36 CJiadkirk. 



the edge of a distant brow, we get a glimpse of Marple 

 Hall. Re-entering the path by the canal, we proceed along 

 it, past Oakwood Mill, towards Chadkirk. The deep and 

 continuous glen upon the left, and its abundant verdure, 

 prevent any feeling of monotony, and it is not long before 

 we reach the narrow entrance into a little wood, the path 

 through which terminates at a point midway between 

 Otterspool Bridge in front, and white old CHADKIRK, as 

 it were, behind. 



Chadkirk, to the archaeologist, is a very interesting 

 locality. St Cead or Chad, it is said, was a missionary, 

 who had been educated at the celebrated monastery of 

 Lindisfarne, and was despatched from lona by St 

 Columb, in the seventh century, to evangelise the dis- 

 trict of which Manchester is now the market-place. 

 Chat-moss was named after him ; the parish churches 

 of Rochdale and Saddleworth, both probably of the 

 twelfth century, were dedicated to him; and tradition 

 says, that somewhere hereabouts he long resided. So 

 great was his celebrity., that a clear spring by the road- 

 side, upon the left going up the hill, near the church, 

 and now lined with mosses, is still called St Chad's 

 well; while the pleasant path along the hillside, be- 

 neath the trees, is known as the Priest's Walk. St Chad 

 afterwards became Bishop of Lichfield, the cathedral of 

 which city, like the above-named churches, is dedicated 

 to him. 



Such, at least, is the account given by certain anti- 



