An Intelligent Schoolboy's or Schoolgirl's
History of Early Medieval Lancashire

Or

How the Red Rose County first came into being


Many Lancashire schoolkids learn about the history of our splendid shire – everything from the War of the Roses to the cobbles and chimneys of the Industrial Revolution - but few know about Lancashire's earlier history. If you're one of them and would like to know more, read on…
 
When people say "the old things are the best" they're obviously not thinking about Lancashire because it is one of the newest of all English counties – if you can handle something that's over eight centuries old being described as new! Lancashire wasn't formed when the Normans came over in 1066, whereas most of the other English counties were around by then. But by about 1180 our splendid shire had gained an identity of its own. Let's not jump the gun, though. The history of our lovely part of the world goes back way beyond then…..
The Romans were here in Lancashire (in the two or three centuries immediately after the birth of Christ!) We've got proof because of the remains archaeologists have found – everything from pottery to pickaxes. The Romans built towns too, some of which survived and developed into places that are still around today. Places you might just have heard of. Places like Lancaster and Manchester! Other Roman towns disappeared, or ended up as tiny villages, such as Burrow (in the Lune Valley near Lancaster). You can always tell a Roman town because its name often ends in caster or cester or chester.
Roman towns also tend to have these rather straight roads arrowing across the landscape towards them. The Romans obviously wanted to get to places in a hurry – usually because some of the Ancient Britons (or Celts) were causing a spot of bother. They probably didn't appreciate the Romans coming all the way from Italy to take over their country. After a while though they did start to realise that the Romans had brought the odd benefit to this country. Things they had never had before. Things such as proper roads, proper drainage, well built housing, well organised farming, public baths, central heating, law and order, civilisation…….I could go on.
In those days the Ancient Britons spoke British (or Celtic) while the Romans spoke Latin. Only posh Britons spoke Latin. The British language is still around today, and is spoken not a million miles away from Lancashire. You see, it developed into the modern day Welsh language. To understand how it got there you need to know about the Anglo-Saxons.
The Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain from the continent when they cleverly noticed that the Roman Empire was on its last legs. The Romans were packing up and leaving for Italy while the Ancient Britons were shaking in their boots wondering how they'd get on without the Roman army to protect them. They were right to worry because the Anglo-Saxons were total barbarians – good grief, they weren't even Christians! They were pagans who believed in strange gods like Thunor (or Thor) and Wotan (or Odin). They spoke a language called Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) which later developed into the modern English which we use. The only places they didn't take over were the bits that were furthest away from where they first landed (which was near London). So they didn't invade Cornwall, Wales and northern Scotland. That's why these places still have their own languages – Cornish, Welsh and Gaelic – which are what is left of the languages of the Ancient Britons.

OK, so the Anglo-Saxons might have been clever in the way they invaded this country; but they didn't govern it half as well as the Romans had done. For a start off, they split their new land (which now had the new name England – meaning Angleland – instead of Britannia which the Romans knew it by) into seven different kingdoms. Seven! And to cap it all, they spent most of their time fighting one another. We in Lancashire were in the Kingdom of Northumbria. That is until the Kingdom of Mercia beat Northumbria in battle (642AD, at Makerfield) and snaffled the southern half of Lancashire. Confused? You will be……!!
Really, you've got to feel sorry for the poor old Celts (as the Ancient Britons were often called). They'd just about got used to everyone speaking Old English instead of British or Latin, they'd more or less adapted to the different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms scrapping over Lancashire, when a worse disaster happened: the Vikings invaded.
The Vikings have got a bad reputation, I'm sure you'll agree. Their average day consisted of sailing up various English rivers in their Viking longboats, slaughtering the local population and making off with all the loot they could lay their hands on – or so we thought. Nowadays people realise that they weren't as bad as all that, and that they did as much trading as raiding. It all began in the 9th Century. Vikings from Dublin in Ireland (where they'd settled) came over the sea and started landing in places like the Fylde (near Blackpool) and the Lancashire Plain (near Liverpool). These were Norwegian Vikings originally. (The Vikings who settled in Yorkshire were Danish Vikings who'd sailed direct across the North Sea, and hadn't gone by the scenic route via Ireland!)
After a while these Vikings (or Norsemen as they are sometimes called) were living peacefully in Lancashire. We sometimes find evidence of this. For instance at Cuerdale near Preston a massive hoard of Viking silver was found! For those of us not fortunate enough to stumble onto such an amazing treasure trove we have to rely on other evidence to prove that the Vikings were in Lancashire. Evidence such as place names….
Anywhere that has a name beginning with grim-, or ending in –by, -ness, or -thwaite is Viking (or Norse). Similarly, anywhere that has a name ending in –ham, -ton, or ley is Anglo-Saxon in origin. Celtic (or Ancient British) names often start with pen-, wal-, or eccles and sometimes end in –keth. Have a look on the map and see which of the ancient Lancastrians lived near you!
In 1066 (as every intelligent schoolkid knows) William the Conqueror came over from Normandy and became King of England. Lancashire wasn't fully a recognised county at that stage but the hundreds which made it up were around. Lancashire is historically divided into six of these units: West Derby Hundred (around Liverpool), Salford Hundred (around Manchester), Leyland Hundred, Blackburn Hundred, Amounderness Hundred (Preston and Blackpool area) and Lonsdale Hundred (around Lancaster and including the area "north of the sands" where Lancashire lies in part of the Lake District).
Around 1070 William gave one of his most loyal supporters, Roger de Poitou, a massive area of land in the north-west and told him to keep the troublesome locals in check! This land stretched from the Lakeland Fells to the River Mersey. Little did the Conqueror know, but he had brought together for the first time the territories that would become our own dear Red Rose County! A document from 1181-2 is our earliest surviving evidence of Lancashire as a county in its own right. No longer to be fought over by Anglo-Saxon kingdoms such as Mercia and Northumbria, Lancashire was now a separate shire…..
A glorious future lay ahead for our county: in the War of the Roses the destiny of the English monarchy was shaped; in the Industrial Revolution our county led the way in a process that would change the world. Even now, Lancashire is famous for the robust and inventive character of its inhabitants and their amazing successes and achievements. Despite administrative changes, the TRUE County of Lancashire lives on. From the River Duddon high in the Lakeland fells to the River Mersey on the great Lancashire Plain on which Liverpool stands, LANCASHIRE is the county of our birth. And yet its great story began so long ago, in the times of Romans, Ancient Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans……

Index

Our county is called Lancashire, not Cumbria,
Greater Manchester, Merseyside or part of Cheshire.


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