CHAPTER XV

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PARISH OF ST. MICHAEL’S-ON-WYRE.

UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE. In the Domesday Book no less than three Rawcliffes are mentioned, and have been identified, respectively, with Upper, Middle, and Out Rawcliffes, the last being stated to contain three carucates, and the others two carucates each. In the _Testa de Nevill_ it is entered that the grandfather of Theobald Walter gave four carucates of land in (Upper) Rawcliffe, Thistleton, and Greenhalgh, to his daughter Alice, on her marriage with Orm Magnus. William de Lancaster held Upper Rawcliffe at the time of his death in 1240; and in 1248 Theobald Walter, or le Botiler, had lands in Upper Rawcliffe and Mid Rawcliffe, as well as the manor of Out Rawcliffe, the principal portion of which had doubtless descended to him from his ancestor alluded to above.[215] An inquiry was instituted in 1322, during the reign of Edward II., concerning the possessions in land and mills of John de Rigmayden in Upper Rawcliffe, Wyresdale, and Garstang; and a similar inquisition, with the exception of Garstang, was made, three years later, in the case of widow Christiana de Coucy de Guynes.[216] In the succeeding few years Joan, the daughter and heiress of John de Rigmayden, and John de Coupland held Upper Rawcliffe between them. John de Coupland had married the widow of Sir William de Goucy, and was the gallant soldier who captured David II., king of Scotland, on the battle field at Durham, and was rewarded for his bravery by Edward III., with the rank of knight-banneret and a grant of land. Joan de Rigmayden, the heiress, probably married William Southworth, as he is described as lord of Upper Rawcliffe a little later; Ellen, the sole child and heiress of William Southworth, became the wife of Robert Urswick, of Urswick, and their second son, Thomas, who succeeded to the estates of Rawcliffe, etc., and was knighted, left at his decease a daughter, who espoused, about 1430, John, the third son of Sir Richard Kirkby, of Kirkby. John Kirkby resided at Upper Rawcliffe Hall,[217] or White Hall, as it was subsequently designated, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William, who in his turn left the lands and mansion to his heir and offspring John Kirkby. The eldest son of the last gentleman, by his wife, the daughter of—Broughton, was William Kirkby; and he, in course of time, inherited the property, and married, in 1507, Elizabeth, the daughter of William Thornborough, of Hampsfield, by whom he had issue John, George, William, Richard, Henry, Anne, Elizabeth, and Jane. John Kirkby, the heir, was living in 1567, but died without offspring, as also did his brother George, so that Upper Rawcliffe Hall and estate passed to the third son, William Kirkby, who married Isabell, the daughter of John Butler, of Kirkland.[218] The Kirkbys continued in sole possession of the township until 1631, when Thomas Westby, of Mowbreck, purchased from them Upper Rawcliffe Hall and the estate attached, both of which he settled upon Major George Westby, the eldest son of his second marriage with Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Preston, of Holkar, and widow of Thomas Lathom, of Parbold. George Westby resided at White Hall, as the manor house was now called, and was twice married, being succeeded by John, the only child by his first wife, Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Hesketh, of Mains. Both George Westby and his third brother, Bernard, were royalist officers. John Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe, espoused, in 1684, Jane, the daughter of Thomas Bleasdale, of Alston, and had issue John, Joseph, James, and Alice, who became the wife of Thomas Gilibrand, of Dunken Hall, near Chorley. John Westby the eldest son, inherited the mansion and land on the death of his father in 1708, and married, in the following year, Mary, the daughter of Thomas Hawett, of Ormskirk, by whom he had Thomas; George, who died in 1776, leaving several children by his wife Mary, the daughter of ⸺ Field; John, died unmarried; Cuthbert, died childless; and Jane. Thomas Westby came into the estate in 1745, when his father was accidentally killed, and espoused Margaret, the daughter and heiress of William Shuttleworth, of Turnover Hall, and Bridget, his wife, who was one of four daughters, the sole offspring of John Westby, of Mowbreck. The children of Thomas Westby, of White Hall, and, ultimately, of one fourth of Mowbreck, were John, who died unmarried in 1811; William, died unmarried in 1811, just before his brother; Joseph, died young; Robert, died childless in 1800; Thomas; Bridget, an abbess at Liege; and two Marys, one of whom died in infancy. Thomas, the fifth son, held Mowbreck, White, and Turnover Halls and estates, on the decease of his eldest brother, and at his own death in 1829, without issue, was succeeded, in Turnover, by Thomas the only surviving son of his uncle, George Westby, whose death occurred in 1776; whilst he bequeathed Mowbreck and White Hall to George, the eldest son of this Thomas Westby, by his wife Anne, the daughter of John Ashley, of London. The Westbys, of White Hall and Mowbreck, sold their property at the former place in recent years to the late John Stevenson, esq., of Preston and Lytham. Reverting to the earlier Westbys, we find that the active parts played by George and Bernard Westby in the Civil Wars resulted in the confiscation of the White Hall estate by Parliament; and in 1653 it was sold by the Commissioners of State, being purchased for the Westbys again by, and in the names of, some of their Protestant friends.

