History of the Foundations in Manchester of Christ's College [compiled from materials by W. P. Greswell, and others by S. Hibbert] ; Chetham's Hospital (and Library, with a genealogical account of the Founder), and the Free Grammar School [by W. R. Whatton] . (An architectural description of the...

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HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATIONS IN MANCHESTER, &c. PRINTFD BY JOHN STARK, EDINBURGH. Dra*ra.'by Jiicltc-3-de. -* . ■ Enfii-avr*a Try- J. Le Ke-ai. CS©]LIL]E©EAT'E <S 3BL UT 38. C H , JUIAHCiailE'STElR. fmoic tbtik s*Q"UTat "we t To R.TCH84KD OfiTOKD HOLTE.ESQ" of TOKKJNOmN 1A 8 -.*:* 3S very respertftly mscritcd "by lis much otligod Servants, THO? AGNEW * JOS? ZANJ8T1 I -PzaI-aasIuaI sz The .Repcsuaru as Arts ATunr HISTORY OF THE'' FOUNDATIONS IN MANCHESTER of Christ's college, CHETHAM's HOSPITAL, AND THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. VOLUME THE FIRST. LONDON WILLIAM PICKERING. MANCHESTER: THOMAS AGNEW AND JOSEPH ZANETTI. MDCCCXXX1V. TO THE VERY REVEREND THOMAS CALVERT, D.D. WARDEN, OR DEAN, THE REV. JOHN GATCLIFFE, A.M. THE REV. CHARLES WICKSTED ETHELSTONE, A. M. THE REV. JOHN CLOWES, A.M. THE REV. JOHN HOLDSWORTH MALLORY, A.M. FELLOWS OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, MANCHESTER, THE FOLLOWING HISTORY OF THEIR COLLEGIATE CHURCH, IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THEIR VERY OBEDIENT SERVANTS, THOMAS AGNEW, JOSEPH ZANETTI, PUBLISHFsRS HISTORY OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, AND CHETHAM'S COLLEGE, MANCHESTER PREFATORY ADDRESS BY THE PUBLISHERS.

It has been a frequent subject of regret that the History of Man chester has not had the justice done to it which it deserves. In the year 1654 the Reverend Mr Hollingworth gave a brief sketch of the annals of this town, deduced from records which are now no more. His history, therefore, has very properly served as a basis for the la bours of succeeding authors. Two copies of this volume in manu script are known to be in existence, one of which is in the Chetham Library of Manchester. Its title is " Mancuniensis, or the History of the Toune of Manchester, in the Countie of Lancaster, and what is most memorable concerning it." The Reverend Mr Whittaker next produced a work, which will live as long as the study of archæology is cultivated in this country ; but owing to the unlimited range which it took, it is far less valuable as an expose of the local objects meriting attention in this town, than as a general dissertation on the whole of the antiquities of Great a

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. Britain. His volume is also incomplete, having been brought down to no later a period than the Norman Conquest. Dr Aikin also undertook to give a history of the country from thirty to forty miles round Manchester : but the space he allotted in his work to the description of the town was necessarily too confined to render to it any degree of justice. Since this time Mr Aston has published a Manchester Guide, which, considering the small size of the volume, contains much interesting and curious matter. The late Reverend J. Greswell, schoolmaster of the Chetham In stitution, a gentleman of very great private worth, and a scholar, was the last who sought to supply the desideratum. He was employ ed for several years in collecting materials for the history of Man chester, which he intended to publish with the following preface : " It appears extraordinary that Manchester, which, from its population and commercial importance, is deservedly esteemed second only to the Metropolis, should not have had its rise and progress fully and accurately investigated and de scribed.

Mr Whittaker has indeed taken much pains to give celebrity to its earlier period, by making it the focus and rallying point of his laborious and learned researches into the state of our island under its Roman and Saxon masters. His partiality to his native town, of which he was an ornament, and which he was desirous to adorn, may have rendered him, in the opinion of some, too solicitous to establish its importance in these remote eras ; but this, to his fellow-towns men at least, must appear rather to claim indulgence than to provoke censure. If he has shown so much zeal in behalf of the place of his nativity in the very ob scure periods which he has described, what might not have been expected from his researches and talents had he continued his history down to the present age ? Whatever induced Mr Whittaker to abandon the completion of his plan is certainly to be regretted.

