Plan of Chetham's Hospital 85 PLAN OF MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL _end_ [Illustration: MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST.] [Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.] MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE BUILDING. In the minds of most Englishmen the name of Manchester calls up the image of a vast city that, with the borough of Salford, which, though municipally distinct, yet is topographically united with it, contains a population of about three quarters of a million of inhabitants. And it is, moreover, generally supposed that Manchester is entirely of modern growth--a collection of mills, and warehouses, and shops; yet, if 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.