﻿LANCASHIRE. 



LANCASHIRE. 



Kiun mro held Jun« 29th and NoTembar SSnd. It was in Staudith 

 Hail that the " LMtcaahire Plot" for the rwtoretion of the StuarU 

 was ooneoc t ad. Strtlford, on tba right bank of the MerMj, 4 milaa 

 &W. fkom Iknohaater, popnlatioo of the ch*|H<li7 4998, has a paro- 

 ohial chapel, ohapala for Wealayan Methodists and Independents, 

 National, British, and Intuit sohools; and a temperance liall. Large 

 numbers of pigi ars brooght Arom Wales and fkvm Ireland, and killed 

 at Stratford, chiefly for sale in Uanohester. The Duke of Bridge- 

 water's Canal, and the railway (h>m If ancfaester to Altringham pass 

 dose to the rilh^ TWfoa, 4 miles N. from Bolton, population of 

 the ohapelry 4168, has cotton-milU, and bleach works on a large 

 aoale. The church is a handsome struotare, picturesquely situated. 

 Traces of a Roman road are risible in the neighbouriiood. On 

 Chatham's Close are the remains of a stone circle. Tuiton Tower is 

 an wnbattled s<ioare tower of the Tudor period, to which a large 

 modem mansion is attached. UphMmd, about 4 mile« W. fi-om 

 Wigan, population of the township S359, has a Free Qrammar school, 

 founded in 1468, which bad 125 scholars in 1858. The viUage is 

 andent; many of the honsea are old and of curious couatruction, 

 built in streets which run down the aide of a rather steep hilL A 

 priory formerly stood here; part of the building is used as a parochial 

 ohapeL In Uie neighbourhood are Bour-miUs, stone-quarries, and 

 oou-mines. WalmtrtUjf, about 2^ miles K. from Bury, population of 

 the township 4802. There are here cotton-milU, fuUiug-mills, 

 chemical woriu, a brewery, and other establishments. A fine new 

 church, picturesquely situated, and chwels for Wesleyan Methodists 

 and ludependeuta are in the township. There are remains of a beacon 

 tower of the time of Elizabeth. A tower has been erected by the Messrs. 

 GrantL Wallon-o%-tJic-JJitl, 3 niiled N. from Liverpool : population of 

 the township, 2469. The pariah church, which was, till 1698, the mother 

 church of Lirerpool, was rebuilt iu 1742 ; it is partly of the decorated 

 style ; the tower is a modem erection. Its pleasant position, and its 

 proximity to Liverpool make Walton a favourite residence of Liver- 

 pool merchants. Iu the villHge are Endowed, National, and Infant 

 schools. WaUon-U-DaU, 2 miles S.E. from Preston, population of the 

 township 6855, occupies a beautiful situation on both bauks of the 

 Dar«'eut, near its Junction with the Kibble ; the cotton mauufacture 

 is the chief source of employment. The church stands on au elevation, 

 and commands fine prospects. There are a Free Grammar school, 

 and National and Infant schools. Walerloo, on the coast about 5 

 miles 8.S.W. from Liveriwol, is a pleasant resort in summer. Numerous 

 good residences have been erected in the village and neighbourhood. 

 irortfey, 6 miles W. by N. from Manchester, population of the town- 

 ship 10,189 : in the township ore three chapels of the Establishment, 

 one of them built in 1847 by the Eari of Ellesmere ; a chapel for 

 Wealeyan Methodists; the Countess of EUesmere's Normal school, 

 and au Infant school. Extensive coal-mines are worked in the 

 township, and there are several ilour-mills. 



Dirinojit for EcdeticuHcal and Legal Purpotei, — Lancashire was 

 included in the diocese of Chester from 1541, when Henry VIII. 

 constituted that bishopric till 1847, when pursuant to an Act passed 

 some years previously, the whole of the county (except the deanery of 

 Fumees and Cartmel, which were added to the diocese of Carlisle), 

 was formed into the diocese of Manchester, in the province of York. 

