Traces of a road have been found between Manchester and Wigan, and the latter place was certainly a Roman station, though it has not been satisfactorily proved to be identical with the _Coccium_ named in the tenth Iter of Antoninus. In 1836 the ditch and agger by which the station was fortified were still visible near the crown of the hill on which part of Wigan now stands.[23] Many Roman coins and urns have been found near the station, and a stone built into the present parish church is considered to have been a portion of a Roman altar. From Wigan the road went north and south. Returning to Manchester: from this centre issued another road going in a straight line to Ribchester; it passed across Campfield and the site of what is now the Victoria railway-station; it went on to Prestwick, Lower Darwen, Blackburn, and finally to the bank of the Ribble near Ribchester; the remains of the road have been seen nearly over the whole of its length. It is not thought to be quite so ancient as the other roads out of Mancunium;[24] however this may be, at Bremetonacum (Ribchester) was erected the largest _castrum_ in the whole county. Roman Ribchester was probably founded by the Emperor Agricola or by Hadrian. Like nearly all the large stations, it was placed near to a river, and in this case the Ribble served as the fosse on the south-eastern side; its other boundaries have been clearly defined, the outline of fosse and vallum being still quite apparent, and within its limits are included the parish yard and Vicarage garden: its total area covers about ten statute acres. Its dimensions are: from the vallum on the north-west to the bed of the river 615 feet, and from the vallum on the south-east to that on the opposite side 611 feet. The corners on the north and north-east are rounded off, the southern ones being lost in the bed of the river, which has considerably altered its course. At the angle pointing north, in 1888, a gateway was discovered.[25] It was 14 feet wide, the end of the wall at each side being carefully rounded. The construction of the vallum was at the same time exposed, and showed that it was formed of boulder stones put together with cement. It lies 6 feet below the present surface, and is about 5 feet wide. Upon this base was raised the rampart of earth well beaten down. Outside the vallum on the south-western side is a fosse (or dyke), of which the outer limit is about 43 feet from the vallum. In 1888-89 this rampart was cut through in seven places. At one of these cuttings on the south-western side the vallum was found to be 4 feet 6 inches wide at the base, and inside it, at a distance of 4 feet, and level with the base, was found a layer of oak shingles--that is, pieces of split oak--each about 4 to 5 feet long, 2 or 3 inches thick, and 3 to 4 inches wide; these were placed at right angles to the vallum, and at about 7 inches apart, with their widest sides lying horizontally.