[Gutenberg 52389] • Vestiges of the supremacy of Mercia in the south of England during the eighth century

Excerpt from Vestiges of the Supremacy of Mercia in the South of England, During the Eighth Century

Having sometimes said that the date of the original foundation of the lately-demolished church of St. Werburgh, in the centre of the ancient walled town of Bristol, was the year 7 41, and that a building so called has, from that early date, always stood on that spot, I have been asked how I know it. I have answered by the same evidence - and the best class of it - as the most important events of our national history, of the three centuries in which that date occurs, are known. That is, by necessary inference from the very scanty records of those times, confirmed by such topical monu mental evidence as may have survived. But this fact in itself is, also, of considerable importance to our own local history because, if it should be realized, it would be the very earliest solid date that has yet been attached to the place that we now call Bristol. We are accustomed to speak, with a certain amount of popular pride, of Old Bristol, and in like manner of Old England, but without considering which is the oldest of the two. The position here attempted would give that precedence to Bristol.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at [www.forgottenbooks.com](http://www.forgottenbooks.com)

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.