Upper Rawcliffe Hall was rebuilt about the time of its purchase by the Westbys, who conferred upon it the new title of White Hall. This mansion stood by the side of the river Wyre, and was approached through a noble gateway. The windows were mullioned, and two bays projected from the north-west front; within were secret chambers and a private chapel. The Hall is now a farm house. Turnover Hall, the ancient seat of the Shuttleworths, and afterwards one of the mansions of the Westbys, as already shown, presents nothing of special interest to our notice. St. Michael’s Hall, the residence of the Longworths[219] during the seventeenth century, and probably of the Kirkbys before them, has since been rebuilt in an antique style, and converted into a farm house.

Tarnacre was claimed, amongst other places, by the abbot of Cockersand in 1292, during the reign of Edward I., and was, with Upper Rawcliffe, in early days, a feudal appendage of Garstang.

The township of Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre contains the ancient parish church of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, which occupies a prominent and picturesque station on the banks of the narrowed Bleasdale stream, in the midst of the rural village, to which its title has been extended. St. Michael’s church, or _Michelescherche_, as it appears in the Survey of William the Conqueror, was obviously standing on the arrival of that warrior in 1066, being, with the exception of a similar structure at Kirkham, the only edifice of its kind existing in the Fylde at that time. There are no records amongst the meagre annals of Amounderness during the Saxon era, to assist us in establishing beyond question the antiquity of this church, but it may reasonably be supposed that its erection took place at no long interval after the year 627, when Paulinus was appointed bishop of the province of Northumbria, in which St. Michael’s was situated. The zeal and piety displayed by Paulinus are said to have exercised an important influence in overcoming the pagan tendencies of the inhabitants of Lancashire, and although it is far from probable that the whole of the people of the Fylde at once became converts to Christianity, and renounced their heathenish and superstitious ritual, still it would be idle to deny that the ministrations of so earnest a prelate as Paulinus were fruitful to a considerable degree in our district, more especially when history proclaims the success of his efforts in other portions of his diocese. The small band of professed Christians would gradually extend their circle, and at no remote date a building would become necessary where divine worship could be conducted in a decent and orderly manner, according to the direction of the newly-adopted creed; and it was, we opine, at such an epoch that the church of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre was first called into being. After the Norman Conquest the church formed an item of the princely estate of Roger de Poictou, acquired through the partial munificence of William I.; and possibly in 1094, or thereabouts, was conferred by him upon the priory of St. Mary’s, at Lancaster, in like manner to similar ecclesiastical possessions which he held in Kirkham and Poulton. However that may be, it is learnt from the _Testa de Nevill_ that rather more than a century after the foundation of the monastic house in the year just named, the advowson of St. Michael’s was vested in King John, who presented Master Macy to the living,[220] then valued at £66 13s. 4d. per annum. In 1326, William de Walderston, rector of the church of St. Michael’s, and the prior of Lancaster, were engaged in a controversy before the authorities of Richmond, respecting the forest and other tithes of Myerscough, and those of a place called Migchalgh, the suit being decided at Lancaster on the 13th of October against the rector.[221] Nineteen years later, Henry, earl of Lancaster, was patron of the living, and in 1411 Henry IV., duke of Lancaster, who had claimed and obtained the crown resigned by Richard II., conveyed St. Michael’s church to the Master and Brethren of the College or Chantry of the Blessed Mary Magdalen, at Battlefield, near Shrewsbury, nominally established by himself.[222] The letters-patent by which the transfer was effected, bore the Duchy seal, and stipulated that Roger Yve, of Leeton, Keeper and Master of the College concerned (really its founder), and his successors, should, in return for the grant, make the following provision for the maintenance of a vicar at the church of St. Michael’s:—

“The Vicar and his Successors to receive, have, and possess, the offerings and revenues which are and belong to the church of Michaelskirk, together with the fruits and offerings arising from Hay and Revenues; the Tenth of Gardens dug with the foot, of Lambs, Calves, Young Foals, Poultry, Young Pigs, Geese, Eggs, Milk, Wool, Flax, Hemp, Mills, Apples, Garlick, Onions, Fishes, and Pigeons; the first fruits of the Dead, otherwise called Mortuaries, whether they consist of Animals, Clothes, or any other thing whatsoever, together with our Pool and Mill, and also the Pool upon Wyre near the Rectory of Michaelskirk; and further, the same Vicar and his Successors to have for their Dwelling the straw-thatched Porch below the Rectory, and the Door and House adjoining, with the Dovecote and Orchard near the Porch, and the Fishponds and Moats.”

