Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/126

Chap. IV. O F M ;A NCHESTER. 9 y bank. Beyond the canal it entered the fields of Oldfi eld -Hall, is * iri vifiblc * in the firft, 'butisivcry vifible in the other three. Thefe appear to have been taigbially a pact of the neighbour- ing mofe; which is denominated Seaman's, which fpread into a large extent upon: the tight, and fome narrow remains of which . ftill continue immediately on the left. And the Roman road muft have been conftru&ed along them with a good elevation. Withioi thefe rory few y^ars; the gravel has been carried away . to the tiepth'of a yard in • many places, , And yet the team of the gravel remains very conspicuous along the third and fourth fields. . . . • But, leaving thefe tlofes, the road enters a field that was hedged ia from the mofs only aftjwiyears ago. This nuiftj^ave been the moil: boggy part of the mofs in the time of the Ro- mans* as even now the foil of it is fb extremely loofe and foft, that I pufhed a whalebone whip with great facility a full yard . into the ground. Over fuch a tra<5t of land, the road muft tie- ceflarily have been raifed .with gravel to a confiderable height. Oyer it the road ftill carries a lofty- ridge, being popularly called the Upcaft, and having a fall for ten or twelve yards on either fide. * And over it the road lately carried a loftier ;>a great quan- tity of gravel having been taken. off from the.fummit foon after . the inclofing of the field,, and difperfed equably along the fide6.; ••.-,■ Having thus croffed the mofs, the Roman way leaves the low grounds to which it had hitherto been confined, and begins to afcend the Dunes- or hills lyhich terminate the rich valley of Manchfefter to the fbuth- weft, and give name to the neigh- bouring Dunham; Not mounting the fummit but palling along a lower fhelve of the hills, it enters Dunham-park, and . muft once* have communicated the name of Street-head to the high ground upon its left. And this name is now retained by the only habitation which is near it, a final! houfe at the foot of the high, ground and upon the margin of the prefent road . .. Defcending along the flope of .thefe heights and leaving the indiofure- of the Park, the Roman road muft have., croflfed- the O little