In the time of Edward the Confessor (A.D. 1041-1066) most of the land in Rochdale was held of the King by Gamel the Thane; part of this land was free from all duties except danegeld.[46] There can be little doubt but that a Saxon Thane of this order had both his castle and its accompanying church. As to the existence of the former, it is placed beyond dispute by the name Castleton, which occurs in many very early deeds, and by the fact that in a charter, without date (but early in the thirteenth century), reference is made to "the land lying between" a field "and the ditch of the castle" (_fossatum castelli_), and the right of way is reserved for "ingoing and exit to the place of the castle" (_locus castelli_), and the right of footway to lands "in Castleton in the north part of Smythecumbesrode and an _assartum_ called Sethe." The boundaries detailed in the charter show that this castle, probably then in ruins, stood on the elevated ground still known as Castle Hill.[47] There is a local tradition that at Bury, on the site called Castle Croft, once stood a Saxon castle; but there is no evidence to support this, and from the character of a portion of the foundations discovered in 1865, it seems more probable that the building which gave its name to the place was of much more recent date. Winwick, near Warrington, has also its traditional Saxon castle, and also lays claim to having within its parish the site of the battle-field where Oswald, King of Northumbria, fell on August 5, A.D. 642. Bede[48] records that the Christian King was slain in a great battle against the pagan ruler over the Mercians at a place called Maserfield, and adds that such was his faith in God that ever since his death infirm men and cattle are healed by visiting the spot where he was killed; some, taking the dust from the soil and putting it in water, were able to heal their sick friends; by this means the earth had been by degrees carried away, so that a hole remained as deep as the height of a man. This Maserfield, or Maserfeld, was by Camden and others supposed to be near Oswestry, in Shropshire, but there are many good reasons for assuming that the engagement took place in Makerfield, near Winwick; the very ancient parish church is dedicated to St. Oswald, and half a mile to the north of it is St. Oswald's Well, which is at the present day in a deep ditch, and until within quite recent times was in the charge of a paid custodian, whose duty it was to keep the water from contamination;[49] an ancient inscription on the wall of the south side of the church also appears to confirm the opinion.