anyone pauses for a moment to consider, the name itself suggests that the foundation of the city must date back from the time of the Roman occupation of the island. It has been, and not unreasonably, supposed that it was a British stronghold before the soldiers of Agricola took possession of it. Certain it is that it was occupied by Roman troops, and it is said that they made their summer camp near the spot where the building that is the subject of this book now stands, hard by the junction of the little stream of the Irk with the larger river Irwell. In those early days these streams in all probability ran bright and clear through broad meadow lands, and were crossed by bridges of very ancient construction. The remains of one such bridge have long been known to exist, and have on more than one occasion been uncovered.

The Irk now runs through a tunnel, and discharges its waters into the grimy, sluggish stream of the Irwell, which divides Manchester from Salford, and runs between the Exchange Station of the London and North-Western Railway and the cathedral church of the new diocese created in 1847.

Many Roman coins, principally those of Nero, Vitellius, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Constantine, have been found at various times in the course of digging the foundations of houses.

What befell Manchester when the Romans left Britain we do not know. That Paulinus preached here is highly probable; that Ine, King of the West Saxons, resided here with his Queen Ethelburga about 690 is recorded; that, like many other places not far distant from the seaboard, it was ravaged by the Danes is certain. King Edward the Unconquered, in 923, sent troops to repair its walls and garrison the town.

No picturesque legends about the foundation of the original Church of St. Mary which stood near the site of the present cathedral have come down to us. All we know is, that two wood-built churches are mentioned in Domesday Book as standing either in the town or the parish, one of them dedicated to St. Mary, the other to St. Michael.

1 The former was probably a predecessor of the present building, which is dedicated jointly to St. Mary, St. George, and St. Denys, though not on the same site. But of any Norman church of St. Mary not a trace is left, nor are there any remains of thirteenth century work visible in the church as we see it

to-day. Various examples of thirteenth and fourteenth century work, however, have been found in the walls of the church and in the western tower at different times during repairs and restorations.

William the Conqueror conferred the lands between the Mersey and the Ribble on Roger of Poictou, who granted the Manor of Manchester to the Gresley family; Thomas Gresley, Baron of Manchester, granted a charter to the townspeople of Manchester in 1301. Under these early barons the church was held successively by about fifteen rectors, among whom may be mentioned William de la Marcia (1284), who became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1292; Walter Langton, who was appointed Rector of Manchester, and also Keeper of the Great Seal by Edward I. in 1292, and was consecrated Bishop of Lichfield in 1296, but retained his rectory for three years after his consecration; John de Verdun or Everden (1313), who became Dean of St. Paul's in 1323. Meanwhile, the manor had passed from the Gresleys to the De la Warres; the last of their family became a priest, and appointed himself Rector of Manchester in 1373. He was a liberal benefactor to the church, and in order that there should be a suitable body of clergy to look after the spiritual welfare of the town, he endowed the church as a collegiate institution, obtaining the requisite charter from Henry V. in 1422. The college consisted of a warden, eight fellows in priests' orders, four deacons, and six boy choristers.

The old baronial hall was granted to the newly appointed body as a place of residence. This was largely modified to suit the requirements of its new inmates, and the church itself was gradually reconstructed. Hence we find the church built in the Perpendicular style, a style that has been imitated in the many additions that have been made to the building since it was raised to cathedral rank in 1847. So quickly does the smoke-laden atmosphere of Manchester discolour the stone, that in a very few years after their erection the new parts of the church match in colour the older parts of the building, and the passer-by who gives but a casual glance at the cathedral would be surprised to learn how much of its structure dates from the nineteenth century. At the present time, 1901, the only obviously new part is the western porch, but the north and south porches, the Fraser Chapel on the south side of the choir, the south-west corner of the building, as well as the tower, are all modern additions or reconstructions, and much of the exterior has been recased with stone. The residence of the warden and fellows, much modified at subsequent dates, may still be found on the north side of the church, on the other side of a road that skirts the churchyard. It is now known as Chetham's Hospital and Library; for fuller information about this building the reader is referred to the latter part of this volume.

No sooner had the first warden, John Huntington, been appointed, than he set to work to enlarge and beautify the collegiate church.

The oldest part of the church is the arch leading into the Lady Chapel, which, with its responds, has more resemblance to the Decorated than to the Perpendicular style. This arch was accurately restored some twenty-five or thirty years ago. The rebus of Sir John Huntington, the first warden, who was appointed in 1422, renders it probable that this part of the church was largely reconstructed by him. While he was warden, 1422-1458, the choir and its aisles were rebuilt, and the chapter house built. Under successive wardens the work of reconstruction was carried on, and occupied about a hundred years. The third warden, Ralph Langley (1465-1481), is said to have completed the nave; much work was done during the wardenship of James Stanley II. (1485-1509), afterwards Bishop of Ely, for the chapel of the Holy Trinity was founded by W. Radcliffe in 1498; the Jesus Chapel, now the vestry and library, was founded by Richard Beswick in 1506; the Hulme Chapel, now destroyed, which formerly projected to the south from the eastern part of the south wall of the Jesus Chapel, was founded by Ralph Hulme in 1507; the St. James' Chantry or Ducie Chapel was built in the same year; and the choir stalls were erected by the warden himself in 1508. In this year also W. Galley built St. George's Chapel. James Stanley is also recorded to have built the double entrance into the chapter house. The Derby and Ely Chapels on the north side are of rather later date; in the latter the ex-warden, James Stanley II., then Bishop of Ely, was buried. This chapel was built by Sir John Stanley in 1515. In 1518 the eighth warden, George West (1518-1535) is recorded to have built the Lady Chapel, but this work was probably a reconstruction rather than a fresh building; the windows that we see in it now are eighteenth century work, but probably are imitations of those that previously existed in this chapel, and their style indicates a considerably earlier date than 1518. Indeed, their tracery resembles fourteenth century work. It will be noticed from the dates just given that the church was finished not long before the Reformation.

Up to 1541 Manchester belonged to the diocese of Lichfield, but Henry VIII. then transferred it to the newly founded see of Chester.

The college was dissolved