Whalley A bbey. 2 1 5 



This dell is the only place within the limits of the Man- 

 chester Flora where the lily-of-the-valley grows truly wild ; 

 in autumn it abounds with golden-rod, ferns, hawkweeds, 

 and the blue Jasione, and on the slopes are many bushes 

 of the Rosa viltosa, distinguished by the deep colour of the 

 petals, and the globular and bristly fruit. An impetuous 

 torrent rushes over the rocks, half hidden by the trees ; 

 and in winter, and after heavy rain, there comes down 

 from the reservoir a waterfall of at least 150 feet in de- 

 scent. Moving on through Over-Darwen and Lower 

 Darwen, then crossing the old " East Lancashire" at 

 Blackburn, nearly at right angles, on account of the west- 

 ward bend of the latter, we arrive in a little while at 

 WHALLEY, the district from which came the late opulent 

 banker, Mr Samuel Brooks, and from which he adopted 

 the name of "Whalley Range " for a well-known suburb. 

 Upon the right we see the remains of venerable WHAL- 

 LEY ABBEY, and in another moment can leave the train 

 for the purpose of examining that far-famed ruin. Close 

 by was it that Paulinus preached, A.D. 627, and that the 

 beginning was made in the conversion of Northumbria 

 to Christianity. The crosses in the ancient graveyard 

 of the church commemorate the event memorials of a 

 circumstance that belongs, in truth, not more to this 

 once lonesome valley than to the nation.* The Abbey 



* Paulinus was sent into the north of England at the same time 

 as Augustine into the south, by Pope Gregory the Great. The 

 former was made Archbishop of York, and the latter Archbishop 

 of Canterbury. 



