PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY C. CLARK, MARKET-PLACE; AND SOLD BY CRADOCK AND JOY, PATER- NOSTER-ROW, LONDON. 1811. INTRODUCTION. A DESCRIPTION of LANCASTER in a detached form, though frequently inquired for, has never till now been published; such short Accounts of it as have appeared, being generally the production of transient Visitors who have taken only a partial view of the Town in their rout through it, cannot consequently be expected to be correct: this objection, it is hoped, will now be obviated; as the strictest accuracy has been attended to in this collection, and reference is generally made, at the foot of the page, to the authorities from which the historical intelligence has been derived. The object of the compiler was not to make a voluminous and expensive work, but to comprise all the important information respecting this ancient Town in as narrow a compass as was consistent with his subject. In compiling the History of any particular place, the insertion of some circumstances of a more general nature is often unavoidable, as Britnell May 1,1910 1.00 being necessary to the better elucidation of some particular subjects; but wherever it has been thought not absolutely requisite, such general information has always been rejected. From the Roman Remains frequently found at Lancaster, it is evident that the site of this Town has been occupied by the Romans as one of their stations, and from its situation it must have been of considerable importance; but, with respect to its denomination by that people, Antiquaries have differed in opinion; it has generally been described as the LONGOVICUM of the Notitia: Camden " Both says, the present name, and that of the river, seem to mark it out for the old LONGOVICUM ; where, under the Lieutenant of Britain (as the Notitia informs us) a Company of the LONGOVICI, who took that name from the place, were in garrison." Mr. Whitaker, the learned historian of Manchester, supposes it to have been the station AD-ALAUNAM, mentioned in the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester *, but it does not appear that Mr. Whitaker has proposed any other place as the LONGOVICUM of the Notitia. Whether it was known to the Romans by *See History of Manchester, Book I. chap. 3, section 4. |