Mancunium

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Mancunium is the name often (though perhaps incorrectly) given as the Romano-British name of Manchester, England. Here, close to the River Medlock, in the district still called Castlefield near Knott Mill, stood in Roman days a fort garrisoned by a cohort of Roman auxiliary soldiers. The site is now obscured by houses, railways and the Rochdale canal, but vestiges of Roman ramparts can still be seen, and other remains were found in 1907 and previous years. Traces of Romano-British inhabitation have been noted elsewhere in Manchester, especially near the cathedral. But there was no town here, nothing more than a fort guarding the roads running north through Lancashire and east into Yorkshire, and the dwellings of women-folk and traders which would naturally spring up outside such a fort. The ancient name is unknown. Roman authorities give both Mancunium and Mamucium, but it is not clear that either form is correct.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.