MELANDRA CASTLE, DERBYSHIRE. 13 



few days afterwards, Mr. Bennett Woodcroft, a gentleman visiting 

 in the neighbourhood, hearing of the matter, went to the place 

 and offered ;£^ if the workmen would recover the stone, but the 

 clerk of the works would not permit the wall to be taken down, as 

 the exact spot where it was could not be accurately located. I 

 mention this, so that if at any future time it is found necessary to 

 take down the wall, the stone may be looked for and taken care 

 of. The other, and the remaining portion of what is called the 

 Holyngworthe stone, remain yet undiscovered. 



The station is situated, as many Roman stations are, at the con- 

 fluence of two streams, the Glossop brook and the river Etherow, 

 and on elevated ground. According to W. T. Watkin, the 

 famous Roman Consul and General, Agricola, wintered at Chester 

 in the year of 78 and the early part of 79, and took the opportunity 

 of tracing the tributaries of the Mersey to their source. If this 

 is true, which I have no reason to doubt, then he would come up 

 the Etherow, and it was to him that Melandra Castle owed its 

 existence. 



The Etherow, before the Manchester Corporation took most 

 of the water, was a river of much larger volume and dimensions 

 than now, and must at the period of the appearance of the 

 Romans have abounded with salmon and other fish, which would, 

 of course, be acceptable to the Roman soldiers, furnishing them 

 with sport and also a welcome source of food supply. The brook, 

 the river, and the declivities protected the station on two of its 

 sides, the other two sides being protected by deep ditches, part of 

 which yet remain. The proximity of the British fortress at 

 Mouselow rendered it absolutely necessary for a station here, and 

 no better site, from a Roman point of view, could have been 

 selected. It was not so elevated as to expose the garrison to the 

 cold winds, so prevalent on the adjacent hills, and sufficiently far 

 enough away from them to prevent — by judicious posting of 

 sentries and picquets — being taken by surprise. The Druidical 

 remains found in the neighbourhood, and the revelations of the 

 bone caves and barrows in the Peak, are sufficient evidence to 

 convince us that there must have been a large force of Britons 



