Warrington became a settlement mainly because of the River Mersey and its crossing point, which was in Latchford. The Romans decided to march north from their fort up at Deva in Chester, when they came upon this ford (shallow crossing point), so a small settlement grew up here.
The Romans called it a veratinium. When archaeologists from Victorian times dug up Warrington they found Roman pottery and glass but on our local study we found no evidence of Roman remains simply because its either all underground or has already been dug up.The Anglo-Saxons took control of Warrington after the Romans had left, so they now controlled the rivers crossing point which had now moved down to Howley. For many centuries from then on Warrington was the scene of war and violence because of armies trying to take control of the River Mersey's crossing point.The first building I studied on my local study trip was St.
Elphins church. This was hard to date but I think it was Victorian because of its gothic style, with finial spires and tracery windows. There was smooth sandstone which meant that the building had been worked upon throughout time and also an old medieval crypt around the back of the church but we did not have access to it. Around the side of the church we found cannonball holes. Our teacher told us that this was done by Oliver Cromwell and his men punishing the church.When we came across Cromwell's cottage it had a plaque on the wall telling us the date he lodged there (if he stayed at that exact cottage), this plaque was very vague and said that Cromwell lodged around here.
The cottage had leaded windows and a thick slate roof which suggests that it was Tudor.I had the same problem with the plaque for the Marquis of Granby (also Tudor), which also said he had lodged around there. This building was important to Warrington because James Stanley 7th Earl of Derby who was royalist had stayed there when people were fighting over the bridge, this shows me that in war Warrington was very important for its river crossing.We looked at the bridge and it looked Edwardian because of its machine cut bricks, but in the source (page 7 research booklet) it says that the first wooden bridge was built there in 1305 then, over time, had been replaced by stone in 1364 and 1495, then on into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, so overall it was a hard bridge to date.We came to the Academy building next down Bridge Street; it had the same Georgian features as I have already described.
Our teacher told us that the building used to be around where the road is now. Extra research tells us that the academy building almost became one of the third most famous universities in England but there was a reputation for bad behaviour there so the academy building had to be closed in 1762, it had only been open as a school for 5 years.Outside the academy there is an old statue of Oliver Cromwell. This was made out of Victorian cast iron the same as the golden gates and were both said to have been found on a scrap heap by a man who brought them back to Warrington after Queen Victoria had rejected them. Cromwell's statue may mean that he was really in town but I cant find any other sources to prove this except for his suspected lodging in the Tudor cottage around Church Street.Down Bridge Street there was a night club called Flares (the Red Lion Inn) this was difficult to date because over time it had changed the windows and rendering.
We could only date it by the inn (stage coach entrance) which was Georgian. We knew this because the inn was massive and made for horses and carriage, so Bridge Street was important in the 18th century as a centre of travel; when people came into Warrington they came over the bridge then into the stage coach entrance to change their horse. We were told this by our teacher.Victorian buildings were identified by their gothic style and high decoration, such as the charity school and Woolworths, we spotted that the fish market was Victorian by its decorated cast iron.
Warrington decorated its town by fancy windows in Woolworths and other things which show that Warrington was very wealthy and doing well in the industrial revolution.One Edwardian building we looked at was the Co-op bank, which was difficult to date. This was because it looked like Tudor but in fact it was mock Tudor. We learned that Edwardians liked to copy previous buildings and that they had a lot of wealth to do this.The modern buildings we looked at were quite easy to date by their cement, glass and steel. These buildings were ones like Marks and Spencer and the whole of the Golden Square, which has been modernised from its medieval market.
My conclusion of the town is that it only became what it did because of the ford and the River Mersey. When the Romans came and made a settlement there, the population rose and the town has been developed into what it is now through engineering and technology. The bridge shows this, as it used to be a small wooden bridge and is now a massive sandstone one. Trade was also one of the reasons how Warrington developed by the River Mersey and Warrington's bridge which attracted traders from everywhere. I think that Church Street was one of the most important parts of Warrington but now is not; around the golden square is now the most important part of Warrington because of its shops and centre of publicity.
