms : to the performance whereof we do aU of us
hereby jointly consent in the presence of our great God ; and in
testimony of this our solemn act, have subscribed these presents
with our hands, the faithful witnesses of our resolved hearts, and
presumed to put the same to your Highness by Arthur Aston, your
Majesty's servant, with our humble request, in behalf of the rest of
the inhabitants of our county, that your Highness would vouchsafe
to receive by him the excuse of their now absence and not sub
scribing. — Given at Wigan, the last of March, in the first year of
your Grace's most happy reign."
The above loyal address was signed by nearly all the knights
and gentlemen residing within the county. Amongst them were,
John Ireland, esquire, sheriff of Lancashire, who was the brother
or the son and heir of Sir GUbert Ireland, knight, of Hutte and

PAST AND PRESENT. 417

Hale ; Sir Bichard Molyneux, of Sefton, and Sir Bichard Houghton,
of Houghton Tower, the members for the county ; Sir Cuthbert
HalsaU, Sir Edward Warren, Sir John Badclyffe, and Sir Nicholas
Mosley, who had been knighted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ;
and Edward Stanley, Thomas Walmsley, Thomas Gerard, Thomas
Langton, esquires, who were soon afterwards knighted by King
James ; together with the following representatives of ancient Lan
cashire families, namely, Francis TunstaU, the son and heir of Sir
Marmaduke Tunstall, of Thurland castle ; Bichard HoUand, of
Denton, esquire; Thomas Southworth, the son and heir of Sir John
Southworth, of Southworth and Samlesbury, knight ; Alexander
Standish, of Duxbury, esquire ; WiUiam Farrington, esquire, of
Worden ; Boger Bradshagh, of Haigh, esquire ; Nicholas Banistre,
of Altham, esquire ; John Towneley, esquire, son of Charles
Towneley, esquire, of Towneley ; Bichard Sherburne, esquire, son
of Sir Bichard Sherburne, knight, the founder or finisher of the
house at Stoneyhurst; Edmund Fleetwood, esquire, of Bossall, son
of Sir Paul Fleetwood ; William Hulton, esquire, of Hulton ;
Edward Hopwood, esquire, of Hopwood; John Braddell, of Port-
field ; John Massye, son and heir of John Massye, of Coddington,
county of Chester, esquire ; Edward Norris, son and heir of Sir
WiUiam Norris, of Speke ; Bichard Bold, son and heir of William
Bold, of Bold ; Bobert Hesketh, eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas
Hesketh ; Edward Standish, esquire, of Standish ; Edward Bigby,
of Burgh ; Bobert Moore, of Bank haU, near Liverpool ; Thomas
Tyldesley, the attorney-general for the county; Bobert Downes, of
Wardley haU ; and several others.
Although the accession of James I. was sincerely welcomed by
the great mass of the nation, it had not the effect of assuaging
the furious passions which had been excited in the preceding reigns,
by the violent struggles between the Protestant and the Boman
Catholic portions of the population, and between the adherents of
the Church of England and the Puritan nonconformists. The
angry feelings produced by these contests still raged in all parts
of the kingdom, and in few districts more fiercely than in the
north-western counties. From some cause or other, which it is not
easy to explain, an unusually large proportion of the landowners
in the counties of Lancaster and Chester adhered to the Boman
Catholic religion, and by their example and influence induced
many of their tenants and the people on their estates also to
VOL. I. 3 G

418 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

adhere to it. The result was that the Boman Catholics of the
two counties were regarded with more than ordinary suspicion,
and were punished as recusants with more than ordinary severity.
It also happened that the principles of the Puritans, especially as
relates to the preference of the presbyterian to the episcopal form
of church government, took a very firm hold in the manufacturing
districts of the two counties, as weU as amongst a considerable
.portion of the landed gentry. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
Manchester was chosen as a fit place for the publication of the
assaults directed against certain of the bishops, by the writer or
writers who figured under the name of Martin Marprelate ; and
at a later period, that is, in the time of the Commonwealth, the
presbyterian system of church government was established, in Lanca
shire more completely and systematically than in any other ' part
of England. The whole of the north-western district, in fact, was
full of recusants, some of them of Boman Cathofic, and others of
Puritan opinions ; and as in those days every recusant was treated
as a criminal, and almost an outlaw, the whole district was full
of discontent, agitated by conspiracies, and tending gradually to
confusion and civU war.
During the first few years of the reign of James I. the struggle
between the Boman Catholics and the Protestants was as fierce,
if not fiercer, than it had been at any previous period ; and it was
at the moment of the bitterest exasperation that a few desperate
men, belonging to the Boman Catholic party, formed and attempted
to execute the atrocious scheme of blowing up with gunpowder
the king and the two Houses of Parfiament. This conspiracy had
been preceded by rumours of insurrection among the Boman
Catholics of Lancashire and Cheshire, and was followed by an
unmerciful persecution directed against the adherents of that reli
gion in those two counties, though the attempts to connect them
with the crime were entirely unsuccessful.
In the year 1604, the year preceding the Gunpowder Plot, an
examination was taken at Standish with regard to a supposed
design of the Boman Catholics, instigated by certain seminary
priests, to surprise the city of Chester. Little, if anything, was
proved as to the matter under inquiry, but certain particulars
were given with regard to the celebration of private masses. These
charges were probably prefiminari.es to the trial of six seminary
priests and Jesuits, who were tried, condemned, and executed at

PAST AND PRESENT. 419

the Lancaster summer assizes, under the statute of the 27th
Elizabeth, for remaining within the realm. A Cathofic gentleman
of advanced age, then living in Lancashire, Mr. Pound by name,
had the courage to petition the king, complaining of the persecution
of the Boman Catholics, and particularly of the recent trials and
executions in Lancashire. For this offence he was seized, taken
before the Privy CouncU, and, after examination, handed over to
the Star Chamber, which tribunal sentenced him to be imprisoned
in the Fleet during the king's pleasure, to stand in the pillory
both at Lancaster and Westminster, and to pay a fine of £1000.*
In the month of December in the same year certain justices of
Lancashire ventured to write to the king, praying, though with
little success, that certain Protestant ministers of religion in Lan
cashire, who had long and usefully laboured amongst them, might
not be displaced for nonconformity, t
In the latter end of the year 1605 the country was suddenly
roused by the news of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. The
foUowing account of this discovery is taken from a letter addressed
to William Farrington, esquire, at his house of Worden, in .Lanca
shire, by Mr. John Sumner, his friend and London correspondent.
He says : — " True it is that upon Monday, late in the night, being
the 4th of November, or rather upon Tuesday morning, there was
found in a vault or cellar directly under the Parfiament house a
great quantity of gunpowder barrelled up — beer barrels full, 36;
puncheons, 2 ; and hogsheads, 2 — laid there by Mr. Thomas Percy,
one of the king's pensioners, and one Johnson (Guy Fawkes), his
servant or confederate ; which vault or ceUar the said Johnson
had taken, with some of the housing adjoining thereunto, of pur
pose, it is thought, the better to work his exploit; with a full
determination and purpose, that when the king, queen, and young
prince, together with aU the nobility and peers of the realm, had
been there assembled, to have set fire upon the powder, and so,
with bars of iron and faggots and such like stuff that were laid
upon the barrels, to have blown up the house : which wicked
practice was revealed by my Lord Monteagle, who, having received
this letter herein inclosed, presently acquainted the king and council
therewith. Johnson (Guy Fawkes) is in the Tower, and hath this
day, it is said, been upon the rack, and examined by divers of
the Privy CouncU; but as yet I do not hear that he bewrayeth
* Knight's History of England, vol. iii. p. 22. -j- Cal. State Pap. Dom. anno 1604.

420 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

any more. Percy is fled ; for the apprehension of whom there is
a proclamation come forth in print, which proclamation is sent
unto you by William Sumner.
"The said Johnson (Fawkes) was brought privately, upon his
apprehension, before the king, who asked him whether he was not
sorrowful for that his wicked purpose ; who answered that indeed
he was sorrowful because his purpose did not take full effect.
Great bonfires are made throughout aU the streets, and ringing
of beUs throughout all London upon Tuesday, the 5th November,
at night, for joy the said devilish practice was revealed, all the
streets being set with watchmen the same day." *
The letter to Lord Monteagle referred to above, and supposed
to have been written by Francis Tresham, one of the conspirators,
whose sister was married to Lord Monteagle, was as follows : —
"My Lord, Out of the love I bear to you and some of your
friends, I have a care of your preservation, therefore I advertise
you, as you tender your life, to devise some excuse to shut you
off attendance of the Parfiament : for God and men have concurred
to punish the wickedness of our time ; and think not slightly of
your advertisement, but retire yourself into the country, where
you may expect the event with safety, for though there be now
no appearance of any storm, yet I say they shaU receive a terrible
blow, and they therein shall not see who hurt them ; the counsel
is not to be contemned, because it may do you good and no harm,
for the danger is passed so soon as you have burned the letter.
And I hope God will give you grace to make good use of it, to
whose holy protection I commit you."
Lord Monteagle received a grant of £200 a year in land, and £500
in money, for communicating the above letter to Secretary Cecil,
which led to the search of the vault beneath the Parliament house,
the discovery of the plot, and the apprehension of Guy Fawkes.
Peter Haywood, Esq. of Haywood, a magistrate of Lancashire (having
probably accompanied Sir Thomas Knyvett in the search), appre
hended Fawkes on coming forth from the vault. In the same month
of November in which the plot was discovered a fist of the recusants
in Lancashire was despatched to the Privy CouncU, and a sinfilar
return was made in the foUowing March. Among other documents
relating to the Gunpowder Plot, is one dated March 6, 1606, being
the examination of Edward Oldcorne (alias HaU), and others, in
* The Stanley Papers, published by the Chetham Society ; Part Second ; Introduction, p. 70.

PAST AND PRESENT. 421

which it is stated that one of the conspirators came on the 6th
of November to Mendlip House, near Worcester, the seat of Thomas
Abingdon (who had married a sister of Lady Monteagle and of
Francis Tresham), and told Oldcorne of the plot, of its failure,
and of an expected rising. They, however, refused to join in it,
on which he set off, as he said, to rouse the Catholics of Lancashire.
In this, however, he entirely failed.*
For some years after the Gunpowder Plot aU Boman Catholics
were treated with greatly increased severity, and were subjected to
heavy fines as recusants. These fines the king granted either to
persons to whom he owed money, or to others on whom he wished to
confer favours. In the documents mentioned in the Calendar of the
State Papers for 1607, is a grant to Sir Bichard Coningsby, of the
benefit of the recusancy of the following Lancashire Catholics : —
Hugh Farrington, of Bibbleton ; Bobert Plesington, of the Dimples ;
Thomas Singleton, of Ingleshead ; Bobert Keightly, of White Leade ;
William Latwise, of Goosenargh ; William Harris, of Lytham ; Thomas
Procter, of Belsnap ; Edmund Threefall, of Goosenargh ; and Peter
Mason, of Westham, all in the county of Lancaster. The fines of these
recusants were granted to Sir Bichard, in lieu of £1000 due to him by
the king. A similar grant was made in the same year to Captain
Thomas Allen, of the benefit of the recusancy, amongst others, of John
Ince, of Wigan ; William Bishton, of Harwood ; and William Bichard-
son, of Merscoe (Mearscough), also in the county of Lancaster. A
third grant was made to Lawrence Marbury of the benefit of the
recusancy, amongst others, of Thomas Westby, James Gorsage, William
Formby, Boger Bradshaw, William Massey, Henry Banistre, and
Bichard Greenacres, aU of Lancashire. A fourth grant was made to
David Stewart, of the recusancy of Henry Banistre and Thomas
Brockholes, both of Lancashire. Grants of a sinfilar kind continued
to be made for some years after, and amongst those of 1608 was a
grant to Charles Chambers of the benefit of the recusancy of three
gentlemen of very high standing in the county of Lancaster — namely,
Thomas Brockholes, of Claughton ; Thurston Tyldesley, of Stanacre ;
and Edward Singleton, esquires. These and similar measures were
thought to be very efficacious, not only in putting down conspiracy,
but in producing conformity; for, after the summer assizes of 1609,
Sir Bichard Phfiips, justice of the Common Pleas, writing to the earl
of Salisbury, noticed the quiet state of Northumberland, Cumber-
* Cal. State Pap. Dom. anno 1606.

422 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
land, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, "where," he observes, "only
thirteen persons have been executed, and where recusants decrease."*
It would appear, however, that the security produced by hanging
and by forced conformity was not of any .great duration, for in the
year 1612 it was resolved that all recusants should be disarmed,
and the clergymen of the several parishes were caUed on -to return
a list of their names. At a meeting of the lord-lieutenant, the
earl of Derby, and the justices of the peace, held at Wigan, it was
resolved that aU convicted recusants should be disarmed ; and the
justices, on receiving a list of such recusants, were to "repair to
the dwelling houses or places of the said convicted recusants, or non-
communicants, and to take from them aU arms and weapons other
than shaU be necessary for defence of their houses." t On the same
occasion the foUowing order, with regard to recusants and noncom-
municants was issued and addressed to the clergy : — " Whereas we
have received direction from the lords of his Majesty's most honour
able Privy CouncU, to be informed of all recusants and noncommuni-
cants within this county; this, therefore, shall be in his Majesty's
name to require and charge you, that you do within twenty days
after Easter next deliver unto us a true and perfect presentment
of aU persons dweUing within your parish, above the age of sixteen
years, with their several additions, that have not communicated
within the space of one year then last past, and that you for the
better information herein — the parson, vicar, or curate — do give public
notice in the parish church the next Sabbath or holy day after the
receipt hereof, at the time of divine service, that all those that do not,
before the expiration of the said twenty days, come to the church,
and there communicate according to the laws in that case provided,
must be presented and further proceeded against as we are com
manded. Fail not herein at your uttermost perfi. Given at Wigan,
this 24th of March, 1612. — Your loving friends,
Bauph Ashton, John Bradshaw.
In the year 1608 Wfifiam, earl of Derby, writes from Lathom to
the Privy CouncU that he has directed a view and muster of the seven
hundred soldiers for Ireland, and he incloses a letter from his deputy-
lieutenant to himself stating their defects. J
The practice of inflicting fines on Boman Cathofic as weU as
Puritan recusants continued for some years after the Gunpowder Plot *
* Cal. State Pap. Dom. anno 1619.
f Lancashire Lieutenancy under the Stewarts, vol. ii. p. 261. J Cal. of State Pap.

PAST AND PRESENT.

423

but graduaUy both the king and his advisers became snore indulgent
to the Boman Catholics. This was carried still further in the reign
of Charles I., when the high claims to authority put forth on the part
of the church by the Boman Catholics rendered them agreeable to
the high churchmen of the court. From this and other causes they
were treated more indulgently in the latter part of the reign of
James I. than at the commencement ; and this indulgence was con
tinued during the reign of Charles, and down to the great civfi war,
in which the Boman Catholics, not only in the north-western
counties but everywhere, were amongst the most loyal and devoted
supporters of the crown. Unfortunately for themselves, whilst the
laws against the Boman Catholics were every year administered in a
milder spirit by James and by Charles, exactly the opposite course
was taken with regard to the Protestant recusants or nonconformists.
The laws against them were administered with increasing severity to
the time of Archbishop Laud, who strained those laws to the utmost
point of harshness, and thus brought destruction upon himself and
master, as weU as a temporary overthrow of the church which he
wished to aggrandize and extend. These events, however, belong to a
later portion of this chapter.
The early part of the reign of James I. was rendered memorable
in Lancashire by an extraordinary burst of superstition and cruelty,
directed against a number of unfortunate creatures suspected of the
crime of witchcraft, who were tried, convicted, and punished with
death, for that imaginary offence. In those times the belief in witch
craft was very general, and the royal driveUer on the throne, James
I., had a few years before published a work on " Demonology," in
which he declared that witches and wizards abounded in the land,
and denounced all who denied it as Sadducees and infidels. There is
too much reason to fear that the judges who presided at the trials of
the Pendle Forest witches (as they were caUed) in Lancashire, were
influenced by the opinions of the king, and even courted his favour
in persecuting to the death the unfortunate creatures tried before
them. In an official account of the trials, published by one " Master
Potts," with the authority of the judges, it is stated that the facts of
these cases confirmed all the assertions of the king on the subject.
As a curious chapter in the history of superstition, it is worth while
to preserve a, record of these strange but most tragical cases.
The belief in witchcraft, though prevalent everywhere, was more
particularly so in wild, thinly peopled districts, as the Forest of

424 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Pendle then wae. But these fears were not confined to this district.
A few years previously the public of Lancashire had been agitated
by the belief that Ferdinando, the fifth earl of Derby, had been
murdered by witchcraft ; his death having been occasioned either by
poison, or by some sudden and violent disease, which far surpassed
the knowledge of the faculty of that day. Still more recently Dr.
Dee, the warden of Manchester coUege, had fallen so strongly under
suspicion, as a practiser of magical arts, that he had found it necessary
to publish a solemn denial of the charge, and a passionate vindication
of his innocence. There is no doubt, moreover, that many of the
persons suspected and accused of witchcraft, either believed themselves
to be possessed of such powers, or professed to do so for purposes of
gain. This was the case with at least two of the women tried,
convicted, and hung at Lancaster. They had practised witchcraft
as a trade, and had convinced the public, and possibly even them
selves, that they were able to command the services of evfi spirits.
The trials of the witches of Pendle Forest, which took place at
Lancaster at the autumn assizes of 1612, were as remarkable as any
investigations of that kind that were ever held, as weU for the
number of prisoners tried, and the extravagance of the charges made
against them, as for the frivolous and incredible evidence by which
those charges were supported, and above aU for the terrible acts of
judicial murder by which they were crowned.
The number of pretended witches or wizards tried on this occasion
was twenty. Of these twelve belonged to the witches of Pendle
Forest, and eight to the witches of Samlesbury, a place not far
distant. They were tried separately, and with different results,
nearly aU the Pendle witches being convicted and hung, whilst all
the Samlesbury witches were either acquitted or aUowed to go at.
liberty on giving securities for their good behaviour.
The Pendle Forest witches were tried first, and the following
summary of the evidence will show the offences of which they were
accused, and the sort of evidence on. which they were convicted.
Elizabeth Southernes, a poor, old, illiterate widow, known by the
nickname of Old Demdike, was regarded as one of the mother witches
of Pendle Forest. She was so fortunate as to die in prison previous
to the trial. Before dying she is said to have made a confession, which
was produced on the trial, and was used as the means of destroying
several of the members of her own famfiy. We have no information
as to the manner in which this confession was obtained, nor any

PAST AND PRESENT. 425

certain evidence that it ever was made, but it had sufficient weight
on the trial to destroy aU the other members of her family,
except one.
According to the alleged confession of Elizabeth Southernes she
was herself a witch, and had for upwards of twenty years been under
the influence of an evfi spirit. This demon she was said to 'have met
near Gouldshay in the Forest of Pendle. To him she had consented
to sell her soul, he having promised to grant her anything she wished
for on those conditions. With the assistance of this demon she was
said to have attempted to destroy a man named Bichard Baldwin,
who had refused to pay her for services which her daughter had
rendered in his mill, and who had driven her off the premises, swear
ing at her and her daughter, as witches and strumpets. It did not
appear, however, from the evidence, that she had done any harm to
Baldwin, or that any harm had happened to him which could be
imputed to witchcraft, even according to the notions of those days.
Another accusation against her was that she had persuaded her
daughter, a married woman, named Elizabeth Device or Davies,
nicknamed Young Demdike, also to seU herself to the devil. This
daughter, it was said, had taken her advice, and had not only sold
herself to the devil, but had induced her young daughters, Afizon
Device and Jennet Device, and her own son, James Device, to do the
same thing.
The second person charged was Elizabeth Device, the daughter of
the above Elizabeth Southernes. The evidence against her was her
mother's confession and the testimony of her own daughter, a poor
child nine years of age, who was produced on the trial as a witness
against her mother. She described the evil spirit, which was the
familiar of her mother, and by whose agency she was said to have
bewitched to death John Bobinson, James Bobinson, and James
Milton. These three persons were said to have been murdered by
her incantations, out of revenge, one because he had called her a strum
pet, and the others for having refused to give Old Demdike a penny.
This weak, lost child further stated that her mother had taught her
two charms, by one of which she procured drink, and the other cured
the persons who were bewitched. The first of these was a sentence
in broken Latin, and was merely a statement that the cross or
crucifix was the sign of eternal life, the words being "Crucifixus
hoc signum vitam eternam." The other prayer or charm was as
follows : —
VOL. i. 3 H

426 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

A. CHARM.
Upon Good Friday day, I will fast while I may,
Until I hear them knell
Our Lord's own bell ; Lord in his Messe,
With- his twelve apostles good,
What hath he in his hand 1
Sigh in leath wand :
What he in Ms other hand 1
Heaven's door key —
Open, open, heaven door keys ;
Steck, steck, hell door, &c.
This seems to be merely a relic of an old hymn on Good Friday,
which had probably come down from the Boman Catholic times, and
was certainly quite as innocent as the Latin charm given above.
Poor Elizabeth Device had the misfortune to be very ugly, or, as Mr.
Potts, the reporter of the trial, says, " She was branded with a pre
posterous mark in nature, her left eye standing lower than her right,
and one looking down and the other up at the same time." Her
mode of destroying her enemies was said to be by forming figures of
clay, and causing them gradually to waste away, her victims wasting
away at the same time.
James Device, the son of the above Elizabeth Device, a poor
decrepid boy, apparently of weak intellect, and so infirm that it was
found necessary to support him in court on his trial, was convicted,
principally on the evidence of his sister, a girl of nine years of age,
of bewitching and killing Mrs. Ann Towneley, the wife of Mr. Henry
Towneley, of the Carr, by means of an image of clay. He also was
hung along with his mother and his elder sister, Alizon Device.
Alizon Device was accused of having been initiated in the arts of
witchcraft by her mother, and of having practised them. She was
hung as a witch along with her.
Thus four members of this unfortunate family were destroyed.
Jennet Device, a younger child, was allowed to escape on that
occasion, but was ever afterwards regarded as a witch, and was tried
again on a similar charge in the year 1633.
Ann Whittle, alias Chattox, who is described as "a very old,
withered, spent, and decrepid creature, eighty years of age, and nearly
blind," was also tried on this occasion, as one of the mother witches of
Pendle Forest. The poor old creature had followed the very honest
occupation of a carder of wool in her youth, and had aU her life lived
in the Forest of Pendle, where the wooUen trade was carried on.
She was accused of having bewitched and murdered Bobert Nutter,

PAST AND PRESENT. 427

of Greenhead, in the Forest of Pendle. She was also accused of
having murdered by witchcraft, John Device, a son of Elizabeth
Southernes, the rival witch of the Forest. Several other minor
offences were charged against her, as for instance, that she had be
witched the drink of John Moore ; and that she had produced butter
from a dish of skimmed milk. She also was in a great measure
convicted on her own evidence, for she avowed herself a witch. She
stated that fourteen or fifteen years before, a thing standing upright,
like a Christian man, "had persuaded her to sell her soul to the
devil, and that she had consented to do so." On her trial she pleaded
guilty, but prayed that the judges would be merciful to her daughter,
Ann Bedfearne, who was tried along with her.
The charge against Ann Bedfearne was that she was a witch, and
that she had conspired with her mother to place a bad wish upon
Bobert Nutter, of which he had died. This was said to have been
done in consequence of some insult having been offered to the
daughter. She, also, was convicted and hung.
Several other persons were tried for their supposed connection
with these supposed witches. They were all ignorant and helpless
creatures, with the exception of one named Alice Nutter. She was a
lady of good fortune and respectable connections, and was the wife of
Bichard Nutter, of Boughlee. She firmly and to the last moment
protested her innocence. The charge against her was that she had
joined in killing Henry Mitton, by witchcraft, because he had refused
a penny to Elizabeth Southernes, known by the nickname of Old
Demdike. The charge made at the trial of Alice Nutter took a
further or different form on the evidence 'of Elizabeth Device,
James Device, and Jennet Device, who stated that Alice Nutter
attended a meeting of twenty witches at Malkin Tower, the house of
Old Demdike, on Good Friday, 1612, for the purpose of "killing
the gaoler at Lancaster, and before the next assizes to blow up the
castle there ; to the end that the aforesaid prisoners might by that
means make an escape."
The accusation against Katherine Hewyth was that she had
killed a child by witchcraft ; and had attended the meeting of witches
at Malkin Tower, on Good Friday.
John Bulcock and Jane Bulcock, his mother, were charged with
conspiring with others to kUl a Mr. Leister, and with attending the
same meeting at Malkin Tower. The witnesses, as usual, were James
Device, Elizabeth Device, and Jennet Device. They are said to have

428 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
confessed ; but Mr. Potts says in his arraignment of these two
persons — "But amongst all the witches in this company, there is
not a more fearful and devilish act committed, and voluntarily
confessed by any of them, comparable to this, under the degree of
murder, which impudently now (at the bar, having formerly con
fessed) they forswear, swearing they were never at the great assembly
at Malking Tower, although the very witches that were present in
that action with them justify, maintain, and swear the same to
be true against them : crying out in very violent and outrageous
manner, even to the gaUows, where they died' impenitent for any
thing we know, because they died silent in the particulars. These
of all others were the most desperate wretches (void of all fear or
grace) in all this pack."
To conclude the list of these unfortunate people, Isabel Bobey
was charged with bewitching with sickness the wife of one Peter
Chaddock, in consequence of quarrels arising out of jealousy ; Isabel
Bobey being said to have been much vexed at their marriage. She
was charged with bewitching other persons with sickness.
Mr. Potts says, in what he calls the arraignment of Isabel
Bobey : — " Here then is the last that came to act her part in this
lamentable and woeful tragedy, wherein his Majesty hath lost so
many subjects, mothers their children, fathers their friends and
kinsfolkes, the like whereof hath not been set forth in any age. What
hath the King's Majesty written and published in his " Demonologie,"
by way of premonition and prevention, which hath not here by the
first or last been executed, put in practice, or discovered V
Another set of unfortunates, known as the Samlesbury witches,
were tried about the same time. Their names were Jane Bierley,
Ellen Bierley, and Jane Southworth. They were charged with having
bewitched a girl named Grace Sowerbutts, at Samlesbury. One of
these poor creatures was the grandmother of the girl who pretended
to be bewitched ; and the charge seems to have been got up by the
girl, whose character was very indifferent, either from revenge or the
wish to make money. She swore that these women dragged her
about by the hair of her head, and took her senses and memory from
her, and adopted other means to induce her to become one of their
company. She further swore that they appeared sometimes in their
own likenesses, sometimes in the likenesses of black dogs ; and that
they met from time to time four black things, going upright and yet
not like men in the face, who carried them across the river danced

PAST AND PRESENT. 429

with them, and indulged in aU kinds of familiarities. She further
charged them with having bewitched and killed a child, named
Thomas Washman, by placing a nail in its navel ; and with taking up
the corpse, eating part of the flesh, and making an unctuous ointment
by boiling the bones. Fortunately the judge and jury, who had
already supped fuU of horrors, were unable to swallow these, and the
poor creatures were acquitted. Several other persons apprehended
on simUar charges — namely, John Bamsden, Elizabeth Astley, Alice
Gray, Isabel Sidegraves, and Laurence Haye, were all discharged
without trial.
" The principal person concerned in bringing these unfortunate
creatures to trial was Boger Nowell, Esq., of Beed HaU, near Pendle,
who was sheriff of Lancashire in 1610. He was of the same famUy
as Alexander NoweU, the dean of St. Paul's, and Laurence NoweU,
the restorer of Saxon literature in England. He is described by
Mr. Potts as a very religious and honest justice of the peace, and
probably may have been so in aU matters in which his superstitious
fears were not appealed to. He was certainly kept in countenance
in - these proceedings, not only by the judges before whom the
prisoners were tried, but also by King James himself, who, in his
work on " Demonology," published a few years before, spoke of " the
fearful abounding at this time and in this country of those detestable
slaves of the devil, the witches or enchanters ; " and vehemently pro
tested " against the damnable opinions of those who are not ashamed
in public print to deny that there can be such a thing as witchcraft :
and to maintain the old error of the Sadducees in the denying of
spirits." Sir Edward Bromley and Sir James Altham, barons of the
Exchequer, before whom these trials took place, say, in a sort of
advertisement to Mr. Potts' report of the proceeding, as follows : —
" We thought it necessary to publish them, and thereupon imposed
the labour of this work upon this gentleman." In a further notice
to the public, following this, Mr. Baron Bromley adds, under his own
signature, " I took upon me to, revise and correct it, that nothing
might pass but matter of fact apparent against them by record." It
is to be hoped that Mr. Baron Bromley was as much deluded in this
matter as the ignorant witnesses who appeared to swear away the
fives of these unfortunate creatures, and that he was in no degree
influenced by a wish to countenance the opinions or obtain the favour
of the king. Even supposing him to have been one of the deluded,
and not one of the deluders, it is impossible to read the following

430 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
speech, in which he sentenced to death ten of his fellow creatures, for
an impossible offence, without a shudder : — " You," said he, addressing
the wretched prisoners, " of aU people have the least cause of com
plaint, since on the trial of your lives there has been so much care
and pains taken ; and what persons of your nature and condition
were ever arraigned and tried with so much solemnity % The court
hath had great care to receive nothing in evidence against you but
matter of fact! As you stand simply (your offences and bloody
practices not considered) your fate would rather move compassion
than exasperate any man ; for whom would not the ruin of so
many poor creatines at one time touch, as in appearance simple and
of fittle understanding 1 But the blood of these innocent children,-
and others, his Majesty's subjects, whom cruelly and barbarously you
have murdered and cut off, cries unto the Lord for vengeance. It is
impossible that you, who are stained with so much innocent blood,
should either prosper or continue in this world, or receive reward in
the next."
" In this melancholy case," says Mr. Crossley, in his recent edition
of Potts' ' Discovery of Witches,' published by the Chetham Society,
"the main interest centres in the fate of Alice Nutter. Wealthy,
weU conducted, well connected, and placed, probably on an equality
with most of the neighbouring families, and with the magistrate
before whom she was brought and by whom she was committed, she
must be distinguished from the companions in misfortune with whom
she suffered. Instances are very few in England in which the
ferocious statute of James I. was brought to bear against any but the
lowest classes of the people."
In the year 1611 King James created the hereditary dignity of
baronet as a step between the peerage and the ordinary ancient
knighthood of England, which originaUy belonged to every gentle
man possessed of a certain amount of landed estate, but was never
hereditary. Amongst the baronets created on the 22nd of May,
1611, were the following Lancashire and Cheshire knights: — Sir
Bichard Molyneux, of Sefton ; Sir Bichard Houghton, of Houghton-
tower; Sir Thomas Gerard, of Bryn, in the county of Lancaster,
all the representatives of famfiies which had held their estates
from the time of the Norman conquest; and Sir George Booth,
of Dunham Massey, the representative of Hamon de Masci, also
one of the foUowers of the Conqueror. Subsequently the rank of
baronet was conferred by James I. on Sir Thomas Stanley, of

PAST AND PRESENT. 431

Bickerstaff, an ancestor of the present earls of Derby ; Sir John
Stanley, of Alderley, an ancestor of Lord Stanley of Alderley ;
and other gentlemen holding large estates in the two counties.
In the year 1617, James I. paid a visit to Lancashire and
Cheshire, on his way from Scotland to London, and was received
with honours more due to his office than to the gloomy and
pedantic bigot who held it. On his arrival at Hornby castle, the
ancient seat of the Harringtons, he was welcomed with aU the
honours due to royalty. From Hornby he proceeded to Ashton
hall, near Lancaster, then the residence of Thomas, the first Lord
Gerard. From Ashton he repaired to the royal forest of Myers-
cough, where he spent two days in enjoying the pleasures of the
chase; for at that time the forest of Myerscough abounded with
red deer, the noblest of aU the British animals of chase. From
Myerscough the king proceeded to Houghton tower, in Leyland, the
magnificent seat of the ancient famfiy of Houghton, whose ancestors
had been falconers to the kings of England so early as the reign of
Henry II. At Houghton the king was treated with royal magni
ficence; and there he remained for three days, feasting, hunting,
witnessing the old Lancashire sport of ru'shbearing, and spending
his time with the jolly company, as "merry," according to an eye
witness, "as Bobin Hood and aU his feUows."* During his stay
* The following bill of fare on the occasion of James' visit to Houghton Tower has been preserved, and is a
curiosity in its way : —
Sunday's Dinner, the 17th op August, (1617).— For the Lords' Table.
First Coarse.— Pullets, boiled capon, mutton boiled, boiled chickens, shoulder of mutton roast, ducks boiled,
loin of veal roast, pullets, haunch of venison roast, burred capon, pasty of venison hot, roast turkey, veal burred,
swan roast one and one for to-morrow, chicken pye hot, goose roast, rabbits cold, jiggits of mutton boiled, snipe
pye, breast of veal boiI"sd, capons roast, pullet, beef roast, tongue pye cold, sprod boiled, herons roast cold, curlew
pye cold, mince pye hot, custards, pig roast.
Second Course.— Hot pheasant, one, and one for the king, quails, six for the king, partridge, poults, artichoke
pye, chickens, curlews roast, peas buttered, rabbits, ducks, plovers, red deer pye, pig burred hot, herons roast,
three of a dish, lamb roast, gammon of bacon, pigeons roast, made dish, chicken burred, pear tart, pullets and
grease, dryed tongues, turkey pye, pheasant tart, hogs'- cheeks dryed, turkey chicks cold.
Sunday Night's Supper.
First Course —Pullet, boiled capon, cold mutton, shoulder of mutton roasted, chicken boiled, cold capon, roast
veal, rabbits boiled, pullet turkey roast, pasty of venison hot, shoulder of venison roast, herons cold, sliced beef,
umble pye, ducks boiled, chickens baked, pullet, cold neat's tongue pye, neat's tongue roast, sprod boiled, curlews
baked cold, turkeys baked cold, neat's feet, boiled rabbits, rabbits fried.
Second Course.— Quails,- poults, herons, plovers, chickens, pear tart, rabbits, peas buttered, made dish, ducks,
gammon of bacon, red deer pye, pigeons, wild boar pye, curlew, dry neat's tongue, neat's tongue tart, dried hog's
cheek, red deer pye.
Monday Morning's Breakfast, the 18th of August.
Pullets, boiled capon, shoulder of mutton, veal roast, boiled chickens, rabbits roast, shoulder of mutton roast,
chine of beef roast, pasty of venison, turkey roast, pig roast, venison roast, ducks boiled, pullet, red deer pye

432 LANCASHl RE AND CHESHIRE :
at Houghton the king knighted Sir Cecil Trafford, of Trafford park,
and Sir Arthur Lake, of Middlesex. On the 19th of August the
king proceeded to Lathom house, on a visit to Wfifiam, the sixth
earl of Derby, and there he knighted Sir William Massey, Sir Bobert
Bindloes, Sir Gilbert Clifton, Sir John Talbot, Sir Gilbert- Ireland,
and Sir Edward Osbaldistone, aU gentlemen of Lancashire. From
Lathom house the king proceeded to Bewsey hall, near Warrington,
then the seat of Thomas Ireland, esquire, whom the king raised
to tfie rank of Sir Thomas Ireland, knight, before he left the house.
Crossing the Mersey by the bridge of Warrington, the king
entered Cheshire, and proceeded over the hills to the noble castle
of Halton, near Buncorn, which belonged to the king, as one of
the possessions of the duchy of Lancaster, to which it had become
united by the marriage of Alicia de Lacy, the heiress of the
constables of Chester and earls of Lincoln, with Thomas, earl of
Lancaster, in the reign of Edward II. Halton castle was at that
time in aU its original beauty and strength, and not a romantic
ruin as at the present day. It then not only overlooked but
commanded the passage across the Mersey at Buncorn, besides
overlooking the beautiful park of the ancient famfiy of the Brookes
at Norton Priory, and a most extensive and beautiful range both
of land and water. From Halton castle King James proceeded to
the beautiful house of Cfifton, or Bock Savage, the newly-erected
mansion of the ancient and knightly famfiy of the Savages of
Cheshire. Webb, in his "Vale Boyal," and Nichols, in his "Progresses
of King James I.," shall conduct his majesty through the rest of
the county.
"The ride in the evening [from Bock Savage] would skirt the
rich vale of the Weever, unless the king deviated, for the purpose
of hunting, from the usual route ; and as we hear nothing of a visit
to Northwich, he probably turned aside at Winnington bridge to
Vale Boyal. Arriving there the 21st August (Thursday), he there
kept his court till Monday after."*
cold, four capons roast, poults roast, pheasant, herons, mutton boiled, wild boar pye, jiggits of mutton boiled
jiggits of mutton burred, gammon of bacon, chicken pye, burred capon, dried hog's cheek, umble pye, tart
made dish.
Servants— For the pastries, John Greene, Richard Blythe, William Aldersey, Alexander Cowper ; for the
ranges, John Coleburne, Elias James, John Earirke, Robert Dance ; for boiling, John Munyer, William Parkes •
for pullets, John Clerke, John Bibby.
Chief Cook — Mr. Morris. * Nichols, vol. iii. p. 405.

PAST AND PRESENT. 433

"James spent four days with his court at Vale Boyal, hunting.
Heard the dean of Chester preach on the Sunday, and delighted
his courtiers by his disquisitions on the discourse ; and on another
occasion showed his learning and skill in the arts of the chase.
Sir John Done had the care of the entertainment of the king at
Vale Boyal, which had long been the seat of the Holcrofts, but had
lately come into the possession of the Lady Mary Cholmondeley."*
Webb gives the following account of the king's visit to Chester :
— " In August, 1617, our city was graced with the royal presence
of our sovereign King James, who being attended with many
honourable earls, reverend bishops, and worthy knights and cour
tiers, besides aU the gentry of the shire, rode in state through the
city, the 23rd of August, being met with the sheriffs-peers and
common council, every one with his foot cloth, well mounted on
horseback; aU the train soldiers of the city standing in order
without the Eastgate, and every company with their ensigns in
seemingly sort did keep their several stations on both sides of the
Eastgate Street. The mayor and aU the aldermen took their places
on a scaffold, rafied and hung about with green ; and there, in
most grave and seemly manner, they attended the coming of his
Majesty. At which time, after a learned speech delivered by the
recorder, the mayor presented to the king a fair standing cup,
with a cover, double-gilt, and therein an hundred Jacobins of gold ;
and likewise the mayor delivered the city's sword to the king
who gave it to the mayor again ; and the same was borne before
the king by the mayor, being on horseback ; and the sword of
estate was borne by the Bight Honourable William, earl of Derby,
chief chamberlain of the county palatine of Chester.
"The king rode first to the minster, where he alighted from
his horse, and heard an oration in Latin, an anthem sung, and
after prayers ( went from thence to the Pentice, where a sump
tuous banquet, was prepared at the city's cost; which being ended,
the king departed to the Vale Boyal, and at his departure the
honour of knighthood was offered to the mayor, but he refused
the same."
A Chester journalist gives these additional particulars : — " He
stayed in Chester not above five hours. After the departure was
a collection made in the city towards the charges the city was at
for the cup of gold, which was £120 ; the banquet, £40 ; besides
* Webb, King's Vale Royal, vol. ii. p. 1.0.
VOL. I. 3 I

434 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

fees to his Majesty's servants, £50; and other charges to a good
value."* From Chester, "in his return to Vale Boyal, the king diverged
from his direct rout to visit Lea hall, near Aldford, an ancient man
sion of the Calveleys, and there he knighted Sir George Calveley." t
On Monday the king proceeded to Nantwich, after having left
Delamere Forest.^
From Delamere Forest and Utkinton the king proceeded south
ward (on the 25th August) same day to Townsend, the mansion
of Thomas Wilbraham, esquire, near Nantwich. At Nantwich the
king, on the 26th August, knighted Sir Hugh Wrottesley, and in
the afternoon proceeded on his way to Gerards Bromley, with his
own retinue and train of the principal gentry of Cheshire, including
the high sheriff, John Devonport, of Devonport. At his taking
leave on the confines of the county, his Majesty gave him thanks
for his attendance, and bestowed on him knighthood. On the
same day the king arrived from Nantwich at Gerards Bromley,
in Staffordshire, the seat of the first Lord Gerard. §
The visit of James I. to Lancashire was followed by an act
which gave great offence to a numerous class of his subjects.
From the time of the Beformation a great difference of opinion
and practice had existed, both in the Church of England and out
of it, as to the proper method of observing the Lord's day, or as
it was caUed by aU those who held the stricter views, the Sabbath.
The high church party were in general disposed to look upon it
much in the same way as the Boman Catholics had previously
done, that is, as a religious festival which did not exclude cheerful
ness and even mirth. The low church party, if we may venture to
employ a term which had not yet come into use, together with
the Presbyterians of Scotland and the Puritans of England, took
a stricter view of the observance of the day; and were disposed
to observe the Christian sabbath with a good deal of the strictness
prescribed by divine authority in the observance of the Jewish
sabbath. To a certain extent this difference of opinion still exists ;
though both parties have become more moderate both in their
opinions and their practice.
In the days of James I. and of his son, moderation and toleration
were alike unknown. When James I. visited Lancashire in the
* Harl. MSS. 2125, p. 306 ; quoted by Nichols, vol iii. p. 409. f Nichols, vol. iii. p. 410.
t Nichols, vol. iii. p. 410. § Nichols' Progresses of King James I., vol. iii. p. 413.

PAST AND PRESENT. 435

year 1617, he found that the strict observance of the Lord's day
was generally in use, and that the edicts of certain commissioners,
who sat at Manchester in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were
rigorously carried into effect, which forbid "pipers and minstrels
playing, the making and frequenting of bear-baiting and bull-
baiting, on the Sabbath days, or upon other days in time of
divine service ; as also the superstitious ringing of beUs, wakes,
and common feasts ; drunkenness, gaming, and other vicious and
unprofitable pursuits." Some of these restrictions the king objected
to, and on his return put forth a proclamation, in which he stated,
"that in his progress through Lancashire he found it necessary to
rebuke some Puritans and precise people, and took order that the
said unlawful carriage should not be used by any of them hereafter,
in the prohibiting and unlawfully punishing of his good people for
using their lawful recreations and honest exercises upon Sundays,
after service." The proclamation proceeds to declare that " the king
had found that two sorts of people within his county of Lancaster
much infested that county, namely, Puritans and Papists, and that
they had maliciously traduced and calumniated his just and honour
able proceedings ; he had therefore thought proper to clear and make
his pleasure manifest to all his good people in those parts. And
his Majesty's pleasure was, that the bishop of the diocese should
take strict order with aU the Puritans and precisians within the
county of Lancaster, and either constrain them to conform them
selves or to leave the country, according to the laws of this
kingdom and the canons of the church ; and as for his good
people's lawful recreation, his pleasure was that, after the end of
divine service, they be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from
any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women ;
archery for men, leaping, vaulting, &c, or any other such harmless
recreation ; nor for having of May games, Whitson-ales, and Mor
tice dances, and the setting up of May poles, &c, and other sports
therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient
time, without impeachment or neglect of divine service ; and that
women should have leave to carry rushes to the church, for the
decorating of it, according to their old custom : but withaU his
Majesty did here account still as prohibited aU unlawful games to
be used upon Sundays only, as bear and bull baitings, interludes,
and, at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited,
bowling. And, likewise, did bar from this benefit and liberty aU

436 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

such known recusants, either men or women, as did abstain from,
coming to church or divine service, they being unworthy of any
lawful recreation after the said service that would not first come
to the church and serve God : prohibiting, in like sort, the said
recreations to any that, though conforming in religion, were not
present in the church at the service of God before their going to
the said recreations."
The above proclamation was foUowed, in the course of the
same year, by the publication of the " Book of Sports," which the
bishops were ordered to cause to be read and published in aU the
parish churches of their respective dioceses, on pain of punishment
in the high commission court. These proceedings were no doubt
agreeable to a certain portion of the members of the high church
party in the reign of James I., but they were almost as offensive to
the members of the low church party as they were to the Puritans
and the Presbyterians of Scotland ; and they had the effect of
alienating a greatly increased number of persons from the Church of
England. Many of these, with their pastors, took refuge in New
England ; but a much greater number remained at home indignant,
and waiting for the time when they could openly avow their
indignation. The power and" influence of the crown in the north-western, as
weU as in other districts of the kingdom, was greatly weakened in
the time both of James and Charles I., by the sale of numerous
estates which had belonged to the crown, or the duchy of Lancaster
from very early periods. Originally the rights of the crown extended
to the whole of the territory of England, every estate either paying
a certain rent to the crown or being held subject to the performance
of certain mfiitary and civil services. In course of time, by far the
larger portion of the estates of the crown had been alienated by
imprudent grants, or had been leased for long terms, or in perpetuity,
at rents which were originaUy much below their real value, and
which, being payable in gold and silver, became quite insignificant,
with the continual depreciation of the coinage by successive sovereigns,
and the great decrease in the value of gold and silver caused by the
discovery of the gold and silver mines of America. Thus, for instance,
the whole of the crown land and of the royal rights, in the borough
of Liverpool, were held by the Molyneux famfiy, from the reign of
Henry VII. to that of Charles I., at a yearly rent of £14, although
they must have been worth some hundreds of pounds yearly in the

PAST AND PRESENT. 437

latter portion of that period. With equal improvidence the royal
deer park of Toxteth, near Liverpool, was sold for a few hundred
pounds to William, earl of Derby, who resold it to Sir Bichard
Molyneux, for £1100, a few years later. Other estates, in different
parts of Lancashire and Cheshire, were disposed of with an equal
disregard of their real value ; and in the second year of the reign of
Charles I., that sovereign, who was always greatly in want of money,
disposed of upwards of 300 royal estates, many of the most valuable
of which were in Lancashire, in payment of various sums furnished
to him, or to his father, by the citizens of London. The rental of
those estates, even at that time, was £12,496 per annum ; and if they
had been let at their true value it would have been at least ten times
as much. The result of this, and of many other similar sales, was
that the crown became poorer every year, whilst the expenses of the
government, under the direction of Vilfiers, duke of Buckingham, and
other advisers equally selfish and reckless, every year became much
greater. In consequence, the crown was driven to the necessity
either of appealing to Parliament for continual grants, which were
never made without at least a promise of a redress of grievances ; or
in place of Parliamentary grants, of having recourse to the use of
antiquated and obnoxious if not absolutely illegal demands, made
under cover of the royal prerogative. The amounts obtained by
these means were small, both 'in proportion to the wants of the crown,
and to the odium and unpopularity incurred in raising money by
such unpopular means.
In the year 1635 the demand of King Charles I. for a contribution,
under the name of ship-money, threw the whole kingdom into the
most violent state of excitement. The sum demanded for the
county of Lancaster was £1000 ; that for the borough of Wigan was
£50, for the borough of Preston £40, for Lancaster £30, for Liverpool
£25, for Clitheroe £7 10s., and for Newton also £7 10s. This
demand was made in the year in which Humphrey Chetham was
high sheriff of Lancashire, and it appears from his memoirs that it
produced extreme dissatisfaction, especially at Liverpool. Its two
great opponents in that port were John Moore, Esq., of Bank haU,
Kirkdale, who afterwards commanded the garrison of Liverpool
against Prince Bupert, and at a later time sat in judgment on the
king himself; and Edward Nicholson, a principal shipowner of the
port. After great trouble the high sheriff succeeded in obtaining the
money ; but the exacting of it left behind a bitter feeling ; and the

438 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
fact of the judges having declared the demand for ship-money to
be legal, only involved them in the same unpopularity which was
gathering around the crown and church.
Some curious memorials of the times immediately preceding the
great civil war, are found in the account of the shrievalty of William
Ffarington, of Worden, for the year 1636, recently published in the
Ffarington Papers, by the Chetham Society. It appears from this
account that Edward, Lord Newburgh, was chanceUor of the duchy
of Lancaster at this time, having been appointed to the office in the
year 1629, and holding it to the year 1644. In a letter from the
Duchy house, dated the 4th of June, 1636, to the high sheriff, he
states, that by special directions, there were commands given to his
Majesty's judges of assize, that in their circuit they should take the
oaths of aU the justices of peace within the county of Lancaster; but
as the greater part of them had not appeared at the previous assizes,
the high sheriff was ordered to warn and summon all the justices of
the county, that were not then sworn (a list of which was inclosed),
to appear and attend the judges, without faU, to take their oaths
at this next assizes. The list of justices inclosed in the chancel
lor's letter contains the foUowing names : — William, earl of Derby;
James, Lord Strange ; John (Bridgeman), bishop of Chester ; Henry
Lord Morley ; Edward, Lord Newburgh ; Sir George Vernon, knight ;
Sir Bobert Berkley, knight ; Sir Edward Mosley, knight; Sir Gilbert
Houghton, knight and bart.; Sir George Booth, knight and bart.;
Sir Banulph Ashton, bart.; Sir Alexander Badcliffe, knight of the
most noble order of the Bath ; Sir Charles Gerard, knight ; Sir Cecil
Trafford, knight ; Sir Thomas Barton, knight ; Bichard Murray,
clerk (warden of Manchester College) ; William Leigh, bachelor of
divinity ; Thomas Standish, John Atherton, Edward Bawsthorne,
Bobert Holte, Thomas WorraU, John BraddeU, Edward Hopwood,
Henry Ogle, Peter Winne, John Brockholes, Thomas Ashton, John
Starkey, Henry Ashurst, Edward Bridgeman, Wfifiam Badcliff and
Bichard Burghe, esquires ; with Bobert Markland, mayor of Wigan.
This list of magistrates is foUowed by a list of the gentlemen and
tenants who wore the high sheriff's cloth or livery at the assizes.
These consisted of gentlemen who paid the sheriff this compliment
from respect to himself and his famfiy. Of these there were twenty :
in addition to these Mr. Tildesley attended himself, supported by six
of his tenants and sixteen tenants of the high sheriff's ; Mr. Fleetwood
appeared, supported by ten of his friends and tenants ; Mr. Bannister

PAST AND PRESENT. 439

appeared, attended by six of his tenants ; Mr. Thomas and Mr. Henry
Ffarington appeared, attended by two friends and fourteen tenants
and dependents, making the whole company in attendance on the
high sheriff seventy-six persons, including two trumpeters.
The calendar contained the names of twenty-three persons. Of
these one was accused of feloniously killing Thomas BUey ; four were
accused of burglariously breaking into houses ; one was accused of
oliminishing his Majesty's coin by clipping ; two were accused of cattle-
stealing, one of horse-stealing, and one of sheep-stealing ; two persons
were accused of forcibly holding possession of certain goods, late in
the possession of one Gabreal Westhead ; two were accused of felo
niously stealing certain goods, one of whom confessed the theft ; one
was accused of being an incorrigible and wandering rogue, being
branded in the shoulder, who hath been divers times in the house
of correction ; one was accused of buying and receiving of stolen deer
skins, and refusing to confess who brought them unto him ; one was
charged with refusing to put in sureties for his good behaviour ; and
two were charged on suspicion of cutting purses. This would in
modern times be considered a very light calendar, even making
allowance for the difference of population. In addition to the
prisoners tried at the summer assizes, there were seven prisoners who
had been in gaol since the previous assizes, besides ten witches. It
would appear from the names of these pretended witches, that they
were some of the poor creatures convicted and sentenced to death at
the assizes of 1633; so that, although their fives were spared, they
were subjected to a long imprisonment. There were also five other
females in the prison, whose offences are not clearly stated, but who
were also probably detained on a simfiar charge.
William Prynne being conveyed through the city of Chester, in
the year 1636, on his way to be imprisoned in Caernarvon castle, the
Puritans there assembled, to show respect and express their veneration
for him. By this conduct they consequently incurred the severe
displeasure of the government ; and some of the Chester friends of
this weU known writer were fined £500, some £300, and others £250.
Mr. Peter Ince, stationer, made a recantation before the bishop, and
Mr. Calvin Bruen did the same to the city authorities ; but two of
the others refused to make submission ; these were. Mr. Peter Lee
and Mr. Bichard Golborne, who suffered their bonds of £300 each to
be estreated, rather than accept pardon on the conditions offered.*
* Ormerod's Cheshire vol. i. p. 203, who quotes Cowper's MSS.

440 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The feeling against Prynne continued to influence the Chester
authorities, for in the next year four portraits of him, said to have
been painted in Chester, were burned at the High Cross in the
presence of the magistracy.*
In the year 1638 the growing discontent of the English nation
became doubly dangerous, from the sudden and violent insurrection
of the people and Parliament of Scotland against the rash attempts
of the government, urged on by Archbishop Laud, to force the
forms and doctrines of the Episcopal church on the Presbyterian
people of that country. The Scotch nation, thoroughly roused by
this daring attack on the doctrines and discipline which they had
adopted at the time of the Beformation, in defiance of the Boman
Cathofic queen, and which they had clung to with unshaken firm
ness after the Stuarts had adopted the doctrines of the Church of
England, at once rose in insurrection ; and bringing together a
numerous army, headed by the most powerful peers of Scotland,
advanced to the border, and prepared to resist by force of arms
aU further interference of the English government with their most
cherished opinions. Although perfectly prepared to fight for their
religion against any enemies, however formidable, the Scottish people
and their leaders' were greatly strengthened in their resistance by
the knowledge, that a large portion of the English people entirely
sympathized with their views, and were prepared to make the
battle their own. After much ineffectual negotiation, attended at
one time by a partial disarmament, the Scotch army pushed boldly
forward into England, and even crossed the Tyne, driving before
it the ill-organized and mutinous army of the king.
At the time when the quarrel with the people and Parliament
of Scotland broke out there was no regular army in England ; and
it was also weU known that the trained bands or militia of London,
and others of the large towns, were full of discontent, with the long-
continued attempts of the king to govern without a Parliament,
and the tyrannical efforts of Laud to force the doctrines and forms
of the high church party on the whole nation. In this state of
things the king caUed on aU the leading noblemen and gentlemen
throughout the kingdom, but more especiaUy those in the northern
counties, to employ their influence, in raising an army amongst'
their tenants and the smaller gentry. One of the first persons
called upon by the king for this assistance was James Stanley,
* Ormerod, vol. i. p. 203.

PAST AND PRESENT. 441

Lord Strange, the son and heir of William, earl of Derby, the
lord-lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire, and president of North
Wales. Owing to the great age of the earl of Derby, aU the
duties of the lieutenancy were performed by Lord Strange, aided
by his vigorous-minded wife, the celebrated Charlotte de la
Tremouille. At the beginning of the month of February, 1638, King Charles,
who was stiU at Westminster, but preparing to advance to the
Scottish borders, addressed a letter to the earl of Derby, K.G.,
and Lord Strange, calling on them to raise the mifitary force of
their lieutenancies in support of the crown. The letter of the king
was as foUows : —
THE KING TO THE EARL OF DERBY, E.G., AND THE LORD STRANGE,
CHARLES R.
"Bight trusty and right well beloved cousin, and right trusty
and weU beloved son, we greet you weU : Taking into our con
sideration the warfike preparations and rebeUious proceedings of
some in Scotland, who, being ill-affected to government, endeavour
under pretence of religion, which is utterly false and a mere mask of
rebellion, to insinuate disloyalty into the hearts of our people there,
and under colour of defence of that kingdom to raise soldiers and
lodge them upon the borders, that upon the first approach of our
forces levied here, only for the safety and preservation of this our
kingdom, they may be ready to invade and make a spofi of the good
subjects of this our kingdom, we have thought it very necessary to
have all the trained bands, both of horse and foot, in those counties
to be ready upon aU occasions for defence against whatsoever may
be attempted by the said Scots, by way of invasion or otherwise,
against the peace and quiet of this kingdom. To which purpose
our wfil and command is, that you forthwith signify our will and
pleasure to all the colonels of our said counties of Lancaster and
Chester forthwith to consider of the same, with the advice of Sir
Jacob Astley, or some deputed by him, to appoint some fit place or
places of rendezvous in our said counties, where aU the horse and
foot belonging to our said trained bands may assemble with most
convenience, and best advantage for our service : and we will that
you take effectual order that all our said forces of those counties
fail not to be then ready in case of invasion, or any act of hostility
executed by the said Scots, to march at twenty-four hours' warning,
VOL. i. 3 k

442 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
as upon summons from Sir Jacob Astley, our sergeant-major general
of the Field, shaU be directed, for which this shaU be your sufficient
warrant. — Given under our signet, at our Palace of Westminster
the 19th day of February, in the fourteenth year of our reign."
Lord Strange having received the above intimation from the
king, immediately proceeded to write to the deputy-lieutenants in
the several hundreds of the counties of Lancaster and Chester,
calling upon them to render him all the assistance in their power
in carrying out the commands of the king. The correspondence
of his lordship with the deputy-fieutenants in the Lancashire
hundreds of Leyland, West Derby, and Salford has been preserved
in the Ffarington Papers, and no doubt forms a fair specimen of
the correspondence with the deputy-lieutenants of the other hun
dreds of Lancashire, as well as those of Cheshire.
Lord Strange writes as foUows to William Ffarington, esquire,
of Worden, in the hundred of Leyland, an old and warmly-attached
friend of his family. His letter is dated Knowsley, the 9th day
of February, 1638 :—
LORD STRANGE TO WILLIAM FFARINGTON, ESQUIRE.
"The times do expressly call upon every man's care and pro
vidence to be in readiness for his Majesty's service ; and whereas
some parties lying more convenient than others for the same are
now summoned thereunto ; for which I have received his Majesty's
command to attend his royal person and standard at York, the
1st of April next, and bring with me as many horse, sufficiently
furnished, as is within my means in so short a time to provide.
In pursuance whereof, being thereto encouraged by the experience
of former times of the love and respect my ancestors have found
upon the like occasions, I do hereby intreat the like assistance of
my good friends, and such as (I consider) will not only herein
honour me, but thereby further his Majesty's intended service;
wherein every weU-affected and vigilant subject is most nearly 'm
interest bound. For which purpose I have particularly made a list
of such my good friends within the hundred of Leyland, unto
whom I desire you to repair with this my instance, and request
that for this service they wfil severaUy make me (supply me with)
a fight horse completely furnished, for my attendance upon his
Majesty, as I am commanded, which I shall esteem as a special

PAST AND PRESENT.

443

respect, and upon all occasions be ready to witness my thanks to
every one of them, and so I rest,
"Your assured loving friend, "J. Strange.
" Knowsley, 9th day of February, 1638."
In consequence of the above letter, Mr. Ffarington addressed
a circular to all the leading gentlemen of the hundred of Leyland,
calling on each of them to comply with the request of his lordship.
Amongst the gentlemen to whom this request was addressed were,
Balph Standish, of Standish ; Thomas Hesketh, of Bufford ; John
Fleetwood, of Penwortham ; Thomas Standish, of Duxbury ; Bichard
Ashton, of Croston ; Bobert Charnock ; James Anderton, of Cleaton ;
William Anderton, of the Ford ; Henry Banistre, of Bank ; Alex
ander Bigby, of Burgh ; and William Hoghton, of Park hall,
esquires ; together with Peter CatteraU, Bobert Mawdisley, and
Mr. Edge, of Little Hoole, gentlemen. In his letter to the above,
Mr. Ffarington, after informing them of Lord Strange's request,
and the grounds on which he hopes for their support, adds : —
" I intend (God willing) to be at Chorley on Monday next, for to
execute part of my Lord's commands about this service, and other
commands which I am commanded speedily to go about, where, if
I might enjoy your good companies, I should explain myself further
than now time will give me leave. So, leaving the premises to
your worthy considerations, in hope you wfil be pleased to give
me meeting at the place aforesaid, with the rememberance of my
bounden respects, I rest your assured loving friend,
"William Ffarington."
In the West Derby hundred Lord Strange engaged Sir Charles
Gerard, of HalsaU, the father of Charles Gerard, lieutenant-general
of the Horse to the king, created Baron Gerard of Brandon in
1645, to render him the same services in raising troops, which he
had requested of Mr. Ffarington. In doing so, however, he found
that there was a great want both of arms and armour, or, as they
were then caUed, "furniture," in the hundred; the natural result
of almost forty years of internal and external peace. In consequence
of this deficiency, Sir Charles Gerard wrote to Mr. Ffarington,
asking him to request Lord Strange to procure what was wanted
in London. The letter is as foUows : —

444 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

SIR C. GERARD TO WILLIAM FFARINGTON.
"Sir, — I conceive you are desired by our honourable lord-
lieutenant to soficit the gentlemen of your hundred of Leyland,
for their assistance to his lordship with horses furnished for his
Majesty's service, as I am in like manner for this hundred of West
Derby; and upon conference with divers of the gentlemen there,
I find many of them willing to be at the charge of a horse fur
nished, but know not how to get the furniture in so short a time.
Whereupon I made suit unto his lordship how, at his going to
London, that his lordship would endeavour to provide and buy
furniture there; and his lordship was pleased that for so many as
he shaU forthwith be certified from me or you that they were
willing and wanting in this kind, and as should send to Knowsley
the money they would afford for the price of such furniture, his
lordship would take care to obtain what they should want to be
sent down in convenient time. Thus much I thought good to
signify unto you, because I conceived the like occasion may fall
in your hand.
"I purpose to caU some freeholders which may perhaps think
much [think it too much] to make a horse each for this service;
and for these, if some three, four, five, or more join together, I
conceive it wfil be accepted. And if they cannot furnish them
selves, if they please to join together to the charge, I presume it
will be provided for them.
"And thus with my love remembered do rest,
"Your loving friend,
"Cha. Gerard.
" Halsall, 14th February, 1638."
Sir Charles Gerard further writes to WiUiam Ffarington that
the answers of the gentlemen of the county with regard to the
trained horse may be returned in time to have a review of them
at Ormskirk, some time within three weeks after the date of his
lordship's letter. Any horses received in the meantime, after being
examined and accepted by Sir Charles Gerard, to be sent forth
with to Lathom. "The moneys that you shall receive in that
behalf, his lordship desires they may be returned to my Lady
Strange; in the mean time he will provide horse and arms for
the money. If there be want of ryders, he wfil furnish himself
of able ryders."

PAST AND PRESENT.

445

In the Salford hundred Sir Cecfi Trafford, of Trafford, super
intended the levies directed by Lord Strange. Two letters remain
addressed by him to Mr. Ffarington, which contain some rather
curious information as to the mode in which the levies were made,
and from which also it appears that Lady Strange already took an
active part in carrying out the business of the lieutenancy.
On the 16th of February, 1638, Sir Cecfi Trafford wrote to
Mr. Ffarington as foUows : —
SIR CECIL TRAFFORD TO WILLIAM FFARINGTON.
"Sir, — I have received your letter, and have perused the certi
ficate made to the like letter from the Bight Honourable the Lords
of his Majesty's Council. The answer is (viz.), We have enroUed
also all the able men of the county beween sixteen and sixty years
of age, which amount to a great number ; out of which levy may
be made as his Majesty or the Lords of the Council shall direct.
This general answer then was received. Now for the caUander;
the number of pioneers was 5247 in the county, which was not
ment, as I conceive, aU the able men ; and there you may certify
whether you like better, but I conceive that general answer is the
better way. Nevertheless, referring it to your better judgement,
and so with my respects unto you,
"I rest to do you service, "Cecil Trafford.
"Teaffoed, \6th February, 1638."
In another letter of the 4th of March, Sir Cecil Trafford again
wrote to Mr. Ffarington, informing him of what course he had
taken in raising troops in the Salford hundred. On this subject
he says : —
SIR CECIL TRAFFORD TO WILLIAM FFARINGTON, ESQUIRE.
" Shi, — I have received your letter, with certificate enclosed, the
which I have subscribed, and dated it at Preston, the last of
February (for it had no date), and shall send it to my neighbour,
Mr. Greenhalgh. The course I took was this : I went to every
particular gentleman's house or person, and took their answer (and
have certified my Lady Strange every their answer, and those that
gave money I sent it to my lady) ; and those that offered money
to discharge themselves of trouble to provide arms, I sent their

446 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
offers. On Friday Mr. Greenhalgh was at Knowsley with my lord,
and he took every man's answer under their hand ; few denied.
And so, with my respects unto you,
"I rest your ever loving friend, "Cecil Trafford.
' Tbaffobd, 4th March, 1638."
On the 11th of March Lord Strange wrote to Mr. Ffarington,
to thank him and the gentlemen and freeholders of the hundred of
Leyland for the zeal they had shown in raising troops, and at the
same time to state that he had not occasion for so many horses as
he had expected ; and as he was unwilling to be chargeable to his
kind and good neighbours and friends, unless necessity required it,
he was resolved to respite and forbear aU the assistance offered tiU
he further saw his Majesty's designs, and his occasions to use the
same. On the 9th of April foUowing, for some reason or other,
connected no doubt with the state of affairs on the Scottish border,
Lord Strange made a sudden demand for ten demi-lances, or lancers,
and thirty fight horse. The horse were to be furnished by the
different hundreds of the county in the foUowing proportions :—
West Derby, 7£ ; Salford, 4| ; Leyland, 2£ ; Blackburn, 5± ;
Amounderness, 6 ; and Lonsdale, 4-^. The demi-lances were to be
furnished in the same proportions.
We have no information as to the number of Lancashire and
Cheshire troops which were moved to the Scottish border when
the king coUected his forces there; but a memorandum in the
Ffarington Papers states that Sir Cecfi Trafford was to command
five troops, four of "carobins" (carbineers) and one of dragoons.
Another memorandum in the same collection states, that there were
letters come forth to aU earls and barons in the kingdom to attend
his Majesty at York, the 1st day of April, with as many horse
(on their own charge) as they can raise. Also it was thought that
the third part of the trained bands of every county would attend
his Majesty at the same place.
Although the differences with Scotland were patched up for the
moment, yet they soon broke out again with increased violence, and
in the end compelled the king to caU together his Parliament, after
an interval of arbitrary rule extending over a period of twelve years.
The Parliament, however, thus reluctantly summoned, was soon as
hastily dissolved. This was a blunder which cost the king very dear,

PAST AND PRESENT. 447

for the majority of the members of this short Parliament was com
posed of men of moderate opinions, who would have met any reason
able concessions on the part of the crown in a friendly spirit. None
such were made, but, on the contrary, preparations were entered upon
for the struggle between the king and the Parliament which soon
afterwards burst forth.
In the month of November, 1640, Lord Strange began to collect
gunpowder for the supply of the various magazines in the county of
Lancaster, the principal of which were at Liverpool, Manchester,
Blackburn, Chorley, Preston, and Lancaster ; and at a great meeting
of the magistrates and deputy-lieutenants, held at Wigan in the
same month of the following year, it was arranged, with the assent
of the high sheriff and justices of the peace, that the ordering and
disposal of the magazines for the use of the county should be wholly
vested in the lord-lieutenant, the Lord Strange and his deputies,
and should be dispersed into several places in the county, the pro
portions being left to the discretion of the lord-lieutenant. We find
in the Ffarington Papers an account of the manner in which the
magazine of Liverpool, which was one of the principal in the county,
was furnished with gunpowder. This is contained in a letter from
Lord Strange to Francis Sherrington, Esq., one of the treasurers of
the county's moneys collected within the county of Lancaster, for
military affairs, for his Majesty's service.
The first transaction relates to the purchasing of as much powder
as came to the sum of £179 13s. 2d. This powder was purchased
in London, under an agreement (by Lord Strange's command) with
Mr. Bobert Massey, of Warrington, to the effect that he should buy
and provide powder, with a proportion of match fit for the same, to
be put into a magazine for the safeguard of the county, he receiving
one penny profit for every shilling that he should disburse. His
lordship therefore required and entreated Mr. Sherrington to meet
Mr. Ffarrington at Sankey bridge, near Warrington, to view, try, and
weigh the said powder and match, and to cause the same to be con
veyed by some sufficient and trusty persons to Liverpool, and to be
paid for out of the county's money. This was accordingly done, and
it appears that the sums paid on this account were as follows : —
£135 for twenty-five barrels of powder, at £5 8s. per barrel, each
barrel weighing 116 lbs., of five score to the cwt.; £16 2s. 6d. for
8 cwts. 3 qrs. of match, at £1 16s. 6 d. per cwt.; £12 lis. lOci for the
profit on the above, at a penny for every shilling disbursed ; £15 6s.

448 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
for the carriage of this powder and match from London to Warring
ton, at 9s. per cwt. ; 5s. for the carriage of the goods above written to
Sankey bridge from Warrington ; 6s. 10c?. ceUarage at Sankey, straw
for covering it to preserve it from Sankey to Liverpool; and Is. as
earnest to a boatman to carry the last match and powder to Liver
pool—making a total of £179 13s. 2d. By a bill of September 23,
1640, it appears that Mr. Massey also furnished corn-powder, and
match to the value of £294 19s. 3d., procured by him from Thomas
Brown, grocer ; that he suppfied powder and match to the value of
£351 0s. 6d., on the 19th October; and that he further supplied
powder and match of the value of £151 2s. 6c?., on the 23rd October,
in the same year.
Soon after the meeting of the Long Parliament the struggle
between the Parfiament and the Crown became more violent, and
everything threatened the open rupture which soon after foUowed.
In the month of May, 1641, on the occasion of what was caUed the
Army Plot, the following protestation was drawn up by the Com
mons, and after having been taken by all the members present, and
by aU the Lords, except Southampton and Boberts, was ordered by
the Commons to be sent down to the counties and boroughs, declaring
all who refused to take it unfit to bear office in church and state. A
copy of it is found in the Ffarington Papers, and was no doubt
forwarded with the intimation that it should be taken in aU parts of
the county of Lancaster. It is as follows : —
" A copy of the Protestation, and the Oath of the Covenant, made
in Parliament the 3rd of May, 1641.
" I, A. B., do in the presence of Almighty God promise, vow, and
protest to maintain and defend, as far as lawfuUy I may with my life,
power, and estate, the true reformed Protestant religion, expressed
by the doctrine of the Church of England, against aU Popery and
Popish innovation within this realm, contrary to the said doctrine.
And, according to the duty of my aUegiance, I will maintain and defend
his Majesty's royal person, honour, and estate.
"And also the power and privilege of Parliament, the lawful
rights and liberties of the subject, and every person that shall make
this protestation in whatsoever he shall do in the lawful pursuance of
the same. And to my power, as far as lawfully I may, I will oppose,
and by all good ways and means endeavour to bring condign punish
ment on, aU such as shall by force, practice, counsel, plots, con
spiracies, or otherwise, do anything to the contrary in this present

PAST AND PRESENT. 449

protestation contained. And further, that I shaU in aU just and
honourable ways endeavour to preserve the unions and peace betwixt
the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. And neither
for hope, fear, or any other respects, shall relinquish this promise, vow,
and protestation."
During the whole of the year 1641 a vehement struggle continued
in Parliament between the adherents of the king and the supporters
of the rights of Parliament. This graduaUy resolved itself into a
contest as to which of the two should have the control of the militia,
or trained bands, which then formed the only armed force of the
kingdom. In the month of November of that year, when almost all
hope of a peaceful settlement had passed away, a great meeting of
the magistrates of Lancashire was held at Wigan, by order from the
Lord Keeper to Lord Strange, for the purpose of administering the
oath of allegiance, and of making other arrangements, originating in
the fear of a rapidly approaching civil war. The following is an
account of the orders which were issued on that occasion : —
ORDERS MADE AT WIGAN, NOVEMBER 23, 1641.
1. Imprimis, it is ordered and agreed upon, that each captain of
the trained bands, within the county, shaU forthwith convent (con
vene) and summon, under order from the lord-lieutenant or his
deputies, to their usual place of rendezvous, all the soldiers under
their conduct ; and that at the said meeting the oath of allegiance be
rendered unto them : for which purpose the next justices of peace are
to attend, upon notice from the captains of their days of meeting ;
and in case any soldier refuse or forbear to take the oath, then the
said justices and captains to certify the same under their hands forth
with, unto the lord-lieutenant, and such as be weU affected and
conformable to the now established religion of this kingdom, placed
in their stead ; and that command shall be given them by the said
justices of peace and their captains, that each soldier shall be in a
readiness to march to such place of rendezvous as by their captains
or superior officers shall be assigned, upon twenty-four hours' warning
at the most, or lesser if occasion be, in complete arms, and weU
furnished. 2. And that the like course shall be observed, in each division
and hundred, by the captains of the freehold bands and the soldiers
under their conductions ; and moreover, that each soldier shaU have
strict command to furnish themselves with one pound of powder,
vol. i. 3 L

450 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
twenty bullets, and three yards of match, to be in a readiness as
occasion shall happen, or as they shall have notice from their captains
or superior officer, which are to be commanded by the lord-lieutenant
or his deputies.
3. And it is likewise ordered that due watch and ward shall be
kept in each several township within the said county, according to
the discretion of the next adjoining justice of peace, and that strict
command be given to the watchmen that they apprehend and stay all
such known papists, strangers, or other persons, which ride and travel
in the night-time, or that go armed offensively, or whom they shall
suspect to carry any letters or messages. And if upon search, or any
other notice, they see or suspect just cause, that then they bring
them to the next constable, which shall immediately carry them
before the next justice of peace, if he think fit, to be further ex
amined and dealt with as cause shaU require : and also the watch
men each night shaU go and see privately about such recusants'
houses as are of great rank and quality, if that they can find there,
or see any unlawful assemblies or tumults thereabout : and that the
said watchmen shaU certify the constables of their said townships
daily of what they do or find upon their watch ; and the constables
to certify the next adjoining deputy-lieutenant, or justice of the
peace ; and the said deputy-lieutenant, or justice of peace, to certify
the lord-lieutenant when and so often as the case shall require.
4. And whereas the Bight Honourable Lord-Lieutenant is pleased
to disperse the ammunition now remaining in magazine to several
places of this county, it is therefore ordered that the principal officers
of such towns and places (whereunto the said ammunition shall be
sent) shaU take care and charge of the same, and cause it to be safely
kept for the use of the county, until they shall receive further direc
tion from the said lord-lieutenant or some of his deputies.
(Signed) J. Strange, Peter Egerton, High Sheriff,
Ed. Wrightlngton, Wm. Ffarington,
Alexander Bigby, Edmund Assheton,
Bobert Holt, John Moore,
Edm. Hopwoode, Edw. Butterwath,
John Greenhalgh, Henry Ogle,
Henry Ashtjrst, W. Badclyff.
Badcliff Ashton,

PAST AND PRESENT. 451

CHAPTEB VI.

THE GREAT CIVIL WAR.

In the month of January, 1642, the differences between the Crown and
the Parliament having become so great as to destroy all hope of a
peaceful solution, the king left London, where the power of the Parlia
ment was too great to be resisted, and proceeded towards the Midland
and Northern counties, where his adherents were numerous, powerful,
and determined. The object both of the king and of the Parliament
from this time forward, if not from an earlier period, was to prepare
for the coming civil war, and steps were immediately taken by both
parties to secure the command of the armed force of the kingdom.
At the same time, both the royal and the parliamentary parties were
extremely anxious to throw the odium of an appeal to arms from
themselves and upon their opponents. Hence the war of swords was
preceded by a war of pens, in which each party put forth all its
strength, in vindication of its own cause, and in blackening the char
acter and the motives of those of the opposite party. In the course
of this war of words numerous petitions and remonstrances were pre
sented both to the king and to the Parliament, from their friends,
strongly urging them to proceed in the course which they had already
marked out for their own adoption.
A considerable time before the king left London a petition had
been presented to the House of Commons, assembled in Parfiament,
from divers knights, esquires, ministers, gentlemen, and freeholders,
of the county palatine of Lancaster, friendly to the parliamentary
party. In this petition the petitioners state that they had seen with
thankful hearts the fidelity, patience, and unparaUeled industry of the
honourable house, in its endeavours to restore to order the discom
posed condition of the church and state, and to put the same into a
way to unite purity and peace. These advantages they thought
were to be brought about by purging the fountains of government,
and establishing his Majesty's royal throne upon the old and sure
foundation of impartial justice, national laws, and the subjects' love ;
by the blessed union of two kingdoms, England and Scotland, to the

452 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*
terror of our enemies and the strength and splendour of both nations ;
by expunging out of the church, innovations, and confining church
men to their proper functions ; by a national synod of able divines to
compose the disputes of the kingdom, and to settle the differences
both of doctrine and discipline ; by restoring to the subjects of this
kingdom courage, industry, and vivacity of spirit, by the freedom of
their persons and estates ; and by settling the present fruition and
the lasting possession of those high and invaluable benefits, by
disposing of the militia, and the kingdom itself, under the command
of persons of honour and unquestionable fidelity. Such a person the
petitioners acknowledged to be the noble lord, the Lord Wharton,
appointed by Parliament to be lord-lieutenant of the county of
Lancaster, " whom with thankfulness they receive, and according to
the power wherewith he shall be trusted wfil ever most readily and
willingly obey." The petitioners then proceeded to request that such
persons, whether ecclesiastical or temporal, whose ends and interests
are not the same with those of the Protestants of this kingdom, may
be removed from the great council of the kingdom ; that the distrac
tions of the church may be settled by a national synod ; that the
number of preaching ministers may be augmented in this county, and
a better distribution of the church revenue be made ; that a provi
sion be made for the relief of the distressed Protestants of Ireland,
who in multitudes daily arrive in this county ; that a fleet of small
ships may be appointed for the guard of this coast, as weU to prevent
the aid and intelligence that may be given to the Irish rebels from
the papists of these or any other parts, as for the defence of his
Majesty's faithful subjects inhabiting the maritime parts of this
kingdom, opposite to Ireland ; that the recusants of this county may
be disarmed, and such posts, or other strengths, as yet remain in any
of their keepings may be deposited in the hands of Protestants ; and
that sufficient guards may be appointed in places convenient, and the
militia of the county be put in a posture for the defence of the same.
The above petition was presented to the house by divers gentlemen
of the county palatine of Lancaster, and was very graciously received,
the speaker being directed to inform the petitioners " that the house
had read their petition ; and do find in it many weighty considera
tions, and great expressions of their care and affection to the com
monwealth, and to this house in particular: For the particulars
mentioned in the petition they wUl take them into consideration."*
" Dr. Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, Published by the Chetham Society, 1844, p. 5.

PAST AND PRESENT. 453

In the spring of 1642, when the king had left London, and when
civil war was becoming every day more threatening, petitions or
addresses were presented to the king, who was then at York, both
from the parliamentary and the royalist parties in Lancashire. Of
course the advice given by these parties was very different, and so
also was the reception which it met with from the king. The
address or petition of the parliamentary party was in substance as
follows : — The petitioners expressed their heartbreaking sense and sor
row at the unhappy rents and distractions in his Majesty's dominions,
especially in the session of so grave and religious an assembly as
the House of Commons, most graciously convened by his Majesty,
and endeavouring the glory of Almighty God in the reformation of
religion, the honour and weal of these realms, and the settling and
securing of the royal throne in plenty and peace. These divisions,
in their opinion, arose from the long and remote distance of his
Majesty from that honourable assembly, and they therefore prayed
his Majesty to return to his great council, and there present a live
body of the kingdom in whom the nation hath so far confided that
they have intrusted them with their lives, liberties, and estates.
But the address or petition of the royalists of Lancashire took
a very different view of the matters in dispute, and to it the king
returned a very gracious reply. This petition was described as the
petition of divers of his Majesty's faithful subjects of the true Pro
testant religion, in the county palatine of Lancashire, presented to his
Majesty at York, the last day of May, 1642, by the high sheriff of
that county and divers other gentlemen of quality, and subscribed
by sixty-four knights and esquires, fifty-five divines, 740 gentlemen,
and of free-holders and others above 7000. This petition was drawn
up by Bichard Heyrick, Fellow of AU Souls College, Oxford, and
warden of Manchester CoUege.
These petitioners begin by stating that the most real and convinc
ing testimonies of the princely care of his Majesty for the advancement
of God's true religion in these realms, and the common good of all his
Majesty's subjects, could no less than draw from the petitioners (who
have hitherto in these stirring times sat still) this humble acknow
ledgment of their due and necessary thanks. They then proceed to
state that they esteem and prize his Majesty's most righteous inten
tions of governing his liege people according to the wholesome laws,
as a thing often and with earnestness avowed by the king, to which
they yield that hearty credence which is due to so religious and

454 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
righteous a prince ; they also acknowledge the manifold and evident
manifestations to the world that the king does not affect an arbitrary
government, but the common prosperity and happiness of all his
loyal subjects, by the following proofs — namely, by his readiness to
join with Parfiament in a speedy raising of forces for a timely sup
pression of that odious rebellion in Ireland ; by the late proclamation
for the putting in due execution the laws against papists ; by his
most gracious condescending to the desires of the great council of the
nation of the realm, in signing the bills for triennial parliaments ; by
the king's relinquishing his title of imposing (duties) upon merchandise,
and the power of pressing soldiers ; by the taking away of the Star
Chamber, and the High Commission Courts ; by the regulating of the
Council Table, and by the bills for the Forests and Stannary Courts,
with other most necessary acts. The petitioners then proceed to state
that they are confident and well assured of his Majesty's zeal for the
advancement of the true Protestant religion, and with inexpressible
joy do understand his most Christian and pious resolution for the
preservation of those powerful encouragements of industry, learning,
and piety, the means and honour of the ministry ; for the maintenance
and continuance of our church government, and solemn liturgy of the
church of long-continued and general approbation of. the most pious
and learned of this nation and of other countries, composed according
to the primitive pattern by our blessed martyrs and other religious
and learned men. The petitioners further state, that they have seen
with pleasure that it is the wish of his Majesty that all abuses of
church and state shall be reformed, according to the model of Queen
Elizabeth of ever blessed and famous memory, by the one of which
he had weakened the hopes of the sacrilegious devourers of the
church's patrimony, if there be any such, and by the other at once
provided against all popish impieties and idolatries, and also against
the growing danger of Anabaptists, Brownists, and other Mobilities ;
all which piety, love, and justice, say the petitioners, we beseech God
to return into your royal bosom ! But yet, most gracious Sovereign,
they proceed, there is one thing that sads our hearts and hinders the
perfection of our happiness, which is the distance and misunderstand
ing between your Majesty and your Parfiament, whereby the hearts
of your subjects are filled with fears and jealousies, justice neglected
sacred ordinances profaned, and trading impaired, to the impoverish
ing of many of your liege people, for the removal whereof we cannot
find out any lawful means without your Majesty's assistance and

PAST AND PRESENT. 455

direction. Wherefore, the petitioners proceed, we humbly beseech
your most excellent Majesty to continue your most Christian and
pious resolution of ruling your people according to the laws of the
land, and maintaining the same ; of being a zealous defender of the
established doctrine, liturgy, and government of our church, from
heresy, libertinism, and profaneness ; an advancer of learning, piety,
and religion ; an encourager of painful orthodox preachers ; and what
ever your Parfiament shaU offer to your royal view conducing to this
blessed end, the common good, and tranquillity of your subjects, to be
pleased to condescend unto and graciously to confirm : and withal to
declare unto us some expedient way how we may make a dutiful
address unto your Parliament, for the taking away of those differences
and impediments which stay the happy proceedings of that most
honourable assembly, whereof your Majesty is the head (which once
removed, we doubt not you will speedUy be as near your Parfiament
in person as in affection, that there may be a blessed harmony between
your Highness and that great council); and we shaU with alacrity
observe the same, humbly tendering our lives and fortunes for the
preservation of your royal person, crown, and dignity, according to
our bounden duty and allegiance ; and heartily praying for your
Majesty's long and prosperous reign over us."
The above loyal address, though unfortunately wanting in any
specific plan for restoring confidence between the king and the
Parliament, was very graciously received and very civilly answered.
The reply of the king being short we give it without abridgment : —
" At the Court, at York, 6tk June, 1642.
" His Majesty hath commanded me to give you this his answer to
your petition.
"He is very glad to find such real acknowledgments of those
great graces which he hath bountifuUy bestowed upon this his
kingdom of England, in the time of this Parliament ; and likewise
it is a great contentment to him to find so many true sons of the
Church of England, as by your expressions in the- said petition
doth plainly appear to him ; assuring you that he shall not yield in
his zeal and constancy for the maintenance of the true Protestant
profession, neither to Queen Elizabeth nor to his father, of ever-
blessed memory, both against Popish superstition on the one side,
and schismatical innovation and confusion on the other. In the
last place, as he doth take in very good part your desire of a good

456 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

understanding between his Majesty and his two houses of Parlia
ment, so likewise he cannot but much commend the way that you
take therein. And as for your directions, if you wiU but seriously
consider his Majesty's just and necessary desires expressed in his
answers and declarations since his coming to York, your zeal and
knowledge wfil not need more particular instructions to make such
addresses to both houses as the times require, and befitting such
loyal and true-affected subjects to your king and country as this
petition expresseth you to be."
Whilst the grounds of difference between the king and his Parfia
ment were thus discussed in general terms, leading to nothing, both
parties very seriously prepared themselves to struggle for the command
of the military power in the north-western districts, as well as in
other parts of the kingdom. There were already two claimants in the
county of Lancaster to the office of lord-lieutenant, which implied the
command of the mifitary force of the county. James, Lord Strange,
claimed this office, which his ancestors had held both in Lancashire
and Cheshire from the time when the office itself was created ; and
proposed to exercise it with unfaltering loyalty on behalf of the
king. Philip, Lord Wharton, also claimed the office of lord-
lieutenant, on the appointment of the House of Commons, and
proposed to exercise it with equal determination on behalf of the
Parfiament. Each of these claimants was supported by a numerous
and influential body of deputy-fieutenants, equally zealous for the
rival causes of King and Parfiament. On the part of Lord Strange
was a large proportion of the principal landowners of the two
counties, backed by the authority of the king and the great local
authority of the earls of Derby. On the other side, also, were a
large number of gentlemen of ancient famfiy and high standing,
supported by nearly the whole of the members of Parliament of
the two counties, and by the authority of Parfiament, which was
always great in this county, and was especially great at the com
mencement of the civfi war, from having been long trampled upon
by the court.
The commencement of the civil war in Lancashire, which was
also the commencement of the civil war in England, was occasioned
by a struggle between the adherents of the rival lords-lieutenant
for the possession of one of the principal magazines of arms and
ammunition in the county, namely, that of Manchester. In the

PAST AND PRESENT. 457

months of June and July, 1642, Lord Strange obtained possession
of the magazines of Lancaster, Preston, Chorley, and Liverpool,
leaving only those of Manchester and Blackburn in the hands of
the adherents of Parliament. On the 4th of July, 1642, Lord
Strange also made an attempt to obtain possession of the magazine
at Manchester, but the attempt failed; and in the tumult to which
it gave rise the first blood shed in the great civil war was spilt.
It appears from a variety of papers published, some of them by
adherents of Parliament, and others by those of the king, that a
great meeting of the county, convened by the high sheriff, was held
on Preston Moor, on the 24th of June, 1642. This meeting was
attended by Lord Strange, Lord Molyneux, Sir George Middleton,
Sir Edward Fitton, of Gaws worth; Sir Alexander Badclyffe, of
OrdsaU; Mr. Tyldesley, then resident at Myerscough park; William
Ffarington, of Worden ; the high sheriff, Sir John Girlington, and
many others of the leading gentlemen of Lancashire. At this
meeting the commission of array issued by the king, and directed
to Lord Strange, Sir George Middleton, Sir Alexander Badclyffe,
Mr. Tyldesley, and Mr. WiUiam Ffarington, was read, in defiance of
the protests of the parliamentary commissioners. Lord Strange,
who was attended by a large body of men, said to amount to 700,
refused to listen to their remonstrances ; and, as was stated by
Alexander Bigby, esquire, one of the members for the county, "in
contempt of the order from Parliament, departed, with some of his
friends, and cried out, 'AU that are for the king go with us,' and
cried, ' For the king, for the king.' On this a considerable number
of persons joined with him, and rode up and down the moor, crying,
¦ For the king,' ' for the king ; ' but far more in number," says Mr.
Bigby, "stayed with the committee, and prayed for the uniting of
the king and Parfiament, with a general acclamation."
After this open rupture Sir John Girlington, of Thurland castle,
the high sheriff of the county, seized on the magazine of powder
and match at Preston ; and a day or two afterwards, Lord Strange
seized upon and took away about thirty barrels of powder, and a
great quantity of match from Liverpool, "parcel of the county's
magazine." The seizing of these magazines produced a strong
excitement throughout the county ; and the leaders of the parlia
mentary party, seeing that they must strike then, or be deprived
of the power of striking at aU, assembled at Manchester, and pre
pared to resist any attempt of Lord Strange to obtain possession
vol. i. 3 m

458 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of the magazine in that place. Amongst the parliamentary deputy-
lieutenants who assembled at Manchester on that occasion were Sir
Thomas Stanley, baronet, of Bickerstaff, a descendant of Thomas,
the first earl of Derby, and a progenitor of the present line of the
earls of Derby ; Sir George Booth, of Dunham Massey, an ancestor
of the earls of Stamford and Warrington ; Bobert Holland, of
Heaton, esquire — from whom the earls of Wilton are descended in
the female line — who afterwards acted as the governor of Manchester
for the Parliament ; Mr. Holcroft, the representative of a very old
Cheshire family ; Thomas Birch, of Birch ; John Moore, esquire, of
Bank haU, one of the members for Liverpool ; Balph Assheton, of
Middleton, one of the members for the county ; Peter Egerton,
esquire, of Shaw in Flixton ; Alexander Bigby, esquire, of Preston,
and others. These influential leaders soon found themselves at the
head of a very powerful force, consisting of 7000 or 8000 men, well
furnished with muskets and pikes, and completely trained by the
captains who commanded them. They all assembled to the cry of
'For the king and Parliament, for the king and Parliament," and
steadily refused to allow the magazine at Manchester to be sur
rendered to Lord Strange.
The accounts of Lord Strange's proceedings, when he appeared
before Manchester to demand the surrender of the magazine, are
of the most contradictory description. According to the royalist
account, he entered the town peacefully, and at the invitation of
many of the most respectable inhabitants, and narrowly escaped
being killed in a sudden attack made by the parliamentary party.
An eye-witness and an inhabitant of the town of Manchester, Mr.
Jo. Bousgoe, thus describes the scene : — " My Lord Strange yester
day, six miles from Manchester, namely, at Bury, by virtue of the
commission of array, summoned all persons of able body between
sixteen and sixty years of age to meet him there, with such arms
as they had, which was performed accordingly; whereof 2000 went
forth of Manchester and the neighbouring viUages. After, in the
evening, about four of the clock, the townsmen of Manchester,
hearing my lord was coming to lodge aU night in Sir Alexander
Badclyffe's house at Ordsall, went to meet him on the way, and
invited him to take a banquet at Manchester, which his lordship
courteously accepted of; and about five of the clock came into
Manchester, attended with about 120 horse, well accoutred. My
lord and the townsmen were aU agreed about the magazine, his

PAST AND PRESENT. 459

lordship promising the town to join with them in any reasonable
thing they would propose, and withal that he should stay with
them till Monday morning ; but in the meanwhUe Captain Holcroft,
Sir Thomas Stanley, and your cousin Birch (Colonel Thomas Birch),
who were appointed commissioners, by Parliament, for the militia,
began to strike their drums, to put the militia in execution in
another part of the town ; which when my Lord Strange and my
Lord Molyneux heard, they came and met them, and some blows
passed on both sides. But two men of your cousin Birch's com
pany are shot, one of which died this morning, and nine are
mortally wounded. There are on 'my Lord Strange's side eleven
or twelve men mortally wounded. Your cousin Birch was shot at
twice, yet escaped with some few blows, by means of a coach that
stood in the street."*
All the royalist accounts of this transaction agree in substance
with the above. The accounts published by the parliamentary
party throw the whole blame of the collision on Lord Strange ; and
on that ground the House of Commons impeached him of high
treason, before the House of Lords. In this impeachment it was
stated that James, Lord Strange, the son and heir-apparent of
William, earl of Derby, to the intent and purpose to subvert the
fundamental laws and government of this kingdom of England, and
the rights and fiberties and very being of Parfiament, did upon the
15th day of July, at Manchester, and at several other times and
places, maliciously, rebelfiously, and traitorously raise great forces of
men and horse, and levied war against the king, Parliament, and king
dom : and in further prosecution of the aforesaid wicked, traitorous,
and malicious purposes, the said James, Lord Strange, and divers
other persons, whom he had drawn into his party and faction, did
also upon the said 15th day of July, at Manchester aforesaid,
maliciously and traitorously, with force of arms, and in a hostile
and warfike manner, kill, murder, and destroy Bichard Percival, of
Kirkman-Shalme, in the said county of Lancaster, linen webster;
and did then and there, and at divers other times and places, in
like hostfie manner, shoot, stab, hurt, and wound divers others of
his Majesty's good subjects."
Not only did the House of Commons thus impeach Lord Strange
of the crime of high treason, but they published a statement of the
transactions at Manchester, which they described as "the beginning
* Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire.

