Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/224

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of cold water, was an important discovery of which this gentleman has a claim to all the merit. The engine, however, in this case did not succeed; for being applied to drain a large tract of land which had been overflowed, the quantity of water was too great for its powers, and in the attempt to increase the expansive force proportionately to the cause, the engine was rent to pieces, and never afterwards repaired. Wednesbury has also to boast the pride of high antiquity, as it derives its name from that of the great northern god Woden, and was conse- quently built during the times of Scandinavian su- perstition in this country. No trace of its ancient castle, built by the Saxons, remains; its scite is occupied by a fine Gothic church, and its elegant chancel built in the reign of Henry VI I. The chearfuhiess of manufactories increased upon us, as we approached Brmingham; but ali the lesser stars were eclipsed by the extensive and elegant build- ings that form the works of Messrs. Boulton and Watt, called Soho, which, together with the hand- some inans'on of the former gentleman, cover the declivities of a hill to the right of the turnpike- road, at Handsworth, two miles from Brmingham. L lie situation oi the house is commanding, the dis- position of the grounds tasty, and the manufactories as striking for their neatness as magnificence; so

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