76 
Mr. Looney was well known to be a most accurate and intel- 
ligent observer, and his mention of stone celts having been 
found at levels above the present river courses, appears to 
afford us fair hopes of their being found in the lower Jievel 
gravel if carefully looked for. But the most interesting fact 
is the finding of the wooden fabric, by the author termed a 
box, which, although smaller in size, bears some resemblance 
to the crannoges found sometimes in Ireland under the peat 
bogs. He (the President) had lately been to examine the 
place where it was found, which is to the south of and just 
outside of the old Roman Station of Mancunium, in company 
with a party who saw the fabric when it was first exposed, 
and stood in it afterwards. The locality of course is now 
much changed, but the person was able to point out to 
him the position where it was found, which is now covered 
by No. 6 arch of the Altrincham Railway, and said that it 
was about six feet square and four feet high. The four 
upright posts driven into the clay were about five inches 
thicl^and roughly riven, as were also the slabs forming the 
sides and bottom. His informant did not notice any top to 
the fabric, or how the slabs had been fastened to the posts, 
but he remembers a layer of cobble stones, each about six 
inches in diameter, forming a kind of pavement, being in the 
bottom of it. Upon these stones were some bones, which he 
examined, but did not recognise any of them as human . All 
the wood appeared to be oak, but it was very rotten, and fell 
to pieces soon after it was exposed to the air. None of it was 
preserved. Under the clay the red rock (Trias) was found 
at a short distance. The geological position where the 
fabric was found is in the lower level gravel, about 29 feet 
above the water of the present river Invell. For whatever 
purpose it was made, there can be little doubt as to its having 
been the work of man, and as we are assured that the over- 
lying sand and gravel was quite undisturbed, there can be as 
little question of its great antiquity, reaching as far back as 
