Lancashire in the NorthWest of England

Roman Lancashire

The conquest of Britain and its incorporation into the Roman Empire began in AD 43 when the Emperor Claudius landed on the south coast and fought a campaign northwards to overcome native opposition. Certain native tribes aided the gradual invasion and an eventual treaty was made with Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes. Under subsequent generals the Roman army penetrated north across Brigantia and established a permanent presence with the construction of the first forts in the northwest, at Ribchester and Carlisle around AD 72. Under the Governorship of Julius Agricola the forts at Kirkham and Lancaster, and along the Lune Valley were established. Agricola also constructed the fort at Mamucium (sometimes Mamuciam - modern day Castlefield) in the City of Manchester. Other camps later appeared at Warrington, Wigan and Walton-le-Dale. Roman roads were soon constructed to connect these forts, and these still underlie the major road networks that criss-cross the County of Lancashire today.

Celtic & Saxon Lancashire

After Roman withdrawal from Britain in the fourth century AD, the lands of Lancashire returned to what they had been before, populated by a now Romanised British people of the tribe known as the 'Cumbri' (from which Cumbria is derived). They spoke a Celtic dialect, similar to Welsh, and this is reflected in many Lancashire place names. For example, places ending in the suffixes "-keth", "-cheth" or "-teth", (as in Penketh, Toxteth, Culcheth, Tulketh), reflect the old Welsh "coed", indicating a large wood or forest. The Celtic word "penno", meaning a hill, is reflected in places like Pendle.

The vacuum created by Roman withdrawal was filled in the late fifth century by King Rheged, whose kingdom stretched from Scotland through present day Cumbria to the River Ribble. Within a century these lands had been absorbed into the Kingdom of Northumbria. Lands to the south were held by the Kingdom of Mercia, which included all of present day Cheshire.

By the seventh century immigrant Scandinavian peoples, many ejected from Ireland, gradually settled in Lancashire and Cheshire, and a mixed Anglo-Saxon culture had already begun to emerge. Southwards, in Cheshire, Scandinavians had been granted a settlement on the Wirral by peace treaty with the Mercians.

By the middle of the 7th century Anglo-Saxons had already begun to convert to Christianity. It is known that sometime around 680 AD, St Cuthbert had begun a ministry in Cartmel in the southern Lake District, which at that time was still included in the lands that would eventually become known as Lancashire. From around this time, Saxon place names occur. Old Saxon spellings like "-ecles" or "-eccles" indicated a church, as in the township of Eccles (now in Salford), Eccleshill, Eccleriggs and Eccleston (meaning a "church settlement").

The Danes in Lancashire

Repeated frequent raids over two centuries by Scandinavians (Danes, Norsemen or sometimes called Vikings) had a depressive effect on the maintenance, administration and security of the region, so that by the 9th century they were in a very vulnerable condition and ripe for invasion and plunder. The Book of Common Prayer for several centuries following contained the prayer that God would "…deliver us from the North Man (Norseman)". By 874 AD, Mercia to the south had fallen to the Danes and it was not until the end of the century that the lands would be reclaimed by King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great). Irish Norse settlers were later granted lands on the Fylde Coast and south of the Ribble by King Eathelred, (who had married Alfred's daughter, Aethelflaed) in an attempt to halt Danish raids and to reach a peaceful accommodation with them.

Over time, Danish settlements were to contribute greatly to the wealth and prosperity of the region. As accomplished sailing peoples, they traded with Ireland and Europe and amassed considerable wealth in the region, becoming an important economic ingredient in an otherwise rural farming culture. Their wealth was evidenced when, in 1840, the largest collection of Scandinavian jewellery, coins and silver ever unearthed was excavated from the banks of the River Ribble near Preston.

Thus Scandinavians were gradually absorbed into the racial mix that would eventually become so distinctively Lancastrian. Norse influence is also, unsurprisingly, reflected in place names. Places ending in "-by" (such as Formby, Crosby, etc) and "-dale" (as in Ainsdale and Birkdale) are decidedly Scandinavian in origin. Norse immigrants were also converted to Christianity as evidenced in many Scandinavian religious place names. Names like Kirkham, Ormskirk and Kirkby demonstrate the prevalence of religious institutions - "kirk" being old Norse word for church. There is actually evidence for many Christian churches existing well before the Norman Conquest of 1066, including Bolton, Burnley, Hornby, Poulton-le-Fylde, Prescott, Gressingham and Heysham, to name but a few.

A well established parochial system seems to have been in place by 850 AD - the Parish of Whalley in Lancashire being the second largest in England, encompassing 45 townships under its authority, including Whalley itself, as well as Accrington, Haslingden, Colne and Clitheroe. Evidently, Scandinavians also eventually took to agriculture and farming and many place name endings reveal their association with the land. Endings like "-scale" (as in Windscale), or "-side" (as in Woodside, Ambleside and Affetside), all come from the Norse meaning 'grazing land'. In north Lancashire the Norse ending "-thwaite" (as in Rosthwaite and Seathwaite) indicates a clearing in a wood.

By 900 AD the Northumbrian Kingdom had collapsed and the lands were reclaimed by the Mercians, who set about defending them against potential threats from the Viking Kingdom based at York (Jorvik) in the east, by building fortified settlements throughout Lancashire and along the River Mersey border with Cheshire, or by reinforcing existing or dilapidated city fortifications and strongholds.

These "burhs", "burghs" or "burys" (from which we get the modern word "borough"), are also evidenced in place names - for example, Bury, Disdsbury, Esddisbury, Pendlebury (the latter indicating a stronghold on a hill). The map of Mercian Cheshire Forts clearly shows their determination to protect their reclaimed lands. Even, the fort in Manchester (Castlefield) was strengthened after almost five centuries of dereliction, and at least one new fort was created at Penwortham in the Ribble Valley. When, in 919 AD, the Mercian Kingdom was annexed by the Kingdom of Wessex, all but one remaining ingredient had been added to a people who were to become Lancastrians, and recognisable in every sense as English - it's people a mixture of Celtic Britons, Romans, Saxons, Irish, Scandinavians and, finally, by the addition of the Norman French into the melting pot.