The vicar on his part was required to pledge himself to pay all ordinary taxes and expenses incumbent upon the church, excepting “the covering of the chancel of the church, the payment of 40s. to the Archdeacon of Richmond, and the Tenths payable to the King for ever,” for which the Master of the College agreed on behalf of himself and his successors to be answerable.[223] The foregoing grant and regulations were confirmed in 1425 and 1485 by Henry VI. and Henry VII. respectively. After the Dissolution the right of presentation was exercised by King Charles in 1629, who appointed Nicholas Bray to the vicarage. Subsequently the patronage of the living has descended through several private individuals, and is now centred in the present vicar, the Venerable Archdeacon Hornby.

The parish church of St. Michael’s contained two chantries, one of which, dedicated to St. Katherine, occupied the chapel still existing in the north aisle. This chantry was founded some time about the middle of the fifteenth century by John Botiler, or Butler, lord of the manor of Out Rawcliffe. Canon Raines says that a portion of the body armour either of him or one of his immediate descendants remained suspended in the chapel until long after 1700.

Alice Butler, the daughter of Sir Thomas Radcliffe, and widow of Nicholas Butler, the eldest son of the founder, bequeathed by will, dated the 20th of November, 1504, “her sowll to God and hys Blessyd Mother and all the holye Cumpanie of heven, and her bodye to be beryd in Christian wyse in Saynt Katrine’s chapel, where her husband laye;” also “to the lyght brenning there 20d; to Thomas Walton, or some wel dysposed priest to synge for my sowll for one yeare £1 13s. 4d., solemn mass of requiem, and other obsequies to be done as becometh one of my degree, but not too moche expendsive so that my executors let not (hinder not) my dowters advancement in marryage; and to Sʳ John Butler, Clerk, 40s. a yeare togider with meate and drynke whiles he is on lyfe.”[224] In the reign of Henry VIII., William Harrison was the officiating priest of this chantry, and at that time its tenants, possessions, and annual rentals were, one tenement lying in Esprick, held by Thomas Dawson at 20s. per annum; another tenement in the same place held by William Hall at 19s.; a windmill in Stainall at 26s. 8d., and several parcels of ground amounting to about an acre at 2s., held by Ralph Hull; one tenement in Stainall with appurtenances held by Ralph Hodgeson at 12s.; an acre of ground lying in a field at Stainall held by William Hull at 2s. 8d.; two roods of land in Stainall held by the wife of Christopher Hull at 12d.; divers plots of ground estimated to comprise four acres in the same township held by William Hull, the elder, at 19s.; one tenement with appurtenances in Great Eccleston held by the wife of William Stiholme at 13s. 4d.; and one tenement in Little Eccleston held by Henry Wilkinson, at 20s. Hence it seems that the gross rentals amounted to £5 15s. 8d., out of which 5s. per annum was paid to the wife of Robert Stannall for her jointure, leaving £5 10s. 8d. the actual yearly revenue of the chantry from its endowment.[225] At the accession of Edward VI., Henry Harrison was the “Priest Incumbent at St. Katherine’s Altar, being 54 years old, and he taught a Grammar School according to his foundation.” When chantries were suppressed the educational institution here alluded to was probably abandoned for want of funds and a master; in any case it ceased to exist about that time. On the 29th of November, 1606, James I. granted to Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, “all that Late Chantrie of the ffoundation of John Butler, at the Aulter of the Blessed Katherine within the Parishe Churche of St. Michaell-upon-Wyre, in the Countye of Lancaster, lately dissolved, and all the lands appertaining thereto.”

The second chantry in St. Michael’s church was founded sometime during the fifteenth century by one of the earlier Kirkbys, of Upper Rawcliffe, and in the reign of Edward VI. its annual income from endowment property was £4 13s. 10d., Thomas Crosse, of the age of 40 years, being the priest who celebrated there and “assisted the Curate.” Nothing more precise concerning the origin of this chantry can be ascertained, and even the situation it occupied in the church is unknown. In 1553 Thomas Crosse received a pension of £4 13s. 10d. a year.[226]

VICARS OF ST. MICHAEL’S-ON-WYRE.

IN THE DEANERY OF AMOUNDERNESS AND ARCHDEACONRY OF LANCASTER.