It is sufficient, on the present occasion, to observe, that the reader who desires to inquire into the state of our island, and especially this part of it, at the periods of which Mr Whittaker treats, will perhaps find nowhere information more interesting and minute than in his work. " Should the reader desire any information as to the occasion of the present at tempt, the following is submitted to his candour as the author's apology. Resid-

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. III ing beneath the roof of the venerable edifice originally erected for the residence of the Collegiate body, and now appropriated to the benevolent and excellent institution of Mr Chetham, and situated, as Mr Whittaker maintains, on the site not only of the residence of the Saxon and Norman Barons of Manchester, but of the summer camp of the Romans, he naturally felt a wish to retrace its history, and to obtain some acquaintance with its former inhabitants. This, however, he soon found not less difficult than it appeared to be desirable. Few documents seemed to remain, and information was to be drawn in small portions from widely scattered sources. Many valuable and interesting records were doubtless destroyed when in the civil wars the College writings were forcibly seized and sent by the Parliamentary forces to London, where they are said to have perished in the great fire.

While collecting, merely with a view to the amusement of his own leisure, such particulars as his access to the Chetham library afforded him, the author was induced to devote a more particular degree of attention to the subject from the following circumstance : *' ' A few years ago, a gentleman of the first eminence in the literary world hap pening to visit Manchester, complained that he had in vain sought for information concerning our principal institutions ; he thought they were not deserving of this obscurity ; that the trouble which should be employed in investigating them would not be unprofitably bestowed ; and was pleased to recommend the task to the au thor.' From this encouragement he proceeded to examine every source to which he had access, and lays, with all due respect, the result before the public.

Should the reader find the following pages less satisfactory, he may be assured that no thing is contained in them for which the authorities are not carefully adduced, that neither invention nor conjecture (non erat his locus) are offered to his attention, but a statement which lays claim to nothing but fidelity." Unfortunately for this undertaking Mr Greswell did not live to complete his labours ; his lamented decease having taken place before any part of the history from his own pen had commenced. The ma terials, however, of his intended volume remained. They were a com pilation from the works of various authors, who have in different periods incidentally touched upon the annals of Manchester, interspersed with many curious original notices derived from manuscript docu ments. These formed altogether a body of matter far more valuable and comprehensive than any which had been previously collected.

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. IV The publishers having obtained a transcript of Mr Greswell's manuscript volume, were anxious to present such a part of it to their sub scribers as related to the principal institutions of this town. But they soon found that much additional matter was still required, particularly as the historical compilation broke off in the year 1781, and the contents of the volume required much preliminary arrangement. In the present volume this deficiency will be in some measure supplied ; the publishers have therefore a few remarks to offer on the particular subjects to which it is limited. One of the most grateful of occupations which can engage the at tention of the moralist is to trace the origin and progress of founda tions consecrated to Learning, to Benevolence, and to Religion. It is in a peculiar degree instructive to inquire into the benefits pro duced by such establishments during the period when they were formed, and to observe their progressive influence on the manners of society.

It is also a duty, if we would perpetuate the objects of use ful institutions, to avail ourselves of every opportunity which is afforded us of preserving the memories of public benefactors, who may have devoted their talents, their time, or their wealth, to the important end of ameliorating and advancing the condition of their fellow citizens. This is the true value of local history. In the town of Manches ter there are several distinguished institutions that deserve such an elucidation ; but of these the Collegiate Church, the Free Grammar School, and Chetham's Hospital, stand in the foremost rank. The publishers have therefore undertaken, in this volume, to perpetuate the names of founders and benefactors, to enumerate their useful labours, to specify their munificent grants, and to describe the inter nal regulations which have been established for the government of the institutions to which they have contributed. In pursuance of this plan, the biographic notices which will be found interspersed V

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. throughout this work are abundant. And, as the chain of narrative extends through several centuries, many occasional anecdotes are given, illustrative of the moral, the civil, and political state of the town, at various periods of its history. To complete this labour the publishers have been indebted to se veral literary gentlemen. Dr Hibbert of Edinburgh has undertaken the arduous task of remodelling the materials of Mr Greswell's volume, and has considerably added to them : he has also prefaced the whole with an Introductory Memoir on the earlier and more obscure annals of the town. The obligations which the publishers are under to other gentlemen during the course of getting up the work will be found acknowledged in their proper place. In the History of the Wardens of Manchester, the Reverend Mr Hollingworth's manuscript is preserved as the chief text.

