MEMORIALS.
At the time of the Conquest the population in some of the largest
and most important cities is said to have been almost exclusively of
Scandinavian extraction.
In the north the Norwegian saint, "St. Olave," has been zealously
commemorated in both towns and country. This proves that churches were
built and Christian worship performed during the Danish dominion, and
that these Northmen continued to reside here in great numbers after the
Danish ascendancy ended.
In the city of Chester there is a church and parish which still bears
the name of St. Olave, and by the church runs a street called St.
Olave's Lane. This is opposite the old castle and close to the river
Dee. In the north-west part of York there is a St. Olave's Church, said
to be the remains of a monastery founded by the powerful Danish Earl
Sieward, who was himself buried there in the year 1058. Long before the
Norman Conquest, the Danes and Northmen preponderated in many of the
towns of the North of England, which they fortified, and there erected
churches dedicated to their own sainted kings and warriors. Olave
is derived from "Olaf the White," who was a famous Norse Viking. He
subdued Dublin about the middle of the ninth century, and made himself
king of the city and district. From this time Ireland and the Isle of
Man were ruled by Norwegian kings for over three centuries.
It may therefore be inferred, by a natural process of deductive
reasoning, that during this period the Danes were founding their
settlements in Lancashire. Although we have no distinct traces of
buildings erected by them, the names given by them to many places
still survive. In these compound names the word "kirk" is often met
with. This must establish the fact that the Danes erected many other
churches besides St. Olave's at Chester and York. From Chester and
West Kirby, in the Wirral district, to Furness, in the North, we
have abundant evidence in the name of Kirk, and its compound forms,
that many Christian churches were erected. At Kirkdale, Ormskirk,
Kirkham, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirby Moorside, and Kirkby Stephen Norman
churches have superseded Danish buildings. Kendal was known formerly
as Kirkby-in-Kendal, or the "Church-town in the valley of Kent."
And further memorials here survive in the names of streets, such as
Stramongate, Gillingate, Highgate, and Strickland-gate.
The name Furness is distinctly Scandinavian, from "Fur" and "Ness,"
or Far promontory. The abbot of Furness was intimate with the Danish
rulers of Manxland, for he got a portion of land there in 1134 to
build himself a palace. He was followed by the Prior of Whithorn and
St. Bede. In 1246 the monks of Furness obtained all kinds of mines in
Man, and some land near St. Trinian's. By the industry and ability of
these monks Furness became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England, and
thus were laid the foundations of one of the greatest industries in
Lancashire, viz., the smelting of iron ore.
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