WOLVERHAMPTON station is one mile from the town of WOLVERHAMPTON, a place of great antiquity, and the most populous town in Staffordshire. A monastery was erected here about the tenth, and refounded in the sixteenth century, but no remains of it now exist. Of its numerous churches, St Peter's (the collegiate church) is the most remarkable. It is an ancient Gothic edifice, containing many brasses and other monuments, a curious font, and a stone pulpit, more than 800 years old, cut out of one block. In the church-yard is an ancient cross, covered with a profusion of rude sculpture. The chief manufacture of the town consists in locks and keys, japanned goods, and other articles of hardware. Two M.P. Pop. of parl. borough 1851, 119,748.

Two miles distant is Tettenhall, the church of which contains a carved font, and a curious painted window.

Three miles distant from Stafford is Ingestre Hall, Earl Talbot; near which are Tixall Hall, Sir T. A. C. Constable, Bart.; Sandon Hall, Earl of Harrowby, and Shugborough, Earl of Lichfield. The latter was the birth-place of the celebrated naval commander and circumnavigator, Lord Anson.

The Crewe and Chester Railway commences at Crewe (166 miles from London), and leads by Nantwich, 4 miles; Calveley, 7 m.; Beeston, 10 m.; Tattenhall, 14 m.; Waverton, 18 m.; to Chester, 21 miles; thence to Birkenhead. 15 miles. Distance from Chester to Holyhead by railway, 85 m., and thence to Dublin per steamer, 60 miles. A steam-boat leaves George's Pier Head, Liverpool, for Monk's Ferry, 20 minutes before the train starts from Birkenhead, and returns to Liverpool on the arrival of the trains from Chester.

WARRINGTON is one of the principal stations on the line, being midway between Liverpool and Manchester. About half a mile from the station is the large and populous town of Warrington, on the north bank of the Mersey in Lancashire. It is one of the oldest towns in Lancashire, and was a Roman station. A bridge was built here over the Mersey by the Earl of Derby, for the purpose of enabling Henry VII. to pay him a visit with greater convenience. The principal manufactures are cottons, shoes, and fustians, and in the vicinity are pin, glass, and iron-works. Vessels of 70 or 80 tons burthen can come up the river to within a short distance of the town. The church is of Saxon origin, and erected before the Conquest, but the injuries which it received during the civil wars have destroyed most of the traces of its antiquity. It contains some curious monuments, especially one to the memory of Sir Thomas Boteler and his lady. There are also chapels of ease, meeting-houses, free schools, &c. During the Civil Wars, Warrington was the scene of several severe conflicts. From the press of this town, the first newspaper ever published in Lancashire was issued, and it was also the first town in the country from which a stage-coach was started. Howard's work on Prisons was printed at Warrington, as were also the most of Mrs Barbauld's poems, the earlier writings of the late Thomas Roscoe, the works of Dr Ferrier, Gibson, and many others. In 1757, an academy was established here, which rapidly rose into celebrity, under the direction of Dr Aikin, Dr Priestley, Dr Taylor, Dr Enfield, and the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield, but the establishment was unfortunately broken up in 1783, and from its fragments a college was formed at York, which has been recently transferred to Manchester. Bradley Hall, in the neighbourhood of Warrington, is supposed to occupy the site of one of the castles of the Haydocks, a powerful family in Lancashire during the time of the Plantagenets. One M.P. Pop. of parl. borough 1851, 23,363. Warrington affords an earldom to the Grey family, Earls of Stamford and Warrington.

About two miles and a half from Warrington station is WINWICK, which (with the exception of Doddington in Cambridgeshire) possesses the richest rectory in the kingdom, the patronage of which has been lodged in the hands of the Stanley family since the reign of Henry VI. According to tradition, this place was the favourite residence of Oswald, King of Northumbria, and near the church is pointed out the spot where he fell fighting against the pagans of Mercia, A.D. 642. St Oswald's Well, about half a mile to the north of the church, was originally formed, according to Bede, by the piety of pilgrims who visited the spot. The earth and water are supposed to be possessed of peculiar sanctity, and from it all the neighbouring Roman Catholic chapels are supplied with holy water. The church, a large irregular structure, of very remote antiquity, contains a number of interesting monuments and curious brasses. There are no less than thirtyseven endowed charities in the parish. Pop. of parish, 18,148.

Two miles and a quarter from Winwick is NEWTON JUNCTION STATION, (84 miles from Birmingham, 1963 from London,) where the Grand Junction Railway terminates, and the journey to Manchester or Liverpool is continued on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

This Railway was opened September 15, 1830, and cost nearly L.1,000,000 sterling. The principal station is in Lime Street, Liverpool.

Childwall Hall, Mar- 28

Halsnead Hall, R. Wil- 26

Bold Hall, Sir H. Bold 19

XCIV. BIRMINGHAM TO MANCHESTER, BY RAILWAY, DIRECT, 85 Miles.

This railway commences at a spacious station in London Road, Manchester, which is to be used jointly by this and the Manchester and Sheffield Railway Company. The railway is conducted through Manchester upon a viaduct, in which occurs an extraordinary skew arch, crossing Fairfield Street at an angle of only 24 degrees. The span of the bridge is about 128 feet 9 inches. It is considered to be one of the finest specimens of iron-bridge building ever executed. The viaduct, at the Manchester end of the line, contains considerably more than 100 arches. At Stockport is an immense viaduct, which crosses the Mersey at an elevation of 111 feet measured to the top of the parapet. Soon after leaving this viaduct the railway enters a deep cutting, in which occurs a short tunnel 297 yards long, the only one on the line. On the remaining portion of the line are several extensive viaducts. The Bolling viaduct consists of 11 arches, of 49 feet span. The Peover viaduct, crossing the river of that name, consists of 9 or 10 arches of about 40 feet span, and 70 feet high. The Dane viaduct consists of 23 arches of 63 feet span, and crosses the river Dane at an elevation of about 95 feet from the surface of the water to the top of the parapet.

This railway was opened throughout the whole line on the 10th of August 1842