Graphical embellishments, executed in the first style of the art, from original paintings and drawings, made purposely for the work, are also given. They chiefly consist of architectural plans, elevations, and views of the several structures, sepulchral monuments, and car vings, which come under description. The plates are engraved by Mr Pye. The present work is divided into Four Parts. The first part comprises a History of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. . The second part is a History of the Free Grammar School. The third part is a History of Chetham's Hospital ; And The fourth part is devoted to an Architectural Description of the ancient Collegiate Church and College of Manchester.

Part I. History Of The

Collegiate €f>uvci) of iBlaneije.ster* AND t THE HISTORY OF THE College aviO Collegiate Cimvci), MANCHESTER, FOUNDED BY THOMAS, LORD DE LA WARRE, A.D. M.CCCC.XXII. MANCHESTER COLLEGE THAT NOBLE AND USEFUL FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING, PROPAGATION OF RELIGION IN THOSE NORTHERN PARTS. Strype's Annals. DRAWN UP FROM ORIGINAL OR VERY SCARCE DOCUMENTS BY S. HIBBERT, M.D., F. R. S. E. &c. &c b VOL. I.

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TO PART THE FIRST. As this History has made its appearance in a periodical form, the general in troduction was rather prematurely published in the first number. Circum stances, however, have since occurred, which have been explained during the progress of publication, sufficient to justify some changes which the work has undergone in the mode of its being conducted. These it would be unnecessary to recapitulate, were it not with the view of correcting one or two misconceptions, which the prefatory pages are calculated to excite. When I undertook to superintend these volumes, I was led to suppose that the late Mr Greswell, who, I understood many years ago, had spent much time in collecting materials for a work like this, had left few sources of information unvisited, and that, in order to give the public the benefit of them, little more was necessary, except to arrange them in a due methodical order, and to add to the narrative thus formed, any explanatory or connecting links which it might demand.

With this expectation I undertook an office, which, under different prospects, no inducement whatever could have tempted me to accept, as I had neither time nor inclination for the labour. Having entertained, therefore, a perfect misconception of the actual progress which the late Mr Greswell had made towards his intended work, I found that this gentleman, for whose memory I entertain every respect, had in a manner done little more than commence his labours, the design having evidently been frustrated by his lamented decease ; and that a wide field of information sub sisted, of which no Lancashire historian had yet availed himself.

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. XII This discovery was to myself a source of unexpected embarrassment and dis tress. My name had m a manner stood pledged before the public, that the His tory of the Collegiate Church of Manchester, long a desideratum in Lancashire, should be published ; and I was naturally anxious to fulfil my promise, though at the risk of engaging in a task, for which I was neither encouraged by the nature of my present pursuits, nor my general course of studies. No one, in short, could be possibly less ambitious than myself to appear before the public as a recorder of ecclesiastical annals. It was, however, impossible for me to proceed very far with the late Mr Gres well's manuscript. In endeavouring to follow it, I was in the end obliged to cancel no fewer than four of the early sheets, — an experiment which was growing a very expensive one to the publishers, for whose sake I was compelled to desist.

But that every justice may be rendered to the actual amount of this gentleman's labours, I would state, that his name stands duly recorded at the head of each chapter which has been assisted by them, and that the extracts from various authors which he made, (for he wrote no part of the narrative himself,) will be found chiefly interspersed in that portion of the history which is posterior to the foundation of the Collegiate Church, but prior to, or a little after the Reformation, where they appear in connection with Hollingworth's manuscript, which is the proper basis or ground-work of most that is known of this period. And if in any other part of the work, I have been occasionally indebted to the same collections, an acknowledgment for each distinct obliga tion appears in its proper place ; — a duty on my part, which in no instance to my knowledge, I have omitted.

