Page:Roman Manchester (1900) by Charles Roeder.djvu/12

4 the leading results. "Roman Manchester" has fared very badly compared with Roman Chester, or even little places like Wilderspool, Ribchester, and Melandra. The earlier antiquaries were satisfied to look at the "square tower," or to view one or two centurial stones left in the wall. Dr. Dee, who might have done much, devoted himself to other studies rather than give us a description of the ruins at Castlefield or leave a plan of how it appeared in his time. Whitaker, with all his eagerness and enthusiasm, practically wrote for men of the town in his own time, who knew all its features well; if he had confined himself to locating and drawing all the sites of discoveries and speculating less, he would have done a great service; as it is, his two large volumes have carefully to be studied through, and the few golden grains have to be extracted from the heap of dross that covers them. But we owe to him the registration of some valuable discoveries which but for him would leave us incapable of understanding some important points which have since extended our knowledge. Thompson Watkin has collected all the literary evidence up to his time, and incorporated his labours in his great work, Roman Lancashire, but not being a resident and thus missing most of the important excavations effected during his time, it has scarcely, if at all, increased our information; besides an author, who had to treat the whole County Palatine, could not be expected to concentrate his attention on Manchester, which held out so little encouragement to him for work or practical research.

Unfortunately, interest in Roman matters lay in a deep slumber, so far as local efforts were in question, and all the great opportunities from 1849 to even recent times were allowed to pass without profiting by the exceptional and transitory chances that lay open to