460 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*
of civil wars in England," in which they threw the whole blame of
the collision and loss of fife on Lord Strange. This charge was
repeatedly brought against his lordship ; and when he stood upon
trial for his life, after the battle of Worcester, it was urged against
him with fatal success.
Although there is every reason to believe that the account of
the transactions at Manchester contained in this statement is exag
gerated and one-sided, it is worth preserving as the parliamentary
account of the commencement of the great civil war : —
" The beginning of civil warres in England, or terrible news from
the North. Printed by order of Parfiament, July 9, 1642."
" The malignant party of this kingdom hath for a long time
continued in their wicked and damnable designs ; insomuch as their
impudence is grown to such a height, that they are not ashamed to
make their intentions publicly known to the whole world, as may
appear by the ensuing relation : —
"Upon the 4th of this instant month of July, 1642, the Lord
Strange came from York, and approached near the town of Manchester
with a great number of armed men, and coming near the town, he
sent to the inhabitants thereof to know their minds ; whether they
would agree to the propositions, which he had sent them two or three
days before, for the restoring of the magazine which was in that
town to his custody, threatening that if they would not he would
send such a messenger as would make them yield, and bring them
in due subjection.
"The inhabitants having received this message resolved to send
their answer unto him, which they did accordingly, that for the
magazine which was in that town, they would not restore it to him,
it being the only safeguard and defence they had.
" And they likewise declared, that if his lordship did take any
other course to seize upon it violently, they would loose their dearest
lives in defence thereof, by reason the country was in such a great
distraction and perplexity, and that they did not know how soon
they might be dispossessed of aU they had, if so be they had not arms
to defend themselves withall.
" The Lord Strange having received this answer, and hearing what
their resolution and intentions were, he was much perplexed in mind.
Drawing all his forces together, he marched against the said town of
Manchester, and shot off three or four muskets against them; but the

PAST AND PRESENT. 461

inhabitants seeing that he was come, and that he was resolved to
take away the magazine by force, understanding his fuU intention by
the messengers which came from him, they resolved every man to
fight it out.
" Whereupon each man stood upon his guard, and about nine of
the clock in the morning of the 5th day of this present month, the
Lord Strange came with his forces against the town, and would have
entered, but they kept him out by force ; but Captain Smith being
in front gave a fierce firing against the inhabitants of Manchester, but
was answered with most puissant courage again, and slew two of the
lord's men.
" Whereupon a great and furious skirmish did ensue. The Lord
Strange having besieged the town, he began to give battle against
them ; but the inhabitants being true within themselves, ordered
their business so weU that they drew out ten small companies, and
set them in fair battalion against them, answering each other very
furiously at the first; but after some two or three hours' skirmish,
there were seven more of the Lord Strange's men slain, and two of
the inhabitants of Manchester; only one person also was shot in
the thigh. After they had ceased two or three hours, they ended
the battle with the sun of the day; the Lord Strange withdraw
ing his forces about two miles from Manchester, having lost, as is
justly supposed, twenty-seven men ; of the other side, eleven. Capt.
Band is weU recovered again, praised be God.
" We daily expect when the Lord Strange wfil visit us again ;
but I hope the Lord wfil enable us against his coming. They gave
out many threatening speeches against us, and it is thought here
that he hath sent for many more forces towards York.
" The Lord Bivers gives out many scandalous speeches against us,
and striveth by all means he possibly can to set the whole country
against us.
" This is the beginning of the civil war, being the first stroke that
hath been struck, and the first bullet that hath been shot ; but
God knows when the ending wfil be, or when the troubles of this
kingdom wfil grow to a period. Many thousands I doubt will loose
their lives before this kingdom will be settled in peace and unity,
as it hath been formerly ; for no man knoweth the cruelty of war
but those that have felt it, and tried it. For when that time cometh
many a child wfil be fatherless, and many a poor wife husbandless.
" But God of his great mercy stop the sword from going any

462 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
further, and as it is but a little way drawn, so, Lord, I beseech thee
sheath it again, before that it be drawn any further, that so by that
means the walls of Syon may not be beaten down nor destroyed.
" It is ordered that the Lord Strange be required to deliver
that part of the magazine of the county of Lancaster into the hands of
the deputy-fieutenants. Ordered that this be printed and published.
"John Brown, Cler. Pari."
Lord Strange was as little disposed to surrender anything that
he had taken for the service of the king to the Parliament, as any
man in England. So far from doing so, he continued to make the
most active preparations to maintain the royal authority, and in
two or three months was at the head of a weU-trained force of
3000 or 4000 men. At the beginning of the month of September
following, supposing that he was strong enough to seize on the
magazine at Manchester in spite of all resistance, he advanced on
that place, at the head of an army estimated at 2000 foot and
600 horse, supplied with eight or nine pieces of cannon.
During the interval between the first and second attack, con
siderable fortifications had been erected at Manchester. As Lord
Strange's principal line of advance was from the west, it was impos
sible to get into the town with the main body of his troops without
crossing the river Irwell, and the only means of doing so at that
time was by the bridge at Salford, which was strongly fortified by
the parliamentary party. At the time of the great civil war, Man
chester did not extend much beyond the tongue of land bounded
on the west by the IrweU, the south by the river Medlock, and
the north by the river Irk. All the approaches to the town had
been as weU fortified as the circumstances of the times admitted,
and in a manner sufficient to render them strong enough to resist
the means of attack brought against them. The leading men in
Lord Strange's army in addition to his lordship were Bichard Lord
Molyneux, Sir John Girlington (the high sheriff of the county),
Sir Gilbert Langton, Sir Alexander Badclyffe, Sir Gilbert Gerard,
Colonel Tyldesley, Mr. Standish, of Standish, Mr. Prestwich, Mr.
Windbanke, Sergeant-major Danvers, Sergeant-major Sanders, Mr.
Downes, of Wardley, Mr. Towneley, Mr. Ashton, of Penketh, junior,
Mr. Ogle, Mr. Byrom, of Byrom, Mr. Nowell, of Bead, Mr. Standish,
of Duxbury, the younger, Mr. Charnock, Mr. Ffarington, of Worden,
Mr. Holt, of Ashurst, Mr. Bosterne, of New HaU, the younger,

PAST AND PRESENT. 463

Mr. Tarbuck, of Tarbuck : in short, nearly all the deputy-lieutenants
and gentlemen of the royalist party in the county.
At the time when Lord Strange advanced from Warrington on
Manchester the only parliamentary forces in the town were the
Manchester trained bands, and 150 of the tenants of Colonel Balph
Assheton, of Middleton. He was one of the members for the county,
as well as a colonel of one of the parliamentary regiments, and
afterwards rose to the rank of major-general and commander-in-
chief of the militia of Lancashire. On this, as well as on many
subsequent occasions, he proved himself to be both a skilful officer
and a gaUant soldier. No sooner was he informed of the approach
of Lord Strange than he ordered the beUs to be rung backward,
which was the signal that an attack was about to be made ; and
sent mounted posts into the country to give warning to aU the
commanders of the trained bands, of the approach of the royalists.
Immediately on receiving this summons, Colonel Holland, of Heaton,
Captain Booth (the eldest son of Sir George Booth, of Dunham
Massey), Colonel Duckenfield, Mr. Arderne, of Alvanley in Cheshire,
Colonel Egerton, of Shaw in Flixton, Edward Butterworth, of Bel-
field, Bobert Hide, of Denton, and Thomas Chetham, of Nuthurst,
moved rapidly into Manchester with their tenants, and the whole
parliamentary force of the district.
Lord Strange, being delayed by the breaking of a wheel of one
of the carriages which carried his ordnance, did not arrive before
the town untU nine o'clock on Sunday morning, when "sundry
companies and their colours appeared in open view." His lordship
had divided his forces, one part of them advancing from Warrington
along the north bank of the river IrweU, the other advancing along
the south side of the river from Cheshire. The division on the
north side of the river entered the town of Salford, which was
unfortified, on the morning of Sunday, and about the same time
the other division appeared on the outskirts of Manchester, near
the end of Deansgate. On the approach of Lord Strange's forces
two gentlemen were sent out of the town to inquire the reason of
his coming in such a manner. His lordship detained one of them
as a hostage, and sent one of his own officers, Captain Windebanke,
into the town, to demand admittance for himself and his forces in
the king's name. This was unanimously refused by the garrison of
the town. On the same day William, earl of Derby, died, and Lord
Strange became the seventh earl of Derby, of the Stanley family.

464 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

On Monday, 26th of September, James, the new earl of Derby,
sent another message into the town demanding the surrender pf
the place, promising to use the town kindly if it surrendered, and
warning the garrison that if it did not, fearful ruin would ensue.
This second summons being met by a second refusal, the royalists
opened a fire upon the town from two of their batteries. One of
these batteries was directed against the fortifications at the Deans-
gate, and the other against Salford bridge. The bullets that were
found weighed between four and six pounds each, which was con
sidered heavy in those days. After a sharp cannonade the royalists
attempted to carry the town by a double assault, directed, at the
same moment, against Salford bridge and Deansgate ; but the par
liamentary troops, under the command of Captain Bradshaw, received
the attack at Deansgate with great steadiness, and beat back, the
royalists, who left many of their men slain on the field ; and the
attack on Salford bridge was equally unfortunate. There the par
liamentary forces were directed by a German engineer named Captain
Bosworm, an officer trained in the Thirty Years' War, who had
constructed the fortifications of the town. Under his directions
the royalists, on attempting to force their way across the bridge,
were received with so heavy a fire that they were forced to retreat,
with the loss of several of their men ; they succeeded, however, in
obtaining possession of a house at the foot of the bridge, from which
they kept up a fire at intervals during the foUowing night.
On the next day, Tuesday, an assault was made on the town
at the Market Street end, which was repulsed by Captain Badclyffe
and his company, who not merely drove back the royalists, but
likewise sallied out, took several prisoners, and slew or put to flight
others who were straggling in the fields. In the evening of the
same day the earl of Derby sounded a parley, and sent to the
town a message in writing, which was as follows : — " In obedience
to his Majesty's commands, I have drawn some forces hither with
no intention of prejudice to your town or to any person in it, but
to require your ready obedience to his Majesty, in yielding your
selves dutifully and cheerfully unto his protection, which I. once
more (so great is the value I set upon the effusion of one drop of
my country's blood) summon you to surrender, under this assurance,
that no man's person or goods shaU be harmed, so as you give up
your arms to be disposed of by me according to his Majesty's
command. But if you shall yet continue obstinate in your disr

PAST AND PRESENT. 465

obedience and resolve to stand it out, I wfil in that case proceed
with all honour by offering you a safe convoy of your women and
children out of the town, so as it be done immediately.
(Signed) "J. Derby."
The commanders of the parliamentary garrison asked tfil ten
o'clock of next day to consider their answer, and Lord Derby
agreed to grant them till seven o'clock. It was further agreed that
aU acts of hostility should cease during the time ; and this enabled
the parliamentary forces, who were "wearied with watohing three
days and three nights before, to get comfortable refreshing." They
complained, however, that the royalists were very busy plundering
and pillaging about the town ; that they slew two of their neighbours
of Bolton, who were coming peaceably with about 150 more to assist
the garrison ; and that they planted two pieces of cannon in Salford.
On Wednesday morning the parliamentary commanders returned
the following answer, again refusing all the demands of the royalist
leader : — " May it please your honour to receive this answer to
your propositions : We are not conscious to ourselves of any act
committed by us that should in the least kind divest us, his
Majesty's loyal subjects, of his royal protection, or of any disobedi
ence to his Majesty's lawful commands : for we can no way persuade
ourselves that his Majesty, that hath so often solemnly declared
to rule his people by his laws and to preserve the propriety of our
estates, should require us to give away our arms, which are, under
God, one means of our lawful defence against malignant enemies
and multitudes of bloody Papists, which do abound in our county;
and had not God by his infinite mercy prevented, had ere this day
made the like rebellion in our county and committed the like bar
barous outrage against us and others of the true Protestant religion,
as their brethren have done in Ireland, seeing they are actuated
by the like hellish principles as they. And we cannot but much
wonder that your honour should come against us in such an open
hostile manner to take away our arms, which is absolutely against aU
law and the right of the subject, which we are bound and resolved
faithfully to maintain, according to our late solemn protestation.
And we can by no means be assured by your lordship of the safety
of our persons and goods if we deliver up our arms, seeing, since the
treaty, some of our neighbours' houses, being Protestants, have been
plundered or attempted to be plundered, and some of our friends,
VOL. I. 3 N

466 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
coming in a peaceable way to our refief, have been cruelly murdered
and slain by some of your soldiers."
After another ineffectual attempt at mediation, through Sir John
Marson, K.B. and M.P., a royalist negotiator, celebrated for "assist
ing in aU councfis and one in all treaties," which the gentlemen
commanding the garrison at Manchester had referred to the soldiers,
who all resolutely answered " that they would not give him a yard
of match, but would maintain their cause in arms to the last drop
of their blood," the earl of Derby again ordered his guns to open
on the town. They must, however, have been very ill served, as
they only killed one man, who was standing on a stile looking at
the engagement. On the following Thursday, Captain Standish,
the eldest son and heir apparent of Thomas Standish, of Duxbury,
esquire, one of Lord Derby's officers, was kfiled by a buUet, whilst
endeavouring to induce his soldiers to make another attack on
Salford bridge. On Friday the royalists continued to fire on the
town from the opposite side of the river and from the lodge, a
house belonging to Sir Edward Moseley, where they had planted a
battery; and began to cast up a trench before the end of Deansgate,
as if they intended to make a long siege. The fire of the cannon
made holes in many houses and battered down a piece of a chimney,
but did little harm ; and on Friday night the cannon were with
drawn and the attack was abandoned. On Saturday there was an
exchange of prisoners, according to the proposal of Lord Derby;
and on the same day his lordship retired with his forces from before
the town. The Parliamentary Chronicle of this second siege of
Manchester, which was read before the House of Commons on the
11th of October, and ordered to be printed, concludes as follows: —
" Our soldiers from first to last had prayers and singing of psalms
daily at the street ends, most of our soldiers being religious, honest
men, of a civil and Inoffensive conversation, which came out of con
science of their oath and protestation. The townsmen were kind
and respective to the soldiers ; all things were common ; the gentle
men made bullets night and day; the soldiers were resolute and
courageous, and feared nothing so much as a parley. The deputy-
lieutenants, Captain ChantreU, and the other gentlemen, took pains
night and day to see that the soldiers did their duty. The Lord
Strange's soldiers, some of them wept, others protested great unwil
lingness to fight against Manchester, affirming they were deceived
and deluded or else they had not come thither. Thus the Lord

PAST AND PRESENT. 467

hath preserved an unwaUed town from being destroyed or detained
by a great army, consisting, as some say, of 4000, some say 3000
foot, seven pieces of ordnance, 200 dragoneers (dragoons), and 100
horsemen. To God alone be the praise."
There is no doubt that some of the earl of Derby's soldiers were
extremely disaffected and unwilling to take part in the attack on
Manchester, for we find in the Ffarington Papers a copy of a letter
from the countess of Derby to Mr. Ffarington, in which she informs
him, that a person had been at Lathom house to inform her that
he had heard one of his lordship's followers say, that they were
going to Manchester, and that there would be a bloody day amongst
them, for my lord must lead or they would not go at all ; " and
after the first musket went off, there were forty soldiers of the
hundred of Amounderness who had sworn that they would shoot
my lord himself, and after they had seen him fall they would go
no further."0 Partly from this half-heartedness of his followers,
and partly from the resolution of his opponents, Lord Derby's second
attack on Manchester was an entire failure. According to the par
liamentary account, his loss in killed and wounded was from 100 to
200 men, whilst that of the parliamentarians was only four or five
men ; but these estimates of numbers must be received with great
allowance, being always very highly coloured by the wishes of those
who formed them.
The gallant defence of Manchester was warmly acknowledged
by the Parliament, in the following vote of thanks to the garrison
and inhabitants : —
THANKS OF PARLIAMENT TO MANCHESTER. "Jovis 6 October, 1642.
"A declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parlia
ment in commendation of the inhabitants of the town of Manchester,
for their valiant resisting the late Lord Strange and now earl of
Derby, and to encourage them in their valour which they have
shewed for their own defence, and to endeavour to suppress or
apprehend the said earl or any of his accomplices; assuring them of
allowance and payment for aU disbursements or losses in their service.
"John Browne, Clerk, Parliament."
" Whereas, upon credible information made unto this house that
* Ffarington Papers, p. 87.

468 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
James, late Lord Strange, and now earl of Derby, heretofore im
peached in the name of the House of Commons and of all the
commons of England, by the name of James, Lord Strange, for
high treason, hath, in pursuance of his traitorous actions, procured
divers papists and other ill-affected persons in a hostile and rebel
lious manner, with guns and other warfike weapons, to make war
upon his Majesty's subjects in the town of Manchester, in the county
Palatine of Lancaster, and hath killed and murdered divers in that
town, and hath robbed and spoiled divers others of his Majesty's
good subjects inhabiting near the same, the inhabitants whereof, with
the Christian help and aid of divers weU-affected gentlemen and
others of that county, have valiantly resisted the said earl and his
complices, and have thereunto bravely defended themselves and the
town : It is thereupon ordered by the Lords and Commons assembled
in Parliament, that such gentlemen and others of his Majesty's good
subjects, who have already hazarded their lives and spent of their
estates, and all such others as shaU hereafter, either with their
persons or purses, give aid unto the inhabitants of the said town
of Manchester for their defence, and shall endeavour to suppress
or apprehend the said earl or any of his complices, shall have
aUowance or payment made of all such monies, or any other charge
which they shall expend or disburse in that service, upon account
made unto the House of Commons ; and such their actions and
endeavours are declared to be a service, both agreeable unto the law of
the land, acceptable to both houses of Parliament, and beneficial to
the commonwealth. John Browne, Clerk of Parfiament."
Whfist the siege of Manchester was in progress the grand armies
of the king and the Parliament were advancing to meet each
other in the midland counties. The earl of Derby abandoned the
siege of Manchester on the 1st of October, 1642, and immediately
proceeded, by royal order, to join the king at Shrewsbury, with
three Lancashire regiments of infantry and three squadrons of
cavalry. These troops were incorporated with the royal army, and
afterwards marched with the king to Edge HiU, in Warwickshire
where they took part in the memorable but indecisive battle, fought
at that place on the 23rd October. After the battle of Edge HiU the
Lancashire troops marched forward with the royal army to Oxford
and Beading, and Lord Molyneux's regiment took part at the storm
ing of Brentford, within five or six miles of London. Lord Derby

PAST AND PRESENT. 469

returned to Lancashire, and immediately set to work to raise a new
army for the king amongst the royalists of Lancashire, Cheshire, and
North Wales, in aU of which his influence was very much greater
than that of any other person either on the royalist or the parlia
mentary side. It will be convenient at this point of our narrative
to describe the relative position and strength of the royalist and
the parliamentary parties in the various districts of Lancashire and
Cheshire, in every part of which the battle between the king and
the Parfiament raged fiercely for the next three years.
James, Lord Derby, the head of the royalist party, was a leader
whom all the royalists of the north-western district were proud to
follow, not only on account of his rank and immense influence, but
also of his personal virtues, his dauntless courage, and his unwavering
loyalty, to the last of which he cheerfully sacrificed not only his pro
perty but his life. From the commencement of the contest to its close
he had a firm and faithful adviser in his wife, the celebrated Charlotte
de la Tremoufile, daughter of the Due de Thours, and of his wife,
Lady Charlotte, a daughter of the famous William I., Prince of Orange.
The parliamentary party had no leader who could at all compare in
rank or influence with the earl of Derby. Philip, Lord Wharton, whom
Parfiament had appointed to the office of lord-lieutenant of the county,
was unknown in Lancashire, and was not a man of much influence
anywhere. But the Parliament was very ably represented in Lanca
shire by a committee, composed principaUy of the most influential of
the members for the county and boroughs, which acted with much of
the authority of Parliament. The leading members of this committee
were Balph Assheton, one of the members of the county, who held the
rank of colonel of one of the Lancashire regiments at the commence
ment of the war, and acted as commander-in-chief of the militia
with distinguished success ; Bichard Shuttleworth, one of the mem
bers for Clitheroe, and son and heir-apparent of Bichard Shuttle-
worth, of Gawthorpe, who, with his three brothers Nicholas, Ughtred,
and William, held the rank of colonel in the parliamentary service ;
and John Moore, esquire, of Bank-hall, near Liverpool, one of the
members for that borough, who held the rank of colonel in the
parliamentary service. The other members took a less active part,
and some of them had a strong leaning for the royalist party. The
following are the names of the Lancashire members of the Long
Parliament, to most of whom we shall have reason to refer more
than once in the succeeding narrative : —

470 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

LANCASHIRE MEMBERS OF THE PARLIAMENT MEETING AT
WESTMINSTER, NOV. III., MDCXL.

Lancashire.
Ralph Assheton, Esquire,
Rogee Kieby, Esquire.
Clitheroe
Ralph Assheton, Esquire,
Richaed Shuttlewokth, Esquire.
Lancaster.
Sie John Haeeison, Knight,
Thomas Fanshaw, Esquire.

Liverpool.
John Moore, Esquire,
Sie Richaed Wynn, Knight and Bart.
Newton.
William Ashuest, Esquire,
Sie Rogee Palmee, Knight.
Preston, in Anderness.
Richaed Shuttlewoeth, Esquire,
Thomas Standish, Esquire.

Wigan.
Oelando Beidgeman, Esquire,
Alexander Kieby, Esquire.
The principal strength of the royalist party both in Lancashire
and Cheshire, was in the western districts, which were chiefly given
to agriculture and commerce ; whilst the strength of the parliamentary
party was in the eastern districts of the two counties, in which a
large portion of the population was already engaged in mining and
manufactures. At the same time, it must be observed that the
parliamentary party had many staunch and determined supporters
both among the landed gentry and in the towns and ports on the
western side of the two counties ; whfist many of the most power-*
ful landowners, and a certain number of the town population, even
in the eastern districts, were favourable to the king.
Taking the six hundreds of Lancashire it may be stated generally
that the four hundreds of Lonsdale, Amounderness, Leyland, and
West Derby, were mostly in favour of the royal cause, whilst the
two hundreds of Salford and Blackburn were favourable to the
Parfiament. In the same way the royalists in the county of
Chester had the ascendency in the city of Chester, and in the
hundreds of Wirral, Broxton, Eddisbury, and perhaps of Northwich,
whfist the parliamentary party had the upper hand in the hundreds
of Nantwich, Macclesfield, and Bucklaw.
Taking the hundreds of Lancashire in succession, it may be stated
that the royalists had the entire ascendancy in Lonsdale at the
commencement of the war. The castle of Lancaster, the strongest
place in that district, was held for the king by Sir John Girfington,
and Boger Kirby, Esq., one of the members of the county. In the
same district the royafists had the command of Hornby castle, one

PAST AND PRESENT. 471

of the strongest and noblest castles in Lancashire, originaUy built
by the Montbegon famUy, with a tower, the waUs of which were
thirty-six feet in thickness at the base ; and afterwards rebuilt by
Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle, on so vast a scale as to include
twenty-one acres of land within its waUs. " The neighbouring castle
of Thurland was also held for the king by Sir John Girlington,
the high sheriff of the county, who had recently purchased it from
the representatives of the TunstaU. famfiy, who had held it from
the time of Edward II. Thurland castle was a magnificent struc
ture, strongly fortified, and of great extent.
Passing to the south, the whole of Amounderness was held for
the king. The town of Preston, which commanded the only bridge
across the Bibble, was seized by Lord Strange and Colonel Tyldesley
at the beginning of the war, strongly fortified, and placed under
the command of Adam Mort, a near relation of Colonel Tyldesley,
and like his relative, a man of determined courage. All the other
strongholds in the Amounderness hundred, of which Greenhaugh
castle, near Garstang, belonging to Lord Derby, was the most
important, were also held for the king.
In the Leyland hundred the royal party was also much the
strongest. Hoghton tower, one of the most extensive and strongest
castles of Lancashire, where James I. had been entertained with
royal magnificence, was held for the king by Sir Gilbert Hoghton,
baronet, a determined royalist.
The whole of the great hundred of West Derby was also in
the hands of the royafists. The borough and port of Liverpool,
with its castle, had been seized by Lord Strange at the commence
ment of the war, and had been well fortified and garrisoned. The
towns of Wigan and Warrington were also fortified by the royalists;
as well as the earl of Derby's strong and extensive castle, more
familiarly known as Lathom house.
The number of fortified positions held by the parliamentary party
in Lancashire, at the commencement of the war, was comparatively
small, consisting only of the towns of Manchester and Bolton. But
Manchester had already proved itself strong enough to repulse a
most formidable attack, and Bolton was equally successful shortly
afterwards. Nearly the whole of the country held by the parlia
mentary party in Lancashire was naturaUy strong, being hilly or
mountainous, and intersected by numerous rivers.
In Cheshire the city of Chester was the great stronghold of

472 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
the royafists, who held it during a siege or blockade of nearly two
years' duration, against the most formidable enemies. The old Boman
waUs were merely used as an inner line of defence, the main line
of works being a very thick and high waU of earth or mud, erected
on the east side of the city, and stretching across the neck of the
peninsula formed by the windings of the Dee, in which the city of
Chester is built. In addition to the city of Chester the royalists
held the castles of Hawarden and Holt, on the banks of the Dee,
and the castle of Halton on the banks of the Mersey.
The town of Nantwich, then the chief place in the Cheshire salt
district, was the principal town fortified and held by the parlia
mentary party in Cheshire. They also obtained possession, at the
beginning of the war, of Beeston castle, the most extensive and
strongest of aU the feudal castles of Cheshire.
Such were the principal military positions in Lancashire and
Cheshire, held by the rival parties, at the commencement of the
civil war. We now proceed to trace the course of events, first in
Lancashire and then in Cheshire.
After the failure of the royalist attack upon Manchester, and the
great battle of Edge Hill, both parties in Lancashire set them
selves to work to organize their forces for the civil war; but no
blow was struck by either until the commencement of the month
of December, 1642. The earl of Derby was the first to move. With
a considerable force, which he collected about Wigan, the earl ad
vanced towards Leigh, in the first week in December. The news
of his approach was received on Sunday morning, as the people
were going to church, and the intelligence was immediately spread
throughout the whole district. Before the afternoon the parlia
mentary party had assembled nearly 3000 men, horse and foot,
including most of the farmers' sons and other young men of the
neighbourhood. The engagement commenced in the neighbourhood
of Chequerbent, and for a short time the royalists were successful ;
but later in the afternoon the parliamentary forces were strongly
reinforced, and charging resolutely upon the royafists they drove
them back towards Wigan. Having followed up their success too
hastily, the royalists in their turn faced about, and gave the parlia
mentary troops rather a severe check at Hindley chapel.
In the same week the royalists and parliamentarians of the
Blackburn hundred came into collision on Hinfield Moor. The
parliamentary force was formed of the men of Blackburn, Padiham,

PAST AND PRESENT. 473

Burnley, Clitheroe, Colne, and the "sturdy churls," in the two
forests of Pendle and Bossendale. The royalists consisted of a
large force raised by Sir Gilbert Hoghton, Bart., in the hundreds
of Leyland and Amounderness. The rival forces met on Hinfield
Moor, and after a sharp contest the royalists were beaten and
driven back upon Preston, which was then held by their party.
At the commencement of the new year, 1643, the parfiamentary
forces of the Salford hundred, who had been carefully trained by
Sir John Seaton, a parliamentary officer sent down for that pur
pose by order of Parliament, with an escort of a regiment of
dragoons, took the field, with a determination to obtain possession
of all the strongholds of the royalists in the Amounderness and
Lonsdale hundreds, and more particularly of the town of Preston
and the castle of Lancaster. In this expedition Major-general Sir
John Seaton acted as commander-in chief, attended by Colonel
HoUand, Major Birch, Major Sparrow, Captain Booth, and other
parfiamentary officers ; Colonel Assheton remaining in charge of
Manchester and Bolton. The expedition marched from Manchester
on the 7th of February, 1643, and was joined as it proceeded
northward by three companies of foot from Bolton,, four or five
companies from the Blackburn hundred, all well armed, as well as
by 2000 clubmen, forming a part of the levy en masse of the
district through which it advanced. On Thursday morning the par
fiamentary forces appeared before Preston, and immediately rushed
forward to the assault ; Colonel Holland's company and Captain
Booth's having a great strife which should enter the town first.
The assault was directed by Sir John Seaton himself, and was
made at the end of Church Street, the parliamentary musketeers
driving the royafists from the church and the steeple by a heavy
fire of musketry. The mayor of the town, Adam Mort, who was
also the commander of the garrison, defended the place with de
termined courage, and killed one' of Colonel Holland's men with
his own pike; but the town was carried by the parliamentary
forces, and Mort was himself killed together with his son, with Captain
Badcliff Hoghton, a brother of Sir Gilbert Hoghton, with Sergeant-
major Purvey, who had lately come from Ireland to join the gar
rison, and with Dr. Westby, together with two or three lieutenants,
and several other persons of good standing. Captain Ffarington,
Captain Preston, and Mr. Anderton, of Clayton, were taken prisoners ;
and Lady Hoghton, Lady Girlington, and Mrs. Towneley, were also
VOL. I. 3 0

474 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
found in the town. Three pieces of ordnance, a " murdering" piece,
a great number of muskets, with many horses, and two or three
stand of colours, were likewise taken. The further results of the
taking of Preston were a large contribution out of the adjacent
country for the maintenance of the parliamentary army ; and the
cutting off of the communications of the royal forces at Newcastle
with those at Chester and Shrewsbury.
After the taking of Preston, Major Birch, of the Manchester
trained bands, was sent forward to take the town and castle of
Lancaster, which he effected very rapidly. The high sheriff, Sir
John Girlington, with Boger Kirby, one of the knights of the shire,
made some resistance ; but perceiving that they were not . able to
hold the place successfully, they retired from the castle, and Captain
Birch took possession of it.
In the attack on Lancaster, Captain William Shuttleworth, of
Gawthorpe, one of the four brothers of that family in the parlia
mentary service, was killed.
The earl of Derby, on hearing of the movement of* the parlia
mentary forces from Manchester to the attack of Preston, lost no
time in taking the field ; and instead of following the Salford troops
northward, he determined at once to carry the war into their own
country. For this purpose he coUected all his forces at Wigan, and
at once advanced to Bolton, which was then the second parfia
mentary garrison in the county. His advance on that place was so
unexpected, sudden, and impetuous, that he succeeded in carrying the
out-works ; but the garrison, being weU commanded, soon recovered
its courage, and after a desperate combat beat off the assailants.
It appears from a contemporary statement, that when the Man
chester troops marched northward to attack Preston and Lancaster,
there were left to guard Bolton, Colonel Assheton, Captain Bulkley,
of Oldham; Captain Scoffield, of Bochdale; Captain Holt, of Bury;
and Captain Ashurst, of Badcliffe bridge, and their companies, to
the number of 500 men. On Thursday, the 16th of February, the
earl of Derby advanced upon the town with eleven colours, two
companies of dragoons, and some troops of horse and pieces of
cannon. They advanced so rapidly that they were within a mile
of the town before anything was known of their approach ; and
marched so vigorously, under the guidance of some of the royalists
of the neighbourhood, that they surrounded the garrison before it was
aware, and so effectually stopped the approaches to the town that

PAST AND PRESENT. 475

scarcely any help could come from the country to its assistance.
The first assault was made at the Bradshaw gate end of the town,
where the garrison had three sconces or outworks ; and the royalists
attacked so resolutely that they beat them from these works, and
forced them to retire within the mud wall and the chains at the
end of the streets, which formed the chief fortification of the place.
When the royalists had carried the outworks, they made a desperate
effort to break through the walls and chains. They played heavfiy
upon the walls with their ordnance, "their shot being five or six
pounds in weight, and passing through the mud walls, which were
two yards thick. They also came up to the breastwork, even to
the mouths of the muskets ; but the garrison fought so steadily,
and fired so fast, that they could not enter there. Part of the
assafiants then marched to the left, forced their way into a number
of houses at the end of the town, and by opening a fire from those
houses, on the rear of the men who kept the gate, while the main
body of the royalists kept up a heavy fire in front, they at last
drove them back from their works. The fire of the royafists from
the houses killed several of Captain Buckley's men, on which a
company of the garrison was ordered to drive the royalists out.
By desperate efforts the assafiants were beaten out of the houses,
the royafists being so desperate that three times they came to the
ends of the muskets, and caught hold of them as they went off,
on which the garrison attacked them with the butt-ends of their
muskets, and finally beat them both out of the houses and from
the works. After a furious battle, the royafists were compelled to
retire to Wigan, carrying off two or three cartloads of dead bodies,
and leaving behind them nearly 100 men killed and wounded, one
of whom was Captain Ashton, of Penketh. " Our men," says a
parliamentary writer, " fought like lions ; and amongst the rest
Colonel Assheton behaved himself very valorously. I verily believe
a sharper bout hath never been in our county fought ; and God did
both exceedingly put courage into our men and also (did) fight for
them ; otherwise^ in aU likelihood, we had both lost the day, the
town, our lives arid all. There came to have aided us aU the club
men in Middleton, Oldham, and Bochdale, and old Captain Bad-
cliffe, with 200 fresh soldiers, from Manchester, besides the country
thereabouts, to the number of 1500 men. But it was too late;
they were gone away to Wigan before these came."*
* Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p. 84.

476 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Undeterred by the failure at Bolton, the earl of Derby deter
mined to march into the northern parts of the cotinty, and to
recover Lancaster and Preston, and the other positions taken by
the parfiamentary forces at the beginning of the campaign. Leaving
Wigan on the 13th of March, with 600 foot and 400 horse, he
arrived the first night at Kirkham, where he was joined by a large
body of the country people, to the number of 3000, who, being
wearied, as we are told, with the insolence and tyranny of the
rebels, came with great cheerfulness to join him. On the following
day he marched to within four miles of Lancaster, where he was
joined by Sir John Girfington and Colonel Tyldesley, with 600
men, of whom 300 were musketeers. One principal object of his
lordship in advancing upon Lancaster was, to recover several pieces
of cannon which the parliamentary forces had seized, on board a
Spanish ship in that port.
On Saturday, the 18th of March, the earl of Derby summoned
the town of Lancaster to surrender ; but the approaches being weU
fortified, and manned with 600 musketeers under the command of
Lieutenant-colonel Holcroft, Sergeant-major Sparrow, and Sergeant-
major Haywood, his summons met with a prompt refusal. On this
the royalists pushed boldly forward to the attack, forced their way
across the moat, and in two hours drove the garrison into the
castle. In this assault Captain William Shuttleworth, one of the
parliamentary officers, with many of the townsmen, were kiUed;
and the "mayor, and divers of the townsmen, such as were most
seditious, were taken prisoners."
Having captured the town, the earl of Derby laid siege to the
castle of Lancaster; but having no means of doing it effectuaUy,
owing to the strength of the works and the smallness of his own
artillery, he abandoned the siege in a few days, on hearing that
Major-general Sir John Seaton was advancing to its relief, with
1500 musketeers and some troops of horse.
On Monday, the 19th March, the noble earl retired from before
Lancaster; and making a very rapid and skilful march, arrived
before Preston on the night of the same day. A considerable por
tion of the garrison having been withdrawn by Sir John Seaton,
the earl of Derby at once assaulted the town, and, after two hours'
of desperate fighting, carried it, killing eighty of the garrison,
including Captain Ashworth, and taking from 300 to 400 prisoners,
with one brass piece of ordnance. On the foUowing day Sergeant-

PAST AND PRESENT. 477

major Brewyer, who commanded his lordship's regiment of horse,
defeated two troops of the parliamentary dragoons, under the com
mand of Captain Norris, taking the captain himself prisoner,
together with forty of his soldiers, and killing fifty of them in
the battle.
The re-capture of Preston, and the defeat of the parliamentary
cavalry, were the last successes gained by the earl of Derby, and,
indeed, by the Lancashire royalists, in this campaign. After the
earl's success at Preston, he coUected a large force in that town,
with which he prepared to overrun the hundred of Blackburn,
nearly the whole population of which was in arms in support of
the Parliament, under the command of Colonel Assheton, Colonel.
Bichard Shuttleworth, of Gawthorpe, and other leaders of great
local influence. Already, in the earlier part of the campaign, on
the 14th of February,, the Blackburn trained bands had taken
Hoghton tower after a sharp combat, but had sustained a heavy
loss by the accidental explosion ef the powder magazine, by which
accident Captain Starkie, of Huntroyd, and nearly 100 of his men
had lost their lives.
At the beginning of the month of May, the earl of Derby, Lord
Molyneux, Sir Gilbert Hoghton, Colonel Tyldesley, with aU the
other leading royalists of the county, marched out of Preston, and
crossed the Bibble at Bibchester, with eleven troops of horse, 700
foot, and, as we are told, an infinite number of clubmen; in aU,
conceived to. be 5000 men. The outposts of the parfiamentary
forces, which were at Dunkinhalgh hall, hearing of the approach
of this force, retreated to Padiham, having before sent to Colonel
Shuttleworth to raise the country. This he did very effectually,
for on the following morning all the musketeers of the district
assembled, with some of the clubmen. At first the parfiamentary
force was not much more than 500 men, and feU back before the
royafists; but being afterwards strongly reinforced, it suddenly
faced round on the royalists, threw their advanced guard into
confusion, and, the panic spreading, drove the whole royalist force
back into WhaUey. There a short stand was made by the royal
ists; but the parliamentary forces, knowing the ground, spread
themselves amongst the hedges, and opened so heavy a fire that
the royalist infantry fell into confusion; and being suddenly charged
by the parliamentary cavalry, gave way, and fled through Salesbury
park to Bibchester, crossing the Bibble in the greatest confusion.

478 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
This was considered at the time to be the greatest victory, with
the exception of the "first great bout at Manchester," that the
parliamentary forces had gained in Lancashire; and it proved to be
so in its results, for the royalist army feU back into the different
garrisons of the county, especiaUy Wigan, Liverpool, Warrington,
and Lathom house, but never again made a stand in the open
field, until Prince Bupert advanced into Lancashire in the foUow
ing year.
A few days after the defeat of the royalist army at Whalley,
Colonel Assheton marched upon Wigan, which was the strongest
garrison of the royalists in that part of Lancashire, with a force
of about 2200 horse and foot. The town was held by Colonel
Tyldesley for the king, with 700 foot and nine troops of horse.
On the approach of the enemy, the royalist garrison, believing the
place to be indefensible, retired from the town; part of them fafiing
back on Liverpool, the other retiring northward towards Preston.
On the retirement of the garrison, Colonel Assheton demolished
aU the outworks and fortifications, burnt the new gates and posts
that had been set up, and took an oath from the townsmen never
again to bear arms against the king and Parliament.
In the course of the same month of May the parfiamentary
forces under Colonel Assheton advanced upon Warrington, and,
after a siege of about ten days, got possession both of the town
and of the church, as weU as of the bridge across the Mersey. *
At the beginning of the month of June, 1643, Liverpool was
the only town in Lancashire which remained in the hands of the
royafists. In the first week in June Liverpool was attacked both
by sea and land, Colonel Assheton advancing upon the town with
the parliamentary forces of Lancashire, and one of the ships of the
parfiamentary squadron, commanded by the earl of Warwick, enter
ing the river Mersey about the same time, and taking part in the
attack. The royalist garrison consisted of about 1600 men, under
the command of the gallant Colonel Tyldesley. After some very
hard fighting, the parfiamentary forces obtained possession of the
church and of the main street of the town, that is, Castle Street;
but the royalists held out for several days in the castle, and in
the tower of the Stanley family. When the parliamentary forces
had succeeded in planting their ordnance on the church, which
then commanded the town, the royalist commander sent to ask
" Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p. 104.

PAST AND PRESENT. 479
for a parley. Hostages were delivered on both sides, and proposi
tions were made to Colonel Assheton by Colonel Tyldesley to the
foUowing effect: — 1st. That the forces in the town should surrender
the same to Colonel Assheton, for the use of the king and Parlia
ment, upon quarter. 2nd. That they (the royafists) should carry
away with them their ordnance, arms, and ammunition, and so
march away with bag and baggage. 3rd. That, without pursuit
or interruption of the Parliament's forces, they should march to
Wigan, or some other place in the county, without molestation.
These terms were refused by the parfiamentary commander, who
at once made another assault on the royalists, killed eighty of
them, and took 300 prisoners, with ten pieces of ordnance, and
all their bag and baggage. The remainder of the royalists escaped
from the town, most of them leaving their arms behind them, and
either dispersed, or retired to Chester or other of the royal garrisons.
After the capture of Liverpool, Colonel Assheton marched north
ward to lay siege to Hornby castle and Thurland castle, both of which
he took after a short siege. It was supposed that the taking of these
northern castles had put an end to the war in Lancashire, entirely
overturned the authority of the king, and established that of the
Parliament in the whole county. The leading royalists of Lanca
shire, believing the struggle to be hopeless in their own county,
proceeded to join the king's forces in other districts. The earl of
Derby and Lord Molyneux joined the royalists of Chester, and
took part in the memorable defence of that city. Colonel Tyldesley,
who was soon after knighted and raised to the rank of major-general,
was intrusted with the honourable task of conducting the queen
from York to Oxford, in the performance of which duty he forced
the bridge of Burton-upon-Trent, carrying a bridge of thirty-six
arches by a desperate charge of cavalry. Having effected the object
of- his mission, he returned to the north-west, and joined the garrison
at Chester. Sir John Girfington, the high sheriff of the county,
was less fortunate. After the overthrow of the royalists in Lanca
shire he joined Sir Marmaduke Langdale, the commander of the
king's cavalry, in the midland counties. There he rose to the rank
of major-general, but was slain near- Melton Mowbray, in the year
1645, in a battle between Langdale and Bossiter, one of the com
manders of the parfiamentary cavalry.
In the midst of this general overthrow the heroic Charlotte de
la Tremoufile, countess of Derby, alone remained unconquered.

480 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
During the rest of the year 1643 she remained at Lathom house,
avoiding any open rupture with the parliamentary authorities, but
at the same time declining any direct submission to their commands.
From respect to her rank and her sex she was allowed to remain
quietly at Lathom house until the end of the year. About that
time, however, it became pretty evident that Lancashire would
again, before long, become the seat of another and still more
violent struggle. On the 28th February, 1644, Captain Markland
brought a letter to the countess, from Lieutenant-general Sir
Thomas Fairfax, together with an ordinance of Parfiament, requir
ing her to surrender Lathom house "upon such honourable condi
tions as he should propose," and offering a pardon to the earl of
Derby if he would submit to the authority of Parliament. As it
was very much doubted whether the countess would surrender the
house, it had been previously arranged that Colonels Assheton,
Moore, and Bigby, should move with their regiments against Lathom.
In reply to the summons of Sir Thomas Fairfax to surrender
Lathom house, the countess expressed surprise that she should be
asked to give up her lord's house, without any offence on her part
done to Parliament, and asked for a week's time for consideration,
before she gave any positive answer. Two or three days were spent
in negotiation, and in very active preparation on the part of the
countess to defend the house, if the negotiations should fail. On
Saturday, the 2nd of March, 1643, Colonel Assheton and Colonel
Bigby proceeded to Lathom house and made the following proposals
to the countess : —
1st. That all arms and ammunition of war should be forthwith
surrendered into the hands of Sir Thomas Fairfax.
2nd. That the countess of Derby, and all the persons in Lathom
house, should be suffered to depart with all their goods to Chester,
or any other of the enemy's quarters, or upon submission to tbe
orders of Parfiament, to their own houses.
3rd. That the countess, with aU her menial servants, should be
suffered to inhabit in Knowsley, and to have twenty muskets allowed
for her defence, or to repair to her husband in the Isle of Man.
4th. That the countess, for the present, until the Parfiament
be acquainted with it, shaU have aUowed for her maintenance aU
the lands and revenues of the earl, her husband, within the hundred
of (West) Derby, and that the Parfiament shall be moved to con
tinue this allowance.

PAST AND PRESENT. 481

It being the settled determination of the countess not to give
up Lathom house, and her great object to obtain such a delay as
would enable her friends without to come to her assistance, she
met the proposals of Sir Thomas Fairfax with the foUowing counter
proposals : —
1st. Her ladyship desired a month's time for her quiet con
tinuance in Lathom, and then herself and children, her friends,
soldiers, and servants, with all her goods, arms, and ordnance, to
have free transport to the Isle of Man, and in the meantime that she
should keep garrison in her house for her own defence.
2nd. She promised that neither during her stay in the country,
nor after her coming to the Isle of Man, any of the arms should
be employed against the Parfiament.
3rd. That during her stay in the country no soldier should be
quartered in the lordship of Lathom nor at Knowsley house.
4th. That none of her tenants, neighbours, and friends then in
the house with her, assisting her, should suffer in their persons
or estates after her departure.
The object of these proposals was too evident to impose upon
men like Sir Thomas Fairfax and Colonel Assheton, but being
anxious to avoid an open rupture with the countess, they met her
counter-proposals with the foUowing propositions : —
1st. That the countess should have the time she desired, and
then liberty to transport her arms and goods to the Isle of Man,
except the cannon which should continue there (at Lathom) for the
defence of the house.
2nd. That her ladyship, by ten o'clock to-morrow, disband aU her
soldiers, except her menial servants, and receive an officer and forty
Parliament soldiers for her guard.
The above propositions, not being at all to the countess' mind,
were at once refused by her in the following message, in which
she at once defied Sir Thomas Fairfax and his employers to do
their worst. Her answer was : —
That she refused all their articles and was truly happy they had
refused hers, protesting she had rather hazard her life than offer the
fike again. That though a woman and a stranger, divorced from her
friends and robbed of her estate, she was ready to receive their
utmost violence, trusting in God for protection and deliverance.
Even after receiving this very decided message the parliamentary
commanders made another attempt to talk her ladyship into sur-
VOL. i. 3p

482 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

render, and Captain Ashurst, " a man that deserves a fairer character
than the rest for his even and civil behaviour," brought a new missive
to her ladyship, in these terms : —
1st. That aU former conditions be waived.
2nd. That the countess of Derby, and aU persons in the house,
with all arms, ordnance, and goods, shall have liberty to march to
what part of the kingdom they please, and yield up the house to Sir
Thomas Fairfax.
3rd. That the arms shall never be employed against the Parlia
ment. 4th. That all in the house, excepting 100 persons, should leave it.
and the rest within ten days.
The gallant countess, having quite made up her mind not to sur
render the house, answered : —
That not a man should quit her house ; that she should keep it,
whilst God enabled her, against all the king's enemies ; and, in brief,
that she would receive no more messages without an expression of
her lord's pleasure, who, she now heard, was returned from the Isle
of Man, and to whom she referred them for the transaction of the
whole business.
Lathom house, which the countess of Derby thus undertook to
defend against all the power of Parliament, was an ancient castellated
building, erected about the year 1496, by Thomas, the first earl
of Derby of the Stanley family, on the site of the more ancient
mansion of the Lathom and the Stanley families. It was a mansion
within which, in the words of the old poem, might "be lodged
kings three ; " and which in later days was the residence of Earl
Edward, with whose death, in Camden's words, " the glory of English
hospitality seemed to faU asleep." This latter building, the Lathom
house of 1644, is said to have furnished King Henry VII. with
the first idea of his new palace at Bichmond. The " bright house
of Lathom " had nine towers on high and nine in the outer walls.
It had a turreted gaUery in the outer wall, and in the centre of
the buUding the Eagle tower rose to a commanding height above
all the other towers. "As to the situation of Lathom house,"
says an ancient writer, "it stands upon a flat, boggy, and spumous
ground, encompassed with a wall of two yards thick, without which
is a moat of eight yards wide and two yards deep ; upon the bank
of which moat, betwixt the waU and the graff, was a strong palisado
throughout. Upon the walls were also nine towers flanking them,

PAST AND PRESENT. 483

and on each tower six pieces of ordnance, which played, three one
way, and three another ; besides these there was in the middle of
the house a high tower, called the Eagle Tower. The gate-house
also being a strong and lofty buUding, stood at the entrance of the
first court ; on the top of aU which towers stood the choicest marks
men (keepers, fowlers, and the like), who shrewdly gaUed the enemy
and cut off divers of their officers in the trenches."5"'
The garrison which so bravely defended Lathom house consisted
of not more than 300 men. The officers by whom they were com
manded were Captain Henry Ogle, Captain Edward ChisnaU,
Captain Edward Bawsterne, Captain Henry Farmer, Captain Moly
neux Batcliffe, and Captain Bichard Fox, assisted in their consul
tations by that firm friend of the Stanley family, William Ffarington,
of Worden. Each of these captains chose his own lieutenant. The
place was well suppfied with provisions. The artfilery consisted of
six pieces called sacers, and two sling pieces in every tower, with one
or two smaUer pieces caUed " murderers," to scour the ditches. The
only fear was lest the supply of powder should faU short.
On the day after that on which the negotiations were broken off, a
gallant sally from the castle was made by Captain Farmer, a Scotch
man, and a faithful and gaUant soldier, at the head of 100 foot and
twelve horse, which latter was the whole cavalry force of the garrison.
These suddenly rushed into the trenches where the parliamentary
troops were at work, and without firing a shot killed thirty of the
parliamentarians, took six prisoners and forty stand of arms, and
returned into the castle without the loss of a single man. On the
Sunday following, the garrison, led by Captain ChisnaU, made another
gallant attack on the parfiamentary troops who were at work on the
new trenches, and put them to flight, killing two or three men. On
the 20th of March the besiegers succeeded in bringing up and
opening a fire from a piece of cannon, throwing heavy balls of twenty-
four pounds weight, which, however, produced little impression on
the thick waUs of the castle. On the 24th March the besiegers had
got up two pieces of cannon, and by the 29th four pieces. On the
1st of April the besiegers began to fire from six cannon loaded
with chain-shot and bars of iron ; and on the foUowing day they
opened fire from a mortar, or granado, as it was then called. On the
9th of April, about eleven o'clock, 140 soldiers of* the garrison, led
on by Captain Farmer, Captain Molyneux Batcliffe, Lieutenant
* Peck's Desidi-rata Curiosa, vol. ii p. 43.

484 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Penketh, and Lieutenant Worral, sallied out at a postern gate ; beat
the enemy from their works and batteries, which were now cast
up around the house; spiked all their cannon; kUled about fifty men;
and took sixty stand of arms, one colour, and three guns. During
this engagement Captain Fox, by means of colours on the Eagle
tower, gave signal to the royalists when to march and when to
retreat, according to the motions of the enemy. On the Friday
foUowing a buUet from one of the parfiamentary guns "entered
the window of my lady's chamber, but was too weak to fright her
from the lodging." From this time to the 25th of April the fire
of the besiegers became stronger every day, and the mortar, though
badly worked, blew down a considerable portion of the defences of
the place.
At six o'clock on the morning of the 26th April, the garrison
made another most determined sally, drove back the enemy, and
captured the mortar, which they brought into the castle in triumph.
From this time forward the siege languished, till the 23rd of May,
about which time the news was received that Prince Bupert had
arrived at the city of Chester, at the head of a large army, had raised
the' siege of Chester, and was advancing towards Lathom house.
A few days afterwards this news was confirmed, and on the 26th
of May the besiegers abandoned the siege and retired, one part of
them towards Bolton, the other to Liverpool, to wait for the approach
of Prince Bupert.
At this point of time the history of the military operations in
Cheshire becomes closely connected with that of the operations in
Lancashire, and it wfil therefore be convenient to trace the opera
tions in Cheshire to this date before proceeding further with the
history of the operations in Lancashire.
The civil war commenced in the county of Chester, as it did
in most parts of England, in rival attempts of the supporters of the
king and of the Parfiament to obtain the command of the armed
force of the district. In the month of August, 1642, Sir WiUiam
Brereton, of Honford, the most daring and successful of all the
parliamentary leaders in the north-western district, made an attempt
to raise an armed force for the service of Parfiament, in the city
of Chester, by beat of drum. In this attempt he was supported
by the deputy-lieutenants appointed by Parliament to act as com
missioners for organizing the militia of Cheshire ; but the supporters
of the royal cause in the city were both stronger and bolder than

PAST AND PRESENT. 485

those of the Parfiament, and the result was that Sir William
Brereton himself was taken prisoner, and was for some time kept
in custody. It is stated that Sir William was unpopular in the
city from having refused to pay ship-money on liis lands, situate
within the city, at the time when the citizens in general submitted.
A few weeks after this attempt of Sir Wfifiam Brereton, King
Charles himself arrived at Chester, and by his presence and favour so
strengthened the royalist party in that city, that it ever afterwards
remained unalterably attached to the royal cause, and proved its
loyalty by efforts and sacrifices greater than those made by any
other town or city in the kingdom. During the king's visit he
resided at the palace of the bishop, and was splendidly entertained by
the corporation at a great banquet, where he was presented by the
mayor with the sum of £200 in his own name, and with £100 in
that of his eldest son, Charles, who was at once Prince of Wales
and Earl of Chester. During the stay of the king at Chester he
issued a royal declaration, charging the Parfiament with refusing
to treat with him for the peace of the kingdom, and declaring it
responsible for all the evils which might follow. Before the king
left Chester, he commanded that the city should be placed in a
proper state of defence. This was immediately done, a new and
much stronger line of fortifications, consisting of a high and thick
mud waU, being constructed in front of the ancient walls of the
city, and well suppfied with artfilery. The city at once assessed
itself at the sum of £100, for the purpose of repairing the gates,
and afterwards contributed many hundreds, and indeed thousands of
pounds, for the constructing, maintaining, and defending of the fortifi
cations of the city.
As early as the month of July, Lord Strange, who was acting
for his father as lord-lieutenant both of Lancashire and Cheshire
called together the latter county at Knutsford, for the purpose of
organizing an armed force for the support of the royal cause.
Another meeting, called by the parfiamentary commissioners for
organizing the militia, was held at Nantwich on the 12th of August,
and at the same time the king's commissioners of array also held
a meeting at Bavensmore, within a mile of Nantwich. On this
occasion the two parties came in contact on Beam Heath, and would
have come into armed conflict, if actual violence had not been averted
for a short time by the exertions of Mr. Wilbraham, of Darfold, and
Mr. Worden, of Chester.

486 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
But the conflict was only postponed, and from that time both
parties prepared openly for civil war. In the foUowing month
Lord Grandison entered the county from the south with a large
body of the royal horse, and was at once joined by Lord Chol-
mondeley, Sir Hugh Caverley, and other Cheshire gentlemen of the
royalist party. With these forces they marched upon the town of
Nantwich, then a place of great trade, being the chief town in the
salt district, and also the head-quarters of the parfiamentary party
in Cheshire. Some works had been hastily thrown up by the
parliamentary party around the town ; but on the approach of
Lord Grandison's forces the inhabitants, fearing that they would
have to deal not only with those forces, but with the whole of the
royal army then assembled at Shrewsbury, agreed to terms of sur
render, and aUowed the town to be disarmed. After remaining a
few days, the royalist troops retired from Nantwich, and proceeded
to Shrewsbury, whence they marched with the royal army to the
battle at Edgehfil. Soon after the royalists had abandoned Nantwich,
Sir William Brereton reoccupied the town in the name of the Parlia
ment, erected new and stronger fortifications, and converted it into
a place of arms, which successfully resisted all subsequent attacks.
The whole of the winter of 1642-43 was spent by both parties
in preparations for the campaign in the spring and summer of the
next year. The command of the parfiamentary forces was taken
by Sir WiUiam Brereton, who during aU the operations of the war
proved himself to be, not only a brave soldier, but a skUful officer.
The command of the Cheshire royalists was conferred on Sir Thomas
Aston, baronet, the representative of another ancient Cheshire family,
and a man of great courage, but without much talent for military
command. Early in the month of March the parliamentary and
the royalist armies, under the command of Sir William Brereton
and Sir' Thomas Aston, encountered each other at Middlewich, on
the banks of the Dane. Few particulars have been preserved of the
fight, but it ended in the entire defeat of the royalist party. In this
battle upwards of 400 prisoners and 100 horses were captured by
Sir William Brereton, together with two pieces of cannon and 500
fire-arms.. Amongst the prisoners were one colonel, one major, ten
captains, four lieutenants, and four ensigns. Sir Thomas Aston
retired with his broken army within the fortifications of Chester
where he was placed in arrest. He afterwards published a long memoir
in defence of his conduct. At a later period of the war Sir Thomas

PAST AND PRESENT. 487

Aston lost his fife, fighting bravely for the royal cause; but the
royalists of Cheshire never recovered from the injury inflicted on
them by the first battle of Middlewich.
On the 18th of July, 1643, Sir WiUiam Brereton appeared with
his army in front of the city of Chester, and the next morning,
made a desperate attempt to carry the city by assault. In this,
however, he signaUy failed; the works being much too strong to
be carried without the help of cannon, and the garrison, which
included aU the principal royalists of the county, being alike
numerous and brave. The loss of the parliamentary forces in this
attack was very great, whilst that of the garrison was quite insig
nificant, consisting of only one man killed and another wounded.
Sir WiUiam Brereton, finding that Chester was not to be taken
by storm, determined, if possible, to cut off its communications and
supplies ; and on the 1 1th of November, in the same year, succeeded
either in bribing or in intimidating the garrison of the adjoining
castle of Hawarden into a surrender. The castle of Hawarden at
this time belonged to the earl of Derby, but the surrender was
made by Thomas Bavenscroft, esquire, and Mr. John Aldesey, who
were in authority in the castle at the time. The effect of the
establishment of a parliamentary force on the Welsh side of the
river Dee was to deprive the garrison of Chester of its usual
supplies of provisions and fuel, and to compel the garrison to burn
the suburbs of Handbridge on that side of the river. For the
same reason Overlegh hall, Bache hall, and Flookersbook hall, the
mansion of Sir Thomas Smith, were also destroyed, that they might
not afford cover to the enemy in an advance on the city.
It had been the object of the king and his advisers, from the
commencement of the civil war, to bring over into England the
army of Ireland. That army had been raised by the earl of Straf
ford during his vice-royalty in Ireland, and was commanded by
officers, and composed of men well known for their attachment to
the royal authority. Although there were few, if any, Irish Boman
Catholics in this army, it was a favourite party misrepresentation
of the time to describe the English army in Ireland as an army of
Boman Cathofics or Papists; and to represent it as a force inflamed
with a fanatical hatred against Engfish Protestants, and eager to
inflict on them all the cruelties which had beien inflicted on the
Protestants of Ulster in the great Irish insurrection of 1640.
Partly from unwillingness to rouse the fears and jealousies of the

488 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
English people, and partly from the fact that the English army in
Ireland was engaged in an actual struggle with the Boman Catho
fics of that country, the army was not brought over into England
until the end of the second year of the great civil war. ' It had
been originally intended that the Irish army should be landed in
Lancashire; but this had been rendered impossible by the capture
of Liverpool by the parliamentary forces. For some time after
that event it was doubtful whether the Irish army could be got
across the channel at aU; for no sooner had the parliamentary
party obtained possession of Liverpool than they fitted out a
number of small vessels, which they dignified with the name of
frigates, and sent them to cruise in the Irish sea. For some time
the city of Dublin, and the royal army collected in and around
that city, were cut off from aU communication with England, by
means of the Liverpool frigates, which were commanded by an
active officer named Captain Danks. The effect of the blockade
was also to cut off the supplies of provisions, coals, and other
necessaries required for the consumption of Dublin. But near the
end of the year a royalist naval force arrived off Dublin, and
compelled the Liverpool frigates to retire into the river Mersey.
Shortly afterwards the embarkation of the Irish army for England
commenced. The city of Chester was then besieged, or rather
blockaded, by a numerous force of the trained bands of Cheshire
and Lancashire, but defended by a numerous and gallant force,
commanded by the earl of Derby, Lord Byron, Lord Molyneux,
Bobert Grosvenor, Henry Legh, J. Mainwaring, and other distin
guished royafists of the two counties.
In the month of November, 1643, the Irish royalist army, raised
by the earl of Strafford and the marquis of Ormonde, was trans
ported into England, and landed at Chester. The first division
about 2000 strong, composed of the regiments of Sir Michael
Ernley, Colonel Gibson, Sir Fulk Hunck, and a portion of that of
Colonel Byron, left Dublin on the 16th of November, and arrived
at Mostyn, on the south bank of the Dee, two days afterwards.
These were shortly followed by another division of the Irish army,
consisting of 1300 foot and 140 horse, under Colonel Bobert Byron.
Nearly at the same time Major-general Lord Byron arrived at
Chester from Shrewsbury, with 1000 horse and 300 foot; and by
authority of the king assumed the command of the city of Chester,
and of all the forces assembled there.

PAST AND PRESENT. 489

When Lord Byron took the command, not only the whole of
Cheshire, but also the counties of Flint and Denbigh, were in the
hands of the parliamentary forces. Sir WiUiam Brereton, having
obtained possession of Holt bridge across the Dee, and having
been reinforced by a large body of the Lancashire parliamentary
troops, had marched a force of 2000 foot and 800 horse into North
Wales, and, acting in conjunction with Sir Thomas Middleton, had
overrun a considerable part of that country. On the arrival of the
Irish army in the river Dee, Sir William Brereton issued a pro
clamation requiring all persons to take arms, to oppose " 4000
bloody Irish rebels that were come to invade them." Although
there was scarcely an Irishman in the ranks of the invading army,
this proclamation produced considerable effect, and all parties
prepared for a closer and more desperate struggle; those who
did not believe the invading force to be either Irishmen or rebels,
knowing them to be zealous and determined royalists, trained
in the Irish wars, and commanded by officers of known courage
and loyalty.
A few days after the landing of the Irish army at Chester,
Lord Byron prepared to march against the enemy; and notwith
standing the severity of the season, he took the field with 4000 foot
and 1000 horse, on the 12th of December. The castle of Hawarden
had already been surrendered to the royafists, after a sharp combat;
and Sir William Brereton, seeing that his forces on the Welsh
side" of the river were in the greatest danger of being cut off,
retired rapidly into Cheshire, across Holt bridge. At the same
time the parfiamentary forces, which had been engaged in the
blockade of the city of Chester, also retired. The object of Sir
William Brereton was to withdraw with both these corps to Nant
wich; and, under the cover of the fortifications of that place, to
coUect a force capable of making head against the Irish army, and
the Cheshire and Welsh royafists assembled under the command
of Lord Byron. But rapid as was the retreat of Sir William
Brereton and Colonel Assheton, the royafists came up with them
near Middlewich, and defeated them, with very considerable loss.
The battle lasted four or five hours; and in the end the whole of
the Lancashire, and a part of the Cheshire troops, under the com
mand of Sir William Brereton and Colonel Assheton retired in the
direction of Manchester, whfist a portion of them escaped south
ward to Nantwich, and joined the garrison of that place, under
VOL. i. 3 Q

490 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the command of Colonel George Booth, the son of Sir George
Booth, baronet, of Dunham Massey.
At the same time that Lord Byron attacked the parliamentary
forces at Middlewich, his troops also appeared before the castle of
Beeston, then held by a parliamentary garrison commanded by
Captain Steel. This castle, the very ruins of which have an air
of grandeur, was at that time a place of immense strength and
importance, and capable of offering a long resistance to a regular
siege. It was taken by surprise in a night attack, headed by Captain
Sandford of the Boyal Firelocks, a force armed with weapons not
previously known in war. At the head of a very smaU number of
daring men, Captain Sandford succeeded in climbing up the lofty
rock on which the castle is built, and in entering the castle at a
point where no one dreamt of an attack. The commander of the
garrison appears at once to have lost heart, and after a fittle parley,
the place was surrendered. Whether this was done from cowardice
or from treachery, or merely from surprise, is uncertain; but the
governor's conduct was greatly blamed, and cost him his life. What
made much against Steel was that he took Sandford down into his
chamber, where they dined together; that much beer was sent up to
Sandford's men; and that the castle, after a short parley, was delivered
up — Steel and his men having leave to march with their arms and
colours to Nantwich. There Captain Steel was removed from his
command, and was afterwards tried and shot.
Lord Byron next proceeded to Sandbach, from which place he
compelled Sir William Brereton to retire; and on the 26th of
December he forced the parliamentary army to fight a battle at
Middlewich, in which the latter, though strongly posted, was
defeated, with a loss of about 200 men. After this victory North
wich surrendered to the royalists. The fortified house of Crewe hall
also surrendered after a short but resolute resistance; as weU as
Doddington hall and Acton church, which had also b£en turned
into a fortress.
There was now only one garrison in that part of Cheshire which
was held by the parfiamentary forces, namely, the town of Nantwich ;
and Lord Byron, believing that his triumph was secure, wrote to
the marquis of Newcastle, the king's commander in Yorkshire, stating
that he did not doubt to be able to clear the county, and, if the
marquis would advance towards Stockport, to be able to set foot
in Lancashire. In this letter Lord Byron said, "The rebels had

PAST AND PRESENT. 491

possessed themselves of a church at Bartomley ; but we presently
beat them forth of it, and put them all to the sword, which I find
to be the best way to proceed with their kind of people, for mercy
to them is cruelty." *
Within a very few weeks the noble lord found reason to change
his opinion ; for the rumour of this and other cruelties perpetrated
by Lord Byron's forces, as weU as the formidable nature of their
movements, induced the parliamentary leaders of Cheshire, Lanca
shire, and Yorkshire to unite for their overthrow; and gave the
garrison of Nantwich the resolution to defend the town to the
last extremity.
The town of Nantwich, which continued firmly to support the
Parliament from the beginning to the end of the civil war, was
only fortified by mud walls, formed in a hasty manner by the
townsmen and the people of the surrounding country. By the
29th of December, 1643, the town was completely invested by
Lord Byron's army. The garrison by which it was defended was
not strong in numbers, and was composed for the most part of
trained bands and other local levies ; but the commander, Colonel
Booth, was a man of great determination, and a member of one of
the oldest and best families in Cheshire, possessing great local
influence and the confidence of his soldiers. Whfist the royalists
were breaking ground, the garrison made several bold saUies, and
thus delayed the operations for several days. In addition to this,
a body of royalist cavalry under the command of Sir Nicholas
Byron, which was advancing from Shrewsbury to join in the siege,
was attacked in the night by Colonel Mytton, at the head of 120
horse and the same number of foot, and was totally routed, with
the loss of nearly half its numbers.
It was not until the 18th January, 1644, that Lord Byron
ventured to attempt to carry the town by storm. Early in the
morning of that day the royalists advanced on the town from
several different points, and attempted to storm the works. At
every point they were received with the most determined courage,
and finally were beaten off with the loss of 300 to 400 men and
officers. Amongst the slain were Lieutenant-colonel Bolton and
Captain Sandford, the captor of Beeston castle, with eighteen other
officers. After this repulse the siege was turned into a blockade,
and provisions of all kinds soon began to be very scarce.
* Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p 154.

492 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
The delay created by the gallant resistance of the garrison of
Nantwich gave the parliamentary leaders in Cheshire, Lancashire,
and the West Biding time to unite their forces. These combined
forces assembled at Manchester on the 21st January, and were
placed under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had already
begun to show the great military talents which became more con
spicuous as the war advanced. On the 21st of January Sir Thomas
Fairfax advanced into Cheshire, at the head of six regiments of foot
and twenty-eight troops of horse, being about 2500 foot and 1200
horse. Lord Byron, on hearing of the approach of Sir Thomas
Fairfax, at first supposed that his only object was to raise the
siege of Nantwich ; and being most anxious to obtain possession of
the place, for the purpose of establishing a communication between
the midland and the northern counties, continued the blockade
until Sir Thomas Fairfax's army reached the immediate neighbour
hood of Nantwich.
The royal army, when drawn up to receive the attack of Sir
Thomas Fairfax, occupied both sides of the river Weaver, the main
body being posted in the neighbouroood of Acton church, on the
high road from Manchester. Lord Byron himself was on the other
side of the river with the whole of his horse and part of his foot.
Owing to heavy rains, and the melting -of the snows, the waters of
the river rose very suddenly at this critical time, carrying away
the bridges by which the two wings of the royal army kept up
their communications. In consequence of this accident, they were
unable to render each other the prompt and effectual assistance
required in battle.
Sir Thomas Fairfax, advancing rapidly through the lower part
of Delamere Forest, encountered the outposts of Lord Byron's' army
at Barr bridge, and at once drove them in. His force had been
increased on the march to 5000 foot and 3550 horse. The battle
began at half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, by a fierce charge
of Fairfax's army. This was met with great resolution by the
royalists; but about five o'clock the garrison of Nantwich attacked
the royalists furiously in the rear, and the royalists thus finding
themselves between two fires, were utterly routed, and fled in con
fusion. Very few of the royafists would have escaped, if the night
had not come on and covered their flight. About 1600 of the Irish
army took refuge in and about Acton church, and defended them
selves for a time, hoping for assistance from Lord Byron ; but this

PAST AND PRESENT. 493

he was unable to render them, having to make a march of five mfies
before he could come to their assistance. Sir Thomas Fairfax
very wisely offered quarter to the men who had been driven into
Acton church, which they at once accepted, seeing no hope of relief.
When Lord Byron came up, with the body of his horse, and what
remained of the foot, he found that the main body of his army was
either destroyed or had surrendered. On tins Lord Byron retired
in the direction of Chester, and reached that city with the wreck
of his army, leaving in the hands of Sir Thomas Fairfax, Major-
general Gibson, Colonels Sir Michael Ernley, Sir Bichard Fleetwood,
and George Monk, afterwards the celebrated General Monk, together
with eighty other officers, and 1500 common soldiers. The effect
of the battle of Nantwich was to destroy the army of Ireland, on
which so many hopes and fears had been founded; and to place the
whole of the county of Chester, with the exception of the city, as
weU as the counties of Flint and Denbigh, in the hands of the
parliamentary forces. Another effect of this battle was to induce
Colonel George Monk to enter the parliamentary army, which was
ultimately one considerable cause of the restoration of Charles II.
to the throne that his father had lost.
Very shortly after the defeat of the royal army at Nantwich, Sir
William Brereton again appeared before the city of Chester at the
head of the parliamentary forces. On the 13th of February the
garrison of Chester made a very determined sally in the direction of
Great Boughton, and after a fierce engagement, in which the royafists
had 1 40 men slain, the parliamentary forces retired for some distance,
still keeping the city blockaded on the Cheshire side, though open
in the direction of North Wales. In the week following this sharp
skirmish at Boughton, the royalists burnt down that village, to
prevent the enemy's harbouring there and advancing on the city
unawares. For the next two months the blockade continued
without any event of importance.
After the victory of the parfiamentary forces at Nantwich, the
position of the royalist party in Cheshire and Lancashire appeared to
be desperate. There was no royalist army in the field in either
county, and the only places held by royalists were the city of Chester
and Lathom house. Both these places were very closely pressed by
the forces of the Parfiament, and without relief from without it was
evident that they could not hold out much longer.
In this, all but desperate, position of affairs, King Charles decided

494 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
to detach his gallant nephew, Prince Bupert, from the main body of
his army, for the purpose of raising the siege of Newark castle,
Chester, Lathom house, and York, all of which were at that time
besieged by the parliamentary forces ; and also of restoring the confi
dence of the royafists in the north-western and northern counties. It
was not without much hesitation that the king agreed to this step,
although he was urged to it with an eagerness which rendered refusal
very difficult. Prince Bupert, before leaving the royal head-quarters,
received the following two letters — the one from the gallant cavaliers
besieged at Chester, the other from the earl of Derby himself — both
urging him to advance into Cheshire and Lancashire, for the purpose
of restoring the royal cause in those counties, and of freeing the
countess of Derby from her perilous position at Lathom house. The
first letter was as follows : — •
FROM THE CAVALIERS KEEPING GARRISON AT CHESTER TO
PRINCE RUPERT.
" May it please your Highness, — We have thought it worth your
Highness' knowledge and this express to inform you that, since your
Highness' departure from these parts, the house of Lathom (wherein
your very heroic kinswoman, the countess of Derby, is) hath, by Sir
Thomas Fairfax (who is yet there), been very straitly besieged, and,
as we hear, assaulted (notwithstanding any rumours which were to
the contrary), yet so defended by her admirable courage, as from the
house there hath been killed divers of the assailants, some prisoners
taken, and many arms. By these means she hath occasioned the
enemy to strengthen the leager, and exasperated their malice. But
she hath wasted much of her ammunition and victual, which must
needs hasten the sadness of her ladyship's condition, or render her
captive to a barbarous enemy, if your Highness' forces do not speedily
release her. In contemplation whereof, as also of the happy effects of
her gallantry, who by this defence hath not only diverted a strong
party of the Lancashire forces from joining with those who would
endeavour to interrupt your Highness' march or retreat, or otherwise
might have joined in one body to have annoyed us here in the division
of our forces, we are therefore bold, with an humble representation, to
become suitors to your Highness for your princely consideration of the
noble lady's seasonable and speedy relief, in which (besides her par
ticular) we conceive the infinite good of all these northern parts will
be most concerned, and his Majesty's service very much advanced.

PAST AND PRESENT. 495

The happy success of your Highness is now our principal hope and
prayer, which, and all your Highness' designs, shaU be promoted
with the lives and utmost services of your Highness' most faithful
servants, (Signed) " Caryll Molyneux, " J. Mainwaring,
" Thomas Tyldesley, " Bichard Greene,
" Bobert Grosvenor, " James Anderton,
" Henry Leigh, " William Walton,
" Bichard Molyneux, " John Benningham.
"A. Shipman,
" Ohestee, March 22nd, 1643." *
About the same time the earl of Derby, who was also in Chester,
wrote to Prince Bupert, entreating his assistance for the countess of
Derby. His letter was as foUows : — •
THE EARL OF DERBY TO PRINCE RUPERT.
" Sir, — I have foUowed your Highness' commands in serving the
worthy bearer, Sir WiUiam Neale, concerning his government of
Harden (Hawarden) castle. .......
" Sir, — I have received many advertisements from my wife of her
imminent danger, unless she be relieved by your Highness, on whom
she doth more rely than any other whatsoever, and aU of us consider
weU she hath chief reason so to do. I was in hope to have seen, your
Highness here yesterday, seeing you were so resolved when last I
had the honour to wait upon you ; but not now knowing any certainty
of your coming hither, and my Lord Byron and others most unwiUing
to stir hence with any forces towards her without your Highness'
special direction, I do take the boldness to present you again my most
humble and earnest request in her behalf, that I may be able to give
her some comfort in my next. I should have waited on your High
ness this time, but that I hourly receive little letters from her, who
haply a few days hence may never send me more.
" There is now an opportunity, in my opinion, to take the town of
Liverpool, which your Highness took notice of in the map the last
evening I was with you, for there is not at this time fifty men in the
garrison, neither are there many more in Warrington ; also divers be
drawn forth of Manchester, most to Lathom; so that if any small force
be showed before any of these towns, it is thought very possible to
» Eliot Warburton's Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers, i. 364.

496 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
raise the siege (of Lathom house), or so weaken it that it may be
much easier to relieve the house with such things as it may want.
" Your Highness, doubtless, knows that men are newly landed
here from Ireland ; but aU these and twice so many are not consider
able in comparison of your own appearing, which strikes a terror to
that wicked party, and gives life to the half-dead true ones that are
banished so long from their counties.
" Sir, — Though it becomes me to be earnest for her that is so dear
to me, and for one whose great honour is to be so near to you, yet I
humbly lay before you also the great advantage of his Majesty's
service if that famfiy be preserved, and a certain inconvenience when
with that all the county, and so many weU affected wiU utterly be
lost, and not likely regained but with too dear a purchase. But lest
I be judged too importunate, I wfil only ask God to put into your
heart how to help that poor soul, which deserves your favour, and so
commit your Highness to the Almighty's protection, and rest
" Your Highness' most humble and faithful servant,
(Signed) " Derby.
" Chester, March 7th, 1644."
Early in the month of May, Prince Bupert marched northward
with an army of about 10,000 men, and after raising the siege of
Newark, crossed over the kingdom to the southern borders of Cheshire.
On the 1 8th of May he was at Drayton, in Shropshire, and on the
following day he entered Cheshire by way of Audlem and Sandbach.
On his march towards Cheshire he raised heavy requisitions, especially
taking horses and men, for the royal service. On his approach, Sir
William Brereton and the parliamentary forces of Cheshire, finding
themselves unable to make head against the army of Prince Bupert,
raised the siege of Chester, and retired towards Manchester, to join
the Lancashire and Yorkshire forces, which were coUecting there to
meet the gathering storm.
The bridge across the Mersey at Warrington being in the hands of
the parfiamentary forces, Prince Bupert marched up the vaUey of the
Mersey by way of Knutsford, and crossed the Mersey at Stockport ;
the parfiamentary forces collected at that point, under the command
of Colonels Mainwaring and Duckenfield, being driven from that
position with considerable loss. Without waiting to attack Man
chester, Prince Bupert marched up the valley of the Irwell, and on
the 28th May appeared with the whole of his army before the town

PAST AND PRESENT. 497

of Bolton. On hearing of his approach, the parliamentary forces
engaged in the siege of Lathom house retired, part of them, under
the command of Colonel Bigby, to Bolton, and the rest, under
Colonel Moore, to Liverpool.
About two o'clock on the afternoon of the 28th of May, Prince
Bupert was discovered about a mile distant from Bolton, advancing
towards the town across the moor lying to the south-west. The
numbers of the royal army appeared to be about 12,000 men. The
garrison of the town consisted of about 2000 soldiers and 500 club
men. As the royal army approached the town, "they appeared at
first like a wood or cloud, and presently were cast into several bodies."
The town being small in circuit and defended by a numerous garrison,
the prince judged that he should meet with a vigorous resistance.
After calling together a council of war, it was determined at once to
make an attempt to carry the town by assault. This was accordingly
done, but the resistance of the garrison was so desperate that the
royalists were beaten back at every point, leaving the ground
covered with their killed and wounded. In their retreat they were
cut down in great abundance, and feU "like leaves from the tree on a
winter's morning." ° According to the royalist account, the garrison
murdered their prisoners in cold blood ; but this statement is probably
only one of the common exaggerations put forth by heated partisans.
On the following day the royafists again assaulted the town, and
with greater success. The assault was made in several columns, but
the first body of royalists who forced their way into the town was
led by the earl of Derby, and consisted of a number of his friends,
tenants, and retainers. The fighting, even after the town was
taken, was desperate ; and it is said that as many of the par
liamentary forces as 1700 men were slaughtered. About 1000
escaped, with Colonel Bigby, the commander of the garrison. The
town was afterwards plundered, and the inhabitants were treated
with the cruelty with which the inhabitants of towns taken by
storm are usually treated. The odium of aU this was subsequently
thrown on the earl of Derby ; and in revenge for his share in the
transaction he was sent to Bolton to be beheaded.
Upwards of twenty stand of colours were taken at Bolton, and
were sent to Lathom house, where it was hoped they would
remain, as a "perpetual memorial" of the Prince's respect and
admiration for the valour and constancy of the countess of Derby.
* Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p. 191.
VOL. I. 3 R

498 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
After having obtained possession of the town of Bolton, Prince
Buperfc marched with his army to Liverpool, and -laid siege to that
place. The royalists were particularly anxious to obtain possession
of Liverpool, for the purpose of keeping open their communications
with the royafist party in Ireland. The parliamentary forces were
not less anxious to retain it, for the purpose of preventing such
communications ; and to give the town the means of resistance, the
garrison was strengthened with 400 English and Scotch troops,
sent forward from Manchester to Warrington, and thence by water
to Liverpool. The ships of war in the harbour also took an active
part in the defence of the place.
The fortifications of Liverpool, at the time of the siege by
Prince Bupert, consisted of a strong and high mud wall; a ditch
twelve yards wide and nine feet deep, extending from the head of
the pool, which then ran up to the end of Whitechapel, to the river;
and of the ancient castle in the middle of the town, situated
at the point where Castle Street and Lord Street now meet. The
approaches to the town being across a low marshy ground were
covered with water from the river ; and batteries were erected within
the town to cover and guard against aU passage over or through
the water. All the street ends facing the river were closed up,
and those facing the land were inclosed with strong gates defended
by cannon. AU useless women and children were sent out of the
town. The castle, which served as a sort of citadel, was surrounded
with a ditch twelve yards wide and thirty feet deep ; and from the
ditch to the river was a covered way, through which the ditch was
fflled with water, and when the tide was out the garrison received
supplies of men, provisions, and stores. In and upon the castle
were planted many cannon, as well to annoy the besiegers at a
distance as to cover the ships in the inner harbour, the entrance to
which was defended by a fort mounting eight guns. At the time
when Prince Bupert appeared before Liverpool, the place was
thronged with Irish Protestants, who had been driven from their
homes by the massacre in the north of Ireland. It is stated that
they had brought with them great quantities of wool, and that
the walls were covered with bags of wool, from behind which the
defenders of the place kept up a heavy fire on the assailants,
with small danger to themselves. The garrison was numerous,'
weU supplied with arms and ammunition, and the place too strong
to be taken by a mere assault.

PAST AND PRESENT. 499

Prince Bupert having arrived before Liverpool, established his
head-quarters at Everton, which was then a rural village more
than a mile from the town, and encamped his army on the high
grounds that sloped down from that point towards the river. He
erected his batteries on Liverpool Heath, on the ground which
extends across the present Shaw's Brow to the foot of Copperas
HiU, and from these batteries he kept up a heavy fire on the town,
for seventeen days. During that period he made repeated and
desperate attempts to storm the place, but was always beaten
back with heavy loss. The town was ultimately taken in a night
attack, directed against that part of the fortifications which lay at
the end of Old HaU Street. CaryU, Lord Molyneux led the attack,
and probably was able, from his local knowledge, to point out
the weakest part of the fortifications. The royalists entered the
town at three o'clock in the morning, and after some fighting, forced
their way to the point where the town-hall now stands. At that
point they met with a regiment of soldiers drawn up in battle
array, but who beat a parley and demanded quarter. After some
discussion the town and castle were surrendered ; but the garrison
and inhabitants were spared, except a number of them who fell in
the first confusion of the attack. Upwards of 100 barrels of gun
powder, then considered a very large quantity, were expended by
Prince Bupert in the siege of Liverpool.
The delay of Prince Bupert's army before Liverpool, and the
exhaustion of so large a part of his powder, caused him to arrive
at York, to which point he was directing his course, too late and
too ill provided to be of any great use to the royal cause. Whilst
at Liverpool the prince received letters from the king, urging and
commanding him to proceed to York without delay to raise the
siege of that important fortress, in which city the marquis of
Newcastle, with the royalist army of the north, was blockaded by
the English parfiamentary army, commanded by Manchester, Crom
well, and Fairfax ; and the Scotch army, commanded by Leven and
Leslie. The king declared in his letter to Prince Bupert that he
should consider the loss of York the certain precursor of the loss
of his crown ; and commanded the prince to lay aside all other
undertakings and hasten to the refief of that city.
After appointing Sir Bobert Byron, one of the brothers of Lord
Byron, to the command of the town and garrison of Liverpool,
Prince Bupert, coUecting together the mass of the royalists of

500 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Cheshire and Lancashire, marched towards York with the utmost
speed. His course was across Lancashire, to the banks of the
Bibble at Cfitheroe, over the grassy hills of Craven to Skipton
castle, and then down the valley of the Wharfe, by way of Otley,
to Boroughbridge, and so to the east side of the city of York,
which he entered without meeting an enemy or striking a blow.
The parfiamentary forces of Lancashire and Cheshire, under the
command of Sir William Brereton, foUowing a fine of march nearly
paraUel to that of Prince Bupert, joined the parfiamentary armies
before York, and thence, on the approach of Prince Bupert, retired
to what afterwards became the battle-field of Marston Moor. In
this terrible battle, in which the whole strength of the parliamentary
and royalist parties of the north of England was engaged, the
Lancashire and Cheshire forces were commanded by Sir William
Brereton, though we have no distinct information as to the position
which they held in the line of battle. The Lancashire and Cheshire
royalists who had accompanied Prince Bupert to the field were, no
doubt, engaged in the desperate attack led by the prince in person,
which for a while promised victory to the royafists, until the charge
of Cromwell and Fairfax swept the main body of the royal army
from the field.
After the defeat of the royal forces at Marston Moor, Prince
Bupert retired into Lancashire by the same line by which he had
advanced, with a force of about 6000 men. He was closely followed
by a large body of the parliamentary forces, but succeeded by a
very rapid march in reaching the Mersey, at Hale, and getting
across to Buncorn. From Buncorn he- marched rapidly south
ward, to join the main army of the king, and never afterwards
showed himself in the north-western counties.
Immediately after the battle of Marston Moor, Parliament
directed "that the Lord Fairfax should take care of Yorkshire,
and send 1000 horse into Lancashire to join with the forces of
that county against Liverpool (garrisoned by the royalists), as also
Cheshire and Derbyshire, for the reducing the rest of Prince
Bupert's broken forces." As we have already mentioned, Bupert
escaped; but the parfiamentary general, Meldrum, came up with the
Lancashire and Cheshire royalists at Ormskirk, and put them to
the rout. Lord Byron and Lord Molyneux escaped with difficulty
from the field of battle, and more than thirty of their officers were
taken prisoners, with some hundreds of their soldiers. About the

PAST AND PRESENT. 501

same time a body of royalists, commanded by Lord Oglevie and
Colonel Huddlestone, whfist marching towards Lathom house, were
attacked by the parfiamentary colonel, Dodding, not far from
Preston. At first the battle was very fierce ; but Colonel Shuttle-
worth coming up with his regiment, the royalists were defeated,
a number of them were taken prisoners, and the rest driven back
in confusion on Lathom house, where they fell into the hands of
another body of parliamentary troops who had arrived before that
celebrated stronghold. A third body of the royafists, belonging
to the county of Chester, and commanded by Colonel Marrow,
were defeated by Sir William Brereton, and driven back into the
city of Chester.
The small bodies of the Lancashire royalists that escaped from
these attacks took refuge in Liverpool, which was held by Sir
Bobert Byron for the king. On the 22nd of September the post
of Birkenhead, opposite to Liverpool, and garrisoned by the royalists,
fell into the hands of the parliamentary forces; but the town of
Liverpool was very steadily defended by Sir Bobert Byron, and
was not taken by Sir John Meldrum until the 1st of November.
A few days previously about fifty of the English soldiers made their
escape out of the garrison, and drove away most of the cattle, on
which the garrison relied for subsistence, bringing them to Sir John
Meldrum's camp. On this the troops of the Anglo-Irish army
within the garrison, perceiving that they were now in a desperate
condition, inasmuch as the parliamentary forces had before refused
them quarter, determined to buy their safety by the sacrifice of
their officers and of the town. After some consultation they seized
on aU their commanders, and delivered up the town to Sir John
Meldrum, in return for which service he allowed them to return to
their homes. There were captured in the town two colonels, two
lieutenant-colonels, three majors, and fourteen captains and other
officers, besides common soldiers, ordnance, arms, and ammunition
in great quantity. Amongst the prisoners were Sir Bobert Byron,
the governor, and Colonel Cuthbert Clifton. *
After the capture of Liverpool the only places that held out in
Lancashire were Lathom house and Greenhaugh castle, near Gar
stang, both belonging to the earl of Derby. The latter of these.
places, being of no great strength, was easily taken ; but Lathom
house, being strongly garrisoned and resolutely defended, held out
" Ormerod's Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, p. 208.

