in so many of the old inns in England, but with the exception of one short length these corridors have now been enclosed. The hall contains some interesting paintings and ancient furniture.

The original owners of the manor of Pendlebury were a family which bore the local name, and was probably descended from one 66 Elias, son of Robert," to whom one carucate of land called "Peneburi" was granted by King John in the year 1199. It was succeeded by the Prestwiches, who owned the adjacent manor of Prestwich and the advowson of the church there. Joan, the daughter, and ultimately the heiress of Jordan de Tetlow, by his wife Alice, daughter and ultimately heiress of the last Adam de Prestwich, married Richard de Longley about the year 1360, and so brought the manors of Pendlebury, Prestwich, and Alkrington, and lands in those and the adjacent townships into the Longley family. This became a family of considerable importance in this part of Lancashire during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, and is frequently mentioned in local deeds and public records. There were several members. of this family rectors of Prestwich, and one of them, Ralph Longley, held the wardenship of Manchester from 1465 to 1481. Sir Robert Langley, of Agecroft, knt., who died on September 19th, 1561, left four daughters, amongst whom his large estates were divided. Anne Langley, to whom her father had given Agecroft, married William Dauntesey, a descendant of an old Wiltshire family. The Daunteseys held the estate for many generations, and it was the property of the late Robert Dauntesey, an old member of the Antiquarian Society. Twenty years ago the Council of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society was invited to Agecroft, and during the visit discovered an old chest full of

ancient deeds and documents, beginning in the year 1199, and coming down to 1811. Exclusive of loose papers this collection contained in all four hundred and fifty documents, of which over three hundred came under the designation of the Agecroft charters and deeds, the remainder relating to land in Poulton. The whole of these documents were arranged, and a catalogue of them made by Mr. J. P. Earwaker, F.S.A., who was one of the visitors on the occasion.

Friday, December 9th, 1904.

The monthly meeting was held at Chetham's Hospital, Mr. W. E. A. Axon in the chair.

Mr. Yates exhibited a George III. 5s. dollar (1804). During great scarcity of silver money in 1797 Spanish dollars and half-dollars were countermarked with a small punch of the king's head, and put into circulation as current coin of the value of 4s. 9d. This stamp having been counterfeited to a considerable extent, a different one was adopted in 1804; but it, in turn, having been counterfeited, the whole dollar was restamped with a fresh octagonal device-the king's head, &c., on the obverse, and on the reverse a figure of Britannia within an oval, crowned with a mural crown, and having the words, "Bank of England Five Shillings dollar, 1804.' Bank of England tokens, value 6s., 3s., and other amounts were also issued.

Mr. C. T. Tallent-Bateman exhibited a series of old Manchester letters from 1698 to 1717.

Mr. May exhibited a flat stone, hand polished, of very hard grit, supposed to have been used in cutting glass, as it fits the grooves of a specimen of partially polished glass found near it. A small crucible, with conical base

of greyish, highly silicious clay, partly vitrified, with traces of bronze. Photographs of the perforated clay floors and base of furnace, with similar holes for pointed crucibles. All from the excavations on the RomanBritish site at Wilderspool, near Warrington.

Mr. Charles Roeder read a paper on the "Beginnings of the Manchester Post-Office." (See page 1.)

Messrs. W. Harrison, A. Nicholson, and the Chairman took part in the discussion.

Friday, January 13th, 1905.

The monthly meeting was held in the Reading Room of Chetham Hospital, Mr. C. W. Sutton, M.A., presiding. Mr. Herbert M. White, B.A., contributed a paper on "Mottes, or Norman Earthworks." There are four of these earthworks in Lancashire-at Gressingham Bridge (near Hornby), Halton, Melling, and Arkholme. They were evidently constructed to accommodate a small force, and thus distinguish themselves definitely from the prehistoric and British tribal camps, as well as from the known Saxon "burhs." In exploring these mounds many interesting objects have been found-flint arrowheads, bone needles, and bones and teeth of the ox, deer, boar, and other animals, besides numerous fragments of pottery.

Mr. J. J. Phelps read a paper on "An ancient sculptured stone in the Manchester Cathedral," which will be printed in a subsequent volume.

The Revs. H. A. Hudson and George A. Pugh, and Messrs. Pearson, May, Bromwich, and the Chairman took part in a discussion on the paper.

215

OLD MANCHESTER EXHIBITION.

SOME Six weeks, in the spring of 1904, were made memorable to local antiquaries and to many thousands of Manchester men and women who love their grimy old city by the bringing together of a remarkable collection of pictures, books, coins, curios, and relics of all descriptions illustrative of our local history for a period of at least two thousand years.

To our member Mr. J. J. Phelps is due the suggestion of holding such an exhibition, which should commemorate the Society's coming-of-age, and at the same time strengthen and stimulate a healthier interest in all matters bearing on the history and development of Manchester and district. The Council, approving of the suggestion, appointed Mr. Phelps to act as honorary director on their behalf, and to the energy and zest with which that gentleman entered on the duties, with the assistance of a small but willing band of co-workers, the success of the exhibition was largely due.

By kind permission of the Art Gallery Committee, our Society was granted the use of the large room on the ground floor of the gallery in Mosley Street, and here, on March 29th, 1904, the exhibition was formally opened by a conversazione, with the President (Mr. Henry Taylor, F.S.A.) in the chair, who took occasion to review the career of the Society since its foundation in 1883. Looking back over the years which had elapsed since the Society was formed, Mr. Taylor acknowledged the services rendered by the late Dr. Renaud and the Rev. E. F. Letts. He spoke with much appreciation of the services of the Honorary Secretary, Mr. George C. Yates, and on behalf of the subscribers presented him with a handsome illuminated address, together with a purse of gold. Mr. Yates, in a sympathetic response, thanked the subscribers,

described his work as a labour of love, and acknowledged with gratitude the services of the Council of the Society, with whom it had always been a pleasure to be associated.

The following day (March 30th) the exhibition was thrown open to the public, and the steady stream of visitors which then poured in, and continued day after day, was abundant proof that the Society's effort had not been in vain. Originally a limit of ten or fourteen days had been fixed during which the exhibits might remain on view, but at the end of a fortnight, the interest of the Manchester public having increased rather than diminished, it was decided to continue the exhibition for a month longer. This decision was amply justified by the result, for at the closing meeting, held on the 11th May, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor (Mr. T. T. Shann), it was stated that no fewer than forty thousand visits had been made to the exhibition, a result upon which the Society may fairly congratulate itself. Of the excellent illustrated catalogue it may be recorded that several editions were called for before the public demands were satisfied.

In addition to the opening and closing meetings already referred to, mention should be made of the lecture by Professor Boyd Dawkins on "Prehistoric Manchester," and that by Mr. W. E. A. Axon on "The Development of Manchester," each lecture attracting a large and appreciative audience.

In conclusion it may be pointed out that in the "Old Manchester" Exhibition, held in 1887 at the Jubilee Exhibition, there were five hundred and fifty-six exhibits, and in the exhibition recently held six hundred and fifty-four. At a moderate estimate considerably under fifty per cent of the total appeared on both occasions. This seems to be worth noting, as it serves to indicate how numerous are these relics of the past, and confirms us in the hope that, some day or other, we may possess a truly representative and permanent collection of "memorials of old Manchester."

G. H. R.