9O Rostherne. 



a fine willow of the kind called Salix fragilis, bearing 

 stamen-catkins, near Manchester a great rarity. Later 

 in the season the lane yields wild strawberries. The 

 mere itself is probably a relic of the great lake which, 

 there is good reason to believe, once extended the whole 

 distance from Alderley to High Legh, and perhaps 

 farther, and of which Tatton mere, Tabley mere, Mere 

 mere, and the other lakes of this part of Cheshire, may- 

 be similar remains. It owes its name to the very 

 ancient consecration of the eminence upon which the 

 church now stands, " Rostherne," or, as in the time of 

 the Saxons, " Rodestorne," signifying the " lake (or 

 tarn) of the Holy Cross." An earnest and simple piety, 

 such as prevailed eight centuries ago, might well select 

 Rostherne for such a purpose, if the impression left by 

 its lovely scenery upon cultivated and amiable minds 

 to-day, be in anywise the reflex of what was given to our 

 forefathers. 



The depth of the water is immense. On the southern 

 margin, a short distance to the west of the summer- 

 house, it is seventeen feet, and about a third of the dis- 

 tance across from this point, the depth is over a hundred 

 feet. The English Channel at the Straits of Dover is 

 not more than 156 feet deep where the lead sinks 

 lowest, and between that point and the Eddystone Light- 

 house it never exceeds 300 feet, so that our lovely 

 Cheshire lake may well assert its claim to be considered 

 of almost maritime profundity. The area of the surface 