502 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
to the beginning of the month of December, 1645. In this second
siege Lathom was defended by Colonel Bawstorne, who had assisted
in the .first siege; but it does not appear certain that either the
earl or the countess of Derby was present. At the recommen
dation of Prince Bupert, they had retired to the Isle of Man, the
defence of which was considered more important to the royal cause
than that of Lathom, in the then hopeless state of the royal
affairs in Lancashire.
In the second siege of Lathom, Colonel Bawstorne was assisted by
most of the officers who had taken part in the defence of the house
during the former siege, namely, by Captains Charnock and Moly
neux Badcliffe, and Lieutenants Nowel, Worral, and Bobey. Mr.
Ffarington, of Worden, again assisted with his advice, and Arch
deacon Butter was also considered a valuable addition to the garrison.
During the short occupation of Lathom house by Prince Bupert
considerable improvements had been made, on the suggestion of his
engineer, Captain Gomez, who had also planned a completely new
set of fortifications for the town of Liverpool ; which, however, were
never actuaUy constructed, owing to the downfaU of the royal cause.
Immediately after the battle of Marston Moor a body of about
4000 parliamentary troops advanced upon Lathom house, under the
command of Colonel Egerton. These troops having approached the
fortress incautiously, were suddenly attacked by the garrison, and
were driven back with so heavy a loss that they did not venture
to resume the attack for a considerable time. It was not until the
spring of the following year that the siege was resumed by the
parliamentary forces, and so obstinate was the defence that the
place did not surrender until the first week in December following,
as appears from the foUowing entry in the Perfect Diurnal, of Satur
day, 6th December, 1645:— "This evening, after the house was up,
there came letters to the speaker of the Commons' House of the
surrender of Lathom house, in Lancashire, belonging to the earl of
Derby, which his lady, the countess of Derby, proving herself of
the two the better soldier, hath above these two years kept in
opposition to our forces that blocked up the same; but it is now
surrendered, by which means the whole county of Lancaster is
absolutely freed, and reduced under the obedience of the Parlia
ment, the enemy having not any one garrison in that county. The
taking of this place gives fair probabfiity of the more speedy
reducing of Chester, whither, no doubt, these Lancashire forces wiU

PAST AND PRESENT. 503

next move, to assist the besiegers, or else against Skipton in York
shire, as there shall be occasion."
Whilst the second siege of Lathom house was in progress, some
faint hopes were entertained by the royalists that the siege would
again be raised by a royal army ; and in the month of September
these hopes became much more sanguine, on the advance of the
royal cavalry to Chester, under the command of the king himself.
It is stated that the king was anxious to have raised the siege in
person, but that this having been rendered impossible by the defeat
of the royal cavalry at Bowtori Heath, near Chester, on the 24th
September, 1645, he requested the governor of Lathom house to
accept terms. Commissioners were then appointed, who obtained
honourable terms for the garrison, with a stipulation that Lady
Derby should have the income of a third part of the earl's estate,
with conveyance of the goods of the earl of Derby for his and her
use, and other stipulations in favour of the gentlemen in the man
sion and the clergy beneficed by the family. These terms were
ultimately agreed to. With regard to the garrison, it was further
agreed that the governor should have his horse, arms, and £10 in
money; and that the rest, both officers and soldiers, should be at
liberty to march away, without arms or money, to the next garrison
of the king's, either at Sidbury or Ashby-de-la-Zouch, or to go
home to their own dwellings. "There were taken in the house,"
says the Perfect Diurnal, " twelve pieces of ordnance, all their arms
and ammunition, and great store of prize and pillage."
Although comparatively few particulars have been preserved
with regard- to the second siege of Lathom house, yet it is evident,
both from the extraordinary duration of the siege, and the honour
able terms granted to the garrison, that the place must have been
defended with very great resolution ; and that whether the countess
of Derby was personaUy present or not, the garrison continued to be
inspired by the dauntless spirit which her presence and example
had infused into them at the first siege. The language of the
Perfect Diurnal, quoted above, as well as that of other contemporary
writers, would induce us to think that the countess was present, at
least for a part of the time. One of these, in describing the sur
render of the house, says that Lady Derby, in the absence of the
earl, had played the man at Lathom, adding — what is no small
compliment — "but the best man may be conquered, and so was
Lady Derby."

504 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
After the retreat of Prince Bupert from Cheshire, the position
of the royafists in the city of Chester, under the command of Lord
Byron, became nearly hopeless. The war in the open field was
ended, so far as the counties of Chester and Lancaster were con
cerned, and never revived, except for a few days in the month of
September, 1645, when the king advanced in person to Chester at
the head of a small body of cavalry, which formed the last . remains
of the royal armies. But although there were no field operations
except these, in the north-western counties, the war was continued
in the southern and midland districts throughout the whole of the
years 1644 and 1645. In the hope that some change of fortune
in those districts might again enable the royal armies to march
northward, and with the determination to preserve a place of
strength round which the royafist party might rally if it should
be again favoured by fortune, the royalists of Cheshire and the
neighbouring counties again assembled within the walls of Chester,
under the command of Lord Byron, and steadfiy refused every sum
mons to surrender. Though suffering from famine and pestilence,
as well as from incessant attacks from, the besieging force, they
held out with unwavering courage, until the royal cause was lost
beyond recovery in every part of the kingdom, and all motive for
further resistance was gone. The history of the siege of Chester,
from the month of September, 1644, to the surrender of the city
in the month of January, 1646, is a record of the firm and uncon
querable endurance of all the evils and miseries that can be sustained
by any besieged city, with this exception, that the valour of the
garrison, to the very last saved it from the horrors of a city taken
by storm.
Between the month of September, 1644, and the corresponding
month of 1645, the city was closely blockaded or actively besieged;
and during the whole of that period the garrison was sustained at
the expense of the citizens, by means of a weekly levy of £100,
paid either in money or money's worth. The sufferings of the
citizens, who were already more than half-ruined, were almost
unbearable, but those of the garrison were not less severe; for
during a considerable part of the siege the only food served even
at the table of Lord Byron, the governor, was bofied wheat and
the flesh of the horses which were killed, or died from want of
provender. After twelve months of patient endurance the royalists of

PAST AND PRESENT. 505

Chester were cheered by the intelligence, that the king in person
was advancing along the Welsh borders at the head of the royal
cavalry; and this intelligence was in a few days confirmed by the
arrival of the unfortunate Charles, with the remains of his army.
The affairs of the king having become all but hopeless after the
battle of Naseby and other disasters, the king, who had retired
to the borders of South Wales, formed the desperate design
of marching into Scotland with the royafist cavalry, and there
joining the marquis of Montrose, who was at that time at the head
of a powerful royalist force. Leaving Hereford about the 20th
September, 1645, the king marched with the royal cavalry, com
manded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale, along the Welsh borders, by
way of Chirk castle, and arrived at Chester without encountering
the parfiamentary forces. But his movements were well known
to them, and Poyntz, the commander of the parliamentary cavalry,
was sent to meet the king at Chester, and to give battle to his
forces if they should, attempt to proceed further north than that
city. The royalists having arrived in safety at Chester, prepared to
give battle, but in doing so committed the fatal blunder of dividing
their forces. Sir Marmaduke Langdale, leaving the city at the head
of a large body of the royal cavalry, crossed the Dee at Holt bridge,
and advanced to Bowton Heath, in front of the city of Chester,
where Major-General Poyntz was ready to receive him with the
parliamentary horse. On the following morning Sir Marmaduke
Langdale attacked the parliamentary cavalry with great deter
mination, and drove them back for a short distance, but without
being able either to break or drive them off the field. In
this posture of affairs he sent urgent and repeated messages to
Lord Gerard, who commanded the royal forces left in the city, to
burst out and join him. They, on the other hand, were not less
urgent with Sir Marmaduke Langdale to fall on the rear of the
besieging force under Colonel Jones, who still remained before the
city, and thus to establish the desired communication between tho
royalists within and the royalists without the city. Meanwhfie,
Colonel Jones, without losing a moment of time, collected 500 horse
and 300 foot, and with these commenced a brisk attack on the
rear of Sir Marmaduke Langdale's forces, at the same time that
General Poyntz attacked him furiously in front. The royalists
thus attacked in front and rear, were soon thrown into confusion,
and fell back towards the city by way of Hool Heath, closely
vol. i. 3 s

506 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
foUowed by the enemy. There they met the rest of the royal
forces advancing to their assistance, under the command of Lord
Gerard and the earl of Lindsay ; but such was the disorder of
Langdale's forces that they blocked up the roads along which the
relieving forces ought to have advanced, and at the same time a
fresh body of the parliamentary musqueteers opening a heavy fire
on the royalist forces, they were all thrown into confusion, and
driven, back into the city in utter rout. In this disastrous battle
the loss of the royal army, both in killed and wounded, was very
great, and with this defeat aU hope of raising the siege of Chester
was lost. The unfortunate king was a personal witness of the
defeat of this his last army, from the leads of the Phoenix tower,
one of the loftiest points of the walls of Chester. On the following
day the king retired from the city, in the direction of Denbigh,
with about 300 horse. Before doing so he informed Lord Byron,
who was still the governor, that if after eight days they saw no
further possibility of refief the garrison should treat for their own
preservation. Neither days, nor weeks, nor months brought the
slightest prospect of relief, for the royal cause was utterly lost in
every part of England. The brave garrison of Chester, however,
though thus authorized to make terms for themselves, held out for
many weeks longer.
On the 25th September, the day after the disastrous battle of
Bowton Heath, Charles left the city by the Dee bridge with a
few hundred horse, and with some difficulty reached the castle of
Denbigh, on his way to his last refuge, as a free sovereign, at Baglan
castle. It is not necessary for the purposes of this work to foUow up
in detail, the story of his surrender to the Scottish army at Newark,
his surrender by that army to the Long Parliament, the changes
in his captivity, his attempts at escape, his capture, his trial, and
his death. All these events were, no doubt, watched with the
most intense interest by his subjects in all parts of the kingdom,
and it was not long before strong differences of opinion arose, both
as to the manner in which the king should be treated, and as to
the method in which the kingdom should be governed. Meanwhile,
the departure of the king from Chester was foUowed in a few
months by the submission of the whole kingdom to the authority
of Parliament. Lathom house, as we have already stated, sur
rendered in the month of December of the same year; but the
city of Chester held out till the end of January, 1646. Two days

PAST AND PRESENT. 507

after the king's departure from Chester, the parliamentary forces
again forced the outer walls at Boughton, and repossessed them
selves of the suburbs up to the east gate and to the old Boman
wall. On the Monday following, an attempt was made by the
besiegers to scale the inner wall, near the new gate, where a breach
had been formed by the parliamentary cannon ; but this attempt
was successfully resisted, as well as another assault made on the
1st of October, at the east gate. The failure of the latter assault
was followed by a resolute sally, in which the guns of the parlia
mentary forces were dismounted, and several officers and men of
the besieging force were made prisoners.
On the 6th of October a heavy fire was opened by the besiegers
on that part of the city wall which joins the new tower, and on
the 8th as many as 352 large shot were discharged against the
city waUs, and two large breaches were made, which, however,
were partially repaired in the night. On the afternoon of the
following day, the parfiamentary forces made a furious assault
at every point of the waUs at which there appeared to be a
possibility of effecting an entrance. At several points the assafiants
succeeded in reaching the top of the walls, but it was only to be
killed or hurled down into the trenches. At every point the attack
was repulsed, many prisoners and arms were taken, and the
scaling ladders were dragged over the walls into the city. This
was the last attempt made to storm the city, and from this time
the siege was turned into a close blockade. The garrison, after
struggling against famine and disease to the middle of January,
agreed to surrender on honourable terms; and on the 3rd of
February, 1646, the city of Chester was surrendered, after having
been more or less closely besieged from the month of August, 1643.
In all the history of the great civU war, there is no record of any
other city that did or suffered so much for the royal cause.
The close of the contest between the king and the Parliament
was not attended by the restoration of tranquillity or contentment.
The power of the Crown, once so formidable, had been struck down,
but no authority had been created in its place capable of exercising
the powers of an executive government to the general satisfaction.
For the first time in English history the House of Commons
attempted to unite in its own hands all the powers of government.
The effect of this attempt was to produce extreme and constantly
growing dissatisfaction, not only among the royalists who had fought

508 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
for the Crown, but also amongst a large and influential portion of
those who had fought for the Parliament, but had done so with a
view of restraining the excessive power of the Crown, and not of
destroying a monarchical form of government in England. The
discontent on grounds of religion was not less decided than on
account of the civil policy of Parliament. The Presbyterians had
vehemently resisted the tyranny of Laud, and had overthrown the
Episcopal church, but they were themselves unwfiling to endure
the equality of the Independents, and still less to aUow the country
to be governed by CromweU and the leaders of the Independent
party. In Lancashire especially, the Presbyterian system of church
government had taken a very firm hold on the public mind, and
the whole county was organized on the Presbyterian system as
it was then practised in Scotland. For some time these differences
were confined to disputes and discussion in Parliament and in the
country; but in the year 1647 the public mind became greatly
excited in the north of England, and in 1648 the Scottish nation
rose in arms and organized a powerful army, under the first duke
of Hamilton, for the purpose of settling the Presbyterian govern
ment according to the Covenant, and of liberating and re-estabfishing
Charles I. in the kingly office. After securing the support of nearly
the whole of the Scottish people, this army, consisting of about
24,000 men, entered England, and marched into Lancashire, hoping
to receive a large increase of strength in that and the adjoining
counties, and so reinforced to advance on London, and compel the
Long Parfiament to restore the king and establish the Presbyterian
form of government in aU parts of England.
Great and general as was the discontent then prevailing in
England, there were few persons disposed to join the Scottish army
on its advance into England. A national jealousy of the Scotch
restrained many from doing so who were friendly to their objects ;
the royalists were unwilling to fight for a Presbyterian church
establishment ; and the English Presbyterians were not prepared to
see the king restored by an armed force. Hence the number of
Englishmen who joined the Scottish army was very smaU ; and
whilst the public thus stood doubtful and hesitating, CromweU,
whose great military genius caused him to be employed by the
Parliament whenever real danger threatened it, was placed at
the head of a powerful army, with which he feU on the duke
of Hamfiton's forces, on their march through Lancashire, and

PAST AND PRESENT. 509

routed, scattered, or drove back into Scotland the whole of the
invading forces.
On hearing of the advance of the Scottish army into England,
the Parfiament immediately despatched forces into Lancashire to
prevent a rising amongst the royalists and the Presbyterians of that
county. CromweU's own regiment was sent to garrison Manchester,
where the Presbyterians were known to be very strong, and where
Major-general Massey, who had successfully defended the city of
Gloucester against the whole royal army, but had now become a
great leader among the disaffected of Cheshire and Lancashire,
calculated on receiving numerous recruits. Another regiment was
also stationed at Liverpool ; a strong garrison at Chester ; and
CromweU himself hastened in person to the point of danger.
Cromwell was in Wales with a considerable army when he
received the order of Parliament to march against the Scotch, who
had entered Lancashire. He immediately moved into Yorkshire, to
join another body of troops which had been coUected for the same
expedition. These he joined at Knaresborough and Wetherby,
near York, and there, hearing that the Scotch army had advanced
into Lancashire and crossed the Lune, he marched on the 13th of
August, 1648, up the valley of the Wharfe, towards Craven and the
head of the Bibble. At Otley he cast off or abandoned his train
of waggons, and sent it to Knaresborough castle, on account of the
difficulty of marching with it over the Craven hills, and in order
that he might come more suddenly on the enemy. On the 15th
he was at Gisburn, in Bibblesdale, and on the 16th crossed the
Hodder at Hodder bridge. There he held a council of war, to
consider whether he should march along the south side of the Bibble
to Whalley and Chorley, to interpose between the enemy and his
further progress into Lancashire ; or should march along the north
side of the river and engage the enemy near Preston. Having
reason to believe that the Scottish army would soon be reinforced by
1200 horse and 1500 foot, which had just arrived from Ireland,
under the command of General Monro, he determined to advance
on Preston, and to give battle as soon as possible. The army
therefore marched along the north side of the Bibble, and on the
night of the 16th encamped in the fields in front of Stoneyhurst hall,
" being Mr. Sherburn's house," nine miles distant from Preston.
It was fortunate for Cromwell that he came to the decision of
attacking the invading army without delay ; for that army, not

510 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
dreaming of any such attack, was marching through the country
with very little order, the vanguard being far in advance of the main
body, and part of the cavalry still farther in the rear. The night
before Cromwell's army attacked the Scotch at Preston, Sir Mar
maduke Langdale, the commander of the royal cavalry, who had
joined the Scotch, on their advance into England, brought intelligence
to the duke of Hamilton at Preston, that Cromwell's army was
within a few miles of the town ; but so little credit was given to the
news that a body of the Scotch foot was sent on to Wigan, and
the horse were allowed to remain in their quarters, ten or twelve
mfies distant from the town. Even when the advance guard of
CromweU appeared, it was supposed to be nothing more than an
exploring party.
Very early on the morning of the 17th August, CromweU left
his encampment at Stoneyhurst and marched upon Preston. Sending
forward a smaU body of 400 foot, under the command of Major
Pownell, and of 200 horse, under Major Smithson — known at that time
as "the forlorn of foot" and " the forlorn of horse " — to feel the way ;
he found part of the Scottish army on Fulwood Moor, near Preston,
and part of them within the inclosures around the town. There
CromweU's advance guard feU upon the scouts and out guards,
"and did behave themselves," as CromweU says in his letter to
the speaker of the House of Commons, " with that valour and
courage, as made the guards (which consisted both of horse and
foot) to quit their ground, and took divers prisoners, holding this
dispute with them until our forlorn of foot came up for their justifica
tion, and by those we had opportunity to bring up our whole army."
As soon as the foot and horse were come up, which was not
until the afternoon, a general attack was made. Colonel Harrison's
and Cromwell's own regiments were ordered to charge up a lane, in
front of the Scotch position, supported by the regiments of Colonels
Bead, Dean, and Pride on the right, Colonel Bright and the Lord-
general's (Fairfax) on the left, and Colonel-general Assheton with
the Lancashire regiments as a reserve. Two regiments of horse,
under Colonel Thornhaugh and Colonel Twisseton, were also placed
on the right, one regiment of horse as a reserve in the lane, and
the remainder of the horse on the left. The Scotch held their
ground with desperate courage for four hours, defending the hedge
rows and every point of advantage ; but were at length driven into
the town, and there, being attacked on aU sides, were forced back to

PAST AND PRESENT. 511

the bridge across the Bibble. " There came no hands of your (the
parliamentary) foot to fight that day but did it with incredible
valour and resolution, amongst which Colonel Bright' s, the Lord-
general's, Lieutenant-colonel Bead's, and Colonel Assheton's had the
greatest work, they often coming to push of pike and to close firing,
and always making the enemy to recoil ; and, indeed, I must needs
say, God was as much seen in the valour of the officers and soldiers
of these before mentioned, as in any action that hath been performed,
the enemy making (though he was still worsted) very stiff and
sturdy resistance." " At last," continues CromweU, " the enemy was
put into disorder, many men slain, many prisoners taken ; the duke,
with most of the Scots horse and foot, retreated over the bridge,
where, after a very hot dispute betwixt the Lancashire regiments,
part of my Lord-general's and them being at push of pike, they
were beaten from the bridge ; and our horse and foot foUowing
them, kiUed many and took divers prisoners ; and we possessed
the bridge over Darwin and a few houses there, the enemy being
driven up within musket shot of us, where we lay that night, we
not being able to attempt further upon the enemy, the night
preventing us."
The battle at Preston decided the fate of the campaign. The
horse of Hamilton's army, which was straggling in the rear, ten
or twelve mfies distant from the field of battle, on learning that
the foot had been defeated, and that the only bridge by which
they could have hoped to have joined them was in the hands of
CromweU's troops, feU back to Lancaster, closely foUowed by the
parliamentary cavalry, which pursued them nearly ten mfies, " and
had execution of them," besides taking many prisoners and about
500 horses. On the field of battle at Preston the greater part of
the enemy's ammunition was taken, with 4000 to 5000 stand of
arms. The number of slain was judged to be about 1000, and the
number of prisoners taken was about 4000.
In the course of the night, Duke Hamilton drew off his army
towards Wigan, and Cromwell's troops being too weary with the
battle and the previous long marches to prevent them, they got
a start of about three miles before they were pursued. At Chorley,
Colonel Thornhaugh, at the head of two or three regiments of horse,
came up with the rear of Duke Hamilton's army. " I ordered,"
says Cromwell, " Colonel Thornhaugh to command two or three
regiments of horse to follow the enemy, if it were possible to

512 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

make him stand till we could bring up the army. The enemy
marched away 7000 or 8000 foot, and about 4000 horse; we
foUowed him with about 3000 foot and 2500 horse and dragoons ;
and in this prosecution [pursuit] that worthy gentleman, Colonel
Thornhaugh, pressing too boldly, was slain, being run into the body,
and thigh, and head by the enemy's launcers : and give me leave
to say he was a man as faithful and gaUant in your service as any,
and one who often heretofore lost blood in your quarrel, and now
his last. He hath left some behind him to inherit a father's honour,
and a sad widow ; both now the interest of the commonwealth."
After the check at Chorley the parliamentary horse continued
the pursuit, and the same night arrived before Wigan, but too
late to .make any attack. " We lay that night in the field," says
Cromwell, " close by the enemy, being very dirty and weary, and
having inarched twelve miles of such ground as I never rode in aU
my life, the day being very wet." On the following day Duke
Hamilton's army marched towards Warrington, closely foUowed by
CromweU's army. " The town of Wigan," says CromweU, " a great
and poor town, and very malignant, were plundered almost to their
skins by them."
The last stand made by Duke Hamilton's army was at Winwick,
or, as Cromwell calls it, " a pass near Wenwick," within three miles
of Warrington. " We held them in some dispute," says Cromwell,
"tfil our army came up, they maintaining the pass with great
resolution for many hours, ours and theirs coming to push of pike
and very close charges, and forced us to give ground ; but our men,
by the blessing of God, quickly recovered it, and charging very
home upon them, beat them from their standing, where we killed
about 1000 of them, and took, as we believe, about 2000 prisoners,
and prosecuted them home to Warrington town, where they possessed
the bridge, which had a strong barricado and a work upon it formerly
made very defensive. So soon as we came thither, I received a
message from Lieutenant-general Baily, desiring some capitulation,
to which I yielded. Considering the strength of the place, and that
I could not go over the river within ten mfies of Warrington with
the army, I gave him these terms — that he should surrender himself
and aU his officers and soldiers prisoners of war, with all his arms
and ammunition and horses to me, I giving quarter for life, and
promising civil usage ; which accordingly is done, and the com
missioners deputed by me have received, and are receiving, all the

PAST AND PRESENT. 513

arms and ammunition, which will be, as they teU me, about 4000
complete arms, and as many prisoners ; and thus you have their
infantry totally ruined."
After this second great disaster the duke of Hamilton marched
southward, with about 3000 horse, towards Nantwich, the gentry
and the trained bands of the county of Chester rising upon them
and taking more than 500 prisoners. Cromwell followed slowly,
his troops being utterly worn out. He says, " Most of the nobfiity
of Scotland are with the duke. If I had 1000 horse that could
but trot thirty miles, I should not doubt but to give a very good
account of them ; but truly we are so harrassed and haggled out,
that we can only walk an easy pace after them."
The work, however, was so completely done that the feeble
remnant of the duke of Hamilton's forces soon wasted away, and
the duke himself was taken prisoner at Uttoxeter. From that place
he was carried to London, where he was beheaded in March, 1649.
The success of Cromwell in this campaign, as well as in aU his
previous enterprises, greatly increased his power and that of the
army, which was devoted to him, and in the same degree diminished
the power of the Parfiament. At the conclusion of his despatch,
from which we have quoted above, he took the liberty to give the
House of Commons a little good advice, the object of which was two
fold : first, to excite them to treat the military saints, of whom he
was the head, with more consideration than they had hitherto done ;
and secondly, " to destroy out of the land those that are implacable
and will not leave troubling the land," meaning, of course, the king,
the duke of Hamilton, and other dangerous royalists. The whole
course of public proceedings under the direction of Cromwell became
increasingly offensive to moderate men; but the regular army was
devoted to him, and Parliament soon after disbanded and disarmed
the militia. The Lancashire militia, although they had greatly dis
tinguished themselves in the campaign of 1648, were ordered to be
disbanded, by a vote of Parfiament, come to in the month of December
of the same year. The disarmament took place in the month of
March, 1649, but was attended with much difficulty, as it was
for some time doubted whether they would consent to be disbanded.
In Whitelock's Memorials, under date of March 20, it is stated as
follows : — " Letters from Lancaster state that the forces of Colonel
Assheton, about 4000, refuse to disband, profess for the Covenant, and
are encouraged by the clergy : that Major-general Lambert is gone
VOL. I. 3 T

514 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

to disband them by force, if there is no other way." On the 27th
of March, we are told: — " The Lancashire forces submitted to disband,
and quitted Cfitheroe castle ; orders for that castle to be demolished,
and that the councfi of state consider what other inland castles
are fit to be demolished." With the disbanding of the militia in
Lancashire and other counties, the power of Parfiament, as an
independent body, entirely passed away ; and Oliver CromweU, at
the head of a victorious army of 30,000 men, became the real
governor of England, although some of the forms of parliamentary
government were continued. It was by his influence that the king
was tried and executed at the commencement of the foUowing year,
an event by which the seeds of another short but bloody and
desperate conflict were sown.
The condition of Lancashire at the close of the campaign of
1648 was truly miserable, the whole county having been laid waste
by famine, sword, and pestUence. The foUowing paper, published
in the month of May, 1649, will show to how deplorable a condition
it had been reduced : —
" A True Bepresentation of the present Sad and Lamentable Con
dition of the County of Lancaster, and particularly of the
Towns of Wigan, Ashton, and the parts adjacent. "May 24, 1649.
" The hand of God is evidently seen stretched out upon the
county, chastening it with a three-corded scourge of sword, pesti
lence, and famine, all at once afflicting it They have borne the
heat and burden of a first and second war, in an especial manner
above other parts of the nation. Through them the two great
bodies of the late Scottish and Engfish armies passed, and in their
very bowels was that great fighting, bloodshed, and breaking. In
this county hath the plague of pestilence been raging these three
years and upwards, occasioned chiefly by the wars. There is a very
great scarcity and dearth of aU provisions, especiaUy of all sorts of
grain, particularly that kind by which the country is most sustained
— oats— which is full sixfold the price that of late it hath been. All
trade, by which they have been much supported, is utterly decayed.
It would melt any good heart to see the numerous swarms of begging
poor, and the many families that pine away at home, not having
faces to beg — very many craving alms at other men's doors who
were used to give others alms at their doors; to see paleness, nay,

PAST AND PRESENT. 515

death, appear in the cheeks of the poor, and often to hear of some
found dead in their houses, or highways, for want of bread.
" But particularly the towns of Wigan and Ashton, with the
neighbouring parts, lying at present under the sore stroke of God
in the pestilence, in one whereof are full 2000 poor, who for three
months and upwards have been restrained, no relief to be had for
them in the ordinary course of law, there being none at present to
act as justices of the peace ; the collections in our congregations
(their only supply hitherto) being generally very slack and slender,
those wanting ability who have hearts to pity them. Most men's
estates being much drained by the wars, and now almost quite
exhaust by the present scarcity and many other burdens incumbent
upon them, there is no bonds to keep in the infected hunger-starved
poor, whose breaking out jeopardeth aU the neighbourhood. Some
of them already being at the point to perish through famine, have
fetched in and eaten carrion and other unwholesome food, to the
destroying of themselves and increasing of the infection; and the
more to provoke pity and mercy, it may be considered that this fatal
contagion had its rise evidently from the wounded soldiers of our
army left there to cure.
" All which is certified to some of the reverend ministers of the
city of London, by the mayor, minister, and other persons of credit,
inhabitants in, or well-wishers to, and well acquainted with, the
town of Wigan, together with four godly and faithful ministers of
Lancashire, by providence in this city at present.
" Now, if God shall stir up the hearts of any or more congrega
tions in and about the city of London (the premises considered), to
yield their charitable contribution to the necessities of these afflicted
and distressed parts and places, it wfil be carefully sought after and
thankfully received by Mr. James Wainwright, Mr. Thomas Marke-
lande, Mr. James Winstanley, and Mr. John Leaver, or some of
them, and faithfully disposed, according to Christian discretion, by
Major-Gen eral Assheton, Wfifiam Ashurst, Peter Broke, esquires,
Mr. JoUy, mayor of Wigan, together with Mr. Bichard Heyricke,
Mr. Charles Herle, Mr. Alexander Horrockes, and Mr James Hyet,
ministers of the gospel, or some of them.
" Ambeose Jolly, Mayor, "} "James Hyet, ^ .
" James Bradshaw, Minister, [^ " Rich. Hollingswoeth, / Mmlfers
"John Standish, "<.,.„. ( ,°wn °* " Isaac Ambrose, ( °f. ,
"Ralph Markxand, f Cliffs, ) Wigan. llJoHN TtlseY) } Lancashire.

516 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
But the war was not yet ended. The Scottish Parliament and
people, partly from hatred to Cromwell and his military faction,
partly from a lingering affection for their ancient line of kings, not
merely opposed and resented the execution of Charles I., but also
received and acknowledged his son, Charles IL, as their lawful king.
For some time the second Charles was known in England as " the
king of the Scots," and as such he and his supporters waged a stout
war against CromweU in Scotland. When he found that his position
in that country was no longer tenable, Charles marched boldly into
England at the head of a powerful and weU-disciplined army. In
August, 1651, the Scottish army again crossed the border, and on
the 12th day of that month Charles entered Lancaster, at the head
of 14,000 men, and was proclaimed " king of England" at the market
cross in that town. On his march southward, he slept that night
at Ashton hall, near Lancaster ; the next night at Myerscough
Lodge, on the Wyre ; the third night at Bryn hall, the ancient seat
of the Gerards, between Wigan and Warrington ; and arrived at
Warrington bridge without having met with any part of the army
of CromweU, which was marching rapidly from Scotland to place
itself between London and the Scottish army. After a march of
extraordinary rapidity from the neighbourhood of Stirling, by way
of Coldstream, Lieutenant-general Lambert and Major-general Har
rison, two of CromweU's best generals, succeeded in reaching the
south bank of the river Mersey, at Warrington bridge, with a body
of cavalry, a few hours before the Scotch army arrived there. But
CromweU's infantry was still a considerable distance in the rear;
and all that Lambert could do was to check the progress of the
Scottish army for a few hours. In a despatch from General Lambert,
dated August 17, 1651, he gives the following account of the action
at Warrington bridge :— " I lately," says he, "gave you an account
of our march to Warrington, together with my thoughts of the
untenableness of that passage ; since which time the enemy, pressing
close after us, came to Warrington town, before we could get the
bridge broken. It was then thought fit to draw off, and endeavour
to retreat, at least to some ground where the horse might have room
to stir, the nearest ground being Knutsford Heath, eight miles off,
and the way very close and full of hedges. We having got some
few pioneers, cut our way through the hedges, and marched our foot
on the right and left, and our horse in the lanes. Our business at
first looked very iU-favouredly, the enemy having drawn up at least.

PAST AND PRESENT. 517

2000 foot close to our rear-guards before we drew off. Yet, through
God's assistance, we passed untouched for about two miles. The
enemy coming on hotly, we engaged ; it not being possible to avoid
it. I commanded the rear-guard, which consisted of the General's,
Colonel Twisleton's, and mine own regiments, to charge, which
accordingly they did, and routed them ; and their own men falling
foul upon their other two bodies, routed them also. We had the
pursuit of them at least a mfie. We kfiled him who commanded
the party (Colonel Bailey), and about eight more, and took six
prisoners, besides divers wounded. This gave us time to ride two
mfies without any more trouble, and to draw out a new rear-guard
of Colonel Bich his regiment, which having done, they again engaged
us, and we charged them with the same success, killed, and took the
same number, and afterwards marched quietly to Knutsford Heath,
where we now are. We lost but one man in our retreat, who was
taken prisoner in pursuing too far."
With the exception of this skirmish the royal army passed
through Lancashire and Cheshire without meeting with any other
enemy, and proceeded towards Worcester, where it was soon after
utterly routed by CromweU.
The earl of Derby arrived from his little kingdom of Man on the
same day on which the Scottish army, with King Charles II. , crossed
the river Mersey at Warrington, and marched southward through
Cheshire towards Shrewsbury, Worcester, and the Welsh border,
where it was hoped by the king and his supporters that it would be
joined by a large body of Engfish and Welsh royalists. The force
of the earl of Derby landed in Wyre Water, near the present port
of Fleetwood, from three frigates, which brought over a number of
officers and a few soldiers. The earl at once set up ¦ the banner of
the king, and was joined by a considerable number of the Lancashire
royalists. He had also expected to be joined by a large body of
Presbyterians, who had become bitterly hostile to CromweU and to
his party in the Long Parliament. . But before the Presbyterians
could move, or the royalists could organize their forces, a reoimeiit
of horse, which CromweU had sent into Lancashire, under Colonel
Lilburne, together with the parliamentary garrisons of Liverpool and
Manchester, assembled rapidly in front of the earl of Derby, as he
moved southward to join the king, and compeUed the earl to fight
a decisive battle in the neighbourhood of Wigan. Colonel Lilburne,
in describing the events which preceded that battle, says in one of

518 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
his despatches : — " The earl began to beat drums and raise men in
all places where he came, and would have been very strong in a
short time, not only through the access of many malignant papists
and disaffected persons, but also by the assistance that the ministers
and those who are called Presbyterians afforded, and would more
abundantly have afforded ; for they are the men who are grown
more bitter and envious against you than others of the old cavalier
stamp." In anticipation of the rising of the Presbyterians, CromweU
had strengthened the garrison of Liverpool, commanded by Lieu
tenant-colonel Birch, and had placed his own regiment of foot in
garrison at Manchester, " where the earl of Derby had the assurance
of the assistance of 500 men in and about the town." With his
own regiment, and with the Liverpool and Manchester troops,
Colonel Lilburne, on the 25th of August, attacked the earl of
Derby's forces as they were advancing southward along Wigan
Lane, and completely defeated and dispersed them.
In this battle Sir Thomas Tyldesley, the most distinguished
of the Lancashire royafists in point of mifitary talent, was killed,
and all the other loyalists were killed, taken, or dispersed. The
earl of Derby escaped from the battle, and finding that everything
was lost in Lancashire, made his way southward through Cheshire
to the royal army in the neighbourhood of Worcester. There he
was present at the greatest of all the defeats of the royal cause,
and the most signal of the victories gained by Cromwell.
After the battle of Worcester and the complete overthrow of
the royalist army, the earl of Derby escaped from the slaughter and
pursuit, and tried to return to Lancashire. But he was captured a
few days after the battle by a parfiamentary officer, named Major
Edge, and was conducted as a prisoner to the city of Chester. In
order to strike terror into the royalist party, the government deter
mined to bring him to trial for the crime of high treason against
the Commonwealth. He was accordingly tried at Chester before a
mifitary commission ; and as there was no doubt that he had always
been one of the most determined enemies of the then existing
government, he was convicted and sentenced to be beheaded. In
order to diminish the odium of this execution, the earl of Derby was
sentenced to be executed at Bolton, the place which he had taken
by storm early in the civfi war, and where many cruelties had been
inflicted on the inhabitants and the garrison, for which it was
attempted to render him personally responsible. He died as he

PAST AND PRESENT. 519

had lived, with the most perfect firmness and composure, leaving as
high and unsullied a reputation as any man who lived in those
disastrous times, in which Englishmen stood opposed to each other
in mortal strife. The whole of his vast estates were for the time
confiscated ; and many of the most valuable of those estates,
including those of Lathom house and Hawarden castle, were never
restored to his descendants. A considerable portion, however, of
the estates of the famfiy were restored after the re-establishment of
the monarchy, and are still possessed by the earls of Derby. After
the death of the distinguished nobleman whose melancholy fate we
have mentioned, his widow, the celebrated countess, maintained
possession of the Isle of Man with great determination, though not
without some acts of great severity, which brought upon her the
anger of Parfiament, and prevented the restoration of a portion of
the famfiy estates.
The overthrow of the monarchy neither restored peace nor free
dom ; and although the rule of the Protector, Cromwell, was vigorous
both at home and abroad, it gave fittle satisfaction to the mass of
the nation. Numerous conspiracies and several formidable insurrec
tions disturbed the rule of the Protector ; and at the close of his
life there was a general movement of opinion tending to the restora
tion of the monarchy. It is no part of the object of this work to
trace this movement or its consequences except so far as it affected
the counties of Lancaster and Chester.
The first and boldest movement towards the restoration of the
monarchy made after the death of Oliver Cromwell, was that of Sir
George Booth, Bart., of Dunham Massey, in Cheshire. The imme
diate object of this movement was to seize the city of Chester and
the castle of Liverpool, as rallying points for the friends of the
monarchy in the north-western counties. Sir George Booth was
himself a soldier of some skill and reputation, having defended
Nantwich for the Parfiament in the great civfi war. He was also
the brother-in-law of Sir William Brereton, the great parliamentary
leader of Cheshire ; and from his wealth and influence, as well as
his known loyalty and love of parliamentary government, possessed
the confidence both of the parfiamentary and of the royafist parties
in the two counties. He succeeded in his first object, which was
that of obtaining possession of the city of Chester ; but the attempt
made by Colonel Ireland and other Lancashire royalists to seize on
the castle of Liverpool was unsuccessful. The whole movement,

520 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.
indeed, was somewhat premature, and did not meet with any
response in other parts of England. In the hope of rousing the
country to arms, Sir George Booth moved from Chester with a
small force that he had got together to Winnington bridge, near
Northwich, which he attempted to hold against the parliamentary
forces under General Lambert, one of the most skilful of the
parliamentary leaders. There he was overpowered by the army of
Lambert, and driven back into Chester, which was soon after taken
by the parliamentary forces. Sir George Booth and some others of
the leaders of the insurrection escaped for the time ; but Sir George
was afterwards taken and thrown into prison in London. Happily
the power of Bichard Cromwell was already tottering to its fall, and
hence the life of Sir George Booth was spared. He survived the
Bestoration of Charles IL, and he and his descendants afterwards
received the titles of Earl of Warrington and Lord Delamere. The
former of these titles afterwards passed by marriage into the family
of the Greys, earls of Stamford and Warrington. Within a short
time after the rising of Sir George Booth in Cheshire, General Monk,
who had been taken prisoner in the royal army at the siege of
Nantwich, and who had subsequently entered the army of the
Parfiament, in which he had risen to a distinguished command,
declared in favour of the restoration of Charles II. The Bestoration,
which took place in the year 1660, put an end to the great civil
war, though without settling the questions in which it originated.
These were happily — and as far as England is concerned, peacefuUy
— settled, a few years afterwards, by the Bevolution of 1688.

PAST AND PRESENT. 521

CHAPTEB VII.
PROGRESS OE SOCIETY IN LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE, FROM THE
TIME OE THE DOMESDAY SURVEY (1085-86) TO THE TIME OF
THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY (1660) AND THE PLANT
ING OF AMERICA BY THE ENGLISH RACE.
The earliest detailed account that we possess of the now populous coun
ties of Lancashire and Cheshire, forming the north-western division
of England, founded on actual survey, is that contained in Domesday
Book. The survey described in that ancient national record was made
in the years 1085 and 1086, near the close of the reign of William
the Conqueror, by order of the king, and after consultation with
his great Councfi, Wittan, or Parliament, assembled at Gloucester. *
The object of the government in making the survey was to obtain
the information requisite for imposing a tax on aU descriptions
of property, for the defence of the kingdom, threatened with inva
sion by Cnut, king of Denmark, and Bobert, count of Flanders.
The survey of the north-western division of England was made
under the superintendence of Bobert, bishop of Chester, one of
the king's clerks or secretaries of state, and of Hugh Lupus, the
Norman earl of Chester. The general practice adopted in making
this survey was to assemble a jury in which the different classes
of the people were represented (viz., the sheriffs, the lords of each
manor, the presbyters of every church, the reeves of every hundred,
and the bailiffs and villeins or cultivators of every village), in
order to ascertain from them, or from witnesses called before
them, the facts necessary for forming a correct opinion as to the
yearly value of all kinds of taxable property, and of the rights
of the crown in every viUage, town, hundred, and county in the
kingdom. This appears to have been done very carefully in the
western part of the county of Chester, which was then a tolerably
settled and comparatively well cultivated country ; and also in the
south-western districts of Lancashire. But the survey was much less
perfect in the mountainous districts on the eastern side of the two
* Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Thorpe's translation, vol. ii. pp. 185, 186.
vol. i. 3 u

522 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
counties, where the country was naturally wfid and barren, and had
been much desolated in the desperate wars between the Saxons and
the Norman invaders; and it was still more imperfect in the northern
districts of Lancashire, which then formed almost the northern limit
of the territory directly ruled by the kings of England.
At the time when the Domesday survey was made there was
no shire or county known by the name of Lancashire. The two
northern hundreds of the present county of Lancaster, though
already bearing their present names of Lonsdale and Amounderness,
were then regarded as parts of the Danish earldom of Northumber
land, which extended from the Humber to the Tweed, and of the
great county of York, which formed part of that earldom, and
reached from the German to the Irish Sea, including that part of
the present county of Lancaster which lies between Furness and
the river Bibble. The territory lying to the south of the Bibble,
and including the present Lancashire hundreds of Blackburn, Ley-
land, Salford, and West Derby, was then known, not as South
Lancashire, but as " The land between the Bibble and the Mersey,"
and continued to be known by that name for nearly eighty years
after the Domesday survey. On the other hand, the county of
Chester had been weU known as a separate shire or county, under
the Saxon kings, almost from the time of Alfred the Great, some
times by the name of Cestreshire, and at others by that of
Legacestreshire, or the shire of the City of the Legion. At that
time it not only included aU the territory comprised within its
present limits, but also the county of Flint to the river Clwydd.
We shall describe both the county of Lancaster and that of Chester,
with their present limits.
Lancashire at the time of the Domesday Survey.— The district of
country now included in the county of Lancaster was divided, at
the time of the Domesday survey, into eight hundreds, or, as they
were generaUy caUed in the north of England, Wapentakes; the
former bemg the civil, the latter the mifitary name. The eight
hundreds of Lancashire were Lonsdale, Amounderness, Blackburn
Leyland, Salford, Warrington, Newton, and West Derby. But soon
after the Domesday survey the hundreds of. Newton and Warrington
were united to the hundred of West Derby, thus reducing the
number of the Lancashire hundreds to six. In other respects the
old Saxon or Danish names, as well as the limits of the hundreds
remain almost unaltered to the present day.

PAST AND PRESENT. 523

The Hundred of Lonsdale — naturally a wfid and mountainous
country, on its northern and eastern borders — at that time formed
part of the county of York, and was soon afterwards made part of
what was called Bichmondshire ; a district extending from beyond
Bichmond, in Yorkshire, to the Irish Sea, and governed by the earls
of Bichmond, who were of the family of the earls or dukes of Bretagne
or Brittany, and close connections of William the Conqueror.
To the north of the hundred of Lonsdale was the earldom of
Cumberland, a still wilder and more mountainous country, of which
the king of England was chief lord, but which was governed in
Saxon times, and occasionally after the Norman conquest, by the
eldest son of the king of Scotland, who paid a nominal homage for
it to the king of England. The result of this arrangement was
continual discord and confusion along the border, and frequent wars,
in which England and Scotland took part. After the reign of
King Stephen, the earldom of Cumberland was finally united to the
rest of England ; and thus the scene of border warfare was removed
from the northern limit of Lancashire to that of Cumberland.
At the time of the Domesday survey many of the vills or town
ships of North Lancashire were returned as "wasta," or waste — a
terrible word, expressive of almost total desolation, and that pro
duced by the ravages of war. It was in the northern and north
western divisions of England that the armies of the Conqueror had
met with the most desperate resistance from the warlike Saxon
and Danish population ; and it was there that they had inflicted
the most terrible ravages on the country. Lonsdale and Amounder
ness, being then regarded as parts of Yorkshire and of the earldom
of Northumberland, had suffered greatly, especially Amounderness,
which was almost totaUy waste, at the time of the Domesday survey.
The hundred of Lonsdale extends over, an area of more than
266,970* statute acres of land, but of that not much more than
the sixth part was cultivated at the time of the Domesday survey.
The whole quantity of arable land in the hundred at that time
was 240 carucates, otherwise called ploughgates. The carucate was
as much land as a yoke of oxen, generally consisting of four animals,
could keep in cultivation throughout the whole year. This quantity
of land must at first have varied very considerably, in different dis
tricts, with the nature of the sofi and the strength of the cattle
employed in working it. According to Fleta the carucate came to
* Census of England, 1831.

524 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
be fixed at 180 acres; and Walter de Henley, an early writer on
Engfish agriculture, states that the carucate consisted of 180 acres
on land suited for a three years' rotation of crops, and of 160 on
other soils.-' In the rude husbandry of that time the carucate of
arable land was usually divided into three parts, of 6.0 acres each,
one of which was sown with wheat, and another with spring corn,
whilst the third lay in bare fallow. The quantity of arable land
in the Lonsdale hundred being about 240 carucates of 180 acres
each, would altogether amount to 43,200 acres, in a total area of
about 266,970 acres. The rest of the hundred was in forest, marsh,
and mountain pasture, and was not returned as possessing any value
at the Domesday survey.
There is no place described as a borough or city in the account
of Lonsdale given in the Domesday survey, although we have
shown that Lancaster was a station of the Bomans many hundred
years before. It is also supposed to be the place mentioned as
Caer Werid by Nennius, the British historian. The town of Lan
caster was still surrounded by a wall at the time of the Norman
conquest, which is described as the " old wall " in a grant made
by Boger Pictavensis, or Boger of Pictou, to the priory of St. Mary,
in the reign of William Bufus. t But Lancaster was not at that
time a county town, and it is not even spoken of as a borough in
the Domesday survey. Mention is made of its church, and of the
value of the cultivated land in the township or parish; and' we
know that the ancient castle and walls, and the rich priory estab
lished there by Earl Boger, in connection with the monastery of
St. Martin de Sees in Normandy, soon after rendered it a place
of importance, and caused it to be selected as the county town
for the newly-formed county of Lancaster. The other places in
Lonsdale mentioned in Domesday Book are named chiefly on account
of the quantity of the taxable land which they contained. Halton,
near Lancaster, contained the manor-house and residence of the
lord of the district, with six carucates of land. Wittington was also
a chief manor, with six carucates of land; Ulverstone with six
carucates of land ; Aldcliff with two ; Slyne with six ; Carnforth
with two ; , Poulton with two ; Ellel with two ; Scotforth with two ;
and Dalton with two. The district of Lonsdale beyond the Sands
* Agricnlture and Prices in England. By Professor Rogers, M.A, Professor of Political Economv in the Uni
versity of Oxford. Oxford : at the Clarendon Press. 1866. Vol. i. p. 170.
t Dngdale's Monasticon, Priory of St. Mary's, Lancaster. Vol. vi. p. 997.

PAST AND PRESENT. 525

seems to have been named Hougun, or Hougenai, by the Saxons
or Danes, and to have been comparatively well cultivated, along the
coast of Lower Furness, where the land is of excellent quality.
The chief lord of the hundred of Lonsdale previous to the
Norman conquest was Tosti, earl of Northumberland, brother of
Harold, the last Saxon king of England. After his expulsion and
death, and after the conquest of England by the Normans, which
the treason and rebellion of Earl Tosti did much to promote, the
greater part of Lonsdale was given by William the Conqueror to
Boger Pictavensis. It was most of it terra regis at the time of the
Domesday survey. The Saxon thanes or Danish drengs (almost
equivalent to thanes of the lower class) who held land in this district,
seem to have been allowed to retain their lands. Amongst the
names mentioned are those of Ghilemichel, who held twenty carucates
of land ; Ernulf, who held six ; and Turulf, who held six carucates
of land in Ulverstone.
The Lonsdale Hundred, according to the Domesday Survey. — The
description of the present Lancashire hundred of Lonsdale, as given
in Domesday Book, is contained in the account of the lands of Boger
Pictavensis, and of the king, William the Conqueror, in Urvicshire,
or Yorkshire. There are also mixed up with it accounts of several
manors and vills, situated in the present counties of Cumberland and
Westmoreland. We have endeavoured to separate the manors and
vills included in the Lancashire hundred of Lonsdale, from those
belonging to the counties of York, Westmoreland, and Cumberland.
The parts of Lonsdale described below are given under two heads
in the Domesday survey. The first is that of the lands of Boger
Pictavensis, in Yorkshire; the second is that of the lands of the
king, in Yorkshire. We give first those of Boger Pictavensis,
who was lord of the honor of Lancaster : —
The Lands of Roger Pictavensis. — -Two manors : — In Lonsdale
and Cockerham (Lanesdale and Cocreham) ; Ulf and Machel had
two carucates of land to be taxed.
Three manors : — In Ashton (Eston) ; Cliber, Machern, and Ghile
michel had six carucates to be taxed ; in Ellal (EUhale), two ; and
in Scotforth (Scozforde), two.
One manor : — In Burton (Biedon), Earl Tosti had six carucates to
be taxed — Boger Pictavensis now has it, and Ernuin, the priest
under him ; In Yealand (Jalant), four carucates ; in Farlton (Farelton),
four ; in Preston (Prestun), three.

526 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
In the account of the land of the king, in Yorkshire, we find
the following particulars as to places included in the present hundred
of Lonsdale : —
Lands of the King. — One manor: — In Melling (Mellinge),
Hornby (Horneby), and Wennington (Wenningeton), Ulf had nine
carucates of land to be taxed.
In the same manor was a berewick (or subordinate manor), in
which Orme had one-half carucate of land to be taxed.
One manor : — In Halton (Haltun), Earl Tosti had six carucates of
land to be taxed.
In Aldcliff ( Aldeclif), two carucates ; Thurnham (Tiernun), two ;
Hillham (Hfilun), one ; Lancaster (Loncastre), six ; Kirby Lancaster
(Chercaloncastre), two.
Hutton (Hotun), two carucates ; Newton (Neutune), two ; Overton
(Oureton), four ; 'Middleton (Middeltun), four ; Heaton (Hietune),
four ; Heysham (Hessam), four.
Oxcliff (Oxeneclif ), two carucates ; Poulton (Poltune), two ; Tor-
risholme (Toredholme), two ; Skerton (Schertune), six ; Bare (Bare),
two ; Slyne (Sline) six.
Bolton (Bodeltone), four carucates ; KeUet (CheUet), six ; Stapel-
tontherne (Stopeltieme), two ; Newsome (Neuhuse), two ; Carnforth
(Chreneforde), two.
All these vUlages belong to Halton (Haltune).
One manor: — In Whittington (Witetone), Earl Tosti had six
carucates of land to be taxed.
In Newton (Neutun), two carucates ; Arkholme or Arum (Ergune)
six ; Gressingham (Ghersinctune), two ; Hutton (Hotun), three ;
Causfield (Cautesfelt), three.
Ireby (Irebi), three carucates; Burrow (Borch), three; Leek
(Lech), three.
All these villages belong to Whittington (Witetone).
Twelve manors : — In Austwick, &c. (After mentioning several
places in Yorkshire, we come to the following Lancashire names) : 
Wharton (Warton), Claughton (Clacton) and Caton (Catun) ;
these Torfin held for twelve manors. In these are forty-three
carucates to be taxed (about one-fourth in Lancashire).
Four manors :— In Bentham (Benetain), Winnington (Wininctune),
Tatham (Tathaim), Farlton (Farelton), and TunstaU (TunestaUe)'
Chetel had four manors, and there are in them eighteen carucates
to be taxed, and three churches.

PAST AND PRESENT.

527

One manor : — In Furness (named Hougun), Earl Tosti had four
carucates of land to be taxed. In Woodlands (Chilnestreuic), three ;
in Sowerby (Sourebi), three ; in Heaton (Hietune), four ; in Dalton
(Daltune), two ; in Warthe (Warte), two ; in Newton (Neutune), six ;
in Gleaston (Glasserton), two ; in Pennington (Pennigeton), two ; in
Kirkby Ireleth (Gerleworde) two ; in Burrow (Borch), six ; in Bardsey
(Berretseige), four ; in Whittingham (Witingeham), four ; in High
Furness (Hougenai), six. All these vfilages lie to High Furness
(Hougun). Ghilemichel had these ; in these are twenty carucates of
land to be taxed.
One manor : — In Aldingham (Aldingham), Ernulf had six carucates
to be taxed.
One manor : — -In Ulverstone (Ulurestun), Turulf had six carucates
to be taxed.
In Bolton (Bodeltun), six carucates to be taxed."*
The hundred of Amounderness, also accounted in Yorkshire in
the Domesday survey, contains 145,110 acres of land, and is the
next in order of the present Lancashire hundreds, proceeding south
ward. The number of vfils, or villages, in Amounderness was sixty-
one. But the authors of the Survey say : — " All the vfilages and
three churches belong to Preston. Of these, sixteen are inhabited
by a few persons ; but how many inhabitants there may be is not
known. The rest are waste." The number of carucates of land in
Amounderness was 168. Taking each of these at 180 acres, it gives
30,240 acres of arable land in the whole hundred, in a total quantity
of 145,110 acres; but nearly the whole of it was then waste.
We have no particulars as to the town of Preston in the
Domesday survey, except that it was the head of the hundred of
Amounderness ; and that the the whole of the vills of the hundred,
with three churches, belonged to it. As early as the -time of King
Athelstane, Amounderness was granted to the abbey of York, and
appears to have been settled and improved by the priests of thatt
abbey, from which circumstance its chief town received the name of
Preston, or the " Town of the Priests."
The hundred of Amounderness belonged to Earl Tosti before
the Norman conquest, to Boger Pictavensis after it, and to Wfifiam
the Conqueror at the time of the Domesday survey. But some
time after it became part of Bichmondshire, and probably part of
the possessions of the Norman earls of Bichmond and Bretagne,
* Domesday Survey, Urvicshire or Yorkshire. f Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. v. p. 3., Ellis' Edition.

528 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.
which seem to have extended from the middle of the North Biding
of Yorkshire into Lancashire, and included portions both of the
hundreds of Amounderness and of Lonsdale.
Amounderness Hundred according to the Domesday Survey. — In
Preston (Prestune), Earl Tosti had six carucates to be taxed.
These lands belong thereto : — Ashton ( Estun ), two carucates ;
Lea (Lea), one ; Clifton (Cliston), two ; Salwick (Saleuuic), one ;
Newton (Neutune), two ; Freckleton (Frecheltun), four ; Bibby
(Bigbi), six.
Kirkham (Chicheham), four carucates ; Treales (Treueles), two ;
Westby (Westbi), two; Plumpton (Pluntun), two; Weeton (Widetun),
three ; Preese (Pres), two ; Warton (Wartun), four.
Lytham (Lidun), two carucates ; Marton (Meretun), six ; Lay ton
(Latun), six ; Staining (Staininghe), six ; Carlton (Carlentun), four ;
Bisham (Biscopham), eight.
Bossall (Bushale), two carucates ; Brining (Brune), two ; Thornton
(Torentun), six ; Poulton (Poltun), two ; Singleton (Singleteain), six ;
Greenhalgh (Greneholf ), three.
Eccleston (Eglestun), four carucates ; another Eccleston (Eglestun)
two ; Elswick (Edelesuuic), three ; Inskip (Inscip), two ; Sowerby
(Sorbi), one ; Nateby (Aschebi), one.
St. Michael's Church (or Michelescherche), one carucate; Catterall
(Catrehala), two ; Claughton (Clactune), two ; Newsham (Neuhuse)
one ; Plumpton (Pluntun), five.
Broughton (Brocton), one carucate ; Whittingham (Witingheham),
two ; Barton (Bartun), three ; Goosnargh (Gusansarghe), one ; Haigh-
ton (Halctun), one.
Threlfield (Trelefelt), one carucate ; Whalley (Watelei), one ;
Chipping (Chipinden), three ; Alston (Actun), one ; Fishwick (Fiscuic),
one ; Grimsargh (Grimesarge), two.
Bibchester (Bibelcastre), two carucates ; Billsborough (Bileuurde),
two; Swainset (Suenesat), one; Forton (Fortune), one; Crimbles
(Crimeles), one; Garstang (Gherestane), six; Bawcfiffe (Bodecliffe),
two; another Bodecliffe (Bodecliffe), two; a third ditto, three;
Hambleton (Hameltune), two.
Stalmin (Stalmine), four carucates; PreesaU (Pressouede), six;
Mithope (Midehope), one.
AH these vfilages and three churches belong to Preston (Prestune);
of these, sixteen have few inhabitants, but how many inhabitants
there may be is not known.

PAST AND PRESENT. 529

The rest are waste. Boger Pictavensis had it."""
In the six hundreds of Blackburn, Leyland, Salford, Warrington,
Newton, and Derby, described as "The land between the Bibble
and the Mersey," the people had fared somewhat better in the
wars of the Norman conquest. At least, only a part of South
Lancashire is described as "waste" at the time of the Domesday
survey, chiefly in the Salford and the Leyland hundreds.
The following are the principal particulars as to the hundreds
of Blackburn, Leyland, Salford, Newton, Warrington, and West
Derby given in the Domesday survey : —
The hundred of Blackburn had been held by King Edward the
Confessor in the Saxon times. His chief manors or mansions were
at Blackburn, Huncoat (Hunnicot), Walton le Dale (Waletune),
and Pendleton (Peniltune), at the foot of Pendle-hfil. There
were two large woods and an aerie of hawks on these manors.
After the Norman conquest the manors with the hundred of
Blackburn were granted to Earl Boger Pictavensis, or Boger of
Pictou; but at the time of the Domesday survey they were
in the hands of the king, Earl Boger having forfeited them by
engaging in a treasonable conspiracy against the crowii. In
the time of Edward the Confessor the hundred of Blackburn
was divided into twenty-eight manors, held by as many separate
thanes or free tenants, and was cultivated by them or by their
sub-tenants. But when the hundred was granted to Boger Picta
vensis, he re-granted it to two of his Norman followers, Boger
de Busli or Boiseul and Albert Greslet or Gresley, who sub-let
or granted it for three years to certain men, eleven in number,
who then held eleven and a half carucates of land. The number
of carucates or ploughgates of arable land in the manor of Black
burn was forty, and in the other manor eleven carucates and a
half, equal to 9270 acres, and eight hides of six carucates each,
equal to 8640 acres, making a total of 17,910 acres of land in the
175,590 acres forming the hundred. The value of the hundred to the
chief lord in the time of Edward the Confessor was £30 2s. a year
— equal to from twelve to fifteen times as much of modern money, t
There is no evidence that King Edward the Confessor ever
* Domesday Survey, Yorkshire.
t Mr. Thomas Duffns Hardy, F.S.A., in his " Description of the Close Rolls," estimates the value of the
money of the Norman and Plantagenet ages at fifteen times that of our present money. Professor Rogers, in
his " History of English Agriculture " (vol. i. p. 690), makes it about twelve times as much as our modern money.
By multiplying by twelve the ancient moneys will be brought nearly to ours.
VOL I. 3 X

530 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

resided at any of his Lancashire mansions or manors; but his
deputies no doubt did so. At most of the manors there was a
hunting or hawking establishment, suited for a king whose chief
delight was in the sports of the field or the forest. Especially aU
the thanes, as well as their tenants, were bound to attend and
assist at the great hunting parties named " stabilituras," at which
aU the game of the district was driven into a haia or inclosure,
there to be slaughtered by the royal party. The thanes were also
bound to attend the hawking and fishing parties of the king.
The church of Blackburn had two carucates of land; and the
church of WhaUey had also two, both free from all custom. Around
these powerful churches a peaceful population graduaUy grew up.
Blackburn, though not described as a borough, is supposed to
have existed from the time of the Angles, the termination burn,
"a brook or beck," being Anglian, as distinguished from Saxon.
Whalley is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle, more than a hundred
years before the time of the Norman conquest, as the scene of a
battle between two Saxon chiefs.
The Blackburn Hundred according to the Domesday Survey. —
In Blackburn hundred King Edward held Blackburn (Blacheburne).
There are two hides and two carucates of landj the church had two
bovates of this land, free from all custom, and the church of Saint Mary
in WhaUey had two carucates of land free from all custom. In the
same manor a wood one mile in length, and the same in breadth, and
there was an aerie of hawks. To this manor, or hundred, were
attached twenty-eight freemen, holding five hides and a half, and forty
carucates of land for twenty-eight manors. There was a wood six
miles long and four broad, and there were the above-named customs.
In the same hundred King Edward had Huncoat (Hunnicot), with
two carucates of land ; Walton (Waletune), with two carucates of
land ; Pendleton (Penfitune), half a hide. The whole manor, with the
hundred, paid to the king for farm £32 2s.
Boger Pictavensis gave aU this land to Boger de Busli and Albert
Greslet ; and there are as many men as hold eleven carucates and a
half, whom they allowed to be exempt for three years, and therefore
they are not taxed."""
The hundred of Leyland was also held by Edward the Con
fessor previous to the Conquest. It was granted after the Conquest
to Earl Boger, and was forfeited to the king before the Domesday
* Domesday Survey, Inter Ripam et Mer'sam.

PAST AND PRESENT. 531

survey. The chief manors were Leyland and Penwortham. Twelve
Saxon thanes or freemen held the land previous to the Conquest;
but after it, the hundred was granted to Boger Pictavensis, who
gave portions of it to certain of his Norman followers, named
Girard, Bobert, Badulf, Boger, and Walter. There were also
within the hundred a presbyter or priest; six burgesses at Pen
wortham, opposite to Preston ; four radmen or horsemen ; eight
farmers or villeins ; six cottagers ; and four herdsmen. There were
also at Penwortham a fishery, a wood, and an aerie of hawks. The
whole manor and hundred of Leyland paid £19 18s. 2c?. of the
money of that time to the chief lord, in the reign of Edward the
Confessor. The quantity of arable land in cultivation in the Ley-
land hundred was twenty carucates, or 3600 acres, with one hide,
of six carucates, equal to 1080 acres, making a total of 4680 acres
of the 79,990 acres included in the hundred of Leyland.
" The Hundred of Leyland according to the Domesday Survey. —
In Leyland hundred: King Edward held Leyland. There was one
hide and two carucates of land, a wood two miles long and one broad,
and an aerie of hawks. To this manor belonged twelve carucates of
land, which twelve freemen held as twelve manors : in these are six
hides and eight carucates ; a wood six mUes long and three mfies and
a quarter broad. The men of this manor, and of Salford, did not work
as a matter of custom or duty at the hall of the king, nor did they reap
in August ; they only made one inclosure in the woods ; they were
subject to fines for wounding and violation, and had all the other
customs of the other manors. The whole of the manor of Leyland,
with the hundred, rendered to the king £19 18s. 2d. Of the land in
this manor Girard holds one hide and a half; Bobert, three carucates ;
Badulf, two ; Boger, two ; Walter, one. There are four radmen,
a priest, fourteen vfileins, six cottagers, and two herdsmen ; between
them they have eight carucates, a wood three miles long and two
mfies broad, and four aeries of hawks. The whole is worth 50s.;
part is waste.
King Edward held Penwortham (Peneverdant) ; there are two
carucates of land, which rendered 10c?. There is now a castle
there, and there are two carucates in demesne, and six burgesses,
three radmen, eight vfileins, and four herdsmen ; amongst them they
have four carucates ; there is half a fishery, a wood, and aeries of
hawks. As in the time of King Edward, it is valued at £3." *
* Domesday Survey, Inter Ripam et Mersham.

532 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The great hundred of Salford also belonged to Edward the Con
fessor before the Conquest. The only places mentioned by name in
this now populous and wealthy district are Manchester (Mame-
cestre), Salford ( Salford ), Bochdale ( Becedham ), and Badcliffe
(Badecfive). But it is stated that there were twenty-one berewicks,
that is, subordinate manors or townships. There were exten
sive forests in this hundred, one of which was nine and a half
mfies long, and five and a furlong wide, with many inclosures, and
aeries of hawks. The churches of St. Mary and St. Michael at
Manchester held a carucate of land, free from all custom except
danegelt. The hundred of Salford had been granted to Boger Picta
vensis, and he had made grants out of the land of that hundred
to Nigel, Warin, another Warin, Goisfrid, and Game! On the
lands granted to the above were three thanes, one priest, thirty
vfileins, nine cottagers, and ten serfs or slaves; and in the manor
of Salford there were two vfileins and eight serfs or slaves under
the thane. The whole manor and hundred of Salford was of the
value of £37 in the money of that age, or upwards of twelve
times as much in modern money. The quantity of arable land
under cultivation in the hundred of Salford was twenty-one and a
half carucates, or 3870 acres, with fourteen hides and a half, of six
carucates each, equal to 15,660 acres, making a total of 19,530
acres, in the 214,870 acres included in the hundred.
Manchester is mentioned as a' fortified town in the Saxon
Chronicle as early as the reign of Edward the Elder, the son of
Alfred the Great; but it is not described as a borough in the
Domesday survey, though it appears to have been the principal
place in the district. The mansion or manor of the chief lord
seems to have been at Salford, on the opposite side of the river
IrweU ; and the hundred of Salford appears to have taken its name
from the residence of the chief lord. The lord was Edward the
Confessor immediately previous to the Conquest; Boger Pictavensis
immediately after ; and the king, WUliam the Conqueror, at the
time of the Domesday survey. Manchester itself soon after passed
into the hands of the De Gresleys, who continued to be barons of
Manchester for many ages, and as such were summoned to Par
liament. Most of the earlier charters of Manchester were granted
by members of that distinguished famfiy.
" The Hundred of Salford according to the Domesday Survey.—
In Salford hundred: King Edward held Salford. There are three

PAST AND PRESENT. 533

hides, and twelve carucates of waste land, a forest three miles long
and the same broad, and there are many haias, and an aerie of hawks.
King Edward held Badcliffe (Badeclive) for a manor. There is
one hide, and another belonging to Salford. The church of St. Mary
and the church of St. Michael held in Manchester (Mamecestre), one
carucate of land, free from all custom except danegelt.
To this manor or hundred there belonged twenty-one berewicks,
which were held by as many thanes, for so many manors ; in which
there were eleven hides and a half, and ten carucates and a half of
land, with woods nine mUes and a half long and five and a furlong
broad. One of these named Gamel, holding two hides of land in Bochdale
(Becedham), had them free from all fines, but the foUowing six ; viz.,
theft, inveigling of servants, assault on the highway, breach of peace,
removal of boundary, and desertion after enrolment : the fines for
these offences were 40s. Others of these lands were free from
all custom except danegelt, and some were free from danegelt.
The whole manor, with the hundred of Salford, paid £37 4s.
There are now in the manor in the demesne, two ploughs and
eight bondmen, and two villeins with one plough. The demesne is
valued at 100s."
The knights hold the land of this manor by the gift of Boger
Pictavensis ; Nigel, three hides and half a carucate ; Warin, two
carucates, and another Warin, one carucate and a half; Goisfrid, one
carucate ; Gamel, two carucates. In these lands there are three
thanes and thirty vfileins, nine cottagers, one priest, and ten slaves ;
amongst them they have twenty-two ploughs. It is valued at £7."'
The Warrington (or Walintune) hundred was also held by Edward
the Confessor before the Conquest; was granted to Boger Picta
vensis after that event ; and was resumed by William the Conqueror
after the conspiracy of Earl Boger. The only place mentioned by
name in this hundred is Warrington, where the church of St. Elfin
(a Saxon saint) had half a carucate of land. But there were in
the hundred thirty-four manors or townships, held by as many
drenghs — the Danish word for thanes or military followers. Grants
had also been made in Warrington hundred to Norman soldiers
named Boger, Tetbald, Warin, Badulf, William, Adelard, and
Osmond. The Butlers or De Boteifiers, sprung from one of these
Norman soldiers, became barons of Warrington. They afterwards
* Domesday Survey, Inter Ripam et Mersham.

534 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
settled in Ireland, where their name is still noble and dis
tinguished. The value of the Warrington hundred was £14 18s. in the money
of that day. The number of carucates of arable land was forty-three,
equal to 7740 acres, with one and a half hide, of six carucates,
equal to 1620 acres, making a total of 9360 acres.
" The Hundred of Warrington according to the Domesday Survey. —
In Warrington hundred : King Edward held Warrington (Walintune),
with three berewicks, and one hide of land. To this manor belonged
thirty-four drenghs, and they had as many manors ; in these manors
there were forty-three carucates of land and one hide and a half.
Saint Elfin had one carucate of land, free from aU custom but danegelt.
The whole manor and hundred paid to the king £15, save two
shUfings. There are now two carucates in the demesne, and eight
men with one carucate.
The following hold land there : viz., Boger, one carucate of land ;
Tetbald, one carucate and a half; Warin, one carucate ; Badulf, five
carucates ; WiUiam, two hides and four carucates ; Adelard, one hide
and half a carucate ; Osmund, one carucate. The whole of this is
valued at £4 10.?., the demesne at £3 10s.'5''
The Newton hundred had also belonged to Edward the Confessor ;
had been granted to Boger Pictavensis, and had returned to the
king. The church of Winwick or Newton, and the shrine of St.
Oswald, chiefly honoured at that place (where King Oswald, the
Saxon king and martyr, was slain, and was still supposed to exercise
a miraculous influence), had, the former one carucate, and the latter
two carucates of land. There were in the Newton hundred thirteen
manors, held by as many thanes or drenghs. But the greater part of
the hundred of Newton was still in forest, there being a wood ten
miles long and six mfies wide, and an aerie of hawks. The rent of
the whole manor and hundred of Newton was only £10 10s.  equal
to from twelve to fifteen times as much in the money of present
times. The number of carucates of arable land in the hundred of
Newton was only seventeen, equal to about 3060 acres, with five
hides, of six carucates each, equal to 5400 acres, making a total
of 8460 acres.
" The Hundred of Newton according to the Domesday Survey.— In
Newton hundred: in Newton (Neweton), in the time of King Edward
there were five hides ; one of these was held in demesne. The church
* Domesday Survey, Inter Ripam et Mersham.

PAST AND PRESENT. 535

of this manor had one carucate of land, and Saint Oswald of this vfil
had two carucates, free from all custom.
Fifteen men, caUed drenghs, held the other land of this manor for
fifteen manors, but they were berewicks of this manor, and they paid
altogether £1 10s. There is a wood ton mfies long and six miles and
two furlongs broad, and there are aeries of hawks.
The freemen of this hundred, except two, had the same customs as
the men of Derby (Derbei) ; in addition they reaped the king's fields
two days in August. Those two have five carucates of land, and
forfeiture for bloodshed and violation, and the tolls of their tenants
or vassals ; the king had the others. The whole manor of Newton
paid to the king £10 10s. There are six drenghs, twelve villeins, and
four cottagers ; amongst them they have nine carucates. This demesne
is valued at £4." *
The hundred of Derby, or West Derby, was held by Edward the
Confessor previous to the Norman conquest. It was granted to
Boger Pictavensis by William the Conqueror, but was resumed by
the crown, and was terra regis, or king's land, at the time of the
Domesday survey. Nearly all the vills, manors, and townships in
the West Derby hundred are mentioned by name, with the quantity
of land in each, and the names of the thanes by whom they were
held. The principal manor of Derby, or West Derby, with six bere
wicks or subordinate manors, was held by the king, Wfifiam the
Conqueror. The names of the berewicks dependent on West Derby
are not mentioned, but they are supposed to have been Liverpool,
Everton, Little Crosby, Garston, ThingwaU, and part of the present
Wavertree. The other manors were held by different thanes. The
most wealthy and powerful of these was Uchtred, who held many
manors. Amongst these were Lathom and Knowsley, afterwards
held by the Fitzhenrys, the Lathoms,. and the Stanleys. In
addition to these two manors, and to a berewick dependent on
the manor of Lathom, which is supposed to have been the present
Ormskirk, Uchtred held the manors of Skelmersdale, Kirkdale,
Boby, Allerton, Kirkby, Speke, Great Crosby, Aughton, Maghull,
Litherlandj Walton, HalsaU, Dalton, Merton, Lidiate, and Altcar.
The manor of Sefton, which now gives- title to an earl, was held
by five thanes, but soon after passed into the hands of the
Molyneuxes, now earls of Sefton, who have held it ever since.
The manor of Toxteth was held by two thanes named Bernulf
* Domesday Survey, Inter Ripam et Mersham.

536 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and Stainulf, but that also soon afterwards passed into the hands
of the Molyneux famfiy, who sold it to King John to make a
deer park, and many ages afterwards repurchased it, when Toxteth
Park was disforested. Amongst the other townships or vills was
Walton, which even then had a parish church, with a carucate of
land belonging to the priest, situate in the township of Bootle. There
was also a priest, and probably a parish church, at Childwall, which
is the head of another great parish, extending down to the banks of
the river Mersey. At that time Walton was held by a thane named
Winston ; Litherland by another thane named Elme ; Ince by three
thanes ; Thornton by Ascha ; Meols by three thanes ; Esmedune, or
Smithdown, near Liverpool, by Edelmund; Allerton by three thanes ;
Winstanley by Ulbert ; Wavertree by Leuingus ; Bootle by four
thanes ; Formby by three thanes ; Bavenmeols, now covered with
the sands of the sea-shore, by three thanes; Holland by Stenulf;
MeUing by Godene ; Barton by Teos ; and HalsaU by Chetel.
The extent of the arable land in the ancient hundred of West
Derby was thirteen and a half hides, of six carucates each, equal
to 14,580 acres, and fifty-one carucates and a half, equal to 9270
acres, making a total of 22,850 acres.
The quantity of arable land in the three ancient hundreds of
West Derby, Newton, and Warrington, which form the modern
hundred of West Derby, was 111 carucates and a half, equal to 20,070
acres, and 20 hides, equal to 21,600, making a total of 41,670 in the
234,730 acres, now included. in the modern hundred of West Derby.
In the West Derby hundred, and in the greater part of the land
between the Bibble and the Mersey, the thanes paid to the chief
lord two ores of silver pennies, each ore equal to about an ounce of
silver, yearly for each carucate, or 180 acres, of land. Each tenant
or thane also paid £2, equal to £20 or £30, on succeeding to
his holding. They also rendered certain services on the lands
held by the chief lord. Thus, they aU were obliged to send their
reapers for one day in August, to cut the lord's com. They also
assisted in budding his houses. They likewise attended at the
royal fisheries, and formed the inclosures in the forest, into which
the game and wfid animals of the district were driven, in the great
hunting parties of the king. Nearly all the lands in the district
on which crimes were committed were subject to fines, payable to
the crown, in addition to the personal penalties inflicted on the
actual offenders. Thus the fine payable by the land or its owner,

PAST AND PRESENT. 537

on the commission of a theft, on an assault on the high road,
on the enticing a serf or slave away from his master, or on the
breaking of the king's peace, was 40s., equal to £20 or £30.
The penalty for wounding a man, doing violence to a woman, or
not appearing at the assembly of the freemen at the shire-mote,
was 10s., equal to from £7 to £10 of modern money. The fine
for absence from the hundred court, or for refusing to appear at the
place of pleading, when directed to do so by the proper officer, was
5s. of the money of that day ; and the fine for refusing to go on any
public service when ordered to do so by lawful authority was 4s.
There were, however, a few exceptions. Thus the great thane Uchtred
was exempt from all forfeitures, in his manors of Crosby and Kirkdale,
except for six offences — namely, breach of the peace, assault on the
public way, seducing servants or slaves from their masters, desertion
from the army, non-payment of debts which the reeve had ordered
to be paid, and refusing to appear in a court of justice at the time
fixed by law. For these offences the penalty was 40s. As for
danegelt, or the tax for the defence of the kingdom against the
Danes, Uchtred and his tenants paid that, like the other men of the
county. The only exemptions from the payment of danegelt were
in the manors of Orrell, Halsall, and Everton, where there were
three hides of land free from that tax.
The Hundred of Derby according to the Domesday Survey. — In
Derby hundred King Edward had one manor, named Derbei, with six
berewicks. There were four hides, land sufficient to employ fifteen
ploughs; a wood two miles long and one broad, and an aerie of hawks.
Uchtred held six manors, Boby (Babil), Knowsley (Chenulueslei),
Kirkby (Cherchebi), Crosby (Crosbei), Maghufi (Maghele), and Aughton
(Achetun). There were two hides of land, a wood two miles long and
two broad, and two aeries of hawks.
Dot held Huyton (Hitune), and Torbock (Torboc) ; there was one
hide discharged from the payment of aU customs except danegelt ; and
four carucates of land, worth 20s.
Bernulf held Toxteth (Stochestede). There was one virgate of land
and half a carucate, worth 4s.
Stainulf held. Toxteth (Stochestede). There was one virgate of
land and half a carucate, worth 4s.
Five thanes held Sefton (Sextone). There was one hide, worth 16s.
Uchtred held Kirkdale (Chirchedele). There was half a hide quit
from all custom except danegelt, worth 10s.
VOL. i. 3 T

538 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Winestane held Walton (Waletone). There were two carucates of
land and three bovates, worth 8s.
Elmae held Litherland (Liderlant). There was half a hide, worth 8s.
Three thanes held Ince (Huine) for three manors. There half a,
hide worth 8 s.
Ascha held Thornton (Torentune). There was half a hide, worth 8s.
Three thanes held Meols (Mele) for three manors. There was
half a hide, worth 8 s.
Uchtred held Woolton (Uluentune). There were two carucates
of land, and half a mile of wood, worth 5s. Ad.
Edelmund held Smethom (Esmedune). There was one carucate of
land, worth 2s. 8d.
Three thanes held Allerton (Alretune) for three manors. There
was half a hide, worth 8s.
Uchtred held Speke (Spec). There were two carucates of land,
worth 5s. 4d.
Four radmen, or horsemen, held Childwall (Cilduuelle) for
four manors. There was half a hide, worth 8s.; a priest there
having half a carucate of land, held in alms.
Ulbert held Winstanley (Wibaldeslei). There were two carucates
of land, worth 5s. Ad.
Two thanes held Woolton (Uuetone) for two manors. There was
one carucate of land, worth 2s. 6d.
Leuingus held Wavertree (Wauretreu). There were two carucates
of land, worth 5s. id.
Four thanes held Bootle (Boltelai) as four manors. There were
two carucates of land, worth 5s. id. A priest had a carucate of land,
belonging to the church of Walton (Waletone).
Uchtred held Ashton or Aughton (Achetun). There was a carucate
of land, worth 2s. 8c?.
Three thanes held Formby (Fornebei) as three manors. There
were four carucates of land, worth 10s.
Three thanes held Ainesdale (Einuluesdel). There were two caru
cates of land, worth 5s. 4c?.
Sternulf held HoUand (Hofiand). There were two carucates of
land, worth 5s. 4c?.
Uchtred held Dalton (Daltone). There was one carucate of land,
worth 2s. 8c?.
The same Uchtred held Skelmersdale (Schelmeresdele). There was
one carucate of land, worth 2*. 8 c?.

PAST AND PRESENT. 539

The same Uchtred held Litherland (Literland). There was one
carucate of land, worth 2s. 8c?.
Wibert held Bavens Meols (Erengermeles). There were two
carucates of land, worth 8 s. This land was exempt from all customs
except danegelt.
Five thanes held Orrell (Otegrimele). There was half a hide,
worth 10s.
Uchtred held Lathom (Latune), with one berewick. There
was half a hide of land, a wood one mile long and half a mfie
broad, worth 10s. 8 c?.
Uchtred held Tarleton (Hirletun), and half of Martin (Merretun).
There was half a hide, worth 10s. 8c?.
Godene held MeUing (Melinge). There were two carucates of land,
a wood one mUe long and half a mile broad, worth 10s.
Uchtred held Lidiate (Leiate). There were six bovates of land,
a wood one mfie long and two furlongs broad, worth 5s. 4c?.
Two thanes held six bovates of land for two manors in Holland
(Hofiand). The value was 2s.
Uchtred held Altcar (Acrer). There was half a carucate of land; it
was waste.
Teos held Barton (Bartune). There was one carucate, worth
2s. 8c?.
Chetel held Halsall (Haleshale). There were two carucates of land,
worth 8s.
All this land was liable to pay danegelt, and fifteen manors paid
King Edward nothing but danegelt.
This manor of West Derby (Derbei), with the hides above mentioned,
paid King Edward for rent £26 2s. ; of these, three hides were exempt,
the rent of which was granted to the thanes that held them; these
paid £4 14s. 8c?.
All these thanes were accustomed to pay two ores of pennies for
each carucate of land; and by custom they built the king's houses, and
what belonged to them, as weU as the villeins ; attended the fisheries,
bufit the haias in the woods, and attended the hunting parties ; and
whosoever did not go where he was bound to do, was fined 2s.,
and afterwards obliged to attend, and to work tfil the business
was completed ; every one of them, moreover, sent his reapers for one
day in August to cut the king's corn, and if he failed he paid 2s.
If any person committed a theft, or an assault on the highway
enticed a servant away, or broke the king's peace, he paid 40s.

540 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*
If any one wounded a person, or violated a woman, or absented
himself from the shiremote without a reasonable excuse, he paid, 10s.
If he absented himself from the hundred court, or went not to
the place of pleading directed by the reeve, he forfeited 5 s.
If he (the reeve) ordered any one to go on a service, and he did
not, he was fined 4s.
If any one wished to retire from the king's land, he paid 40s.,
and went wherever he wished.
If any one wished, on the death of his father, to succeed to his
land, he paid a relief of 40s.
If he was not wfiling, then the king had the land and aU the
money of the father.
Uchtred held Crosby (Crosebi),and Kirkdale (Chirchedale), for one
hide, and it was exempt from aU forfeitures but these six — breach of
peace, assault on the highway, inveigling of servants, desertion after
enrolment, and if the sheriff had adjudged a debt to be paid at a
certain day, and the defendant did not keep the time given him, he
was to be amerced 40s. As for danegelt, this they paid like other
men of the country.
In Orrell (Otringemele), and Halsall (Herleshala), and Everton
(Hiretun), there were three hides exempt from paying danegelt, fines
for wounding, and for violation ; but they were liable to other customs.
By the grant of Boger Pictavensis, the foUowing men now hold the
land of this manor of Derby : — Goisfrid, two hides and half a carucate ;
Boger, one hide and a half; William, one hide and a half; Warin,
half a hide; Goisfrid, one hide ; Tetbald, one hide and a half ; Bobert,
two carucates of land ; Gislebert, one carucate of land. These have
four ploughmen in demesne, and forty-six vfileins, and one radman, and
sixty-two cottagers, and two bondmen, and three bondwomen ; they
have twenty-four carucates amongst them ; their wood is three miles
and a half long, and one mile and a half and forty perches broad ; and
there are three aeries of hawks. The whole is worth £8 12s.; in each
hide there are six carucates of land.
The demesne of this manor, held by Boger, is worth £8 ; there
are now in demesne three ploughmen, six herdsmen, one radman, and
seven villeins.
In these six hundreds, Derby, Newton, Warrington, Blackburn,
Salford, and Leyland, there are one hundred fourscore and eight
manors, in which there are fourscore hides, save one, to be taxed.
In the time of King Edward they were valued at £145 2s. 2c?.

PAST AND PRESENT. 541

When Boger Pictavensis received them from the king they were
valued at £120. The king now holds them and has in the demesne
twelve carucates and nine knights holding a fee ; between them and
their vassals there are one hundred and fifteen carucates, and three
bovates. The demesne which Boger held is valued at £23 10s., and
what he gave to the knights at £20 lis."
It is stated in the account of the West Derby hundred, given in
the above extracts from the Domesday Book, that there were six
carucates in each hide of land ; but it is impossible to reconcile this
with the statement given above, that the number of hides in the six
hundreds of (West). Derby, Warrington, Newton, Salford, Blackburn,
and, Leyland, was seventy-nine, and the number of carucates was 115.
This does not give one and a half carucate to each hide. If we take
aU the carucates mentioned in North and South Lancashire at 180
acres each, and all the hides at six carucates each, the whole quantity
of land mentioned as 'arable' is about 100,000 acres in an area
of 1,117,260. But large quantities of this land were lying waste,
especiaUy in the hundreds of Amounderness, Leyland, and Salford ;
and it is doubtful whether there were 50,000 acres of land in cultiva
tion at that time. There is not the slightest evidence of the working
of mines or the existence of manufactures. There were no towns
"described as boroughs in any of the six hundreds. The scattered
inhabitants, not amounting to more than 5000 to 6000 persons, lived
entirely by husbandry, and were clothed in garments spun and woven
at their own houses. Of aU the districts described in the Domesday
survey, that included in the present wealthy and populous county of
Lancaster was the poorest and the most thinly peopled. The county
of Chester was probably the next, not so much for want of natural
fertility, as from the desolation produced by a murderous war and a
ferocious conquest. We now proceed to describe that fertfie and
beautiful county.
Cheshire at the Domesday Survey. — The present names of the
seven hundreds of Cheshire were most of them unknown at the
time of the Domesday survey. At that time the present Maccles
field hundred was known as the hundred of Hamstan ; the Bucklow
hundred was known as the hundreds of Bochelau and Tunendune ;
the Nantwich hundred was called the hundred of Warmundestrou '
the Northwich hundred was named the hundred of Mildestvic ; the
Eddisbury hundred included the hundreds of Biseton and Boelau ;
the Wirrall hundred was known as the hundred of Wilavestan ; and

542 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

the Broxton hundred was known as the hundreds of Dudeston and
Cestre. These changes of name are supposed by Sir Peter Leycester*
to have taken .place about the reign of Edward III. Much later —
in the year 1507, the 23rd of Henry VII. — the Chester hundred was
made a county of itself, as the county of the city of Chester, except
the castle and its precincts. Still later — in the 33rd Henry VIII.,
1541 — the hundreds of Atiscross and Exestan, which had always
reaUy belonged to North Wales, were united with each other, and
were recognized as the county of Flint. The twelve Cheshire
hundreds have thus decreased to seven, or to eight, if we include
the county of the city of Chester, though without losing any
territory, except that which is now comprised in the county of Flint.
The modern hundreds do not of course correspond with the old
ones in their limits or extent ; but they come sufficiently near to
enable us to give a general description of the condition of each of
them in ancient times.
The revolution through which the county of Chester passed at
the time of the Norman conquest was much more sweeping in its
consequences than that which was experienced in South Lancashire ;
and the changes in the ownership of property were more complete.
We have seen that in the country between the Bibble and the
Mersey most of the Saxon thanes were still in possession of their
estates, almost to the end of the reign of William the Conqueror,
who died a year after the Domesday survey was completed ; and
there is reason to believe that their tenants, the actual cultivators
6f the soil, were not disturbed in the possession of their farms. In
Cheshire, on the contrary, nearly all the Saxon thanes were either
kfiled in battle with the Normans, or were driven from their estates,
which were given to the Norman foUowers of Hugh Lupus and to
their military dependents. After the expulsion of the Saxon thanes
the whole country was converted into a great military earldom,
subject to the earl and to seven or eight barons holding large tracts
of land under the earl, with numerous military dependents subject
to them. The following is a sketch of the tenure and ownership of
lands which prevailed in each of the hundreds of Cheshire, before
and subsequent to the Norman conquest, drawn up from the
Domesday survey, with the aid of Sir Peter Leycester's "Antiqui
ties of Cheshire," and other works of authority. There is some
difficulty, in a few cases, in identifying the old names,
* Leycester's Antiquities of Cheshire, p. 437.

