Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/161

 i 3 a THE HISTORY • Book f. has been the cafe with the bolder bank of the town, the ground immediately to the eafl; of it, too low to have been ever ra- vaged by the floods, muft now extend as far as it ever extended into the channel, and the lively brook betwixt both muft have always fallen into the Ribble at the point of its prefent conjunc- tion with it. The Ribble, pafling over the Roman ford at the bridge and running direCtly under the fbuthern bank, is thrown by a fhelve of it direCtly againft the fite of the town, and joins the lively brook exaCtly at the point where the lofty bank of the town commences. In this the original difpofition of the cur- rent, every projection of the northern bank beyond the imme- , diate line of the conjunction muft have formed a curve in the channel, and the Ribble muft even within thefe hundred years have curved facing to the northern bank. The large cut that is carried from Anchor-Hill to the river, by its continuance even at prefent no lefs than thirty or forty yards more fbutherly than the above-mentioned line of conjunction, absolutely demon- strates the bank to have extended as many yards at leaft to the fbuth of the line. And the great devaftation which the current has made upon the bank of the town within thefe fixty yearfc firfficiently proves the projection to have been muchmore conf?- derable originally. The bold bank of Ribchefter muft have ac- tually come forward fo far into the valley, as to range in a ftraight line with the headland immediately below the town, which now pufhes itfelf a confiderable way into the valley, and remains a ftriking fignature of the original projection of the whole.' A projection, which till thefe fixty years had withftood the waftfeftrl fury of a rapid current dire&ly beating upon it for a long flic- ceflion. of ages, muft have been originally continued with the continuing headland more than half way over the valley. And • the Ribble, pufhing its ftream immediately againft the bafe of the large projection, was conftrained to cany its' broken waters all along the eaftern and all along the fbuthern fides of it, in order to reach the channel in which it now moves immediately below the town. Upon' this great angular ciuVe in the current of the Ribblfe and