Page:Roman Manchester (1900) by Charles Roeder.djvu/96

 precious fibulæ, and coins ranging from 41–388; while nothing, in spite of close research, has been found at or about Liverpool until we reach Formby. To judge from some Roman objects found at Tarbock, Downholland, and Formby, and in a direction from Wigan to Upholland and Scarisbrook a few tracks to the sea may have been in existence, but otherwise the stretch between Great Meols and Walton-le-Dale, on the Ribble, forms a blank as far as Roman manifestations are concerned. If the Mersey had been an estuary Agricola would certainly have built a stronghold and constructed a road to it, as he did at the Ribble and Lune. These collateral facts appear to establish an additional proof that the Belisama must be considered to represent the estuary of the Ribble, and that probably the Segantii spread thickest between the Ribble and Fleetwood, which latter is accepted as the Portus Segantiorum; that, consequently, more strictly their centre comprises the Fylde district. At Fleetwood (formerly called Quaggy Meols) a considerable number of coins was found in 1840, from Vespasian to Caracalla and from Constantine to Honorius, and a large paved platform, 8 feet from the surface.

It is well known to geologists and antiquaries that the whole coast line has undergone a complete change since Roman times; the estuaries were more extensive and stretched much further out to the sea; the land surface has contracted considerably, and was continuous from the Wirrall to the Lune, forming a large (now submerged)