PAST AND PRESENT. 543

The hundred of Macclesfield, known at the time of the Domesday
survey as the hundred of Hamstan, belonged before the Conquest
to the Saxon Earl Edwin, the son of Algar, earl of Mercia, more
frequently called earl of Chester. After the Conquest it was given
by the Conqueror to Hugh Lupus, the Norman earl of Chester, who
retained considerable portions of it in his own hands, but granted
the larger part of it to his military followers. The portions of the
hundred of Macclesfield or Hamstan which the earl retained in
demesne — that is, in his own hands — included the manors of Maccles
field, Adlington, Gawsworth, Merton, Chelford, Henbury, Capesthorne,
Henshall, Tintwisle, Hollingworth, Werneth, and Bomiley. The
rest of the hundred was divided among his barons as foUows : —
Bobert Fitz-Hugh, baron of Malpas, held Butley, near Adlington ;
Bichard de Vernon, another baron, held Bredbury ; William Fitz-
Nigel, the first baron of Halton, held one-half of Over Alderley ;
Hugh de Mara held Bosley and Marton ; Hamo de Masci held
Bromhall ; another Norman, named Bigot, held Norbury, half of
Over Alderley, Siddington, and Bode ; Uluric, another Norman of
lower rank, held part of Butley, near Adlington, Mottram, and Alre-
tune ; and Gamel held Chadkirk and part of Mottram. Previous
to the Norman conquest the manors or townships of the Macclesfield
hundred had been held by Saxon thanes, named Bernulf,. Godric,
Godwin, Brun, Hundin, Haccom, and eight or ten others. The
whole of these thanes are described as having been freemen, to dis
tinguish them from the villeins and serfs who cultivated the land.
After the Conquest the Saxon thanes were supplanted by Normans,
named Bobert, William, Hugo, Gamel, and by other Norman
soldiers. The classes of men existing in this hundred, in addition to
the earl, were knights, thanes, vfileins or farmers, radmen or horse
men, miUers, herdsmen, ploughmen, and " servi," serfs or slaves. The
thanes are aU described as freemen ; but none of the other classes,
most of whom were serfs bound to the soil, and many absolute slaves.
The number of carucates of arable land in the hundred of
Macclesfield was 105, equal, if we take them at 180 acres, to
18,900 acres; but very little of this was under actual cultivation
at the time when the survey was made. The whole quantity of
land in Macclesfield hundred is 150,440 acres. In the time of
Edward the Confessor the value of the Macclesfield hundred to the
chief lord had been £24 10s. a year, equal to from twelve to fifteen
times as much of modern money. But in the wars which followed

544 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

the Conquest it had been so completely wasted, that it was only
valued at about £4, of the money of that time. Amongst the kinds
of property mentioned as existing in the Macclesfield hundred were
arable land, meadows, woods, a corn mill, oxen, and horses. There
were also aeries of hawks at the principal manors.
The Bucklow hundred, known at the time of the Domesday survey
as the Bockelau and Tunendune hundreds, also belonged before the
Conquest to Earl Edwin, and under him to numerous Saxon thanes.
But after the Conquest all these had perished or been driven from
their lands. The Norman earl, Hugh Lupus, held OuUerton, Nether
Alderley, and Antrobus ; the church of St. Werburg held Mid Aston,
and Clifton ; Bichard de Vernon held CogshaU in Over Whitley ;
William Fitz-Nigel held Halton, Warburton (half of it), Millington,
Knutsford, Over Tabley, Nether Pever, and Tatton, with Weston,
near Halton, Aston, near Sutton, Norton, Dutton (part of), Little
Legh, Aston, near Budworth, Great Budworth, and Whitley ; Hamo
de Masci held Dunham Massey, Bowden, Hale, Ashley, and OuUerton
(one-half); Bigot held Mobberley ; Gislebert de Venables held Lymme
(one-half), High Legh, Wincham, Mere, near Over Tabley (part of),
Over Pever, and Bosthorne ; Gozelinus held Nether Tabley ; Banulf
held Tatton (one-half), Nether Pever (part of), Warford, part of Over
Pever and Owlarton, Snelston, and CogshaU. (one-half) ; Osborn Fitz-
Tezzon held part of Lymme and part of Warburton, Dutton (some part),
Appleton, and Grappenhall ; Odard held part of Dutton ; Mundret
held Barnton; Banulf and Bigot held Norden; Gislebert, Banulf,
and Hamo held Sunderland in Dunham Massey and Baggeley.
Previous to the Conquest these manors or townships had been held
by Saxon thanes, named Godric, Carle, Erne, Leuinus, Segred, Ulse,
Edward, Lewric, Uched, Tochi, Wache, Alward, Ulviet, Lewin, and
Godrid, and Dot or Dod. All these had been dispossessed by
Norman soldiers.
The quantity of arable land in the Bucklaw hundred was 11 9^
carucates, equal to 21,510 statute acres; but half this land had
been laid waste in the war. The value of the Bucklaw hundred in
the time of Edward the Confessor was £11 Is. of the money of that
time. But it had suffered so much in the wars of the Conquest
that it was considered worth only £5 18s. 4c?. at the time of
the Domesday survey* The quantity of land in the Bucklaw
hundred is 107,710 acres.
* Domesday Survey, Cestrescire. Sir P. Leycestcr; p. 401.

PAST AND PRESENT. 545

The Eddisbury hundred includes the greater part of the ancient
hundreds of Biseton and Boelau. Previous to the Conquest it
belonged to Earl Edwin. After the Conquest Earl Hugh Lupus
held Weaverham, Kennardsley, Dunham on the Hill, Elton, Hapsford,
Manley, Helsby, and Frodsham ; the bishop pf Chester held Tarvin,
Burton, Idenshall, part of Hapsford and Ince; Bobert Fitz -Hugh
held Beeston, Tilston, Bunbury, Tiverton, Spurston, and Peckforton ;
Bichard de Vernon held Ashton near Tarvin ; Walter de Vernon
held Winfleton ; Wfifiam Malbedeng held Ulvre ; William Fitz-
Nigel held Barrow ; Hugh de Mara held Wardle ; Baldric held
Coshull near Wyrven, or perhaps Kelsall ; Gislebert de Venables
held Tarporley, Wetnall, and Harford, near Northwich; Banulf
held Winnington, near Northwich (one-half); Isbert held Clotton,
near Utkinton ; and Osburn held Winnington, near Northwich (one-
half) ; Nigel held Oulton ; Dunning held Kingsley, which the earl
added to his forest ; and Leuric held Alvanley, which in modern
times gave title to a baron. Among the Saxon thanes who were
dispossessed in this hundred were Ulfac, Tochi, Grym, "Leuric,
Gutlac, and Ernut.
The number of carucates of arable land in the Eddisbury hundred
was 144, equal to 25,920 acres; but nearly half of it was lying
waste. The value in the time of Edward the Confessor was £15 14s.,
but at the Domesday survey only £9 lis. Much of the land of the
Eddisbury hundred was afterwards included in the great forest of
Delamere, which extended across the county of Chester from
Frodsham and Helsby, on the Mersey, to Beeston, and along the
Peckforton hills nearly to Malpas and Overton. On these great
hunting grounds were numerous haias, or inclosures, one of which
was for goats and kids. There were also aeries of hawks for
falconry. The hundred of Eddisbury contains 90,000 statute acres.
The Nantwich hundred was then known as the hundred of
Warmandestrou. It chiefly belonged to Earl Edwin before the
Conquest. In this hundred William Malbedeng held Acton,
Wilaston, near Nantwich, Wrenbury, Chorlton, Marbury, Norbury,
Wreyswell, Walkerton, Bosford, Hatherton, Wistaston, Barlesford,
Bertherton, Worleston, Bartumley, Titley, Stapeley, Westerton,
Bromhale, Poole, near Worleston, Baddily, CoppenhaU, Poole, Aston,
near Poole, and Cholmston. The bishop held in this hundred
Wybunbury; Bichard de Vernon held Audlem, Crewe, near Has-
lington, and Shavington ; - Gislebert de Venables held BlakenhaU,
VOL. I. 3 Z

546 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

near Chorlton. Amongst the Saxons dispossessed in this district
were Earls Morcar, Edwin, and Harold, as well as the thanes Edwin,
Osmer, Dot, Ulviet, Fran, Gundwic, Alden, Godwin, Seward, Derth,
Hacon, Elric, Elward, Edric, and many others.
In the Nantwich hundred were 1 16£ carucates of arable land, equal
to 20,970 acres; but a part of it was waste. The value of the
hundred in Edward the Confessor's time was £20 16s., and at the
time of the Domesday survey £16 8s. in the money of those days.
This was independent of the value of the salt works, which we shall
speak of separately. The area of the hundred of Nantwich is
87,640 statute acres.
The Northwich or Mildestvic hundred belonged, previous to
the Conquest, to Earl Edwin. After the Conquest Earl Hugh
Lupus held Arcfid, Sandbach, Clive, Sutton, near Middlewich,
Wimboldsby, Weaver, and Occleston ; Bichard de Vernon held
Shipbrook, Sturlach, Leftwich, Moulton, Warton, near Bostock,
Davenham, and Bostock ; William Malbedeng held Etshal, Church
Minshull, MinshuU - Vernon, and Sproston, near Middlewich;
William Fitz- Nigel held Goostrey and Leghs, near Crannach;
Hugh de Mara held Lawton, another Lawton, and Byley near
Kinderton, and one-half of Goostrey; Hugh Fitz-Osborne held
Somerford ; Bigot held Congleton, part of Sandbach, Sutton, Wim-
' boldsly, and Weaver ; Gislebert de Venables held Newbold-
Astbury, Brereton, Kinderton, Daneport, and Witton -cum- Twam-
brook; Gozelinus held Newton, near Middlewich, and Croxton ;
Banulf held Wheelock and Tetton ; Moran held Leese near Crannach;
and Hugh and William held Bode. Among the Saxons dispossessed
were Ulric, Osmer, Edward, Bers, Alsi, Hergrim, Godric, Derth,
and Elmar.
The number of carucates of arable land in the Northwich hundred
was eighty-four and a half, equal to 15,210 acres; but there was
much waste land. The value in the time of Edward the Confessor
was £8 5s. 7c?., and at the time of the Domesday survey £5 17s. 2c?.
The area of the hundred of Northwich is 69,468 statute acres.
The hundred of Wirrall was then known as the hundred pf
Wilaveston. The Earl Hugh held Eastham, Thanford, Upton, and
Stanney ; the bishop held Sutton in Wirrall ; the church of St.
Werburg held Wyrven, Claugfiton, Sutton in Wirrall, Saughall, near
Shotwick, Shotwick, part of Neston, and part of Baby; Bobert Fitz-
Hugh held Sutton ; Bobert de Bodelent or Buddlan held MoUington,

PAST AND PRESENT. 547

Leighton, Thornton, Gayton, HasweU, Thurstaston, Caldy, Meoles,
and Wallasey; Bobert the Cook (Cocus) held part of Neston and
Hargreve in Wirrall ; Bichard de Vernon held Picton and Hooton ;
Walter de Vernon held Nesse, Ledsham, and Prenton ; Wfifiam
Malbedeng held Wyrvin, Poole in Wirrall, Saughall, Landecan,
Upton, near Bidston, Thingwall, and Noctorum ; WiUiam Fitz-Nigel
held Neston, Baby, Capenhurst, and Barnston ; and Osborn Fitz-
Tezzon held Poulton. The principal Saxon and Danish ' thanes
dispossessed in Wirrall were Ordric, Bagnel, Tochi, Godwin, Ulchatel,
Uchtred, Osgot, Edric, and Ermen, with many others.
The Wirrall hundred contained 174 carucates of land, equal to
31,320 acres. The value of the hundred in the time of Edward the
Confessor was £72 9s., and at the time of the Domesday survey
£49 5s. 10c?. The area of the hundred of Wirrall is 63,320 statute acres.
The Broxton hundred, then known as the hundreds of Dudeston
and Cestre, belonged in Saxon times to Earl Edwin, whose chief
residence seems to have been at Eaton, near Chester. After the
Norman conquest Earl Hugh Lupus held Eaton, Lea, Farndon,
Bushton, Little Budworth, Olton, and Over, in his own hands ; the
bishop of Chester also held a portion of Farndon ; the church of
St. Werburg held Saughton, Cheveley, Huntingdon, Boughton,
and Pulford. Bobert Fitz-Hugh held Bettesfield in Flintshire, and
Worthenbury in the same county. He likewise held Malpas,
Tilton, Criselton, Cholmundley, Edge, Hampton, Larkdon, Dokinton,
Chowley, Broxton, Overton, Cuddington, Shocklach, Tussingham,
Bickley, Bickerton, Burwardesley, and Crewe hall, near Codynton ;
William Malbedeng held Tatnall and Golborne ; William Fitz-Nigel
held Newton, near Chester, and Handbridge, or Beyond Bridge, a
suburb of Chester, as weU as Clutton, near Farndon ; Hugh de Mara
held Lee and Badclive; Hugh Fitz-Osborne held Calcot and part
of Pulford ; Bigot held part of Farndon and Lea, and Torinton ;
Gislebert de Venables held Eccleston and Alpran ; Banulf Venator
or Grosvenor held Stapleford; Ilbert held Warton, near Chester, and
part of Eaton ; and Osborn Fitz-Tezzon held Hanley and Golborne.
The Broxton hundred contains 77,470 acres, of which 208 carucates
or 37,440 acres were cultivated at the Domesday survey. The value
at that time was £56 4s. 7d.
The Salt Springs and Saltworks of Cheshire.— The brine springs
of Cheshire were worked previous to the Norman conquest, though
the rock-salt from which they draw their saline particles was not

548 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

discovered till more than 500 years after that time. They had
probably been worked from the Boman and the British period, for
the Boman roads ran through the principal points of the Cheshire
salt field, and several of them met at Kinderton, near Middlewich.
The latter place was at the time of the Domesday survey what its
name indicates — namely, the middle wych, or saltwork, of the
Cheshire district. The salt manufacture was already one of the
most valuable trades in England.
When Hugh Lupus was created earl of Chester, the saltworks
belonging to the crown and the earl, at Middlewich and Northwich,
had been abandoned. They had previously paid a rent of £16
a year. Other saltworks at Nantwich, whence the king and Earl
Edwin had received £20 a year, equal to £300 to £400 of modern
money, were nearly unproductive and disused, there being then in
use only one saltwork, out of eight which had been worked previously.
At the time of the Domesday survey the saltworks of Cheshire
had somewhat recovered their value. Those at Nantwich — then
the principal works— were let to farm by the crown at £10 a year,
those at Middlewich at £l 5s., and those at Northwich for £l 15s.
The Domesday survey gives the particulars of the duties paid for
each waggon load and horse load of salt, which varied in amount
according as the salt was sold in the hundred or county, or carried
out of them. The customs of the different wyches varied also. The
earl had a salt pit at Nantwich for the use of his own household,
toU-free; but if he sold any of the salt made from it, he had to
account to the king for two-thirds of the toll. The proprietors of
private saltworks were also permitted to have salt toU-free for the
use of their families ; but they had to pay toll to the king and earl
for all the salt that they sold.
The foUowing is the account of the saltworks of Cheshire as
described in the Domesday survey : —
" In the time of King Edward (the Confessor) there was in
Nantwich (Warmundestrou) hundred one wych in which was a well
for making salt ; and there were eight saltworks (divided) between
the king and Earl Edwin; so that from all outgoings and incomings
of salt the king had two parts, and the earl the third. But the earl,
besides these, had one saltwork of his own, which was in his manor
of Aghton (Acatone). From this saltwork through the whole year,
the earl had salt sufficient for his own household: but if he sold any
from it, the king had twopence of the toll, and the earl one penny.

PAST AND PRESENT. 549

" In the same wych many men of that district had saltworks, to
whom this was the custom : — From the day of the Ascension of our
Lord to the Feast of St. Martin, any one having a saltwork was
aUowed to convey his own salt to his own house; but whoever sold
salt from thence to any one, either there or in any part of the county
of Chester, paid toll to the king and the earl. After the Feast of
St. Martin whoever carried salt thence, whether it was his own or
purchased, paid toll except it was from the above-named saltwork
of the earl, using his custom. Those eight above-named saltworks of
the king and the earl, in every week in which they boiled and
worked on the Friday yielded sixteen boilings; of which fifteen
made one load of salt. The saltworks of the other men, from the day
of the Ascension of our Lord to the Feast of St. Martin, did not
give these boilings on Friday : but from the Feast of St. Martin to
the day of the Ascension they paid all customs on boiling, as the
saltworks of the king and the earl.
"All these saltworks and communes and lordships were sur
rounded, on one part, by a certain river (the Weaver) and by a
certain fosse or ditch, on the other. Whoever committed an offence
within these bounds could atone for it by paying 2s. or thirty boilings
of salt, except for homicide or theft, for which the offender was
adjudged to death ; these offences if there committed, were atoned
for, as throughout the whole shire.
"If any one from the prescribed boundary of the saltworks,
anywhere through the whole county, carried off the toll, it being
proved, he brought it back, and was fined 40s. if he was a freeman ;
if not free, he paid 4s.
"In the time of King Edward this wych, with all the pleas of
the same hundred, paid £21. When Earl Hugh received it, it was
waste, except only one saltwork. Now WUliam Malbedeng holds
the same wych from the earl, with all the customs pertaining to it,
and to the whole hundred, which are valued at 40s., of which 30s.
belong to the land of the said William, the remaining 10s. to the
land of the bishop and to the lands of* Bichard and Gislebert,
which they have in the same hundred: the wych is at farm for £10.
"In Northwich (Mildestvich) hundred there was another wych
held between the king and the earl. These were not demesne salt
works, but they had the same laws and customs there, which are
spoken of in the above-named wych; and in the same manner the
king and the earl shared them. This wych was farmed for £8 : and

550 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

the hundred in which it was situated for 40s. The king had two
parts, the earl the third. When Earl Hugh received it, it was waste.
Now the earl himself holds it, and it is farmed for 25 s. and two
cartloads of salt. The hundred is worth 40s.
" In these two wyches any one buying salt and carrying it away
in a cart gave 4c?. for toll, if he had four oxen or more to his cart.
If two oxen, he gave 2c?. toU (for each load) if there were two loads
of salt. A man of another hundred gave 2c?. for a horse load, but a
man of the same hundred only gave one halfpenny for a load of
salt. Any one who loaded a cart so heavily, that the axle broke
within the circuit of a mile of either wych, gave 2s. to the officer
of the king or earl, if he could be overtaken within a mile. In like
manner any one who loaded a horse so heavy that it broke its back,
paid 2s. if overtaken within the mfie : beyond that limit nothing.
Any one who made two loads of salt out from his one forfeited
40s., if the officer could overtake him. If he could not be taken,
nothing was to be forfeited by any one else.
" Men on foot from another hundred, buying salt there, for eight
man-loads paid 2c?. Men of the same hundred, for eight loads
paid lc?.
" In the same Northwich (Mildestvic) hundred was a third wych,
which was called Northwich (Nor-wich) and was at farm for £8 :
the laws and customs were the same there as in the other wyches,
and the king and the earl in the same way divided the returns.
AU the thanes who in this wych had saltworks, throughout the
whole year did not pay on boilings of salt on Friday.
" Whoever from another shire brought a cart with two oxen or
with more paid 4c?. toll. A man of the same shire gave for a cart
load 2c?. if he returned within the third night to the place from
which he had set out: if he exceeded the third night he was fined
40s. A man from another shire paid lc?. for a horse-load of salt ;
but from the same shire one farthing, within the third night as is
said above.
" A man residing in the same hundred, if he kept a cart to sell
salt through the same county, for each cartload paid lc?. however
many times he might load it. If with a horse he carried salt to
sell, he gave lc?. at the Feast of St. Martin. Whoever did not pay
at that time was fined 40s.
" AU other things in these wyches are alike: this one when Earl
Hugh received it was waste: now it is worth 35s."

PAST AND PRESENT. 551

The City of Chester at the Norman Conquest. — The city of Chester
was the only considerable port and place of trade in the north
western parts of England, at the time when the Domesday survey
was made. In the Saxon times it had contained nearly 500
burgages and houses — 436 belonging to the earl, and fifty-six to the
bishop. The city was considered equal, for the purposes of taxation,
to fifty hides of land. We have already described Chester as it was
in the time of the Bomans ; and after their retirement from Britain
it was the chief place in the north-west of England, and one of the
barriers and bulwarks of the kingdom. The walls built by the
Bomans, and restored by Edward the Elder and Ethelfleda, the son
and daughter of Alfred the Great, stfil stood, and were repaired at
the cost of the landowners of the county and the city. They
rendered Chester a secure place of refuge against the pirates who
infested aU the western seas, in great numbers. They thus enabled
trade and commerce to flourish there, to an extent unknown at
any other point on the north-western coast of England.
The account of Chester, and of its trade, customs, and local laws,
contained in Domesday Book, is so curious that we give it at
length. It may be regarded as the commencement of the history of
the cities and boroughs, and also of the trade and commerce, of the
north-western district of England.
The City of Chester at the Domesday Survey. — " The city of
Chester, in the time of King Edward was gildable (i.e., taxable) for
fifty hides of land, three and a half hides of which are without the
city (that is, one hide and a half beyond the bridge, and two hides
in Newton and Bedcliffe, and in the borough of the bishop); these
were gildable with the city.
" In the time of King Edward the Confessor there were in the
city itself 431 gildable houses, and besides these the bishop had
fifty-six gildable houses. This city then paid ten and a half marks
of silver, (equal to £100 of modern money) ; two parts were the
king's, and the third the earl's ; and these were the laws there.
" The peace, given by the hand of the king, or by his writ, or by his
minister, if it was broken by any one, then the king received a fine
of 100s. ; but if the peace of the king, given by his order by the earl,
was broken, of the 100s. which were paid for this offence the earl had
the third penny ; but if the same peace, given by the minister of the
king, or the minister of the earl, was broken, a fine of 40s. was paid,
and the third penny belonged to the earl.

552 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

" If any freeman, breaking the king's peace, slew a man in his
house, all his land and money belonged to the king, and he himself
became an outlaw (utlagh); the earl had the same only from his own
man committing this forfeiture ; but to any outlaw, no one was able
to restore peace but the king.
"Whoever shed blood from the morning of the second day
(Monday) to the ninth hour on Saturday, paid a fine of 10s.; but
from noon on Saturday to the morning of the second week-day
(Monday), the shedding of blood was fined 20s. In like manner he
paid 20s. who did this (shed blood) in the twelve days of the Nativity,
and on the day of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, and the first
day of Easter and the first day of Whitsuntide, and on the day
of the Ascension, and on the Assumption, or the Nativity of the
Holy Mary, and on the feast-day of All Saints.
" Whoever slew a man on these sacred days paid a fine of £4,
but on other days 40s. Likewise he who made heinfar (i.e., took
a serf away from, or caused a loss of a servant or slave to, his
master) or forestel (assault on the highway) on these feast-days, or
on the Lord's day, he paid £4 ; on any other days, 40s.
" A person committing hangenuitham (i.e., executing a felon with
out trial, or allowing him to escape from justice) in the city paid 10s.;
but the king's or earl's bailiff committing this offence paid a fine of 20s.
"He who committed revelach (rapine, or robbery, or theft),
or offered violence to a woman in her house, for each of these offences
paid 40s.
" A widow, if she cohabited with any one unlawfully, paid a fine
of 40s.; and an unmarried woman, for the like cause, 10s.
" He who seized the land of another in the city, and could not
prove that it was his own, paid a fine of 40s. ; and in like manner
he was fined who made a claim to land and could not prove that
it was his own property.
" He who wished to enter on possession of his own land, or that
which had been given up by his relation, paid 10s.; but if he was
not able, or was unwilling to do so, the bailiff took it into the
hand of the king.
" He who did not pay what gabel (tax, rent, service) was due, at
the time appointed, was fined 10s.
" If a fire happened in the city, he from whose house it broke
out was fined three ores (each of an ounce of silver), and he paid
2s. to his next neighbour.

PAST AND PRESENT. 553

" Of all these forfeitures two-thirds belonged to the king, and
one-third to the earl.
" If ships came into or went out of the port of the city without
the king's license, the king and earl had 40s. for every man who
was in the ships.
"If, against the king's peace, and contrary to his prohibition,
a ship entered the port, the king and earl had, as well the ship
as the men, and aU things which were therein. But if a ship came
with the peace and license of the king, they who were in it sold
what they had without interruption ; but when it departed, the
king and earl had 4c?. for every lesth (i.e., last). If the king's bailiff
commanded those who had martens' skins, that they should not
seU to any one until he had first purchased those that were shown
to him, they who disregarded this injunction paid a fine of 40s.
"Any man or woman detected in giving false measure in the
city paid 4s. In like manner the brewer of bad ale was placed
in a chair of filth (i.e., cathedra stercoris), or gave 4s. to the
bailiffs. "The king's and earl's ministers in the city received this
forfeiture on whose lands soever it might be, whether of the bishop
or any other man ; and in like manner if any one detained the toU
above three nights, he forfeited 40 s.
"In the time of King Edward there were seven mint masters
in this city, who gave £7 to the king and earl above the farm,
when the money was coined.
" There were then twelve judges (judices) or magistrates in the
city, and these were chosen from among the men of the king, and the
bishop, and the earl ; if any of these kept away from the hundret
(i.e., hundred court) on the day when it sat, without a clear excuse,
he paid a fine of 10s., divided between the king and earl.
"For the purpose of rebuilding and upholding the wall and
bridge of the city, the preepositus (the bailiff) commanded one man
to come from each hide of land in the county ; whosoever's man
did not come, his lord paid a fine of 40s. to the king and earl;
this forfeiture was over and above the farm.
" This city then paid £45 of farm rent, and three timbers (one
timber contained ten skins) of martens' skins; the third part
belonged to the earl, and two parts to the king.
"When Earl Hugh received it (the city), it was only worth
£30, for it was greatly wasted ; there were 205 houses less than
4 A
¦VOL. I.

554 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
there were in the time of King Edward; now there are as many
as he (Earl Hugh) found.
" Mundret held this city from the earl for £70, and one mark
of gold. " He farmed all the fees of the earl in the county and hundred,
except those of Inglefield (Flintshire), for £50, and one mark of gold.
" The ground on which stands the church of St. Peter, which
Bobert de Bodelent claimed for teinland (i.e., the land of a thane
or nobleman), as the county proved (i.e., upon trial), never belonged
to the manor" — probably the manor of Handbridge without the city;
" but belongs to the borough, and was always in the custom of the
king and earl, as weU as of the other burgesses."
The bishop of Chester has these customs in the city of Chester : —
" Any freeman doing work on a holy day, the bishop has from him
a fine of 8s.; a slave or a female servant breaking a holy day pays
to the bishop 4s.
" A merchant or tradesman coming into the city and bringing a
truss of goods, if he opened it, without permission of the officer of
the bishop, from the ninth hour on Saturday until Monday, or on
any holy day, the bishop had a fine of 4s.
" If one of the bishop's men shall find any man carting goods
within the bounds of the city, the bishop had a fine of 4s. or two oxen."
The Manors, Townships, and Vills of the County of Chester at the
Domesday Survey. — Nothing can give a clearer view of the actual
condition of society in the county of Chester, soon after the Norman
conquest, than the foUowing extracts from the Domesday survey.
They show who had been the holders of the principal manors and
vills in the Saxon times; into whose hands they had passed after the
Norman conquest; what was the extent and value of the arable
land in each, and what the amount of population, at the time when
the Domesday survey was made. It will be seen that in almost every
case the Saxon landholders had been driven from their estates by
Norman soldiers, and that the whole country had either been laid
waste or greatly diminished in value, in the terrible struggle in which
the Saxons had been overcome. The hides of land of Cheshire are
not computed at the rate of six carucates to the hide, as in the land
between the Bibble and the Mersey, but they vary greatly ; some of
the hides being equal to one carucate, or 180 acres, and others to
five times as much, or nearly 1000 acres. We give the principal
manors alphabetically, for greater convenience of reference: —

PAST AND PRESENT. 555

Adlington in Macclesfield Hundred— The Earl (Hugh Lupus, of Chester) holds Edulvin-
tune; Earl Edwin held it: there four hides and a half of taxable land; the land is ten
carucates: there two radmen and six villeins and three cottagers with three ploughs, there
twenty-one acres of meadow ; a wood two miles long and two wide ; and there seven inclosures
and four aeries of hawks. In the time of King Edward it was worth £8 ; now 20s. It was
found waste.
Alderley in Macclesfield Hundred— The, earl holds Aldredelie ; Carle held it : there three
hides of taxable land ; the land is six carucates : it was waste, and is now in the forest of
the earl. In the time of King Edward it was worth 30s.
Alderley (Over) (half) in Macclesfield Hundred.— "Bigot holds Aldreiielie; Godwin held
it as a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is eight carucates ; in demesne is one, with
two herdsmen and three villeins and one radman with one plough; there one acre of
meadow ; a wood one mile and a half long and one mile wide ; and there two inclosures
Qiaice). In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s. now 10s. It was found waste.
Alderley (Over) in Macclesfield Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds from the earl
Aldredelie; Brun held it and was a freeman: there one hide taxable; the land is four caru
cates ; it was and is waste ; a wood two miles long and two wide ; in the time of King
Edward it was worth 20s.
Aston near Mondrum in Nantwich Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Estone;
Ravencote held it and was free : there one virgate taxable ; the land is one carucate : there
one radman has half a carucate with two cottagers ; there one acre and a half of meadow ;
a wood one mile long and half a mile wide ; it was worth 5s.; now 3s. It was waste.
Audlem in Nantwich Hundred— Richard de Vernon holds- Aldelime; Osmer held it :
there two hides taxable ; the land is five carucates ; in demesne is one : one slave, one villein,
one radman, and one cottager with one plough; there two acres of meadow. A wood
two miles long and one mile broad ; and three inclosures (haim) and an aerie of hawks. In
the time of King Edward it was worth 20s. ; now 3s. It was found waste.
Barnston in Wirrall Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Bernestone and Randulf
from him ; Rauesuar and Levret held it for two manors, and were freemen : there one hide
taxable ; the land is two carucates ; in demesne is one ; and two herdsmen and three cottagers.
It was worth 10s. It was found waste.
Bartumley in Nantwich Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Bertemeleu, Seuuardus
held it, and was a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ; in demesne
is one ; and two herdsmen, a priest and one radman and one villein and two cottagers with
two ploughs; there one acre of meadow; a wood one mile long and half a mile wide; and
one inclosure (haia), and an aerie of hawks. It was worth, and is worth 20s. It was
found waste.
Bedesfeld in Exestan Hundred. — In the manor of Robert Fitzhugh at Bedesfeld the bishop
of Chester claims two hides which belonged to the bishopric in the time of King Canute
(Cnut) ; and the county bears witness to him that St. Chad (Sedda), the patron of the diocese
of Lichfield and Chester, lost it unjustly.
Beeston in Eddisbury Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Buistane; VTuoiheld it, and was
a freeman : there one hide taxable; the land is two carucates and a half; in demesne is one,
with two herdsmen. In the time of King Edward it was worth 10s. ; now 5s. He found it
waste. Bicherton in Broxton Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Bicretone, and Drogo of him :
Dot, Edwin, and Eruwin, three thanes, freemen, held it for three manors : there three hides
taxable ; the land is four carucates ; there two villeins with one carucate ; a wood half a
mile long. In the time of King Edward it was worth 18s., now lis. It was waste, and still
is in the greater part.
Blakenhow in Wirrall Hundred.— Ranulf holds, from Earl Hugh, Blacheholl ; Toret held
it, and was a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is four carucates : in demesne are
two, and four herdsmen and four villeins and four cottagers have one carucate ; there a fishery.
In the time of King Edward it was worth 14s., now 40s.

556 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Boughton, in tlie City of Chester. — The church of St. Werburg holds Bocstone, and held it
in the time of King Edward : there three hides of taxable land ; the land is five carucates ;
two are in demesne, and four slaves, five villeins, and four cottagers, have three carucates.
In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s. a year ; now it is worth 16s.
Bowden in Buchlow Hundred. — Hamo holds Bogedon; Eluuard held it: there one
hide taxable ; the land is two carucates ; there two Frenchmen 'have one cariiQate ;
there a priest and a church, to which belongs half a hide ; there a mill pays 16d; it is worth
3s. It was waste ; and thus it was found.
Bredbury in Macclesfield Hundred. — Richard de Vernon holds Bretberie, and Uluric
from him, who also held it as a freeman : there one hide taxable; the land is three carucates;
there one radman, six villeins, and two cottagers have one carucate ; the wood there is a mile
long and half a mile wide ; and three inclosures (haiai) and one aerie of hawks. In the
time of King Edward it was worth 10s. ; now the same.
Bramhall in Macclesfield Hundred. — Hamo holds Bramale ; Brun and Haccun held it
for two manors and were freemen : there one hide taxable ; the land is six carucates ; there
one radman and two villeins and two cottagers have one carucate ; a wood there half a mile
long and as much wide ; and half an inclosure (haia); and an acre of meadow ; in the time
of King Edward it was worth 32s., now 5s. It was found waste.
Broxton in Broxton Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Brosse, and Roger Picat of him ;
Brismere and Raven, two freemen, held it for two manors : there five hides taxable ; the
land is six carucates ; in demesne is one carucate, and three villeins with one carucate : a
wood of one mile. In the time of King Edward it was worth 10s. 8d.; now 15s. 8d.
Budworth (Great) in Buchlow Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Budwurde, and
Pagen from him ; Edward held it as a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is two
carucates ; in demesne is half a carucate, and one slave and a priest and two villeins and one
cottager with one carucate, and a mill serving the hall ; there one acre and a half of meadow.
In the time of King Edward it was worth 6s. ; now 8s.
Bunbury in Eddisbury Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Boliberie ; Dedol held it, and
was a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land two carucates ; one in demesne ; a priest
with two villeins have one carcucate : a wood one mile long and one acre wide ; was worth
4s.; now 13s.
Caldey in Wirrall Hundred.— Hugo de Mara holds Calders ; Erniet held it, and was a
freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ; in demesne is one with one
cottager. It was worth 5s. ; now 10s.
Caldey in Wirrall Hundred.— Robert de Rodelent holds Calders ; Levenot held it, and
was a freeman : there three hides taxable ; the land is ten carucates ; there five villeins and
five cottagers have two carucates, and one Frenchman with one servant has two carucates ¦
in demesne two bovates or carucates, and two acres of meadow. In the time of King Edward
it was worth 50s., afterwards 10s.; now 24s.
Capenhurst in Wirrall Hundred-— William Fitz Nigel holds Capeles, and David from
him: there half a hide taxable; Erne held it; the land is one carucate; there one
villein and two cottagers. In the time of King Edward, and afterwards, it was worth 5s.;
now 8s.
The City of Chester.— In the city of Chester the church of St. Werburg has thirteen houses
free from all custom ; one belongs to the keepers of the church, the other to the canons.
Cholmondley in Broxton Hundred— Robert Fitzhugh holds Calmundelei; Edwin and
Dot, freemen, held it for two manors : there two hides taxable ; the land is four carucates ;
Edwin and Drogo hold it of Robert : in demesne is one carucate; and five slaves and one
villein and three cottagers and one reeve and a smith have, one carucate : and a wood one
mile and a half in length and one in breadth : there three inclosures (haice). In the time
of King Edward it was worth 13s.; now 6s. 3d.
Chriseleton, near Chester, in Broxton Hundred.— Robert Fitzhugh holds Crisletone; Earl
Edwin held it : there seven hides taxable ; the land is fourteen carucates ; in demesne is one
carucate, and two female servants (aneillae), twelve villeins, five cottagers, and two reeves

PAST AND PRESENT. 557

with eight carucates : a mill worth 12s. : and two radmen. Ranulph holds of Robert
two hides of this manor, paying \2d. for it. The whole in the time of King Edward was
worth £6, now worth £3 : it was found waste : has a wood two miles long and one broad.
Church Minshull in Nantwich Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Manessele ; Levenot
held it and was a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is one carucate ; there one rad
man, two slaves, and two cottagers have one carucate ; there one acre of meadow ; a wood
'one mile long and one broad ; and four inclosures (haice) and an aerie of hawks; it was
and is worth 4s. It was waste.
Clifton or Rocksavage in Buchlow. — The church of St. Werburg held and holds
Cliftune, and Witham from it : there one hide of taxable land : the land is two carucates ;
one is in demesne, and two herdsmen, one radman, and one cottager have one carucate : it is
worth 10s. It was waste.
Congleton in Northwich Hundred. — Bigot holds Cogeltone; Godwin held it: there one
hide taxable ; the land is four carucates ; there are two, with two villeins, and four cottagers;
a wood there one mile long and one broad, and two inclosures (haias). It was waste; and
was found so. It is now worth 4s.
Crewe in Nantwich Hundred.— Richard de Vernon holds Creu ; Osmer held it : there one
hide taxable : the land is two carucates : there one radman, and one villein and two cottagers
with one plough : there one acre and a half of meadow : a wood one mile long and half a mile
wide. In the time of King Edward it was worth 10s., now 5s. It was found waste.
Davenham in Northwich Hundred. — Richard de Vernon holds Deveneham ; Osmer held
it, as a freeman : there half a hide taxable ; the land is two carucates ; in demesne is one
carucate, and two slaves, and a priest with a church, and one villein and one cottager with
half a carucate. It was worth 8s. ; now 5s.
Dunham Massey in Buchlow Hundred. — Hamo holds Doneham ; Elward held it, and was
a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ; in demesne is one, and two
herdsmen and two villeins and one cottager; and one acre of wood, and in the city (of
Chester) a house. In the time of King Edward it was worth 12s., now 10s.; it
was waste.
Eastham in Wirrall Hundred.— The earl holds Eastham ; Earl Edwin held it : there
twenty-two hides of taxable land ; the land is of the same number of carucates (22.) There
are two carucates in demesne, and four slaves, fourteen villeins, and ten cottagers with six
carucates : there is a mill and two radmen and one priest. Of the land of this manor
Mundrit holds two hides and Hugo two hides, William one hide, Hamo seven hides, Robert
one hide, Robert half a hide, Walter half a hide : in demesne are four ploughmen and eight
herdsmen and twenty-two villeins and two cottagers, and five radmen and two Frenchmen,
with nine ploughs. The whole manor in the time of King Edward was worth £24 and
afterwards £4 ; now the demesne of the earl is worth £4, and that of his men £5 12s.
Eaton near Chester in Broxton Hundred.— The Earl holds Eaton ; Earl Edwin held it :
there one hide and a half of taxable land ; the land is of two carucates : one is in demesne
and two herdsmen and two villeins have one carucate : there is a fishery which pays 1000
salmon, and there are six fishermen ; and one acre of meadow. In the time of King Edward
it was worth £10, and afterwards 8s.; now £10.
Eccleston in Broxton Hundred.— Gislebert de Venables holds Ecclestone from Earl Hugo ;
Edwin held it, and was a freeman: there five hides taxable ; the land is six carucates; in
demesne is one, and two slaves and four villeins and one cottager with a carucate ; there a
boat and a net, and half an acre of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 10s.,
now 50s. It was waste.
Eddisbury in Eddisbury Hundred— The earl holds Eddisbury ; Godwin held it as a free
man : there two hides of taxable land ; the land is six carucates : it was and is waste.
The wood is a mile long and as much wide.
Eitune in Exestan Hundred.- -St. Chad (Sedde) held Eitune. In the time of King Edward
there was there one hide of land. In Eitune has the Saint himself one villein and half a
fishery and half an acre of meadow and two acres of wood, worth 5s. King Edward gave to

558 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

King Grifin (of North Wales) all the land across the water which is called Dee ; but after
Grifin offended against him, he took this land from him, and restored it to the bishop of
Chester, and to all his men who had held it before.
Farndon in Broxton Hundred. — The bishop of Chester holds Ferentone, and held it in
the time of King Edward : there four hides of taxable land ; the land is five carucates; in
demesne there are two carucates, and seven villeins with one carucate ; the wood is one mile
long and half a mile wide : of this land two priests hold one hide and a half from the*
bishop : there one carucate in demesne, and two Frenchmen and two villeins and their cottager
with one carucate and a half and four slaves : the priest of the town has the half of a
carucate and five cottagers with one carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth
4s. a year, now it is worth 60s. a year : it was waste.
Frodsham in Eddisbury. — The earl holds Frodesham ; Earl Edwin held it : there three
hides of taxable land ; the land is nine carucates. In demesne there are two and one slave,
eight villeins, and three cottagers with two ploughs.
Gawsworth in Macclesfield Hundred.— The earl holds Govesurde ; Benulf a freeman held
it : there a hide of taxable land ; the land is six carucates. It is waste. In the time of
King Edward it was worth 20s.; there a wood two miles long and two wide, and two
inclosures (haias).
Gayton in Wirrall Hundred.— Robert de Rodelent holds Gaitone, and William from him ;
Levenot, a freeman, held it: there one hide taxable; the land is two carucates; there two
villeins and three cottagers have one carucate ; and there two fisheries : it was worth 15s.
afterwards 2s. ; now 3s.
Hale in Buchlow Hundred.— Hamo de Masci holds Hale ; Edward held it : there one hide
taxable ; the land is two carucates and a half : there three villeins with one radman have
two carucates ; there a wood one mile long and half a mile wide, and an inclosure (haia) and
an aerie of hawks and half an acre of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth
15s., now 12s. It was found waste.
Halton in Buchlow Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Heletune; Orme held it, and
was a freeman : there ten hides, of these five (were) taxable and the others not taxable ; the
land is twenty carucates; in demesne are two carucates, and four herdsmen and four villeins
and two cottagers and two priests, with five carucates among all ; there two fishermen pay
5s.; and one acre of meadow; a wood one mile long and half a mile wide; there two
inclosures Qiaios).
Handbridge {Beyond bridge) near Chester.— William Fitz Nigel holds one carucate of land
in Bruge taxable ; Erne held it for a manor : there three cottagers having half a carucate.
It was worth 10s., now 4s.
Hertford in Eddisbury Hundred.— Gislebert de Venables holds Herford ; Dodo held it for
two manors, as a free man: there two hides taxable; the land is two carucates; there are
four villeins and two cottagers and a smith having one carucate.
HasweU in Wirrall Hundred— Robert de Bodelent held Eswelle, and Herbert from him;
Ulchel held it, and was a freeman: there two hides taxable; the land is four carucates; in
demesne is one carucate; and two herdsmen, three villeins, and one cottager with one
carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth 16s. and afterwards 20s.; now 22s.
Henbury and other Manors in Macclesfield Hundred.- -The earl holds Henbury
(Hamiteberie) for half a hide, Capesthorne (Copestor) for half a hide, Henshall (Hofinchd)
Tintwistle ( Tengestivise ) for one virgate, Hollinworth (Holifurd) for one virgate, Wernith'
(Warnet) for one virgate and Romiley (Rumilie) for one virgate, and Laitone for one
virgate. They all paid. These lands eight freemen held as manors. The land amongst
them all is sixteen carucates. It was and is all waste. In Henshall there is a wood two
miles long and two wide : in Tintwistle a wood four miles long and two wide; in Wernith a
wood three miles long and two wide. In the time of King Edward this hundred was worth
40s., now 10s.
Hooton in Wirrall Hundred.— Richard de Vernon holds Hotone ; Foci held it : there one
hide and a half taxable; the land is three carucates; there four radmen and one villein and

PAST AND PRESENT. 559

four cottagers with two carucates. In the time of King Edward it was worth 30s., afterwards
5s.; now 16s.
Huntingdon in Broxton Hundred.— The church of St. Werburg holds Hunditone, and
held it in the time of King Edward : there three hides gildable ; the land is six carucates :
in demesne are two, and four slaves and two villeins and two cottagers with one carucate ;
there one acre of meadow and a boat and a net. In the time of King Edward it was waste ;
now it is worth 16s.
Ince in Wirrall Hundred— -The church of St. Werburg held and holds Inice : there three
hides taxable ; the land is five carucates : in demesne is one carucate, and two slaves and
eight villeins and one cottager with one carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth
30s., now 16s.: there two acres of meadow.
Knoctorum in Wirrall.— William Malbedeng holds Chenoterie, and Richard from him ;
Colben held it and was a freeman : there a half hide taxable ; the land is one carucate,
which there is in demesne ; with two herdsmen and two villeins ; it was worth 15s. ; now
10s. It was waste.
Knutsford in Buchlow Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Cunetesford, and Erchbrand
from him, and who held it as a freeman : there half a hide taxable ; the land is two caru
cates ; it was and is waste : a wood half a mile long and two acres wide. It was worth 10s.
Lache (near Chester in Atiscros Hundred. — The church of St. Werburg holds Lache ; there
one virgate taxable ; the land is half a carucate. It was and is waste.
Landican in Wirrall Hundred.— William Malbedeng holds Landechene ; Essul held it,
and was a freeman : there seven hides taxable ; the land is eight carucates; in demesne is
one ; and one priest and nine villeins and seven cottagers and four Frenchmen with five
carucates amongst alL In the time of King Edward it was worth 50s.; now 40s. It was
found waste.
Lea Newbold in Broxton Hundred. — The earl holds Lai ; Godwin, a freeman, held it :
there one hide and a half taxable ; the land is four carucates : and one herdsman and eight
villeins with one carucate ; there one acre of wood.
Lee in Wirrall. — William Fitz Nigel holds Lee ; Erne held it : there one virgate taxable;
the land is half a carucate : there three villeins. It was worth 5s.; now 8s.
Leftwich in Northwich Hundred. — Richard de Vernon holds Wice ; Osmer and Alsie held
it for two manors, and were freemen : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ;
one is in demesne, and two slaves and three villeins with one carucate : and four acres of
meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 12s. ; now 6s.
Legh (High) in Buchlow Hundred. — Gislebert de Venables holds Lege ; Ulviet and Dot
held it for two manors, and were freemen : there one hide taxable ; the land is two caru
cates ; there a man of his has half a carucate and three slaves ; there a priest and a
church with one villein and two cottagers, having half a carucate ; there a wood one mile
long and half a mile wide; and there an inclosure (haia). In the time of King Edward
it Was worth 10s. ; now 5s.
Lidsham in Wirrall Hundred. — Walter de Vernon holds Levetsham ; Ermet held it :
there one hide taxable ; the land is two carucates : in demesne is half a carucate ; and one
slave and one radman and one cottager with half a carucate among all.
Limme (one-half) in Buchlow Hundred. — Gislebert de Venables holds Lime ; Ulviet held
it and was free : there one hide taxable ; the land is two carucates ; there are three cottagers ;
there a church with half a virgate of land ; a wood half a mile long and the same wide. In
the time of King Edward it was worth 10s.; now I2d. It was found waste.
Macclesfield in Macclesfield Hundred. — The earl holds Macclesfield ; Earl Edwin held it :
there two hides of taxable land ; the land is ten carucates ; in demesne is one carucate and
four slaves; there a mill serving the Court; a wood six miles long and four wide, and there
seven inclosures (haias) and a meadow for oxen. The third penny from the hundred belongs
to this manor. In the time of King Edward it was worth £8; now 20s. It was waste.
Malpas in Broxton Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Depenbech (the Saxon name for
Malpas); Earl Edwin held it : there eight hides taxable; the land fourteen carucates; three

560 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

are in demesne and one cottager, and half an acre of meadow. Of this land five knights
(milites) hold from Robert five and a half hides, and they have three ploughmen and seven
villeins with two and a half carucates. There two acres of meadow.
Meoles Magna in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds Melas ; Levenot held it :
there one hide taxable ; the land is one carucate and a half; there one radman and two
villeins and two cottagers have one carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth
15s.; now 10s. It was found waste.
Meoles Parva in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds Melas; Levenot held it:
there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ; there one radman and three villeins and
three cottagers have one carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth 10s., and
afterwards 8s ¦ now 12s.
Minshull Vernon in Northwich Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Maneshale ; Derth
and Aregrim held it for two manors, and were freemen : there one hide taxable ; the land is
two carucates ; there are five radmen and two cottagers ; there one acre of meadow ; and a
wood half a mile long and half a mile wide : and an inclosure (haia) and an aerie of
hawks : it is (t was) worth 4s. ; now 8s.
Mollington Touroud in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds Molintone, and
Lambert from him ; Gunner and Ulf held it for two manors, and were freemen : there one
hide taxable ; the land is two carucates ; one is in desmesne with two slaves : there two acres
of meadow worth 14s. It was waste, and was found waste.
Mollington Bannester in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds of Earl Hugh
Molintone ; Godwin held it, and was a freeman : there a hide and a half taxable ; the land
three carucates : one is in demesne, and three slaves, three villeins, three cottagers, two acres
of meadow and two acres of wood. In the time of King Edward it was waste : when Robert
received it, it was worth 20s.; now 15s.
Nesse in Wirrall Hundred. — Walter de Vernon holds Nesse ; Erniet held it : there one
hide and a half taxable land ; the land is two carucates ; in demesne is one : and one herds
man and five villeins and three cottagers with three ploughmen; there half an acre of
meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth- 20s.; now 16s.
Neston in Wirrall Hundred.— The church of St. Werburg held and holds Nestone, and
William under it ; there the third of two hides of taxable land ; the land is one carucate.
It yielded and still yields 17s. id. of rent (de firmd.)
Neston in Wirrall Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Nestone ; Erne held it, and was a
freeman : there two parts of two hides taxable ; the land is four carucates ; in demesne are
two carucates ; and one slave, a priest and four villeins, and two cottagers have there three
carucates. In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s., and afterwards about the
same ; now 25s.
Neston in Wirrall Hundred.— Robert the Cook (cocm) holds Nestone from the earl; Osgot
held it and was a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates ; in demesne
are two; and one slave and one villein and four cottagers with one carucate; and one
Frenchman there. In the time of King Edward it was worth 13s. id., now 16s. It was
found waste.
Nether Peover (one-half) in Buchlow Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Pevre; Edward
held it (there two parts of one hide taxable), and was a freeman ; the land is one carucate ;
it was and is waste ; a wood there one mile long and an acre wide; it was worth 5s., now \2d.
Newton (near Chester) in Cestre Hundred— William Fitz Nigel holds from Earl Hu<di
Newentone ; Erne held it : there one hide taxable ; the land is of three carucates : in demesne
are two ; and four herdsmen and six villeins with one carucate. In the time of King Edward
it was worth 20s., afterwards 10s.; now 20s.
Norton in Buchlow Hundred— William Fitz Nigel holds Nortune, and Ansfrid from him-
Uctred and Tochi held it for two manors, and were freemen : there two hides taxable • the
land is six carucates ; in demesne is one, and two slaves and three villeins with one carucate-
there one fisherman and two acres of meadow ; and four acres of wood ; and two inclosures
(haitx); in the time of King Edward it was worth 16s.; now 9s. id. It was found waste.

PAST AND PRESENT. 561

Oulton in Eddisbury Hundred— -The earl holds Altetone; Stein held it, and was a freeman:
there one hide taxable ; the land is two carucates. It is waste.
Oulton in Eddisbury Hundred— -Nigel holds from Earl Hugh, Altetone; Dunning held it,
and was a freeman : there half a hide taxable ; the land is one carucate; it pays a rent of
5s. id. In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s. It was found waste.
Over Tabley in Buchlow Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Stabelei; Leuuinus held it,
and was a freeman : there a third part of a hide taxable ; the land is one carucate ; it was
and is waste ; a wood half a mile long and forty perches wide ; it was worth 10s.
William Fitz Nigel holds in the town itself one carucate of land and a third part of one
hide taxable ; Segrid and Ulsi held it for two manors, and were free : the land is one carucate :
it was and is waste. In the time of King Edward it was worth 7s.
Overton in Broxton Hundred.— Robert Fitzhugh holds Ovreton ; Vluoi held it, a freeman :
there one hide and a half taxable ; the land is two carucates ; one is in demesne ; a wood
two acres long and one wide : was worth 5s. ; now 6s.
Pecforton in Eddisbury Hundred.— Robert Fitzhugh holds Pevretone ; Vluric, a freeman,
held it : there one hide taxable ; the land two carucates ; there one villein with one carucate.
Was worth 8s. ; now pays 20s.
Picton in Wirrall Hundred (1). — Richard de Vernon held Pichetone; Tochi held it, and was
a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is thTee carucates ; one is in demesne ; and two
herdsmen, one radman, and three cottagers have one carucate ; there half an acre of meadow.
In the time of King Edward it was worth 40s., afterwards 5s. ; now 20s.
Pontone. — Richard Pincerna holds Pontone from the earl ; Edwin held it, and was a
freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is five carucates : in demesne are three carucates,
and six herdsmen and a bailiff (propositus) and three cottagers with two carucates ; there
eight acres of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 40s., and afterwards as
much ; now £4.
Pool in Wirrall. — William Malbedeng holds Pol ; Ernuin held it for a manor : there four
carucates taxable ; there one villein and one cottager have half a carucate. It was worth
and is worth 4s.
Prenton in Wirrall Hundred. — Walter de Vernon holds Prentune; Ulviet, Edric, and Seuvede
held it for three manors and were freemen : there a hide and a half taxable ; the land is
three carucates ; in demesne is one, and two herdsmen and two cottagers : there a mill
serving the hall. A wood one mile long and one broad. Was worth 7s.; now 5s.
Pudinton in Wirrall Hundred. — Hamo de Masci holds Potitone from Earl Hugh; Uluric
held it, and was a freeman ; there two hides and a half taxable ; the land is three carucates :
in demesne is one, and one slave and four villeins and four cottagers and one radman with one
carucate. It was worth 20s. It was waste.
Pulford in Broxton Hundred. — The church of St. Werburg holds Pulford, and held it in
the time of King Edward : there half a hide of taxable land ; the land is of one carucate ;
there is one villein and one cottager. It was worth 4s. ; now 5s.
Pulford (one half) in Broxton Hundred. — Hugo Fitz Osborne holds Pulford ; Uluric held
it as a freeman : there one hide and a half taxable ; the land is one carucate ; and there are
are two radmen and one villein and two cottagers. This land was waste; now it is
worth 5s.
Baby in Wirrall Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Rabie, and Harduinus from him ;
Erni held it : there half a hide taxable ; the land is one carucate in demesne ; there are one
slave and two villeins and two cottagers with one carucate. In the time of King Edward it
was worth 10s., and after 14s.; now 20s.
The church of St. Werburg held and holds Rabie, and William under it : there half a hide
of taxable land ; the land is of one carucate ; it yielded, and still yields, 6s. 8d. of rent.
Redclive, near Chester. — The bishop held and holds in Redclive two parts of one hide of
taxable land. In the time of King Edward it was worth 13s., now 2d.; formerly it belonged
to the church of Saint John. In the monastery of the Blessed Mary, which is outside the
church of Saint John, are two bovates of land, which were waste and are so now. The
4 b

VOL. 1.

562 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*

church of Saint John in the city has eight houses free from all custom ; one of these is of the
pupils (matricularii) of the church. The other belong to the canons.
Sandbach in Northwich Hundred. — Bigot holds Sanbec; Dunning held it, and was free: there
one hide taxable ; and one virgate and a half likewise taxable ; the land is two carucates ;
there is one Frenchman with half a carucate and three slaves ; and two villeins with half a
carucate ; there a priest and a church : a wood half a mile long and forty perches wide. In
the time of King Edward it was worth 4s.; now 8s.
Sandbach in Northwich Hundred. — The earl holds Sanbec with two and a half virgates
of taxable land : and Cliffe (Clive) with one virgate, and Sutton near Middlewich (Sutone)
for four bovates of land, and Wimboldsley (Wibaldelai) for one virgate, and Weever (Weevre)
for one virgate, and Occleston ( Aculvestune ) for one hide. These lands six freemen held for
six manors: the whole land is sixteen carucates. It was and is entirely waste. In
Wimboldsley there is an acre of meadow, and the fourth part of a wood one mile long and
four perches broad. In Weever there is half an acre of meadow and the fourth part of a
wood, which is one mile in length and as much in breadth.
Saughall inWirrall Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Salhale; Leving held it, and was
a freeman : there six hides taxable ; the land is six carucates : in demesne is one and a half,
and one slave and seven villeins and one radman and four cottagers with three carucates and
a half; there a fishery. In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s., and afterwards 22s.;
now 45s. shillings.
Shavinglon in Nantwich Hundred. — Richard de Vernon holds Calvintone (?); Dot held it,
and was a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is two carucates. It was waste and
was found waste ; now it is let for 60s.
Shipbrook in Northwich' Hundred. — Richard de Vernon holds Sibroc; Osmer held it ; he was
a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is five carucates : in demesne is one, and two
slaves and two villeins with one carucate ; there three acres of meadow and two acres of
wood. In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s. ; now 10s. It was found waste.
Stanney in Wirrall Hundred.— The earl holds Stanei, and Restald from him ; Ragenal
held it as a freeman ; there one hide taxable ; the land is two carucates : in demesne is one
and two herdsmen and two villeins and two cottagers and one fishery. In the time of King
Edward it was worth 12s. ; now 14s. Of this land the fifth acre was and ought to be in the
church of St. Werburg : the county bears witness. The canons complain because they have
been unjustly deprived of it.
Stapleford in Broxton Hundred.— Radulf Grosvenor ( Venator) holds of Earl Hugh, Staple-
ford ; Ulsi held it, and was a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is three carucates :
in demesne is one; and one radman, two villeins, and five cottagers with three ploughs : there
a wood two acres long and one wide, and a mill. It was and is worth 16s.
Stochlach in Broxton Hundred.— Robert Fitzhugh holds Socheliche, and Drogo from him :
Dot, a freeman, held it : there three hides taxable ; the land is four carucates ; in demesne are
two, and two villeins with one carucate ; there half an acre of meadow. In the time of King
Edward it was worth 8s.; now 12s.
Summerford in Northwich Hundred — Hugo de Mara holds Sumreford from the earl; Godric
held it as a freeman : there half a hide taxable ; the land is one carucate. It was and is now
waste. Sutton in Wirrall Hundred.— The bishop of Chester held and holds Sudtone ; there one hide
of taxable land ; the land is three carucates ; one is in demesne ; five villeins and two
cottagers with one plough ; there six acres of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was
worth 40s. a year; now 20s.
Robert Fitzhugh holds Sudtone ; Tochi held it, and was a freeman : there one hide taxable ;
the land three carucates ; one in demesne and three cottagers with one villein : there six
acres of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 40s., afterwards 6s.; now it
pays 5s. id. rent.
Tarporley in Eddisbury Hundred.— Gislebert de Venables holds Torpelei; Ulviet held it,
and was a freeman : there two hides taxable; the land is four carucates; in demesne is one]

PAST AND PRESENT. 563

and two slaves and four villeins and two cottagers with one carucate ; a wood one mile long
and one broad ; and one acre of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 20s.;
now 10s. It was found waste.
Tarvin in Eddisbury Hundred. — The bishop of Chester held Terve, and still holds it : there
six hides of taxable land ; the land is twenty-two carucates ; there are three carucates in
demesne, and six herdsmen, three radmen, seven villeins and seven cottagers with six
carucates ; a wood of a mile in length and half a mile in breadth. Of the land of this
manor William holds two hides from the bishop; and there is half a carucate and four
villeins and three cottagers with three carucates and a half. The whole in the time of King
Edward was worth £8 ; now £4 10s. It was waste.
Tatton (one-half) in Buchlow Hundred. — Ranulf holds Tatune from the earl; Lewinheld
it : there the sixth part of a hide taxable; the land is half a carucate : there is one radman,
two slaves, two villeins, and four cottagers ; the wood is a mile long and as much wide. In
wych there is one house waste. It is worth 3s.
Tatton (one-half) in. Buchlow Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Tatune; Erchbrant, a
freeman, held it : there one hide taxable ; the land is three carucates and a half ; there
three villeins and four cottagers. It is worth 4s.
Thingwall in Wirrall Hundred. — William Malbedeng holds Tuigvelle, and Durand from
him ; Winterlet held it, and was a freeman : there one hide taxable ; the land is two carucates ;
in demesne is one, and two slaves and one villein and one cottager have another. In the time
of King Edward it was worth 8s. ; now 5s.
Thornton in Mayow Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds Torintone, and.William
from him ; Ulchetel held it, and was a freeman : there half a hide taxable ; the land is two
carucates ; there one radman and one villein, one cottager and half a carucate. Was worth
10s.; and afterwards and now 5s.
Thurstaston in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent held Turastaneton, and William
from him ; Levenot held it, and was a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is four
carucates ; in demesne is one, and two herdsmen, four villeins, four cottagers with one and
and a half carucate. In the time of King Edward it was worth 30s., afterwards 8s.;
now 16s. ,,
Tilston near Malpas in Broxton Hundred. — Robert Fitzhugh holds Tillestone ; Earl
Edwin held it : there four hides ; the land is eight carucates ; one is in demesne^ and two slaves,
four villeins, two cottagers, four radmen, a bailiff, a smith, and a miller, with four carucates
among them; there a mill worth 8s. Of this land Ranulf holds half 'a- hide of Robert,
paying 6s. 8d. The whole in the time of King Edward was worth i>6,' now 30s. : it was
found waste : it has a wood a mile long and a mile wide. Of this manor the bishop of
Chester claims half a hide, but the county does not confirm this claim.
Upton in Broxton Hundred.— The earl holds Optone; Earl Edwin held it: there four
hides and a half; the land is twelve carucates; one is in demesne, and two herdsmen, twelve
villeins, and two radmen, have five carucates. In the land of this manor Hamo holds two
parts of one hide, Herbert half a hide, and Mundret one hide ; there four carucates in
demesne, and eight herdsmen, two villeins, and two cottagers with ' one car,ucate ; there an
acre of meadow. The whole manor in the time of King Edward was worth 60s.; now the
demesne of the earl is worth 45s. ; that of his men 40s.
Upton in Bidston Wirrall Hundred. — William Maldebeng holds Optone, and Colbert from
him : who also held it as a freeman : there three hides taxable ; the land is five carucates ; in
demesne is one, and four slaves and two villeins and one radman and four cottagers with one
carucate; there two acres of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 25s.;
now 20s.
Wallasey in Wirrall Hundred. — Robert de Rodelent holds Walea ; Uctred held it, and was
a freeman : there one hide and a half taxable ; the land is four carucates ; there one villein and
one cottager with half a carucate ; and one Frenchman has one carucate with two herdsmen,
one radman, and one cottager.
Warburton (half) in Buchlow Hundred.— William Fitz Nigel holds Wareburgetune; Ernu

564 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .*

held it, and was a freeman ; there half a hide taxable ; the land is one carucate ; there is one
radman, with two oxen. It was worth 5s.; now 2s.
_ Weston near Halton in Buchlow Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Westone; Grifin held
it as a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is five carucates. Ordard and Britric hold
from William ; there they have two carucates in demesne, and three herdsmen and five
villeins and three cottagers with three carucates, and two fishermen, and two acres of meadow ;
a wood one mile in length and half a mile in width ; and an inclosure (haia). In the time
of King Edward it was worth 58s. ; now. 20s.
Weaverham in Eddisbury. — Earl Hugh holds in demesne Wivreham ; Earl Edwin held it :
there thirteen hides of taxable land ; the land is eighteen carucates ; in demesne are two,
and there are two herdsmen, two slaves, ten villeins, one cottager, and one radman with one
villein : amongst them all they have three carucates : there is a church and a priest and a
mill serving the hall, and one acre of meadow; the wood is two miles long and one mile
wide : there are two inclosures (haios) of young goats : to this manor belong ten burgesses in
the city : of these six pay 10s. 8d. and four pay nothing : a Frenchman holds it from the earl.
In wych were seven salt pits belonging to this manor ; one of them now supplies salt to the
hall, the others are waste.
Whitley in Buchlow Hundred. — William Fitz Nigel holds Witelei, and Pagen and Ordard
from him ; Levenot held it as a freeman : there two hides taxable ; the land is two carucates •
in demesne is one with one slave ; there an acre of meadow; a wood one mile long and halt
a mile broad. It is worth 6s.
Wervin in Broxton Hundred. — The church of St. Werburg holds Wivrevene, and held it in
the time of King Edward : there one and a half hides of taxable land ; the land is three
carucates; there four villeins and two cottagers have one carucate and a half: there half an
acre of meadow. In the time of King Edward it was worth 30s.; now 20s.
Wervin in Broxton.— William Malbedeng holds Wivrevene ; Colbert held it and was a
freeman : there a third part of one hide taxable : the land is one carucate ; there are two
villeins with half a carucate. Was worth 8s.; now 4s.
Population of Cheshire and Lancashire at the Domesday Survey. —
The number of persons mentioned in the Domesday survey, in the
account of Lancashire and Cheshire, is stated by Sir Henry Ellis, in
his General Introduction to that survey, to be not more than 2349.
But that is the number of the men only, and if we add the usual
proportions of women and children, which may be done with tolerable
correctness by multiplying the amount by five, we shall obtain a
population of about 12,746 souls, for the two counties, which now
contain 3,000,000 inhabitants. The following are the numbers
with the positions and the occupations, of the population of
Lancashire and Cheshire at the time of the Domesday survey, as
stated by Sir Henry Ellis : — Numbers.
Tenants in capite, holding from the king,  2
Cinder tenants of the crown   -¦ 67
Ancilla?, or female servants,  8
Bordarii, or cottagers,  638
Bovarii, or herdsmen,   ¦¦ -„
Burgesses of the city of Chester belonging to the manor of Dodestune, ... 15
Burgesses in Rodelent (Rhuddlhan),  ' , lg
Burgesses in Peneverdent (Penwortham),  6
Drengs, military followers holding manors,  6

PAST AND PRESENT.

565

Numbers.
Fabri, workmen or artizans  4
Francigense, Frenchmen  41
Homines, followers   27
Hospites, persons in hospitals  . 3
Liberi homines, freemen  42
Molinarius, a miller,  •   1
Piscatores, fishermen,  14
Propositi villarum, reeves or bailiffs,  6
Presbyteri, priests,  29
Radmen, horsemen,  145
Servi, slaves,  193
Villani, villeins or cultivators of the soil,  797

Total,

2334

To these numbers we should be disposed to add about 250, for the
burgesses of Chester, resident within the city, at the time when the
survey was made, who are omitted in Sir Henry Ellis' enumeration;
and also about thirty for drengs, or the smaller class of thanes, under
estimated in his summary. In round numbers, the male adult popula
tion of the two counties, at the Domesday survey, may be taken at
about 2600. This is the number of men, exclusive of women and chil
dren. Supposing the whole population to have been five times as great
as the adult male population, this would make the population of
Lancashire and Cheshire, in the year 1086, 13,000. This is a
smaller number, in proportion to the extent of the two counties,
than was found at that time in any other district in England. The
male adult population of the different Engfish counties, at the
time of the Domesday survey, as ascertained by Sir Henry Ellis,
from a careful examination of the whole of the returns in that
great record, was as follows: —

POPULATION OF THE ENGLISH COUNTIES AT THE DOMESDAY SUKVEY.
Area in Acres. Male Population. Total Population.
295,582 ... 3,875 ... 19,375
451,210 ... 6,324 ... 31,620
466,932 ... 5,420 ... 27,100
525,182 ... 5,204 ... 26,020
2,000,000 ... 2,349 ... 11,745
873,600 ... 5,436 ... 27,180
658,803 ... 3,041 ... 15,205
1,657,180 ... 17,434 ... 87,170
632,025 ... 7,807 ... 39,035
1,060,549 ... 16,060 ... 80,300
805,602 ... 8,366 ... 41,830
1,047,220 ... 10,373 ... 51,865
534,825 ... 5,368 ... 26,840
391,141 ... 4,927 ... 24,635

Bedfordshire, .
Berkshire, ....
Buckinghamshire, .
Cambridgeshire, . .
Chester and Lancaster,
Cornwall, .
Derbyshire, Devonshire,
Dorsetshire,Essex, . .
Gloucestershire, .
Hampshire, . .
Herefordshire,Hertfordshire,

566 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

Area in Acres. Male Population. Total Population.
Huntingdonshire,  229,544 ... 2,914 ... 14,570
Kent  1,039,419 ... 12,205 ... 61,025
Leicestershire,  1,219,221 ... 6,672 ... 33,360
Lincolnshire,  1,775,457 ... 25,305 ... 126,525
Middlesex, without London, . . . . 180,136 ... 2,302 . 11,510
Norfolk,  1,354,301 ... 27,087 ... 135,435
Northamptonshire,  630,358 ... 8,441 ... 42,205
Nottinghamshire,  526,766 ... 5,686 .. 28,430
Oxfordshire,  472,714 ... 6,775 .. 33,875
Rutlandshire,  95,805 ... 862 . 4,310
Shropshire, ... . 82,655 ... 5,080 .. 25,400
Somersetshire,  1,047,220 ... 13,764 ... 68,820
Staffordshire,  728,468 ... 3,178 ... 15,890
Suffolk,  728,468 ... 20,491 ... 102,455
Surrey,  ... 478,792 ... 4,393 ... 21,965
Sussex,  936,911 ... 10,410 ... 52,050
Warwickshire,  563,946 ... 6,547 ... 32,735
Wiltshire,  865,092 ... 10,150 ... 50,750
Worcestershire,  472,165 ... 4,625 ... 23,125
Yorkshire,  380,666 ... 8,055 ... 40,275
286,926 1,435,630
Supposing the numbers of persons in the first column to have been
heads of families, each consisting of five persons, this would make the
whole number of the population of the English counties included in
this survey 1,435,630 persons, or, in round numbers, a million
and a half. The counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cum
berland, and Westmoreland were not included in the Domesday
survey, which only extended to the northern boundaries of Yorkshire
and Lancashire, and to a few townships in Westmoreland and
Cumberland. Such was the condition of the north-western division of England
at the time of the Domesday survey, made about twenty years after
the Norman conquest. It was at that time the poorest, the most
uncultivated, and probably the most thinly - peopled district of
England. In several of the southern counties the wealth, and no
doubt the population, of districts of equal extent was four or five
times as great in the same age. In the north-western district, with
about 2,000,000 acres of land, less than the fifth part of the soil
was of sufficient value to be taken into account in this enumera
tion of the national resources. Yet the sofi and its produce were
almost the only sources of wealth. In that part of the district which
includes the county of Lancaster this was almost entirely the case,
the only sources of wealth spoken of being the land with its produce'
and the fines imposed on the owners of the soil for offences com-

i

PAST AND PRESENT. 567

mitted within their limits. In the county of Chester also the land
was likewise much the greatest source of wealth, though not the
only one. In that county the saltworks possessed a certain value ;
and there was also one considerable city with some hundreds of
houses, and some rude branches of trade and of commerce.
With these exceptions the north-western division of England,
where it was not a forest, was at that time an agricultural
or pastoral country, thinly inhabited by a population, chiefly
consisting of serfs or slaves in the country districts, though with
a few freemen and burgesses in the only considerable borough of
the district.
The progress of a community so composed and so situate was
naturally very slow, from want of skill, capital, means of transport,
and markets for the sale of produce ; and was rendered still slower
than it need have been by the continual prevalence of war and
tumult, the frequent ravages of disease, and by occasional famines,
caused by the inability of the people to store up the abundance of
one year to meet the deficiencies of another, or even to transport
the abundance of one district to meet the local deficiencies of
another. In that age the whole population was liable to be called
out for military service at the shortest notice, and on the most
frivolous pretences ; and during the 200 years which followed the
Norman conquest, there was seldom a period of more than two or
three years in which the cultivator was not called away from his
peaceful and useful labours, to shed his blood in some quarrel in
which he had comparatively little or no interest.
For more than two hundred years after the conquest of England
by the Normans, the Scandinavian kings and chiefs commanded aU
the seas and islands between England, Scotland, and Ireland, and
either plundered or exacted tribute from all who frequented those
seas. Their principal position, in what were caUed the Southern or
Sodor Islands, was the Isle of Man, though their dominion extended
as far south as the Scilly Islands, all over the Irish Sea, and
northward to the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the Faroe
Islands, and even to Iceland, in one direction, and to Norway and
Denmark in another. We learn from the Chronicles of the Kings of
Man * that the chiefs in these seas frequently coUected hundreds
of small vessels for the purpose of making war on or plundering the
people of the neighbouring coasts, or each other. In the year 1098,
" Chronicon Eeges Manniffi: Camden's Britannia.

568 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the king of Norway visited these seas with a fleet of one hundred
and sixty vessels. In the year 1158, another chief came to the Isle
of Man with a fleet of fifty-three ships; and in the year 1164,
Sumerled, a third chief, had a fleet of a hundred and fifty ships in
the same seas. No English ships of war are mentioned in the Irish
Sea previous to the year 1171, when Strongbow, earl of Pembroke,
crossed with a fleet into Ireland. He was soon followed by the
De Courcys, the De Lacys, the Le Butlers, and other Engfish
adventurers. But it was not until the year 1210, that King John
of England crossed over into Ireland, with a fleet of five hundred
ships. He sent a division of that fleet, under the command of one
of his earls, named Fulke, to the Isle of Man, who laid waste the
island for fifteen days, and took hostages from the inhabitants, before
returning to England. But it required another hundred years, and
a much greater chief, namely King Robert Bruce of Scotland,
thoroughly to break the power of the Scandinavian chiefs in the
western seas. This he effected, in the year 1313, by overrunning
the Isle of Man, and capturing the strong fortress of Castle
Bushin. After that time, the Scandinavian sea-kings ceased to infest
the Western seas, and soon died out. The Isle of Man was afterwards
united to England. It was first governed by the Montacute family;
then by the Scropes; afterwards by the Percys; and ultimately by
the Stanleys, kings of Man, and afterwards earls of Derby, who
ruled the island for upwards of 300 years.
Incessant wars abroad or at home were amongst the principal
causes which retarded the progress of society in those turbulent
ages. Not one of the Norman kings ascended the throne without
having to fight with a rival for its possession; and few of the
Plantagenet kings reigned in peace even within their own dominions.
The Norman and Plantagenet kings, as we have seen, were a race
of conquerors, who aspired to almost universal dominion, not only
among the nations within the British islands, but also over those in
the neighbouring countries of the continent. More especially, how
ever, were the earlier kings bent on the conquest of the principality
of Wales, and the kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland. At that time
the whole of the land of the kingdom was held from the crown by
military service, and the holders of it were compelled to follow their
lords to the field whenever called on to do so. In the feudal
armies of those ages the kings were the commanders-in-chief, the
earls were their field-marshals, the barons were the generals, the

PAST AND PRESENT. 569

knights the officers, the smaller gentry the cavalry, and the yeomen
peasants and cottagers, as well as the poorer burgesses and their
labourers, were the infantry and the archers, who at an early time
acquired a high reputation in the wars of Europe. With a view
to military service men of every rank were trained to the use
of arms from their earliest years, and were liable to serve from
the age of fifteen to that of sixty. By the celebrated statute of
Winton, passed in the thirteenth year of the reign of Edward I.,
which reduced the long-established military customs of England to
law, it was provided that every man should at all times have arms
in his own house, suited to his rank and his estate, and be at all
times ready for military service. There appear to have been no
exceptions to this law, though the clergy, including the inhabiters
of the religious houses, were probably excused in point of fact, even
in an age when some of the clergy of the highest rank, including
bishops and archbishops, were at least nominaUy commanders of
armies. With regard to aU classes of laymen, the statute of Winton
provided, that every person who had land of the value of £15 a year,
or goods of the value of forty marks, should at aU times be provided
with a horse, a breastplate of iron, a sword, and a knife or dagger.
Those having £10 in land, or twenty marks in goods, were required
to have the arms above described, though without the horse. The
smaU proprietor who had land of the value of £5, was required to
have a sword, a knife, a breastplate of iron, and a strong leathern
doublet. Yeomen of an inferior class who had land of the value of
from £2 to £5 a year were required to have swords, bows, and
arrows ; and those who had less than £2 in land were required to
have knives and spears. He who had less than twenty marks in goods
was required to have a sword and a knife. All other persons, with
out exception, were required to have bows and arrows, if residing
outside the royal forests; and crossbows and bolts if residing within
them. A public inspection took place twice a year to ascertain that
all classes of men had the arms and armour prescribed by law, and
knew how to use them. The object of this and of other laws of a
similar kind was to make a nation of soldiers ; and the result was
what was desired. In a few years after the Norman conquest the
whole nation was trained to arms, and was able not only to defend
itself, but to' carry on most extensive wars within the British
islands, on the continent of Europe, and even as far as the Holy
Land. VOL. I. ^ C

570 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
But while the people in all parts of the kingdom were liable to
military service, the actual pressure of war fell most severely on the
inhabitants of the districts residing nearest to the borders, and to
the seats of war. For the first 200 years the conflicts with the
brave mountaineers of Wales seldom . ceased for more than a few
years at a time ; and hence the county of Chester, and the other
counties bordering on Wales, were little else than camps and
garrisons, the people always either waiting for an attack or pre
paring to make one. In general the English, having greatly the
superiority in numbers, succeeded in keeping the war from their
own borders ; but this was not always the case. On several occa
sions the Welsh armies succeeded in forcing their way to the suburbs
of Chester, and in burning them to the ground ; and in the reign
of Henry III. the Welsh overran the greater part of the county of
Chester, and even destroyed the saltworks at Northwich and Nant
wich. During the whole of these wars there was a continual drain
of the population of Lancashire and Cheshire, for the purpose either
of conquest or of defence.
A not less destructive drain, both of money and of blood, com
menced in the reign of Henry II. with the attempts to conquer
Ireland. In the reign of King John the burden of the Irish
wars became so oppressive in Lancashire, that the knights and
thanes paid a large sum of money to the king, that they might be
excused from serving beyond the sea. But this was only a tem
porary relief, for the wars with Ireland never ceased, nor did the
drain of gold and blood wasted and expended in carrying them on.
At a still later period a still greater drain on the population and
resources of the northern counties of England was occasioned by the
unavailing efforts of Edward I., and of his son and grandson, to
conquer the kingdom of Scotland. Nearly all the supplies, and
much the greater part of the men, consumed in those wars were
raised in the northern counties. The demands for archers and men
at arms, .for knights, for seamen, and for ships to assist in carrying
on the wars with Scotland, seldom ceased during the reigns of the
first three Edwards; and on more than one occasion the whole of
the male population of the six northern counties was ordered to
assemble at Berwick and march into Scotland. The waste of lives
and of resources in the wars of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, fell
with excessive severity on the northern counties. Nor did those
counties escape without heavy loss in what was called the Hundred

PAST AND PRESENT.

Years' War with France — that is to say, the wars commenced in
the reign of Edward III. and continued almost to the close of the
reign of Henry VI. In these destructive wars the dukes of Lan
caster prided themselves in taking the field with as large a force
as possible, and a considerable portion of their forces were drawn
from the counties of Lancaster and Chester, in which they were the
lords of vast estates, and the virtual rulers of the people.
Nor was it in these foreign wars only that the resources of the
kingdom were exhausted. Within the kingdom civfi strife seldom
ceased for more than a few years. The Norman kings — that is to
say, William the Conqueror and his two sons, William Rufus and
Henry I. — had to fight for their crowns against rivals, enemies, and
insurgents. The reign of King Stephen was twenty years of blood
shed and anarchy ; and ended in his agreeing to accept Henry Plan
tagenet as his successor, instead of his own son, WiUiam de Blois.
Stephen, both as earl of Morton, before he ascended the throne, and
as nominal king of England, was the lord of the honour of Lancaster,
which was wasted and impoverished in his struggles for the crown.
It passed along with the rest of his private estates to his son,
WiUiam de Blois ; on his death to King Henry II. ; and afterwards
to his son John, earl of Morton. It is at this time that the
history of this district begins to assume an interest connected with
the affairs of ordinary life. From the Domesday survey to the reign
of King John it is a mere mass of confusion, in which it is scarcely
possible to form any opinion of the habits of the people and their
modes of life, except from the fact that they and their chiefs were
engaged in incessant warfare either at home or abroad.
Yet in the midst of all this strife and contention the condition
of the people was slowly improving, and in the reign of King John
there sprung up a strong desire for the restoration of what they
believed to be the ancient liberties of the English people. This feeling
pervaded the barons, as well as the commons, and led to those great
struggles which ultimately established the freedom of the nation.
The wars of the barons and the people with King John, with his
son Henry III., 'and the more peaceful, though scarcely less deter
mined, struggles with Edward I., ended in the establishment of
the English parliament, and to a gradual improvement in the con
dition of the people. The policy of King John, whether intentionally
or not, had great influence in bringing about this result. He was one
of the principal granters of charters to towns and cities; and under

572 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
these charters a free population grew up, which soon made common
cause with the barons, and thus established the freedom of England.
All the boroughs of the kingdom began to fill with men who
became personaUy free under the protection of these charters, many
of which provided that any one who lived within their limits for
twelve months, without being challenged as a serf, became free, and
remained free against all further claim, even of his former master.
The Forests of Lancashire and Cheshire. — The first great improve
ment effected in the north-western division of England, as in the
kingdom generally, was the clearing away of the vast forests which
extended over the greater part of the island, and had probably never
been cleared since the time of the Roman dominion in Britain — if
then. Some of the natural forests of Lancashire and Cheshire were
nine or ten miles in length, even in the more level parts of the two
counties,4' and the whole of the hills and mountains were covered
with heath, grass, and thickets of trees or underwood. These forests
and wastes were infested by wolves and wfid boars, as weU as by
deer and wfid cattle, down to the time of the Tudors, when Leland
speaks of the wild cattle as having recently become extinct in the
more hilly districts about Bury.t The clearing, or, as it was then
caUed, the " assarting," of forest lands commenced in the south of
England previous to the Norman conquest, and is mentioned in
Domesday Book. \ But the early Norman kings, like Nimrod, were
mighty hunters of wild beasts, as well as of men; and the cruel
laws which they established to preserve the deer, the wild cattle,
and even the smaller game of their forests, rendered it impossible
for the holders of the land to clear it with safety, and for their
tenants to cultivate it peacefully even when cleared. In addition
to this, the Norman and the early Plantagenet kings claimed the
right to extend the old forests and to form new ones; and this
pretended right seems to have been grossly abused in the county of
Lancaster by the early kings and the earls of Morton, who were
princes of the royal blood, both in the times of Stephen and John ;
and in the county of Chester, under the Norman earls of Chester,
who possessed all the rights of the crown in that county. Amongst
the acts prohibited under the forest laws was the clearing of the
woods, and the breaking down of the underwood, which sheltered
the game. The vfileins, or farmers, were also forbidden to
* Domesday Survey : Inter Ripam et Mersliam. f Leland's Itinerary, vol. v. p. 94.
J Sir Henry Ellis' General Introduction to tlie Domesday Survey : Leominster.