After this explanation I shall merely add, that the materials from which I have derived the bulk of the present narrative are explained in detail throughout its course, and therefore need no repetition in a preface. The great share which the library of Mr Heywood of Swinton Lodge has had in affording me the in formation which I needed, is particularly conspicuous ; and some notion may be formed of the richness of his collection on all subjects connected with this his-

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. XIII tory, by perusing the list of volumes in his possession, relative to the events of Manchester during the Great Rebellion, all of which he generously allowed me to consult. (See the Addenda to the present volume, page 415.) Nothing now remains for me except to say a few words upon the general nature of the information submitted to the reader. The ecclesiastical information, much of which is collected from very rare and almost inaccessible documents, will, I believe, be found to be for the first time published ; nor can it be perused by the most hasty reader without his conviction, that the College of Manchester gave the impulse to all the important ecclesiastical events* which took place in Lancashire from the commencement of the reign of Elizabeth, down to the commotions of the year 1745.

Many facts are also narrated, particularly during the great civil wars of England, which not only reflect a new light upon the general history of Lancashire, but are calculated to explain many obscure points in the ecclesiastical an nals of the kingdom at large. These I have assiduously collected, and have en deavoured to record with impartiality and fidelity. S. Hibbert. Edinburgh, June 21th, 1830. TABLE OF CONTENTS TO PART FIRST, THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, MANCHESTER. VOLUME FIRST. Chapters. Introductory Memoir. — The earliest annals of the rectory and deanery of Manchester, - - -sage 1 & Appendix 377 I. Wardenship of John Huntington, a. d. 1422 to 1458 42 & Appendix 380 II. John Booth, - 1459 to 1465 46 & Appendix 380 III. Ralph Langley, - 1465 to 1481 47 & Appendix 300 IV. James Stanley, (Primus,) 1481 to 1485 49 V. James Stanley, (Secundus,) 1485 to 1509 50 & Appendix 381 VI.

Robert Cliff and his successor Alday, - - 1509 to 1518 55 & Appendix 381 VII. George West, - 1518 to 1535 59 & Appendix 382 VIII. George Collyer, - 1535 to 1557 61 & Appendix 383 IX. Lawrence Vaux, - 1557 & 1558 76 & Appendix 389 X. William Birch, - 1558 to 1570 78 & Appendix 390 XI. Thomas Herle, - 1570 to 1578 82 & Appendix 390 XII. ————— John Wolton, (including the charter of 20th Elizabeth,) - 1578 & 1579 88 XIII. William Chaderton, - 1579 to 1595 110 XIV. John Dee, - - 1595 to 1608 129 XV. Richard Murray, (including the last charter of Charles the I.) - 1608 to 1636 136 & Appendix 390 XVI. Richard Heyrick, the earliest period of his wardenship, - - 1636 to 1646 167 & Appendix 393 XVII. Introduction of the Presbyterian discipline into Manchester, ... 1646 231 & Appendix 394 XVIII. Mode in which the Presbyterian discipline was put into effect, ..... 247 XIX.

Annals of the Presbyterian Church of Manchester, - - - 1646 to 1660 268 & Appendix 394 XX. The restored wardenship of Richard Heyrick, 1660 to 1667 342 & Appendix 401 Addenda, containing the last Charter of Charles the First, in the original Latin, - - CONTENTS. VOLUME SECOND. Chapters. XXI. Wardenship of Nicholas Stratford, D. D. a. d. 1667 to 1684 Page 1 XXII. Richard Wroe, D. D. 1684 to 1718 20 & Appendix 180 XXIII. Samuel Peploe, B. D. (Primus,) 1718 to 1738 56 & Appendix 180 XXIV. Samuel Peploe, D. D. (Secundus,) 1738 to 1745 82 XXV. Ibid. 1745 to 1750 87 & Appendix 180 XXVI. Ibid. 1751 to 1760 146 XXVII. Ibid. 1760 to 1781 155 XXVIII. Richard Assheton, D. D. 1781 to 1800 163 XXIX. ' Thomas Blackburne,LL.D. 1800 to 1823 168 XXX. Thomas Calvert, D. D. commencing 1823 172 XXXI. Conclusion, - PART FIRST.

HISTORY OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE PARSONAGE AND DEANERY OF MANCHESTER, CON- CLUDING WITH THE FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH : WITH MIS- CELLANEOUS NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MORE GENERAL ANNALS OF THE TOWN. Written for this work by Samuel Hibbeiit, M. D. V. R. S. E. &c. * IVIanchester was originally situated on the northern banks of the river Med lock, upon the site of ground known at the present day by the name of the Cas tle Field. The learned Whittaker, the historian of Manchester, has supposed, that, as a place of defence, it owed its origin to the Sistuntii, the earliest posses sors of the south of Lancashire, by whom the settlement was named Mancenion," * When studying, some years ago, the very erudite researches of the Reverend J. Whittaker, my attention was attracted to the more early Ecclesiastical History of Manchester.

