lands in the Salford hundred is the following in this locality: Grant in frankalmoign from Odo, son of Ingrith de Withington [to the canons of Cockersand] of a portion of his land in Withington, to wit eight acres of land by the great ditch on the south side, as the crosses indicate; with common of pasture and all liberties and easements belonging to his fee of the said town. Any future demand upon this land to be discharged by the residue of his fee [1184-1210 c.]. STOCKPORT. Stockport-a border town between Lancashire and Cheshire is another typical example of the way in which a strong naturally defensive site was utilised by early settlers. It would be difficult indeed to find a stronger position, the castle, the market place, and the church grouped together on a small but lofty plateau, within a loop of the river Mersey, resembling in several respects the Manchester stronghold at the junction of the Irk with the Irwell. Being on a great Roman road, there can be little doubt that here, at one time, was a Roman camp of more or less importance. Not merely had the site the natural advantage of a rock within the bend of a river, but, in addition, it is a river junction site, the Tame joining the Goyt at this point; and, moreover, the lowlying land between these rivers to the north-east was at one time marshy, making the advance of adversaries difficult. Reference to the map will show that this marshy ground was about three-quarters of a mile in length and half a mile in width, much like the ground to the north of Bury. In his Domesday Notes, the late Canon Isaac Taylor tells us that Stockport was originally called Stockford, a place where stakes were driven in across the river, so making a ford. My friend, the late Mr. E. C. Howard Z (an old Stockport resident), many years ago marked on my map the position where these stakes were placed. It is about seventy yards west of the river junction in the middle of the bend of the Mersey. Subsequently, the river was crossed by a bridge, about two hundred and fifty yards south of the ford, at Teviot Dale, from which point the old road rises precipitately to the north. It was, indeed, found to be so dangerously steep for the coaches that a new road, sweeping round to the east, was subsequently formed. In an interesting paper by Mr. Kay, in the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society's Transactions for 1896, a sketch is given of the ancient walls of the town and castle site. The castle was destroyed during the Civil Wars. Per Dr. Heginbotham,* in describing the site, writes: "It only requires a very superficial examination of the rock upon which the castle stood, and which can even now be easily traced, to enable anyone to be convinced of the impregnability of the fortress before the introduction of the powerful means employed in modern warfare. pendicular cliffs and precipices on the west, the north, and the north-easterly sides rendered it quite unapproachable, whilst on the east and south-east it was bounded by a steep ascent from the river Mersey, which was only fordable at this point. In a stream of such magnitude as the Mersey then was, the command of this ford would be most important, and no doubt every available means of defending it would be adopted.” The oldest map of Stockport which I have yet seen shows the town as it existed circa 1680. It is reproduced in Heginbotham's Stockport from an old sketch plan in the possession of a Stockport resident, and shows the * Stockport, Ancient and Modern, by Henry Heginbotham. |