THE ANTIQUITIES OF STORETON,

IN WIRRAL.

By Edward W. Cox.

Read 28th January, 1897.

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TORETON is one of the four townshipsTranmere, Higher Bebington, and Spital being the others that formerly constituted the large parish of Bebington, and lies at the north-western side of the old parish, which thus stretched from the western shore of the Mersey to about a couple of miles from the central line of the peninsula of Wirral. The natural formation of Wirral in its northern half is somewhat peculiar: the land rises from the banks of the river Mersey and those of Wallasey Pool into a range of hills stretching from Bidston southwards, and dying gradually into a plateau after passing Bromborough, while a similar range skirts the shores of the Dee, and falls to level ground near Shotwick. A middle ridge, of somewhat lower elevation, divides the intermediate valley longitudinally, so as to form two minor valleys.

From the highest crest of Storeton Hill, which is part of the eastern range, the township stretches westwards: crossing the first and narrower valley, it overlaps the lower central range, terminating westwards at the bottom of the second valley, in which flows northwards the small river Fender, which, curving round the northern end of the range

below Bidston Hill, joins the Birket, and turning sharply eastwards formed the estuary of Wallasey Pool, now the Great Float of Birkenhead Docks. From the same range, which is the watershed of this part of Wirral, issue several other small brooks, which flow southward and south-east to Bromborough Pool.

POSITION TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.

The geological formation in this township is of peculiar interest, and inasmuch as it is connected with the antiquities of the place, it is well to notice it shortly. Storeton Hill, which lies on its western side, has been formed by some great convulsion, which has faulted the overlying strata of new red sandstone, and has forced up from the lower and earlier sandstone a long ridge of fine white stone, forming the rocky summit ridge, in which are excavated the great quarries of Storeton. The waters and ice of the glacial period have eroded the rocks, and have spread the whiter sandy soil over the lower levels thus the soil of Storeton, for the most part, differs from that of the greater part of Wirral, which is chiefly a strong clay. The antiquarian consideration connected with these formations is, that the stone from Storeton is of a character differing from any other in the district, and therefore distinguishable in works of antiquity, and also that the light and easily-worked soil seems, from indications to be noticed, to have attracted, in very primitive times, a settlement of early cultivators, who have left slight but unmistakeable traces in the township.

Another feature, which has given to Storeton a special character, is its commanding site, and its post upon the landward routes that connect the Mersey and the Dee. From the hill, the chief part of the estuary of the Mersey is in full view; to the

south, the castles of Beeston and Halton; to the north, the coast of Wirral and the distant horizon of the Irish Sea; west and south-west, the range of hills guarding the Vale of Clwyd, and the nearer and lower ranges of Flintshire; and in the extreme distance, the summits of the Snowdonian range. Wirral lies, a detached strip, between the sea coasts of the great Saxon kingdom of Mercia and the marches of Wales: the last refuge of the Britons, who, though often overrun by invasions, have till our own time maintained the identity of their race. From Storeton we can see the Bwlch Agrikle over which Julius Agricola marched his legions to subjugate Anglesea; also that pass below the entrenched Moel Fenlli, from which Germanus drove back the Pictish invasion by the "Hallelujah" victory; and the passes over which King Edwin marched his Saxons to harry the Britons, and Flint; whence Edward I began his invasion of Wales. Yet Wirral, standing detached between its two estuaries, has been the scene of no great events; Chester, the fortress, controlled it so completely, that the tides of war and invasion have passed it by, and the masters of Chester have held Wirral comparatively secure and free, even though exposed on all sides to invasion from the sea.

On the high lands Storeton stands like a watchtower; and quiet and secluded as it now is in its rural solitude, this lofty position has determined its history and influenced its antiquities. Danger of invasion of Wirral was only to be feared from the sea, and the wise choice usually shown in the selection of ancient sites is apparent here. While the high ground overlooks widely every approach from the coast, it is sufficiently withdrawn from the sea and rivers to admit of safe inland roads across the peninsula, and to give time for withdrawal towards the fortress of Chester in times of urgent peril.

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Wirral, therefore, has no trace of important defences, the only considerable ones being the Norman castle of Shotwick, and a burgh at Thurstaston, earlier traces being few and uncertain. The triple line of entrenched hills along the Welsh coast and valleys were the true bulwark that checked the wave of Pictish and Saxon invasions; and within sight from Storeton are the lands where began the great lines of demarcation between Saxon and Briton, defined by Offa's dyke and Watt's dyke, with their intermediate neutral ground.

ANCIENT ROADS.

From Storeton, therefore, radiates a great network of ancient roads; not only across the peninsula between the ferry of Birkenhead to the ancient point of embarkation at Hoylake, but to every surrounding village there still is an old road of communication, and others now closed or neglected are still to be traced. Many of these are now mere field-tracks or pathways, some of them, notably that to Prenton Hall and a fragment of one called Kirkup Lane, leading originally from Storeton to Bebington and Bromborough Pool, still show the central rib made of large blocks of stone, laid in the Roman manner, as a trackway for pack-horses. To these roads a Roman origin has been attributed by Mr. Thompson Watkin and others, but they are almost certainly mediæval, as the roads themselves have no indication of the solid and permanent construction seen in Roman work. Other roads have had a narrow central track of cobble-stone pavement, now chiefly broken up or covered, the width being too small for any modern vehicle; these have formed pack-horse roads of later work. Examples are to be seen in an ancient fragment leading from Spital, and in others that pass by Thingwall and Landican and Frankby, from the western side of the township.