 The parishes are very extensive. Whalley parish is 104,689 acres, 

 Lancaster 73,732 acres, Rochdale 58,620 acres, Blackburn 45,269 

 acres, Kirkham 48,530 acres, and Prescot 36,554 acres; and others are 

 little inferior in extent. There are however numerous dependent 

 chapelries; and many chapels-of-ease and district churches have been 

 builL 



By the Poor-Law Commissioners Lancashire is divided into 29 

 Poor-Law Unions: — Ashton-uuder-Liue, Barton-upon-Irwell, Black- 

 bum, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Caton, Chorley, Chorlton, Clitheroe, The 

 Kylde, Garstong, Haslingden, Lancaster, Leigh, Liverpool, Manchester, 

 Oiaiuim, Urmskirk, Prescot, Preston, Prestwich, Hochdale, Salford, 

 Todmorden, Ulverstone, Warrington, West Derby, and Wigan. These 

 Unions contain 476 parishes and townships, with an area of 1,193,085 

 acres, and a population iu 1851 of 2,091,203. 



Lancashire is in the northern circuit. The assizes were till of late 

 yean held at Lancaster alone, but tbey ore now held at Lancaster for 

 the northern division of the couuty, and at Liverpool for the southern 

 division. The quartcr-seasions are held at Lancaster, and by succes- 

 sive adjouromenu at Preston, Salford, and Kirkdale. County courts 

 •re held U Ashtou-under-Line, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, 

 Chorley, Clitheroe, Cohie, Qarstang, Haslingden, Kirkham, Lancaster, 

 Leigh, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Ormskirk, Poulton, Preston, 

 Rochdale, Salford, St Helen's, Ulventone, Warrington, and Wigan. 



By the Reform Act the county was divided for parliamentary 

 purpoaea into two parts, the northern and the southern divisions. 

 FourtMn member* were formerly returned to Parliauieut for this 

 ooonty; namely, two for the county iUelf and two each for the 

 bwoosfas of LMoaster, CUtheroe, Liverpool, Newton, Preaton, and 

 Wigan. By tha Rtform Act Newton was disfranchised and Clitheroe 

 redooed to one member : but the division of the county, with the 

 creation of four new boroughs, Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn, and 

 Oldham, each returning two members; and of five, Ashton-under- 

 Lina, Btinr, Rodidale, Salford, an<l Warrington, each returning one 

 member, naa raised the whole number to 26. 



Lancaster, as a county palatine, poasaaaas a chancery court Iu the 

 time of Henry III. the aaildum of Laneaater was instituted in favour 

 of Edmund, sumamsd Crouchbaek, second son of that king. In the 

 time of Edward III. the earldom was erected into a duchy iu favour 

 of Uaury Planta^enet, the then earl, and afterwards of John of Oaunt, 

 who had married the heiress of Henry, and for wham the county was 

 made a palatine county. In the time of Edwanl IV. the duchy was 

 declared forfeited to the crown, to which, by Act of Parliament, both 

 it and the county palatine were inseparably united. The chancery 

 oourt haa a chanoellor, attoroey-genend, and other functionaries, and 

 has an equity jurisdiction within the limits of the duchy. 



Uiitoiy <tnd AntiqwUie$. — In the earliest period of EnglUh history 

 this county was inhjdiited chiefly by the Brigantes, the most numerous 

 and powerful of the tribes which then posseaaed the island. The 

 Brigantes were subdued by Agricola, aud in the aubsequent division 

 of Britain Tiancaahire was included in the province of Maxima 

 Cteaariensia. 



Several places mentioned by ancient geographers are commonly 

 identified with positions in this couuty. Among those mentioned in 

 the Itinerary of Antoninus arc the Kstuary or boy of Morioambe, 

 Manchester (Mancuntum), and Bremetouacw or Bremetonacis, which 

 is fixed by some at Lancaster, and by Camden and others, with more 

 reason, at Ovorborough near Tunatal, some miles higher up the Lune, 

 in the neighbourhood of Kii-kby Lonsdale. 



