520 



LANCASHIRE. 



Lineutiir.*. end, 45 ; its circumference 34 miles; its area covers 



y ~^.""^ about 1800 square miles ; find the number of acres is 

 about 1,200,000. It is divided into six hundreds ; Sal- 

 ford, West Derby, Ley land, Blackburn, Amounderness, 

 or Anderness, and Lonsdale. The number of parishes 

 in Lancashire is extremely small, considering the size 

 of the county, proving its thin population at the period 

 when they were divided; they amount only to Cl. 

 There are 27 market towns, of which the principal are 

 Lancaster, the county town ; Liverpool and Manches- 

 ter, nearly of a size, and next in population to London ; 

 Bolton, Rochdale, Preston, Garstang, \Vigan, Berry, 

 Warrington, &c. It returns 14 members to Parliament ; 

 two for the county; two for I .ancaster ; two for Preston ; 

 two for Clitheroe ; two for Wigan ; two for Liverpool ; 

 and two for Newton. It is in the province of York, 

 and diocese of Chester and-Carlisle, and in the northern 

 circuit. 



Duchy. Lancashire is a county palatine. The duchy was 



forfeited to the crown in the first year of Edward IV. ; 

 and at the same time an act was passed to incorporate 

 it with the county palatine. The landed property 

 which his majesty possesses, as Duke of Lancaster, is 

 of great extent, and lies in the most northern parts of 

 the county. The court belonging to the duchy of Lan- 

 caster, has the power of deciding all causes belonging to 

 it j and amongst its officers, has a chancellor, attorney- 

 general, &c. ; the offices of the duchy court are at So- 

 merset-place, London. 



Surface and The surface of Lancashire varies very much; the 

 disjoined portion of it, or the hundred of Furness, is 

 wild and rugged, and very similar to those parts of 

 Westmoreland and Cumberland, on which it borders. 

 That part of the county which lies between the road 

 from Garstang to Preston, and the sea, called the field- 

 country, is flat ; the southern portion of the tract be- 

 tween the Ribble and the Mersey, is also flat from the 

 sea to the hills, which lies on the borders of Yorkshire. 

 The eastern portion of Lancashire is hilly, and in some 

 parts mountainous, being connected with that ridge, 

 called the Backbone of England. The soil varies near- 

 ly as much as the surface ; a sandy loam of consider- 

 able fertility prevails in the greatest portion of that dis- 

 trict, which lies between the Ribble and the Mersey ; 

 this soil is also found in some other places ; but the 

 most prevalent soil is of a stronger nature, and not nearly 

 so warm and fertile. The substratum of the sandy loam 

 is either red rock or clay marie. The substratum of the 

 poorer soil is in general a cold clay. There is no gra- 

 velly soil in Lancashire, at least to any extent, and no 

 chalk or flints. Hence it will appear, that in respect of 

 soil this county is not highly favoured ; nor is it bet- 

 ter adapted to the purposes of agriculture, with regard 



Climate. to its climate Under the article ENGLAND, we have 

 given many facts relative to the quantity of rain which 

 falls in it. In this place, therefore, we shall merely 

 state, that the quantity of rain which falls in every part 

 of it is large ; that the atmosphere, even when no rain 

 is f tiling, is often cold and damp ; that the temperature 

 of the tummer months is low ; that the winter, though 

 not often very severe, continues long cold and unpro- 

 jiitious ; that the springs are backward ; and that the 

 prevalent winds are the south-west and north-east. 

 From the latter, however, Lancashire is in a great mea- 

 sure defender! by the ridge of mountains which lie be- 

 tween it and Yorkshire. On the other hand, this ridge 

 of mountains, intercepting and breaking the clouds 

 *hich the west winds bring from the Irish sea, contri- 



butes, in this way, to render the climate of Lancashire Lancashire. 

 very wet. _ V ~""V 1 '^ 



The principal rivers of this county are, the Frwell, Rivers, 

 the Mersey, the Douglas, the Ribble, the"Calder, the 

 Wyre, and the Lime j they all direct their course to 

 the west, and fall into the Irish sea. The Irwell rises 

 on the hills that form the boundaries between Lanca- 

 shire and Yorkshire. Its first course is to Bury ; it 

 then bends to the west, and afterwards to the south-east, 

 to Manchester, where its waters are enlarged by two 

 streams : its course is again changed to the west, "till it 

 falls into the Mersey below Flexten. The Mersey 

 rises on the borders of Cheshire and Derbyshire ; it di- 

 vides Cheshire and Lancashire, for a course of nearly 

 60 miles, about 35 of which are navigable from Liver- 

 pool, where it falls into the sea, to the month of the Ir- 

 well. The Ribble rises in the Cravtn Moors in York- 

 shire : its course is' first south to Clitheroe; it after- 

 wards declines to the west to Rochester, and the valley 

 of Ribblesdale, to Preston ; and soon afterwards falls 

 into the Irish sea, by a very broad estuary. The Lune 

 rises in the falls of Westmoreland ; and being formed 

 by several streams, it flows through the valley of Lons- 

 tiale to Lancaster ; here it becomes navigable ; and two 

 miles below the town, bears ships of considerable bur- 

 den ; it also joins the sea by a very broad estuary. The 

 Dudden, which divides the west side of Furness from 

 Cumberland, at its junction with the sea, forms a con- 

 siderable bay, at high water. The Crake, which runs 

 nearly parallel to the Dudder, connects Thursten wa- 

 ter with the sea, at Leven sands. 



In describing the sea coast of Lancashire, w'e shall Sea coast, j 

 begin at its southern extremity. The Mersey empties 

 itself into a great estuary filled with banks, and crossed 

 by a bar, over which, at low tide, there is but a foot or 

 two depth of water ; but the tides rise very high, from 

 21 to 28 feet. The coast here is very flat, and in some 

 places the sea is encroaching on it, particularly between 

 the Ribble and Morecombe Bay. In the estuary of the 

 Ribble there are many sand banks, dry at low water, 

 but on which the tide rises six fathoms. Morecambe 

 Bay is a large gulf, between the mainland of Lancashire 

 and the peninsula of Furness. Off the extremity of 

 this peninsula are several islands, the principal of which 

 is called Walney ; which is ten miles long and one 

 broad. It is so low that it is frequently nearly inun- 

 dated. It would appear that these islands were for- 

 merly in one, and probably connected with the main 

 land. 



In our description of the rivers and coast of this Sands, 

 county, it will be seen that the former generally empty 

 themselves into the sea, with very broad and shallow 

 mouths, filled with sand banks. This is caused by 

 their taking their rise in the mountainous districts in 

 the east county the constant rapidity of their streams 

 and the shortness of their course. The sands of 

 Lancashire most noted, are those of Lancaster 'and 

 Leven. By an inspection of the map of the county, it 

 will appear that the shortest route to the Furness dis- 

 trict is across these sands ; hence, though this route ia 

 extremely dangerous,'it is frequently pursued. At three 

 miles from Lancaster the Lancaster sands commence. 

 They are fordable at low water for a distance of ubout 

 nine miles. The Leven sands lie between Cartmel and 

 Ulv.erton. At spring tides the water sometimes rises 

 15 feet over them. 



In the north of Lancashire are several lakes. Conis- Lake* 

 ton lake, or Thurston water, is about seven miles long, 

 1 