PAST AND PRESENT. 573

ditches on their own land within the limits of the forest, to sink
marl-pits, to drive swine through the forest, or to gather wild honey.
To disturb the deer, even without the intention of chasing them,
was punished with heavy fines ; and the chasing and killing of the
deer was in some cases punished with mutilation, and even with
death. Even the clergy, whose power at that time was almost
unlimited, were severely fined for offences against the forest laws.
In the sheriff's accounts or pipe-roll for Lancashire of 21 Henry II.
(1174), we have an account of numbers of the clergy and others
punished for offences against the forest laws. Amongst these were
the archdeacon of Chester, fined 100s. ; Humphrey, the priest, the
brother of Albert de Boiseul, baron of Penwortham ; Stephen, parson
of Walton ; Ralph the parson, and Adam the priest, of Preston ;
Robert, priest of Childwall ; Adam, priest of Meols ; and Jordan,
dean of Manchester. We have also reports of some of the forest
assizes held in the county of Lancaster in later times, with the
nature of the offences committed or charged. In the 15 Edward I.
(1286-87), Adam de Carleton, Roger, the son of Roger of Roucfiffe,
with Richard his brother, were indicted for capturing three wild
oxen with the dogs of Richard le Botiller, in the forest of the king,
in the moss of Pilling. At the same assizes, Richard de Lee, John
the son of Simon, John of Arkelbeck, Roger his brother, and Wfifiam
the son of Julia de Heysham, were accused of capturing deer and
wild cattle with bows, arrows, and hunting dogs. On this occasion
the parties pleaded that they had a right to do so, under a charter
granted by King John to the thanes of Lancashire. At a still later
forest assize, in the 11 Edward III. (1337), before WUliam Basset
and Robert de Hungerford, we have a variety of other convictions.
Thus twelve jurors of the forest of (West) Derbyshire made a pre
sentment that William de Ryding and Hugh his brother, Henry the
son of Ranulf, Richard de Acres, William de Hethe, and John
Spellowe, had broken down the underwood in the wood of. (West)
Derby, near the forest, whfist passing through it. At the same
assizes Gilbert de Haydok, Alan de Eltonhead, and Richard de
Alvanleigh, verderers, with a jury, made a presentment that, on a
certain Monday, Reginald de Yoxall entered the park of Toxteth,
and there in a certain place, which is called Holly Hurst, concealed
himself with bushes and branches of trees, in order to deceive the
wild animals feeding there ; and that he shot at the deer, and kiUed
two does, which he carried away in the night. A person of much

574 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

greater standing, WUliam Blundell of Ince, was presented, for that
he and others concealed themselves in MaghuU wood, and afterwards
with their dogs took a doe in the water of Alt, near Ingwath.
Another very distinguished delinquent, Sir Adam de Houghton,
knight, himself the master forester, was presented for taking a stag
and a doe in the park of Toxteth. A Cheshire gentleman of
standing, Henry de Dutton, was prosecuted for taking a doe in the
same park, in the presence of the steward of the forest. Nor were
the clergy spared on this occasion : Ranulf de Dacre, the parson of
Prescot, was presented for breaking into the park of Toxteth and
taking a doe. With regard to Ranulf de Dacre and his companions,
the presentment further stated, that they were common malefactors
of the forest ; that Robert de Barton, the priest, encouraged them
in their crimes, by entertaining them at his house in Smethedon-
subtus-Toxteth ; and that Adam Atill also received and entertained
them, at his house in Aigburth (Aykbright, the Bright Oaks).
In the reign of King John, that needy monarch, who was always
willing to sell anything for money, sold to the thanes and free
tenants of the honour of Lancashire, for the sum of fifty pounds, of
silver, permission to clear and thin, and also to sell and grant their
own woods, and to hunt and take hares and foxes, and all manner
of wild animals, except deer, wild cattle, roebucks, and wild boars,
in all parts of his forests in the said county, except in his demesne
woods' and inclosures. This charter was originally granted by John
whfist he was yet earl of Morton, but was afterwards confirmed by
him in the first year of his reign, and by his son, Henry III., in
the thirteenth year of his.
But a great check was given to the practice of forming new
forests, and of extending the limits of the old ones, by the great
Charter of the Forest, granted during the minority of Henry III.
by the regents of the kingdom, Hugh de Burgh, earl of Kent,
William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, and Ranulf, earl of Chester,
who at that time had the government of the kingdom in their
hands. That charter greatly mitigated the severity of the forest
laws, and removed most of the penalties for clearing away the woods
and cultivating the land on private estates, even within the limits of
the forest. But beside that, it prohibited the forming of new forests,
and declared all forests to be filegally formed which had been
made subsequent to the accession of the young king's grandfather,
Henry IL, who came to the throne in the year 1154. In conse-

PAST AND PRESENT. 575

quence of the passing of this law a general order was issued, that
inquiry should be made in each county, by a jury of knights or
gentlemen, as to the whole of the existing forests, in order that
the boundaries of the ancient forests, formed before the accession
of Henry IL, might be clearly ascertained and described, and that
the forests formed subsequent to the accession of Henry II. might
be thrown open and disforested. It appears from this inquiry that
the only Lancashire forests which the jurors recognized as having
existed previous to the accession of Henry IL, were those of Quern-
moor, near Lancaster ; Bleasdale, in the upper part of the valley
of the Wyre ; Fulwood, near Preston ; Toxteth, near Liverpool ;
West Derby, near the same place ; and Burton Wood, near War
rington. With regard to the other forests, the commissioners of
inquiry stated that they were illegal ; and they mentioned amongst
the illegal forests those of Croxteth — the present residence of the
earls of Sefton — Altcar, Hale, and Simonswood. In spite of this
declaration, however, Croxteth and Simonswood continued to be
regarded as forests to the reign of Henry VIII., when they were
sold to the Molyneux family. An attempt was also made, in the
time of the earls of Lancaster, to extend the bounds of the forest
of West Derby over the greater part of the hundred lying to the
west of Sankey Brook.
The following is the report of the commissioners appointed to
inquire into the origin and limits of the then existing forests of
Lancashire, in the twelfth year of the reign of Henry III., 1228,
with an account of the limits of each of those forests : —
" The following are the twelve knights of the county of Lancaster
who made perambulation of the forests, by the precept of the lord
king, to wit : — William Blundell, Thomas de Bethum, Adam de Bury,
Wfifiam de Tatham, Adam de Coupynwra (Caponwray), Adam de
Molyneux, Gilbert de Kellet, Paulinus de Gairstang, Patrick de
Berwyk, Henry de Lee, Grymebald de Ellale, Thomas de Burnhull ;
who say, that the whole county of Lancaster ought to be disafforested,
according to the tenor of the Charter of the Forest, except the woods
underwritten : — In the first place, Quernmore, by these bounds, to
wit : just as Langtwayt stretches itself towards the Erlesgate,
descending as far as to the bridge of Musart sikets (ditch), descending
to the Frithbrok, descending to the Lone (river Lune), following
the Lone (Lune), upwards, to the Eskbrok, ascending and following
Maybrigge, ascending to Hankesdame, following the siket (ditch)

576 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
of Hankesdame, ascending to the sikets ( ditch ) which is
under Ullethwayt, and from that siket to Storchag, and from
Storchag to the east part of the head of Brounesgate ; follow
ing Brounesgate, ascending to the top of the head of Cloghok,
and from the top of the head of Cloghok to the top of the head
of Damerisgele, descending thence to the siket which is between
two marked oaks (" marbres accas '') ; following the Silcok to Blemes,
foUowing the sikets to Condone, following the sikets to the moss
under Eghlotesheved ; following that moss ascending to the road
(iter) of Stokthwayt, following the road ascending to the Erlesgate.
And, moreover, beyond these bounds, John the king gave a certain
part of that forest by his charter to Matthew Gernet and his heirs,
paying therefor, yearly, half a mark (6s. 8d.), saving his venison :
and therefor the lord the king may do his will
"And, moreover, Couet and Blesedale, by these bounds, to wit:
from the head of Calder (river) on the south part, to Ulnsty,
and from Ulnsty to the top of the head of Pirlok, and from that
summit, following the Merleigh, descending to where the Merleigh
falls into the Broke (river Brock) at Thorpin Lees, following the
Brok, and descending to the watercourse (ductu) in the east part
of Wonesnape, following Wonesnape to Stayngfie, and from Stayn-
gile to Comistis, and following Comisty descending to the Calder,
foUowing it ascending to the aforesaid Ulnsty.
"And, moreover, Fulwode, by these bounds: from Haya Rains-
gil, to the way of Sepal, and thence as far as to the watercourse
(ductus) that goeth from Sepedale to Fulwode, and thence as the
watercourse falls into Havasick gate, and thence as the way goes
from Coleford in le Ferms, and thence as it goes to Codelische,
and thence to the haia of Rannislyt. And the men of Preston ought
to have timber for building and for burning, and pasture for
their cattle.
" Toxteth, by these bounds : as far as where Oskelesbrok
(Otterspool) falls into Mersee, following Oskelesbrok, ascending to
the park of Magewom, and from the meadow to Bromegge ; following
the Bromegge to the Brounlawe (Brownlow hUl), and thence crossing
to the old turbaries between two marshes to Lambisthorn (the
Beacon), and from Lambisthorn descending to the waterfall at the
head of StirpuU, (probably Lirpull), following and descending to the
Mersee. Near these bounds the lord John the king placed Smeth-
doun with its appurtenances in the same forest ; and gave Thyngwall

PAST AND PRESENT. 577

to a certain poor man, in exchange for it [therefor] : therein the
king may do his wUl.
" Further, moreover, the wood of Derby, by these bounds : from
Bradistone in Hargunkar as far as, by the midst of the kar, to
Hassihurst, and so to where the path goeth out of the grove (nemore),
to Longlegh, which stretches from Derby into Kyrkeby, and so
beyond Longlegh into Mikkyll brok, and ascending from Mikkyll
brok to Blakbrok, ascending from Blakbrok into Throunthornedale-
brok, and so ascending (?) to the plains. And the men of the place
(vicum) have common and herbage, and other things in the afore
said wood ; and the men of Derby have all necessaries in the
aforesaid wood.
" Also, moreover, Burton Wode, by these bounds, to wit : from
Hardisti to Sonky, and from Raveslache to Bradeleghebroke ; so
that William Pincerna (Butler) and his heirs may have common
of pasture for their store cattle (staurum), and pasnage for their
swine, and timber for their castle and buildings, and for burning.
" Further, we the jury say, that Croxteth Park was put within
pales after the coronation of King Henry your grandfather, and
belongeth to Knouselegh, to the heir of Robert .(Lathom), son of
Henry, and ought to be disafforested according to the tenor of
the Carta de Foresta.
"We further say, that Altekar was put within pales after the
coronation of King Henry your grandfather, and belongs, a certain
part, to the vfil of Ines (Ince), and to Ramsmelis (Raven smeols), and
to Fornoby (Formby), and to Holand, and to Lydgate, and ought
to be disafforested.
" Also, we say, as to the vfil of Halis (Hale), that it was shown
that your grandfather, the king, took an unfenced part of it from the
wood after his coronation, from Flaxpofis to Quyntebriche, and the
king gave the said viU of Halis in entirety, with its appurtenances,
to Richard de Mide (or de Hibernia, Ireland), by his charter of forest,
and that, it ought to be disafforested, according to the tenor of the
Carta de Foresta.
" Also, we say, that Symondes Wode was inclosed with pales after
the coronation of King Henry your grandfather, and belongs to
Kyrkeby, to the heir of Richard, son of Roger, and ought to be
disafforested, according to the Carta de Foresta," &c.
The above bold and manly report of the twelve Lancashire knights
and gentlemen, appointed to make inquiry into the extent of the
VOL. I. ' 4 D

578 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

royal forests in that county, if acted upon, would have reduced
those forests within very reasonable limits. But there was a con
tinual struggle on the part of the crown and the earls and dukes
of Lancaster to extend the bounds of their forests ; and so late as
the reign of Edward III., the duke of Lancaster attempted to
include most of the western townships of the West Derby hundred
within the forest of West Derbyshire.
It appears from a Report of the Pleas of the Forest, held before
William Bassett and Robert de Hungerford, in 11 Edward 3 (1337),
that the following townships were then claimed as within the forest,
and that their whole lands were at the mercy of the king (or the
duke), for various offences against the forest laws : —
" Sankey, Kuerdeleigh, Bolde, Apulton, Dutton, Crounton, Parr,
Sutton, Raynhill, Eccleston, Knowselegh, Kyrkeby, Wyston, Huyton,
Torbok, Hale, Garston, Spek, AUerton, Parva Wolveton, Magna
Wolveton, Childwall, Ayntree, Walton, Derby, Kirkedale, Lytherpool,
Wavertree, Eveton, Bothull, Lytherlond, Parva Crosseby, Magna
Crosseby, Thornton, Ins, Sefton, Aghton, Maghul, Mellinge, Lydiate,
Down Holland, and Forneby." The ancient spelling is curious, and
in some cases throws light on the origin of the name.
It is clear from the report of the Lancashire knights, given above,
that the above claim was an usurpation, except as relates to West
Derby, Toxteth, and Burton's Wood.
The forests of the county of Chester were of greater extent, in
proportion to the size of the two counties, than those of Lancashire;
and it does not appear that any of them were disafforested under the
Charta de Foresta. At that time the earls of Chester were earls
palatine, and possessed within their own earldom aU the rights of
the crown, without being subject to the general laws of the kingdom.
There were three great forests in Cheshire, belonging to the
Norman earls of Chester, and which afterwards became the property
of the princes of Wales, who were also earls of Chester. These
forests were those of Delamere, otherwise known as Mara and
Mondrem ; the forest of Wirral, which at one time extended over
great part of that peninsula ; and the forest of Macclesfield, which
stretched far and wide over the lofty hfils on the borders of Derbyshire.
The forest of Delamere, when it was at its greatest extent, covered
the whole of that range of red sandstone hfils, which rises at some
points to a height of 600 feet, and extends across the county of
Chester, from Helsby HU1, on the banks of the river Mersey to

PAST AND PRESENT. 579

Overton, not far from the banks of the river Dee, and nearly to
Aston in Mondrem, near Nantwich. This forest probably took its
names of Delamere and Mara from the number of beautiful meres
which are found in different parts of it, all of which were formerly weU
stocked with fish. That part of the forest which was anciently called
the forest of Mondrem seems to have been the south-eastern part,
which extended nearly to Nantwich. The rangership of the forest of
Delamere belonged to the ancient Cheshire families of the Dones and
Kingsleys, from whom it descended to the equally ancient family of
the Ardens or Ardernes, the ancestors of the Barons Alvanley. They
were the bow-bearers of the forest. Thomas, Lord Stanley, the
ancestor of the earls of Derby, was made master forester in fee,
surveyor and ranger, in the year 1461, on the accession of King
Edward IV. The following townships are described, in an ancient
manuscript, as belonging to the forest of Delamere, when it was at its
greatest extent, viz.: — Bridge Trafford, Wimbalds Trafford, Thornton,
Ince, Elton, Hapsford, Stoney-Dunham, Alvanley, Manley, Helsby,
Newton, Kingsley, Norley, Crowton, Codington, Amston, Acton,
Winnington, Castle-Northwich, Hartford, Horton. Witenhall, Oulton,
and Lowe ; Budworth, Rushton, Eaton, Tarporley, Church-Minshull;
Aston, Woleston, White-Pool, Cholmondiston, Stoke, Rudheath,
Wardle, Calverley, Alpraham, Tilston-Fernall, Tiverton, Utkington,
Willington, Clatton, Dutton, Ashton, Great Molesworth, Little
Molesworth, Horton-juxta-Ashton, Great Barrow, and Little Barrow.
All these townships are described as being within the limits
of the forest, and they include nearly the whole of the hilly
central region of Cheshire. The townships of Tarvin, Hacking-
haU, and KelsaU, it is stated, were not within the forest, being in
the liberties of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, who at that
time was also bishop of Chester. The townships of Weaverham,
Merton, and Over were not within it, being in the liberties of the
abbey of Vale Royal. Frodsham, Overton, Netherton, Bradley, and
Woodhouses were also excluded from the forest jurisdiction, as having
been parcel of the ancient demesnes of the earls of Chester.*
The forest of Wirral was also of very great extent, and reached
nearly from the city of Chester to the sea. So late as the year
1334 (27 Edward III.) the prior of Birkenhead, with his servants,
were obliged to receive and to feed six foresters, who went round
the forest of Wirral to enforce the forest laws.t
* Ilarleiaii MSS , British Museum, No. 1215. t Pleadings In Quo Warranto at Chester (27 Edward III )

580 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

The foresters of Wirral were the SUvesters, the Bamvfiles, and
the Stanleys of Hooton. The forest of Wirral was disforested —
that is to say, was thrown open, and freed from the forest laws,
so early as the year 1376. This was done by King Edward III.,
in consequence of a request made by his son, the Black Prince, who
was also earl of Chester, in behalf of the inhabitants of that part
of Cheshire, who complained that they had sustained many damages,
grievances, and suits, by reason of the said forest.
The forest of Macclesfield, known in ancient times as Lyme
Forest, was described even in Camden's time as forming the boun
dary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. In the reign of Edward I.
it was much infested with wolves, as appears from the sheriff's
accounts, in which an allowance was made for the cost of con
structing wolf traps in that forest. In the year 1461 (1 Edward IV.)
Thomas, Lord Stanley, was made master forester of Macclesfield,
the office being granted to him and his heirs. The office of chief
sergeant of the forest was granted by Ranulf de Blundeville, earl
of Chester, to Vivian de Devonport and his heirs. ""
The foUowing townships were within the purlieus of the forest
of Macclesfield : — North-Rode, Basley, Gawsworth, Sutton, Downes,
Hurdsfield, Tetherington, Upton, Bofiington, Prestbury, Butley,
Rainow, Pott Shrigley, Adlington, Poynton, Norbury, Offerton,
Torkington, Marple, Disley, Taxal, Ketelshulme, and Whaley.t
The Administration of Justice in Lancashire and Cheshire. — The
county of Lancaster appears to have been organized as a shire or
county in the reign of Henry IL, soon after the honour of Lancaster,
together with the earldom, of Morton, came into the hands of the king,
by the death of William de Blois, earl of Boulogne and Morton, the
son and inheritor of the private estates of King Stephen. We hear
first of the sheriff of Lancashire in the year 1164 (11 Henry II.) ,
and a few years later, 1176 (22 & 23 Henry IL), we find that the
judges of assize included Lancashire in their iters or circuits. J
Previous to the formation of the county of Lancaster by Henry II.
the six hundreds of which it is composed had been governed
separately, by officers known as the chief bailiffs or high stewards
of the hundreds. This office appears to have been hereditary in
certain families, who held their estates, on condition of governing
the respective hundreds and superintending the execution of justice, '
• Harleian MSS., No. 1215. f Harleian MSS., British Museum, No. 1215.
X Spelman's Glossary, p. 320.

PAST AND PRESENT. 581

as was afterwards done by the sheriff of the county. Thus we find
that Henry de Walton, the high bafiiff of the hundred of West
Derby, caused criminals to be brought to justice, and to be executed
with the forms of law ; and this was no doubt a part of the duty
of the chief bailiffs of the other hundreds."" The names of the high
bailiffs of the six Lancashire hundreds were as follows — Orme or
Ormus de Kellet, the lord of a manor near Lancaster, was the high
bailiff of the hundred of Lonsdale, or, as it was then generally
called, the wapentake of Lonsdaleshire. The family is very distin
guished in the history of that part of the county, and probably
sprang from Earl Orme, a great Scandinavian sea-captain, who ruled
in the western seas previous to the Norman conquest, and from
whom the promontories of the Great and Little Orme's Head, on
the coast of Wales, are supposed to have been named, as well as
the town of Ormskirk, and the vfil of Urmston in South Lancashire.
At the time of the Domesday survey a descendant of this chief,
merely described as Orme, was one of the principal landowners in
Lonsdale; and more than 150 years afterwards, at the time when
the account of the king's possessions and tenants in Lancashire was
drawn up, which has been preserved and published under the title
of " Testa de Nevill," we find that Ormus de Kellet, or Orme of
Kellet, was the high baUiff of the hundred of Lonsdale. From the
same authority we find that Alan de Singleton, otherwise described
as Alan the son of Roger, was the high bailiff of the hundred of
Amounderness and also of that of Blackburn. The office of high
bafiiff of the hundred of Leyland was held by Richard de Cleyton,
the head of a family which still holds estates in that hundred. The-
same office was held in Salfordshire by Richard de Hulton, the head
of a family which also still possesses large estates in the hundred
of Salford. In West Derbyshire the office of high bafiiff of the
hundred was held by the ancient family of the Waltons, of Walton,
near Liverpool, who held the office in the reign of King Stephen,
and in those of Henry IL, King John, Henry III., and Edward I.,
as we learn from records of those early times.
In the account of Roger Pictavensis, in Domesday, one of his
followers is mentioned under the title of the vice-comes, a term
which was afterwards applied to the bearers of the old Saxon office
of sheriff or reeve of the shire. But the first person who held the
office of high sheriff of Lancashire, as we now understand the term,
* Quo Warranto before Hugh de Cressingham at Lancaster, 20 Edward, 1292-

582 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

was Galfridus de Valonis, who filled it in the eleventh year of
Henry II. (1164). The honour of Lancaster having come into the
hands of the king about that time by the death of William de Blois,
the son and heir of the private estates of King Stephen, of which
the royal earldom of Morton, with its great appendage the honour
of Lancaster, was one ; the high sheriff, or vice-comes, was the
acting representative of the king in the administration of justice,
and the guardian of the royal rights and property. He was
subordinate to the earl or comes when there was one ; but there
was no earl of Lancaster until towards the close of the reign of King
Henry III., when Edmund Plantagenet, the younger son of the king,
was raised to that honour. The high sheriff was appointed by the
king, except in counties palatine, of which Cheshire was one from the
Norman conquest, and Lancashire from the reign of Edward III.
The office of high sheriff, or vice-comes, as it was then called,
existed in Cheshire as early as the reign of King Stephen. In that
reign Ranulfus, vice-comes or sheriff, was witness of a deed of the
second Randle, earl of Chester, to the church of St. Werburg. In
the next reign, Gilbert Pipard is mentioned as sheriff of Cheshire,
in the year 1183, and Bertram de Verdon in 1184 (30 and 31
Henry II.) Amongst the high sheriffs of the reign of Henry III.
Sir Peter Leycester mentions Sir William Thebaud, Richard Pierpoint,
Richard Fitz-Lidulf, Richard de Sandbach, David de Malpas, Robert
Buckley, Sir Thomas Dutton of Dutton, and Richard Wilbraham.
In that of Edward I. he names Richard de Massey, William de
Hawarden, Robert Grosvenor of Hulme in Allostock, Philip de
Egerton, and Robert Bressey.
The judges or chief justices of Cheshire, who presided over the
administration of justice throughout the whole county of Chester,
were of great antiquity. Amongst the witnesses of a deed of
William, constable of Chester, to the abbey of St. Werburg, 'of Baby
in Wirral, early in the reign of King Stephen, is Johannes Adams,
justiciarius comitis. Raufe Main waring was judge of Chester in the
reigns of Henry II. and Richard I. ; Philip Orrebey in the reign of
King John ; William Vernon, Richard Fitton, John Grey, Alan de
Zouch, Lucas de Tanai, James de Audley, and Reginald Grey, in the
reign of Henry III. All these were previous to the year 1270. In
the reigns of Edward I., IL, and III., were Gaucefinus de Badels-
mere, Bichard Massey, William Trussell, WiUiam Ormsby, Robert
de Holland, Hugh de Audley, Oliver Ingham, William Clinton

PAST AND PRESENT. 583

Bartholomew Burghursh, and Thomas Abbot of Vale-Royal, with
others.'1" The Tenure and Ownership of Lands in Lancashire and Cheshire
under the early Plantagenet Kings. - -During the first fifty years of
the thirteenth century, between the years 1200 and 1250, another
great national survey of England was made, which is described in
the volume known by the title of " Testa de Nevill" This survey
was commenced in the reign of King John, who is spoken of in
it, as " the earl of Morton, who now is king ; " and was completed
in the reign of his son Henry III., probably about the year 1247,
that being the year in which William and Agnes De Ferrers, earl
and countess of Derby, died, who are named in it as holding the
lands " between the Mersey and the Ribble," which had previously
belonged to the king. The object of the survey described in
" Testa de Nevill " was to ascertain what lands and rights the
king possessed in the different counties of the kingdom ; how far
the rights and estates of the crown had been made over to the
great tenants of the crown, and what were the conditions on
which the grants to those tenants had been made. It must be
remembered that at this time the king was the lord of all the
land of the kingdom ; that all lands, without exception, were
originally held, either by or from the crown, generally by barons or
knights, on the performance of certain services ; and that the rents,
service, fines, and other revenues, payable by the holders of the
land to the crown, formed the principal fund for carrying on the
government of the country, and for maintaining the royal dignity.
It is one great merit in the returns given in " Testa de Nevill,"
and in the National Records of that age generally, that they
all bear evidence of having been made from information collected
in public, in the presence of juries, witnesses, and open courts.
At the commencement of the inquiry in the whole county, and in
each hundred, we are informed who were the jurors of commissioners
of inquiry, before whom the facts stated in the return were deposed
to, and most of the returns commence with the words — " The Jurors
declare " — Juratores dicunt — then going through each item of their
statement. In "Testa de Nevill" we have the names of what may
be considered the Grand Jury, or Grand Inquest of the whole county
of Lancaster, in the reigns of King John and of his son Henry III.,
between the years 1200 and 1250 ; and also the names of the jurors
* Leycester's Antiquities of Cheshire.

581 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

in each of the six hundreds, or as they were then called, wapentakes,
into which the county was, and still is, divided. In those lists are
the names of several of the early representatives of old families
which are stiU in existence, or which have merged into other
distinguished families, still well known in the county. We have un
fortunately no particulars, in "Testa de Nevill," respecting the county
of Chester, which is not mentioned in that return, except incidentally,
for the reason stated above ; namely, that all the rights of the crown
in that county had been surrendered to the earl of Chester. But we
obtain similar information respecting part of the county of Chester
from other sources.
The Beport of the Inquisition or Commission of Inquiry of the
whole County of Lancaster commences with these words : —
" This is the inquest made on the oath of faithful knights, con
cerning tenements given and alienated within the limits, infra limam,
in the county of Lancaster, that is to say, by Boger Gernet of Burg,
Robert de Lancaster, Adam de Middleton, Richard of Burg, Walter
Fitz-Osbert, Walter Fitz-Swaine, William of Winwick, Richard Fitz-
Swaine, Richard Fitz-Robert, William Blundell, Robert de Ainesdale,
Richard de Orhull, Richard de Pierrepont, Alan de Rixton, William
de Radcliffe, Alexander de Pilkinton, and Henry de Trafford, who
say that Gilbert Fitz-Reinfrid holds one knight's fee in the county
of Lancaster, and that William de Lancaster gave in his time in
marriage, or as marriage portions, five carucates of land in the two
Ecclestons and in Lairbrec, which Richard de Mulas (Molyneux),
William BlundeU, and Budolf de Eccleston, and Walter and Godfrey
Fitz-Swaine hold."*
The jurors then proceed to report on the principal fees of the crown,
in the county of Lancaster, and perhaps on some others in the ancient
honor of Lancaster, or earldom of Roger Pictavensis, which included
many large fees not within the present county of Lancaster.
Another jury or body of commissioners was appointed to make
inquiries respecting the manor of Hornby, the chief manor and castle
of the Montbegon family. The honor of Roger Montbegon extended
to several counties. The names of the jurors as to the manor of
Hornby were Richard de Burg, Benedict de Hergun (probably
Hougun, the old Saxon name for Furness), Adam de Farlton, Simon
de Farlton, Adam Clericus de Clatton, Roger de Tunstal, William
Aaron, of Farlton, Roger de Farlton, John, the son of Eve de Tunstal,
* Testa de Nevill, p. 401.

PAST AND PRESENT. 585

Henry de Wenington, Henry Fitz-Robert de Wenington, Adam, the
son of Andrew of Farlton, John, the son of Benedict de Farlton,
William, the son of Reginald of Stordis, Robert, the son of Walter of
Hergun, Thomas, the son of Alan of Hergun, Gilbert, the son of
Huttred (Uchtred) of Hergun, Adam, the son of Martin of Farlton,
John Makeles, and Simon, the son of Thomas of Hergun ; who say
that Hugh de Burg holds the manor of Hornby from Henry de
Mundene (Montbegon), and he, in capite from our lord, the king.
And they further say that they do not know by what service Hubert
holds from Henry, or by what service Henry holds from the king,
because that barony is divided into many parts, in many counties. *
The names of the jurors in the wapentake or hundred of
Amounderness were : — William de Pres, Warin de Wyttingham,
Adam de Hotton, William de Merton, Wfifiam de Grimsharg, Richard
de Newton, Adam de Stalmin, Gilbert de Meel, John de Staynole,
William de Eston, Robert de Eston, and Richard Kotun.t
The jurors in the hundred of Blackburn were : — Simon de Hery,
Adam de Blackburn, Adam Noel (Nowell), Henry de Cleyton (Clay
ton), Adam de Bilfington, William de Caldecotes, John de Winkesley,
and Bichard de Katelowe. J
In the Leland hundred we find that the names of the jurors
were : — Bobert Bussel, or Boiseul (the name of the barons of Pen
wortham), Warin de Walton, Bobert de Cleyton, Richard Banastre,
Walter de Hole (or Hoole), Richard de Thorp, William de Wordin-
ton, Richard de Chernoc, John de Cophul, John de Cleyton, and
Robert de Wythull. §
In the Salford hundred the names of the jurors were : — Awardus
Tagun, Rade de Anekotes, Richard de Chorlton, Robert de Snis-
worth, William de Eccles, and Thomas de Pul ; || and
In the West Derby hundred we find the names of the jurors
appointed to inquire into the Gascon scutage or tax, in the 26
Henry III., 1242, which were as follows : — Henry de Tyldesley,
Adam de Westeleye, William de Litherland, Mathew de Bolde,
Alan de Windel, Robert de Torington, Richard de Wilfal, Adam
de Garston, Richard de Quichund, William le Noreys, and Thurstan
de Holand. IT
When the survey described in " Testa de Nevill" was made, the
king (Henry III.) appears to have held in his own hands the castle
of Lancaster, which the early kings of England and earls of Morton
* Testa de Nevill, p. 400. t Ibid. p. 399. J Ibid. p. 399. § Ibid. p. 399. || Ibid. p. 399. f Ibid. p. 396.
VOL. I. 4 K

586 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
occasionally visited ; the forests of the county, which we have seen
were extensive, and no doubt fuU of game ; and a great store farm
for breeding cattle, in that part of the fertile district of the Fylde
which lies immediately to the south of Rossall Point,""" the returns
of which were made to the vice-comes or high sheriff, t Around the
castle of Lancaster many portions of land were held on condition of
supplying provisions, and performing various services at the castle.
Thus Nicholas of Torrisholme, near Lancaster, and afterwards his
daughter Matilda, held land in Torrisholme, on condition of sup
plying the larder of the castle. William, the gardener, held seven
acres of land in Lancaster, by service of supplying vegetables to
the castle (olera et porrecta). Rudulph Barum held half a bovate
of land, by service of being mason (cementarius) in the castle, or of
paying 5s. a year, at the choice of the king. Adam, the son of
Gilemichael, held half a carucate of land in Slyne, near Lancaster,
by service of being carpenter to the king; the land was worth 16s.
a year. Boger, carpenter, also held ten acres of land in Lancaster,
by service of being carpenter in the castle of Lancaster. This land
was worth 5s. a year — that is to say, 6d. an acre, which was equal
to a rent of about 6s. a year of present money. Roger de Gernet,
of Halton, near Lancaster, was the chief forester for the county
of Lancaster. He and several others of the Gernet family held
lands on condition of attending the king in his occasional visits into
these very remote parts. In addition to the Gernets, WiUiam and
Benedict of Gresingham held two bovates of land in Gresingham
from the king, by service of being foresters ; and Alicia, the daughter
of Galfred de Gresingham, had six bovates of land in that place,
which she held by service of keeping or nursing the young hawks
or falcons of the king, found in Lonsdale, until they were strong, and
when they were strong, of presenting them to the sheriff of Lan
caster, who took charge of them for the king. This Alicia was one
of the wards of the crown, whose marriage was in the gift of the
king, and whom King John had married to Thomas de Gresingham.^
These appear to have been the principal lands in the county of
Lancaster held by the crown, or for the personal service of the king,
at this period of the reign of Henry III. The great mass of the royal
estates in the county of Lancaster, namely, those situated between
the Mersey and the Ribble, he had given to Ranulf de Blundeville,
* Testa de Nevill, p. 404.
f Rossall in manu domi Jfcyio, cum stauro suo unde vie. respondet. J Testa de Nevill, p. 371.

PAST AND PRESENT. 587

earl of Chester, from whom they had descended to the earl's sister,
A.gnes, the wife of William de Ferrers, earl of Derby. But the
castle of Lancaster was held by the king untU the fiftieth year of
his reign, when he created his second son, Edmund, earl of Lancaster,
giving to him the castle of Lancaster, and all the royal estates in the
county, along with the great forfeited estates of Simon de Montfort,
earl of Leicester, and Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby — as we have
already stated.*
According to the following return, given in " Testa de Nevill,"
there were in the reign of King Henry III. the following knights'
fees belonging to the honour of Lancaster, situated within the county,
and held in capite from the crown : — WiUiam de Lancaster, baron
of Lancaster, held one knight's fee. Adam de Middleton held the
fourteenth part of a knight's fee. The heir of Aumeric Pincerna, or
le BotiUer, baron of Warrington, held three knights' fees. Adam
de Merton held the fourth part and the twentieth part of one
knight's fee. The heir of Theobald Walter, baron of Amounderness,
held the half of a knight's fee. The heirs of Bichard Fitz -Boger
held the fourth part of one knight's fee. The earl of Lincoln
(De Lacy), in the whole county of Lancaster, held twelve knights'
fees. The heir of Richard Banastre, baron of Newton, held one
knight's fee. Adam de Molyneux, held half a knight's fee. The
heir of Richard de Hulton held a sixth part of a knight's fee.
Thomas Gretley (or Gresley), baron of Manchester, held five and a
half knights' fees. Roger Gernet held one knight's fee, " but says
that he holds it by forestry." John de Mara held one knight's fee.
Henry de Muleden, baron of Montbegon, held two knights' fees.t
The quantity of land contained in a knight's fee varied greatly
in different parts of the county of Lancaster. In the northern
hundreds of Lonsdale and Amounderness, which were much exposed
to the ravages of war, a knight's fee consisted of twenty-four
carucates of land ; in the southern' hundreds, of twelve or ten
carucates ; and in one case of six carucates4 This last, at the time
of the Domesday survey, was the quantity of land contained in the
Saxon division of a hide, in the same district"' of Lancashire. Sup
posing the knight's fee to be twenty-four carucates of 180 acres
each, it would thus amount to 4320 acres ; at twelve carucates, to
half that extent; and at six carucates, to a fourth. The smallest
extent would be upwards of 1000 acres. The knights' fees were
* Patent Rolls, 50 Henry III. \ Testa de Nevill, p. 400. t Ibid. p. 400.

588 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
subdivided and regranted in halves, fourth parts, tenth parts, twenty-
fourth parts, and even forty-eighth parts, when granted to sub
tenants holding by knights' service. These knights' fees and
subdivisions of knights' fees seem to have been permanent, and to
have created a tenure only inferior to freehold, in the military
service attaching to them. When there was a money rent, that
also was fixed and permanent.
Under the feudal system all the land of the kingdom was con
sidered to belong to the king, and was held chiefly by the performance
of military service. Hence, during the minority of the male heir,
and not only during the minority, but during the widowhood of
heiresses, the king was considered to have the right to the manage
ment of all estates held from the crown. He was also considered to
have the right of directing and controlling the marriages of minors of
the male sex, and of females at aU periods of their lives. Thus, we
are told in the account of the Lonsdale hundred that Alicia, the
daughter of Godfrey de Gersingham, had been in the gift of the king;
and had been married to Thomas de Gersingham by King John, and
that they held six bovates, or carucates, of land in Gersingham, by
the service of keeping the falcons of the king in Lonsdale. The land
was worth two marks a year. We are further told, that Godfrey,
above named, had given two bovates of land to Bernard de Gersing
ham, and five acres to the prior of Lancaster. With regard to Alicia
de Gersingham, it is stated that she was dead, and that she had left
one daughter by her marriage with the said Thomas, named Crispina,
who was in the gift of the king, and who had been forbidden to marry
without the permission of the king, but that Adam de Coupmanwra,
her grandfather, had offered to the king 100s. to have the marriage,
that is to say, the disposal of his granddaughter in marriage. Several
other similar cases are mentioned. Thus, it is stated that Elewisa de
Stutevfile, the daughter of a great northern earl, was in the gift of
the king, but she was not married, and that her land in Lonsdale was
worth 100s. a year, and in Amounderness 10s. A widow of an
equally celebrated family is also mentioned, namely, Oliva, who was
the wife, or rather the widow, of Roger de Montbegon, the lord of
Hornby castle. She also was in the gift of the king, but we are told
that she had no land in that wapentake. Also, it is stated that
Agnes de Clopwayt ought to be in the custody of the king, for two
bovates of land which she holds from the king in Blothelay, for
Is. 7%d., and for finding the sixth part of a judge, that is, of his

PAST AND PRESENT. 589

salary ; and the rest of the land belongs to herself, and is worth
2s. a year. Another, named Matilda, a daughter of Nicholas de
Thoroldeholm, was in the gift of the king, and held her land, by
the service of supplying the larder of the king.
The Lordship of Sir Michael le Fleming in Furness, or Lonsdale
beyond the Sands. — In the district of'Furness; or Lonsdale north of
the Sands, the two great tenants of the crown were, the repre
sentative of the ancient Norman or Flemish family of Le Fleming,
and the powerful abbot of Furness. At the time when the survey
described in " Testa de Nevfil " was made, WiUiam, the son of
Nicholas de Furness, or le Fleming, held from the king in capite,
twenty and a half carucates of land in Furness, and paid for it yearly
the sum of £1 0, in addition to knight's service in the field. Taking a
carucate at 180 acres, this would render the quantity of arable land
held by William de Furness, or le Fleming, about 3700 acres. This
is probably independent of the wastes and woods of the lordship,
which were still more extensive. The yearly rent paid by WiUiam le
Fleming to the crown was £l 0. That, assuming money to have been
from twelve to fifteen times as valuable as it is at present, would
make the rent to the crown equal to from £120 to £150. In addition
to this the king, as chief lord, was entitled to the usual fines for the
relief of the estate — that is to say, for the transfer and confirmation
to each succeeding heir. The king was also entitled to the posses
sion of the income of the estate during the minority of the heir, and
to the disposal in marriage of the heir when a minor, and the heiress
and the widow at every age, to any one on whom he might choose
to confer their hands and estates. In the case, for instance, of Lady
Ada de Furneys, who was probably an heiress of this family, we are
told, in " Testa de Nevfil," that she had paid a fine to King John to
be aUowed to marry at her own pleasure ; that she was married to
WUliam Pincerna or le BotiUer, and that her land was worth five
marks a year. With regard to the sub-tenants on the estates of the
Le Flemings, it is stated that Michael — that is, Sir Michael le
Fleming, the ancestor of WUliam le Fleming named above — had
given three carucates of land, in Adgarslith, in marriage with his
daughter Godith ; that he had given to Wfifiam, the son of Eward,
half a carucate of land, in Urswick, in marriage, Eward paying 5s.
of rent, according to his charter ; that he had given to Adam, the
son of Bernulf, two bovates of land in the same township by charter,
and the payment of 2s. 8d. per annum ; that he had also given to

590 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
William de Thorburn two bovates of land in Bellchive for 10s. per
annum ; and to Adam, the son of Gerard, one bovate of land in the
township of Aldingham, for a rent of 5s. per annum. In aU these
cases military service was included, as weU as a money rent or pay
ment. We are further informed that Wfifiam, the son of Michael
le Fleming, had given to Gilbert Fitz-Reinfrid two bovates of land
in Urswick for £l 12s. per annum ; and that Michael le Fleming
had given to Gamul, the forester, one carucate of land in Urswick
on payment of 10s. per annum. All these payments may be turned
into modern money with tolerable correctness by multiplying them
by twelve.*
The Lordship and Estates of the Abbots of Furness. — But the
abbots of Furness were stUl more powerful than the Le Flem
ings, having estates of equal, if not greater extent, and possessing
aU the influence which high religious rank gave in those days.
At the time when this survey was made the abbot of Furness
held twenty and a half carucates of land in Furness in alms (elee-
mosynd) of the gift of King Stephen, the founder of the abbey of
Furness. The same abbot also held from the king two carucates
of land in Staplethurne, for which he paid 40s. a year. He also
held half a carucate of land in Belmont, in alms, from the gift of
Warin. This was the commencement of the great wealth of the
abbey.t Amongst the great landowners who held lands from the abbots of
Furness, was WiUiam de Lancaster, who held half a knight's fee in
demesne in Ulverston, which was worth 30s. a year ; John de NeviU,
who held the mills of Ulverston from the abbot, and paid 30s. a year
for them ; Christopher de Broughton, who held Stannerley from the
abbot by knight's service and an annual rent of 2d. ; and William de
Heton who held Bosset from the said abbot, by mUitary service, and
the payment of 6^d. per annum.
In a subsequent part of this work we shaU give an account of the
rise and fall of the great abbey of Furness.
Conishead Priory, in this district, was founded by William de
Lancaster, of whom we shaU have to speak further ; or perhaps
more correctly, by Gabriel de Pennington, an ancestor of the present
barons of Muncaster. He erected a hospital there, with the consent
of his lord, WUliam de Lancaster, for the refief of poor, decrepit,
indigent persons, and lepers. For this purpose, Gabriel de Penning-
• Testa de Nevill, pp. 401, 406. f ibid. p. 406.

PAST AND PRESENT. 591

ton endowed the hospital, which he gave to God and St. Mary, with
all the land on both sides of the road which leads from Bardsea to
Ulverston ; and from the great road to Trinkeld to the sea-banks.
This hospital was afterwards converted into a priory, and held
amongst its possessions the church of Ulverston, with its chapels
and appurtenances, together with forty acres of land in Ulverston,
and a saltwork between Conishead and Ulverston, with other pos
sessions and immunities.
Cartmel, in this district, was given by King Henry III. to
William Mareschall, earl of Pembroke, who gave it to the canons of
Bre de Nostoc in alms, that is to say, nine carucates of land, as the
charter of the said William and the confirmation of the king and his
ancestor state.*
The Barony of the Montbegons in Lonsdale and Salford Hundreds.
— In Londsdale, south of the Sands, there were three great fees
or estates held from the crown, namely, those of Montbegon,
Gernet, and Lancaster. An inquiry was made by a jury respecting
the manor of Hornby, the seat of the Montbegons. Their report
was that it " was held by Hubert de Burg (either the earl of Kent or
one of his famfiy) from Henry de Mundine (a corruption of Mont
begon), who held it in capite from the king;" and they further
state "that they did not know by what service Hubert holds of
Henry, nor by what service Henry held from the king, because
that barony ( Montbegon ) is divided into many parts in many
counties." But we find it stated, in another part of the same
report, that Roger de Montbegon held eight knight's fees in the
county of Lancaster — infra limam et exti Of these large possessions
we are told that Adam de Montbegon, his ancestor, gave to Henry
de Roksby two carucates of land for knight's service in Wenington ;
that the same Adam gave to Galfred de Valonis six carucates, in
Farelton and in Cancfeld, to be held by knight's service ; that Roger
de Montbegon gave to the canons of Hornby Priory, 100 acres of
land in alms ; and that the same Roger gave to Elye de Wenington
one bovate of land, in Farelton, to be held by knight's service.
We have a number of particulars with regard to estates
belonging to the fee of Roger de Montbegon in the hundred or
wapentake of Salford, which we give here, with the account of that
part of the fee that was situated in the neighbourhood of Hornby
castle. It is stated that Roger de Montbegon held eight knights'
* Testa de Nevill, p. 407. f Ibid. p. 406.

592 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

fees within aiid without the line (lineam). Adam de Bury, we are
told, held one knight's fee of this great baronial fee, de antiqua
tenura; Roger de Midleton also held one knight's fee, de antiqua
tenura. It is further stated that the predecessors of Roger de Mont
begon gave to the ancestors of "Gilbert de Notton twelve bovates of
land, as part of one knight's fee, and that Gfibert de Notton holds
that land ; that Adam de Prestwich held four bovates of land in
Alkinton for 4s. a year, de antiqua tenura; that Adam de Mont
begon gave to Edward de Bury four bovates of land in Totington,
with Alice, his daughter, in marriage, and that now William de
Peniston holds that land, along with Cecilia (his wife), the daughter
of the said Alice. Roger de Montbegon, we are told,, gave to
John Malherbe, his brother, ten carucates and six bovates of land in
Croston, with their appurtenances, to be held by knight's service.
The same Roger gave to the hospital of (St. John) of Jerusalem
one bovate of land in alms, in Croston ; and held fourteen bovates
of land in Kaskenemor in thanage, on payment of 9s. 2\d., and
the half of the cost of a judge (indice, probably for judice). Gilbert
de Notton held from him four bovates of land ; Reyner de
Wambwall held of the same land six bovates ; Adam de Glothie
held two bovates by thanage, and by payment of 9s. 2\d. and the
other half of the cost of the judge aforesaid.*
The Lordship of the Gernets, Chief Foresters of Lancashire. —
The ancient family of the Gernets, who settled at Halton, near
Lancaster, in the time of WiUiam the Conqueror, and received
lands from Roger Pictavensis, still continued to hold those lands in
the reign of Henry III., with the office of forester to the king
throughout the whole county of Lancaster. We are told, in " Testa
de Nevfil," t that Roger Gernet held a knight's fee as forester,
and that from that fee Roger Gernet, his ancestor, gave two caru
cates of land, in marriage, with his daughter, to Richard du Mulas
(Molyneux), in Speke ; that Vivianus Gernet gave to Robert
Travers four carucates and a half of land, as a third part of a
knight's fee ; that Benedict Gernet, the father of Roger, gave two
bovates of land to Wydon de Stub, to be held by knight's service ;
that William, the son of the same, gave two bovates in Leek to
Margery, his sister, on payment of a rent of one pound of pepper
per annum ; and that he gave to Osbert one bovate of land in Leek,
also for a yearly rent of one pound of pepper. Benedict Gernet
* Testa de Nevill, p. 405. f Ibid. pp. 400, 405.

PAST AND PRESENT 593

gave twenty acres of land, in Altun, to Gilbert, the son of Aune,
on payment of a pair of spurs, or three pence yearly. There are
several other particulars given with regard to the Gernet famfiy.
Thus, Boger Gernet held three carucates of land in Halton, near
Lancaster, by service of being chief forester through the whole
county, and performed that service. Winan Gernet held two
carucates of land from the king, in Heysham, by service of going
to meet the king on the borders of the county with his horn and
white wand; conducting the king into the county, bdng with him
there, and accompanying him to the border of the county. The
land was worth 5s. a year of the money of those times. Thomas
Gernet held two carucates of land in Heysham, by sounding his
horn before the king on his arrival in those parts. This land was
worth 30s. a year. We are further told that the marriage of the
wife, or rather of the widow, of William Gernet was in the gift of
the king ; but that she was married to Hamon de Masci (baron of
Dunham-Massey in Cheshire) without warrant, and that her land
was worth 50s. a year.
The Barony of Lancaster, with the Lordship and Estates. — With
regard to the fee of the barons of Lancaster, the jurors who
made this inquiry reported that Gilbert Fitz-Reinfred held one
knight's fee in the county of Lancaster. They say that William
de Lancaster, his father, gave in his time, in marriage (with his
daughters), five carucates of land in the two Ecclestons, and in
Lairbrec, which Richard de Mulas (Molyneux), William Blundell,
Badulph de Eccleston, and Walter, the son of Swaine, and Godfrey
hold. They also say that the same William gave to Warin de
Banc two bovates of land in Forton, for his homage and knight's
service, which Henry de Lee (afterwards high sheriff of Lancashire)
holds. The same William gave to Bernard, the son of Bissi, two
carucates of land in Halecath and in Catherall, which Bichard the
son of Swaine, and Beatrice tbe daughter of Robert, and Michael
de Athelakeston hold by knight's service. The same William gave
Hervey (or Henry) Falconer two bovates of land in Wyvensliga,
which Hugh de Wyalle holds by knight's service. The same
William gave to Grimbald de Ellal two bovates of land in Cruvles.
WiUiam the elder, the son of Gilbert, baron of Kendal, gave two
carucates of land, in Cockerham, to the canons of Lancaster, in
alms; "hence (they add) his heirs hold less in capite from the
king." He also gave to Hugh Norman two carucates of land in
VOL. i. ^ F

594 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Scotford for knight's service. He also gave to Radulph of
Thoroudesholm (Torrisholme) half a carucate of land in Lancaster,
for a rent of 4s. ; to Robert Falconer, two bovates of land in
Carnford, for knight's service ; and to Gilbert de Eston (Ashton),
half a carucate of land in Eston or Ashton, for a rent of one mark.
These details show the manner in which the estates of the barons
of Lancaster were gradually broken up and divided.*
The barony of Lancaster was further diminished by the foUowing
grants, which the grand inquest of the county state to have been
made by Henry de Lee (Le), the son of Warin de Lancaster. They
say that Henry de Lee holds six carucates of land in demesne, and
pays for them 20s. per annum. Warin, his father, gave the fourth
part of a bovate of land to the abbey of Cokersand in alms. Henry de
Lee also gave to the same abbey two messuages. Bobert, the son of
Osbert, held two carucates and two bovates, de antiquitate, from the
said Henry, by payment of 10s. a year, and by acting as reeve. Alan
le Brun held, de antiquitate, two bovates from the same Henry, by
payment of 6s. Dion, the son of Thurstan, held two bovates, by
charter of the said Henry, and by payment of 5s. of rent. WUliam,
the brother of the same Henry, held one bovate from his gift, on
paying yearly one pound of pepper. Richard, the brother of Henry,
held two bovates from the same Henry, for 6s. per annum from the
gift of Warin, the father of the same Henry. Edwin held two bovates
from Henry de Lee, by his gift, for 5s. Robert held one bovate, by
payment of 3s. ; and Thomas, the son of Sigg, held one bovate from
him, also by payment of 3s. of yearly rent.t
The Burgesses and the Burgages of Lancaster. — The first notice
that we find in "Testa de Nevfil" of land held by burgage
tenure, in the county of Lancaster, is in the following entry with
regard to the rent paid by the burgesses of Lancaster to the
king:— "The burgesses of Lancaster hold one carucate of land
in Lancaster, in free burgage, and freely by charter of the king,
and they pay twenty marks per annum." This is an enormous
rent for those times, equal to about £200 of modern money. It
is the rent for one carucate of land, and is more than equal to the
rent paid for twenty carucates by Sir Michael le Fleming. Of all
the tenures of that time, tenure by burgage was the freest and
the most independent; and being so, land was seldom let by any
of the early kings in burgage at a lower rent than Is. an acre,
• Testa de Nevill, p. 401. J Ibid. p. 403.

PAST AND PRESENT. 595

which was equal to 12s. to 15s. of modern money. This was
about three times the rent usually paid for arable land, which was
generally let for about id. per acre, equal to 5s. of modern money.
In the account given of the burgages of Lancaster in "Testa de
Nevill" there is the following curious entry, which shows that this
part of the record was drawn up in the reign of King John. It
is as follows : — " Nichols gave two burgages in alms, which were
accustomed to perform service to the king. Tbe said burgesses
say that Roger Pictavensis gave to Warin his (that is, Nichols'
great grandfather) half a bovate of land in Lancaster, and that he
(Nichols) held it until he and his wife went into religion in the
house of Furness ; and the monks of Furness held that land freely
to the coming of Galfrid de Valonis (the first high sheriff of Lan
cashire, appointed by Henry II., the father of King John, in the
year 1164). He was unwilling that the town should be ungrateful
(or displeasing) to our lord the king, and he took that land into
the hand of the king, and made burgages of it, and established
customs and services like the others, and they (the burgesses)
were sworn to bear arms until the coming of the . earl of Morton,
who now is king ; and they (the jurors who made the inquiry) do
not know if he gave any liberties to them ; and they hold seven
burgages in such a manner that they do nothing for the king."
We suppose that the meaning of this is, that these seven did not
pay the same rents as the rest of the burgesses, who, as we have
seen, paid a rent equal to £200 a year for one carucate of land,
an enormous rent for those times.*
We have the following additional particulars as to tenures in
this neighbourhood : —
The church of Lancaster, as already mentioned, had been given by
Roger Pictavensis, in the reign of William Rufus, to the great abbey
of Sees, in Normandy, which was founded and richly endowed by the
family of Montgomery, of which Earl Roger was a member. The
church is mentioned in "Testa de Nevill" as being in the charity
(eleemosyna) of the king, that is to say, of King Henry III. t
Marriages of Heiresses and Widows in the Gift of the King. — The
marriage of Queuilda, the daughter of Richard, the son of Roger, was
in the gift of the king ; but the earl of Chester married her to Roger
Gernet, because she held her land from the earl by military service,
and from the king by farm. The land was worth 23s. a year. J
* Testa d* Nevill, p. 407. f Ibid. p. 371. X Ibid- p. 371.

596 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
The lady Elewisa de Stutevfie was in the gift of the king, and
paid a fine to King John, that she might not be married against her
will. Her land was worth £30 a year*
Matilda de Stockport was in the gift of the king, and paid a fine
to King John, for the same privilege. Her land was worth two
marks a year, t
Beatrix de Mitton was in the gift of the king, and paid a fine
in the same manner. Her land was of the value of half a mark a year.
The lady Ada de Ferneys paid a fine in the same manner, and she
was married to Wfifiam Pincerna, or Butler. Her land was worth
five marks a year.
The wife of Gamel de Boelton (Bolton) was in the gift of the king.
Her land was worth 3s. a year.
Matilda de Kellet was in the gift of the king, and paid a fine to
King John, "that she might marry herself," that is, might marry
according to her own inclination. Her land was worth 20s. a year.
Agnes de Essam (Heysham) was in the gift of the king, and was
married without any warrant. Her land was worth one mark a year.
The wife (or widow) of William Gernet was in the gift of the king,
and was married to Hamon de Masci, without warrant. Her land
was worth 50s. a year.
Serjeanties or Offices by which Land was held. — Ormus de Kellet
held four carucates of land in capite from the king, by the office
(serjeantia) of keeping the wapentake of Lonsdale. J
Adam, the son of Orme, held three carucates of land in Kellet, by
serjeanty of the wapentake. It was worth 50s. a year.
Roger Gernet held ten carucates of land in Lonsdale, as forester.
It was worth 100s. a year.
Thomas Gernet held two carucates of land in Hesum (Heysham),
by sounding his horn before the king, in those parts. They were
worth 30s. a year.
William and Benedict of Gersingham held from the king two
bovates of land in Gersingham, by service of being foresters ; and
Margery, who was the wife of Bernard Fitz-Bernard, held two bovates
of land of the serjeantia of Gersingham.
John of Oxcfiffe held Oxcfiffe in capite from the king, by the
service of acting as carpenter in the castle of Lancaster. The land
was worth 30s. a year.
Bobert, reeve of Offerton, held half a carucate of land in Offerton,
' Testa de Nevill, p. 371. f Ibid. p. 371. J Ibid. p. 401.

PAST AND PRESENT. 597

by service of being reeve for the lord the king in Offerton. The
land was worth 16s. a year.
Adam, son of GUlemichel, held half a carucate of land in Slyne, by
service of being carpenter of the king. The land was worth 16s.
a year. Roger Carpentar held ten acres of land in Lancaster, by service
of being carpenter in the castle of Lancaster. It was worth 5s. a
year, that is 6d. an acre, which was equal to about 6s. of our present
money. Roger, the son of Robert of Skerton, held half a carucate of land
in that township, by service of being reeve of the king in Sutherton.
The land was worth lls.va year.
Radolf Barun held half a bovate of land, by service either of being
mason (cementarius) in the castle, or of paying 5 s. a year, at the choice
of the king.
,William, the gardener, held seven acres of land in Lancaster, by
service of supplying vegetables to the castle (olera et porrecta).
Walter, the son of Walter the smith, and William, the son of
William the smith, held a piece of land, called Hefeld, from the king,
by service of doing iron-work for the ploughs. It was worth half a mark.
Wiman Gernet held two carucates of land from the king in
Heysam, by service of coming to meet the king on the borders
of the county with his horn and white wand, and conducting him
into the county, and being with him there, and conducting him
to the border of the county. The land was worth 5s. a year.
The Barony of Theobald Walter in Amounderness. — Proceeding
southward through the hundred of Amounderness, we find that
Allen de Singleton held half a carucate of land by service of
keeping the wapentake or hundred ; that is to say, he was high
steward of the hundred of Amounderness.*
In the hundred of Amounderness the heir of Aumeric Pincerna
or Le Botiller, baron of Warrington, held a knight's fee of land
in demesne, in capite from the king. We shall have to speak more
fully of the fees held by the barons of Warrington, when we
describe the estates held by them in the hundred of West Derby.
AU the information that we find in "Testa de Nevill" as to their
estates in Amounderness, is that one of the fees held by the barons
of Warrington, or, as he is described, the heir of Aumeric Pincerna,
was in that hundred.
* Testa de Nevill, p. 372.

598 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Another great fee held directly from the crown in the hundred
of Amounderness was that of Theobald Walter, baron of Amoun
derness or Preston. With respect to this it is stated, that the
heir of Theobald Walter held in demesne a third part of a knight's
fee in Wytheton and Tervel, in capite from the king. John de
Thornul, William de Pres, Roger de Notesage, Adam of Brete-
kirke, William de Kyrkham, Robert, the son of Thomas, and
Richard, the son of William, held the sixth part of a knight's fee
in Thisteldon, Pres, and Grenele, of the fee of the said heir, and
he of the king. WUliam de Merton held the tenth part and the
twentieth part in the same fee of Theobald Walter, and he of the
king. Roger Gernet, Thomas de Bethun, and Bobert de Stokeport
held the fourth part of a knight's fee in Bustard Bruing of that
fee, and he of the king.*
The other Fees in Amounderness. — With regard to the fee of
Richard de Frekelton, it is stated that Richard de Frekelton
held the fourth part and the eighth part of a knight's fee in
demesne in Frekelton, Quintinghay, Newton, and Etheliswic ; that
Gilbert Meolis, Robert de Notesage, and Wfifiam de Pul held the
sixteenth part of that fee in Frekelton ; that Alan de Singleton
and Swaine held in Frekelton the eighth part in that fee ; Alan
de Singleton, Warin de Quintinghay, and Robert de Dutton, the
eighth part in Quintinghay ; Alan de Singleton, Warin de Quin
tinghay, an eighth part in Etheliswic ; Alan de Singleton, the sixth
part of Etheliswic : all of that fee. t
The great famfiy of the De Lacys, earls of Lincoln and con
stables of Chester, who were the most powerful tenants of the
crown in the counties of Lancaster and Chester, with the single
exception of the De Ferrers, earls of Derby, also held a fee in
the hundred of Amounderness ; but it was comparatively small,
including only Warton, Pres, and Newton. We shaU have occasion
to describe the possessions of this fanfily more fully in the account
which we shall give of the fees of Clitheroe and Widness,
in Lancashire, and of Halton, in Cheshire, of which we shaU yet
speak. In the fee of the earl of Lincoln in Amounderness, the
third part of a knight's fee in Warton was held by Thomas de
Bethum ; and the fourth part of a knight's fee in Pres and Newton
were held by Wfifiam Deps (Despenser) from the earl of Lincoln.
Amongst the churches in this hundred, those of Kirkham, St.
* Testa de Nevill, p. 397. t Ibid. p. 397.

PAST AND PRESENT. 599

Michael on Wyre, and Preston were in the gift of the king.
With regard to the church of Kirkham, it is stated that the pre
sentation belonged to King John, and that he gave two parts of
the church (or of its income) to Simon Blund, for keeping the son
and heir of Theobald Walter, who was a ward of the crown. The
living was worth eighty marks a year. The church of St. Michael
on Wyre was in the presentation of the king ; and the son of the
count of Salvata (probably an Italian priest) held it, "of the gift
of the king who now is" (Henry III.), the son of King John.
But the son of the count said that he was chosen to a bishopric,
that the church was vacant, and that it was worth thirty marks
a year. The church of Preston also belonged to the king. It
had been presented by King John to Peter Bussinol, who had
died ; and the king " who was then reigning " (Henry III.) gave
it to Henry, the nephew of the bishop of Winchester. It was
worth fifty marks a year.
We have no information in " Testa de Nevill " as to the bur
gages in- the borough of Preston, though burgesses existed there
probably as early as the reign of Henry I.
The Fees between the Mersey and the Ribble. — At the time when
the survey and inquiry described in " Testa de NeviU " were
made, the lands between the Bibble and the Mersey, which
had belonged to King Henry III. when he ascended the throne,
were held by William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, and Agnes de
Ferrers, his wife. These lands had been granted by that king, in
the year 1229, to Ranulf de Blundville, earl of Chester;* and on
his death, and the death, shortly afterwards, of his nephew, John
the Scot, the last earl of Chester of that line, they had passed
to Agnes de Ferrers, who was the sister of Earl Banulf, and to
William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, her husband, t These lands
were still of great extent and value, although very large grants
had previously been made from the estates of the crown, between
the Bibble and the Mersey, to other parties. The lands granted
by King Henry to the earl of Chester, and which afterwards
passed as part of his inheritance to the family of the De Ferrers,
were chiefly situated in the hundreds of West Derby, Salford, and
Leyland. But, as already stated, the earl of Chester had greatly
enlarged his Lancashire property, by purchasing the estates of Boger
de Merseya, another very extensive tenant of the crown in that
* Close Rolls, 13 Henry III. m. 2. t Close Rolls, 17 Henry III. m. 17.

600 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
county.* At the time when the survey described in "Testa de
Nevill" was made, William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, and the
Coimtess Agnes were probably the most extensive tenants of the
crown in the county of Lancaster. Their only rivals were the
De Lacys, earls of Lincoln, and owners, under the crown, of the
great fees of Clitheroe, Widness, and Halton, whose estates in
the two counties of Lancaster and Chester were little, if at all,
inferior in value and extent to those of the De Ferrers family.
Both these powerful families had also large estates in other parts
of the kingdom, all of which subsequently passed into the hands of
Edmund Plantagenet, the first earl of Lancaster, and second son of
King Henry III., or into those of his son Thomas, the second earl of
Lancaster, along with the whole of the estates of the king in the
county of Lancaster. This was the commencement of the great
and almost boundless wealth of the house of Lancaster, which
ultimately rendered that branch of the royal family more powerful
than the one which occupied the throne. With these general obser
vations, we proceed to describe the great fees and estates held by
the De Lacy famfiy in the hundred of Blackburn.
Clitheroe. — The Fee of the De Lacys, Earls of Lincoln. — Boger de
Lacy, constable of Chester, whose descendants afterwards obtained
the title of Earls of Lincoln, held five knight's fees, of the fee of
Clitheroe, which were chiefly situated in the hundred of Black
burn, in the county of Lancaster, t At the time when this survey
was made, the heir of the De Lacys was a minor, and his estates
were in the hands of the king. Previous to the time of which we
are writing, the De Lacys had made many grants from the lands
of the barony of Clitheroe. Thus, Hugh de Eland held three carucates
and two bovates of land of that fee, for which he paid 48 s. to Roger
de Lacy, yearly. The same Roger de Lacy had given to Robert
de Flamesbursch, in marriage with the daughter of Robert de Lacy,
ten bovates of land, and the half and the third part of half a
bovate, for knight's service, and a yearly payment of 20s. Roger
de Thornton and Thomas de Harbury held ten bovates, and a half
and the third part of half a bovate, from the same fee, by payment of
20s. per annum. Roger de Lacy had given to Gilbert de Lacy, in
marriage with Agneta, the daughter of Heinfrid or Reinfred, ten
bovates of land, and a half and the third part of a bovate, for a
yearly payment of 20s. He had also given to the monks of the
* Lancashire and Cheshire : Past and Present. Vol. i., p. 349. f Testa de Nevill, 403.

PAST AND PRESENT. 601

abbey of Stanlow, in Cheshire, six bovates of land in alms. Roger,
constable of Chester, held the barony of the constableship infra
lineam for four knight's fees, of which Richard, the son of Robert,
held one by knight's service. WUliam, the son of Mathew, also
held the fee of one knight by knight's service in this fee. John
de Lacy, constable of Chester, had given in alms to the Templars
of Jerusalem one carucate of land, and to the Hospitallers of
Jerusalem two carucates of land. Roger, constable of Chester, had
also given to the abbey of Stanlow three carucates of land in alms.
Richard de Mulas (Molyneux) held three carucates of land of the
same fee, in which fee, we are repeatedly told, that ten carucates
of land make a knight's fee. Hugh de Moreton held two carucates
of land, of which we are told that twelve carucates make one knight's
fee. Hugh de Tildesley held one knight's fee, and Allen de Hassal
held half a carucate from the same fee, by knight's service. John
Purchardon held the twelfth part of a knight's fee in Mitton from
the fee of the earl of Lincoln, in Blackburnshire. The earl held
it from the king ; but it belonged to the dower of the countess.
The fees of the heir of the earl of Lincoln in the hundred of
Blackburn included Mitton Parva, Wisewell, Apton, Tunley, Caldi-
cotes, Snodesworth, Twiselton, Eathwisfi, Acton, Livesley, the half
Falridge, Marley Parva, Marley, Rushton, BiUington, Alvethem,
Harewood, and Clayton.
Alan de Singleton held the wapentake or hundred of Blackburn
in fee, but held nothing — that is, no land — from the king in the
hundred. The Barony of Penwortham. — The De Boiseuls or Bussels,
barons of Penwortham, were originaUy the principal tenants of
the crown in the Leyland hundred. We find the following" par
ticulars of their estates, and of the manner in which those
estates had been dealt with :* — In the barony of Penwortham
there were five knights' fees infra lineam et extra, that is to say,
within the limits of the county or. beyond them. Thorp, forming
one knight's fee, was given to Guthe, the sister of Ranulf de
Clavilla, in marriage. It was thus alienated from the barony;
and the jurors who made the inquiry stated that they did not
know who held it then. Brocton, one knight's fee, was given
to Galfrid de Valonis by Albert Boiseul, and they did not
know who held it. Warin Boiseul gave to Ranulf, the son of the
* Testa de Nevill, 403.
VOL. I. 4 G

602 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
heir of Boger, five carucates of land in marriage with his daughter ;
and the same Banulf was in the keeping of Eustace de Morton,
with all that land. The same Warin Boiseul gave to Gilemichel,
the son of Eward, in marriage with his daughter, four carucates
of land, of which his heir held three carucates, who was in the
keeping of the archdeacon of Stafford and of William of Hare-
wood. The heir of Theobald Walter, who was also in the
wardship of the king, held one carucate in Mithop in this barony.
Warin de Boiseul also gave to Hamo Pincerna or le JBotiUer, in
free marriage with his daughter, two carucates of land in Heton
and in Eccleston ; and Adam de Hotton held the land in Heton,
that is to say, one carucate. Albert Boiseul gave one carucate
of land in Eccleston to the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in
alms. Bichard Boiseul gave to Allan Fitz-Swayne, in marriage
with his sister, four and a half carucates of land in Gunnolvesmores.
Bichard Fitton held the same land of the same barony by knight's
service. Bichard Boiseul gave to Bobert Hikefing, in marriage
with his sister, one carucate of land, which the heir of the same
Robert still held. , Richard Boiseul gave to Richard Spileman, in
marriage with his sister, Standish and Langton. Thurstan Banastre
held that land of his sister per unum nisum, that is, by the pay
ment yearly of a nest of young hawks. Warin Boiseul gave three
bovates of land in Penwortham and two in Langton to the church
of Penwortham in pure alms. Richard Boiseul gave four bovates
of land in Langton and one carucate in Farrinton to the same
church in alms. Albert Boiseul gave two bovates of land in alms
to the same church. The abbot of Evesham (ih Worcestershire)
held that church, with aU the lands. Richard Boiseul gave to the
abbey of Chester one carucate of land in Buchford, which the
abbot of Chester held. Bichard Boiseul gave one bovate of land
in Penwortham to the priory of Bolton in alms. Albert Boiseul
gave to Gerald de Clayton four bovates of land for his homage,
that he might be his seneschal. Robert Gresley held three caru
cates in Burnul and in Anderton, of the same barony of Penwortham,
" and performs no service." Robert de Gresley held two carucates
in Eston of the same barony, and ought to render yearly one
falcon, or 20s., "but he does not pay it." Warin Boiseul gave
to Norman three carucates of land in Kirkdale in knight's service •
and Quinfida, the daughter of Roger, held the land by the same
service. Theobald Walter held the half of a knight's fee, which

PAST AND PRESENT. 603

Harvey, the father of Harvey Walter, gave to the grand falconer
(ornifer magn :), with his daughter Alice in marriage ; and four caru
cates of land in Routhclive and in Thistelton and in Greenhele, in
knight's service. It is further stated, with reference to the barons
of Penwortham, that the Lord Roger (de Lacy), constable of
Chester, gave nine bovates of land in Leyland to the hospital of
St. John of Jerusalem, which Hugh Boiseul held ; also that Roger
de Lacy gave to Robert Boiseul two carucates and two bovates
of land in Langton, and in Leyland and in Ankeston, as the tenth
part of a knight's fee.*
Other Fees in Leyland. — We have already mentioned that
William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, and Agnes, his wife, held the
lands which had belonged to the king between the Ribble and
the Mersey. This grant included Walton-le-dale, Bretherton,
Clayton, Penwortham, Heton, Langton, Leyland, Chernock, Sewing-
ton, Heall, Charnock, and Wythallt It also included the lands
which Bichard, the son of Roger de Frekelton, held, being one caru
cate of land in Thorp, held from the king in capite. The whole of
these lands, however, were held, under WUliam de Ferrers, earl
of Derby, by the De Lacys, earls of Lincoln, and formed the
fee of the heir of the earl of Lincoln in Leylandshire. We are
further informed that Warin de Walton held the fourth part
of a knight's fee of the fee of the earl of Lincoln, and he of
the fee of the earl de Ferrers, and he in capite of the king.
The hundred or wapentake of Leyland was kept, as high steward,
by Bobert de Clayton, who, we are told, held no tenement from
the king.
The Barony of Manchester. — The great hundred of Salford comes
next, and includes many large estates. William de Ferrers, earl
of Derby, held great part of the lands in the hundred of Salford,
in right of his wife, the sister of Ranulf de Blundvfile, earl of Chester.
The borough of Salford was one portion of the royal estates
which Henry III. granted to the earl of Chester; and although
the earl of Chester only held that portion of his estates for the
short period of three years, having died in the year 1232, he
signalized his possession by granting to his burgesses of Salford
a charter, under which the borough was governed by its own bur
gesses for many ages. This we shall give with the other charters
of the Lancashire and Cheshire boroughs.
* Testa de Nevill, p. 403. t Ibid. p. 397.

604 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

In addition to the borough of Salford, William de Ferrers, earl of
Derby, held numerous other manors in the hundred of Salford, in
capite, from the king, many of which were held under him by the earl
of Lincoln and the De Gresleys, barons of Manchester, in addition to
the estates which the De Lacy and the De Gresley families held directly
from the. king. Amongst the manors in the hundred of Salford held
by Wfifiam de Ferrers were those of Bury, Middleton, Chadderton,
Pendleton, Barton, Withington, and Pilkington.
The De Lacys, earls of Lincoln, held most of the above manors
under the De Ferrers, earls of Derby, and had regranted them to
many of the knights and gentlemen of the hundred of Salford.
The barony of Manchester, held in this age, and for many ages
before and after, by the ancient and distinguished family of the
Gresleys, or De Gresleys, was one of the most valuable estates in
South Lancashire. In the time of Robert Gresley that family held
twelve knights' fees in the honour of Lancaster, or the county of Lan
caster — infra lineam et extra/' Matthew, the son of William, and Roger,
the son of William, held one knight's fee in Withington, of Robert
Gresley, by the ancient tenure described as de antiquitate, and were
bound to supply one judge for our lord the king. Gilbert de Newton
held, along with the lady De Barton, one knight's fee and a half, and
Thomas Withington held half a knight's fee from the same Bobert,
de antiquitate. Richard, the son of Bobert, held five carucates of land
and a half, namely, in ChildwaU, three ; in the hundred of West
Derby, one carucate of land in Aspull; one carucate in Turton;
and half a carucate in Brochales. Roger de Samlesbury and Alex
ander held six carucates in Harewood, of the same fee. We are
further informed that Albert de Gredly (Gresley), senex, or the
elder, gave one knight's fee to Orme, the son of Aylward, in
marriage with his daughter, in Dalton, Parbold, and Withington.
The heirs of Orme held the said land. Alexander de Pilkinton
held from Robert Gresley the fourth part of a knight's fee by
knight's service, and supplying one judge to our lord the king,
de antiqua tenura. Albert Gresley, the younger (juvenis), gave to
Thomas de Pierrepont three carucates of land in Rivington and
Lostock as the third part of a knight's fee. Their heirs stiU held that
land. Robert Gresley, "who now is" (qui nunc est), gave to Robert
de Buri fourteen bovates of his demesne at Manchester (Mame-
cestre) for knights' service, and his heirs held that land. The same
* Testa de Nevill, p. 404.

PAST AND PRESENT. 605

Robert gave to Ranulf de Emecot two bovates of land, from his
demesne at Manchester, for 6s. 8d. rent per annum. Albert Gresley
gave to Robert de Bracebrugge two bovates of land, from his demesne
of Manchester, for 4s. per annum. His heirs still held the land.
Albert Gresley, senior, gave to Wluric de Mamecester four bovates of
land from his demesne, for 5s. per annum. His heirs held the land.
Albert Gresley gave four bovates of land from his demesne, in alms,
to the church of Manchester. Albert Gresley (juvenis) gave to
William Noreus (Norris) two carucates of land in Heton for 10s.
a year. His heirs still held the land. The same Albert gave to
Alexander, the son of Umoch, two bovates of land in Little Lever for
half a mark and Is. a year, or one nest (of hawks). His heirs still
held the land. Albert Gresley, senior, gave to Orme, the son of
Eward, with his daughter Emma, in marriage, one carucate of land in
Aston, for a yearly rent of 10s. per annum. The heirs of the same
Orme still held that land. The same Albert gave to Henry, the son
of Siward, one carucate of land in Flixton for 10s. a year. The heirs
still held the land. Albert Gresley, junior, gave to Elyas de Pennilbury
(Pendlebury) SlivehaU, for Is. or for one nest of hawks per annum.
The same Elyas still held that land. Roger de Samefisbury and
Alexander de Harewode held one bovate of land in Chappies for 3s.
of Robert Gresley. Albert Gresley gave to the monks of Swinehead,
in Lincolnshire, one croft, which is called Wythacres, in alms. Robert
Gresley, " who now is," gave to Ace, the clergyman, a piece of land of
his demesne at Manchester, for 3s. The same Ace held that land.
Gilbert Barton held one fee and a half in the fee of Thomas de
Gresley, and he in the fee of the earl de Ferrers, and he in capite
from the king. Mathew de Haversedge held a knight's fee in With
ington of the same. Robert de Lathom held a knight's fee in Child-
wall, and the fourth part of a knight's fee in Parbold, and three parts
in Wrightington, of the said fee of Thomas de Gresley. Richard de
Pierrepoint held the third part of a knight's fee in Runworth.
William de Worthington held the half of a knight's fee in the same
fee. Roger de Pilkington held the fourth part of a knight's fee in
the same.
Thomas de Gresley held in Lindeshey (Lincolnshire), in the
honour of Lancaster, six knights' fees, and the third part of a knight's
fee from the king.
But Thomas de Gresley is chiefly worthy of remembrance as the
baron of Manchester who granted to that city its most valuable

606 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
foundation charter, a copy of which will be given in the present
work. The Ancient Fee of William Peverel. — The township of Aston, and
the two Mertons, were escheats of the king, of the very ancient fee of
William Peverel. These WUliam de Ferrers, earl of Derby, then held.
They were worth 40s. The same earl also held Blackrod from the
same honour (of Peverel). It was worth 20s. a year. Hugh de
Blackrod, or le Norreys, held Blackrod from the king, as part of
the fee of William Peverel. It was an escheat of the crown, and
contained one carucate of land. It was worth 20s. He held it by
charter from the king.*"
The De Traffords of Trafford. — Henry de Trafford was one of the
knights, or thanes, of Lancashire, who assisted in making the
great survey of that county, in the reign of Henry III., about
the year 1240. He and others of his family are mentioned in
" Testa de Nevill " as holding estates in the hundred of Salford. It
appears from very ancient deeds in the Anglo-Saxon language that
they held some of the estates previous to the Norman conquest, which
they hold to the present time.
The Hultons of Hulton. — Several members of this ancient famfiy
are mentioned as holding offices and estates in the hundred of
Salford, in the reign of King John, and in that of his son
Henry III. Amongst the offices was that of high steward of the
hundred of Salford, granted to Bichard de Hulton by King John.
Marferth and Jarverth de Hulton are also mentioned as landowners
in the Salford hundred, in the same reigns.
The Fee of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. — The two greatest
tenants of the crown in the hundred of West Derby, at the time
when the survey described in " Testa de Nevill" was made, in
the reign of Henry III., were WUliam de Ferrers, earl of Derby;
and the De Lacys, barons of Halton in Cheshire, Widness and
Cfitheroe in Lancashire, and earls of Lincoln. As far as their
Lancashire estates were concerned, the De Ferrers family had the
higher position, holding those estates directly from the king, whilst
the De Lacys held most of their Lancashire estates from the De
Ferrers family. But in many other parts of the kingdom the
De Lacys had immense estates held directly from the crown,
and were amongst the richest and most powerful of the ancient
nobility.
* Testa de Nevill, p. 401.

PAST AND PRESENT. 607

In the hundred or wapentake of West Derby, the De Ferrers
famfiy held all the estates which had been conferred upon the last
earl of Chester by King Henry III., in the year 1229. There are
some particulars, with regard to these estates, in the high sheriff
of Lancashire's annual return, for the 14th Henry III., preserved
in the Pipe Rolls of the next year (1230). Amongst those estates
were Liverpool, which we shaU describe afterwards ; Everton, near
Liverpool, which was then cultivated by the villeins or bonds
men of the earl, who paid to him a yearly rent of £4 16s. of
the money of that time, equal to about £70 of modern money.
Walton-on-the-HUl was another portion of the estate, and paid a
yearly rent of 60s., equal to about £45 of modern money, from
rent of assize, that is to say, from ancient fixed rent. Crosby
produced 105s., equal to £78, from the improvements and extensions
of cultivation made by the vfileins; and 10s., equal to £7 10s.
of modern money, from rent of assize paid by Robert de Crosby,
who held land as a freeman in the same manor. The manor of
Hale, which was held by Richard de Mida, by charter from King
John, produced £4 10s. a year, equal to £67 10s. of modern money,
from rent of assize ; and 50s., equal to £37 10s., from increased
cultivation and improvements within the manor. Wavertree paid
20s., equal to about £15, for ancient rent, and half a mark, equal to
about £5, for increase and improvements. The borough of Liverpool
paid £9, equal to about £130 of modern money, for rent of assize.
West Derby paid 72s. 6c?., equal to £54 7s. 6d., for rent of assize.
Several of the adjoining manors were held by thanage, the thanes
or knights paying a yearly rent to the earl of 20s., equal to about
£1 5, for thanage, besides amounts for rent of assize. Thus the manor
of Lathom, held by the Lathoms, paid 20s., equal to £15, for rent
of assize; that of Ditton 20s.; that of Garston 20s.; that of Thing-
waU one mark, equal to £10; that of MeUing 15s. In Litherland,
Adam de MullieneU (Molyneux) paid 20s. for thanage ; Alan de
Holland paid 18s., equal to £13 10s., for thanage in HoUand,
Aintree, and Barton ; Alan, the son of Bernulf, paid 5s., equal to
£3 15s., for thanage in Bickerstaff; Richard, the son of Roger,
paid one mark, equal to £10, for thanage in Formby and Bold;
Henry de Waleton paid 28 s., equal to £21, for rent of assize in
Formby, which he held by charter of King John ; and half a mark,
equal to £5, for increase of value. There was also paid to the earl
lis. lOd, equal to £8 17s. 6d., for. sacfee of the fee of Wfifiam

608 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Butler, baron of Warrington ; 3s., equal to £2 5s., from the fee of
Bobert Boiseul, baron of Penwortham, in Kirkdale ; and 6s., equal
to £4 10s., from the fee of Adam de Mullienell (Molyneux). The
whole amount of these payments, in the hundred of West Derby,
was £46 9s. 2c?., equal to about £702 2s. 6c?., of modern money.
In the hundred of Salford, the amount paid to the earl de
Ferrers was £21 lis. 2c?., equal to £323 15s. These two sums,
with some smaller amounts paid in the hundred of Leyland, make
the total payments to WiUiam de Ferrers, earl of Derby, £68 18s. 4c?.,
equal to £1033 15s. of the money of the present time.*
The Fee of the De Lacy Family in Widness. — The estates of the
De Lacy famfiy in the hundred of West Derby belonged to the fee
or barony of Widness, which was subordinate to the fee of Halton.
Halton castle, near Runcorn, was the chief place of strength, on
the estates of the De Lacy famfiy in Cheshire, and close adjoining
to Lancashire. Amongst the chief knights and gentlemen who
held from the fee of Widness were Robert de Lathom, or, as he is
described in the feodary, " Dominus Robertus de Lathom," who held
the manors of Knowsley, Huyton, Roby, and Torbock from the fee
of Widness, as well as that of Lathom and other manors from
Wfifiam de Ferrers, earl of Derby. These estates passed soon
after to the Stanleys, now and for many ages earls of Derby, by
the . marriage of Isabel de Lathom, the heiress of the De Lathom
family, with Sir John Stanley. In the reign of Henry VI. they are
described as belonging to Sir Thomas Stanley, knight, controller,
who was the son of Sir John Stanley. The sum which the De
Lathoms paid to the De Lacys for the manors of Knowsley,
Huyton, Roby, and Torbock was £5 a year, equal to about £60
of present money. In addition to that sum they paid a fine or relief,
whenever the lands passed to another tenant by the death of the
preceding one. The amount of this refief does not appear to
have been strictly fixed, but it was generally equal to two or
three years of the annual rent.
In the same fee of Widness the manors of Sutton, Eccleston, and
Rainhill were held from the De Lacys by Gilbert le Norreys, as
a knight's fee, with a yearly payment of £5, and the usual
fine or relief on renewal. In the reign of Henry VL, Sutton,
Eccleston, and Rainhfil were held by John Daniell of Daresbury.
The manor of Little Crosby was held of this fee of the De Lacys,
* Pipe Roll of the Sheriff of Lancashire, 14(h Henry III.

PAST AND PRESENT. 609

by Richard Molyneux of Sefton. It was held as three carucates
of land, and we are told that in this case ten carucates of land
made one knight's fee. The yearly payment was £1 10s. of the
money of that time. The manor of Halsall was held by Richard
Halsall as half a carucate of land, and paid 5 s. a year of the money
of that time. Half the manor of Kirkby was held by Bichard de
Barton as half a carucate of land, for which he paid 10s. a year,
and the refief as fixed on renewal. Peter Gerard held it in the
reign of Henry VI. The other half of Kirkby was held by Banulf
de Bethum on the same tenure. This was in the hands of Thomas
Bethum in the reign of Henry VI. The town and manor of Astley
were held by Hugh de TUdesley for one carucate of land, on pay
ment of 1 0s. a year and fine on entrance, known as the relief. This
was afterwards held by Richard Ratcliffe.
The town and manor of Appleton were held from the lord of
the fee in bondage, that is to say, by the vfileins or cultivators.
It was accounted as equal to three carucates of land. The rent
paid was £1 10s. Cronton was held by the abbot of Whalley, in
pure and perpetual alms, as three carucates of land, and paid £l 10s.
Great Woolton and Little Woolton were held of the De Lacys by
the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, for five carucates
of land, and paid £2 10s. a year of the money of that time.
The fee of the De Lacys, earls of Lincoln, in West Derbyshire,
was held from WiUiam de Ferrers, earl of Derby, who held it in
capite. It included the manors of Appleton, Cronton, Sutton, Eccles
ton, Knowsley, Huyton, Torbock, Little Crosby, Kirkby, MaghuU,
Kirkdale, North Meols, and Argarmeols*
The Fee of the Butlers, Barons of Warrington. — Another great
tenant of the crown was WiUiam Butler, or le Botfiler, Latinized
into Pincerna, baron of Warrington. He held no less than eight
knights' fees in capite from the king. We are told in " Testa de
Nevill" that Paganus de Vilers (Vilfiers) who first possessed the fee
of Warrington, gave to Alan de Vilers, his son, five carucates of
land to be held by knight's service ; that the same Paganus gave to
the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem one carucate of land, in
Bekaneshow, in alms ; that he also gave to William de Vilers, his
son, his land of Newbold, by knight's service, which William, the
son of the younger Paganus, held by the same service ; that the
same Paganus gave to Alan, his son, the land of Trafford in knight's
* Testa de Nevill, p. 396.
VOL. I. 4 H

610 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
service, which Robert de Vilers held by the same service ; that he
also gave to Thomas de Vilers the half of Nothorp and land of
Hole, and the land of Calverton, in knight's service, whence Robert
de Vilers held Hole, and the half of Calverton, except one carucate
of land, which the same WiUiam de Vfiers held, and the same
Robert de Vilers, afterwards of Calverton, by the same service.
The same Paganus also gave to Roger de Stain sby, Ince (that is to
say, three carucates of land) and Barton, except four bovates of land,
which William Blundefi held of William Pincerna, or Butler, by
knight's service. In addition to the above grants, the same Paganus
de Vfiers gave to Bobert Mulas, or Molyneux, one carucate of land
in Thornton to be held by knight's service, which Robert, the son
of Richard, held by the same service ; he also gave to Elwin one
carucate in Thornton, which Gilbert, his son, held of William Pin
cerna, or Butler. The same Paganus also gave six bovates of land
to Wfifiam Gernet in Lydiate, which Benedict the son of Simon,
and Alan his brother, held of WiUiam Pincerna. Paganus de Vilers
also gave one carucate of land in Windle, and one in Hassal, to
Vivian Gernet, in marriage with Emma his daughter, the land to
be held by knight's service. Alan, the son of Alan, held the land
in Windle from Robert de Vilers, and Alan, the son of Simon,
held the land in Hassal from the said Robert by the same service.
Reginald held four carucates of land from Paganus de Vilers by
knight's service; and Hugh, the son of Gilbert, afterwards held
that land from William Pincerna, or Butler, paying him four marks.
Alan de Rixton held, de antiquitate, from William Pincerna, or Butler,
one carucate of land in Rixton for one mark, and performed knight's
service. Henry Fitz-Wifiiam held, de antiquitate, from the said
William Pincerna, one carucate of land in Alderton for one mark,
and rendered knight's service. Hugh, the son of Henry, held, de
antiquitate, from the said William Pincerna, by knight's service, a
piece of land, which the said Paganus de Vilers gave to Gerard de
Sankey. Robert, the son of Thomas, afterwards held it. Richard
Pincerna, or Butler, gave to Mathew de Walton two bovates of land
in Eggergarth, which Henry, the son of Gilbert, held. Also, in the
town of Croppul, the prior of Thugarton held one carucate of land
in pure and perpetual alms, as the gift of Bobert de Vilers.
The barony of Warrington, described in " Testa de Nevill" as the
fee of the heir of Aumeric Pincerna or Butler, baron of Warrington,
formed part of the great fee which William de Ferrers, earl of Derby,

PAST AND PRESENT. 611

held in capite from the king. Among the places in this barony were
Tyldesley, Culcheth, Rixton, Astley, Atherton, Sankey, Penketh,
Hoole, Halsal, Windle, Lydiate, Eggergarth, Ince (Hyms), and Barton.*
The Estates of the- Molyneuxes of Sefton. — The Molyneuxes, now
earls of Sefton, already possessed large, estates in Lancashire, con
siderable portions of which they had held from the time of the
Norman conquest. We are told in " Testa de Nevill " that Bichard
de Molyneux (Mulas) held ten and a half carucates of land, from the
gift of Roger Pictavensis, as half a knight's fee. Robert de Moly
neux, the father of the said Richard, gave two carucates of land in
Kardan, with his sister in marriage, to Siward the son of Avote ; and
Henry his brother held these carucates by knight's service. From
this land he gave three acres to the blessed Mary of Kokersand
(Cokersand Abbey), in alms. Also, Robert de Mulas gave to Gilbert,
his brother, one carucate of land in Thornton by knight's service,
which pertained to that fee, and which Richard his son afterwards
held. Richard de Mulas, the son of the same Robert, gave to Richard,
Branche, and Robert, half a carucate of land for knight's service, and
a rent of 6s. a year. The same Richard gave to Robert his son three
bovates of land for knight's service, and to Rann de Litherland two
bovates in Litherland for knight's service, and 5s. of rent. The same
Richard gave to Simon de Mulas a culture of land for 2s. of rent.
He also gave a culture of land to Richard de Thornton, for one pound
of pepper per annum. The same Richard de Mulas held one and
a half carucate of land in exchange for Toxteth, and paid the king
20s. Robert de Walton held from Richard de Mulas six bovates of
land for a rent of 10s; and Richard, the son of Siward, also held
from him six bovates for a rent of 10s. t
The Barony of Newton. — The barony of Newton, forming the fee
of the heir of Robert Banastre, was also included in the larger fee
of William de Ferrers, earl of Derby. It comprised, in the West
Derby hundred, Makerfield, Lawton, Kenyon, and Herebury. It also
included a knight's fee in Walton, and one in Blackburn hundred,
held from the fee of the De Lacys, earls of Lincoln.}
Godfrey Banister, or (Arbalaster), bought six carucates of land
from King John, in burgage, for the sum of £15.§
Henry de Waleton, high bafiiff of West Derby, held fourteen
carucates of land in Woolton, Wavertree, and Newsham, by being
high bailiff of West Derby. ||
* Testa de Nevill, p. 396. f Ibid. p. 396. J Ibid. p. 396. § Ibid. p. 404. |] Ibid. p. 403.

612 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Adam de Girard held two carucates of land by service of sum
moning parties to appear before the courts of Justices, no very safe
office in those turbulent times. This land was worth 4s. a year.*
Lucas, the bailiff of West Derby, held two carucates of land, for
keeping the working cattle on the estates of William de Ferrers.
The Earldom of Chester. — We have no account of the county of
Chester in " Testa de Nevill." Chester and Durham being at that
time palatine counties were not returned along with the other
English counties; the royal rights and properties in those counties
having been surrendered, in one case to the earls of Chester, in
the other, to the bishops of Durham, who were in the place of the
king in them. We may add, however, with regard to the county
of Chester, that it passed into the hands of the king's eldest son,
that is to say, of the prince of Wales, who was also made earl
of Chester, in the course of the reign of Henry III. But the
accounts of the earldom of Chester were made out separately for
many years after.
It will have been seen in the account of the county of Chester,
made at the time of the Domesday survey, that the whole of the
lands of that county, as well as of the adjoining county of Flint,
had been granted to Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester, and had been
subgranted by him, to a great extent, to his barons and other
powerful followers.
The manors or townships which Earl Hugh Lupus retained in his
own hands or, as it was then called, in demesne, at the time of the
Domesday survey, were forty-eight in number, and were scattered
over the whole county. During the 150 years which followed the
time of the Domesday survey a large portion of these manors were
given, granted, sold, or exchanged for other manors. Several of
them became the foundations of great private estates, some of which
exist at the present time. The foUowing is a list of these manors,
arrranged alphabetically :— Adlington, Alreton, Alsager, Alderley,
Antrobus, Budworth (Little), Capesthorne, Clive or Cliff, Chalford,
Colinton, Done, Dunham-on-the-HUl, Eaton, Eddisbury, Elton, East
ham, Frodsham, Gawsworth, Helsby, Hunger Weninton, Henshal,
Hollingworth, Kennardsley, Lay (in Broxton hundred), Lay, Laiton,
Manly, Macclesfield, Neston, Oulton, Over, Eccleston, Rushton,
Romfiy, Sandbach, Sutton near Middlewich, Stanney, Trafford,
Tintwistle, Upton-in-Wirrall, Wernith, and Weaver. The greater
* Testa de Nevill, p. 372.