In Richard of Cirencester's map Morioambe is marked as a river, 

 aud the Alauua, Belisama, and Seteia are evidently identified by him 

 with the Lune, the Kibble, and the Mersey. Coccium, in his map, is 

 evidently fixed at or near Hibchester, and R«rigonium agrees in 

 position with Lancaster : possibly Ad Alaimam, which he mentions 

 iu bis Itiuerary, is another name for the some place. The termiuation 

 'caster' leads us to fix a station at this town, and the first syllable 

 ' Lan,' or, as it is proviucially pronounced ' Lon,' accords well with the 

 name Ad Alaunam, as well as with the first syllable of Longevicus, a 

 station mentioned iu the Notitia, which Camden is decided in placing 

 here. 



Several Roman roods have been traced in this county. Six of them 

 diverge from Manchester (Mancuuium) as a common contre. One 

 runs uorth-west to Blackrod, aud another north to Ribchester, the 

 position most reasonably assigned to Coccium ; two others run into 

 Cheshire, one south-east by Stookiwrt, another south-west by Stretford, 

 supposed to be the Fines Flavite et Moximse mentioned by Richnrd. 

 Two others run into Yorkshire : one north-east towatils Halifax ; 

 one, which branches from the foregoing, more easterly towards 

 Oldham, baddleworth, and Almondbury. The road to Kibcheater is 

 continued northward iu the direction of Overborough, the Breme- 

 tonacffi of Camden. One branch road led from Ribchester to Freckle- 

 ton, on the north side of the ajstuary of the Ribble, and another from 

 Overlwrough to Lancaster, the Ad Alaunam and Rerigonium of 

 Richard. 



All traces of the station Mancuuium have disappeared : of Coccium 

 and Bremetonaoaj some traces are visible at Ribchester aud Over- 

 borough. Various antiquities of importance have been dug up or 

 found ut each of these pUces. Coins and other antiquities have been 

 found at Colne (perhaps the Colunio of Itavenuas), and at Cliviger 

 near Burnley. 



Long after the invasion of the Saxons Lanca.%hire, at least in its 

 northern part, retained its independence as a juirt of the British state 

 of Cumbria or Cumberland, though this was frequently obliged to 

 own the supremacy of the Northumbrian Angles. Egfrid, the son of 

 Oswio, who reigned over the Northumbrians a.d. 670-685, conquered 

 a part of the county, and bestowed Cartmel in Fumess, with the 

 Britons therein (et omnes Britanni cum eo), on St Cuthbert, bishop 

 of Lindisfarnc, or rather annexed it to the temporalities of that see. 

 Lauoashiro would be brought iuto subjection to the Saxons on the 

 submission of the Cumbriou Britons to Edward the Elder in 921. 



In 1323 the northern part of the county was ravaged by the Scots 

 under Robert Bruce, who advanced as far as Preston, part of which 

 he burned. In the reign of Henry VI L the Eoi-l of Lincohi and Lord 

 Lovel, with 2000 Oermau soldiers under Martin Swaii;, aud a number 

 of Irish under Loi-d Ueroldine, landed in Furness to support the 

 cause of the impostor Lambert Simnel In the civil war of Charles L 

 Lord Strange, afterwards earl of Derby, at the head of the Royalists, 

 mode on unsuccessful attempt iu 1642 on Maucheuter, which was 

 occupied for the Parliiuuent by the county militia. I'reston and 

 Lancaster were subsequently taken by the 1'arliameiitarian.i, and 

 re-taken by the Royalists. In 1644 the siege of Lathom House took 

 place; it was raised on the approach of Prince Rupert, who had pre- 

 viously taken liulton, and afterwards obliged Liverpool to surrender ; 

 but in the following year the house was besieged again, and was given 

 up by order of the king. In 1648 the Duke of Hamilton and General 

 Langdole marched southward to Preston, in the neighbourhood of 

 which, on Ribbletou Moor, they were routed by the less numerous 

 but viiteran forces of Cromwell and Lambert The vanquished fled 

 southward, were overtaken and again defeated at Winwick and 

 Warrington. Lancaster Castle was meantime besieged by the 

 RoyalintH, but in vain. In the year 1631 the Earl of Derby again 

 raised the royal standard, but being defeated by Lilbunie at Wigan 

 Lane, and subsequently taken, was executed at Bolton, In the 



