Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/128

Chap.1V- OF; WAN C H ESTER. 99 of Rud-heath a little diftant on the left tmd Newton near Mid- dlewich kf* diftant on the right, the fCind-ftreet paffcs through Ravtaicroft irtto Kindetton* And both the tome and the lane are inftantiy heard of ife fatte» Here therefore the conchifioa of the road and the length of the diftance invite vts ftroagly to fearch for a ftation. The name of Condate h pretty loudly echoed in the name of Kinderton 1 . And, what is much more weighty, this is the firft place con- venient for a ftation about the requifite diftance from Man- chefter. TheKind-ftreet, pointing ddwn the bank of the river to thebridge of Ravenfcroft, muft have forded the channel two or three yards to the right of the bridge, and have entered the field beyond it. In this field it has been a&ually difcovered. This is denomi- nated the Harbour's field ; And this was certainly the area of the Roman ftation, The particular Situation of the field betwixt the rivers Croco and Dane is a Sufficient proof in itfelf. The appella- tion of the ground is an additional evidence, the Har-bourh's Field fignifying plainly the area; of the military ftation. And the fite and the name, the refriaitts 'about it and the tradition concerning it, are an atofolute determhfatten This field is nearly a parallelogram of ten ftatute-acres in ex- tent, and is bounded by a natural bank lofty and fteep upon one fide, and jthe little Croco curling at the foot of it, and by ano- ther Natural tank lefs lofty fcut more fteep on another fide, and the larger JWen of pane gurglkig dire&ly beneath it; the for- mer rivulet falling into the. latter at ' the angle of the field. Upon the third fide, but feveral yards within the hedge of the field, are the confiderable remains of a ditch, rifing up the af- cent, and being once undoubtedly continued in the fame line and along the hollow of the contiguous lane. And upon the fourth fide the antient ditch ftill preferves its original perfection, being a fteep fofle about ten yards in depth to the narrow bot- tom and about eight in breadth at the top, formerly converted, like a part of the other ditch, into the courfe of a road, and lately made the channel of an artificial ftreamlet. '- " * O 2 Such