PAST AND PRESENT. 613

part of these manors were included in the earl's forests and
demesnes. The Barony of Halton. — By far the most powerful of the barons
of Chester were the Fitz-Nigels, who afterwards intermarried with
the great famfiy of De Lacy, thus uniting the ancient office and dig
nity of constables, or commanders-in-chief, of the earldom of Chester,
with the earldom of Lincoln, and the vast estates of the De Lacy
family, in almost all parts of England. We have already given an
account of the possessions of the De Lacy famfiy in the county of
Lancaster, including their two great fees or lordships of Cfitheroe and
Widness. We now proceed to give some particulars as to the fee or
barony of Halton in the county of Chester, of which Halton castle,
near Runcorn,- was the principal place of strength. We take these
from a feodary of the lordship of Halton, which appears to have been
drawn up about the time of Edward IL, who was himself earl of
Chester, before he came to the crown. In this feodary we have not
only the account of the knights and gentlemen who held the estates
at that time, but also of those who held the estates at a later period,
probably in the reign of Henry VI. The latter are entered in a
different hand, and at a later period, on this Return. They both
throw much light on the descent of the lands and manors of this part
of the county palatine of Chester.
The manor of Longdendale, on the extreme east of the county, was
held of the fee of Halton, by Robert de Longdendale (described as
" Dominus "), as one knight's fee, for a yearly payment of £5, equal to
£60 of modern money, and for a relief or entrance fee, when one
tenant of the manor succeeded to another. This manor passed,
in the reign of Henry VL, or about that time, into the hands of
William, Lord Lovell. Alderley was held by Robert de Monte Alto
(described as " Dominus "), as the fourth part of one knight's fee, on
payment of £1 5s. a year, and of a relief or fine of renewal, on
the accession of every new tenant. At a later period, that is to
say, about the reign of Henry VL, Alderley was in the possession
of Thomas Weaver, from whom it passed to the Stanleys of Alderley.
Aston, near Sutton, and Enderley, in Norton, were held by Richard
de Aston as the fourth part of one knight's fee, on the payment
of £1 5 s. a year, and by the usual fee on renewal. They still belong
to the ancient famfiy of the Astons. Bexton, or rather one half of it,
was held by John de Bexton, for the twentieth part of one knight's fee,
on payment of 5s., and by the usual relief. Barrow (Great) was held by

614 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Hugo, Lord Le Despencer, together with the half of a bovate of land in
Little Barrow, for the half of one knight's fee, on payment of £2 10s.
a year, and on the usual fee on renewal. The half of Barnston
was held by Hugo de Barnston, as the fourth part of 6ne knight's
fee, for a yearly payment of £l 5s., and the usual relief. In the
reign of Henry VI. it was held by John Tyldesley. Budworth and
Aston was held by John Fitton, along with the third part of Upper
Tabley, two bovates of land in Lower Tabley, one bovate of land in
the fourth part of Cumberbach, one bovate of land in the hands
of the prior of Norton, in Budworth, and the whole of the lands of
Lithe, beyond the Dee, near Chester, for one knight's fee, on payment
of £5 a year, and the usual relief or fine on renewal. Clutton was
held by Robert de Monte Alto, as the sixth part of one knight's fee,
for a yearly payment of 6s. 8c?., and the usual refief. This manor
passed to Thomas Weaver, who held it in the reign of Henry VI.
Clifton, now named Rocksavage, was held by the lady (" Domina ")
Matfide de Chedull, as the half of one knight's fee, for a yearly
payment of £2 10s., and the usual relief. It was held, in the reign of
Henry VI. , by Sir John Savage, knight, an ancestor of the earls
Rivers, and of the marquises of Cholmondeley, who are also viscounts
Rocksavage. Cotton was held by Henry de Cotton, as the twentieth
part of one knight's fee, on payment of 5s. a year, and his relief.
Capenhurst was held by Robert Pool, as the fourth part of one
knight's fee, for £l 5s., and the usual relief.
Congleton was held by the countess of Lincoln, along with Upper
and Lower Runcorn and Moore, as the sixth part of one knight's
fee. The yearly value was £5 16s. 8c?., with the usual relief.
Daresbury was held by Alan le Norreys, along with Higher
Walton, as the half of one knight's fee, on payment of £2 10s.,
and the usual relief. Herebury and PeckshuU were held by
Oliver de Bourdeaux, as the inheritance of Matilda his wife, for
the fourth part of one knight's fee, on payment of £l 5s., and
his relief.
Halton (the head of the fee) was held by the earl of Lincoln,
as the half of one knight's fee. It was valued at £2 10s. Halton,
or a part of it was held by Peter de Warburton ("Dominus
Petrus de Warburton"), along with Stretton, Sale, and the half
of Nether Walton, as four-tenths of one knight's fee, on payment
of £2, and by the usual relief. In the reign of Henry VI. ,
these lands were held by Galfridus, or Godfrey, de Warburton.

PAST AND PRESENT. 615

Both the above were ancestors of the ancient and honourable
house of the Warburtons of Arley. Knotsford Booths was
held by John de Legh, as the sixth part of one knight's fee,
on payment of 16s. 8c?., and the usual relief. Kirkby-in-Waley
(half) was held by Bichard Samson, as the fourth part of one
knight' fee, by a yearly payment of £1 5s., and his refief. In the
reign of Henry VL, Sir Thomas Stanley, knight, and Henry
Litherland held the half of Kirkby-in-Waley. Hugo de Dutton
("Dominus"), held the town of Kekewick, the town of Weston, the
half of Lower Walton, the third part of the town of Upper Runcorn,
and six bovates of land in Newton, near Chester, as the half of
one knight's fee — or according to another reading — for a fee, on
payment of £2 10s. a year, and his relief. Gfibert de Lymme held
the half of the town of Lymme, as the half of one knight's fee>
on payment of £2 10s. a year, and his refief. John Dumvyfi held
it in the reign of Henry VI. Richard de Aston held Listark, as
the fifth part of one knight's fee, by a payment of £1, and his relief.
Lostock-Gralam, and the half of Plumley, were held by Thomas de
Vernon, as the half of one knight's fee, on payment of £2 10s.,
and his relief. Henry de Hulme held the town of Hulme (Holmes
Chapel), for the twentieth part of one knight's fee, on payment of 5s.,
and his relief.
Milfington (one half) was held by Robert de Mufington, for the
eighth part of one knight's fee, a yearly payment of 12s. 6c?., and
his refief. Thomas de Vernon held the town of Moreton Rood, as
the eighth part of one knight's fee, on payment of 12s. 6d., and his
refief. Moore was held by the countess of Lincoln. The prior of
Norton held Norton, as the eighth part of one knight's fee, and
Middleton, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, on payment of
£1 17s. 6d., and his relief. WiUiam de Mobberly held the half of
the town of Lower Pever, for the twentieth part of a knight's fee,
and his relief, on payment of 5s. Runcorn was held by the countess
of Lincoln. Godfrey de Warburton held the town of Sutton, as
the fifth part of one knight's fee, on payment of £l, and his refief.
Sale was held by Godfrey de Warburton. Stretton was also held
by Godfrey de Warburton. Toft was held by Roger de Toft, as
the twentieth part of a knight's fee, on payment of 5 s. and his
relief. Robert Leycester held Toft in the reign of Henry VI.
Hugh, the son of Adam de Tabley, held the town of Tabley, as
the twentieth part of one knight's fee, on payment of 5s., and his

616 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
relief. John Leycester held Over Tabley in the reign of Henry VI.
Ranulph de Traunmall held the town of TraunmaU (Tranmere), for
the ninth part of one knight's fee, on payment of lis., and his relief.
Robert Touchet ("Dominus") held the town of Whitley (Lower),
as the third part of one knight's fee, on payment of £l 13s. 4c?.,
and his relief. Walton (Over): Alan le Norreys held Walton and
Daresbury. Robert de Holland ("Dominus") held the town of Whitley (Upper),
as the half of one knight's fee, on payment of £2 10s., and his relief.
And Walton (Lower) was held by Petrus de Warburton.*
The various Tenures of Land in Lancashire and Cheshire. — It will
be seen from the above account of the lands of these two counties,
that they were already divided amongst numerous proprietors, and
were held by a great variety of tenures. The king still held aU the
regal rights over the whole of the land fir the county of Lancaster;
but in 'the county of Chester, nearly the whole of those rights had
been given up to the Norman earls of Chester, at the time when that
county was made a county palatine. The same thing happened in
the county of Lancaster, about a hundred years later, when Lanca
shire was made a county palatine by Edward III. The first, second,
and third -earls of Lancaster, although of the royal blood, were not
earls palatine, and possessed only the same rights within that county
which were enjoyed by other earls in the other parts of the kingdom.
Previous to the creation of the earldom of Lancaster, by Henry III.,
in favour of his son Edmund, the rights of an earl were exercised in
that part of Lancashire which lies between the Ribble and the Mersey
by the famfiy of De Ferrers, earls of Derby ; but all those rights
passed to the earls of Lancaster, when that title was created by
Henry III. The De Lacy family, although they held the rank of
earls in the county of Lincoln, were only barons in the counties of
Lancaster and Chester ; though they held no less than three baronial
fees in those counties, namely, those of Clitheroe and Widness in
Lancashire, and that of Halton in Cheshire, along with the hereditary
office of constable, or commander of the armies of the earls of
Chester. Within the county of Lancaster, the barons of Lancaster,
Amounderness, Penwortham, Manchester, Warrington, and Newton
were of equal rank with the baron of Clitheroe, and that was also the
case with the other barons in the earldom of Chester. The greater
part of the land, as will have been seen, was held under these barons,
* Feodary of Halton, iu Leycester's Antiquities of Cheshire, p. 288.

PAST AND PRESENT. 617

by the three tenures of knight's service, thanage, and drengage ;
these three forms of tenure were very nearly the same in reality, the
difference being chiefly that the one was known by an English or a
Norman name, and the others by Saxon and Danish appellations.
The number of knights, or thanes, or drenghs, in Lancashire was
very considerable, and included all the principal landowners under
the rank of baron. The knights' fees were again very extensively
subdivided, and were held in portions of from one-half to a forty-
eighth part, by landowners of various ranks. A very large portion of
the land of the two counties was also held by the abbots, the priors,
and the heads of other religious houses, in what was called alms, or
eleemosyna. This property had a wonderful tendency to increase ; the
power of the clergy and of the monastic orders being very great,
especially on the approach of death, and the monastic estates not being
liable to be broken up, like those of the laity, by marriage settle
ments, provisions for children, or by personal extravagance. Within
the boroughs of the two counties, as well as those of the kingdom
generally, the land was held on burgage tenure — a most independent
and permanent tenure, out of which the freedom and the property of
the ancient boroughs of England may be said to have grown. Much
land was also held by what was called serjeantia ; that is to say, by the
performance of various public offices and services, which are now
remunerated, in the higher offices, by salaries, and the lower, by
wages. But the real cultivation of the land, and the reclaiming of the
extensive wastes of this district, was carried on by men holding
their lands by the most useful and honourable, though then despised
tenure of villeinage, often no doubt with the assistance of the lords.
These were the real cultivators of the soil, and their position differed
from that of modern tenants at wfil or yearly tenants, or even lessees,
in the fact that they had a permanent interest in the soil, although
they held it on condition of performing a variety of services which
would now be thought of a somewhat servile character. But the
position of this class began to improve very soon after the Barons'
wars in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., when the repre
sentative system was introduced into this country. From that time
the cultivators of the soil began to be regarded as free tenants, and
graduaUy rose to the position of copyholders, holding their lands by a
very secure and permanent title. The class of tenants holding at
rack-rent did not exist until about the time of the Tudors, when
vol. i. 4 I

618 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
farming became very profitable, and rents and prices rose rapidly
under the influence of a great influx of gold and silver from
America, by way of Spain and Portugal, and a great increase of
activity in every branch of industry.
The condition of cottage holders, described in Domesday Book
under the name of Bordarii, cannot be traced very clearly; but
they gradually rose to the condition of free labourers, and in the
reign of Bichard II. they were sufficiently powerful to shake the
whole kingdom, from Devonshire to Yorkshire, in a determined
struggle against the unjust laws, passed for the regulation of wages
and employment in the preceding reign of Edward III. The object
of those laws was to fix the amount of wages to be paid to workmen
for every description of work, and also to provide that workmen
should not move away in summer, in search of work, from the parishes
in which they had lived in the winter months. Almost the only
exception was in favour of the harvestmen of the counties of
Lancaster, Chester, and Stafford, who then spread themselves over
the kingdom, as the Irish labourers have done in modern times,
and were found too useful in gathering in the crops in harvest,
to be deprived of the right of searching for labour wherever
they could find it.
The Estates and Influence of the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster. —
There was no earldom of Lancaster in the early part of the reign
of Henry III., when the survey or inquiry described in " Testa de
Nevfil " was made. That earldom was created by Henry III.,
in the fiftieth year of his reign (1265-66), in favour of his second
son, Edmund Plantagenet. This was done at the time when the
king had immense confiscated estates to dispose of, forfeited by
the earls, barons, knights, and burgesses, who had taken part against
the crown, in .that disastrous part of the Barons' wars which ended in
the death of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, at the battle of
Evesham, and in the capture of Bobert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, in
the battle of Chesterfield. In endowing the royal earldom, the king
gave to his son the castle of Lancaster, and all the possessions of the
crown in the county of Lancaster. These included the borough of
Lancaster, and the forests of the county, with all the rights reserved
to the crown in the granting of baronies and other fees to the great
tenants of the crown. They also included the whole of the estates of
Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, between the Ribble and the Mersey,
containing the boroughs of Liverpool and Salford, as weU as the

PAST AND PRESENT. 619
extensive possessions of the earls of Derby in Derbyshire, Stafford
shire, and other counties. In addition to the earldoms of Lancaster
and Derby, the king granted to his son the third earldom of Leicester,
a still more valuable possession ; and still further enriched him by
marrying him to Evelina de Fortibus, the heiress of the ancient earls
of Albemarle, who had great possessions in the eastern parts of York
shire. The united wealth of the four earldoms held by Edmund, the
first earl of Lancaster, was very great. But on the death of Earl
Edmund, in the year 1298, he was succeeded by his eldest son
Thomas, the second earl of Lancaster, who more than doubled the
wealth of the earldom, by marrying Alicia de Lacy, the heiress, in
right of her father Henry de Lacy, of the rich earldom of Lincoln
and of the De Lacy family in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire ;
and in right of her mother, of the great and rich southern earldoms
of Salisbury and De Warenne. Earl Thomas of Lancaster was the
richest and most powerful, and in the end the most unfortunate,
nobleman of his time ; the wealth and power of his six or seven
earldoms having tempted him to try his strength against his cousin,
Edward IL, in which contest he lost his fife, as weU as his estates, as
we have shown elsewhere. Whilst in his high estate, his yearly
expenditure was equal to at least £100,000 a year of modern money,
independent of the cost of numerous articles consumed in his castles
and palaces, in entertaining his army of followers.
The foUowing account of the yearly household expenditure of
Thomas, earl of Lancaster, has come down to modern times, and may
be regarded as the expenditure of the richest nobleman in England,
in the time of the Plantagenet kings. AU the sums given in this
account should be multiplied by twelve, or perhaps fifteen, to turn
them into modern money : —
Household Book of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in ihe year 1313,
6 Edward II. —
Charge of the pantry, buttery, and kitchen,'  £3405 0 0
To 184 tuns one pipe of red or claret wine, and two tuns of white
wine,  • ¦ ¦ 104 17 6
" grocery,  180 17 0
" six barrels of sturgeon,  19 0 0
" 6800 stock-fishes, so called, and for dried fishes of all sorts,
aslings, haberdines, &c  41 6 7
" 1714 pounds of wax, vermilion, and turpentine, . . . . . 314 7 i\
" 2319 pounds of tallow candles for the household, and 1870 of
lights for Paris candles, called perchers,  31 14 3
" charge of the earl's great horses, and servants' wages, . . . 486 4 Z\

620 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

To linen for the earl and his chaplains, and for the pantry, . . . .£43 17 0
" 129 dozen of parchment and ink,  4 8 3|
" two cloths of scarlet for the earl's use ; one of russet for the
bishop of Anjou ; seventy of blue for the knights ; twenty-
eight for the esquires ; fifteen medley for the clerks ; fifteen
for the officers ; nineteen for the grooms ; five for the archers ;
four for the minstrels and carpenters ; with the sharing and
carriage for the earl's liveries at Christmas,  460 15 0
" seven furs, variable miniver, or powdered ermine ; seven hoods
of purple ; 395 furs of budge for the liveries of barons, knights,
and clerks ; 123 furs of lambs, bought at Christmas, for
the esquires,  147 17 8
" sixty-five saffron-coloured cloths for the barons and knights in
summer ; twelve red cloths for the clerks ; twenty-six rag
cloths for the esquires ; one for the officers ; and four rag
cloths for carpets in the hall,  345 13 8
" 100 pieces of green silk for the knights ; fourteen budge furs
for surcoats; thirteen hoods of budge for the clerks ; seventy-
five furs of lambs for liveries in summer, with canvas and
cords to truss them,  72 19 0
" saddles for the lords' summer liveries, . •  . 51 6 8
" one saddle for the earl, of the Prince's Arms,  2 0 0
" several items (the particulars in the account defaced), . . 241 14 l£
" horses lost in the service of the earl,  868
" fees paid to earls, barons, knights, and esquires,  623 15 5
" gifts to knights of France ; the queen of England's nurses ; to
the countess of Warrene, esquires, minstrels, messengers, and
riders,  92 14 0
" 165 yards of russet cloth, and twenty-four coats for poor men,
with money given on Maundy Thursday,  8 16 7
" twenty-four silver dishes ; twenty-four saucers ; twenty-four
cups ; one pair paternosters ; one silver coffer — all bought this
year,  . . . 103 5 6
" diverse messengers about the earl's business,  34 19 8
" sundry things in the earl's chamber,  . . . 5 0 0
" several old debts, paid this year,  88 16 Oj
" expenses of the countess, at Pickering, in the pantry, buttery,
kitchen, &c,  285 13 i\
In wine, wax, spices, cloths, furs, &c, for the countess's wardrobe, 154 7 i\
Total,  J7359 13 0£
There were three earls of Lancaster of the Plantagenet
line. These were Edmund, the first earl, the second son of
King Henry III., who obtained the earldom in the year 1262,
and retained it down to the time of his death, in the year
1296 ; Thomas, the son of the above, who succeeded to the earl
dom on his father's death, in the year 1296, and held it until
he was convicted of high-treason, and decapitated at Pontefract
castle, in the year 1320 ; and Henry, the younger son of Earl
Edmund, and the brother of Earl Thomas, to whom the titles and

PAST AND PRESENT. 621

estates of the earldom were restored by Parfiament in the year
1327, on the death of Edward IL, and the accession to the
throne of the youthful Edward III., then only eleven years of age.
This Henry, earl of Lancaster, was the regent of the kingdom during
the minority of the youthful king, and held the earldom of Lancaster,
along with the earldoms of Leicester, Derby, Lincoln, Salisbury, and
other honours of the famfiy, until the time of his death, in the
year 1346. There were also three dukes of Lancaster, of the same
royal house. The first of these was Henry, the son of the first
Earl Henry. He was raised to the honour of duke of Lancaster
in the year 1352-53, 25 Edward III., at the time when the title of
duke was first introduced into this kingdom.
It was on this occasion, and in favour of this duke, that the
county of Lancaster was made a county palatine. In the charter
by which Henry was raised to the rank of duke of Lancaster it was
stated, that the king conferred that honour with the assent of Parlia
ment, and created Henry duke of Lancaster, with the right to have
throughout the whole of his life a chanceUor and justices, to try
aU pleas, and to have aU liberties and royal rights pertaining to a
county palatine, as completely as the earls of Chester had held those
rights within the county of Chester. The effect of this was to create
within the county of Lancaster a power equal, if not superior, to
that of the Crown ; and in a few years after, the rights of the
dukes of Lancaster were extended over the whole of the duchy
of. Lancaster, wherever its possessions might be situated. These
rights were thus extended over the great estates in aU parts of
England, which had originaUy belonged to the earldoms of Derby,
Leicester, Lincoln, Salisbury, and De Warrene, and afterwards to
very extensive estates belonging to the Bigods, earls of Norfolk
in that county, and to the estates of the De Bohuns, earls of
Hereford, on the banks of the river Wye.
The second duke of Lancaster was the celebrated John of Gaunt,
the fourth son of King Edward III., who obtained all these vast
estates by his marriage with Lady Blanche, the sole surviving
daughter and chUd of Henry, the first duke of Lancaster. The
third duke of Lancaster was Henry of Bolingbroke, the only son
of John of Gaunt, by that marriage, whose wealth and power were
so great that he succeeded in dethroning his cousin, Richard IL,
and seizing upon the crown of England, which he held by the
style and title of King Henry IV.

622 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Up to the time of the accession of Henry Bolingbroke to the
throne, the estates of the house of Lancaster continued to increase
very rapidly. John of Gaunt added to them the possessions of the
earls of Richmond, which he had received from his father, Edward
III., and Henry Bolingbroke added the earldom of Hereford, which
he obtained by marriage with the heiress of the De Bohuns, earls
of Hereford. It was at one of the castles on the latter estates,
namely, that of Monmouth, that his son and heir, Henry of Mon
mouth, afterwards famous as Henry V., was born.
When Henry of Bolingbroke succeeded to the throne, he made
arrangements by which the dukedom of Lancaster should be held
by himself, and by all succeeding kings and queens of England, as a
separate possession, the revenues of which should form part of the
private income of the crown. This arrangement, which was confirmed
by several succeeding kings, was so far successful, that the duchy
of Lancaster has remained a separate estate to the present day, and
at this time produces a moderate revenue to the queen, in right of
her duchy of Lancaster. But aU these arrangements failed to save
the estates in question from being greatly diminished, and gradually
impoverished, either by the private expenditure of the sovereign, or
by grants, many of them of the most reckless and thoughtless kind,
made to courtiers or to other persons who were supposed to have
claims on the royal family.
When the estates of the duchy of Lancaster were of their
greatest extent, and most productive in revenue, in the time of John
of Gaunt, and his son, Henry of Bolingbroke, they produced a yearly
income of from £25,000 to £30,000 of the money of that day;
equal to at least from £250,000 to £300,000 of the money of the
present time.
At present, what remains of these estates produces a revenue of
from £20,000 to £30,000 of modern money. But in early times,
when the pecuniary value of the estates was largest, and seemed stfil
larger from the poverty of the crown, and what would now be con
sidered the poverty of most of the nobles of the kingdom, there were
also a great number of feudal rights and services which added much
to the power and influence of the dukes of Lancaster. It wiU have
been seen from the accounts of the expenditure of Thomas, earl of
Lancaster, given above, that he lived surrounded by knights, barons,
and earls, and maintained an establishment suited to the power and
dignity of a prince of the blood royal. All this was continued until

PAST AND PRESENT. 623

the time when the dukedom of Lancaster and the crown were united,
when the expenditure was made in all respects worthy of royalty.
For the next hundred years the estates of the dukes of Lancaster
rather diminished than increased ; but even so late as the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, the possessions of the duchy were very large,
especially if proper aUowance be made for the difference in the value
of money. At the same time, however, the income of the estates was
greatly wasted by a profuse expenditure, and by the salaries of a
great number of officers.
There is still in existence an account of the income and expendi
ture of the duchy of Lancaster, and of the parks, chases, offices,
and church-livings connected with it, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
and in the chancellorship of Sir Francis Walsingham, who held the
office of chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, in the year 1585, the
twenty-eighth of Queen Elizabeth. It is curious, as showing the
outline and, as it were, the remains of the greatest feudal estate
that ever existed in England. The whole value of the estate was
then worth £14,000 a year, equal to £80,000 or £100,000 of modern
money. The portions of the estate situate within the counties of
Lancaster and Chester, were those of Halton, Clitheroe, Furness,
and Lancaster, which, together, produced £3100, equal probably
to four or. five times as much in money of this day. In addition
to these estates there were, in Lancashire, the forests of Bowland,
Wyersdale, and Bleasdale, and the parks of Leagrim, Myerscough,
Toxteth, and Quernmore; and in the county of Chester, a beau
tiful park around Halton castle. The expenditure within the
county of Lancaster seems to have been very liberal, though divided
among a great number of persons. The largest salary was that of
the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, who received £40 a year,
probably equal to about £250 of modern money ; and the next was a
justice's of the Queen's Bench, who, for his office in the county palatine,
received £36 13s. 4c?., equal to about five times as much in modern
money. Another justice received for his office in the county palatine,
" and dyett too," £40 a year. The high-sheriff of the county of Lan
caster had for his allowance, £9. The attorney-general for the county
palatine received £6 13s. 4c?; the baUiff for the manor of Salford,
£6 13s. 4c?. ; the bailiff for West Derby wapentake or hundred,
£4 ; the bailiff for the manor of West Derby, £3 0s. 8c?. ; the
constable of Liverpool castle, £6 13s. 4c?. ; the steward of the
wapentake of Derby and Salford (long held by the Molyneux

624 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

famfiy) £5 ; the steward of Amounderness, £2 ; the steward of
Lonsdale, £2; the receiver of Clitheroe, £15 13s. 4c?.; the steward
of Blackburn, Tottington, and Clitheroe, for his fee, £3 6s. 8c?. ; the
constable of Clitheroe castle, £10 ; the auditor of the county, £28 ;
the stipend of the clerk to serve in the chapel of Liverpool,
£4 1 7s. id. ; the stipend of a clerk and schoolmaster at Manchester
was £4 4s. 2c?. ; the stipend of a clerk and schoolmaster at Preston,
£2 18s. 2c?. ; the fee of the clerk and schoolmaster at Walton, near
Liverpool, £5 13s. 4c?. ; and an allowance was made to seven women
praying within the late college, called Knowles's Almshouse, of
£35 15s., which, considering the value of money at that time, was
rather a liberal allowance.
Up to the time of Queen Elizabeth, and probably somewhat
later, the power of the chanceUor of the duchy of Lancaster was
very great. He even claimed, amongst other rights, that of
nominating one of the members for the borough of Liverpool;* but
these powers have long passed away, although the office of vice-
chancellor of the duchy has been revived within the last fifty-years,
has been placed in the hands of a sound lawyer, and has become
extremely useful in the administration of justice. In all other
respects, except a moderate payment to the privy purse of the
sovereign, the duchy of Lancaster is a mere shadow of its former
greatness. The Public Works of Lancashire and Cheshire in Early Times. —
The numerous and well-constructed roads formed by the Romans,
and which have been fully described in a previous part of this work,
continued to be the principal fines of traffic and modes of communi
cation in the north-western division of England, as well as in England
generally, for many hundred years after the Romans had retired from
Britain. There is no evidence of any similar works having been
formed in this part of the kingdom, or anywhere else indeed, by the
Anglo-Saxons or by the English people, in the times of the Norman,
the Plantagenet, the Tudor, or even the early Stuart kings. The
highways were upheld by statute labour from a very early period,
but no new ones were formed in this part of England. During the
whole of this long period the roads used by our ancestors in this part
of England, either followed the same course which had been originally
marked out by the engineers of the Roman army, or ran near enough
to those lines, to render the road-making materials brought together
* Records of the Corporation of Liverpool, a.d. 1562.

PAST AND PRESENT. 625

by the Romans available by their less intelligent and less industrious
successors. During that long period the roads became much nar
rower and less convenient than they had been under the Romans,
whose main lines of road were formed with great care, and carefully
paved to a width of from twenty to thirty feet. Even so late as the
close of the seventeenth century a paved horse track, four feet in
width, was considered a perfectly good road in this part of England ;
and the rest of the road was left in a state of nature, or merely
mended by filling up the ruts with the earth which had been thrown out
of them by the action of the wheels in passing, or with earth brought
from the neighbouring ditches. So late as the reign of Charles IL, in
the year 1675, a treatise was published on the highways of England,
by Thomas Mace, in which he stated that the four chief impediments
to highways in England were, first, mire, slime or dirt ; second, deep
cart ruts, with their high ridges ; third, unevennesses and holes ; and
fourthly and lastly, loose stones. These evils, he stated, it was
impossible to cure by the then existing mode of management, which
required that every man should work on the public roads, or pay for
labour, six days in the year. In the place of that plan, he recom
mended that daysmen should be employed every working day of the
year upon the roads, at the rate of one man for every ten mfies,
or more in particularly bad places, whose business it should be to
fill up the ruts, as quickly as they were formed. He also recom
mended that the roads should be rounded, and that good drains
should be formed at the sides ; but the notion of bringing new
materials for the purpose of repairing the roads, or of forming them
with successive layers of materials, after the manner of the Romans or
of the roadmakers of modern times, never appears to have occurred
either to him or to any one else. A horse track, four feet wide, for
quick travellers; and an unpaved track, for broad- wheeled waggons,
was regarded as aU that was necessary to make a good road, up
to the commencement of the eighteenth century. Indeed, it is a
curious fact, that there was no paved road between Liverpool
and Warrington until the reign of George II. The Romans had
not made one ; and it did not occur to any one else to supply the
deficiency. The greatest improvement in the means of communication made
by our ancestors, in early times, was in the building of bridges across
rivers and streams. This was done very extensively, even in the
wildest parts of England. Most of the Lancashire and Cheshire
VOL. I. ^ K

626 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

bridges, as weU as those of other parts of England, were built under
royal grants of pontagium, as grants for the construction of bridges
were then called. These grants were made apparently under the
royal prerogative, many of them being earlier than the existence of
parliaments, and gave the power of raising rates or demanding tolls
for the construction of bridges. In those times grants of this descrip
tion were in the place of the private Acts of Parliament of modern
times. There were several kinds of grants known by different
names. The grants of calcetum, which were very few in number,
authorized the raising of toUs or rates, for the purpose of repairing
roads. These were chiefly confined to the military roads leading
to the borders of Scotland, or to the roads in the neighbourhood
of London, which were already beginning to be considerably used.
The next were grants of pontagium, which were very numerous, and
gave powers to build bridges over all the principal rivers in England.
The third were grants of pavagium, or pavage, and authorized the
raising of a sort of octroi duties, at the entrance of the different
towns, for the purpose of paving the streets of those towns. The
next were named keyagium, and were permissions to raise money
for the purpose of forming quays and landing-places in seaport
towns. Another set of orders, much less common, and known by vari
ous names, were permissions to raise money for the purpose of putting
up and maintaining beacons and lights at the entrance of harbours.
The last were entitled muragium, or murage, and were permissions
to raise money for the building or upholding of walls around all the
principal cities and boroughs of the kingdom. This was done chiefly
as a measure of police, to give additional security to the citizens and
burgesses, in an unsettled and turbulent age. Under the statute of
Winton, or Winchester, passed in the reign of Edward I., it was
required that walls should be formed around all borough towns, and
that watch and ward should be kept at the gates during the night.
These walls, which were seldom strong, in the interior of England
were made under grants of muragium. In the case of great national
fortresses like Chester, Carlisle, and Berwick-on-Tweed, the grants
of muragium were much larger than in places where waUs were
erected as a mere measure of police; and at Chester the tax of
muragium, or murage, was collected down to very recent times.
One exceUent effect of that has been to preserve the curious and
interesting waUs of Chester and York to the present day. There
Was: a tax for the preservation, of the walls and the bridge of Chester

PAST AND PRESENT. 627

at the time of the Domesday survey; and the tax for the preserva
tion of those walls has continued down to the present times. In
another part of the present chapter we shall give an account of the
various public works executed in the counties of Lancaster and
Chester in early times ; and, in subsequent chapters, of the
great public works constructed in those two counties in modern
times. The Trade, Commerce, and Navigation of Lancashire and Cheshire.
previous to the Discovery and the Planting of America by the English
Race. — In the earlier periods of English history, and down to the
time of the first and second of the Stuart kings, the counties of
Lancaster and Chester, forming the north-western division of Eng
land, were much behind the southern and eastern districts of the
kingdom in all the elements of industry. This inferiority arose
in a great degree from the remoteness of their position from the
continent of Europe, and from the great commercial nations of the
Continent, especially the Flemings, the Germans, the Genoese, and the
Venetians, who then had the trade and manufactures of Europe in
their hands. In those ages, England abounded in wool and skins,
and produced a considerably larger quantity of wheat and of other
grain than was consumed by its own inhabitants ; and the first
commerce of England consisted in the export of those articles, and
the import of wine, of the finer kinds of woollen goods, and of gold
and silver, the latter of which articles were chiefly imported by the
Genoese, who had extensive intercourse with the interior of Asia,
by way of the Black Sea, as well as by way of Syria and Egypt.
At that time English wool was greatly famed for the excellence of
its quality, and when the laws of England allowed it to be exported,
which was not often the case, it was eagerly purchased by the mer
chants and manufacturers of Flanders and Italy. But the descriptions
of wool that were most in demand with foreign buyers were those
of the Cotswold sheep of Gloucestershire, and those of the Ryland
sheep of Herefordshire, which were reputed to be the finest in
England, and were compared by Camden, the prince of English
topographers, to the wools of Tarentum, which were considered
to be the finest of the wools of ancient times/" There was also
a great demand for other kinds of wool, grown in different parts
of the southern and the eastern counties, especially for those of
Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. But the wools of the northern and
* Camden's Britannia : Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

628 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the north-western counties were less in demand amongst foreign
manufacturers, being, in general, of a much stronger and coarser
quality, unsuited for the manufacture of the finer woollens of
Italy, though extremely well suited for the forming of strong and
warm woollens and worsteds, adapted to northern climates. Hence
the trade in British wool was almost entirely carried on in the
English counties to the south and east of the river Trent.
But at a very early age the manufacture of British woollens, of
a rather superior class, commenced in many parts of England, in
addition to the home-spun and rude manufactures which must have
always existed in almost every part of England, for domestic use.
The finest manufactures naturally sprung up where wools of the
finest quality were produced, and it was the object of early kings
and parliaments to foster those manufactures by all the means in
their power. Some of their measures were very sensible, such as the
liberal encouragement given to Flemish and other manufacturers
to settle in England. Others would have rather shocked the
political economists of the present age ; consisting of laws forbidding
the export of English wool and fuller's earth, the latter much used
in the wooUen manufacture, under the severest penalties, and giving
the wooUen manufacturers the benefit of the collective wisdom of
Parliament in the management of their own workshops. In those
days the woollen manufacture was the principal manufacture of
England; and the laws which forbade the export of the raw material,
and taught the manufacturer how to make cloth, were regarded as
the perfection of human wisdom. There were literaUy hundreds of
these laws, and some of them continued in existence to the days
of Mr. Huskisson. In defiance of such laws, the Engfish wooUen
manufacturers, having abundance of good wool, plenty of water and
water-power, and a most industrious population to assist them, soon
began to flourish, and have done so ever since ; having survived
aU restrictions, and now flourishing in perfect freedom. But the
manufacture of a superior class of goods, suited for the markets
of France, Spain, Italy, Flanders, and Germany, commenced earlier
in the southern and eastern than in the northern counties, the
latter being chiefly confined to strong and coarse goods, suited for
domestic use.
Industry was everywhere followed by comfort and prosperity,
which was proportioned to its success; being considerable everywhere,
according to the notions of those ages, but much greater in the

PAST AND PRESENT. 629

southern and eastern counties, where the soils are good and where
the quality of the wools were fine, than in the northern counties,
which were less favoured in those and in most other respects. In
the reign of Edward III., in the year 1341, it was considered desirable
by Parliament to raise large sums of money, by taxation, for the pur
pose of assisting the king in his desperate schemes for effecting the
conquest of France. These he undertook in direct defiance of the laws
of succession to the throne always recognized in France, founding
his claim to the French throne on the laws of succession generally
recognized in this country. Parliament, which was quite as eager
for the conquest of France, even as the warlike monarch who
then occupied the throne, opened the purse-strings of the nation
with almost unexampled liberality ; and it is from the Bolls
of Parliament of the year 1341, that we obtain the informa
tion as to the power of paying taxes, which was then supposed
to exist in each of the English counties. At that time the
county of Lancaster stood lowest on the list in proportion to its
extent. We have, unfortunately, no return with regard to the
county of Chester, Chester and Durham being then counties palatine,
and the returns being made to the earl of Chester and the lord
bishop of Durham, and not to the officers who received those returns
from the other counties of the kingdom.
It appears from the Bolls of Parliament, that on the 19th of
February, 1340, the Commons made a grant to the king of 30,000
tacks of wool, to assist him to meet that profluvium expensarum
which, he justly stated, would be the result of his claim to the
throne of France. The value of this quantity of wool was equal
to about £1,500,000 in the money of the present time, which was
an extremely liberal grant for so early an age. At that time
each of the counties of the kingdom paid a fixed portion of every
tax that was imposed, which was supposed to represent its tax-
paying power.
The computations of the amount to be paid under this particular
tax were originally made in wool, and not in money ; but the actual
payments were in money, calculated at £4 a sack, according to the
money of that time, which must be multiplied by twelve to make
it correspond with the money of present times. In order to make
these payments intelligible, and to show the proportionate power
of tax-paying in each county, we give these returns in three
columns — the first showing the number of acres of land in each

630

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

county ; the second showing the number of sacks of wool which each
county was considered liable to pay ; and the third showing the
amount of money, of the reign of Edward III., represented by that
number of sacks of wool, taking them at £4 per sack.
The tax imposed by the Parliament of Edward III., though caUed
a wool tax, was in reality a property and income tax, every kind of
property being taxed to produce the amounts for which the different
counties were held answerable.
The following were the amounts payable by each of the counties
of England, in the year 1341, towards a fixed tax of 20,000 sacks
of wool, valued at £4 a sack, and equal to about £1,000,000 of
modern money, which grant was afterwards increased to 30,000
sacks, worth about £1,500,000 :—

Counties.

Statute Acres.

Sacks. Stones. Lbs.

At £4 a Sack.

Bedford,  295,582

367 10 4£

£l,i68

Berks, .

451,210
538 13 0£
2,156
Buckingham,
466,932
569 23 3
2,278
Cambridge,
525,182
542 20 5|
2,172
Cornwall, .
873,600
262 19 0
1,052
Cumberland,
. ..
1,001,273
232 17 8i
932
Derby, . .
658,803
247 13 12i
992
Devon, . .
1,657,180
514 17 7
2,060
Dorset, .
632,225
580 21 4j
2,320
Essex, . .
1,060,549
668 3 4|
2,676
Gloucester, .
805,102
591 3 3
2,364
Hereford, .
534,823
140 25 13£
564
Hertford, .
391,141
326 20 5|
1,308
Huntingdon,
229,544
235 6 6^
940
Kent, . . .
1,039,419
1,274 9 0J
5,096
Lancaster, .
1,219,221
256 5 0
1,024
Leicester, .
514,164
336 10 9
1,340
Lincoln, . . .
1,775,457
1,265 18 12
5,064
Middlesex, .
180,136
236 10 llf
944
London, . .
503 2 12|
2,112
Norfolk, . .
1,354,301
2,206 20 8|
8,828
Northampton,
630,550
547 2 0
2,188
Northumberland,
1,249,299
347 22 5$
1,392
Newcastle, .
73 8 5j
292
Nottingham, .
52,676
326 18 5£
1,308
Oxford, . .
472,717
614 20 1$
2,460
Rutland,
95,805
111 24 2
448
Salop, . .
826,550
236 18 1|
948
Somerset, .
1,047,220
601 2 3^
2,404
Bristol, . .
63 17 Hi
256
Southampton, .
1,700,216
678 19 7
2,716
Stafford,. . .
728,468
250 25 10§
1,004
Suffolk, . . .
947,681
959 3 0
3,836
Surrey, .
478,792
382 15 4f
2,069
PAST AND PRESENT. 631

Counties. Statute Acres. Sacks. Stones. Lbs. At £i a Sack,

Sussex, . . .
Warwick, .
Westmoreland,Wilts, . . .
Worcester, . .
York (West Riding),
" (East Riding),
" (North Riding),
York City, . .
Twenty-nine Counties,

936,901  382 15 4|  £1,528
563,946  420 9 10  1,680
485,432  156 14 5\  £628
86,592  845 17 0£  3,384
472,165  209 0 6  836
1,709,307  334 11 13|  1,336
768,419  499 21 9£  2,000
1,350,121  275 4 6  1,100
2,000,720  49 13 0  200
31,993,890  20,376 0 0  81,504

Equal in modern money to £978,048, of which £12,288 was paid by the county of Lancaster.
It will be seen from the above table that the county of Norfolk,
which paid £8828, equal to £104,936 of modern money, was then the
richest English county. It owed its wealth to the fertility of its soil,
in the eastern part of the county ; to the extent and value of its
sheepwalks, in the western and the northern parts ; to its extensive
fisheries of herrings and other fish in the German Ocean ; to the
great convenience of its ports, especially Yarmouth and King's Lynn,
for commerce with the Continent ; but, above aU, to its extensive
manufactures, both of woollen and of worsted goods, in almost all the
towns of the county. The city of Norwich was at that time, and
has always continued to be, a wealthy and prosperous city, having
the advantage of a very good river navigation to the sea, and of
several fine streams of water, available for manufacturing purposes.
The town of Aylesford was also famous for its extensive manufactiires
of wooUen goods of the finest quality ; and worsted goods were
manufactured at the village of Worsted, from which they are sup
posed to take their name ; and also in many other places in the same
county. Most of the advantages which the county of Norfolk pos
sessed, were also enjoyed in a greater or less degree by the whole of
the counties along the eastern and the southern sides of the island, as
weU as by London, Newcastle, York, Lincoln, and Bristol, which were
at that time all regarded as sea-ports, but were also the seats of
extensive manufactures.
It will be seen that aU these counties were rich, in that age, in
comparison with other parts of the kingdom. In this respect they
were superior to the inland counties, although the latter possessed
considerable advantages in their abundant supply of wool and of
water-power. They were also greatly superior in aU those respects
to the north-western counties, including Stafford, Lancashire, West
moreland, and Cumberland.

632 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
We have no account either of Cheshire or of Chester in these
returns, owing to the causes which we have already mentioned; but
there is every reason to believe that they formed the most flourishing
part of the north-western district, although they were far remote
from the commerce of Europe, and were continually disturbed by
wars along the Welsh border. For the same reason Shropshire, in
that age, took a much lower position in wealth and industry than it
is entitled to, from the fertility of its soil, the extent of its pastures,
the abundance of its flocks, and its great mineral wealth.
The northern counties of England, and especiaUy Lancashire,
Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and the northern parts of
Yorkshire, were at that time suffering from all the miseries and the
horrors of an invasion, by the armies of Scotland. The reigns of
Edward L, Edward IL, and Edward III. were a succession of des
perate wars between England and Scotland, commenced by Edward
I. with the hope of conquering Scotland, or, at least, of rendering it
subordinate to the English crown ; continued by Edward IL, in spite
of the most overwhelming disasters ; taken up by Edward III., at the
beginning of his reign, from the most urgent necessity, the greater part
of the northern counties being then overrun by the Scottish armies ;
carried on by him, after several misfortunes, with very great success,
and finally abandoned after the northern frontier of England
had been rendered secure, for the purpose of carrying on the still
wilder and more hopeless undertaking of the conquest of the kingdom
of France, which Edward III. claimed in right of his mother, Queen
Isabella, the daughter of the French king. It was at the time when
the schemes of Edward III. for conquering Scotland had just been
abandoned, that the new and heavy taxes, of which we have spoken,
were imposed, for the purpose of carrying on the war with France.
But the northern counties of England were so much exhausted by the
ravages of the invaders, and by the desperate efforts which they had
made in the Scottish wars, that they declared themselves unable
to pay even their usual small proportion of the general taxes to
which they had been considered liable. They therefore demanded
a new valuation of the northern counties, and this' valuation was
made; the result being that their payments were reduced by about
one-third of the amount that they had previously contributed.
Valuation of the Hundred of Lonsdale, in the 15 Edward III, 1341.
— It appears from an inquiry, made at Lancaster in the fifteenth
year of the reign of King Edward III., before the abbot of Furness

PAST AND PRESENT. 633

and the principal landowners of the hundred, that the value of the
ninth part of the sheaves of corn, the skins, and the lambs of the
district — together with the ninth part of the goods of the burgesses in
the borough of Lancaster ; and the fifteenth part of the goods and
merchandise of the merchants and other strangers then residing, or
remaining in the hundred of Lonsdale — was £153 12s. 8c7. Multiplying
this sum by nine to obtain the full value of the goods in the money
of that age, we find that the whole amount was about £1382 14s.
This being again multiplied by twelve to turn it into modern money,
we find that the total yearly value of the property of the Lonsdale
hundred, in the year 1341, was equal to £16,592 8s. of the money
of the present time. The whole of this amount, with the exception
of £6 10s. lie?., forming the ninth part of the goods of the burgesses
residing within the borough of Lancaster, was raised from the pro
duce of the soil, or from the iron mines of Furness, which belonged to
the abbey of Furness, and were worked under the direction of the
heads of that rich and powerful establishment.
Valuation of the Hundred of Amounderness in the year 1341. — A
similar inquiry was made at Preston a few days later, before the
abbot of Furness and the chief landowners of the hundred, with
some of the burgesses of Preston, and showed that the whole yearly
value of the ninth and fifteenth parts of the same descriptions of
property existing in the hundred of Amounderness at that time,
was £137 6s. 5c?. Multiplying this amount by nine, we obtain
£1235 17s. 9c?. as the yearly value of the .property of the hundred
of Amounderness, in the money of that time; and turning this
into modern money, we have the sum of £14,830 13s. as represent
ing the value of the property of Amounderness at that period in
modern money. The only borough in the hundred of Amoun
derness at that period was Preston, or as it was always called in
that age, to distinguish it from many other places of the same
name, Preston-in-Amounderness. The value of the ninth part of
the goods of the burgesses of Preston was £6 17s. 4c?. in the
money of that time. All the rest of the property in the hundred
was the produce of the soil.
Valuation of the Hundred of Blackburn in the year 1341. — A similar
inquiry was made about the same time, and before the same commis
sioners, as to the value of the ninth and the fifteenth parts of the
same classes of goods inquired into in the other hundreds of the
county, in the Blackburn hundred. From this it appeared that the
VOL. I. 4 L

634 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

value of the ninth part of the goods of the hundred of Blackburn
was £119 4s. lie?. This gives a total, in the money of that time, of
£1073 4s. 3c?., equal to about £12,878 lis. of modern money. In
this return it was declared that there were no boroughs in the hunr
dred of Blackburn, and that there were no persons living by trade or
merchandise there.
Valuation of the Hundred of Leyland in 1341. — A similar valuation
was made in the hundred of Leyland, which is much smaller in extent,
though containing much good land. In this hundred the value of the
ninth part of the above descriptions of property was declared to be
£72 a year. This gives a total value for the hundred of Leyland of
£648, equal to £5832 in the money of the present time. There were
no towns or boroughs in the hundred of Leyland at that time.
Valuation of the Hundred of Salford in 1 3 41. —The valuation of
the hundred of Salford gives very extraordinary results, for the
return showed that the ninth part of the goods of the men of that
hundred was £104 8s. This gives a general amount of £939 12s.,
equal to £11,275 4s. of modern money, for the income of the hundred
of Salford, now the richest district in England, with the exception of
the metropolis. What is equally curious, it is stated that there were
no towns or boroughs in the hundred liable to be taxed, and no
persons engaged in trade and merchandise. By boroughs must be
meant parliamentary boroughs, for Manchester had a charter from
the De Gresleys, dated 1301.
Valuation of the West Derby Hundred in 1341.— This extensive
hundred was at that time the richest part of the county of Lancaster
The value of the ninth part of the goods of the inhabitants of the
hundred of West Derby was £230 16s. 4c?. This represents a total
value of £2077 7s., equal in modern money to £24,928 4s. There
were at this time two boroughs in the hundred of West Derby, viz..
Wigan and Liverpool The value of the ninth part of the goods of
the burgesses of Wigan was £5 9s. 4c7. a year. The value of the
ninth part of the goods of the burgesses of Liverpool was £6 16s. 7d.
Valuation of the County of Lancaster in the Fifteenth Year of the
Reign of Edward III, 1341. — The value of the ninth part of the
goods of the whole of the inhabitants of the county of Lancaster at
this time, was £859 0s. 6c?. This gives a total value of £7731 4s. 6d.,
in the money of that time, equal to £92,774 14s. in the money of
the present day. The present yearly valuation of property and.
income in the county of Lancaster is rather more than £25,000,000.

PAST AND PRESENT. 635

Progress of the Towns and Town Population of Lancashire and
Cheshire from the Domesday Survey a.d. 1085 to the Restoration of
the Monarchy and the planting of America a.d. 1606 to 1660. — We
shall best be able to compare and to contrast the condition of the
north-western division of England, formed of the counties of Lan
caster and Chester, in ancient and modern times, by tracing the
history of the towns and town population of that portion of the
kingdom in early times, and by contrasting it with their present
progress. The history of the towns, boroughs, and cities of the two
counties may be conveniently divided into two periods. The former
of these periods extends over a range of nearly 600 years, and
includes the time which elapsed between the Norman conquest and
the Restoration of the Monarchy, at the close of the great Civil War.
The second includes a period of rather more than 200 years,
commencing with the Restoration, in the year 1660, and coming
down to the present time. No contrast can be greater than that
which is presented by the difference in the rate at which the towns
and the town population of the counties increased in these two
periods. In the former, even those places which had been formed
earliest, and which had taken the firmest hold on the trade and
the natural resources of the district — -such as Manchester, Liverpool,
Preston, and Wigan ; the towns in the salt district of Cheshire ; and
the ancient city of Chester, then the undoubted capital of tbe north
western district — did not increase in population at the rate of more
than a few hundreds, or at the most of one or two thousand persons,
in a century ; whilst in the second period the increase in the popula
tion, not only of the ancient cities and boroughs of the two counties,
but of many places which were mere villages in ancient ' times, has
become so rapid as to cause a rate of increase of hundreds, and in
some cases even of thousands of inhabitants, in a single year. In the
former of these periods even the four ancient parliamentary boroughs
of Lancashire, viz., Lancaster, Preston, Liverpool, and Wigan, which
had received the right of returning members to the earliest parlia
ments of England in which the burgesses were represented, were so
weak in population and property that they were often excused from
returning members to Parliament on that ground.* In modern times
so great has been the increase in population and wealth, that the two
palatine counties now return between them from forty to fifty mem
bers. The chief cause of the wonderful change that has taken place
* History of Boroughs of England.

636 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

in modern times, in the rate of increase in the population of this part
of the kingdom, is the stiU more wonderful increase in the trade and
commerce of the two counties. This increase may be traced to a
variety of causes, the relative importance of which will be shown
in the course of this work. Perhaps the most important of all these
causes was the planting or settlement of the continent of North
America and of the West Indies by the English race, which took
place in the first fifty years of the seventeenth century, and then gave
a fresh impulse to the industry and the commerce of the north
western districts of England, which continues to the present time,
with continually increasing force. Since that time all the other
regions of the earth have been thrown open to the commerce of this
division of England, which now extends to the whole world.
We have already stated, at the commencement of this chapter, that
none of the present towns or cities of Lancashire are described as
boroughs in the Domesday survey, and that the city of Chester is
the only place which is spoken of in that record as a borough in the
north-western district, and in which there was then a considerable
town population of freemen and burgesses, holding their lands by
burgage tenure. Almost the only place in Lancashire at which there
were any burgesses at that time was Penwortham, on the south bank
of the river Ribble, opposite to the ancient town of Preston. It is
mentioned in the Domesday survey that there were a few persons
holding land by burgage tenure in that place, and it is very probable
that they may have been connected with the ancient Saxon town or
borough of Preston, though there is no mention of any burgesses as
existing at Preston at the time of the Domesday survey. The ancient
Roman settlements or garrison towns of Lancaster, Ribchester, and
Manchester, which we have described in a previous chapter of this
work, had been almost destroyed in war, or had sunk into decay in
the course of ages, and at the time of the Domesday survey had no
separate local governments or privileges, and were at the most market
towns, if not villages. In almost every age towns or places of meet
ing and assembly, of one kind or other, are necessary for the purposes
of civfi government, and for that exchange of the produce of the soil,
and of rude manufactures, which commences even in the rudest state
of society. In those early ages nearly the whole of the trade that
then existed was carried on at markets, mostly held every week, or at
fairs held once or twice a year. But at all these markets and fairs
the king, or the great tenants of the crown holding under the king.

PAST AND PRESENT. 637

claimed the right to receive tolls and dues on everything that was
bought or sold, and these toUs and dues were frequently excessive
and unreasonable. One of the first improvements which was effected
by the early kings of the Norman and Plantagenet races, was to
grant charters authorizing the holding of markets and fairs, at
different places which were found to be most convenient for those
purposes ; and at most of those markets and fairs the persons
attending them were promised security during the holding, and a
moderate rate of tolls on purchases and sales. A considerable
amount of trade and intercourse thus sprang up, and a resident
population of a few hundred persons soon collected at several points.
The privfieges of free boroughs were then sought and obtained either
from the" crown, or from some of the great tenants of the crown who
held the jura regalia within their own lordships. In the county of
Lancaster the greater part of the ancient charters were granted
by the crown ; but in some cases, especially in those of Manchester
and Clitheroe, they were granted by the Gresleys, the De Lacys,
and other great tenants of the crown. In the county of Chester
most of the old charters were granted by the earls of Chester, who
possessed all the rights of the crown within that county ; but some
were also granted by their barons, who exercised nearly the same
rights as the earls themselves.
The City of Chester from the Domesday Survey, a.d. 1084-85, to
the Restoration, A.D. 1660. — As the city of Chester possessed muni
cipal rights long before any other place in the north-western division
of England, and was for ages the chief place in that part of the
kingdom, we shaU first describe the rights conferred upon Chester
by its early charters, and the progress made by that ancient city.
We have already given a fuU account of Chester under the Romans,
and of its local laws as they existed at the time when the Domesday
survey was made. The city itself, although greatly injured in the
siege laid to it by William the Conqueror, and the assault of the Nor
mans, began to revive soon after the Conquest; and the settlement
of the Norman earls of Chester, with their numerous followers, on the
banks of the Dee, gave a considerable impulse to intercourse with
Normandy and France. The earliest account that we possess of
Chester, in the ages which immediately followed the Norman con
quest, is given by a monk of the name of Lucian, whom Camden
describes as having lived soon after the event. He says : — ¦" Chester
is built as a city, the site whereof inviteth and aUureth the eye;

638 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
which, being situate in the west parts of Britain, was in times
past a place for the reception of the legions coming afar off to
repose themselves, and served sufficiently to keep- the keys, as I
may say, of Ireland, for the Romans to preserve the limits of their
own empire ; for being opposite to the north-east part of Ireland
it openeth the way for passage of ships and mariners, with spread
sails, passing, not often but continually, to and fro ; and also for the
commodities of sundry sorts of merchandise. Which city, having
four gates, faces the four cardinal winds : on the east side it hath
a prospect towards India ; on the west towards Ireland ; north
eastward to the greater Norway ; and southward to that great and
narrow angle, which divine severity, by reason of civil and home
discords, hath left unto the Britons, who long since, by their bitter
variance, have caused the name of Britain to be changed into the
name of England. Over and beside, Chester hath, by God's gift, a
river to enrich and adorn it, the same fair and fishful, hard by the
city walls, and on the south side a road and harbour for ships coming
from Gascony, Spain, Germany, and Ireland, which, with the help
and direction of Christ, by the labour and wisdom of merchants,
repair and refresh the heart of the city with many good things, that
we, being comforted every way by God's grace, may also drink wine
often more freely and more pleasantly, because those countries enjoy
the fruit of the vineyards abundantly. Moreover, the open sea
ceaseth not to visit us every day with a tide, which, according as
the broad shelves and bars of sands are opened or hidden by tides
and ebbs incessantly, is wont, more or less, either to send or
exchange one thing or other, and, by this reciprocal flow and return,
either to bring in or carry out somewhat."
Although the above account is vague and somewhat fanciful,
there is no reason to doubt that Chester had a trade with Ireland,
Norway, and France at a very early period. This gradually increased
as the neighbouring seas were cleared from pirates ; and by the
time of the Tudor kings and queens had rendered Chester a
flourishing port, and the principal outlet and inlet for the trade
and commerce of the north-western district.
The early prosperity of Chester was greatly promoted by the
possession of numerous and valuable municipal rights and customs.
Many of these dated from Saxon times, and some possibly from the
times when the Britons and the Romans ruled in Chester. They
seem all to have been confirmed by the Norman earls of Chester,

PAST AND PRESENT. 639

and continued in force during the whole Plantagenet and Tudor
periods. The following is a summary of the principal rights enumerated
and described in the Custumale of Chester, and confirmed by the
Norman earls of that city : —
1st. The city of Chester (according to the Custumale) was a free
city, "and any one born within the limits of the city, who con
tinued quiet within the bounds and liberties of the city for a
year and a day, was from that time free from the earl and aU
others within the city" — that is, he could not be claimed as -a
serf by any one, even by the earl himself.
2nd. The citizens might every year choose a mayor on the Friday
after the feast of St. Dionise, or Dionisius (the 9th October), who
must, before taking office, swear to obey the law of the king, and to
preserve the liberties of the citizens. On the same day the citizens
might of their own power also choose two sheriffs, who took a
similar oath, to obey the king, and to preserve the liberties of the
city, so far as in them lay ; and
3rd. They had also the right to hold the local court known as
the Pentice court, and to judge of questions relating to acquittances,
releases, and recognizances ; and they had also the right to choose
coroners as often as need required.
4th. No citizen could be arrested in the city without the
authority of the sheriff or the earl's bailiff; and any one arrested
in the city was to be brought to the prison at Northgate, there
to be detained and kept until delivered, according to the law and
custom of the city.
5th. The Pentice court had jurisdiction in aU kinds of pleas and
plaints. 6th. A Portmoot court was to be held every fifteen days, before
the mayor of the city at the Pentice, to hear and determine aU
plaints and pleas, real and personal, of aU lands and tenements
within the city, and the fiberties thereof arising and being, and to
make execution thereof. And the men of the city had the right
of trying and punishing thieves apprehended within the city, and
felons belonging to the city, given up to justice for crimes com
mitted beyond the limits of the city.
7th. The citizens claimed to have a merchants' guild (guilda mer-
catoria) with aU liberties and free customs, and that every one that
was of the said guUd should be a freeman in the said city, and might

640 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
' bring within the liberties of the city aU kinds of merchandise coming
to the city by sea or land.
8th. For the maintenance of the guild there was to be taken
4c?. (equal to 4s. in present money) a ton on iron.
9th. They — the citizens — had also the right of taking certain
tolls on aU kinds of merchandise bought or sold within the limits
of the city.
10th. They were themselves free from all toU, for any kind of
merchandise bought or sold by them in a fair or market, or other
places, as well within the city of Chester as throughout all the
county of Chester ; also as weU throughout all England as in Wales,
and the marches thereof.
The following is a translation of the ancient Custumale or Record
of the Liberties of Chester, a copy of which exists in the Muniments
of the Corporation of Clitheroe, who were entitled, under a grant
from Henry de Lacy, constable of Chester, to all the rights enjoyed
by the citizens of Chester.
The Custumale or Summary of Rights of the Citizens of Chester. —
The mayor and citizens of Chester do challenge these liberties, to
wit : — First, that the city of Chester is a free city, and that the
aforesaid citizens may by their own power choose yearly a mayor on
the Friday next after the feast of St. Dionise (9th October). But
having (i.e., but he must have) first made his oath of the law of the
king, and sworn to the said citizens to preserve the liberties of the
city. Also, that they may of their own power choose two sheriffs on
the day named, and in manner aforesaid, on which, at the command
of the said city, the mayor and bailiffs thereof do make and perform
their oaths. [The oath of the mayor and bailiffs follows. It is
chiefly of allegiance to the king and defence of the rights of the
crown, and thus concludes : — " You shall preserve the liberties of the
city as much as in you lieth. You shall keep two leet courts in the
year, if God shall lend you life. You shall look that the officers do
their duties unto you to the uttermost of their power."] The mayor
and citizens also challenge to have two markets every week of the
year, on the Wednesday and Saturday, and all things appertaining
to a market. Also, two fairs in every year in the said city, one on
the feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist, and the other on the
feast of St. Michael the Archangel (June 24th and September 29th),
and all things belonging to a fair. They also chaUenge to have these
liberties underwritten : — "To wit, acquittances, releases, recognizances,

PAST AND PRESENT. 641

with their appurtenances, and the Pentice (a court so named from its
penthouse porch), in the city, for them, their heirs and successors, for
ever. If any citizen die, his wfil, being reasonably made, shall be
accounted strong and sure, in what place soever he shaU die. If any
citizen do buy anything upon the eighth day (in open market), and
before witnesses, and some man afterwards shaU come out of France
or England who can reasonably reprove (claim) the thing bought by
the citizen, the citizen who bought it shall be quit from the earl of
Chester and his baUiffs, losing only and restoring the thing bought.
If any man shall come to the bailiffs who can reasonably disprove the
thing bought, he shall pay the price of it to the citizen which the
citizen can reasonably prove he paid for it. If any citizen, &c, have
lent to any man any of his goods and chattels, it may be lawful to
him to take no man in the city for the recovery of his goods, without
the license required of the sheriff or the bailiff of the said earl. If
any citizen be slain in the service of the king, his goods shall be
disposed of as if he had made a lawful wfil, and no man shaU trouble
them, their heirs, or successors, upon pain of £20 to be paid to the
earl No man shaU buy or seU any kind of merchandise which shaU
come to the city by sea or land, except themselves (that is the
citizens), their heirs and successors, or by their grant, unless in the
fairs holden upon the feast-days of St. John Baptist and St. Michael;
and no man shaU hinder or trouble them of the aforesaid liberty,
on pain of £10, to be paid to the earl for his own use. And the
said city doth chaUenge all their liberties and free customs to be
holden of the same earl, &c, to the said citizens, &c, for ever, yielding
yearly to the said earl, &c, the sum of £20, at the feasts of Easter
and St. Michael, by equal portions. And also they chaUenge that
they may of their own power choose coroners in the said city, so often
as need requireth, who shaU swear before the mayor of the city,
that they wiU faithfuUy do and execute attachments and pleas of
the crown, and of the said earl, within the said city and fiberties
thereof, and other things belonging to the office of coroners. And
to have and hold all pleas of the crown which shall happen within
their liberties, to be pleaded before the mayor and bailiffs of the
said earl in the court of the said city, and to receive all amercia
ments and aU other things which belong to the said earl in this
behalf, or which they know the predecessors of the said earl to
have been accustomed to receive beforetime. And also they claim
to have for ever sac and soe (local jurisdiction), toll, and infangethef
vol. i. 4 M

642 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
(trial of thefts committed within the city), and outfangethef (trial
of thefts committed without the city) and to be quiet throughout
aU the dominions of the said earl from toll, passage, lastage, murage,
pontage, and stallage, danegelt, guUtbitt, and all other customs, as
weU within England as in all other territories of the said earl. And
also they chaUenge, that if -any do die testate or intestate neither
the said earl nor his heirs shaU cause their goods to be confiscated;
but their executors or nearest friends shall have them wholly. Also,
that no baUiff or officer of the said earl of the said city shaU attach
or distrain within the liberties of the said city, or execute the office
of bailiff in default of the aforesaid citizens or their bailiff. Also,
they challenge that if any man be attached or apprehended within
the liberties of the city, he shaU be brought to the prison of the said
earl in the said city— to wit, to Northgate, there to be detained and
kept, imtil he be delivered according to the law and custom of the
said city. Also, they chaUenge that they themselves or their goods,
in what place or dominion soever of the said earl, shall not be arrested
for any default whereof they stand not either as sureties or principal
debtors. Also, they challenge to have their merchantable guild (or
guild merchant, guilda mercatoria) with all liberties and free customs
which they ever freely and quietly have had in the time of the
ancestors of the said earl in the said guild. Also, they challenge
to have aU the goods of felons and fugitives within the liberties
of the said city, which do amount to the value of £30, or under ;
and if the said goods do exceed the value of £30, the said earl
shall have all the residue. Also, they chaUenge that the mayor of
the city shaU have the office of escheator of the said earl within
the liberties of the city, and shall be as escheator. That every
mayor at the time he is chosen shaU come into the exchequer of
the earl, before the justice of the earl, or his deputy, and the cham
berlain of the earl and his heirs, or at least before the chamberlain,
and shall swear faithfuUy to execute the said office, and to make a
true account thereof to the earl. The mayor and citizens by these
words, " Acquittances, releases, recognizances, and patents," do chal
lenge to have, record, and to receive aU manner of recognizances, as
weU for peace-keeping as for aU manner of debts, to what sum soever
amounting, before the mayor for the time being, in their court (then
caUed the Portmoot), and to record, receive, and make releases, and
acquittances of the premises in the said court. Also, to determine
all indictments and forfeitures in the said court, and to take issues

PAST AND PRESENT. 643

amerciaments, and fines thereof, to their own proper uses. And by
these words, "merchantable guild, with all liberties and free cus
toms which they ever freely and quietly have had," they chaUenge
that upon the Friday next after the feast of St. Dionise they may
of their own power choose every year two stewards of the same
guild, which be of the fraternity of the same gufid, who then shaU
swear before the mayor and sheriffs and other citizens, that they wfil
truly and sufficiently make account of aU money by them received of
any persons coming into the guUd, and of all other customs of the
said guild which have been received time out of mind and appertain
to the said gufid. That every one that is of the said gufid shaU be a
free man in the said city, and may buy within the liberties of the
city aU kinds of merchandise coming to the city by sea or land ; that
no man that is admitted into the said guild shaU buy anything
within the fiberties of the city without consent of the stewards of
the guild, and for the maintenance of the said guild they may take,
as their predecessors time out of mind have taken, these customs :
— On every ton of iron, 4c?. And by this word " soe," they
chaUenge to hold pleas in their court, called the Pentice, before
the sheriffs of the city, and all manner of complaints and pleas
personal between parties, of every cause arising within the fiberties,
&c, which do belong to a court baron, and also to have suit of all
free citizens. And by this word " Pentice court," they chaUenge to
have in the said court all kinds of pleas and plaints amounting to
any sum, and all pleas personal, and aU plaints arising within the
fiberties of the city ; and also, to have to their own proper use all
issues, fines, forfeitures, and amerciaments arising within the said
court. And by this word "soe," they challenge to have fines,
issues, amerciaments, and forfeitures, of and for all articles, com
plaints, and pleas coming out of the said court, which do appertain
to a court baron ; and by this word " Portmoot," they challenge
to have and to hold a certain court in the city every fifteen days,
called the Portmoot, in the common haU, . before the mayor of the
city, and there to hear and determine all plaints and pleas, real and
personal, of aU lands and tenements within the city and the liberties
thereof, arising or being, and to make execution thereof; also to
receive aU articles which belong to the view of frank-pledge, by
indictment in roUs or inquiry, and then to hear and determine and
execute, and also to have and. to hold to their proper uses aU issues,
fines, and forfeitures whatsoever proceeding out of the said court.

644 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
And by this word "toU," they challenge to have and take toll for
aU kinds of merchandise bought or sold within the liberties of the
city : to wit, for every ship coming within the liberties of the city,
caUed "kefie" (a keel), toU, 4c?., and to the clerk, lc?. For every
merchant having merchandise in the city exceeding the value of 6s.
6c?., for his toU on aU his merchandise, 4c?., and the clerk, lc?. And for
every tun of wine, 4c?. ; and for every last of any kind of merchandise
coming in or going out of the city and liberties thereof, 4c?. ; and if
there be more merchants, every one of them 4c?. ; and for every horse
carrying in or out of the city any load or fardel of merchandise or
victuals, to be bought or sold, lc?.; and for every horse bought, 4c?.;
for every ox, cow, or heifer, lc?. ; for every three sheep, 4c?., and if there
be more, 4c?.; and for every pair of wheels, 4c?. And by this word,
'them,' they chaUenge that every one born within the liberties of
the city that shall continue quiet within the franchises and liberties
of the city a year and a day, he and his goods shall be quiet from
the earl, and from any others in the city of Chester. And by this
word, "infangethef," they challenge that felons apprehended within
the liberties of the city [the rest of the sentence is Ulegible ; probably,
shaU be tried before the mayor and bailiffs in the Pentice]. And by
this word " outfangethef," they chaUenge that if any felon of the city
be apprehended for felony within the city and county, the felon
shaU be delivered to the officer of the city to take execution. And
also they chaUenge. by this word "theolonio," that they may be free
from all toll for any kind of merchandise, or any other things bought
or sold by them in any fairs or markets, or other places, as well
within the city of Chester as through all the county of Chester, and
also as weU throughout aU England as in Wales and the Marches
thereof."
, The foUowing confirmation was granted to the citizens of Chester
by Bandle or Ranulf de Blundevfile, seventh earl of Chester, some
time within the years 1190 and 1211, during the constables'hip of
Roger, seventh baron of Halton, who is a witness to the charter :—
"I have given, &c, to my citizens of Chester their guild
merchant, with all the free liberties and customs which they have
ever freely and quietly had, in the time of my ancestors, in the
said guild; and I forbid, upon penalty to me of £10, that any
man trouble them thereof." The same generous and enlightened
nobleman granted a second confirmation to the citizens of
Chester. Its principal clauses are as foUows:— "I have given,

PAST AND PRESENT. 645

granted, &c, to my citizens of Chester aU the liberties and free
customs which they have ever had, freely and quietly, in the time
of my ancestors — to wit, acquittances, releases, and recognizances,
with the appurtenances in the city of Chester, for ever. If any
citizen, &c, die, his will, &c. If any citizen, &c, do buy anything
in open day before witnesses, &c. If any citizen, &c, do lend any
of his goods or chattels to any man, &c, it may be lawful, &c.
If a citizen be slain in my service, &c. AU these liberties and free
customs I have given to the said citizens, &c, to hold of me and
my heirs, freely, &c, for ever; and I forbid that no man hinder
or trouble them thereof, on pain of £10." The unfinished clauses
ending with &c. wUl be found fully set forth in the Custumale,
or laws and customs of Chester, given in a previous page. There
is a third charter by the same earl, and as amongst the witnesses
are Constable Roger and Master Hugh the abbot, this fixes the
date of this charter within the three years 1208-1211, in the
first of which Hugh Grylle succeeded to the abbacy, and in the
latter Roger the constable died : —
" I have granted, &c, to my citizens of Chester, and to their
heirs, that no man shaU buy or seU any kind of merchandise which
cometh to the city of Chester by sea or land but themselves or their
heirs, by their grant, except in the (two) fairs, &c. Wherefore I
wfil that my said citizens, &c, have and hold the aforesaid fiberties
of me and my heirs for ever, &c, freely, quietly, peaceably, and
honourably. And I forbid, upon penalty of £10 to be paid to my
use, any man troubling or hindering them of their said liberties."
Charters were granted to the citizens of Chester by other earls,
and when the earldom was united to the crown, King Edward I.,
who was the first earl of Chester of the blood royal, granted to the
citizens by his charter of the 12th June, 1303, aU the privileges in
every part of the realm possessed by the citizens of London, Bristol,
and the other great seaports of the kingdom.
The general result of the above charters, and of the prescriptive
rights enjoyed by the citizens of Chester, was to render the city
one of the freest, as weU as one of the most flourishing cities in
England ; and it would no doubt have remained one of the greatest
of English seaports if it had been as much favoured by nature as
it was by good laws, and by the .active spirit of its inhabitants.
The city of Chester continued to be the chief city and port of
the north-western division of England during the whole of the

646 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Plantagenet and Tudor periods, and would probably have continued
to be so to the present time, if the river Dee had been as well suited
to the navigation of large ships as the river Mersey. But this is
not the case. We have already seen that the port of Chester pro
duced an income to the crown of £90 a year (equal to more than
£1000 of present money), at the time of the Domesday survey, in
the year 1086. This rent continued to be paid to the crown down
to the year 1377> the 1st of Bichard IL, when the yearly amount
paid to the crown by Chester was reduced to the sum of £73 lis. 8c?.
(equal to about twelve times as much of modern money), owing to
the shaUowing of the river Dee. A few years later, in the reign of
Henry VI. , the rent of the city was again reduced, " because the
port was destroyed by the sand of the sea." And again, in the
reign of Edward IV., the king remitted the. sum of £80, owing from
the rent of Chester, " because of the charge of the walls, and that
the river had become sandy, and merchandise was in decay." Still
later, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the citizens of Chester were
excused from paying towards a newly imposed tax, on the ground
that the merchants, citizens, and inhabitants had "within the ten
years last past, lost divers notable ships and vessels of the said city,
and great quantities of their goods and merchandises, upon the sea,
as weU by pirates as by divers other misfortunes ; and especially at
the entries in and going out at the mouth of the said port, which
had lately grown and become more dangerous." For this reason —
namely, the gradual deterioration of the port — the trade and com
merce of Chester were always somewhat checked in their progress,
though they continued to be moderately prosperous, at least down
to the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
The average nett receipt of the great customs at the principal
outports of England from the 20th to the 25th Queen Elizabeth,
that is, from the year 1578 to the year 1583, was as foUows: —
Chester, including Liverpool, £437 13s. i\d., of which £211 4s. 8c?.
was paid by Chester, and the rest by Liverpool ; Exeter, £995 13s.
6\d. ; Boston, £168 2s. Ille?. ; Bridgewater, £87 5s. lie?.; Bristol,
£901 17s. 2\d.; Gloucester, £47 13s.; Hull, £1515 18s. 2c?.; New-
castle-on-Tyne, £229 8s. 3c?.; Lynn, in Norfolk, £1661 15s. 10c?.;
Plymouth and Fowey, which are returned together, £281 17s. lie?.;
Poole, Dorsetshire, £751 2s. 9c?. ; and Yarmouth, £1167 14s. 8c?.
The whole sum is wonderfully small, even after allowing for the
omission of London, not amounting to more than £6195 3s. 7d.;

PAST AND PRESENT. 647

but this may be in some degree accounted for by the fact that
England was then engaged in a desperate war with the Spanish
monarchy, which was at that time the greatest naval power in the
world. Subsequent to that war the customs revenue increased
rapidly, and at the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth produced
about £50,000 a year. Down to that period, and for many years
afterwards, the greater part of the trade of England was with the
continent of Europe, and was carried on from the ports of Lynn and
Yarmouth, in Norfolk, and from those of Hull and Boston, which,
with London, were the outlets of the manufacturing districts of those
days, as well as the most convenient places for intercourse with the
Continent, especiaUy with the great Flemish markets of Antwerp
and Bruges, and subsequently with those of the Dutch republic.""
The Bishopric of Chester. — The ancient city of Chester was made
the see of a bishop by Henry VIII., in the 33rd year of his reign
(1541). The bishop of Chester mentioned in the Domesday survey
was in reality the bishop of Lichfield, t afterwards known as the
bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. This diocese included the city
of Chester, which for a short time was inhabited by the Norman
bishops, who, immediately after the Conquest, found it safer to reside
within the walls of fortified and garrisoned towns and cities than in
the open country. But in quieter times the bishops of Lichfield
returned to their ancient seats, which their predecessors had occupied
from the time of the introduction of Christianity amongst the Anglo-
Saxons of the kingdom of Mercia. The modern bishopric of Chester
therefore dates from the reign of Henry VIII., and was founded on
the ruins of the ancient monastery of St. Werburg.
The diocese of Chester, as described by Bishop Gastrell in his
interesting and valuable account of the diocese, recently published
by the Chetham Society, originaUy "contained aU Cheshire and
Lancashire ; that part of Yorkshire which was formerly called
Richmondshire, with some other parishes in that county ; part of
Cumberland next to Lancashire ; part of Westmoreland belonging
to the barony of Kendal ; and some parishes in Flintshire and Den
bighshire, in North Wales." J In more recent times two bishoprics,
* Harleian Manuscript 306, Article 4. f Camden's History of Queen Elizabeth, p. 416.
| Notitia Cestriensis; or Historical Notices of the Diocese of Chester, by the Eight Rev. Francis Gastrell,
D.D., Lord Bishop of Chester: now first printed from the original manuscript, with illustrative and explanatory
notes by the Rev. F. R. Raines, M.A., F.S.A., rural dean, canon, of Manchester, and incumbent of Milnrow. This
work, which forms four parts, Or two volumes, of the " Remains, Historical and Literary, connected with the
Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, published by the Chetham Society," is not only interesting as an

648 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
viz., those of Manchester and Ripon, have been formed out of portions
of the bishopric of Chester, which was itself only a moderate portion
of the original Mercian bishopric of Lichfield.
The Cathedral of Chester. — The cathedral of Chester was founded
on the site of the monastery of St. Werburg, which with all the
ancient privileges, liberties, and customs belonging to it, were
granted to the dean and chapter or to the bishop. The cathedral
was described by Pennant (1769) as an ancient structure of a rough
external aspect, being built of a red friable stone, which has
mouldered with the lapse of years, but the beauty of choir and the
chapter-house attracts the notice of every traveUer. After the lapse
of another hundred years, this description is still truer than it was
in the time of Pennant ; but plans are now under discussion for
restoring the cathedral to its pristine beauty, by the instrumentality
of the ablest Gothic architects of the age. It is to be hoped they
may be carried out with as much success as those of the interior,
of which a very competent judge says, that the " dean (Anson) and
chapter, in these costly reparations, have been guided by the spirit
which animated ancient founders and benefactors. Religious feeling
and correct taste are visible, as weU as an accurate acquaintance with
the history of the sacred structure in aU its architectural details.
There appears to be a laudable desire to preserve its primeval
character, and at the same time to maintain its cathedral features*
The cathedral of Chester is peculiarly rich, and extremely inter
esting from the variety of styles which it displays, distinctly mark
ing the different periods of their erection, and assigning to each
century its portion of a building, commenced as early as the reign of
William Rufus, and added to during succeeding ages, until it was
scarcely completed by the alterations and additions for which it was
indebted to the wealth and influence of Cardinal Wolsey. Of these
varied portions not the least remarkable are those which remain of
the Norman edifice. They are interesting from the very obscurity
of their history ; interesting from their character, their severe, simple,
massive grandeur, alike indicative and Ulustrative of the age to which
they belong, and which, if we were entirely at a loss for written
account of the ecclesiastical establishments of the two counties in the time of Bishop Gastrell, who held the
bishopric of Chester from the year 1714 to his death, in the year 1725 ; but is rendered doubly valuable by the
notes of the Rev. Canon Raines, the editor, which bring down the account of those establishments to the present
time, besides supplying an immense amount of valuable information of every kind relative to all the parishes of
the two counties.
* The Rev. Canon Raines' Notes in Notitia Cestriensis, vol. i, p. 65.

PAST AND PRESENT. 649

authority, would tell us no less plainly the very era of their erection ;
interesting from the perfect state of preservation in which, after the
lapse of so many ages, we stUl find them, and from the obscurity in
which they have some of them remained so long buried, known only
by report to the antiquarian, and entirely hidden from public view.'5'
The foUowing particulars as to the more ancient part of this
venerable building are from a paper read before the Archaeological
Society of Chester at one of its first meetings, by Mr. Wfifiam
Ayrton : —
" The remains which bear the appearance of earliest date are those
in the north transept of the cathedral, on the east wall of which is
part of a triforium, consisting of seven arches — four open, three
blank. These arches are exactly semicircular, springing from very
plain capitals and resting on plain cylindrical shafts, the bases of
which are equally devoid of ornament and unpossessed of weU-
proportioned character. The capitals, plain as they are, have been
further mutilated to agree with the subsequent facing of the wall.
The proportions are : —
Width of each arch,  2 feet 1 inch.
Length of shaft  3 " 2 "
Length of pillar, including base and capital,  5 " 4 "
Height of arch from the spring  1 " 0| "
Access to this triforium is at present obtained through an archway
at the back of it, which corresponds in size and situation with the
arch in front of it, and which appears to have been one of a double
arcade, the remaining arches of which are now built up and hidden
by plaster. On the opposite (the west) waU of the transept are
three plain blank arches precisely similar, which are probably the
remains of a corresponding triforium, the front arcade of which has
been removed in reducing the thickness of the wall for a subsequent
design. On the east side of the east wall of this transept, and
forming part of the present vestry, is a Norman arch springing from
the capitals, the mouldings of which are entirely lost in plaster, the
shafts of the piUars being gone. This arch is very lofty and massive,
being doubly recessed, the diameter of the outer arch being about
nine feet, and the height to the centre of the. arch from the present
flooring about fifteen feet.
" We now come to a portion of the Norman edifice which has of
* The Norman Remains of Chester Cathedral, by William Ayrton ; Journal of Architectural, Archasological,
and Historical Society for the county, city, and neighbourhood of Chester, part i. p. 60.
VOL. I. 4 N

650 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
late excited very great, and, perhaps, more than a proportionate
interest ; I mean the so-caUed Promptuarium, lately excavated. This
chamber is a sort of gaUery, or cloister, on the ground floor, about
ninety feet long by forty feet wide, traversed in the centre by a row
of pillars (with one exception cylindrical), which divide it into six
double bays, from which pillars, and from corresponding ones at each
side, spring the intersecting arches by which the bufiding is vaulted-
I cannot pass by these pfilars without calling your attention to their
beautiful proportions, and their adaptation to the rude and ponderous
roof which they support. They have been contrasted with similar
pUlars at Worcester and Canterbury ; we may now compare them
with others in the same building of which they still form part. It is
interesting to find so great a variety in the specimens of Norman
architecture which we possess in Chester cathedral ; and the variety
is more striking when we see drawings of the different specimens
brought together and closely contrasted. The pUlars of the trifo
rium in the north transept are, like those in the crypt at Canterbury,
rude and ill-proportioned ; the shafts, small ; the capitals, heavy and
overloaded ; while those of the Norman vault are the very reverse,
each pillar being reaUy beautiful in itself, and stUl more so when
considered with reference to the vaulted roof which it supports. The
side pUlars are entirely Norman in their character, as the centre ones,
being simply the square pier, on each face of which is the pfiaster
attached. The groining of the roof is without the finish of ribs at
the joints, a finish characteristic of a later period."
In the next vestige of Norman work which comes before us we
find undoubted marks of a later era. This is a vaulted passage run
ning across the south end of the " Secunda Aula," and leading from
the abbot's apartments to the cathedral. It is groined in exactly the
same proportions as the bays of the Norman chamber, and the arches
are circular, springing from pillars precisely similar ; but the groining
is ribbed, and not with cylindrical, but elliptical mouldings. These
mouldings stamp a Semi-norman character on the work, being almost
a transition to the early English style. Two beautiful Norman door
ways gave ingress and egress from this passage, and still remain,
though the one which opened to the present west cloister is sadly
disfigured by the alterations of the sixteenth century. The doorway
to the west is yet perfect, excepting the shafts of the piUars, which
are gone. The capitals supporting one side of the architrave are
foliated, and of late character of Norman work.

PAST AND PRESENT. 651

Early Literature of Chester. — Chester was the literary capital of
the north-western district in early ages, and produced a historian, a
dramatist, and a poet, whose works have come down to present
times. The first of these was Ralph Higden, the author of the
" Polychronicon," a history of nearly aU nations, written in the Latin
language, but translated into English by Sir John Trevisa, and
forming one of the first works printed by Caxton in England ; the
second was Sir John Amery, a clergyman, and the author of the
celebrated Chester Plays, founded on scriptural subjects, which were
represented yearly at Chester, and formed the delight of the citizens
and of strangers ; the third was Henry Bradshaw, the author of a
poem on the life and miracles of St. Werburg, the patron saint of
Chester. These are all works of merit, according to the measure of
the age in which they were written. The poem of Henry Bradshaw
especially is very curious, both as a very early specimen of the Eng
lish language and of English poetry, and as throwing light on the
religious opinions which prevailed and were taught in England
previous to the Reformation.
Poem on the Life and Virtues of St. Werburg. — Henry Bradshaw,
Bradsha, or Braddshaa — for in all these ways is his name written by
his contemporaries — was " a religious man," that is, an ecclesiastic, of
whom Anthony Wood states that " he was born in the ancient city
of Westchesl er, commonly caUed the city of Chester ; and being
much addicted to learning and religion when a youth, was received
among the Benedictine monks of St. Werburgh's monastery in that
city. Thence in riper years he was sent to Gloucester College, in
the suburb of Oxford, whence, after he had passed his course in theo
logy among the novices of his order, he returned to his ceU at St.
Werburge, and in his elder years wrote ' De Antiquitate et Magnifi-
centia Urbis Cestrise Chronicon,' and translated [paraphrased rather]
from Latin into English a book which he thus entitled, ' The Life of
the glorious Virgin St. Werburge : also many Miracles that God had
showed from her. London, 1521. 4to.' He died in 1513 (5th Hen.
VIII.), and was buried in his monastery, leaving then behind him
other matters to posterity ; but the subjects of which they treat I
know not."*
Henry Bradshaw, in the "prologue of the translatour," as he
* The Holy Lyfe and History of Suynte Werburge, very Frutefull for all Christen People to Rede, edited by
Edward Hawkins, Esq., and forming vol. 15 of "Remains, Historical and Literary, connected with the Palatine
c.unties of Lancaster and Chester," published by the Chetham Society, 1847.

652 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
modestly calls himself, states the work is founded on a Latin book
" which remaineth in Chester monastery, named " The True Pas
sionary," his object being to "follow the legend and true history,
after a humble style, and little to vary." He commences, however,
rather ambitiously as follows : —
" When Phebus had ronne his cours in Sagittary,
And Capricorn entered a sygne retrograt
Amyddes Decembre, the ayre cold and frosty,
And pale Lucyna the earth did illumynate,
I rose up shortly, from my cubycle preparet,
Abut mydnyght, and caste in myne intent
How I myght spende the tyme convenyent."
After much musing on the vanity of earthly pursuits, he resolves
': some small treatise to write brevely, to the comyn vulgares their
mynde to satisfy," and takes for his subject the life and virtues of
St. Werburg, of whom he says : —
" In the abbey of Chestre she is shryned rychely,
Pryores and Lady of that holy place,
The chief protectrice of the sayd monastery
Long before the Conquest, by devyne grace.
Protectrice of the cytee, she is and ever was
Called special prymate and principal presydent,
There rulynge under our Lord Omnipotent."
The poet then proceeds to give a flattering account of the king
dom of Mercia (Mercyens), and of the bounds and commodytes of
the same. He says : —
" The realme of Mercyens, by olde antyquyte,
As playnly declareth Poly chronicon,
Three hundred yeres endured in auctoryte
Under eighteen kings, worthy nomynyon,
Greatest of gouvernance of all this region ;
There Wulfer reigned, a king victorious,
Father to Saynt Werburge. vyrgyn most glorious.
" All this royal realme holdeth, as we fynde,
Habundance of fruytes, pleasant and profitable ;
Great plenty of cornes and graynes of every kynde,
With hills, valeys, pastures, comly and delectable.
The soile and glebe is set plentuous and commendable
In all pleasant propurtes : no part of all this lande
May be compared to this foresayd Merselande."
Our poet next proceeds to trace the lineage of the fair saint to
innumerable kings and lords, and then comes to " a brief declaration
of the holy lyfe and conversation of Saynt Werburge," of whom he
says : —

PAST AND PRESENT. 653

" And as she encreased more and more in age,
A new plant of goodness in her did dayly sprynge.
Great grace and vertue were set in her ymage,
Whereof her father had much mervellynge.
Her mother mused of this ghostly thynge,
To behold so yonge and tender a may
From vertu to vertu to proceede every day.
" In beauty amyable, she was equal to Rachell :
Comparable to Sara in fyrme fidely te ;
In sadness [thoughtfulness] and wisdom like to Abygaell ;
Replete as Debora with grace of prophecy;
Equivalent to Ruth she was in humylyte ;
In pulchry tude Rebecca ; like Hester in lolynesse ;
Lyke Judith in vertue and proved holynesse."
With aU these virtues and beauties, she had admirers innumer
able, aU of whom she refused, having made up her mind to a life of
religion, and became a nun in the nunnery of Ely, under St. Audry,
her abbess and cousin. After some time, her uncle, King Ethelred,
"seeing the holy conversation of Werburge, his niece," made her
lady and abbess of Weedon, in Northamptonshire, and afterwards of
Trentham and Hanbury, which houses she is said to have governed
with much judgment and humility. Here, however, the legend
begins to give an account of her miraculous powers ; and this forms
the chief part of the remaining portion of the poem, which is devoted
to an account of her miracles.
The first miracle of St. Werburg mentioned in these veracious pages
is one which she is said to have worked on certain wfid geese, at the
time when she was abbess at Weedon, in Northamptonshire. The
geese, it seems, were very troublesome and destructive on the lands,
pastures, waters, and fields, devouring the corns and fruits. These
winged delinquents she summoned before her, and they came when
called, " dragging their wings," and entering the hall in " great con
fusion." There she kept them aU night, and then set them free, on
condition that they should none of them in future do any destruction
"in the lordship of Weedon." On this, they flew away rejoicing
until they missed one of their number, who had not only been stolen
by one of the servants, but also roasted and eaten. On hearing the
clamour of the geese, and learning the cause, St. Werburg ordered
the bare bones of the goose to be brought, " and then by the virtue
of her benediction the bird was restored, and flew away full soon."
Two other miracles wrought for her, if not by her, are also mentioned
by the poet. These were in the younger days. In one case " a

654 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
wanton prince" put her into a great fright, running after and almost
catching her, when, " to flee from the traitor " the quicker, she threw
off her veil, which was caught on a sunbeam : —
"Which myracle sene, the prince fled away;
The virgin was preserved by grace that day."
Another miracle was performed at the village of Hoo, in Kent,
when the fair saint was pestered by another lover, and again compelled
to run away : — ¦' And as she fiedde from this cruell persone,
She ran for succour to a great oak tree.
By grace the sayd tree opened that same season,
Suffering this mayd to have sure and free entree,
Thereby she escaped this wicked tyranny ;
Which tree to this day enduring, at the yere
By miracle is vernaunte, fresshe, grene, and clere "
After performing many other miracles, St. Werburg at length
died ; but after her death miracles equally wonderful continued to be
worked at her shrine. She died in the abbey of Trentham ; but the
people of Hanbury by a pious fraud got possession of her remains,
which continued to work wonders for them. Some hundred years
later the pagan Danes invaded the land ; and then the holy men and
women who. had charge of St. Werburg's remains fled to the well-
fortified city of Chester, where they were received with unbounded
rejoicings, and where the miracles became more wonderful than ever.
She soon became the patron saint of Chester and Cheshire, and was
so regarded when Henry Bradshaw wrote this poem, about twenty
years before the Beformation. The list of her miracles at Chester
is much too long to be quoted ; but amongst those mentioned by
Bradshaw are that she saved Chester from destruction by Welsh
men ; she cured a woman who was halt and lame ; that she defended
Chester from innumerable barbaric nations; that she sent "fruit to
a barren woman;" that she made a woman blind for unlawfully
working, and cured her on repentance ; that she brought to life a
young man who had been unlawfully hanged by thieves ; that she
restrained wild horses from devouring the crops in the manor of
Upton; that she restored to health a canon of Chester who had
broken his leg ; that she raised the sands in the river Dee on the
petition of William, constable of Chester, to make a way of retreat
for the earl, who was surrounded by the Welsh ; that a great fire at
Chester was stopped, by the shrine being carried about the city by
the monks.

