Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/191

 Uz THE HISTORY Book I And we have feveral inflances of the like diverfions among the Romans, new roads conftru&ed by the Ramans of the later ages becaufe the old took a confuterahle round M. In • coo- fequcncQ of our own particularly, the ftation of Veratinum, which before perhaps had only two vicinal ways to it, and had a connexion by them with Maricunjum and Deva only, was placed upon the courfe of a great road, was necefforily infejted in the later Itineraries, and aeceffarily engaged the notiqe of the tranferibing Chorographer. And the prefent appearance of the Roman road at Haydock confirms the opinion. Conftru&ed entirely with the red e^rth and this red rock which form the pa* tural foil, it ft ill retains all the great convexity which was ori* gioally given it, and muft therefore have been, ocmftru&ed by the Romans of the later ages, and have been fpeedily deferted in this particular part of it by the Britons or Saxons after them* And the direction of our great north-weft^m road was now firft diverted from Manchester, by which it had hitherto gone, and ^vas now fir ft carried throi^gh Warrington, through which it continues to go to the prefent moment. At the fame period undoubtedly the other part of the road, which had. pre vioufly curved from Caudate by Mediolanum apd by Uriconium. to Wall near Litchfield ", was laid dire&ly as it now tends over the hills of Talk and Newcastle and by the ftatioas of Chefter^oa and Berry- Bank. Cheftertgn is about two miles to the north of Newcaftle, and Berry -B^nk is about one mile to the fipwfih of Stone. The former is fuf&ciently characterized as a ftation by its common name, and the latter by the name of Wulfere-rcefter which it bears in a very antient record. And the latter is ad--. ditionally marked by a camp upon a lofty hill, extending about twd hundred yards in diameter, fecur$d by a double vallum, and fortified with deep entrenghga«n$& * • « 1 So our own Strangeways was named from, the Roman road tha* went by it, — ' See Gale's Antoninus p. 1 13, where he jQftiy aflert* the Britiih Vara to he the piefent Ferry; and Llhuyd's