------------+--------------------+--------------------+----------------- Date of | NAME. | By whom Presented. |Cause of Vacancy. Institution.| | | ------------+--------------------+--------------------+----------------- About 1200 |Master Macy |King John | ” 1377 |William de Horneby |Duke of Lancaster(?)| In 1411 |Johannes de Daleby |College of | | | Battlefield | Before 1549 |Michael Thorneborrow| | In 1549 |Thomas Crosse |G. Kirkby and Nich. | | | Lawrenson, gents.,| | | patrons on this | | | occasion only, by | | | consent of John | | | Hussey, master, | | | and the Fellows | | | of Battlefield | | | College |Death of M. | | | Thorneborrow In 1628 |Robert Carr | | ” 1629 |Nicholas Bray |King Charles I. |Resignation of | | | R. Carr Before 1650 |William Bray |King Charles I. | About 1653 |Nathaniel Baxter | | Before 1715 |Thomas Robinson | | In 1715 |Richard Crombleholme|Thomas Clitherall |Death of T. | | | Robinson ” 1729 |William Crombleholme|Edward Crombleholme |Death of R. | | | Crombleholme ” 1765 |Robert Oliver |Richard Whitehead |Death of W. | | | Crombleholme ” 1768 |Anthony Swainson, |Richard Whitehead |Cession of R. | M.A. | | Oliver ” 1784 |Charles Buck, M.A. |John Swainson |Death of A. | | | Swainson ” 1789 |Hugh Hornby, M.A. |Joseph Hornby |Resignation of | | | C. Buck ” 1847 |William Hornby, M.A.|Himself |Death of H. | | | Hornby ------------+--------------------+--------------------+-----------------

The Rev. Hugh de Horneby was the brother of Robert de Horneby, vicar of Kirkham, and it may fairly be inferred that they belonged to the family of Hornbys, whose descendants are now settled at St. Michael’s, Ribby, and Winwick, but lapse of time has obliterated the connecting links. The Rev. Nathaniel Baxter was ejected in 1662, for refusing to take the oath required by the Act of Uniformity. Little only can be ascertained concerning the Crombleholmes, but it is conjectured that they were associated with the branch of that name seated at Goosnargh. The Rev. Richard Crombleholme had two sons—Edward and William, by the latter of whom he was succeeded in the vicarage, whilst to the former seems to have descended the patronage, acquired by purchase. The Rev. William Crombleholme married the daughter of Alexander Butler, of Kirkland, and possibly had no offspring beyond the Elizabeth Crombleholme, to whose memory the mural monument shortly to be noticed, was erected. The Rev. Anthony Swainson was the son of the Rev. Christopher Swainson, B.A., incumbent of Copp, and Elizabeth, his wife; he was a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. The Rev. Charles Buck was the son of the Rev. Charles Buck, M.A., vicar of Kirkham; he was afterwards curate of Warton and Lund. The Rev. Hugh Hornby was the sixth son of Hugh Hornby, esq., of Kirkham, whose eldest son was Joseph Hornby, esq., D.L., of Ribby Hall. He married Ann, daughter and co-heiress of Joseph Starky, M.D., of Redvales, and had issue, one son, William, now the Venerable Archdeacon Hornby, who succeeded him in the living, and is the present vicar and patron. The Ven. Archdeacon Hornby is an honorary canon of Manchester, and has been twice married, but further information respecting the family will be found in the pedigree of “Hornby of Ribby Hall.”

