Great anxiety prevailed among the townspeople of Manchester, when they awoke next morning, and found themselves invested by the forces of the Earl of Derby.
Except on the north-west, the approaches to the town were cut off by the besiegers. A battery had been reared by the earl, on which five large pieces of ordnance were mounted, destined to rake the centre of Deansgate; another small piece of artillery, called a drake, was likewise placed opposite the mount in Acres Field.
Throughout the whole of the night Rosworm had been on the watch, and had frequently made the round of the fortifications to see that the sentinels were at their posts. Just as it began to get light, he ascended to the summit of the church-tower, whence he could survey the whole scene, and note the exact position of the besiegers.
Placed in an elevated position in the very centre of the town, which it completely overlooked, as well as the adjacent country for miles round, the noble old church, now raised into a cathedral, could not fail to play an important part in the defence against the threatened attack of the Royalists.
The ancient fabric, as we have intimated, was surrounded by a large churchyard, extending on one side to the very edge of the precipitous banks of the Irwell, from which it was defended by a low stone wall, that offered a most advantageous position for the musketeers, and combined with the lofty church-tower rising behind it to render an attack upon the bridge exceedingly perilous. Indeed, no part of the town was so strong as that adjacent to the church. Protected by high precipitous banks, by walls which could be turned into fortifications, and by buildings that could be occupied by musketeers, it really presented a very formidable aspect.
At the back of the church, and running along Hunt’s Bank, which likewise faced the Irwell, were the high stone walls bounding a large court-yard belonging to the college. Beyond was the college itself, a large stone structure reared on the banks of the river Irk, near its confluence with the Irwell.
At this point there was a small bridge over the Irk, now strongly barricaded, and having an outpost in advance, so as completely to defend the approach to the town on this side.
On the other side of the churchyard was an avenue, terminated by the Mill Gate, which was likewise strongly barricaded, but since this side of the town had not been invested, communication could be kept up with the neighbourhood.
Viewed from the summit of the lofty church-tower, which, as we have said, commanded the whole scene, the town and its environs presented a very curious picture.
The morning was bright and clear, so that every detail could be perfectly examined. Composed, as already mentioned, of black and white timber and plaster habitations, the town was almost quadrangular in form, being strongest on the north-west, where it was bounded by the Irwell and the Irk, the banks of both rivers being steep and rocky, especially near the church.
On the north-east were Shude Hill and Mill Lane, then little more than fields, partially enclosed, and on the south-east was an avenue conducting to the market-place. This, with Deansgate on the south, formed the principal approach to the town. Except on the side protected by the high banks of the Irwell and the Irk, as above mentioned, the whole of the town was surrounded by mud walls and bulwarks raised by the indefatigable Rosworm.
Commencing on the left bank of the Irwell on the south-west, these fortifications passed Deansgate, at the further extremity of which there was a barricade, enclosed the whole of Acres Field, and Pool Fold, where Radcliffe Hall was situated, passed on to the upper end of Market-street Lane, and skirting the fields between that thoroughfare and Shude Hill, terminated at the bottom of Mill Lane, where, as already mentioned, there was a strong barricade.
In Acres Field and at no great distance from Radcliffe Hall—a picturesque old mansion, occupied by Captain Richard Radcliffe—a mount had been reared, whereon two small pieces of cannon were planted. Here, also, was a large building in which the troops composing the garrison were quartered, and where the magazine was kept. Various outbuildings were used as stables by the cavalry.
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