Finding, therefore, on the present occasion, that the late Mr Greswell's collections on this particular sub ject were comparatively few, I have drawn up the present memoir from my own resources. b " The dimensions of Mancenion," says Mr Whittaker, " are still very discernible. It filled the whole area of the present Castle Field, except the low swampy part of it on the west, and was twelve acres, three roods, and ten perches in extent. Terminated by the windings of the Med lock on the south, south-east, and south-west, it was bounded on the east by a fosse, on the west by the present very lofty bank, and on the north by a broad ditch." — " And all along the A signifying a place of tents ; — that the fortress afterwards became, from right of conquest, a station of the more powerful British tribe of the Brigantes ; — that it was next taken by the Romans, who, after having remodelled it, changed the name of Mancenion into Mancunium ; — and that, during the long period in which the Romans kept possession of this station,0 the British natives dwelt with out the northern barrier, on the site since named Aldport, or the old borough.d The foregoing is a summary of what little is conjectured regarding the first in habitants of Manchester.

Their earliest ecclesiastical annals are veiled in still greater obscurity. The religious tenets which prevailed among the first inhabi tants of Britain were those which have been frequently described by historians un der the name of Druidic ; but at what precise period they began to be dispelled by the light of Christianity is uncertain. Eusebius informs us, that Britain was indebted for the introduction of Christianity to the zeal of some of the first dis ciples of Christ ; and it has been also alleged that Christianity was publicly pro fessed in this country before the close of the second century. It is certain that, early in the fourth century,' several British Christians suffered martyrdom, and that some British bishops, reported to labour under the greatest poverty, attended the councils.

But whether Mancunium was entitled at this time to rank present streets, instead of the cheerful voice of industry, and the numerous retainers of com merce, must then have existed the gloom of forests and the silence of solitude. So circum stanced must then have been the whole busy circuit of the present town, the solitude and silence being never interrupted but by the numerous resort of soldiers to the fortress in war, by the occasional visits of the hunters in peace, and by the hollow hum, the dying murmurs of the garri son conversing at a distance in the Castle Field. And a mind tolerably romantic might long amuse itself with the reflection, that the boar and the wolf, then the inhabitants of this gloomy region, were, for the most part, the only proprietors of these ample confines, and that they slum bered, perhaps in security, by day on the well-wooded bank of the present church-yard, and roamed perhaps by night in companies over the well-wooded area of the present market-place. c Mr Whittaker has shown that Mancunium was garrisoned by the first Frisian cohort, con sisting of auxiliary troops raised of natives from Friesland, as appears from monumental in scriptions which have at different periods been discovered near the place See the different edi tions of Camden's Britannia and Mr Whittaker's History of Manchester. d Mr Whittaker maintains that a summer station of the Romans of Mancunium was held near the confluence of the rivers Irwell and Irk, distant about a mile north from Castle Field, on the site where successively stood the residence of the Saxon and Norman barons of Manchester, and where now stand the college, the collegiate church, and many other buildings Whittaker, Vol. I. p. 182.

This is nothing, however, but a mere hypothesis, perfectly uncountenanced by the discovery of the least vestige of Roman remains upon the site. among the towns which could boast a Christian church must ever remain question able. There is not a shadow of evidence in support of the assertion which has been made in the affirmative. For nearly three hundred years the fortress of Mancunium was garrisoned by Roman soldiers, who were at length summoned away with other legions to form a part of the great army intended to repel the myriads of barbarians that threat ened to overrun the whole of the continent of Europe. The Britons were then released from their allegiance, and, as they had been long exposed to the depreda tions of the Pictish tribes, it became necessary that they should elect chiefs from their own nation to direct their councils and lead them against their enemies.

Their military positions were strengthened, and, as the Roman model of a fortress did not suit their habits, large buildings of stone were not unfrequently reared on the sites of stations, the walls of which were intended to constitute a more formi dable barrier against an assault. At this period, then, it is supposed that the Man cunium of the Romans first boasted a rude castle, and hence the name of Man kastelh, which was applied to its site. But the Britons were not long able of themselves to contend against their enemies. They therefore imprudently invited to their aid the Saxons, who, after subduing the Picts aud Caledonians, sought them selves a quarrel with their distressed allies ; laid waste the country with fire and sword ; and gradually advanced to the provinces of the north of England.

