Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/535

Rh LANCASHIRE. 627 LANCASHIRE. on the N. by Cumberland and Westmoreland, N.E. and E. by Yorkshire, S. by Cheshire, and W. by the Irish Sea. It is divided into two parts by Morecambe Bay, of which the northern contains the district of Furness. Its total length is 87 miles, and breadth nearly 45. It comprises an area of 1,219,221 acres, or 1,905 square miles ; of which 80,000 acres are shore. Lancashire is in size the sixth county in England, and is now the most populous shire in the empire, its population being only exceeded by London. According to the census of 1861 it contains a population of 2,429,440, being a con- siderable increase to the population of 2,031,236 in 1851. Since the commencement of the present century it has more than trebled. This county was, at the dawn of English history, inhabited by a people called the Brit/antes, the most powerful of all the tribes possessing the island. These people were subsequently subdued by Agricola, and Lancashire included in the province of Maxima Ctesariensis. For some time after the invasion of the Saxons this county retained its independence as a portion of the British state of Cumbria. In the 7th century part was reduced by the Angles under Egfrid, the son of Oswis, and added to the kingdom of Northum- bria, but the whole county was not permanently brought into subjection before the reign of Edward the Elder, in 921. It was invaded by the Scots under Robert Bruce in 1323, who proceeded as far as Preston. It was here that the Earl of Lincoln landed with numerous German and Irish adherents to support the cause of Lambert Simnel, in the reign of Henry VII. When the " Pil- image of Graa " occurred in the reign of Henry VIII. e people of Lancashire revolted, but were subdued by the earls of Shrewsbury and Derby. In the Civil War it played a prominent part. Preston and Lancaster were alternately occupied by the royalists and parlia- mentarians. In 1644 Lathom House was besieged ; and in 1648 the royalists under the Duke of Hamilton were defeated by Cromwell on Ribbleton Moor. In the rebellion of 1715 the followers of the Pretender were forced to surrender at Preston. In 1745 this county was occupied by the forces of the Young Pretender. Lancashire forms two electoral divisions, viz. North icashire and South Lancashire, each returning two nbers to parliament. North Lancashire contains the of Lonsdale, Amounderness, Leyland, and kburn; and South Lancashire the hundreds of >rd and West Derby. It is in the northern circuit, 1 assizes are held at Lancaster for North Lancashire, and at Liverpool for South Lancashire. The county palatine of Lancaster is attached to the Duchy of Lan- liich, by Act of Parliament in the first year of Edward IV., was vested in the said king and his heirs, to hold as a separate inheritance, but annexed to the crown, in which it is still vested. A court of chancery i held at Lancaster for the county palatine. Bank- [mmtf courts are held at Liverpool and Manchester. Che number of townships in Lancashire is about 500, and these still serve as the chief civil territorial divisions, having separate rates for their poor and highways. It s 69 parishes. No county in the empire possesses larger and more flourishing cities. Of these the chief are, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford, Oldham, Preston, Blackburn, Wigan, Lancaster, Ashton-under- Lyne, Rochdale, Bolton, Accrington, Bury, Clitheroe, - ton, &c. ; there are also 29 market towns, and no villages and hamlets. Lancashire is governed by a lord-lieutenant, high sheriff, and 350 magistrates. ils the geographical features of the couuty, its i part, called Furness, detached from the main ' portion, forms an integral part of the Cumbrian moun- 1'his part is again divided into two districts, lie Upper Furness, or Furness Fells, and Lower The upper is distinguished by mountains an elevation of 2,000 and 3,000 feet, watered ins or occupied by lakes. Towards the coast the presents a flat and swampy aspect the Lower In the chief portion of the county the northern 'om parts are traversed by branches from the i central liu.'li :ing into Derbyshire. These, however, are not equal in elevation to the Cumbrian group, but form high waste moorlands. In the southern and western parts these elevations decrease and leave a broad flat surface running down to the sea. This flatness borders the sea from the mouth of the river Wyre to that of the Lune, and continues as far as Morecambe Bay. With this exception, and that of Low Furness, Lancashire assumes almost a mountainous character. Its chief heights are, Old Man, in Coniston Fells, 2,577 feet ; Pendle Hill, near Clitheroe, 1,803 feet ; Bleasdale Forest, 1,709 feet; Boulworth Hill, 1,689 feet; Whittle Hill, 1,614 feet ; Rivington Moor, 1,545 feet ; Lee Pike ; and Langridge Fell. The coast, with few exceptions, is low throughout, bordered by broad sands. Its outline is regular, excepting the two bays of Liverpool and Morecambe, and the estuary of the Ribblo. The islands along the coast are off the southern extremity of Furness ; these are Walney Island, Foulney, Pie! of Fouldrey, Sheep and Roe Islands, and Old Barrow Ramsey. They are all small and unimportant, except- ing that of Walney, which is 8 miles long, and never exceeds 1 mile in width. It stands upon a bed of peat, and is so low as to have been nearly inundated. It contains two hamlets, and at its southern point a light- house. The rivers that irrigate Lancashire generally flow from N. to S. The Lune, or Loyne, rising in Westmoreland, enters Lancashire near Kirkby Lonsdale, receiving as its tributaries the Greta and the Wenning, and after passing Lancaster empties itself into Lancaster Bay. The Wyre, rising in the Yorkshire moorlands, and after a course of 28 miles, empties itself in Lancaster Bay. The Ribble rises in the Yorkshire mountains, and, after dividing the counties of York and Lancastar, enters Lancashire, receiving on its course the Hodder, Calder, and Derwent, till it finally discharges itself in the Irish Sea. The Mersey rises near Huddersfield, and flowing through Yorkshire, proceeds along the border of Lancashire and Cheshire till it reaches Stock- port, when it is joined by the Goyt, and is called the Mersey. Its tributaries are the Irwell, Irk, and the Medlock, and it empties itself in Liverpool Bay. There are also several other small rivers in the county, as the Winster, Duddon, Leven, Douglas, and Alt. The two chief lakes are in Furness the Windcrmere and Conis- tou Water. The former, though on the borders of Westmoreland, is included in Lancashire. It is about 1 1 miles long, and varies in breadth from 1 to half a mile. It is the largestJake in England, and its scenery remarkably beautiful. Its waters are relieved by the Leven. Coniston, or, as it is sometimes called, Thurston Water, is nearly 6 miles long and half a mile broad. Its waters are discharged by the Leven. Coniston Fells are at its northern extremity. There are other shallow lakes, as Marton Mere, White Otter, and Barton Mere, but of little importance. The chief promontories are South End, Rossal Point, and Birkenhead. Com- munications through the county are well afforded by the Sankey Canal, extending from St. Helens, near Proscot, into the Mersey; the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, commencing in Manchester and from thence flowing into Cheshire ; the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the largest in the kingdom, entering Lancashire near Colne, and passing by Blackburn, Chorley, Wigan, and Onnskirk, to Liverpool ; the Lancaster canal, beginning in West- moreland at Kendal, and running direct to Lancaster, from whence, after a short course, it unites with tho Leeds and Liverpool canal ; and the Ashton-under-Lyne, Rochdale, Manchester, Bolton, and Bury canals. These canals are a portion of that inland navigation connecting the Irish Sea with the German Ocean. Nor are the facilities offered by this water communication the only means of transit in the county. Perhaps in no part of the United Kingdom is the railway system more com- pletely carried out than in Lancashire. The entire S. of this county is traversed with a network of lines, and communication is easily held by rail with all the im- portant towns. The main northern line to Scotland, in connection with the London and North- Western railway, enters Lancashire at Warrington passing Wigan, Pres-