PAST AND PRESENT. 655

The poem concludes with an earnest entreaty to the inhabitants
of the county palatine of Chester, praying them to remember these
things, and to be kind to the monastery of St. Werburg : —
" 0 ye worthy nobles of the West partye,
Consider in your mind with hye discretion
The perfite goodness of this sweet ladye,
The mean Saynt Werburge, now at this season,
Which hath been your salfe and singular tuision,
And so ever will be : have this in your mynde
When you to her call with humble supplication,
Wherefore to the monasterye be never unkinde."
Military Events at Chester from a.d. 1064 to a.d. 1600. — The city
of Chester, being a military position of great strength, suffered
severely from the ravages of war, during the stormy period between
the Norman Conquest and the close of the great Civfi War. At
the time of the Conquest Chester was taken by storm by the Nor
mans, after a long and obstinate siege, and nearly half the houses
in the city were destroyed. During the wars with the Welsh,
the English armies generally assembled at Chester, and more than
once were driven back to the walls of that city by those brave
descendants of the ancient Britons, who often fought their way to
Chester, and even burnt the suburbs on the Welsh side of the
river Dee. In the wars between Henry IV. and the barons, the
barons obtained possession of Chester, and even after the city had
been taken by the king, the castle was held for the barons by Luke
de Taney, the warlike chief justice of Chester, for many weeks. It
was at Chester that Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV., met the
unfortunate king, Bichard II. , and it was there that the former put
to death Sir Piers Legh, and other brave men who had maintained
their fidelity to the unfortunate son of the Black Prince. A few
years later Henry Hotspur, and many of the Northumberland party,
marched through Chester, on their way to the fatal battle-field of
Shrewsbury, and induced some of the citizens to follow them, and to
share their fate. A few years later, when it became certain that a
civil war was about to break out between the houses of York and
Lancaster, Queen Margaret of Anjou visited Chester, and induced
many gentlemen of the county, and citizens', to adopt the white swan,
the emblem of the house of Lancaster, most of whom afterwards
perished in the great defeat of the Lancasterian party, at the battle
of Market-Drayton, on the borders of Cheshire. And on the occasion
of the invasion of England by the Scottish armies, in the reign of

656 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
Henry VIII., the citizens of Chester sent sixty men to share in the
perils of Flodden Field.
But of all the military events in which the citizens of Chester
were engaged, the most memorable were those connected with the
great Civil War. We have spoken of this extraordinary siege, which
lasted for nearly three years, in a previous chapter, in which we have
given a full account of the memorable events of that great contest ;
and it is only needful to repeat that no other city did or suffered so
much for the royal cause as the ancient city of Chester. The city
was left in ruins, and the inhabitants were almost reduced to penury
in the course of the siege, yet as soon as the royal banner was raised
by Sir George Booth, a few months before, the Bestoration, the
royalists were again willingly received within the walls of Chester.
This movement was somewhat premature, but it only anticipated the
feefings of the nation by a few months, and fortunately did not bring
any serious misfortunes on the brave old city, which from that time
to this has enjoyed uninterrupted tranquillity. In a subsequent
chapter of this work we shall bring down the history of Chester to
modern times.
The other Towns of Cheshire. — In addition to the port and city
of Chester, several other towns sprang up in the same county, in
early ages, some of which obtained valuable charters from the earls
of Chester or the kings of England. These towns were chiefly
situate along the banks of the rivers Weaver, Mersey, Bollin, and
Dane, the principal streams of the county of Chester.
The towns of Nantwich, Middlewich, and Northwich, which
have already been spoken of as the seats of the salt manufacture
of Cheshire, advanced steadfiy in prosperity, and attained to many
times the amount of wealth and population which they had reached
at the time of the Domesday survey. In the reign of Edward I.
the rent paid to the crown and the earl of Chester from the salt
works at Middlewich was £84 ; and from those of Northwich, £76 ;
and their value continued to increase down to the Tudor period,
when they were still in a very flourishing condition. We have
described the old code of local laws prevalent at all the three Cheshire
wyches — as the salt works were caUed — which were introduced in the
Saxon times, and continued to exist under the Norman and Plan
tagenet rule. But it does not appear that either Northwich, Middle
wich, or Nantwich had any other charters granted, either by the
earls of Chester or by the crown.

PAST AND PRESENT. 657

We have accounts of the salt district of Cheshire, from the pens
both of Leland and of Camden, the former describing the appearance
and the industry of those towns in the reign of Henry VIII., and the
latter describing them near the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Leland speaks of Northwich as "a pretty market town, but foul,"
that is, badly cleansed, which was a very common fault in those days.
By the salters' houses he saw great stocks of small cloven wood, used
to seethe or evaporate the salt water from which they make white
salt.* At Nantwich he says there were more than three hundred
salters, or persons engaged in the production of salt ; and there were
canals or channels for distributing the salt water from the pits
through the town. The water was boiled in furnaces of lead.
Leland mentions that the last abbot of Combermere had made Salt
from the brine which flowed into the lake at Combermere.t Camden,
in his description of the salt district says, that the river Weaver,
after watering fertile fields, flowed through Nantwich, not far from
Middlewich and Northwich. These are noble salino3, distant five or
six miles from each other. Thence the salt water is drawn from wells
or pits, which they prepare, not after the manner of the ancient Gauls
and Germans, by pouring the water on burning wood, but by boiling
in pans, fire being placed under them. The whitest salt, he says, is
prepared at Nantwich ; the less white at Middlewich and Northwich.
" I do not doubt," adds Camden, " that these salinoz were known to
the Romans, and that a salt-tax was paid here. From Middlewich to
Northwich there is a noble road, which is raised on gravel to such a
height as enables you easily to see that it is a work of the Romans,
especially as gravel is so scarce in this district. Matthew Paris states
that Henry III. stopped up these saltworks when he laid waste this
district, lest the Welsh, who were then in insurrection, should supply
themselves with salt. from these mines; but when quiet times brought
back the rays of peace they were again opened."
About fifty years after the above was written, the whole of the
salt region of Cheshire was involved in war. The three salt towns
of Northwich, Middlewich, and Nantwich, were the strongholds of the
parliamentary party in Cheshire. Several engagements between the
royalist and the parliamentary armies took place at Northwich and
Middlewich ; and Nantwich, which was then the chief place in the
salt districts, was strongly fortified by the parliamentary party, and
was long besieged by the royalists. It was at Nantwich, as we have
* Lfland's Itinerary, vol. v. p. 92. t IWd- vo1 v- P- 93>
VOL. I. 4 °

658 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
already mentioned, that the great battle took place between the
parliamentary army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the royalist army
under the first Lord Byron, in which the royalists were overthrown
and driven back within the walls of Chester. Nantwich, which
abounds in brine, continued to be the chief place for the production
of salt for a considerable time after the great Civil War ; but having no
supplies of coal in those times, it lost the trade when the woods were
exhausted, and when the lower part of the river Weaver was made
navigable to Northwich and to Winsford, so as to bring up supplies
of coal to those places from the Lancashire coal-fields.
The town of Frodsham, at the mouth of the river Weaver,
was one of the outlets of the salt trade of Cheshire, in early times.
It had a strong castle, and an . ancient bridge across the river.
Frodsham received charters from Ranulf de Blundevfile, the great
earl of Chester, in the years 1200 and 1228. By these charters
an acre of land and a burgage right was granted to each burgess,
at a yearly rent of Is. ; but it was provided that the burgesses
should not remove to any other places except such as were sub
ject to the earls of Chester. A few years later, Edward, earl of
Chester, afterwards King Edward I., granted the town and castle of
Frodsham to David, brother to LleweUyn, the last king of North
Wales who, however, soon forfeited it by joining in an insurrection
against the English crown. Frodsham had an easy access to the
salt district by the Weaver.
The Origin and Early History of Birkenhead. — The towns in the
county of Chester, on the south bank of the river Mersey, were
at that time few and small. Birkenhead was then a priory,
inhabited only by a few monks, and without even a viUage around
it, so late as the reign of Henry VIII. But there was an
ancient ferry across the river Mersey from Birkenhead to Liver
pool, and the prior of Birkenhead obtained two charters, in the
reign of Edward IL, authorizing him to build houses for the
accommodation of travellers desiring to cross the river. In the
first of these charters the king concedes and gives license to the
prior and convent of Birkenhead, that "they may cause to be built
on their own ground at Birkenhead, near to the arm of the sea
between Liverpool and Birkenhead, in any place where this may be
done without injury to other parties, sufficient houses for receiving
and entertaining travellers passing beyond the arm of the sea; and
that they and their successors may hold these houses for ever." In

PAST AND PRESENT. 659

the second charter, . granted by Edward II. , in the eleventh year
of his reign (1318), the reasons for erecting these houses, for the
accommodation of travellers, are set out more fuUy in the following
recital of the charter : — " Know ye, that from the town of Liverpool,
in the county of Lancaster, unto the Priory of Birkenhead, in the
county of Chester, and from the said priory unto the aforesaid town,
beyond the arm of the sea there, a common passage is used ; and on
account of contrariety of weather and frequent storms, great numbers
of persons wishing to cross there, from the said county of Chester,
into the parts of Lancaster, being often hindered, it has hitherto been
needful to turn aside to the said priory, by reason that at the
passage aforesaid there are not any houses for lodging such persons,
nor can any provisions be there found to be bought for the support
of the said persons ; on account whereof the said priory hath hitherto
been burdened beyond its means, and the said persons have been
very much wearied and grieved. We, willing, in this behalf, to
apply a remedy, of our especial grace have granted and given
license, for us and our heirs, as much as in us lies, to our beloved
in Christ, the prior and convent of Birkenhead, at the place of the
passage aforesaid, or as near as shall most conveniently be done, to
build sufficient houses for lodging such persons, and the same, being
built, to hold to them and their successors, for ever; and that
the persons who shall dweU in the same houses may buy and seU
provisions for the support of the men thereabout to cross the said
arm of the sea, without the hinderance or impediment of us, or our
heirs, justices, escheators, sheriffs, or other bailiffs or ministers
whatsoever." About thirty years later, in the 27th Edward III., 1354, the
prior of Firkenhead was required, by a quo warranto, to prove by
what right he had built the above-named houses; on which occasion
he produced these charters. He was then called upon to show what
and what kind of profits he claimed in right of the ferry at
Birkenhead, when it was stated that he claimed for a man and
horse, laden or not laden, 2c?., equal to about 2s. of present money ;
for a man on foot, %d., equal to about 3d. of present money; and
on the market day at Liverpool, that is, on Saturday, for a man,
\d, equal to about 6d. present money; or for a man and his
baggage on market day, Id., equal to about Is.
On the same trial of quo warranto, the prior of Birkenhead was
put to the proof, of nearly all the rights which were claimed by

660 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

him, not only at Birkenhead but on the River Mersey, and throughout
the whole of the hundred of Wirrall. These, as will be seen from
the following copy of the pleadings, were numerous and manifold,
including rights claimed by the priory on land and water in Bidston,
Morton, Salghan, Tranemoll (Tranmere), Wifiaston, and throughout
the forest of Wirrall. As valuable rights still exist, depending on the
evidence furnished on this inquiry, and as it shows what was claimed
by the priors of Birkenhead, we give the proceedings at length: —
" Pleadings in a plea of quo warranto (extracted from the RoU of
Pleas of the county of Chester, of the 27th year of Edward III.
(1354). — The prior of Birkenhead was summoned to answer the lord
the earl concerning a plea : By what warrant he claims to dig turves
and to have common of pasture in the townships (vifis) of Budeston,
Morton, and Salghan, for himself and his men and tenants, for all
their cattle ; and within the bounds of the manor of Claughton, to
wit, from the boundary of the township (vfil) of Oxton to the edge
of the water of Mersee, on his own proper soU, to make aU kinds of
fisheries (fishing places); and on his said soil to receive all sorts of
profits, except royal wreck ; and to have smaU boats as weU on his
aforesaid part of the water of Mersee, as on his own proper soil, to
wit, to fish, and to carry and receive aU other profits beyond the said
water, and all manner of lands, being in the peace of our lord the
king for the time being ; and that he and his men and tenants shall
not be impleaded of any matter touching the forest, unless they be
found in the manour : and that he and his men and tenants may
be quit of receiving and feeding all manner of servants, except six
foresters, without horse and without aU other suit, when the time for
feeding them shaU come : and to have the ferry (passage) over the
water of the Mersee for all things, and for that ferry (passage) on his
own proper soil to erect and have sufficient houses, and that the men
dwelling in those houses may have aU sorts of victuals, and may buy
and sell them without the hinderance of any one : and that he and
his successors, and their men and tenants, may be quit of all suits at
the hundred of Willaston : and that he and his successors may have
their free court twice in the year, for the correcting of aU their
tenants, to wit, the assize of bread and beer, and all manner of
forfiture of bylagh, and to have furze and fern, and common of
pasture for aU their cattle in the township (vfil) of Tranemoll
(Tranmere) at aU times of the year.
"And the aforesaid prior comes, and as to his first claim, to wit, to

PAST AND PRESENT. 661

dig turves and have common of pasture, he says, that in what respect
soever he claims those fiberties by name, it is nevertheless free
tenement, and does not fall within the claim of a liberty ; wherefore
he has no need at present to show warrant thereof; therefore it was
considered by the judges that the aforesaid prior, as to this, may go
thence without day.° And as to the holding his free court, he says
that he has divers tenants who owe suit to his court of Claughton,
according as is granted of common right, wherefore it does not fall
within the claim of liberties ; therefore it was considered by the judges
that the aforesaid prior, as to this, may go thereupon without day.
And as to the assize of bread and beer, and all kind of forfiture of
bylagh, he disclaims it altogether in the same fiberty ; therefore let
that liberty be taken into the hand of our lord the earl, so tha,t the
tenants of the same prior concerning the rest may be in attendance, at
the turn of the sheriff in the hundred of WiUaston (Wirrall) of our lord
the earl. And the aforesaid prior as to this is in mercy. And as to
this, that he claims alone to have fisheries from the boundary of the
manor of Claughton as aforesaid ; and as to this which he claims above,
that he and his men and tenants may not be impleaded of anything
touching the forest, unless found in the manour ; and as to this, that
he claims to have furze and fern and common of pasture in the
township (vill) of Tranemoll, aU those things touch the forest of our
lord the earl in Wirhall, therefore let nothing be done thereupon at
the present, but they are respited until, Sec, pleas of the forest there.
And as to the liberties of feeding servants, and so forth, he says that
he has divers lands and tenements in Wirhall, and that the lord Banulf,
formerly earl of Chester, by his charter granted to all free men and
tenants, and those having lands in that part, that they and their
heirs for ever should be quit from receiving and feeding all servants,
except six foresters only, without any horses, and without any other
suit. And he brings here the charter which witnesseth the same :
And as to the other liberty, to wit, the being quit of suit at the
hundred of WiUaston (Wirrall), he says that a certain Ranulf,
formerly earl of Chester, by his charter granted to the prior of
Birkenhead who then was, and to the monks there, that they and
their free men should be free and quit of suit at the hundred afore
said, and of 8c?. which to the sheriff of the same hundred they were
used to pay. And he brings here the charter which witnesseth this
same, and by that warrant he claims that fiberty, to wit, for himself
* Without any day being fixed to inquire into tho matter.

662 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
and his men, to wit, his tenants at wiU, &c. And as to the aforesaid
ferry (passage) and the building of houses to be made at the place of
the ferry (passage), he says that the Lord Edward, formerly king, of
England, the father of our lord the now king, by his letters patent,
granted and gave ficense, for . himself and his heirs, to the prior of
Birkenhead who then was, (he being the) predecessor of the new
prior, and to the convent of the same place, that they, in their own
grounds at Birkenhead, at the place of the ferry (passage) from the
town of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, to the priory of
Birkenhead in the county of Chester, and from the same priory even
unto the aforesaid town, across the arm of the sea (which ferry,
indeed, was before that held common), or near to the same ferry
accordingly as might more conveniently be done, they might build
sufficient houses for such entertaining, and might hold the houses so
constructed; and that men abiding in those houses might buy victuals
for the support of people about to pass over that place, and might
seU the same without any let of him our lord the king, or his heirs,
or any other persons whatsoever, which letters patent, indeed, our lord
the king now inspecting, has ratified and confirmed the same by his
letters patent. And moreover he granted to the same prior and
convent then being, that they and their successors should for ever
have in that place a ferry over the said arm of the sea, as weU for
men as for horses, and other and whatsoever things ; and receive for
that (passage) according as might reasonably be done. And he
brings here the letters patent of our aforesaid lord the now king,
which testify the premises, the date of which is at Wodestock, the
13th day of Aprfi, in the fourth year of his reign. And by that
warrant he claims that fiberty. And William Braas, who sues for
our lord the earl, prays that the aforesaid prior may show and declare
to the court, &c, what and what kind of profits he claims by virtue
of the aforesaid ferry. Who says that he claims for a man and horse,
laden and not laden, 2c?. ; and for a man on foot, \d. ; and on the
market day at Liverpool, to wit on Saturday, for a man, \d. ; and for
a man and his baggage on market day, lc?. And the aforesaid
William Braas, says that the aforesaid prior has taken the aforesaid
profits in excess and after another mode than by right he ought to
do, and this he prays may be inquired of by the country. And the
aforesaid prior doth the like. Therefore it is commanded 'to the
sheriff that he cause to come hither the next common twelve
(jurors), &c, by whom, &c, To inquire, &c."

PAST AND PRESENT. 663

At the time of the Reformation the Priory of Birkenhead
shared the common lot, and was suppressed, along with the smaller
monastic houses. In the year 1545, aU the property and rights
which the priors had held for about four hundred years passed
by grant of the king into the hands of Ralph Worsley, of Worsley
in Lancashire, page of the wardrobe and groom of the chamber " of
the unconquered chief," Henry VIII., and afterwards keeper of the
lions, lionesses, and leopards in the Tower. This grant included the
site of the late Priory of Birkenhead, with the church, belfry, and
churchyard of the same ; all the house, edifices, mills, barns, and
stables, within or nigh the precincts of the same ; a messuage or
tenement in the possession of Robert Molyneux ; one dove- house,
one mfil, and all the fish yards, with two acres of meadow, seventy
acres of arable land, and one parcel of land, where flax was used to be
grown ; the ferry, the ferry-house, the boat called " Ferribot," and the
profit of the same ; situate and being in Birkenhead, and Bidston,
and Kirby WhaUey, otherwise Wallasey ; together with all the lands
and rights belonging to the said priory, in the townships, parishes, or
hamlets of Birkenhead, Claughton, Wolton, Tranmere, Bidston, and
Kirby Whalley. At the time when the priory was granted to Balph
Worsley it produced a clear yearly rental of £115 13s. 5d. After
passing through various hands, it came into possession of Francis
Bichard Price, Esq., in whom the manor of Birkenhead, and the rights
which formerly belonged to the prior, were long vested. The monks
at Birkenhead had a granary in Water Street, Liverpool, which pro
duced a rent of 4s. 2c?. at the time when the priory was suppressed.
That was the only property which they possessed in Liverpool.
The town of Runcorn, higher up the river Mersey, is also an
ancient ferry from Cheshire to Lancashire, standing at a place where
the river narrows, so as to afford a convenient shelter for vessels
passing up and down the stream. It was at Runcorn that a
strong castle was built by Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the
Great, to command the entrance of the river. A small town
sprung up on the Cheshire side, under the protection of the castle,
which had some trade even in early times, though less than might
have been expected, owing to the winding course of the stream
above the town, and the numerous shaUows and sand-banks between
Runcorn and Warrington. In modem times Runcorn has become
the terminus of a great system of inland navigation, and the site of a
magnificent railway bridge across the river Mersey.

664 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

Still higher up the river Mersey there was a ford from Latch-
ford to Warrington, at the point where the old Roman road crossed
the river, and where the principal bridge between. Lancashire and
Cheshire was afterwards built. Ascending the river, at Thelwall,
there was in Saxon times an ancient borough, which was repaired
and fortified in the time of Edward the Elder, the son and suc
cessor of Alfred the Great, but which afterwards declined to a mere
village. Still higher up the stream there was a Saxon castle, at
Warburton, which commanded the ferry across the Mersey at
Holinfare. And higher stiU was the ferry at Stretford, where the
Roman road from Chester to Manchester crossed the Mersey, and
where a wooden bridge was erected, either in the Plantagenet or
Tudor times. A little to the south of this bridge the town of
Altringham grew up in the time of the Saxon kings.
Stockport, still higher up the Mersey, is the only town on the
Cheshire side of that stream (except Halton and Altringham) that
has possessed a charter from early times. This charter was granted
by Sir Robert de Stockport, baron of Stockport in the reign of
Edward I. By this charter Stockport was made a free borough, and
it was provided that each burgess should have a perch of land to
his house, and an acre to his field, and should pay yearly for it the
sum of Is., equal to about 15s. of modern money. The town passed
to the Warrens by the marriage of the heiress of the Stockport
family with one of the Warrens, since of Poynton, about the reign
of Henry IV. Sir Bobert de Stockport also obtained for Stockport,
from Edward I., a fair of seven days at the festival of St. Wilfrid,
and a market on Fridays. Stockport was one of the two chief
entrances into Cheshire from the north, and into Lancashire from the
south, in early times ; Warrington being the other. The main roads
from north to south ran through those two places, both of which
were strong military positions ; Stockport being built on the site of
an ancient Saxon stoccade, or fortress of timber, which guarded this
passage across the river. It was at Stockport that Prince Rupert
crossed the Mersey on his march into Lancashire, in 1644, after
having taken the town by storm and made the garrison prisoners. *
The rivers Mersey and Tame meeting at Stockport, and the rich coal
fields of Poynton, gave an early impulse to the industry of Stockport.
Macclesfield, built at the entrance of a pass in the hills which
divide Cheshire from Derbyshire, amidst numerous streams, and near
* Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. i. p. 640.

PAST AND PRESENT. 665

to the coal-fields of Cheshire, was made a free borough by the great
Ranulf de Blundeville, earl of Chester, in the reign of Henry III. In
this earliest charter it was provided that the borough should consist
of 120 burgesses ; and the yearly rent to be paid for each burgage
was Is., equal to 15s. of present money. In the 45th Edward III., his
son the Black Prince, as earl of Chester, granted various privileges to
the burgesses of Macclesfield ; and the king, his father, granted to
his burgesses of Macclesfield that Macclesfield should be a free
borough, and that his burgesses there might have a guild mercatory,
with all the liberties and free customs to that gufid belonging ; and
that they should be quit throughout aU Cheshire, as well by water as
land, of toll, passage, pontage, stallage, lastage, and aU other customs
(excepting salt in the wyches) ; and that they might have pasture,
and housebote, and boybote in the forest of Macclesfield.0 After the
battle of Bosworth Field, the burgesses of Macclesfield, who had
followed the Stanleys to that great and destructive fight, were so
much reduced in numbers that they could not find men to fill the
offices of the borough.
Congleton, on the river Dane, near both to the Cheshire and the
Staffordshire coal-fields, obtained a charter making it a free borough
from Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln and constable of Chester.
Camden speaks of Congleton as the Condate of the Bomans ; but the
positions of the two places do not correspond, and Kinderton, near
Middlewich, is now generally supposed to be the Condate of the Romans.
The Boroughs of Lancashire from the Norman Conquest to the
Restoration. — We now proceed to give a summary of the history
of the boroughs of Lancashire from the Norman conquest to the
Restoration. The Borough of Lancaster in Early Times. — We have already
described Lancaster as it was under the Romans, whose remains are
continually discovered in and around this ancient Roman station.
Lancaster does not appear ever to have become extinct during the
long period of war and strife which intervened between the retire
ment of the Romans and the appearance of the Normans on the
banks of the Lune. The parish church of St. Mary's existed previous
to the Conquest, standing by the side of the ancient castle, con
structed on the site of the Roman fortifications, and probably built
with the materials of which they were originally formed. One of
the great Roman roads, which ' we have described in a previous
* Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 365.
VOL. 1. 4 P

666 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

chapter, crossed the river Lune at Lancaster, originally by a ford,
afterwards by a bridge, and rendered it a natural resting-place on
the great line of communication from the north to the south. What
ever trade existed in this part of the kingdom naturally collected at
Lancaster, which is not only the port of the rich vaUey of the Lune5
but also of the valley of the Ken, in which the woollen manufacture
was established at a very early age, at Kendal and the surrounding
villages. For many ages there was a great trade carried on, chiefly
by means of packhorses, from Kendal through Lancaster and south
ward to Preston, Wigan, and Manchester. In addition to this,
numerous well-endowed religious houses were erected in and around
Lancaster by the early lords of the honour of Lancaster, who occa
sionally resided in the stately castle of Lancaster. This castle itself,
built in a strong position on a lofty hill, and commanding the
principal passage across the river Lune, was the principal fortress,
along that part of the northern frontier of England, which lay nearest
to the earldom of Cumberland, long claimed by the kings of Scotland
as a fief of the Scottish crbwn. For many ages it was one of the
most important military positions in the kingdom, and can seldom
have been left without a garrison. When the earls and dukes of
Lancaster afterwards became almost as powerful as the kings of
England, they added to the strength of the castle and town from
which they took their chief title, and no doubt visited it pretty
frequently, to keep up their power and influence in the most
warlike portion of their possessions.
A number of religious houses were founded at Lancaster in early
times, chiefly by Norman lords of the honour of Lancaster, which
must have had some effect in increasing the resident population -and
the wealth of the town, although a portion of the revenues of the
most important of these houses was for a time applied to foreign
purposes. Soon after the Norman Conquest a priory was formed at
Lancaster by Roger Pictavensis, the first Norman lord of the honour
of Lancaster. This priory was merely what was called a cell or
dependency of the great Norman abbey of Saint Martin de Sees,
founded by the father and mother of Earl Roger, and which he
enriched with numerous grants in the county of Lancaster, as well as
on his estates in other parts of England. But the priory of Lancaster
represented the abbey of Saint Martin de Sees in England, and shared
a portion of its. wealth. The charter by which the grants in Lanca
shire were made, set forth that Earl Roger Pictavensis^-for the safety

PAST AND PRESENT. 667

of his own soul and that of his father, Roger, earl of Shrewsbury ; of
his mother, the Countess MabiUa ; of his brothers and of all his
friends — had given to God and to Saint Martin the church of the Holy
Mary of Lancaster, and all things pertaining to it, and a part of the
land of that town, from the ancient wall to the inclosure of Godfrey
and also to the Priestgate ; and near to Lancaster, the two manors of
Aldcliffe and Newton, and whatever pertained to them, with the wood
to Frithbrook, with the honours and lordship which he (Earl Roger)
and Arnulf de Montgomery, his brother, there had. He also gave to
the same abbey the church of Heysham, with the churches of Cotgrave,
of Cropal, Crofton, Eccleston, and Preston, with the tithes of his
demesne lands, and two bovates of land, with the tithes of the
parish and the church of Kirkham and Melling, and of Bolton on
the Sands, and other tithes. He also gave to the same abbey,
Bolton, with its church and all pertaining to it, with the tithe of the
forests and of the grazing of his woods. In addition to this he gave
to the same church the tithes of foals, of calves, of lambs, of kids, of
swine, of cheese, and of butter, in Salford (West), Derby, Hale,
Everton, Walton, Crosby, Meols, Crofton, Preston, Ribby, Singleton,
Pressure, Middleton, Overton, Caton, Bare, and Stapleton. He
granted also that any of his tenants might make grants to the
priory of Lancaster, even to the extent of half their estates. In
consequence of this permission Godfrey, the vice-comes, gave to it the
tithes of Bispham, and whatever he had in the town of Lancaster; and
Radolf Gernet gave three men, that is to say, serfs, in Suffolk. The
witnesses to this grant were the said earl and his daughter Sibilla,
Godfrey the vice-comes, Albert Grellet, or Gresley, and the son of
Robert, G. Boiseuil and his brother, and G. de Villeres, Banmard
the son of Chetel, Ulf the son of Torolf, and RanachiU the son of
Raynhald. *
John, earl of Morton, afterwards King John, confirmed the above
grants of Roger Pictavensis and Godfrid the vice-comes, made to
Saint Martin de Sees and to the church of Saint Mary at Lancaster.
The deed of confirmation mentions two manors, viz., Aldcliffe and
Newton. The boundaries of the latter were perambulated before
Earl John, and are thus described :— " From that rivulet which flows
between my town of Lancaster and the Hospital of Lepers of St.
Leonard, descending to the Lune and to the rivulet of Frithbrook,
which forms the division between my forest and the wood of Newton,
* Dugdale's Monasticon, the Priory of Lancaster.

668 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
which Roger Pictavensis gave to the church of Saint Mary at Lan
caster, and granted with all the liberties and free customs which he
had in his land." These and many other possessions were held by
the abbey of Saint Martin de Sees until the reign of Henry V, when
the alien priories were converted into English foundations. Amongst
these was the priory of Lancaster, which was vested in trustees, to be
held in trust for the abbey of Sion, in Middlesex, founded by King
Henry V. It belonged to the abbey of Sion down to the time of the
Reformation. *
Another of the religious houses of Lancaster was the Dominican
priory, situate at a place known as the Priory. This priory was
formed about the year 1269, when we first hear of the prior of this
establishment. It continued in existence to the time of the Refor
mation. The prior and friars of Lancaster are mentioned in the 4th
of Edward II. In the year 1513, Bryan Tunstal, of Thurland
castle, by his last will left to the friars of Lancaster £40, beseeching
them to sing for his soul, and aU Christian souls, a hundred masses.
In the year 1523 Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle, knight of the
order of the Garter, by his last will and testament left 20s. to
Master Richard Beverley, prior of the black friars of Lancaster, to
preach a sermon on the day of his burial. Leland, whose " Itinerary "
was written in the reign of Henry VIII., says " The old town of
Lancaster, as they say there, is almost all burned, and stood partly
beyond the Black Friars." The last prior of this house was Galfrid
Hesketh, who held that office in 1533, when the house was suppressed
by Henry VIII. t
St. Leonard's hospital was founded either before the reign of King
John, or by King John himself, and consisted of a master, a chaplain,
and nine persons, of whom three were to be lepers. What renders it
probable that this hospital was founded by King John, is the fact
that members of the hospital were allowed in the following reign to
have pasture for their cattle, wood for their fires, and timber for their
buildings, in the king's forest at Lonsdale. In the 1 7th Edward IL,
1324, an inquisition was taken respecting the lands of this hospital in
Lancaster, Skerton, and Wyresdale, which were valued at £6 6s. 8c?.,
equal to twelve or fifteen times as much of modern money. The
finding in this inquiry was " that John, king of England, founded the
hospital for one master, a chaplain, and nine poor men, of whom
three shaU be lepers and the rest healthy ; that each of them was to
* Dugdale's Monasticon f Ibid.

PAST AND PRESENT. 669

have daily one loaf, which should weigh the eighth of a stone— one
pound twelve ounces — and have pottage three days a week, Sunday,
Monday, and Friday." In the year 1357, Henry, duke of Lancaster,
annexed this hospital to the nunnery of Seaton, in Cumberland.
There was formerly also a Franciscan convent of grey friars at
Lancaster, near the bridge, but very few particulars respecting it have
been preserved.
Another foundation mixing religion with charity was that of
Gardyner's almshouses, founded by John Gardyner, a prosperous
miller of Lancaster, in the year 1485. In addition to a chantry and
an almshouse, John Gardyner founded a grammar-school at Lancaster.
With regard to this school, he says in his wfil dated the 21st June,
1472, "I will have a certain grammar-school within the town of
Lancaster, upheld and maintained at my own proper expenses, and
that the grammarian keeping the said school have yearly six marks "
— equal to about £60 of present money — " to be paid out of the said
mfil, by the hands of my executors ; and that WUliam Baxterden
shaU keep the said school during his life, to wit, so long as he the
said William can teach and instruct boys."
Lancaster was made the head of the county of Lancaster, and the
place for holding the assizes in the reign of King Henry IL, the first
king of the Plantagenet line. In that reign, about the year 1 1 76, the
whole kingdom was divided into iters or circuits for the administra
tion of justice, and judges were sent throughout the kingdom for the
administration of justice. We find in an ancient MS., at the office
of the duchy of Lancaster, the following memorandum, on the circum
stances which attended the converting of the castle of Lancaster into
a place of justice for the county of Lancaster : — " England, in King
Stephen's time, was constantly in troubles, and no laws executed,
but each man lived by plunder and violence. After his death, King
Henry IL, coming to the throne peacefully, had the laws put in better
execution, and arranged that justices itinerant should see the same
performed in each county, which before were only to be had at the
king's court in London : and, whereas, Gfibert, the baron of Kendal,
being his receiver for the county of Lancaster, was called Gfibert de
Furnesis (or of Fumess), William, the son of the said Gilbert, was
constituted senescalus (steward), hospitii regis, and a baron in Lan
cashire, and thereupon, by consent of Parliament, called himself
William de Lancaster ; and Warine, his younger son (Lancaster castle
being a prison for malefactors), was made keeper of the castle and

670 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
prison, and as a magister serviens had his maintenance therein, and
for the reward of his services had given him by the king the towns of
Aynoldsdale, Ravensmeols, Liverpool, Litherland, and French-lee, from
which his son was called Henry de Lee, to whom King John after
wards, in lieu of his surrender of Liverpool, which he forthwith made
a borough, confirmed the rest of the aforesaid towns, and also added
English Lee to the same."
Lancaster received its earliest charter from John, earl of Morton,
and lord of the honour of Lancaster, youngest son of Henry IL, and
brother of Richard L, some years before he ascended the throne as
King John. This charter is supposed to have been granted about
the year 1189. It conceded to the burgesses of Lancaster very
valuable and extensive rights of local government and trade. At the
time when John, earl of Morton, granted this charter to Lancaster,
he was lord of the great commercial city of Bristol, in right of his
earldom of Gloucester, and he conferred on the burgesses of Lancaster
all the liberties and the customs which he had previously conferred
on the burgesses of Bristol as part of that earldom. Amongst the
rights granted to the burgesses of Lancaster by this charter the
foUowing were the most important : — That they should not be
answerable to any court beyond the waUs of the town, except
in pleas relating to foreign tenures ; that they should be free
from the numerous dues and taxes known by the names of tolls,
lastage, and pontage, and from all other customs throughout the
whole land and power of the earl ; that they should have all their
reasonable gufids or trading rights as fully as they were enjoyed by
the citizens of Bristol ; and that they should have and possess aU void
or vacant grounds and places within the boundaries of the borough
to be built on at their pleasure. These were amongst the principal
liberties and privfieges granted to the burgesses of Lancaster by Earl
John in his first charter; but it was not in his power, as earl of
Morton, to grant to the burgesses of Lancaster freedom from tolls
and charges in the royal boroughs throughout the kingdom. But
when he ascended the throne in the year 1199, King John abrogated
his charter founded on that of Bristol, and granted to the burgesses
of Lancaster aU the rights and privfieges enjoyed by the burgesses of
Northampton, and subsequently the still wider rights enjoyed by the
citizens of London. The most important of the liberties claimed
under the charter granted by King John, after he ascended the throne,
were exemption from toUs throughout the whole of England and the

PAST AND PRESENT. 671

ports of the sea, a court for enforcing the payment of all debts
contracted at Lancaster, and the power to choose a mayor or bafiiff
yearly to preside over the local government of the town."*
Charter of Bristol afterwards granted to Lancaster.— The charter by which King John,
while earl of Morton, conferred upon " his burgesses of Lancaster" the liberties of Bristol, is as
follows : —
" John, earl of Moreton, to all his men and friends of France and England, Wales and
Ireland, present and future, sends health. Know ye that I have granted, and by this present
charter have confirmed to my burgesses of Bristol (and Lancaster), .dwelling within the walls
and without, as far as the boundary of the town, all their liberties and free customs, as well,
freely and completely (or more so), as they ever had them in any time, or in the time of my
predecessors. The liberties they granted them are these — viz., that no burgess of Bristol (or
Lancaster) shall plead or be impleaded out of the walls of the town in any plea, except pleas
relating to foreign tenures, which do not belong to the hundred of the town ; and that they
shallbe quit of murder within the bounds of the town ; and that no burgess shall wage duel,
unless he shall have been appealed, for the death of any stranger who was killed in the town
and did not belong to it.
"And that no one shall take an inn within the walls by assignment, or by livery of the
marshall, against the will of the burgesses ; and they shall be quit of toll and lastage, and
pontage, and of all other customs throughout my whole land and power ; and no one shall be
condemned in a matter of money, unless according to the law of the hundred — viz., by
forfeiture of 40s. ; and that the said hundred court shall be held only once a week ; and that
no one, in any plea, shall be able to argue his cause in miskenning ; and that they may
lawfully have their lands, and tenures, and mortgages, and debts, throughout my whole land,
whoever owes them anything ; and that with respect to the lands and tenures which are
within the town, they shall be held by them duly, according to the custom of the town ; and
that with regard to debts which have been lent in Bristol (.and Lancaster), and mortgages there
made, pleas shall be held in the town according to this custom of the town ; and that if any
one in any other place in my land shall take toll of the men of Bristol, if he shall not restore
it after he shall be required, the. mayor of Bristol shall take from him a distress at Bristol,
and force him to restore it ; and that no stranger tradesman shall buy within the town, of a
man who is a stranger, leather, corn, or wool, but only of the burgesses ; and that no stranger
shall have a wine shop, unless in a ship, nor sell cloth for cutting, except at a fair ; and that
no stranger shall remain in the town with his goods, for the purpose of selling, but for forty
days ; and that no burgess shall be confined or distrained anywhere else within my lands or
power for any debt, unless he be debtor or surety ; and that they shall be able to marry them
selves, their sons, their daughters, and their widows, without license of their lords; and that
no one of their lords shall have the wardship, or the disposal of their sons and daughters, on
account of the lands out of. the town, but only the wardship of their tenements which belong
to their own fee, until they be of age, and that then shall be no recognition in the town ; and
that no one shall take tyne in the town, unless for the use of the lord-earl, and that according
to the custom of the town : and that they may grind their corn wherever they shall choose ;
and that they may have all their reasonable guilds as well or better than they had them in
the time of Robert and his son William, earls of Gloucester ; and that no burgess shall
be compelled to bail any man, unless he himself chooses it, although he be dwelling on his
land. We also have granted to them all their tenures within the walls and without, as is
aforesaid, in messuages, in copses, in buildings, on the waters, and elsewhere, wherever they
shall be in the town, to be held in free burgage— namely, by landgable service, which they
shall pay within the walls. We have also granted that any of them may make improvements
as much as they can in erecting buildings anywhere on the bank and elsewhere, so it is without
* History and Antiquities of the town of Lancaster, by the Rev. Robert Simpson, M.A. p. 268.

672 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:
damage of the borough and town ; and that they shall have and possess all void grounds and
places which are contained within the aforesaid boundaries, to be built on at their pleasure.
Wherefore I will, and firmly enjoin, that my burgesses aforesaid, and their heirs, shall have
and hold all their aforesaid liberties and free customs, as is written above of me and my heirs,
as well and as completely (or more so) as ever they had them in former times, well and peace
ably and honourably, without any hinderance or molestation which any one may offer them
on that account. Witness, &c."
A confirmation of the charter of John was granted by Henry III.
in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, in 1252, in which is a recital
of aU these grants, and in some passages one charter may serve to
explain the other. The frequent confirmation of charters, from Magna
Charta to that of the most insignificant borough, was occasioned by a
doubt, whether the reigning monarch was bound by the acts of his
predecessor. In the reign of King Edward I. the burgesses of Lancaster, like
those of Liverpool and Preston, had to defend the rights conceded to
them under their charters, against the crown. In the 20th Edward I.
quo warrantos were issued by the crown, and were tried at Lancaster,
by which the bailiffs and commonalty of that town were summoned
to show by what right they claimed exemption from the payment of
toll, stallage, and lastage to the crown throughout all the king's cities
and ports in England, as well as freedom from the jurisdiction of the
crown in the trial of suits in the hundred and county ; and also by
what right they claimed to have a free borough, to hold markets and
fairs, to make the assize of bread and beer, to try prisoners charged
with theft within the borough, and to inflict the punishments of the
pillory, the tumbrel, and the gallows on prisoners convicted within
the borough of Lancaster. All the payments from which the burgesses
claimed exemption under their charters, and all the pecuniary penalties
which those charters authorized them to inflict, originally formed part
of the rights of the crown, and furnished considerable sums towards
the royal revenue ; hence, whenever the kings of England found
themselves in difficulties about money, they began to hold commis
sions of inquiry, known by the then familiar name of quo warrantos,
as to the title by which other parties than the crown held those
rights. In general this was merely a method of extorting money, for
the renewal or continuance of the rights ; and this was the result of
most of the numerous quo warrantos tried in Lancashire in the 20th
Edward I. The real object was to extort money, wherever it could
be obtained, and whatever was proved before the judges appointed to
make these inquiries. In the case of the burgesses of Lancaster

PAST AND PRESENT. 673

Lambert, the bailiff of the borough (for up to that time the burgesses
do not seem to have elected a mayor), appeared with Thomas de Lan
caster, Robert de Chatterton, and WUliam le Chanteur on behalf of
the commonalty of the borough, and produced the charter granted by
King John, the grandfather of King Edward I., by which he granted
and confirmed to his burgesses of Lancaster, all the liberties which
the king's burgesses of Northampton possessed at the time of the
death of King Henry II. and Richard I„ in place of the liberties of
the city of Bristol, which John had granted to the burgesses of Lan
caster when he was earl of Morton. In addition to this, Lambert
the bailiff, and his associates, claimed for the burgesses of Lancaster
freedom from the obligation to grind their corn at the king's miU, and
from all other servile customs. They also claimed that the cattle of
the burgesses might pasture in the king's forest, as the king's cattle
were accustomed to do ; and that the burgesses might, under inspec
tion of the king's forester, have dead wood from the forest for burn
ing, and as much timber as was necessary for building and repairing
their houses. The bailiff also produced the charter by which they
were authorized to have a free borough with a market every week,
on Saturday, and a fair every year, commencing on the eve of
St. Michael, and lasting for eleven days. In reply to the case set
up by Lambert, William Inge, who was retained for the crown,
contended that the above charters did not confer the rights claimed
by the burgesses, and succeeded in obtaining a verdict, to the
effect that the said liberties belonged to the king, and were worth
sixteen and a half marks per annum, equal to about £160 of
modern money, which the sheriff was commanded to raise, and the
burgesses were ordered to pay within three weeks. It appears
from the report of this case that three weeks afterwards the bur
gesses of Lancaster paid at Appleby, by the hands of their attorneys,
William le Chanteur and Lancelot de Bulke, the said sum of sixteen
and a half marks, whereupon the aforesaid liberties were granted to
them by the king, the grant being enrolled at Westminster*
In the above proceedings the governing body and the burgesses of
Lancaster are described as the bailiff and community of the borough
of Lancaster; but soon after that time the chief officer of the borough
assumed the title of mayor, having under him one or two bailiffs, and
being assisted by a town council consisting of twelve of the principal
* riacita de Quo Warranto et Rageman coram Hugene de Cressingham et sociis suis Justio. Itinerant apud
Lancastr. in 8 bis soe. Trinitatis, Anno Regis Edwardi, fil. Henrici. Vicesimo.
VOL. I. * Q

674 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE j
burgesses, and occasionaUy by a more extended councfi consisting of
forty of the burgesses. We have a full account of the government of
the borough in the reign of Edward III., in the year 1362, being the
thirty-sixth year of the reign of that monarch, in certain constitutions
and orders, entitled " The old constitutions and orders used in the
town of Lancaster, examined and ratified the thirty-sixth year of the
reign of King Edward III." These constitutions and orders are
142 in number, and include all the principal laws and by-laws of
the borough.
It appears from these constitutions and orders, that the courts of
the town of Lancaster were held every week,- on the Thursday, and
that there were two head courts held half yearly, the first on the
Thursday next after the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, and the
other on the Thursday next after Low Sunday. At these head courts
all the burgesses of the town were required to be present, under
penalty of a fine of 6c?., equal to from 6s. to 8s. of modern money.
At the first head court held on the Thursday next after the feast of
Saint Luke the Evangelist, the mayor was chosen, always provided
there were no strangers present. It is stated in the orders and
constitutions that much inconvenience had arisen from the presence
of strangers at the election, and hence it was provided that no
stranger, " that is, no unsworn and foreign burgess," should be in the
court at the time of choosing the mayor and bailiffs, " because of great
debate and strife that has happened amongst us, through maintenance
of such strangers being in our court the day of the choosing." Appa
rently the object of this arrangement was to exclude certain classes of
burgesses, and to place the power of choosing the mayor in the hands
of a select body of the principal burgesses. It was therefore provided
that if any stranger or foreigner was in the court, and would not go
forth, " or the mayor and bailiffs peradventure dare not put him out,"
then the election was to be postponed to another day, to be appointed
by the twelve principal burgesses, who formed the counsel or advisers
of the mayor. On the day appointed these twelve burgesses met and
nominated such persons as they thought fit to be mayor or bailiffs,
and their choice was to be confirmed by forty of the principal burgesses
elected by the twelve. And then the mayor was to be chosen by those
forty, and the voice of them that shaU be put forth (proposed), or the
more part of them, provided always " that no one shall be chosen to
be mayor except he was bailiff before, of the said town, or else mayor
before ; '' and that all burgesses shall give their voices " privily and

PAST AND PRESENT. 675

secretly, every one by himself, upon his new oath, without fraud,
favour, or counsel, to him that is most able and discreet that he
knoweth, that can best order and rule the town and maintain the
franchises, liberties, and duties appertaining to the same town." It
was further provided " that after the mayor was chosen, twelve of the
best of those that are put forth (proposed) of the forty shall choose
one baUiff, and the rest of the said forty shall choose another bailiff,
with the assent of the residue of the commonalty there being." With
regard to the council of twelve, it was provided that "at the first
court foUowing after the election of the mayor and bailiffs, the twelve
shaU be chosen after this manner; that is to say, the mayor shall
choose three, or four at the most, of them that were of the office of
the twelve the year before, and which be in the court that day;
and he shall make them swear to choose them other of their neigh
bours, being burgesses, most able, discreet, and agreeable, to the
number of twelve, to serve in the office of twelve the year following."
The above seems to be a very complete plan for excluding aU the
burgesses except a smaU number, consisting of the mayor and bailiffs,
the twelve who were nominated by them, and the forty who were
occasionally nominated by the twelve to elect the mayor. Everything
appears to have been done privately, in order to carry out this plan
the more effectually.
With regard to the duties of the mayor, it was provided that the
mayor and bailiffs should prove or try bread and ale once a month,
at least, in order to ascertain whether the bread was of the weight
required by law, and the ale of the proper quality. The bailiffs were
to receive the passage and through tolls, as also the market tolls, by
themselves or servants. Neither the mayor nor any of the bailiffs
was to give any reward for the town to any bear-wardens or minstrels
without the consent of four of the head burgesses and four of the
commons, under forfeiture of 6s. 8c?. The bailiffs were to give
banquets at Shrovetide and Easter, the same to be allowed in their
accounts ; but neither the mayor nor the bailiffs was to give wine or
victuals to any other person, without the assent of the twelve head
burgesses ; and any expenditure of this kind was not to be allowed
by the auditors in their accounts. The bailiffs were to furnish
stallage or staUs to artificers, merchants, and victuallers, at the market
on Saturday, charging only one penny, which, however, at that time,
was equal to about one shilling of modern money.
With regard to the burgesses, it was provided, that no one should

676 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

be made a burgess in the town of Lancaster, except he had dwelt
there for the space of one whole year at least, " within which time
his neighbours may know his conversation, manner, and behaviour ;"
and that no one should be sworn a burgess except at a head court.
Every freeman's son on taking up his freedom was to pay 20s., and
every apprentice 26s. 8c?. These amounts were at least ten times as
large as they are now, and must have made it very difficult, if not
impossible, for the poorer classes to take up their freedom. In addi
tion to this, no one was to be admitted " without a whole consent ;"
that is to say, an unanimous vote. Freemen refusing to pay scot and
lot were to forfeit their freedom. No one was to receive the freedom
of the town unless he was of some art or craft. Freemen were
aUowed to take apprentices ; they were not allowed to let their
shares in the public pastures to any except brother freemen, under
pain of forfeiting their rights for ever. If they made over their goods
to others by fraud or deceit they lost their freedom ; and also if they
made any complaint of the kind named " wrangling." Any burgess
or freeman found " in rebeUion against any order " made by the
general assent of the court, for the profit of the town and the
commonalty, was to forfeit for every offence 3s. 4c?. Still more formi
dable were the penalties against holding what the Americans caU
caucuses — to fix on candidates for the offices of mayor or bailiffs.
Against this offence it was provided, that " if there be any assem
bling together, or any conspiration of any burgesses gathered together,
and sworn to make the mayor and bailiffs before they come into fuU
court, upon this being lawfully proved, they and every one of them
so doing shall lose their liberties, never to be restored again ; and
he and they whom they have so chosen shaU never be put to any
office within the town. No freeman to be aUowed to refuse to be
sworn on a jury.
Lancaster suffered severely in the wars which were carried on by
Edward I. and IL, and others of our early kings, with a vain hope of
conquering the kingdom of Scotland. After the defeat of the army.
of Edward II. at Bannockburn in the year 1320, a Scottish army,
under the command of Bobert Bruce, poured into the northern coun
ties of England, and inflicted terrible sufferings on the inhabitants.
In the course of their progress they burnt the town of Lancaster to
the ground, and laid the surrounding country waste on every side.
But the castle of Lancaster was too strong to be taken without a
regular siege, and afforded shelter to many of the fugitives, and a

PAST AND PRESENT. 677

point round which the population of the district reassembled when
the storm was passed. The borough was graduaUy rebufit, and
spread into the vaUey and took the castle-hill as its western boundary.
Two years later the northern part of the county was in so unsettled
a state, that the assizes were held at Preston instead of Lancaster;
and even there they were brought suddenly to a close by the appear
ance of bodies of armed men. Some years later, during the feeble
minority of Richard II. in the year 1389, another Scottish army
succeeded in marching as far south as Lancaster, and again burnt
a considerable part of the town. This was the last time at which
Lancaster suffered from Scottish invasions ; for though large Scottish
armies passed through this town in the great civfi war, they were in
alliance, or hoped for the assistance of portions of the English people,
and did not commit any outrages on their march.
Both John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and his son King Henry
IV. visited Lancaster, and the latter held a court there for the trans
action of business connected with the duchy. The liberties of the
burgesses were confirmed by Richard II. , Henry IV., and Henry V.,
the last of whom granted the burgesses freedom from toUs at the
ports of Ireland. They made pavage grants to the borough of Lan
caster in the years 1340 and 1342 (14th and 16th of Edward III.),
and pontage grants for the repair of the bridge across the Lune were
made in the years 1325, 1326, and 1330, and on other occasions. In
the year 1431, the 10th of Henry VI. , all the liberties of the town
were confirmed by the king or his advisers, with the assent of
Parliament. In a petition from the burgesses of Lancaster about this
time, it is stated that " Lancaster from time immemorial has been,
and stiU is, the chief and most ancient borough within the county of
Lancaster; to which borough there is a great confluence and concourse
of people, as well of merchants, denizens, aliens, and others, and that
before this time the town has been for the greater part inhabited by
merchants." The mayor and bailiffs therefore ask for additional
powers to coUect debts, as " many of the burgesses have faUen into
great poverty because they have not power by law in the borough
to recover their debts promptly on the day fixed for payment."*
Lancaster escaped with little injury, in the wars between the
Houses of York and Lancaster, tiie scene of the sanguinary struggles
between the rival claimants to the throne having been in distant
parts of the kingdom ; but King Edward IV. in the year 1469,
* Rot. Pari. vol. iv. ; Petitions in Parliament, 10th Henry VI.

678 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
after his escape from the great castle of the Nevfiles at Middleham
in Yorkshire, escaped to York, and thence to Lancaster, where
finding Lord Hastings, his chamberlain, with sufficient force to protect
him, he resumed the government, and soon after defeated and con
quered all his enemies. In the reign of Henry V1L, Lambert
Simnel, that pretended representative of the house of York who
had landed in Morecambe Bay, marched through Lancaster with his
mixed army of Flemings, Irishmen, and English Yorkists, on his
way to York, without doing any injury to the inhabitants.
In the reign of Henry VII., in the year 1505, the mayor,
bailiffs, and commonalty of the borough of Lancaster asserted their
right to have a free port at Lancaster, and to be free from toUage in
all the ports and boroughs in the kingdom ; but in this age the con
dition of the borough does not appear to have been very prosperous,
for in an Act of Parliament of the 35th Henry VIII. (1544), for the
repairing and amending of certain decayed houses and tenements in
England and Wales, it is stated that " divers and many beautiful
houses of habitation had been within the walls and liberties of the
towns of Lancaster, Preston, Liverpool, and Wigan, in the county
palatine of Lancaster, which now are fallen down, decayed, .and at
this time remain unre-edified, lying as desolate and void grounds."
The act then proceeds to provide for their restoration by the public
authorities of the boroughs in question, or by the chief lords. No
cause is given for this decay, of what must have been amongst the
finest buildings in these places ; but it possibly may have arisen
from the great confiscations of property, which took place there, as
at other places, at the time of the Reformation.
In the year 1604, James I. granted the borough a new charter;
and in the year 1621, the nineteenth of his rdgn, he issued a proclam
ation declaring that not only the burgesses, but aU the inhabitants of
Lancaster, should be toll-free throughout the whole of England. In
the foUowing reign, in the year 1635, when King Charles I. and his
advisers determined to raise ship-money by the royal prerogative,
the amount demanded from the county of Lancaster was £3500.
The sums demanded from the different parliamentary boroughs of
the county were as follows: — Lancaster, £30 ; Preston, £40 ; Wigan,
£50 ; Liverpool, £25 ; Clitheroe, £7 10s.; and Newton, also £7 10s.*
* Dr. Hibberl Ware, History of the Foundations of Manchester, vol. iii. p. 272. These figures not only show
what were then considered to be the relative means of each of these towns, but also show how very insignificant
all of them were at that time. There is no separate return from Manchester, which is included with the other
parishes of the Salford hundred

PAST AND PRESENT. 679

Lancaster, like nearly all the towns in Lancashire and Cheshire,
suffered very severely in the great civil war; having been taken by
storm by the royalists, under the earl of Derby, having been besieged
by the parliamentary party, and having been made to contribute to
the support of the large Scottish and English armies which repeatedly
marched through the town and lived on the resources of that and
the neighbouring districts. We shall trace the modern history of
Lancaster in a subsequent chapter.
Borough of Preston in Amounderness in early times. — Preston
was one of the first Lancashire boroughs that obtained a charter
conferring the right of self-government. This town, which succeeded
the Roman station of Ribchester as the chief place in the valley of the
Ribble^ had many advantages of position, being situated on the lofty
bank of a wide river, with sufficient depth of water for the largest
vessels that were built in early times, and thus forming a port which
was the natural outlet of one of the most extensive and fruitful
vaUeys in Lancashire. Preston also stood at the point where the
great roads, originally formed by the Romans, but which continue in
use to the present time, crossed the river Ribble by a bridge con
structed in very early times, and at which that road is crossed by
another road, also constructed by the Romans, which ran across the
northern part of England, extending from the estuary of the Wyre to
that of the Humber. In early and turbulent times the town derived
much advantage from belonging to, or being connected with, the
priests of the abbeys of York and Ripon, who owned much land
in this neighbourhood. The monks formed a class of landlords,
superior in influence and intelligence to the fierce soldiers who ruled
and tyrannized over the rest of the country. It is stated in the
Domesday survey that all the villages in Amounderness, with three
churches, belonged to Preston, which was thus the chief place of the
hundred. The Custumale of Preston, forming the earliest charter possessed
by the borough, has for many ages been attributed to King Henry I.,
the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who is said to have
granted it in the year 1100, that is, in the first year of his reign. The
corporation of Preston have a certificate of Sir Thomas Walmesley, a
judge of the Common Pleas in the reign of James I., in which it is
stated that he had seen a charter granted by Henry I. to the bur
gesses of Preston in the first year of his reign (1100). Some doubt
has been thrown on the correctness of this date, and it has been

680 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
supposed that the learned judge mistook the first year of the reign of
Henry IL, 1154, for the first year of Henry I. Either of these dates
would make this charter the oldest borough charter known to have
been granted in Lancashire ; and if the date 1100 is correct, it is very
much the oldest.
There are several points in which this charter or Custumale differs
from the ancient Custumale of Chester quoted above. One of these is
that the Preston charter is described at the close as being the law of
Preston in Amounderness, "which they have from the law of the
Bretons." The meaning of this expression is by no means clear ; but
it may be mentioned that before Lancashire was formed into a county
the two northern hundreds, including the town of Preston, formed
part of the earldom of Richmond, which was granted by William the
Conqueror to Allan duke of Brittany, his nephew, or to a younger
brother of the duke ; and it is possible that this early connection
between the earldom of Richmond and the dukedom of Brittany may
have caused some of the municipal laws of the latter province to have
been united with the Norman and Saxon laws contained in the early
charters of Preston. The Custumale of Preston itself seems to
be granted by a king, and not by an earl; and some of the rights
which it confers, especially that of freedom from toUs, not only extend
to the whole of England, but to the king's dominions abroad. It is
well known, however, that Henry I., who was the first king of English
birth of what is called the Norman line, was extremely anxious,
especially in the early part of his reign, to obtain the support both of
the Engfish and the Norman people, as well as of the great nobles;
and it is quite possible that this charter, granted by him, may have
been granted for the purpose of concfiiating both his Engfish subjects
and his Norman or Breton followers. In the immediate neighbour
hood of Preston there appears to have been a French, Norman, or
Breton settlement soon after the Conquest, for one of the manors near
that town is still called Lee Francois, whilst another is named Lee
Anglais. In the Domesday survey repeated mention is made of
Frenchmen settled in different parts of England, especially in the
county of Chester, and it is not improbable that there were also
French or Breton settlers in Bichmondshire or North Lancashire,
under the protection of the Norman earls of Bichmond.
The liberties conferred by or recognized in the Custumale of
Preston, are as extensive as those conferred by the Custumale of
Chester, already quoted. Under this charter there was at Preston,

PAST AND PRESENT. 681

from very early times, a guild merchant, or trading company, includ
ing the whole of the burgesses, or such of them as were in a condition
to use its privileges, with a hanse and other customs thereto belong
ing. To encourage the taking of burgages in the borough, it was
expressly provided that any bondman, holding the king's land within
the borough, and in the gufid and hanse paying scot and lot for a
year and a day, should remain free in the town. All the usual privi
leges of local government and of freedom from tolls, both within the
borough " and throughout our land and domain, as well in England
as other lands," were granted to the burgesses of Preston. The
sheriffs of the neighbouring counties were forbidden to intermeddle
with the burgesses, concerning any plea, plaint, or dispute pertaining
to the town, save the pleas of the crown. The burgesses were not
bound to come to more than three port-moot courts yearly, unless
there was a plea against them. They were at liberty to give their
daughters or granddaughters in marriage to any one, without the
license of the lord ; their wives and heirs were to succeed to their
chattels and lands, and their widows might marry whomsoever they
pleased. A burgess was not liable to pay transit toll, and he had a
right of common pasture everywhere within the borough, except in
cornfields, meadows, or inclosures. The burgesses were not required
to go on any expedition except one from which they might return on
the same day, " unless with the lord himself." Any one summoned
when the justice of the town — probably the chief magistrate — was
in the expedition, who did not go, forfeited 12c?., unless he made a
reasonable excuse, such, for instance, as that " his wife was lying in
childbed of a son." But if a burgess was summoned to go on an
expedition with the person of a king, no excuse was accepted. No
justice was allowed to lay hold on the house or chattels of any
deceased burgess. By the last clause of the Custumale it is provided,
that if any one shaU scandalize or slander a married woman, she might
clear herself by her own oath, and that then the slanderer should "take
himself by the nose, and confess that he had spoken a lie." " There
is the same judgment as to a widow." " This is the law of Preston
in Amounderness, which they have from the law of the Bretons."*
In addition to the Custumale of Preston, another charter was
granted by Henry II. , which conferred upon the burgesses of
Preston the same privileges, liberties, and free customs as were
enjoyed by the burgesses of Newcastle-on-Tyne. These rights were
• We shall give copies of this and some other interesting charters in an appendix, at the close of this work.
VOL. I. 4 K

682 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
confirmed by King John ; and, in addition, he granted to the bur
gesses of Preston " the whole toll of the wapentake (or hundred) of
Amounderness, and a free fair at Preston, at the Assumption of St.
Mary, to last for eight days, together with the right of pasturage in
his forest of Fulwood, and as much wood as they might require
for building their town." King John also confirmed Henry Fitz-
Warin in his right to certain rents in Preston, and granted to him
8 c?. a year, payable out of the revenues of Preston, as part of his
income as governor of the castle of Lancaster.
In the twentieth year of the reign of Edward I. the burgesses of
Preston, like those of Lancaster and Liverpool, had to defend their
rights against a plea of quo warranto. As we have already men
tioned, these pleas were in general merely methods of extorting
money, in the form of fines, on the renewal of the rights whose exist
ence was denied. In this case Adam, the son of Ralph, and Robert,
son of Roger, the bailiffs, and other burgesses, appeared to resist the
attack made by the officers of the crown. The rights which the bur
gesses were accused of having usurped were those of having a free
borough, with market and fair; gallows, or criminal jurisdiction in
capital crimes ; infangthef, or the right of trial of felons for offences
committed within the borough ; tumbrel, or the right of carting
offenders round the borough ; pillory ; and the assize or testing of
bread and beer ; and to be quit of fines, amercements, tolls, and
stallage. The charter was produced by which John, earl of Morton,
afterwards King John, confirmed his father's (Henry II.) grants of
liberties to Preston ; and also the charter of King John. But the
judge, Hugh de Cressingham, and the jury adjudged the mayor and
bailiffs and the community to be in the wrong, and all these rights
were seized by the crown. A respite of ten days was obtained on
the payment of ten marks, equal to £200 of modern money ; and'aU
the rights were afterwards restored, no doubt in consequence of a
larger payment. The right of the burgesses to the.valuable salmon
fishery of the Bibble was also attacked ; but the bailiffs alleged that
it was held by them in common with Henry de Lacy, the powerful
and wealthy earl of Lincoln and constable of Chester, and to this the
court assented.
The desperate attempts of Edward I. and his son to conquer
Scotland, after bringing unspeakable miseries on that country, ended
for a time, at least, in the defeat of the English army at Bannock-
burn. This overwhelming defeat laid open the whole of the English

PAST AND PRESENT. 683

frontier to reprisals; and in the year 1323 Robert Bruce entered
England by Carlisle, kept his way through Cumberland, Westmore
land, and Lancaster to Preston, which town he burned, as he had done
Lancaster, and numerous other places. In this and subsequent raids
Lancashire was laid waste to the Ribble, and Yorkshire to the gates
of York. In the same unfortunate reign a desperate battle was fought near
Preston, between the adherents of King Edward IL, under the com
mand of Adam de Banastre, and those of Thomas, earl of Lancaster,
the king's rebellious and powerful cousin ; but the power of the earls
of Lancaster was at that time greater than that of the king in Lan
cashire, and after a furious battle Adam de Banastre was defeated
and killed, and his head was cut off and sent as a trophy to the
earl, who soon after lost his own head, in a similar manner, at
Pomfret castle.
The earliest Preston guild was held in the reign of Edward III.,
the most powerful and prosperous of aU the Plantagenet kings. This
king likewise confirmed all the grants of his predecessors, and granted
to the burgesses the additional privfiege of holding a fair of five days'
duration, commencing with the vigil of St. Simon and St. Jude.
We shall give a full account of the ancient and modem gufids of
Preston in another chapter.
Preston had two smaU monastic institutions, the great house
founded at Tulketh having been removed to Furness. The one was
the Franciscan convent of Grey Friars, founded by Edmund, the first
earl of Lancaster, the younger son of King Henry III. The second
was a hospital dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. Of the former
Leland says: — "The Grey Freres college, on the N.W. side of
Preston, in Amoundreness, was set on the soil of a -gentleman caUed
Preston, and a brother or son of his confirmed the first grant of the
site of the house ; and one of these two was after a great man of
possessions, and viscount of Gormanston, in Ireland. Diverse of the
Prestons were buried in this house. But the original and great
builder of this house was Edmund, earl of Lancaster, son of Henry
III. Sir Robert Holland, who accused Thomas, earl of Lancaster, of
treason, was a great benefactor of this house, and there was buried.
There lay in the Grey Freres at Preston diverse of the Sherbumes
and Daltons, gentlemen."
Preston was visited by Leland in the reign of Henry VIII., and
by Camden in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. According to the

684 LANCASHIRE A.ND CHESHIRE:
former the town was approached " over the great stone bridge of
Rybfil, and by five great arches." Preston had only one church at
that time. The market-place of the town was fair, according to the
notions of that time ; and -Leland mentions that the river Ribble
though it went round about the town for a great space " touched not
the town itself by almost half a mfie." The country around Preston,
both on the north and south sides of the river, was inclosed for
pasture and corn ; and there was reasonable wood for building and
some for fire in the hedges and "grovettes," or smaU woods, about the
town. The people for the most part burnt turves, and it was not
untU long after Leland's time that Preston obtained an easy access to
the coal-fields of South Lancashire by means of water-carriage.
Camden says that Preston sprung up after the destruction of Rib
chester, situated higher up the stream of the Ribble, and that at the
time when he visited it, it was, " for those parts, a handsome and
populous town." When the Lancashire towns were taxed to pay
ship-money in the reign of Charles I., Preston was considered the
richest seaport in the county, being caUed on to pay £40 for that
purpose, whfist Lancaster paid only £30, and Liverpool only £25.*
Previous to the breaking out of the great Civil War, Preston
was one of the most flourishing towns in Lancashire. It was at
that time regarded chiefly as a seaport, and not as a manufacturing
town. A large portion of the legal business of the county, and all
that related to the duchy of Lancaster, was transacted at Preston.
From its beautiful situation it was always a favourite place of resort
for the Lancashire gentry, and of residence for their families.
But the ravages of the great Civfi War fell very severely on
Preston, as will be seen from the' account of those events given in
a preceding chapter of this work. Preston was twice taken by
storm in the first year of the war ; and at a later period of the
struggle it was the scene of one of the most desperate battles of
the war, viz., that fought on the banks of the Ribble and the
Darwen, between Oliver CromweU and the Scottish army, under
the duke of Hamilton. A little later Charles IL, or as he was
then called, the King of Scots, marched through Preston, at the
head of another large Scottish army, and was followed shortly
after by James, earl of Derby, at the head of the forces which
he had brought from the Isle of Man, or collected in North Lanca
shire. The course of these armies was marked by famine and
* Dr. Hibbert Ware's History of the Foundations of Manchester, vol. iii. p. 272.

PAST AND PRESENT. 685

pestilence, and some years elapsed before the Lancashire towns
along their line of march recovered their usual prosperity. The
number of sick and wounded men left behind by the hostile armies
was the principal means of spreading pestilence through the district.
Clitheroe in ancient times. — This town owed its origin, in early
times, chiefly to the advantages of its military position, in com
manding one of the best of the military passes through the mountain
chain which divides Lancashire from Yorkshire. The great family of
the De Lacys built the castle of Clitheroe, and were lords of the
honour of Clitheroe, until their estates passed by marriage to the earls
of Lancaster, and ultimately to the dukes of Lancaster. Clitheroe
was an important military position in the northern wars ; its castle
being a place of great strength before the invention of artillery,
and the pass through the mountains being always of importance
to an army wishing to move rapidly between Lancashire and York
shire. It was through this pass that Prince Rupert moved in his
memorable march from Liverpool and Lathom house to York and
the battle-field of Marston Moor; and through it he returned, after
his defeat at the place last named.
Clitheroe was as rich in municipal rights as any town in Lanca
shire or Cheshire, having received from Henry de Lacy, constable
of Chester, a grant of aU the rights to which the citizens of Chester
were entitled under their Custumale, or summary of rights, given
in our account of that city. Clitheroe had also some separate
privfieges of a more local kind, the most important of which to the
burgesses are set forth in a charter,* granted by Henry de Lacy,
earl of Lincoln, about the year 1283.
King Henry IV., in the year 1409, granted to the burgesses
of Clitheroe, who were his tenants, the right to hold two fairs
yearly. AU the earlier rights granted to the burgesses of Clitheroe
were confirmed by Edward I. in the year 1282. Clitheroe was made
a parliamentary borough in the time of the Tudors, probably for
the purpose of increasing the influence of the duchy of Lancaster, to
which it belonged. But its progress was somewhat slow, and in the
reign of Charles I., in the year 1635, the amount which the burgesses
were called upon to pay as ship-money did not amount to more than
The Borough of Wigan.— Wigan. was made a free borough, and
received a charter from King Henry III. in the year 1246. The
* See Appendix.

686 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
charter was granted by the king chiefly to oblige his secretary John
MaunseU, who, in that age, was of course a clergyman, and who held
amongst other pieces of preferment that of the rectory of Wigan
In the reign of Edward I. the burgesses of Wigan were called upon
to return two members to Parliament, and have continued to do so
ever since. The position of the town is very favourable for trade,
being on the line of the great road through the county, on a river
supplying much water-power, and on the richest part of the Lanca
shire coal-field. The coal-mines were worked by the Bradshaghs of
Haigh in the reign of Henry VIII., and Wigan, although spoken of as
being in a somewhat decayed state, in the reign of the same monarch,
like other Lancashire towns soon regained ground. In the reign of
Charles I. Wigan paid a larger amount of ship-money than Liverpool,
Preston, or Lancaster; Wigan being rated at £50, whfist Preston
was only rated at £40, Lancaster at £30, and Liverpool at £25.
Manchester from the Norman Conquest to. the Restoration. — We
have traced in. the early part of this work the history of Manchester
in the Roman and Saxon times, and down to the time of the Norman
conquest.* We now proceed to trace the rise and progress of this
city from the time of the Domesday survey to the Restoration and
the year 1660.
Soon after the Norman conquest the manor of Manchester was
granted to Albert de Gresley — written variously Gresle, GreUe, and
Gresley — by one of the lords of the honour of Lancaster ; and for a
long course of years that famfiy were barons of Manchester. Several
of them were summoned to Parliament under that title. Albert de
Gresley, who lived in the reign of William the Conqueror, was the
first baron of Manchester ; and eight barons or lords of this family
held the barony in succession. The names of these barons were
Albert, who lived in the reign of William the Conqueror ; Robert,
who lived in the time of William Rufus and Henry I. ; Albert, who
was known as Albert Senex, or the Elder, to distinguish him from his
son ; Albert Juvenis, or the Young, so called to distinguish him from
his father, the latter living in the reign of Henry II. ; Robert, who
lived in the reigns of Henry II. , Richard I., John, and Henry III. ;
Thomas, who lived in the reign of Henry II. ; another Robert, who
lived in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. ; and Thomas, the
eight baron of Manchester, of the De Gresley family, who granted the
first charter to the burgesses of Manchester, on the 14th May, 1301,
* Lancashire and Cheshire: Past and Present, pp. 264, 314, and 535.

PAST AND PRESENT. 537

and was thus the founder of the municipal or borough rights of
Manchester. This Thomas was the last baron of Manchester of the
De Gresley famfiy, the barony having passed into the family of the
Delawarrs at his death by the marriage of the heiress of the De
Gresleys, Joan de Gresley, to John Delawarr. The second Robert
de Gresley, who lived in the reign of King John, was one of the
barons who extorted Magna Charta from that king, at Runnymede,
and who steadily opposed the tyrannical measures of the king to the
close of his reign. For this resolute conduct King John commanded
the sheriff of Lancaster to take possession, and surrender to Adam
Yoland, the castle of Robert Greslet, of Mamecestre, with aU appur
tenances, and all the land of the same Robert, which he held under
or within the line (infra limam), to be held so long as it pleased
the king. But on the overthrow and death of the tyrant, all the
possessions of the Gresley family were restored. .
Soon after the death of King John, and while his son Henry III.
was stfil under age, Robert de Gresley obtained a charter entitling
him to hold a fair yearly at Manchester, on the eve and day of St.
Matthew, September 20 and 21. The following is a translation of
this charter, as given in Pipe-roll of the sixth year of the reign of
King Henry III. (1222) :—
Lancaster.— Robert Gresley gives to the lord the king one palfrey, to have a fair until
the full age of the lord the king [Henry III.] every year, at his manor of Mamecestre, during
two days, to wit, on the eve of St. Matthew the Apostle and on the day of the same St.
Matthew, unless that fair, &c. [This is a general clause usually inserted in charters, and
intended to protect the king's rights in other fairs held in the same neighbourhood.] And
the sheriff of Lancashire is commanded that he take, &c. Witness Hubert, &c, at Luknor,
the 11th day of August [1222].
A few years later, when Henry III. had come of age, in the year
1227, he confirmed the above grant made during his minority. The
confirmation is contained in the charter of the 1 1th Henry III., and
is as follows : —
For Robert Gresley.— Henry, king, &c, greeting. Know ye that we have granted, and by
this our present charter have confirmed, to Robert Gresley, that he and his heirs may have for
ever a fair at his manor of Mamecestre, yearly, during three days, viz., on the eve, and on the
day, and on the morrow of St. Matthew the Apostle ; on condition that the said fair may not
be to the harm of neighbouring fairs, as is provided in other charters of fairs. Whereby we well
and strictly command that the said Robert and his heirs may have for ever the said fair, well
and in peace, freely, quietly, and honourably, with all liberties and free customs to this kind
of fair appertaining, these being witnesses : — H. de Burgh, earl of Kent, justiciary of England ;
R., earl of Cornwall, our brother; William, earl of Albemarle; Hugh de Mortimar [or Mor
timer]; Brian de l'lsle ; Philip de Albini ; Ralph Gemun [or Gernons]; Richard D Argen
tine; and others. Given by the hand of the venerable father, Ralph, bishop of Chichester,
our chancellor, at Farringdon, 19th day of August, in the eleventh year of our reign.

688 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
It wiU be seen that the above charter extends the time for holding
the fair to three days, and also makes the grant not merely for the
life of Robert de Gresley, but of him and his heirs for ever.
The grant of the rights of a free borough to Manchester was not
made by the crown, but by Thomas de Gresley or GreUe, the eighth
baron, who was supposed to hold that, part of jura regalia which
enabled him to make such a grant, as part of his lordship or barony.
A few years before the granting of the charter of Thomas de
Gresley, in the year 1282, the 11th Edward I., Robert de Gresley,
the third baron of Manchester bearing the name of Robert, died,
leaving his son and heir Thomas de Gresley, who at that time was
only eleven years of age. This boy at once became a ward of the
crown, and his estates were held by the king, who received the rents
until the heir arrived at manhood. As a preliminary to the occupy
ing of the estates by the crown during the minority of the heir,
King Edward I. issued an order to Henry de Lee, who was then
high sheriff of Lancashire, requiring him to make a report or
extent as to all particulars of the estates of the late baron of Man
chester. In order to do this the more satisfactorily, the high sheriff
called together a jury at Manchester, composed of twelve of the
principal landowners of this district — viz.,' John" Byron, Geoffrey de
Bracebrig, Geoffrey de Chederton, Adam de Hulton, Alexander de
Pilkington, Thomas de Ashton, Bobert de Shoreswood, Elis de
Lever, Richard de Radcliff, Robert Venton, Adam de Contliff, and
Adam, son of John de Lever. These jurors made a return, the
substance of which is given in the sheriff's extent or statement, and
is to the foUowing effect : —
First, the jurors stated upon their oaths that there was in the
aforesaid manor of 'Manchester — or, as they caU it, Mamecestre — a
certain capital messuage, with houses and gardens, the fruit of which,
with the herbage, were worth 2s. a year. This sum of 2s., and all
the other sums mentioned in this extent, were worth from twelve
to fifteen times as much in modern money, and may very easily be"
brought approximately right, according to modern valuation, by
multiplying by twelve, as in this sum of 2s., which would amount
to from 24s. to 30s. of modern money. The jurors further reported
that there was a certain smaU park, called Aldpark, the herbage of
which, with the pannage, was worth 33s. 4c?. ; a certain other park
called Blakeley, the herbage of which, with the windfall wood and
pannage, and an aerie of sparrowhawks, was worth £51 13s. 4c?. in the

PAST AND PRESENT. 689

money of that time ; a certain plot of demesne and herbage called
Bradford and BronhuU, worth 40s. ; a certain plot caUed Grenlawmo,
belonging to the aforesaid demesne, worth 76s. 8c?. a year ; a certain
plot called le HuUes, worth 13s. and id. a year ; a certain plot caUed
Keperfield, worth 4s. ; two plots called Mill ward Croft and Samland,
worth 9s. a year ; certain land called Kypcliff, worth 3s. 3 c?. ; two
parts of one oxgang of land in Denton, worth 4s. 2c?. ; and a certain
plot of land in Farnworth, worth 5s.
Within the borough of Manchester, according to this return, there
was, so early as the year 1282, one water miU, of the yearly value of
£l 7 6s. 8c? ; and a certain fuUing mill, which was worth yearly 26s. 8c?. ;
there was also a certain public oven, at which the burgesses were
bound to bake their bread, which produced to the lord 10s. a year.
"And," say the jury, "there is there rent of assise (or ancient
fixed rent) of the burgages in Mamecestre, which pay yearly, at the
Nativity of the Lord, at the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary, at
the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and at the Feast of St. Michael,
£7 3s. 2c?." As the rents of the burgages were fixed at Is. per
burgage, it would appear from this statement of rent, that the
number of burgages, and probably of burgesses, existing in Man
chester at that time was 143; this, allowing for women and children
as weU as for men, would give a population of from 800 to 1000
persons, exclusive of non-burgesses, who would be very likely to be
quite as numerous. This is the earliest glimpse that we obtain of
the population of Manchester.
In addition to the sources of income mentioned above, the toll of
the market and of the fair of Manchester, at that time, produced a
yearly return estimated at £6 13s. 4c?.
Amongst the other profits of the barony were the rent of two
oxgangs of land held in bondage — or by serfs, as cultivators — in
Openshaw, producing, 7s. ; sixteen oxgangs of land held in bondage
in Gorton and producing 64s. ; a certain plot of land in the same
place caUed HaU-land, producing 20s. ; the farm or rent of one miU
in Gorton, worth 26s. 8c?. ; ten oxgangs of land held in bondage in
Ardwick, with nine acres of land held by a different tenure, the
whole worth 43s.; a certain plot of land caUed Twantford, worth
6s. 8c?. ; ten oxgangs of land in Crumpsall, worth 40s. ; and the rent
of certain assarted or newly cleared lands at CrumpsaU, 10s. 6c?.
In addition. to the above, there were the rents of the free
tenants and foreign tenants of the manor of Mamecestre, producing
vol. i. 4s

690 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
£7 9s. 8c?. ; one goshawk payable yearly by Thomas de Aston, or
Ashton, at the feast of St. Michael, and one barbed arrow rendered
yearly by Adam de Lever ; the rent of sac fee 49s. ; the farm of wards
at the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 49s. 2\d. ; the farm.
of five foot-bailiffs, for having their bailwicks, 100s. ; the perquisites
of the borough court of Manchester 8s. ; the pleas and perquisites of
the court baron 100s.; a certain fee of Withington which paid yearly
a day's ploughing of fifteen acres of land, worth 7s. 6 c?. ; and a certain
custom in the same fee of reaping in autumn, extending over thirty
oxlands of land, worth yearly 2s. 6d.
In addition to the above, the Barons of Manchester had extensive
possessions in the surrounding country, at Heaton Norris, Barton,
and Kuerdley. At this time the manor of Manchester was held
by the De Gresleys, under the Lord Edmund, brother of the king, and
the first earl of Lancaster, to whom a payment was made of £2 a
year, equal to about £30 in modern money ; it made one suit to the
county of Lancaster, one suit to the wapentake of Derby, and was
of the constablewick of Chester. In the forest there were eight cow
pastures (vaccaria), and one plot which was not a fuU pasturage; these
were worth £19 a year. The pannage and hawks were worth 40s.,
and the three foresters keeping the forest had certain privfieges
for which they paid 40s. The sum of the forest was £24.
Attached to the barony of Manchester were five. knights' fees,
half a fee, and the third part of a fee, held by some of the most dis
tinguished of the knightly families of Lancashire; John de Byron
held Withington ; Bobert de Lathom, Adam de Hulton, William de
Botiller, Balph de Catteral, and Geoffrey de Writington, held Par-
bold and Writington, Chocton and Dalton ; Thomas de AstOn, or
Ashton, did suit at the court of Manchester for the same holding ;
Bobert de Lathom held Turton and Childwall as parts of this barony;
WUliam de Worthington held Worthington ; William, the son of
William de Anderton and Amery his wife, held Rumworth; Alexander
de PUkington held PUkington ; and Barton and Heaton were in the
hands of the lord of the manor. The barons of Manchester also held
the advowsons of the church of Manchester, worth 200 marks; of that
of ChUdwaU, worth 200 marks ; and that of Ashton, worth 20 marks.
" Adding together the nett issues of the manor and forest, with those
of its mesne manors, and also the advowsons of the three churches, we
have the yearly sum of £395 Is. 8^c?., which, multiplied by fifteen,
gives us the equivalent amount in our present money (£5,926 5s. 7^d.)

PAST AND PRESENT. 691

nearly £6,000 a year ; showing a very extensive estate, and a large
revenue for the lord of the manor of Mamecestre, in the year 1282."*
Thomas de Gresley 's Charter to Manchester. — Amongst the rights
conferred on the burgesses of Manchester by the great charter of
Thomas de Gresley, the following were the most important : — The
burgesses, on paying 12c?. a year, equal to about 15s. of modern
money, were free from all other service to the lord ; no burgess
impleaded within the borough was bound to answer anywhere but
in the portmoot, for any plaint except such as pertained to the king's
crown, or to theft ; the burgesses were aUowed to choose a reeve
or borough-reeve for themselves, "whom they would," and to remove
the reeve ; every burgess was allowed to give or seU his lands, if
need be, but the heir was to have the preference ; and if the heir
would not purchase, it was lawful for the burgess to seU his inherit
ance, whatever age the heir might be, or whether he consented or
not ; every burgess was entitled to demand from the reeve his
stall or standing place in the market on paying lc?., equal to
about Is. of our present money, to the use of the lord ; a burgess
was not to pay as much as a stranger for the stalls in the market ;
and if he stood in his own staU he was not to pay anything to
the lord; every burgess might feed swine of his own rearing in
the lord's woods, except in the forests and parks of the said lord,
until the time of pannage or fattening with acorns and mast, and
might take them away before the time of pannage without ficense
from the lord; but if they remained during the time of pannage
the lord was to be recompensed for their pannage ; the burgesses
might arrest any man, whether knight, priest, or clerk, for debt, if
found in the borough ; any burgess whom necessity might compel
to seU his burgage might take another of his neighbour, and every
burgess might let his burgage to his neighbour ; if a burgess either
bought or sold to any man within the fee of the said lord he was
to be free of the toU ; but if any man of another shire or district
came to the town who ought to pay custom, and went away without
paying it, he forfeited 12s., or £8 of modern money, to the use
of the lord, besides paying his toll ; if a burgess had no heir, he
might bequeath his burgage and chattels, when he died, to whom
he would, "saving only service of the lord;" if a burgess died,
his wife or widow was allowed to remain in the house, and the
* Mamecestre: being chapters from the early recorded' history of the barony ; the lordship or manor; the vill,
borough, or town, of Manchester, edited by John Harland, F.S.A., vol. 1. Printed for the Chetham Society, 1861.

692 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
heir with her, and to have necessaries, so long as she was without
a husband, but if she married she was to depart from the house,
leaving the heir in possession ; on the death of any burgess his heir
was not required to pay any other relief to the lord except certain
arms ; if any burgess sold his burgage, and wished to depart from
the town, he had only to pay the lord 4c?., equal to about 5s. of
modern money, and to depart from the town, going where he would.
The above are the most important provisions of the charter of Thomas
de Gresley.4' The burgesses of Manchester continued to enjoy all the advantages
of the above charter, -including those of being burgesses of a free
borough, for about sixty years. But during that period the power of
the earls and dukes of Lancaster greatly increased, and the county
was placed completely under their control by the granting of palatine
privUeges to the dukes of Lancaster. In the year 1359, the 32nd
Edward III., Henry, the first duke of Lancaster, or his officers, raised
the question of whether Manchester was a free borough or merely a
market-town. An inquisition on this subject took place at Preston,
before "Thomas de Seton and his fellows, justices of the lord the
duke," on Monday in the second week of Lent, in the thirty-third year
of the reign of King Edward IIL The jury to whom the question
was referred consisted of John de Radcliff, Oto de Halsall, Roger de
Bradeshagh, Henry, son of Simon de Bickerstath, Robert de Trafford,
John de Hopwood, Roger de Barlow, John of the Holt, Robert de
Holme, John de Chetham, Thomas de Strangways, and John of the
Scalefield. These jurors — most of whose names are still very familiar
to a Lancashire ear — decided that Roger Delawarr did not hold the
town of Mamecestre as a borough, nor did his predecessors hold the
town as a borough, but that they held it as a market-town! In con
sequence of the decision that Manchester was a market-town, but not
a borough, the town was no longer free from suit to the county and
wapentake. " The result was, in fact, to reduce the portmoot to a
mere subsidiary court to the lord's court baron, and to set up again
the jurisdiction of the wapentake of Salford and that of the sheriff's
tourn, within the town of Manchester, in all cases except such as
related to the lord and his tenants, which, according to ancient usage,
would be determined by the court baron. It may suffice to add that
ultimately the several local courts merged into the half yearly court
leet, court baron, and view of frankpledge, held about Easter and
* We shall give a copy of this Charter in the Appendix to the work.

PAST AND PRESENT. 693

about Michaelmas, at which latter time the borough reeve and con
stables of Manchester for the ensuing year were elected."'"*
On the death of Thomas de Gresley, the last baron of Manchester
in the male line of that family, the manor of Manchester passed to
John Delawarr, baron of Wickwar, in the county of Gloucester, and
to his wife, Joan or Joanna, sister and sole heir of the last of the
Gresleys. In this distinguished famfiy it remained until about the
year 1427, when it passed by marriage into the family of Sir Reginald
West, who assumed the title and lordship of Manchester. The
member of the Delawarr family whose name is most prominently
and honourably associated with the city of Manchester, is Thomas
Delawarr, who founded and endowed the college and the collegiate
church of Manchester. This coUege was founded by him in the year
1422, under a royal licence granted by King Henry V, by which
Thomas, bishop of Durham, John de Forden, the clergyman of the
parish church of Manchester, and other feoffees named by Thomas
Delawarr, received permission to erect or convert the church of
Manchester into a collegiate church, and there to establish a college
with a warden or master, and as many fellows and other ministers
as to them seemed good. Under this arrangement, one warden,
eight fellows, four clerks, and six choristers were appointed. The
college and collegiate church thus founded, the warden and feUows
of which were incorporated under the style and title of the Master
or Warden of the CoUege of the Blessed Virgin of Manchester, has
continued to flourish for many ages, though with a change of title
and with several changes in its organization. In the reign of
Edward VL, or at the time of the Reformation, it was for a time
suspended ; but it was restored by Queen Mary, was reorganized by
Queen Elizabeth, and was reconstituted by Charles I., besides having
undergone many important changes in modern times. The endow
ment of the church when John de Forden was parson or rector is
stated by Hollingworth, in his " Mancuniensis," to have amounted to
about 200 marks per annum. This was equal to about £2000 of
modern money. The parsonage house stood in or near a field on the
side of what was then, and is now, called Deansgate. The sum
bequeathed by Thomas Delawarr for the building of the coUege and
the coUegiate church is said to have amounted to £3000 of the
money of Henry V.'s time, equal to from £30,000 to £40,000 of
modem money. But large as this sum was, it was insufficient to
* Mamecestre, by John Harland, vol. iii. p. 454.