Man castle was no doubt one of the many fortresses which readily surrendered to their arms. The invasion of the Saxons led to the worship of fresh deities, as of Odin, Thor, and Frigga, and the other mythological personæ of the Edda. Although churches had existed in Britain before this event, it is extremely doubtful if the proselytes to Christianity were either very numerous or steady in their attachment to the new religion which was taught. The Saxons, therefore, found it no very difficult task to introduce into the country which they subdued their own system of paganism, which accorded so well with their military habits. To the free-born who fell by the sword an admission to Valhalla, or the hall of Odin, was promised, where heroes might possess the gratification of daily cutting each other to pieces in battle ; and as the hour of repast drew near, of enjoying a resuscitation that qua lified them to eat boar's flesh, and drink mead out of the skulls of their enemies.

But they were also threatened with a place consisting of nine worlds, where Hela, with the direst horrors, inflicted punishment on all who should die of disease or old age. A. D. 54,2. Such was the religion of the votaries of Odin ; and it is an interesting circum stance, that the remains of a temple devoted to the rites of this deity (whom the Anglo-Saxons named Woden) existed not many years ago at Ordsall, near Man chester. On the north bank of the river Irwell, south-west of the town, was a cave open to the south, which was adorned with grotesque sculptures rudely cut out of the rock. In an eld charter it is described by the appellation of Woden's Den, while an adjoining shallow part of the stream, the traversing of which was as sisted by a paved causeway, bore the name of Woden's Ford.

There can be little question but that in this recess the sacrifices, divination, and compacts appertaining to the worship of the mythological hero of the Edda were regularly practised. With the view of attempting the recovery of the provinces of the north, Ar thur, the sovereign of the Silures, is said to have been selected by Ambrosius, the pendragon of the Britons, for the command of the army. Among the twelve vic tories of Arthur over the Saxons, four of them were obtained on the banks of the river Douglas in Lancashire.' Five years after the death of Arthur, Ida, a Saxon leader, landing at Flame In these annals of Arthur's feats the traditionary story related in La Morte d' Arthur, still current, is supposed to have taken place. Mr Whittaker has endeavoured to strip the romance of its fantastic disguise, by supposing that Torquin or Tarquin, as he is named in the romance of Morle Arthur, is the same as the Turk described in Lhuyd's Archæologia, who Avas the commander of a body of Saxons ; that this officer, being vested with the command of the castle of Manches ter, disgraced his courage by his brutality, and that Lancelot du Lac, the king of Cheshire, residing at Poolton Lancelot in the Hundred of Wirrall, was the successful commander of the party that retook the fortress and slew the tyrant.

It is certain that the historian of Manchester has most ingeniously interwoven the slender thread of hypothesis in his history of Castle Field ; but how far success has rewarded his exertions may admit of a very reasonable doubt. The story of Tarquin formed the subject of an ancient ballad. This I reprinted in the year 1808, with remarks on the tradition. Mr Richard Hollingworth, in his manuscript history of Manchester, thus notices the story : " It is said that Sir Tarquine, a stout enemie of King Ar thur, kept this castle, and neare to the ford in Medlock, about Mab-house, hung a bason in a tree, on which bason whosoever did strike, Sir Tarquine, or some of his company, would come and fight with him. And that Sir Lancelot Du Lake, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, did beat upon the bason, fought with Tarquine, killed him, and possessed himself of the castle, and loosed the prisoners.

Whosoever thinks it worth his pains to read more of it may read the history of King Arthur. It is certaine that, about Anno Dom. 520, there was such a Prince as King Arthur, and it is not incredible that he or his knights might contend about this castle when he was in this country. And as Ninus saith, he put the Saxons to flight in a memorable battle near Wigan, about twelve miles off." borough, subdued the counties of Northumberland and Durham, and assumed the title of King of Bernicia, while Ella, another Saxon chief, conquering the great est part of Lancashire and Yorkshire, received the name of King of Deira. Ethel rid, grandson of Ida, afterwards united in himself the government of both Ber nicia and Deira, and established one of the most powerful Saxon kingdoms by the title of Northumbria.