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CHAPTER XII.
THE PARISH OF KIRKHAM.
KIRKHAM.
The township of Kirkham was probably the earliest
inhabited locality in the Fylde district; and although
it is impossible to assert that the very site of the
present town was a spot fixed upon by the Romans
for erecting their habitations, still as the road formed by those
people passed over it, and many remnants of their domestic
utensils, funereal urns, and other relics have been discovered in
the surrounding soil, there is strong presumptive evidence that
an ancient settlement was at least close at hand. Amongst the
traces of the old warriors disinterred in this neighbourhood may
be mentioned a large quantity of stones prepared for building
purposes, and numerous fragments of urns, ploughed up about
half a mile from Kirkham. The Mill Hill Field has also disclosed
frequent witnesses to the former presence of the Romans, notably
abundant specimens of their pottery and coinage, but perhaps the
greatest curiosity found in the vicinity is the boss or umbo of a
shield, wrought in brass, which was removed from a brook in the
field specified during the year 1792. In form the shield is some-*what
oval, having its central portion semi-globular, whilst the
outer rim is flat. The entire diameter is about eight inches, of
which the embossment supplies five. The horizontal and
encircling part is perforated in four separate places, apparently
for the passage of thongs or rivets. The highest surface of the
boss holds the representation of a human figure seated, with an
eagle to the left, the sides being adorned with an athlete
