12 MELANDRA CASTLE, DERBYSHIRE. 



commanding a century, or company of the first Cohort of 

 the Frisians, was stationed here,"* 



Of all the numerous ofificers of the twentieth Legion— in the 

 long period the Romans were stationed here — who commanded 

 detachments Valerius Vitalis is the only one whose name we 

 have any record of — such is fame ! 



The Right Honourable Lord Howard of Glossop is presenting 

 a Technical School to Glossop, and when it is completed, I hope 

 this Society will make such representations to his Lordship as will 

 persuade him to have the stone removed from its present position 

 — being on his estate — and placed in a suitable case in the 

 Technical School, where it could be better and more conveniently 

 seen, until such times as we have a regular, properly cared-for 

 museum. 



In 1832 a portion of a larger inscribed stone was found, and so 

 little was thought of it by the finder that Captain de Holyngworthe, 

 of Holinworth Hall, purchased it for 2s. 6d. I have, fortunately, 

 a sketch of it, made from the original fragment by Mr. Ralph 

 Bernard Robinson, author of Longdendale. 



The stone was evidently of far greater importance than the one 

 existing, the letters "IMP" indicating a more exalted personage, 

 probably the name of the reigning Emperor when the station was 

 built ; unfortunately, since Captain de Holyngworthe's death, all 

 trace of the fragment has been lost. 



Previous to the reservoir belonging to the Manchester Corpora- 

 tion being made at the Hague on the Cheshire side, the river 

 Etherow was undermining the bank, and it was found necessary 

 to build a wall to prevent its encroachments. For this purpose the 

 workmen took away all the stone then lying at Melandra, and 

 amongst them was another inscribed stone. One of the men 

 employed had no knowledge of its antiquarian value, and built 

 it in the interior of the wall, though a bystander remonstrated 

 with him for so doing, using these words in the local dialect : 

 " Thart puttin' summut in neaw ut uU be wanted sum day." A 



* An engraving of this stone and inscription is given in Gough's Camden's 

 Britain, Vol. II., 431, Ed. 1806. 



