We stayed in “Larg”, a small tourist town (on the seacoast at the end of the rail line) in the Strathclyde area (over the border in Scotland, well North of Liverpool) and in the town square was a statue of a Viking. To me, this was strong evidence that it was originally a Viking town.
Why would the victims of their murder and pillage put up a statue to them? Viking settlers put up the statue.
The name itself - “Larg” - sounds a lot more Norwegian than it does Scottish.
We stayed on the eastern side of England, almost at the Scottish border. Our B&B host looked EXACTLY like my Norwegian grandfather. I know the Vikings landed there.