694 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE

defray the expense of building the new college and the new collegiate
church. The college was bufit on the site of the ancient hall of the
barons of Manchester, in a very open, healthy, and commanding
position. Part of the stone used in constructing the coUege is said
to have been furnished by the remains of the old haU, and it is said
that part of it was obtained from the ruins of the old Roman, Saxon,
and, it may be, Norman fortifications, which were known in those
early times as " Mancastle." It is also stated that, owing to the
insufficiency even of the large sum bequeathed by the founder of the
college and the church, the collegiate church was in the first instance
built of wood. The site selected for the church was lofty and com
manding, lying to the south of the ancient hall of the barons, and
near to the fosse, crossed by a drawbridge, by which the demesne
was protected in ancient times. These are the only particulars which
have been recorded respecting the origin of the timbered edifice
dedicated to St. Mary, St. Denis, arid St. George, which was first
built on the site of the present collegiate church, and which at a
later period was supplanted by a more lasting one of stone.*
Manchester, after a long period of inactivity, began to increase and
advance in population, wealth, and trade, in the reigns of Henry VII.
and Henry VIII. " One writeth," says Hollingworth, "that about
1520 there were three famous clothiers living in the north country,
namely, Cuthbert of Kendal, Hodgkins of Halifax, and Martin Brian
(some say Byrom) of Manchester. Every one of these kept a great
number of servants at work, carders, spinners, weavers, fullers, dyers,
shearmen, &c, to the great admiration of those that came into their
houses to behold them." It was at this time that the inhabitants of
Manchester induced Parliament to pass an act abolishing the right of
sanctuary in Manchester, and removing that dangerous and mischiev
ous privilege to Chester. The following extract from the preamble
of the Act wUl show what was the position of the trade of Man
chester at this period : —
" Whereas, the said towne of Manchester is, and hath of long tyme been, a town well
inhabited; aud the kinge's subjectes inhabitauntes of the same towne are well set a worke
in makinge of clothes, as well of lynnen as of woollen, whereby the inhabitauntes of the said
towne have obteyned, gotton, and come vnto riches and welthy lyuings, and haue kepte and
set manye artificers and poore folkes to worke within the said towne; and by reason of the
great occupienge, good order, strayte and true dealing of the inhabitauntes of the said towne,
many strangers, as well of Ireland as of other places within this realme, have resorted to the
said towne with lynnen yarns, woolles, and other necessary wares for making of clothes, to
be sold there, and haue vsed to credit and truste the poore inhabitauntes of the same towne
* Dr. Hibbert Ware's History of Foundations of Manchester, vol. i. p. 45.

PAST AND PRESENT. 695

which were not able and had not redy money to pay in hande for the saide yarns, woolles,
and wares, vnto such time the said credites with their industry, labour, and peynes myght
make clothes of the said woolles, yarns, and other necessary wares, and solde the same, to
contente and pay their creditours; wherein hath consisted much of the common welth of the
said towne, and many poore folkes had lyuynge, and children and servants were vertuously
brought up in honest and true labour, out of all ydleness. And for as muche as of necessitie
the said lynnen yarne must lye without, as well in the night as in the day, continually for
the space of one halfe yere to be whited before it can be made clothe, and the wollen clothes
there made must hange vppon the taynter to be dried before it can be dressed up; and for
the saulfegarde thereof it is and shal be expedient and necessary that substanpiall, honest,
iust, true, and credible persons be and shuld dwell in the said towne, and no maner of lyght
persone or persons there to be inhabitauntes. And whereas manye straungers, inhabytinge
in other towneshyps and places, have used customably to resort to the sayd towne of Man
chester with a great number of cottons to be vttered and sold to the inhabitauntes of the same
towne, to the great profit of all the inhabitauntes of the same; and thereby many poore people
have ben well set a worke, as well with dressyng and frisyng of the sayd cottons as with
putting to sale the same, &c."— Act 33 Henry VIII.
In the year 1524, the 15th Henry VIII., the Free Grammar-
school of Manchester was founded and liberally endowed by Hugh
Oldham, bishop of Exeter, a native of the town whose name he bore.
At that time the whole of the existing literature, at least in the
north of Europe, was contained in the Latin and Greek languages,
none of the modern literatures, except the Italian, having yet been
founded; and therefore, according to the custom of that age, the
study of the Latin grammar was regarded as the only entrance to
knowledge. The object of the reverend founder of the Manchester
school, as set forth in the statutes of the school, " was the bringing
up of children to their adolescence, and to occupy them in good learn
ing, whereby, when they should come to age and virility, they might
better know, love, honour, and dread, God and his laws." Therefore it
was that he established this school, and " for the good mind which he
did bear for the county of Lancaster, where the children had pregnant
wits, but had been mostly brought up unruly and idle, and not in
virtue, cunning (knowledge), education, literature, and good manners,"
he established and founded a Free Grammar-school, "the liberal
science or art of grammar being the ground and foundation of all
other liberal arts and sciences." The schoolhouse was to be bufit
adjoining, westward of the College of Manchester; to the school he
gave the name of Manchester School; and for the endowment of this
foundation he purchased a lease for sixty years of the corn and
fulling mills situated on the river Irk. The school so established was
to be taught after the manner of the school of Banbury in Oxford
shire, and the election and choice of the master were vested in the
president of Corpus Christi CoUege, Oxford, or in the warden of the

696 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
College of Manchester. The teaching was to be entirely free, the
master and sub-master being provided for out of the endowment.
The school has proved to be one of the best and most useful ever
established in England.
In the reign of Henry VIII., Leland the famous antiquary visited
Manchester, on his journey through England under the commission
granted to him by the king. He informs us in his "Itinerary"
that he rode over the Mersey water by a great bridge of timber
(probably the old bridge at Stretford), and then over Medlock
river, and so within a mile of Manchester. He describes Man
chester as the " fairest, best builded, quickest (busiest), and most
populous town in all Lancashire, though with only one parish church;
that, however, collegiate, double-aisled, and built of the hard
est cut stone." There were several stone bridges in the town;
the best of these crossed the river Irwell, "that divides Manches
ter from Salford, which is a large suburb of Manchester." On
this bridge there was then a pretty chapel. The next bridge was
that over the Irk river, "on which the fair budded college standeth,
as in the very point of the mouth of it." On the Irk were diverse
" fair miUs, that served the town." In the town, he says, were two
fair market-places, and about two flight shottes without the town,
beneath, on the same IrweU, are " yet to be seen the dikes and
foundations of old Man-castel in a ground now inclosed." The
stones of the ruins of this castle were used for building the bridges
of the town. " It is not long," says Leland, " since the church of
Manchester was collegiated. The town of Manchester standeth on
a hard rock of stone, else Irwell, as well appeareth on the west
bank (ripe) had been mischievous (noiful) to the town. IrweU is
not navigable but (except) in some places for (owing to) shallows
(vadys) and rocks." *
The first register for the parish of Manchester was begun in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. The first entry is the burial of Robert
Fisher, August 1, 1573; the first baptism that of Ellen, daughter
of WiUiam Darby, August 3 ; and the first marriage that of Nicholas
Cleaton and Ellen Pendleton, August 19, 1573.|
On the 15th May, the 21st Elizabeth (1579), Lord Delawarr,
in an evil hour for his own famfiy, sold the manor of Manchester,
and aU rights and privileges attached to it, to John Lacye of
London, citizen and cloth-maker, for the sum of £3000.
* Lcland's Itinerary, ,-. 5. p. 78. f Aston's Manchester Guide.

PAST AND PRESENT. 697

The inhabitants of Manchester adopted the principles of the
Reformation early, and clung to them firmly, although great part ¦
of the gentry residing in the surrounding district continued to be
attached to the Church of Rome. In the latter part of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, after the queen had been excommunicated by the
pope, and her dominions had been offered to the king of Spain, the
contest between the adherents of the two religions became desperate
and sanguinary, and neither of them hesitated to adopt any course
towards the other which would advance its own objects. Amongst
the measures adopted by the Government and the Protestant party
was the enforcement of conformity to that religion, amongst the Roman
Catholics of Lancashire. This hopeless and painful task was com
mitted to William Hastings, earl of Huntingdon, president of the North,
Henry, earl of Derby, and WiUiam Chadderton, bishop of Chester.
At that time great numbers of Catholic recusants were imprisoned
at Chester, and at other places in the two counties. In December,
1581, the recusants were removed to Manchester, which the earl of
Huntingdon, in a letter to the earl of Derby, declared to be the "best."
that is, the most Protestant place in those parts : and there the
earl of Derby and the bishop took up their residence, to superintend
the conversion of their unfortunate Romish neighbours, by any
means, fair and foul, who, it must be said in justice to aU parties,
would have just as willingly undertaken to convert them by simi
lar means. One of the places in which the unfortunate Cathofics
were lodged was the gaol on Salford bridge. Another was the forti
fied mansion of the Radcliffes, situated in Pool fold, formerly moated
round, with a drawbridge giving admittance to the principal entrance.
The mansion, which stood in a large garden, "was constructed of
timber and plaster, with huge projecting stone chimneys and
gable ends." The third place was a prison built specially for the
purpose, situate at Hunts Bank, and named the New Fleet prison*
Most of the cruelties perpetrated at this time were the result of
fear of invasion or massacre. As a security against the former danger,
which was real and urgent, Manchester raised a quota of men, consist
ing of thirty-eight harquebussiers, carrying firearms ; thirty-eight
archers ; and one hundred and forty-four bfilmen and pikemen.f
But whilst the Protestants were thus fierce against the Boman
Catholics who were held to believe too much, they were just as cruel
with those who were held to believe too little. In the same reign
• Dr. Hibbert Ware's Foundations of Manchester, vol. i. p. 110. t I°"i- vol. l. 123.
4 T
VOL. I.

698 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
the Puritans and Nonconformists became active at Manchester.
In the same reign " a most vile book " was published against the
earl of Leicester and the queen, which was doubly dangerous for being,
if not true, at least very probable. At the same time, Penry, a non
conformist, or, as they were then called, a Brownist, began a sharp
attack on the queen and the bishops, in a number of very harmless,
but not very mannerly works, which the courtiers and court lawyers
of that time denounced as treasonable. Of these were " Martin Mar-
prelate," and other polemical pamphlets. In the course of printing
the work, " Ha ye any more work for the Cooper ? " says Ames, -the
press was discovered and seized at Manchester, in Newton Lane, with
several pamphlets unfinished. Amongst others were "Paradoxes,"
" Dialogues," " Martin's Dreams," the " Lives and Doings of Hellish
Popes," " Itinerarium or Visitations," and " Lambethisms." To
complete the " Itinerarium," the author threatened to survey all
the clergy of England, and note their intolerable pranks ; and for
his "Lambethisms," he would have a Martin Marprelate at Lam
beth. For this poor harmless abuse, the unfortunate Penry was
tried and executed ; but his murder did not put down Puritanism
at Manchester."'
Aston, in his Manchester Guide, gives an illustration of the manners
of this time, in the form of an inventory of the personal habUiments
and furniture of a widow, residing at Salford, in the year 1588. The
widow's clothes consisted of a trained gown lined with camlet, a
cassock, frieze gowns, a worsted kirtle with branched damask body
and sleeves; a russet taffety kirtle and apron, silk hats, a tammy
mantle, a golden girdle, partlets, smocks, cross clothes, and mufflers.
The clothes of the widow's late husband comprised "a myllom (Milan)
fustian doublet, oylypoyld sleeves, breeches, a pair of moulds," a frieze
jerkin, two seal-skin girdles, two pair round hose, a felt hat and
band, and a dagger. The deceased had been a manufacturer of frieze.+
The manor of Manchester was again in the market in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, and in the year 1590 was sold by John Lacye, who
had bought it from Lord Delawarr for £3000, to Sir Nicholas Mose
ley, for the sum of £3500. Two years after this improvident sale,
William, earl of Derby, made one not less improvident, by selling the
mansion and park of Aldport, at Manchester, to Sir Randle Brereton
of Malpas, Kt. ; who sold this valuable property to Thomas Rowe, in
the county of Chester, by whom it was again sold shortly after to
* Dr. Hibbert Ware's Foundations of Manchester, vol. i. p. 125. + Ibid.

PAST AND PRESENT. 699

Oswald Moseley, the elder, of Manchester, Esq., Edward Moseley, of
Grey's Inn, Esq., and Adam Smyth, of Manchester, mercer. "About
this time," says Hollingworth, "flourished Sir Nicholas Moseley, lord
mayor of London, whom from a low estate God raised up to riches
and honour. He bought the lordship of Manchester, and of the
Hough and Halls, in the place where his father's tenement stood."
The plague continued to rage at intervals in Lancashire and all
parts of England until the end of the seventeenth century, when it
gently diminished and ultimately died out, no doubt from improved
diet and from cleanliness. The year 1603 was a year of plague at
Manchester, "as forty years before and forty years after." In the
previous year the whole number of deaths in the parish had been
only 188, whilst in 1605 it amounted to 1078. "Amongst those who
died," says Hollingworth, "was Mr. Price, chaplain of the college, and
his wife, with four children. All the time of the sickness Mr. Bourne
preached in the town so long as he durst, by reason of the unruliness
of infected persons and want of government ; and then be went and
preached in a field near Shosters Brook, the people of the town being
on one side, he and the country people on the other." In those
times the inhabitants of towns and viUages were placed in a merciless
quarantine. On this occasion plague stones were erected, to which
the country people brought provisions for the inhabitants, and where
the money paid for them was deposited.
In the year 1625, Henry Montague, Viscount Mandeville, Baron
Kimbolton, and lord president of the King's Privy Councfi, was made
an earl by the title of Earl of Manchester.
In the midst of these events Manchester continued to advance in
industry, population, and wealth. It was about this time that some
of the more skilful of the Manchester manufacturers introduced the
use of cotton into the manufactures of Manchester, in which nothing
but wool and linen yarn had been used to that time. The first
cotton brought to Manchester for manufacturing purposes was grown
in the island of Cyprus, in the Levant, imported into London, and
thence conveyed by land carriage to Manchester. Articles named
Manchester cottons and fustians had long been manufactured at
Manchester, but we are told expressly by Camden and other contem
porary writers, and it appears from, the great weight and nature of
the goods, that they were woollens. Friezes and rugs were also
manufactured in great quantities, and it appears from Aston's Guide
to Manchester, that it was then the custom to convey the goods to

700 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

London and to the great fairs of Cambridgeshire on horseback, and
there to sell them to home or continental purchasers frequenting
those fairs. The following is an account of the manufactures of
Manchester in this age : — Fustians were manufactured about Bolton,
Leigh, and the places adjacent ; but Bolton was the principal market
for them, where they were brought in the grey by the Manchester
chapmen, who finished and sold them in the country. The fustians
were made as early as the middle of the seventeenth century, indeed
much earlier, when Humphrey Chetham, who founded the Blue
Coat Hospital, was the principal buyer at Bolton. The Manchester
traders went regularly on market days to buy pieces of fustian of
the weavers, each weaver then procuring yarn or cotton as he could,
which subjected the trade to great inconveniences. To remedy this,
some of the chapmen furnished warps and wools to the weavers.
They also encouraged weavers to fetch them from Manchester, and
by prompt payment and good wages endeavoured to secure good
workmanship. Thus Manchester, from having been from the earliest times the
political and military capital of South Lancashire, became its industrial
capital, a position which it has continued to hold to the present day.
We have already given a full account of the military and politi
cal events of Manchester and the neighbourhood during the great
Civil War.
During the time of the Commonwealth another great foundation
was established at Manchester by Humphrey Chetham, of Clayton
Hall, near Manchester, and of Turton Tower, near Bolton, one of the
first of the Lancashire merchants or manufacturers who applied a
large portion of the wealth acquired in trade to the purpose of the
intellectual improvement of the people. This excellent man, who had
held the office of high sheriff under Charles I. in the year 1635, and
who appears to have enjoyed the respect and confidence of all classes
of his fellow countrymen through the long and dangerous times of
the civil wars and of the Commonwealth, died in December, 1653.
By his' last will, dated December 16," 1651, he bequeathed to his
nephews, George and Edward Chetham, the sum of £7000, to be
expended in the purchase of two estates of the yearly value of £420,
to be conveyed to twenty feoffees named in trust, for the purpose of
founding and endowing an hospital for maintaining, clothing, edu
cating, bringing up, and apprenticing or obtaining other preferment
for forty healthy boys, the sons of honest and industrious parents.

PAST AND PRESENT. 701

The boys were to be chosen from Manchester and the neighbourhood
in the following proportions: — Manchester, fourteen; Salford, six;
Doylesden, three; Crumpsall, two; Bolton, ten; and Turton, five.
These numbers were afterwards largely increased as the funds
increased. Humphrey Chetham further bequeathed the sum of £500,
to be applied to the purchase of a house or houses in which the boys
should five together, and expressed the wish that the buildings
known as " The College" might be purchased for that purpose. This
was ultimately done, and those premises have been used as the Blue
Coat Hospital and Library. A charter of incorporation was obtained
in the year 1665, in which the founder Humphrey Chetham is justly
described "as a person of eminent loyalty to his sovereign, of
exemplary piety to God, charity towards the poor, and good affection
to learning." The foUowing is a description of the towns of Manchester and
Salford at the time of the Commonwealth : —
" The people in and about the town are said to be in general the
most industrious in their callings of any in the northern parts of this
kingdom. The town is a mfie in length ; the streets are open and
clean kept, and the buildings good. There are four market-places,
two market-days weekly, and three fairs yearly. The trade is not
inferior to that of many cities in the kingdom, chiefly consisting in
wooUen friezes, fustians, sackcloths, mingled stuffs, caps, inkles, tapes,
points, &c. ; whereby not only the better sort of men are employed,
out also the very children of their own labour can maintain themselves.
There are besides all sorts of foreign merchandise bought and returned
by the merchants of the town, amounting to the sum of many
thousands of pounds weekly. There are in the town forty-eight
subsidy men, besides a great number of burgesses ; and four quarter-
sessions are held in it. The town is governed by a steward, a head-
borough, and two constables, with a deputy-constable, and several
inferior officers ; and great commendation is given to the regular and
orderly manner in which things are conducted. The parish is said
to be al least twenty-two miles in compass, within which are eight
chapels, said to contain twenty-seven thousand communicants.'"''
Liverpool from the Charter of King John, 1207, to the Restoration,
1660.— Liverpool owes its origin as a port to King John, whose
constant object it was to strengthen himself against the nobifity and
clergy, with whom he was in continual conflict, by increasing and
• From Note in Dr. Hibbert Ware's History of the Foundations in Manchester, vol. i. p. 302.

702 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
favouring the population of the boroughs. He also granted charters
very freely for the purpose of raising money, of which he was always
in urgent want. There was also in the case of Liverpool, as well as
of Preston and Lancaster, a strong wish on the part of the king to
form sea-ports on the north-west coast of England, whence he might
direct military operations against Ireland, which had been added to
the dominion of England in the reign of his father, Henry IL, but
in which country the English interest did not extend beyond the
limits of a few sea-ports, and the surrounding districts. For some
hundred years after the port of Liverpool was founded it had little
trade, except with Ireland, and from the unsettled state of that
country its trade was continually interrupted by political causes,
and never attained any great magnitude. The wonderful growth of
trade and commerce, which has made Liverpool the greatest port of
the United Kingdom, did not commence until after the planting of
America, about the middle of the seventeenth century. Up to that
time the population never exceeded more than from 2000 to 3000
inhabitants, aiid the trade was proportionately smaU. We shall pass
rapidly over the principal events of this period.
In the first deed in which Liverpool is mentioned, dated 1208,
being the ninth year of the reign of King John, the king confirmed
to Henry Fitz-Warine a grant of several manors which had been
made by his father to Warine de Lancaster, the father of Henry Fitz-
Warine ; but, at the same time, reserved to himself the manor of
Liverpool, which had been one of the manors originally granted to
Warine de Lancaster by King Henry IL, and substituted for it
another manor, named English Lea, situated in the neighbourhood
of Preston. By this arrangement King John became possessor of
the manor of Liverpool, which he immediately proceeded to form into
a borough and sea-port by the grant of extensive privileges.
There appear to have been very few inhabitants in the manor of
Liverpool at the time when it was purchased or re-purchased by
King John ; but he or his advisers perceived the advantages of the
position, especially as a place of intercourse with Ireland, and at once
proceeded to invite all persons who would, to establish themselves in
the new port or borough on the sea, which he had determined to
establish there. With this view he issued a proclamation offering to
aU persons, who would take burgages at Liverpool, aU the liberties
and free customs — the latter implied freedom from customs —
which were possessed by the free burgesses of any borough on the

PAST AND PRESENT. 703

sea, or sea-port, in his dominions. This invitation, which is regarded
as the first charter of Liverpool, is expressed in very few words, but
' is full of weight and meaning, and secured to the borough to which
it related an ample amount of municipal freedom. It is as foUows : —
Charter of King John to Liverpool. — " The king, to all who may be willing to take
burgages at the town of Liverpool, &c. Know ye, that we have granted to all who shall take
burgages at Liverpool that they shall have all liberties and free customs, in the town of
Liverpool, which any free borough on the sea hath in our land. And we therefore command
you that securely,^ and in our peace, you come there to receive and inhabit our burgages.
And in testimony hereof we send you these our letters patent. Witness, Simon de Pateshill.
At Winchester, the 28th day of August, in the ninth year of our reign; by Simon de Pateshill.''
Within a short time after the above invitation and promise of
liberties had been issued, about 180 burgages were taken by various
persons within the new borough of Liverpool. This would make
an adult male population of about the same number, or probably of
somewhat more, as the burgages were allowed to be divided. Adding
to this number of men the usual proportion of women and children,
with a few servants or dependents, there might thus be a popula
tion of from 1000 to 1200 persons in the borough. To some extent
this would be increased by the resort of strangers, chiefly from
Ireland, and by the presence of a small garrison. The castle of
Liverpool is also supposed to have been erected by King John. At
the same time extensive parks were formed in the neighbourhood
for the recreation of the king when he visited the castle, and of
the governors of the castle in his absence. These consisted of the
extensive park of Toxteth on the banks of the river Mersey, a place
beautifrfily situated, and in every way suited for the purposes of
recreation. This park, or the land on which it was formed, King
John purchased from the Molyneuxes of Sefton, and he increased it
by purchasing the adjoining township, or manor, of Smethom, called
Esmedune, in the Domesday survey, and by inclosing it in the same
haia, or inclosure, with Toxteth. About the same time two other
royal parks, or hunting grounds, were also formed by the king— viz.,
those of Croxteth and Symonswood. These parks continued to be
attached to the castle of Liverpool until the time of the Tudor kings
and queens, when they were disforested and sold.
Very soon after the castle of Liverpool had been bufit it was
garrisoned by the king, in the course of his wars with his barons,
and was victualled for a siege. That siege never took place, owing
to the sudden death of the king, which left the barons and their
leaders in possession of the kingdom, during the minority of the

704 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :

youthful King Henry III. But we have in the Pipe-roU of the
high sheriff of Lancaster, for the 16th John, an account of the money
expended in furnishing the garrison with the needful supplies. This
throws much light on the prices of different articles of food at that
time. At first these prices appear, most of them, to be very small,
240 quarters of wheat being charged at the rate of 3s. id. per quarter ;
120 quarters of barley at 2s. ; 300 quarters of oats at Is. ; eighty
cows at 4s. each; 130 sheep at Is. each ; 20,000 herrings at 3s. 2^d.
a thousand ; and sixty quarters of salt at 4s. the quarter. But when
due allowance is made for the circumstance that there was three
times as much silver in the coins of those days as there is in the
corresponding coins of modern times, and that silver was five times
as valuable before the discovery of the silver mines of Mexico and
Peru as it is now, the difference of prices was less than might have
been expected. Allowing for this difference, the price of the articles
suppfied to the garrison of Liverpool in the year 1216 was as foUows :
— Wheat, 46s. a quarter ; barley, 25s. a quarter ; oats, 15s. a quarter ;
cows, £3 each; sheep, 15s. each; and herrings, 30s. a thousand. The
price of salt was higher in proportion than that of any other article,
being £3 a quarter in the money of the present day.
On the death of King John the borough of Liverpool became
the property of his son and successor Henry III., but was managed
during his minority by the leaders of the barons, who formed a
regency of the kingdom. In the thirteenth year of Henry's reign
he had come into possession of all his rights and properties, and in
that year he granted a new charter to his burgesses of Liverpool,
confirming to them in detail aU the most important rights which
his father, King John, had engaged to give to such persons as should
take burgages in his borough of Liverpool. Amongst the rights
confirmed were those of a gufid merchant and a hanse, which implied
entire freedom of trading ; an exemption from customs and tolls,
both within their own borough, and aU other boroughs in the
kingdom; and also the right of trying prisoners for all offences
committed within the borough. Freedom was also given to all
merchants to come to the borough aforesaid with their merchandises,
of whatsoever places they may be, whether foreigners or others,
there to dweU in safety, and thence to depart in safety, rendering
the right and due custom.'""
On the same day on which King Henry III. granted the above
* See Charter of Henry III. in Appendix.

PAST AND PRESENT. 705

charter to the burgesses of Liverpool, he let to them the whole of
the royal rights within the borough, for a yearly rent of £10 of
the money of that time, equal in value to from £120 to £150 of the
money of the present time. At that time Liverpool was the smallest
and poorest of aU the free boroughs on the sea in the king's domi
nions. This" appears from a comparison of the amount of fee farm
rents paid by that borough and by the other sea-port towns. Turning
the amounts paid by the principal sea-ports into modern money, the
amount paid by the port of Lyme Begis was equal to £300 ; that
paid by Ipswich was equal to £500 ; by Chichester, to £600 ; by
Newcastle-on-Tyne, to £754 ; by Chester, to £1500 ; by Southampton,.
to £3000 ; by Bristol, to £3675 ; and by London, to £4500. In com
parison with these places the rent paid by Liverpool, which only
amounted to £10, in the money of those times, and to not more than
£150 in modern money, was very smaU ; and this disproportion con
tinued nearly to the time of Queen Elizabeth, and did not disappear
altogether until subsequent to the Restoration and to the colonizing
of America. For about 300 years after Liverpool was founded it had only five
or six streets — viz., Castle Street, Dale Street, Water Street, originally
called Bank Street, Jugelar Street, and Chapel Street. The oldest of
these was Castle Street, which extended along the brow of the hill on
which the castle was bufit, from the north side of the castle to the
High Cross. That stood at the point where Castle Street is now
intersected by the line of Dale Street and Water Street. There were
several other crosses in Liverpool, the principal being Red Cross and
White Cross, on what were then the borders of the town. The
markets and fairs were held around the High Cross, and all persons
attending them were free from arrest for debt and other civil offences
within certain limits around the High Cross, so long as they kept
within those limits, which were marked by large blocks of stone
sunk in the pavement, one of which is still to be seen in Castle
Street. The administration of criminal justice was in the town-
hall, which originally was a very smaU building in Castle Street,
though not on the site of the present town-hall. The chief magis
trate of the borough in early times was named the Bailiff, or rather
the Bailiffs, for there were two of them from a very early period. But
in the reign of Edward III. the corporation began to elect an officer,
to whom they gave the name of mayor, and from the thirtieth year
of the reign (1356) the chief officer of the corporation of Liverpool
VOL. I. 4 U

706 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
has borne the title of mayor. In early times the whole body of the
burgesses met in the Common Hall, to consult on all important affairs
affecting the interests of the borough ; but gradually the management
was transferred to a body representing the burgesses, which assumed
the name of the Common Council. This body differed in numbers at
different times, but finally settled at forty, which continued to be the
number of the common councfi for many years.
We have scarcely any trace of the existence of trade in Liverpool
previous to the Tudor times, though there must have been some
intercourse with Ireland and the coast of England and Wales, as the
burgesses possessed a number of small vessels, larger than, fishing
boats, which were continually taken up by. the government for the
purpose of conveying troops to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In
those times there was no royal navy ; and whenever vessels were
required for naval purposes, they and the men who worked them
were impressed in the different sea-ports of the kingdom, from
amongst the largest and strongest vessels which could be found.
Many such orders to supply men and ships were received at Liver
pool. In the ninth year of Edward III. (1336), Simon de Beltoft
and Henry de Kendall were ordered to provide, take, and arrest six
ships of war of the larger and stronger ships, "which may happen to
be found on the sea-coast towards the western parts, from the port
of the town of Liverpool, and within the same port, unto the port of
the town of Skymburnesse, at the mouth of the Solway, to wage war
against the Scots," who are described as " our enemies, and rebels,
who have risen against us in war, and endeavour to lead and draw
together by sea, men and arms and victuals from foreign parts, to
maintain the said war against us." Simon de Beltoft and Henry de
Kendall were ordered to cause the ships thus seized to be furnished
and prepared with mariners and other fit and strong men, well and
sufficiently armed, as also with victuals and other things necessary
for war, and to give bonds or other securities for payment of money
advanced for those purposes. A few years later the whole navy of
the land, competently armed, was ordered to assemble at Liverpool
and Chester to meet the king's son, Lionel, earl of Ulster and duke
of Clarence, who was proceeding to Ireland to wage war against " our
Irish enemies and rebels and others, who have in great manner
destroyed our faithful subjects of the land aforesaid, and have wasted
their lands and places, and cease not daily to commit such evil and
wicked acts, and in process of time much greater are dreaded to be

PAST AND PRESENT. 7Q7

done, unless their wickedness be soon restrained." In a subsequent
order, aU ships of burthen of twenty tons and upwards to two
hundred tons in the port of Bristol, and in all ports and places from
thence to the port of the town of Liverpool, are ordered to be
brought to the said port of Liverpool ; " so that they be there with
all despatch possible, ready and equipped for the passage of our
beloved and faithful William de Windsor, governor and guardian of
our realm of Ireland, and of the men-at-arms and others about to
depart on our service in the retinue of the said William, at his
wages and expenses, and there to remain for the preservation and
defence of our aforesaid realm, according to the order of the said
Wfifiam." The above are merely specimens of multitudes of orders
of the same kind, directing the collecting of ships and the despatch
ing of ships and men to Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, in almost
every reign, from that of King John to that of Charles I., when the
celebrated attempt to raise ship-money threw the whole kingdom
into commotion.
In the reign of Edward III., when the borough of Liverpool was
as prosperous as it ever was at any time during the first three hun
dred years of its existence, a valuation was made of all the royal
rights in the borough, and in the neighbouring parks and places. On
that occasion the jurors who made the inquiry reported that " there
is at Liverpool a certain castle, whose trench and herbage are of
the value of 2s. per year ; and that there is there a certain dove-cote
under the castle of the value of 6s. 8c?. ; and there is there a certain
borough, in which are divers free tenants holding in burgage and
paying yearly £8 8s. ; and there is there a certain market held on
Saturday, whose tolls are worth £10; and there is there a certain
ferry beyond or across the Mersey, which is worth 40s. ; and that
there is there a windmill of the value of 26s., and a water-mill of the
value of 24s. ; and that there is there a certain fair held on the day
of St. Martin, whose toll is of the value of 13s. 9d. ; and that there
is there a certain park, which is caUed Toxteth, whose herbage in
summer is of the value of £11." These sums make a total of
£35 0s. 5d. in the money of the reign of Edward III., equal to fifteen
times as much, or to £525 6s. 3c?. of money of this time. It will
be seen from the above returns that the number of burgages was
168, each burgage being let at Is. a year, and the whole producing
a rental of 168s. Another return, however, of the same reign,
giving the burgages at 164 and a fraction, slightly reduces the

708 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE :
number. After making allowance for the wives, children, and ser
vants of burgesses, as well as for burgesses themselves, the popu
lation of Liverpool, even in the reign of Edward III., wfil not much
exceed 1000 persons ; probably it might be something between that
and 1200.
Several grants of pavage, or of the right to raise money for the
purpose of paving the streets of Liverpool, were made in the reign
of Edward III., and of succeeding kings. This was then considered
to be a part of the royal prerogative, or at least was submitted
to as the most convenient method of obtaining money for those
purposes. In a pavage grant made in the second year of the reign
of Edward III. the honest men of the town of Liverpool were
authorized to take certain customs in aid of the paving of the said
town, for the three years following the date of the grant, at the end
of which three years the said customs were altogether to cease and
to be abolished. Amongst the tolls which were allowed to be col
lected for this purpose were — on every horse-load of grain, ^c?., equal
to about 3d. of our present money ; on every horse, mare, and cow
sold, \d., equal to about 6c?. modern money ; on every hide, \d. ; on
every twenty pigs, \d. ; on every hundred skins of sheep, lc?. ; on
every hundred skins of lambs, kids, hares, rabbits, foxes, cats, and
squirrels, \d. ; on every quarter of salt, \d. ; on every horse-load of
cloth, \d. ; on every whole piece of cloth of the value of 4s., \d. ; on
every hundred yards of worsted cloth, 2c?. ; on every hundred yards
of linen cloth, ^d. ; on every hundred yards of linen cloth, of Aylesham,
in Norfolk, which was then one of the principal manufacturing towns
in England, lc?., equal to Is. or Is. 3c?. ; on every cart-load of sea-fish,
4c?. ; on every salmon, £c?. ; on every horse-load of ashes, \d. ; on
every horse-load of honey, which then supplied the place with sugar,
lc?. ; on every sack of wool, that being then the most valuable of the
exports of the kingdom, 2c?. ; on every cart-load of bark, lc?. ; on
every cart-load of lead, lc?. ; on every cask of wine, 2c?. ; on every
chaldron of sea-coals, \d. ; on every cart-load of iron, lc?. ; on every
hundredweight avoirdupois, that is, of heavy goods not mentioned
above, \d. ; on every weigh of tallow, lc?. ; on every quarter of wool,
2c?. ; on every bale of cordovan leather, 3c?. ; on every hundred
weight of tin, brass, and copper, 2c?. ; on every truss of merchandise
exceeding the value of 10s., \d. ; and on every other article not
enumerated exceeding the value of 2s., \d. The above articles
constituted much the greater part of the merchandise that was

PAST AND PRESENT. 709

imported into and exported from the kingdom in the reign of
Edward III. Of the articles exported, English wool formed at least
five parts in six — the value of the wool exported in 1354 amounting
to £195,978 in a total of £212,338, the latter sum being equal in
modern money to £3,185,075. At that time the finest wools used
in the manufactures of Florence and the other great manufacturing'
cities of Italy, as weU as in those of Flanders, were produced on the
sheep pastures of England.
In the reign of Henry IV., that king empowered Sir John Stanley,
knight, one of the ablest and bravest of his supporters, and the
founder of the famfiy of the Stanleys of Lathom and Knowsley, from
which the earls of Derby are descended, to build a fortified house
within the borough of Liverpool. Sir John Stanley had recently
been appointed chief lord or king from the Isle of Man ; and it was to
enable him to communicate more easily with his new dominions that
this permission was granted to him. The house thus bufit was a
strongly fortified place, known for many ages by the name of the
tower, and had extensive gardens on the land side. It stood at the
bottom of what was then called Bank Street, now known as Water
Street, on the sea-shore, which at that time, before docks were built
or thought of, extended up to the churchyard and tower of the
Stanleys. A fragment of this tower, forming part of gateway, existed
as recently as the year 1819. The following is the patent which
authorized the building and the fortifying of the tower : —
" John de Stanley, Knight: the king, to aU to whom the present
letters shaU come, greeting. Know ye that, of our special grace, we
have granted and given license for us and our heirs, as much as in us
lies, to our dear and faithful knight, John de Stanley, steward of our
household, that he may embattle and fortify a certain house, which
he has lately constructed of stone and lime in the town of Liverpool,
and hold the same so embattled and fortified to him and to his heirs
for ever without impeachment or disturbance of us, or of our heirs, or
of our officers and ministers whomsoever. In testimony whereof, &c,
witness the king at Westminster, the 15th day of January. By writ
of Privy Seal."
It is not known at what time the first works for the improve
ment of navigation were constructed at Liverpool. A great
many grants were made by the crown, or rather permissions were
given by the crown, to the inhabitants of sea-ports to construct
quays and harbours. These were called keyage grants or " grants of

710 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE:

keyageum," and they seem to have included all works formed for the
improvement of ports and harbours. The funds with which the
works were constructed were raised by taxes on the trade of the
respective ports, much after the manner of the pavage grants
described above. No evidence exists of any such grant having
been made to- the port of Liverpool in old times, when what was
called the old haven was constructed. But we have very particular
information as to the manner in which the new haven was con
structed, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The following extract
from the Corporation Records describes the operation fully : —
" The New Haven.— Robert Corbett, mayor, 1561. — Sunday being the 9th November this
year, and next after the great wind and storms aforesaid, master mayor called the whole
town, as many as then were at home together, unto the hall, where they councilled all in one
consent and assent, for the foundation and making of a new haven, turning the fresh water
out of the old pole [pool] into the new haven ; and then and there before he rose, by the side
of the bench, of his free will, gave a pystal of gold towards the beginning, which that day was
good and current all England through for 5s. 10c?. ; although after, in few days, it was not so,
but by proclamation in London, by the Queen's Majesty, &c, was prohibited and not current,
&c. ; also, the same day, Mr. Sekerston did give, also all the rest of the congregation did give,
so that in the whole was gathered that present day the whole sum of 13s. 9d. current, &c,
and put into the custody of Richard Fazakarley and Robert Mosse, who were then appointed
to be collectors for that time, &c. On the Monday morning then next, Mr. Mayor, and, of
every house in the Water Street, one labourer went to the old pole, and there began to enter-
prize, digging, ditching, and busily labouring upon the foundation of the new haven ; and so
the Tuesday, of every house in the Castle Street was a labourer sent to the same work.
Wednesday then next after came forth of every house in the Dale Street to the said new
haven a labourer gratis. Thursday next after, the Juggler Street, with the More Street,
Mylne Street, Chapel Street, every house sending a labourer, and this order continued until
St. Nicholas day, then next after, gratis."— Corporation Records.
In the year 1565, the 7th Queen Elizabeth, a return was made of
the» householders and cottagers of the borough, when it was found
that they did not amount to more than 13 8. men; and after making a
liberal allowance of women and children, and lodgers, this does not
represent a population of more than 1000 persons. The number of
vessels at that time belonging to Liverpool was fifteen ; their tonnage
268 tons ; and the number of men and boys who worked them was
eighty. There are particulars of the trade of Liverpool in the year
1586, the 28th of Elizabeth, from which it appears that the whole
trade of Liverpool at that time was confined to Ireland ; that the
whole number of vessels that entered and left the port in three
months of that year was twenty-seven. The articles which they
imported were Irish yarn for the use of the Manchester manufacturers
of linen cloth ; sheep and deer skins, tanned hides, salted hides, and
tallow. The articles exported were Yorkshire broad cloths and

PAST AND PRESENT. 71 1

narrow cloths, Manchester cottons, alum, madder, hops, small wares,
coals, Manchester checks, wheat, barley, oat malt, fustian, Chester
cups and trenchers, gloves, Kendall and Manchester cottons, HaUam-
shire (Sheffield) knives, coarse stockings, sail-cloth, and blankets.
This is the beginning of a trade which in modern times has grown to
an immense magnitude, having extended from the ports of Ireland to
the whole world.
It was not untU the earlier part of the seventeenth century that
the port of Liverpool began to increase in trade and population; and
even so late as the year 1635, Humphrey Chetham, who was then
high sheriff of Lancashire, described Liverpool as poor and gone a
begging, stated that it ought to pay very little towards ship-money
on account of its poverty, and let it off with a payment of £25 as its
share of a contribution of £3600 towards ship-money, raised in the
counties of Lancaster and Chester. Yet some small progress had
been made during that period, as it appears that the number of
burgesses in the year 1620, the 18th James I., had increased to
245. Liverpool suffered greatly during the civil wars, having been
besieged three times and twice taken by storm— once by the parfia
mentary forces under General Assheton, and a second time by the
royalists under Prince Rupert. In the latter years of the Common
wealth there was some improvement, but the great progress of the
port does not commence until the opening of the trade with America,
about the time of the Restoration.
The other Lancashire Boroughs. — None of the Lancashire boroughs
except Lancaster, Preston, Manchester, Wigan, Cfitheroe, and Liver
pool, had attained a commercial or trading position at the time of the
Restoration which renders it desirable to give a separate notice of
them in this chapter. We shall give full accounts of the origin
and progress of all, in a subsequent part of this work.
Distribution of Property in the reign of Charles I. — There have
been preserved, in the papers of the celebrated Humphrey Chetham,
who was high sheriff of Lancashire at the time when ship-money was
imposed bv the government of Charles I., accounts of various sums of
money raised in the two counties for that purpose. The first was a
comparatively smaU sum, and was raised in the following propor
tions : — County of Chester, £300 ; city of Chester, £100 ; county of
Lancaster, £475 ; borough of Lancaster, £8 ; borough of Liverpool, £15.
In the following year a sum of between £3000 and £4000 was raised
in the county of Lancaster alone, to which the different hundreds and

712 LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE .
parliamentary boroughs were made to contribute in the foUowing pro
portions: — Hundred of West Derby, £757; Salford, £490; Leyland,
£315; Blackburn, £622; Amounderness, £625; and Lonsdale, £530.
This was independent of the parliamentary boroughs of Lancashire,
which were taxed as follows: — Lancaster, £30 ; Preston, £40;
Wigan, £50; Liverpool, £25; Clitheroe, £7 10s; and Newton, £7 10s.
These assessments of the Lancashire hundreds were made accord
ing to a long recognized scale of taxation; but in the case of the
boroughs there was a meeting of the mayors of the different towns,
and an inquiry as to the amount which each borough ought in fairness
to pay. It wfil be seen from these figures how small the resources
of the two counties were, down to the middle of the Stewart period.
At this period, and amidst the excitement of the Commonwealth, the
ancient history of Lancashire and Cheshire ends, and the modern
history of the two counties commences.

END OF VOL. I.

1MUNTED BY WILLIAM MACKENZIE, 45 & 47 HOWARD STKEET, GLASGOW.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Dfscription of the North-western Division of England, consisting of the Counties of Lancaster
and Chester.

The Object of this Work — to trace the Rise and Progress paoe
of Society in the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and
Chester, ........ 1
Introductory Sketch, ....... 2
Position of Lancashire and Cheshire on the North-western
Coast of England, .  8
Approaches to the Coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire
from the Atlantic, by the North and South Passages.
The Tides and prevailing Winds of the Channel and
the Ocean ; the Bays, Estuaries, and Harbours of Lan
cashire and Cheshire : — Morecambe Bay ; the Estuaries
of the Duddon, the Leven, and the Kent ; and the
Harbour of the Pile of Fouldry — Lancaster Bay; the
Estuary of the Lune; and the Port of Lancaster — the
Estuary of the Wyre ; and the Port and Harbour of
Fleetwood — the Coast of North Lancashire, and the
Watering-place of Blackpool ; the Estuary of the Kibble ;
the'Port and Harbour of Preston ; and the Watering-
place of Lytham — the Coast of South Lancashire, and
the Watering-places of Southport and Waterloo —
Liverpool Bay ; the Estnary of the Mersey ; the Port
and Harbour of Liverpool and Birkenhead; and the
Harbours of Garston, Widness, Runcorn, and Frodsham ;
Ellesmere Port; and the Ferries of the Mersey — the
Sea-coast of Cheshire, and the Watering-places of New
Brighton and Hoylake ; the Estuary of the Dee ; and
the Ancient Port and City of Chester, ... 9
The Fisheries on the Coasts of the two Counties, . . 25
The Soil, Climate, Vegetable and Animal Products of
-Lancashire and Cheshire : —The Alluvial Plain along
the Coast of Lancashire, from the Lune to the Mersey,
and its Soil and Products— the New Red Sandstone
Plain and Hills, extending from Lower Furness to the
Southern border of Cheshire — the Soil of the Coal-fields
of Lancashire and Cheshire — the Limestone Soils in
the Valleys of the Ribble and the Lnne, and around
Morecambe Bay — the Soils on the Hills of the Millstone-
grit Formation — the Soils on the Silurian Rocks of
Higher Furness. Description of the Mountain Ridges
bounding Lancashire on the North and East, and
Cheshire on the East,  30
The Climate of Lancashire and Cheshire, in Summer
and Winter,  . . 58
The Vegetable Products of the two Counties: — the
Grasses; Grain Crops; Root Crops; Garden Produce;
Shrubs and Forest Trees,  62
The Animal Products : — The Breeds of Animals, including
Cattle, Sheep, Horses,. and Swine, with Poultry and
Game. Account of the Ravages of the Rinder-Pest or
Cattle Plague,  69
The Rivers, Streams, Lakes, Rainfall, and Water-power
of the two Counties:— The River Duddon, its course,
and the valley which it drains — Coniston Water, and
the River Crake— the River Brathay — Windermere
Lake, and the River Leven — the River Kent — the
Keer — the River Lune, its course, and the valley which
it drains; its Salmon fishery ; and ita tributaries, the
vor.. i.

Wenning, the Greta, the Roeburn, the Hindburn, with paoe
Leek and Artie Becks— the River Wyre, with its
Water-shed, and its tributaries, the Grisedale, the Calder
(the first of three rivers of that name found in Lan
cashire), and the Brock — the Ribble with its Water
shed, its Salmon fishery, and its tributaries, the Hodder,
Langden, and Loud, on the North ; and the Rivers
Calder, Brun, Don, Colne Water, Pendle, and other
brooks, the Darwen, the Roddlesworth, the Douglas,
the Yarrow, the Lostock, and the Tawd, on the South —
the River Calder, the third river of that name rising in
Lancashire, and the only Lancashire stream flowing
into the German Ocean — the River Mersey, with its
two great tributaries, the Irwell and Weaver, and the
Water-shed of their valleys ; the River Mersey ; the Main
stream of the Mersey, from the junction of the Etherow
and the Goyt, to the Tide-water near Warrington.
The Streams that enter the Mersey on the North, or
Lancashire side : — The River Tame — The River Irwell,
from its springs in Rossendale Forest to its junction
with the Mersey — the River Medlock — the River Irk —
the River Roch — the Rivers Tonge and Croal — Eagle
Brook, Bradshaw Brook, the Rossendale Brook, Glaze
Brook, Sankey Brook, Ditton Brook, and the River
Alt. The Streams that enter the Mersey on the Sonth,
or Cheshire side : — The River Bollin — the River Weaver,
with the Dane, the Wheelock, and many smaller Streams
— the River Gowy — the River Birket — the River Dee,
from Bala Lake to the Sea. The tributaries of tbe Dee,
from the North and West; from the South and East, 80
The Mineral Wealth of Lancashire and Cheshire. The
Coal-field of Lancashire and Cheshire : its extent, rich
ness, and value for industrial purposes — The Upper or
Manchester Coal-field — the Middle or principal Coal
field — the Lower or most Ancient Coal-field — Total
Thickness of the Three Divisions. The Origin and
Mode of Production of the Lancashire Coal-field.
Natural Sections of the Coal-field on the banks of the
Irwell, the Etherow, the Goyt, Poynton Brook, the
Tame, and the Medlock. The Strata and Seams of
Coal in the Upper Coal-field, near Manchester. The
Strata and Seams of Coal in the Middle Coal-field, near
Manchester, Dukinfield, Ashton, Oldham, St. Helen's,
and Wigan. The Strata and Seams of Coal in the
Lower Coal-field, near Chorley, Bacup, Burnley, Roch
dale, New Mills, and Macclesfield, ... 106
The Salt-field of Cheshire:— Its extent and richness,
and the value of its Produce for Manufactures, Com
merce, and Domestic nse. Descripton of the Valleys
of the Weaver, the Dane, and the Wheelock. The
Produce of the different Salt districts ; the Working
of Salt Mines and Brine Pits; Opinions as to the
Origin of the Cheshire and other Salt-fields, &c, . 139
The Iron Mines of Lancashire. Extensive Deposits of
Iron Ore in South Lancashire, in the Coal Measures.
Great Richness and Value of the Haematite Iron Ores
of Furness, North Lancashire,  155
4x

714

CONTENTS.

Copper Ores of Coniston, Higher Furness ; and of Alderley
Edge, Cheshire,  158
Sand for Glass Furnaces ; and Moulding, . . .159
The Brick-clay of Lancashire and Cheshire : — Its exten
sive use for Building purposes and Tile Draining;
value of House, Warehouse, and Mill Property, . . 160
The Rocks and Stones of Lancashire and Cheshire: —
Red and White Sandstones ; the Magnesian Limestones
of Ardwick, Bedford, Bispham, and Lower Furness :
Their Composition and Uses — Limestones, Millstone-
Grit, Slates and Rocks of the Silurian formations.
Comparative hardness and power of resisting pressure
of the different kinds of stone and rocks forming the
framework and foundation of the two Counties, and
used in the construction of public buildings, . . 162
Natural Products of the different Districts of Lancashire
and Cheshire, and their influence on the Population,
Industry, and Wealth of each, .... 169
The County of Lancaster — Natural Products, Wealth, and
Population of the different Districts : — Ulverstone and
Higher and Lower Furness; Lancaster, or Lonsdale
south of the Sands, and Borough of Lancaster ; Hun

dred of Amounderness — Districts of Garstang, Fylde,
and Preston, and Borough of Preston ; the Hundred of
Blackburn — the Districts of Clitheroe, Burnley, and
Borough ; Blackburn and Borough ; Haslingden and
the Towns of Haslingden, Bacup, and Accrington ;
Leyland Hundred and Chorley District , Salford
Hundred — Districts of Bolton and Borough; Bury
and Borough ; Rochdale and Borough ; Oldham and
Borough ; Ashton-under-Lyne and Borough ; the City
and District of Manchester and District of Chorlton ;
Salford and Borough ; Barton on Irwell ; Leigh ; the
Hundred of West Derby — Warrington and Borough ;
Wigan and Borough ; the Districts of Ormskirk,
Prescot, St. Helens, and West Derby ; and the Port
and Borough of Liverpool, . . . . .170
The County of Chester ; the Districts of Stockport and
Borough ; Macclesfield and Borough ; Congleton and
Town ; Nantwich and the Towns of Crewe and Nant
wich ; Northwich and the Town ; Altringham ; Chester
and the City ; Runcorn and the Town ; Wirral and the
Borough and Port of Birkenhead, .... 199
Property and Income of Lancashire and Cheshire, . . 206

CHAPTER II.
Lancashire and Cheshire under the Romans, Saxons, and Danes.

Discovery of Britain by the Merchants and Seamen of
Tyre and Carthage, . . ... 207
Commerce of the People of Massilia, or Marseilles, with
Britain in early times, ...... 208
The First Roman Expeditions to Britain by Julius Caesar, 209
Strabo's Account of Britain, .... 210
The Invasion and Conquest of the Southern part of
Britain by the Romans, ...... 212
The Insurrection of the Britons under Queen Boadicea, . 216
Conquest of the Cornavii and the Brigantes, the British
Tribes inhabiting the districts forming the present
Counties of Lancaster and Chester, by Julius Agricola, 219
Ptolemy's Account of the Country of the Cornavii and
the Brigantes,  222
The Roman Roads in Lancashire and Cheshire, . . 227
The great Roman Road from the Coast of Kent, through
London, to Chester (Deva), Manchester (Mamucium),
York (Eboracum), and the Roman Wall, . . 228
The Roman Roads from Chester, .... 229
The Roman Road from Middlewich to Manchester, and
from- Manchester to the Wall, ..... 232
The Roman Road from Northwich, through Warrington,
Preston, and Lancaster, .... . 235
The Roman Road from the River Wyre and the Fylde,
by Preston, Ribchester, and Olicana, to York, and the
Humber,  238
The Roman Road from Manchester to Wigan, . . 241
The Roman Road through the district of Furness, . . 241
The Cities, Towns, and Stations of the Romans in the
present Lancashire and Cheshire, .... 241
The Roman City of Deva or Devana, now Chester ; the
Walls, the Streets, the Rows, and the numerous Baths
Mosaic Pavements, Antiquities, Altars, and Coins,
belonging to the Roman period, found at Chester, '. 242
The Agriculture, Mines, Trade, and Commerce of the
Romans,  256
The Roman Stations at Northwich and at Kinderton, or
Condate,  262
Meeting of the Roman Roads at Condate, . . . 263
The Roman Mamncium, or Mancunium, now Manchester ;
Advantageous Position of the Roman Station; the
Garrison chiefly composed of Frisian Auxiliary Troops ;
Account of the numerous Remains of Roman Antiquity
found at Manchester, . . . . . .264
Roman Station on the Douglas, near Wigan, . . 271
The great Roman and British Station of Ribodunum, or

Ribchester ; Richness and Abundance of Roman Re
mains found at Ribchester, and at other points on the
River Ribble, .... . 271
The Roman Alauna, or Longovico, now Lancaster ; Account
of the Remains of the Ancient Walls, Buildings, and
other objects of Roman Antiquity, .... 277
The Roman Station of Bremetonaca?, now Burrow or
Overburrow, on the River Lune, .... 283
Decline and Fall of Roman Power in Britain, and Depar
ture of the Roman Legions,  284
The Angles and Saxons in Lancashire
and Cheshire.
Condition of the North-western Division of England after
the Departure of the Romans, .... 287
Account of the Saxons or Anglo-Saxons, and of their
Origin, Places of Abode, and Naval Expeditions, . 287
Great Migrations of the German and Gothic Races, in
consequence of the irruption of the Huns into Germany, 292
Battles between the Saxons and the Britons on the
Banks of the River Douglas,  293
Formation of the Anglian or Saxon Kingdom of North
umberland, extending southward to the Humber and
the Mersey, . . . . . . 294
Formation' of the Anglian or Saxon Kingdom of Mercia,
extending northward from the Thames and the Severn
to the Humber and the Mersey, . . . .294
Manners and Habits of the Anglian and Saxon Tribes,
and their gradual spread over the whole of England, 294
Advance of Ethelfrid, the Anglian or Saxon King of
¦Northumberland, to the City of Chester, and Battle
with the Britons,  295
Introduction of Christianity among the Angles and
Saxons by Augustine and Paulinus, and Disputes with
the British Christians,  296
Edwin, the First Christian King of Northumberland,
Conquers the Mevanian Islands, or Anglesea and Man,
and is conquered by Penda, Pagan King of Mercia, . 299
Oswald, son of Ethelfrid, restores the Independence of
the Kingdom of Northumberland, and the Profession of
the Christian Religion ; but is ultimately Defeated and
Killed by Penda, at Maserfield, supposed to be Maker-
field, near Winwick and Warrington, in Lancashire, . 301
Oswy, the Brother of Oswald, Defeats and Kills Penda
at Wynweide,  303

CONTENTS.

715

Introduction of Christianity into the Kingdom of Mercia,
and Establishment of the Bishopric of Lichfield, whose
Jurisdiction extended over great part of the Midland
and North-western Districts of England, .
Growth of the Christian and Saxon Kingdom of Mercia,
Chester taken by Offa, King of Mercia,
St. Werburga, her Fame and Shrine at Chester, .
Agriculture the chief pursuit of the Anglo-Saxons,
Numerous Vills, or Villages, built by them in Lancashire
and Cheshire, .......
The Danes and Northmen,
Their extensive Conquests and Settlements in Lanca
shire, Cheshire, and all the Northern and Eastern
Counties of England, ......
Towns and Villages founded and peopled by thein, .
The River Mersey becomes the boundary between the
Danish Kingdom of Northumberland and the Saxon
Kingdom of Mercia, ......
England divided between the Saxons and the Danes, by
Treaty between Alfred the Great and Guthorm, King
of the Danes, ....
Watling Street, the Boundary Line of tho two Kingdoms,
nearly from London to Chester, ....
The Treaty kept during the Life of Guthorm,
Hasten, a Northern Danish Sea-king, invades England
after the death of Guthorm, .....
Campaigns and Numerous Battles between the Annies of
, Alfred and Hasten, 
Chester taken by the Danes, but recovered by Alfred
the Great, . .  311
Hasten driven out of England with great loss, . .312
Alfred Builds a Fleet, the Commencement of the British
Navy,  313

305305 305
305 305305306

306306

308

310

310310

310

310

Death of Alfred the Great, followed by a General Rising of
the Northern Danes, ... . .
Edward the Elder, the son of Alfred the Great, Defeats
the Northumbrian Danes, . ...
Memory of the Danish Chiefs, Agmund, Orine, and Gaer,
still preserved in names of Lancashire Hundreds and
Towns, ........
Line of Fortresses from Chester to Manchester founded by
Edward the Elder and Ethelfleda, the Queen of Mercia,
England again Invaded by an immense army of Danes
and other nations, commanded by Anlaf, the Danish
Chief of Dublin, who are defeated with great loss at
Brunenburh by King Athelstane and Edmund Atheling,
the grandsons of Alfred the Great, .
Disputed position of Brunenburh,
Authority of Athelstane and his immediate successors
established over the whole of England, . ' .
Cheshire, and the Country between the Ribble and the
Mersey, Governed by the Saxon Earls of Mercia, some
of whom took the title of Earls of Chester,
King Edgar at Chester received Homage of the Kings
of the Western Isles and Seas, ....
Death of Edgar followed by Internal Confusion and the
loss of the Navy constructed by Alfred, Athelstane,
and Edgar, 
The Danes, under their Kings Sweyn and Canute,
again invade England, ......
Feeble Rule of Edward the Confessor, .
The Crown assumed by Harold on his death,
England claimed by William the Conqueror, as Heir to the
Throne, under the Will of Edward tile Confessor,
Battle of Hastings (a.d. 1066) and Overthrow of the
Saxon Kings, 

PAGE 313313
313313

315316 316 317 318318 319319319319319

CHAPTER III.
Lancashire and Cheshire from the Norman Conquest to the Revolution of 1688.

Creation of the Norman Earldom of Chester, . .321
Hugh Lupus made Earl of Chester by William the Con
queror, ..... • •
Cheshire made a County Palatine,
Richard, the Second Earl of Chester, drowned at sea, on
his return from Normandy, . . . • •
Randle.or Ranulf first, surnamed De Meschines, succeeds
to the Earldom of Chester, . •
Randle, or Ranulf, the'next Earl of Chester, named De
Gernons or De Briscard, . . . • •
Extensive Grants made to this Earl by King Stephen,
and afterwards by Henry IL, the first King of the
Plantagenet line, . . . . . ¦
Hugh Keveilioc succeeds to the Earldom of Chester,
Ranulf De Blundeville becomes Earl of Chester, and holds
the Earldom for Fifty-one years ; the land between
the Mersey and the Ribble granted to him by King
Henry III. ; his extensive Purchases of lands in Lanca
shire; and his Death in the year 1233, .
John, the Scot, the nephew of Earl Ranulf de Blunde
ville, succeeds to the Earldom of Chester, but dies in
the year 1238, 
The Earldom of Chester United to the Crown, by King
Henry III., and given to his son, Puince Edward,
afterwards King Edward I., ¦ • • • . ¦
Account of the Estates of the Earldom of Chester, in
the reign of Edward I., 
History of the Honour, Earldom, and Duchy of Lancaster,
The Honour of Lancaster, and other great estates,
given by William the Conqueror to Earl Roger de
Montgomery, known as Roger Pictavensis,
Account of the Family of the De Montgomerys, .
The Estates of Earl Roger Pictavensis forfeited to the
Crown, ..•••¦•¦
The Estates of Earl Roger restored by William Rufus, .

322 322

325

326

326

327 328

329

331

332
332 336

336 336 337 338

The Estates of Earl Roger Pictavensis again forfeited, .
The Honour of Lancaster, with the other Possessions
of Roger Pictavensis, and the Estates of his brother-
in-law, the Earl of Morton, or Mortaigne, given to
Stephen, Earl of Morton and Boulogne, by his uncle
Henry I., 
Earl Stephen founds the Abbey of St. Mary pf Furness,
in North Lancashire, 
Stephen seizes the Crown, on the death of King Henry
I. as the nearest male heir of the King, .
Long War between the Supporters of Stephen and of
Matilda, daughter of Henry I., ....
William de Blois, Earl of Morton, succeeds to the Honour
of Lancaster and the other private Estates of Stephen,
The Honour of Lancaster passes to King Henry IL, on
the death of William de Blois, .
The Honour of Lancaster, with all tbe Estates of the
Earls of Morton, granted to Prince John, on the
accession of his brother Richard I. to the Throne; hut
forfeited by his Treason, 
Fines imposed by Richard I. on the Supporters of Prince
John in Lancashire, . - • • •
King John succeeds to the Throne, . . . •
Grants Charters to Knights and Thanes of Lancashire to
Kill Game in their own Woods, . . - •
King John acquires the Manor of Liverpool, and offers
all the Rights possessed by the inhabitants of any free
Borough on the Sea, to those taking Burgages there, .
The Honour of Lancaster passes to King Henry III., on
the Death of his father King John, . • •
Henry III. Grants all his Lands between tbe Ribble and
the Mersey to Ranulf de Blundeville, Earl of Chester,
Amounts Paid in Tallage or Tax in the reign of Henry
III. by the boroughs of Lancaster, Liverpool Preston,
Salford, &c , 

339

339340 340 340 341 341

342 344 346346

347 347 348

351

716

CONTENTS.

On the Death of Ranulf de Blundeville, Earl of Chester,
his Lancashire and Staffordshire Estates granted to
Agnes de Ferrers, his sister, and to William de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby, the husband of Agr.ei, . . . 351
On the Death of William and Agnes de Ferrers, Earl and
Countess of Derby, in the year 1247, their Estates
between the Ribble and the Mersey descend to their
son William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, . . . 352
The King grants the right of Free Warren to William de
Ferrers, Earl of Derby, on his Demesnes in Liverpool,
West Derby, Salford, Bolton, Chorley, . . .353
King Henry III. grants to the same Earl the right to
hold a Market and Fair at Bolton, and to the Bishop
of Coventry and Lichfield the right to hold a Market
and Fair at Heywood,  354
Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, a boy eleven years of
age, succeeds his father, . . ... . 355
Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, joins in the insurrection
commenced by Simon de Montfort and the other Barons;
is Defeated by the King's forces, and Forfeits the
whole of his Lancashire Estates, .... 356
King Henry III. confers the forfeited Estates of Robert de
Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and Simon de Montfort, Earl
of Leicester, on his own younger son Edmund Plan
tagenet, whom he soon after creates Earl of Lancaster;
commencement of the power and wealth of the House
of Lancaster, . . . . . . ' 357
Edmund, the First Earl of Lancaster, of the Plantagenet
Family, dies at Bayonne, . . . . . 359
Thomas, the Second Earl of Lancaster, succeeds his father,
and adds greatly to the Wealth of the House of
Lancaster by marrying Alicia de Lacey, the only child
and sole heir of Henry de Lacey, Constable of Chester
and Earl of Lincoln, ... . . 359
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, engages in rebellion against his
cousin Edward II., is defeated, tried, and executed in
his own Castle, at Pontefract, Yorkshire, . . . 359
Henry Plantagenet, the younger brother of Earl Thomas.
recovers all the honours and estates of the family, . 363
Henry, the son of the above Earl Henry of Lancaster,
raised to the rank of Earl of Derby during his father's
1'fe  .365
Henry, Earl of Lancaster, raised to the rank of Duke of
Lancaster by King Henry III., with Palatine Rights in
the County of Lancaster, " given as freely and as fully
as the Earl of Chester, within the said County of
Chester, is known to have."  366
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, dies in the year 1361, and
the whole of his estates pass to his daughter Lady

Blanche Plantagenet, the wife of John of Gaunt,
Earl of Richmond, .... . 367
Henry of Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt, succeeds
his father, John of Gaunt, but is banished from the
kingdom by the youthful Richard II. Returns from
banishment, seizes the Crown, and is acknowledged
King by Parliament, with the title of Henry IV., . 369
Sir John Stanley of Lathom, commander of the forces
in Ireland, recognizes Henry IV. in that country, and
supports him in the great insurrection of the Percys of
Northumberland ; receives the Kingdom of Man for his
services, .  371
The estates of the Duchy of Lancaster formed into a
separate estate from the Crown lands, and held by a
distinct title, ....... 372
Duchy of Lancaster and Earldom of Chester held by
King Henry V,  ". 372
Duchy of Lancaster held by Henry VL, . . . 373
Commencement of the wars of York and Lancaster, . 373
Great influence of the Stanleys ; their connection with
the Houses of York and Neville, . . . 375
March of the Yorkist army through Lancashire and
Cheshire, to join the Mortimers on the borders of Wales, 376
Visit of Queen Margaret and the young Earl of Chester
to the city of Chester, ...... 377
Great victory of the Yorkist army at Drayton, on the
borders of Cheshire and Shropshire, . . . 377
Heavy losses amongst the gentry of the two counties in
that battle,  378
V ictory of the Lancastrian army at Wakefield, and death
of Richard, Duke of York  378
Decisive victory of the Yorkist party at the battle of
Towton, and , accession of King Edward IV. to the
throne, . . . . . . . 378
The Duchy of Lancaster and all its possessions settled on
the House of York, .... . 379
Large grants from the Duchy made to Richard, Duke of
Gloucester, the brother of King Edward IV., . . 380
Usurpation of the throne, and murder of the young
Princes by Richard, ...... 381
Landing of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, at Milford
Haven, and advance into England, .... 381
Joined by Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley, with
the forces of Lancashire, Cheshire, and North Wales, . 381
The Victory of Bosworth- field decided by the advance of
Lord Stanley, ....... 382
Henry crowned King, as Henry VII., by Lord Stanley,
who is himself raised by the new king to the rank of
Earl of Derby  382

CHAPTER IV.
Lancashire and Cheshire under the House of Tudor.

The Claims of the Houses of Lancaster and York to the
throne of England, combined by the marriage of Henry
Tudor with Elizabeth Plantagenet, . " .
Attempts to raise insurrections, . ....
Landing of Lambert Simnel, the pretended Earl of War
wick, in North Lancashire, .....
Lord Strange, the son of Thomas, the first Earl of Derby,
joins the army of King Henry VII., ....
Defeat of the army of Lambert Simnel, at Stokefield,
near Newark, . . . .
The estates of Sir Thomas Broughton of Furness, given
to the Earl of Derby, 
Landing of the second Pretender, Perkin Warbeck,
claiming to be Richard, Duke of York, in the south of
England,  .
Sir William Stanley, the brother of the first Earl of Derby,
tried for High Treason, and found guilty, for saying,
that " If he was sure that Perkin Warbeck was King
Edward's son, he would never bear arms against hiin,"

383383

384

385

385

385

385

386

Execution of Sir William Stanley and seizing of his castle
of Holt, and his great wealth and estates, by the king,
Visit of King Henry VII. to Cheshire and Lancashire in
the year 1496. His progress through the two counties,
and his visits to Chester, Knowsley, Lathom House,
Warrington, Manchester, and Macclesfield,
Raising of two reasonable aids throughout the kingdom,
producing £40,000, of which Lancashire contributes
£317 2s. 3*<£, 
Accession of Henry VIII. to the Throne, .
Invasion of England by James IV., King of Scotland, .
Total defeat of James' army at the battle of Flodden-field,
Sir Edward Stanley raised to the rank of Lord Monteagle
for his great services in that battle,
Quarrel of Henry VIII. with the Pope,
Suppression of Monasteries. Sketch of the religious houses
suppressed in the counties of Lancaster and Chester, .
Insurrection of Roman Catholics in the North of England,
known as " the Pilgrimage of Grace,"

387

387

388389

389389

390

394

CONTENTS.

717

The insurrection suppressed in Lancashire by Edward,
the third Earl of Derby, ..." . 394
Wars with Scotland in 1544 and 1547. Desperate battle
of Musselburgh, ... ... 395
Conflicts of religion in the reign of Queen Mary. Lanca
shire and Cheshire martyrs put to death in the Marian
persecution, ...... . 397
Muster of Lancashire Forces in the year 1553, . 398
Accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, 399
Military musters in the year 1560, .... 401
Insurrection of the Roman Catholics, known as "the
Rising of the North," under the command of Percy,

Earl of Northumberland, and Nevill, Earl of Westmore
land ; defeated and checked in Lancashire by the Earl
of Derby and Lord Monteagle, .... 402
Great military musters in Lancashire and Cheshire, 406
Preparations to invade England by Philip II., of Spain, 406
Account of the fitting out of the Spanish Armada, for
warded to the English Government by Humfray
Brooke, Merchant of Liverpool, .... 407
Number of armed and able Men in Lancashire and Cheshire, 409
Defeat of the Spanish Armada, . . . .411
Expected Landing in North Lancashire, . . .412
Close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, . . . 413

CHAPTER V.
Lancashire and Cheshire under the House of Stuart.

Accession of James I. to the Throne of England, . .414
Lancashire and Cheshire Gentlemen knighted by James I.
Religious discords prevalent in the two Counties, . 417
Original Account of the Discovery of the Gunpowder
Plot  . ... 419
Increased Persecution of the Roman Catholics, . . 421
Order to Disarm all Recusants not attending the Service
of the Church,  422
Apprehension and Prosecution of the Pendle Forest and
the Samlesbury Witches, .... 423
Trial and Execution of the Pendle Forest Witches, . 428
King James' Progress through Lancashire in the year
1617 ; his Visits to Hornby castle, Lancaster, Myers
cough, Preston, Houghton tower, Lathom house, Bewsey
hall, Warrington, Halton, Chester, and Nantwich, . 431
James' Rebuke to the Puritans of Lancashire, and the
issuing of " The Book of Sports," . . . 435
Sale of the Royal Estates and those of the Duchy of
Lancaster by James and Charles I., ... 436

The Raising of Ship-money in Lancashire and Cheshire, 437
List of Justices of the Peace for the County of Lancaster
in the year 1636,  438
General Rising in Scotland against the Measures of Arch
bishop Laud and other advisers of King. Charles, . 440
Letter of the King to William, the sixth Earl of Derby,
and to his son James, Lord Strange, ordering them to
raise the Military Force of Lancashire and Cheshire, . 441
Letter of James, Lord Strange, to William Ffarington,
Esq., requiring him to raise Forces in the Hundred of
Leyland, . . .... 443
Similar Request to Sir George Gerard, of Halsall, to raise
Forces in the Hundred of West Derby, . . . 444
Similar Request to Sir Cecil Trafford, of Trafford, with
regard to the Military Forces of the Salford Hundred, 445
Purchase of Arms and Gunpowder by Lord Strange, by
order of the King, ........ 446
Meeting of Royalists at Wigan, and arming of the Forces
of the two Counties,  449

CHAPTER VI.
The Great Civil War.

The King leaves London, and the Royalist and Parlia
mentary Parties both prepare for War, . .451
Both Parties take Arms in different parts of the two
Counties, ........ 457
James, Lord Strange, 'the representative of his Father,
the Lord Lieutenant, and of the King, Collects a Large
Force and Seizes on the Arms and Ammunition of the
County at Lancaster, Preston, Chorley, and Liverpool, 457
The Parliamentary Party obtain possession of the Arms
and Ammunition of the County at Manchester and
Blackburn, .  457
Attempt of James, Lord Strange, to obtain Possession of
the Arms and Ammunition of the County at Man
chester, resisted by Sir Thomas Stanley, Bart., of
Bickerstaffe ; Sir George Booth, Bart, of Dunham
Massey ; Robert Holland, of Heaton ; Ralph Assheton,
Esq., Middleton, and other Parliamentary deputy-
lieutenants, and by the whole of the trained bands of
the Salford Hundred,  458
The First Siege of Manchester, being the Commencement
of the Great Civil War,  458
Lord Strange compelled to Retire from before Manchester, 462
Lord Strange raises a larger Army and Advances on
Manchester, . . .... 463
James, Lord Strange, becomes the seventh Earl of Derby
by the Death of his Father, Earl William ; Summons
Manchester to Surrender, and Commences the Second
Siege ; all his attacks are repulsed, and he is again
compelled to Retire, ...... 465

Parliament passes a Vote of Thanks to the Inhabitants of
the Town of Manchester, " for their valiant resisting of
the late Lord Strange, and now Earl of Derby, and to
Encourage them in their valour which they have
showed for their own Defence," .... 467
James, Earl of Derby, and the Lancashire Royalists are
Ordered to join the King at Shrewsbury; and take part
in the Great Battle of Edge Hill, in Warwickshire^ . 468
The Earl of Derby returns to Lancashire, and raises Fresh
Forces in support of the King, . . . 469
Comparative Strength of the Royalist and Parliamentary
Parties in different districts of Lancashire and Cheshire, 470
The Parliamentary Forces of Salford Hundred assemble
at Manchester, under the command of Sir John Seaton,
and march out to attack the Royal Garrisons of Preston
and Lancashire, both of which places they take, 473
The Earl of Derby attacks the Parliamentary Fortifications
at Bolton, but is repulsed after a very severe battle, . 474
The Earl of Derby marches northward and Recaptures
both Preston and Lancaster,  476
The whole of the Royalist Forces of the County assemble
at Preston, under the Earl of Derby, and the Parlia
mentary Forces assemble around Blackburn, under
Colonel Assheton,  477
The Royalists advance into the Blackburn Hundred, are
attacked by the Parliamentary Forces, and are driven
back with very heavy loss. Retreat and dispersion of
the Royal Army into the garrison towns of the county,
and to Lathom house  478

718

CONTENTS.

Charlotte de la Tremouille, Countess of Derby, refuses to
surrender Lathom house, and Defends it for nearly
Two Years against the Parliamentary Forces, . . 484
Advance of Prince Rupert into Cheshire and Lancashire, 484
Account of the military movements in the County of
Chester, previous to the Advance of Prince Rupert, . 4 84
Commencement of the Civil War at Chester, . . 484
Visit of King Charles I. and his son Charles to Chester, 485
Nantwich occupied and fortified for the Parliament, by Sir
William Brereton, . . . . . 486
Defeat of the Royal Forces at Middlewich, and their
Retreat to Chester, . . . ' . . . 486
The City of Chester Strongly Fortified, and Held by the
Royalist Party throughout the War, . 487
Landing of the Irish Royalist Army at Chester, . 488
Lord Byron appointed to the Command of the King's
Forces in Cheshire ; Overruns the greater part of the
County ; takes Beeston castle, Northwich, and Middle
wich, and lays siege to Nantwich, . . . 489
Advance of Sir Thomas Fairfax and General Assheton with
the Parliamentary Forces of Yorkshire and Lancashire, 489
The Royalists defeated at Nantwich by Sir Thomas Fair
fax, and driven back into Chester, where they are again
besieged, ........ 498
Dangerous position of the Royal Cause in Lancashire and
Cheshire,  493
The King urged to send an Army to raise the siege of
Chester and of Lathom house, .... 494
Prince Rupert advances Northward with Ten Thousand
Men  . 496
Raises the siege of Newark and Chester, and advances
into Lancashire by way of Stockport, . . 496
Prince Rupert Attacks Bolton and Takes it by Storm, . 497
Lays siege to Liverpool, and Takes it after an Obstinate
Resistance, ........ 499
Advances rapidly to York and Raises the Siege of that
City, but is afterwards Defeated in the Great Battle of
Marston Moor, near York, . . . . 500

Prince Rupert retreats through Lancashire and Cheshire, 501
Liverpool Retaken after a third siege, by the Parliament
ary Army under Sir John Meldrum, . . .501
Renewal of the Siege of Lathom bouse. Long and Resolute
Defence; final Surrender, after Two Years' Resistance, 502
Siege of Chester resumed by the Parliamentary Forces.
Long and Gallant Defence of the Royalist Party, . 504
King Charles attempts to raise the siege of Chester with
the Royal Cavalry, which is Defeated by the Parlia
mentary Cavalry on Rowton Heath, . . . 505
The Defence of Chester continued to February 16, 1646,
when the Royalists Surrendered, after having sustained
a Three Years' Siege, . . . . . .507
Complete Overthrow of the Royal Cause in every part of
England, and Triumph of Cromwell and Parliament, . 508
Rise of the Presbyterians of Scotland in Defence of the
King and the Covenant, ...... 508
Large Scottish Army under the Duke of Hamilton
marches into England, ...... 508
Cromwell, with a powerful army, attacks the Duke of
Hamilton at Preston in Lancashire, and destroys or
captures the whole of his forces, .... 509
Miserable condition of Lancashire at the close of the
Campaign, from plague and famine, .... 514
Another Scottish army marches through Lancashire and
Cheshire, under the command of Charles II. and his
Scottish Generals, and is defeated at Worcester, . .516
James, Earl of Derby, lands from the Isle of Man, and
raises the Royalists of Lancashire ; but is defeated near
Wigan,  . 518
The Earl of Derby joins the King's army at Worcester,
is taken prisoner, tried for High Treason against the
Commonwealth, and beheaded at Bolton, . . .518
The rising of Sir George Booth, and the Royalists and
Presbyterians of Lancashire and Cheshire, after the
death of Oliver Cromwell, . . . .519
The army under General Monk declares for the King,
who is restored and crowned as Charles II., . . 520

CHAPTER VII.
Progress of Society in Lancashire and Cheshire, from the time of the Domesday Survey (1085-86), to the
time of the Restoration of the Monarchy (1660), and the Planting of America by the English Race.

Lancashire, at the time of the Domesday Survey, divided
into Eight Hundreds, since consolidated into Six, . 522
The Hundred of Lonsdale, description of, with quantity
of arable land, towns, and villages, .... 523
The Hundred of Amounderness, ... . 527
The Hundred of Blackburn, . . . 530
The Hundred of Leyland, . . . . 530
The Hui#red of Salford — its area, arable land, popula
tion, and value,  532
Manchester and Rochdale at the time of Domesday Survey, 533
The Hundred of Warrington (now incorporated with the
West Derby Hundred), ... . 534
The Hundred of Newton (now also incorporated with West
Derby), . .  534
The Hundred of West Derby, according to the Domesday
Survey, and also with its modern limits, area, popula
tion, and valne, .  535
The Laws and Tenures of Land between the Mersey and
the Ribble,  539
Cheshire at the time of the Domesday Survey, . . 541
Ancient and modern limits of the County of Chester, . 542
The ancient and modern Hundreds of Cheshire, . . 41
The present Hundred of Macclesfield, as described in the
Domesday Survey — its value and extent ; the Norman
and Saxon owners of the soil,  543
The Bucklow Hundred, at the Domesday Survey, . . 544
The Eddisbury Hundred,  545
The Nantwich Hundred  546
The Wirral Hundred, . . . 546

The Broxton Hundred, ...... 547
The Salt Springs and Salt Works of Cheshire, with their
value and their laws, ...... 547
The City of Chester, with its laws and customs, its popu
lation and wealth, at the Domesday Survey, . . 651
Account of the principal Manors, Townships, and Vills of
the County of Chester, at the Domesday Survey, . 554
Population of Lancashire and Cheshire at the Domesday
Survey, compared with that of the other English Coun
ties at the same time, . . . . 564
Lancashire and Cheshire, at that time the most thinly
peopled districts of England, ..... 565
Slow progress of the two Counties in population and
wealth, and principal causes, ..... 566
The Forests of Lancashire and Cheshire, their great
extent and gradual reclamation, .... 572
The Forest Laws of England, ..... 573
Survey of the Lancashire Forests, in the year 1228, the
12th Henry III.,  574
The Forests of Cheshire in the same age, . . . 578
The Administration of Justice in Lancashire and Cheshire
under the Norman and Plantagenet Kings, . . 580
The Tenure and Ownership of Lands in Lancashire and
Cheshire, in the same age, according to the great sur
vey, known as "Testa de Nevill," . . . 583
Lands held by the King in Lancashire, . . . 585
The number of Knights' Fees in Lancashire at that time, 587
The Estates of Wards of the Crown then held by the
King in Lancashire, . . . 588

CONTENTS.

719

589 590591 592593 594597 598
599

599 000 600601603 606606 606606608608608609611

The Lordship of Sir Michael le Fleming in Furness, its
original extent and its subdivisions by successive Lords,
The Lordship and Estates of tho Abbots of Furness,
The Barony of Montbegon, in Lonsdale and Salford
Hundreds, . . .....
The Lordship of the Gernets, chief foresters of Lancashire,
The Barony of Lancaster, with the Lordship and Estates,
The' Burgesses and Burgages of Lancaster, .
The Barony of Theobold Walter, Baron of Preston or
Amonnderness, .......
The Churches of Preston, St. Michael in Wyreand Kirkham,
The Knights' Fees between the Mersey and the Ribble, .
The Knights' Fees held by William de Ferrers, Earl of
Derby, and Agnes de Ferrers, his wife, sister and
heiress of Ranulf de Blundeville, Earl of Chester,
The Fees of the De Laceys, Constables of Chester and
Earls of Lincoln, .......
The Fee of Clitheroe, 
The Barony of Penwortham, held by the De Boiseuls, .
The Barony of Manchester, held by the De Gresleys,
The ancient Fee of William Peverill, ....
The possessions of the De Traffords, of Trafford,
The possessions of the Hultons, of Hulton, .
The Fee of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, in Salford
and the West Derby Hundreds, ....
The Fee of the De Laceys in Widness, .
The Estates of the De Lathoms, Lords of Lathom and
Knowsley, and their descent to the Stanleys,
The Estates of the Family of Le Norreys,
The Fee of the Butlers, Barons of Warrington,
The Fee and Estates of the Molyneuxes of Sefton,
The Barony of Newton, held by the Banistres and the
Langtons, ........ 611
The Fee of the De Waletons, High Bailiffs of West
Derbyshire, . . ...... 611
The Fee of the De Gerards, . . . .612
The Earldom of Chester, . . . 612
The Manors held by tfie Earls of Chester, . . 612
The Barony of Halton, held by the Fitz-Nigels, and after
wards by the De Laceys, Constables of Chester and
Earls of Lincoln, .....
The Manor of Longdendale, ...
The Manor of Alderley, held by Robert de Monte Alto,
and by the Stanleys of Alderley, ....
The Manor of Aston, held by the De Astons,
The Manor of Clifton, held by Sir John Savage, .
Congleton, held by the Countess of Lincoln, .
Halton, held by the Earls of Lincoln, ....
Halton, Stretton, Sale, and Nether Walton, held by God
frey de Warburton, ......
Knutsford Booths, held by John de Legh,
• Tabley, held by Adam de Tabley,
Over Tabley, held by John de Leycester,
The various Tenures of Land existing in Lancashire and
Cheshire ; namely, Baronage, Knight's Service, Thanage,
Drengage, Eleemosyna or Religions Service, Serjeantia
or Civil Service, and Villenage or Cultivation, .
The Estates and Influence of the Earls and Dukes of
Lancaster, ........
Household Book of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the
year 1313, 6th Edward II., 
The Roads and other Public Works of Lancashire and
Cheshire, and the mode in which Funds were raised
for their Construction, ......
Comparative Wealth and Trade of the different English
Counties in the year 1341, the 15th Edward III., .
Valuation of Property in the County of Lancaster, and
in each of the Hundreds and Boroughs of the County,
in the year 1341,^ . ......
Progress of the Towns and Town Population of Lanca
shire and Cheshire, from the Domesday Survey,
1085-86, to the Restoration of the Monarchy and the
Planting of America, 1606 to 1660,
The City of Chester : its Early History, Rise, and Progress,
The Custumale of Chester, or Ancient Laws and Rights
of the City,  639

613613 613613614 614614614615615616

617

618

619

624

630

632

635 637

PAGE
Additional Charters of Chester,  644
Tbe Commercial Importance of Chester ih Early times, 645
The Bishopric of Chester, established at the time of the
Reformation,  647
Extent of the Diocese of Chester, . . . .647
The Cathedral of Chester and its Ancient Architecture, 648
The Early Literature of Chester, .... 651
Henry Bradshaw's Poem on the Life and Virtues of
St. Werburg,  651
Close of the Ancient Period,  656
Nantwich, Middlewich, and Northwich, and the ancient
Salt Trade of Cheshire  656
The Origin and Early History of Birkenhead, . . 658
Stockport, its Origin and Early History, . . . 664
Macclesfield, its Charters and Early History, . . 664
Congleton, its Origin and Early History, . . 665
The Boroughs of Lancashire from the Norman Conquest
to the Restoration,  665
The Borough of Lancaster in Early Times, . . . 665
The Castle and the Priory, ... . . . 665
William de Lancaster and Warin de Lancaster, Governors
of the Castle of Lancaster, ..... 669
Lancaster receives its first Charter from King John, . 670
Attack on the Charters of Lancaster by King Edward I., 672
The old Constitutions and Orders used in the Town of
Lancaster, as examined and ratified in the 36th year
of King Edward III., 1362-63,
Account of the Manners, Customs, and Laws of the
Borough, .... ...
Lancaster burnt by Robert Bruce in 1320, and again
destroyed by the Scotch in 1389, ....
John of Gaunt's Charters to Lancaster, and Charters of
Richard IL, Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VL, .
Condition of the Borough in the reigns of Henry VII. and
Henry VIII., 
Charter granted to Lancaster by James I 
'Lancaster repeatedly attacked during the great Civil
Wars ; Close of Ancient Period, ....
The Borough of Preston in Amounderness in Early Times,
Origin of the Town, and great Natural Advantages of its
Position,  • .
The Custumale or Collection of Municipal Laws at Pres
ton ; its great Antiquity and curious Contents, .
The other Charters of the Borough of Preston,
Contest of the Bnrgesses of Preston with the Crown, in
the Reign of Edward L, 
Destruction of Preston by the army of Robert Bruce,
Battle near Preston between the adherents of the King
and those of the Earls of Lancaster,
The first Preston Guild, 
The Religious Houses at Preston, ....
Preston, as described by Leland, in the Reign of Henry
VIII., .and by Camden, in the Reign of Queen
Elizabeth, 
Preston in the Reign of Charles I. ; its Payments towards
Ship-money, 
Preston repeatedly attacked during the great Civil War ;
its Sufferings in that Contest ; Close of the Ancient
Period, 
Clitheroe in Ancient Times; its Military Position and
Ancient Castle, .......
Its early Charters from the De Lacey family, confirmed
by Edward I. and Henry IV, 
Borough of Wigan; its early Charters and extent of
Trade ; the Causes of its Prosperity,
Early working of the Lancashire Coal-fields at Wigan, .
Manchester, from the Norman Conquest to the Restoration,
The De Gresleys— the early Barons of Manchester,
Charter authorizing the holding of a Fair at Manchester
in the Reign of Henry III., 1222, ....
Charter confirming and extending the previous Grant of
Fair,  „>,','
The Value and Extent of the Barony of Manchester in
the year 1282, the 11th Edward I 
The Borough and Burgesses of Manchester in the year
1282 

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CONTENTS.

PAGE
Thomas De Gresley's Charter to the Burgesses of Man
chester, . . . ' . . . ,691
Attack on the Franchises of Manchester by Henry, Duke
of Lancaster, .... . . 692
The Delawarrs become Barons of Manchester, . . 693
The College and Collegiate Church of Manchester founded
by Thomas Delawarr, Baron of Manchester, in the
year 1422, .  693
The Wests succeed the Delawarrs as Barons of Manchester, 693
Manchester a Manufacturing Town, in the Reign of
Henry VIII., 1-520,  694
Act of Parliament removing the Sanctuary for Criminals
from Manchester to Chester,  694
The free Grammar School at Manchester, founded in the
year 1524, the 15th Henry VIII., by Hugh Oldham,
Bishop of Exeter, ... . 695
Leland's account of Manchester in the Reign of Henry VIII., 696
The first Register of the Parish of Manchester, . 696
The Manor of Manchester sold to John Laceye of London,
Citizen and Cloth Maker, for the sum of £3000,
1579, ... .... 696
Progress of the Reformation at Manchester, and contests
with the Roman Catholics and the Puritans, . . 697
The Manor of Manchester again sold by John Laceye to
Sir Nicholas Moseley, for the sum of £3500, . . 698
Ravages of the Plague at Manchester in the year 1603, 699
Henry Montague, President of the King's Privy Council,
made an Earl, with the title of the Earl of Manchester, 699
Rapid increase of Trade at Manchester, . . . 699
Cotton first introduced into Manchester from the Island
of Cyprus,  699
The Blue Coat Hospital and Library at Manchester,
founded by Humphrey Chetham, . . . 700
Description of the towns of Manchester and Salford' at
the time of the Commonwealth, . . . 701
Conclusion of ancient period,  701
Liverpool, from the Charter of King John, 1207, to the
Restoration, 1660, . . " . 701
Liverpool made a Borough by King John, . . . 702

Charter of King John, offering all the liberties and free
customs enjoyed by any borough oh the sea or seaport
in England, to such persons as might take burgages at
Liverpool, ..... . .
The Castle of Liverpool built, and the parks of Toxteth,
Croxteth, and Simonswood formed, ....
The Castle of Liverpool provisioned for a siege in the wars
between King John and his Barons,
Cost of the different articles supplied to the Castle, in
the money of that time, and of the present,
Charter granted to Liverpool by Henry III.,
Small value of Liverpool to the Crown, in comparison
with most of the other seaports of the Kingdom, in
this age, .........
The original streets of Liverpool, five in number,
Smallness of trade at Liverpool, but port furnishes ves
sels for the Scotch and Irish wars, ....
Population of Liverpool in the reign of Edward III.,
Pavage grants for the streets of Liverpool, .
Natnre and extent of the Trade of England at this time,
Sir John Stanley, knight, authorized by Henry IV., '' to
embattle and fortify a certain house, which he has
lately constructed of Stone and Lime, in the town of
Liverpool." This house afterwards known as the
Tower of the Stanleys, ......
The founding of the New Haven, at Liverpool, in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, .....
Population of Liverpool in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
not exceeding one thousand persons,
The only trade of the port at that time with. Ireland, .
Small amount paid by Liverpool as Ship-money in the
year 1635,  711
Humphrey Chetham the High Sheriff's account of the
sums paid as Ship-money by the counties of Lancaster
and Chester; by the hundreds of West Derby, Salford,
Leyland, Blackburn, Amounderness, and Lonsdale; by
the city of Chester ; and by the boroughs of Lancaster,
Preston, Wigan, Liverpool, Clitheroe, arid Newton,
Close of the ancient history of Lancashire and Cheshire,

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