The present church is a broad low building of rough stone, with a tower of similar character at the west end. Both the tower and church are surmounted and surrounded by a castellated stone parapet and ornamental pinnacles of the same material. The porch and the tower bear the date 1611 and initial letters H:B. upon their exteriors, but it is evident that much of the edifice can boast a considerably greater antiquity than that indicated by the corresponding inscriptions. It is also obvious from the varieties displayed in the architecture of different portions, more especially the windows, that the rebuilding of the church has not been accomplished all at once, but carried on at pretty long intervals, extending back certainly to the time of Henry VIII., and perhaps further. Within, the south side aisle is separated from the nave by a succession of stone arches running from east to west, whilst the north side aisle contains the chapel in which was placed the altar of St. Katherine, and where now is the following inscription:—“This Oratory, known before the Dissolution to have been a Chantry dedicated to Saint Katherine, and competently endowed with lands in the neighbouring townships, was repaired by John ffrance, esq., of Rawcliffe Hall, A.D. 1797, being an appendage to that ancient manor house.” The tower opens directly into the nave without even the semblance of a partition, and on one wall is fixed a brass plate intimating that the large clock, whose huge pendulum vibrates opposite, and whose dials are visible without, was presented, in 1850, to the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby by his parishioners, as a mark of esteem. The mural tables occupying stations within the aisles and nave are erected to the memories of Edward Greenhalgh, of Myerscough Hall, died in 1823, aged 53, and Margaret, his widow, died in 1853, aged 92, also Mary, died in infancy, and Charlotte, died in 1823, aged 29, their daughters; Thomas Westby, of White Hall, died in 1762, aged 47, and Margaret, his widow, died in 1802, aged 82, also their children—Mary, died in infancy, Joseph, in 1769, aged 16, Bridget, in 1786, aged 37, Robert, in 1800, aged 45, Mary, in 1805, aged 45, William, in 1811, aged 60, and John, in 1811, aged 65—Thomas, the only surviving child being the erector of the monument in 1812; Hugh Hornby, M.A., 56 years vicar of the parish, died in 1847, aged 81, and Anne, his widow, died in 1850, aged 81 years, also Joseph Starkey Hornby, born in 1839, died in 1858, and William Hornby, born in 1845, died in 1858—“They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided”; Henry Hornby, late Captain in the East India Service, died in 1794, aged 54, “also near this place were interred the remains of his late father, Thomas Hornby, of St. Michael’s, who died Mar. 8, 1785, aged 76, likewise Elizabeth, wife and mother to the above, who died May 14th, 1798, aged 84”; Elizabeth Crombleholme, daughter of the Rev. William Crombleholme, formerly vicar of the parish, “whose mortal remains were deposited in the graveyard of this church near those of her beloved parents on the 21st of May, 1817—Erected as a tribute of esteem by her affectionate relative Thomas Butler Cole, of Kirkland Hall.” The Baptistry was restored in 1852 by the surviving children of John and Susannah Swainson, of Preston, and contains several tablets affixed to the north wall in memory of numerous members of that family, amongst whom may be mentioned the Revs. Christopher Swainson, B.A., incumbent of Copp, died in 1775; Anthony Swainson, M.A., vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, died 1784, aged 42; and Christopher Swainson, M.A., prebendary of Hereford, and vicar of Clun, Salop, died in 1854. The burial ground surrounding the church presents nothing of much interest to the antiquarian beyond an old sun-dial, and the Crombleholme grave lying under the shadow of the east wall. The living is a discharged vicarage.

The following extracts from the ancient vestry books will doubtless be interesting to our readers, although not of much importance as parish records:—

“April, 1683: To Ann Raby for washing surplice, 4s.; to John Fisher for work for clock and bells, 8s. 6d.

“Ordered this 21st of June, 1683, that no person or persons for the future be admitted to bury any dead corpse in the church unless he or they, at whose instance such corpse shall be buried, do in hand pay to the sexton of the parish for the same, being 12 pence for the use of the parish, or sufficiently secure the same to him, the corpses of women dying in childbed only excepted, which are hereby intended to be free, as is usual in other parishes.—Thos. Robinson, vicar; Rich. Longworth, Thos. White, gents.; Jas. Raby, Rich. B. Hornby, Rich. Wilding, George Bennet, churchwardens.”

“May 18, 1688: It is ordered that the two former orders made, the one ffor destroying Magpie and Sparrow heads, and the other for allowing the churchwardens to pay ... out of the parish money, be for the future suspended.”

“July 4, 1729: To ring one Bell at 7.0; to ring 2 Bells at 8.0; to ring and chime for Service in summer from half an hour past 10 o’clock, and in winter from Ten till half an hour after.”

“Aug. 25, 1736: It was ordered by ye Vicar and gentlemen of ye parish that another church lay after ye rate of 12d. in £1, besides ye 3 church lays before mentioned, be forthwith collected and gathered for repairing ye church. N.B.: This church lay is collected for laying a new beam and erecting a new pair of principals between ye church and ye chancel at the joint charges of ye parish and Allen Johnson, esq., owner of ye chancel.”

May 5, 1745: Be it known that John Lewtas has cleared up ye difficulties about ye quakers’ taxes for Rawcliffe.

“1746: Ringers’ salary, 15s.; for 5th of November, 6s.; for sanding churchyard, 1s.

“November 6, 1780: Agreed by the Vicar and gentlemen of the Vestry of St. Michael’s, that each Ringer attending the church shall be allowed two tankards of ale, and each singer one tankard, together with each one their dinner.”

“November 6, 1792: It was determined by a majority of the gentlemen of the Vestry to raise the dues for opening a grave in the inside of the church to 6s. 8d.

“1796: At a meeting of the Vestry of this church it was unanimously resolved that the remainder of the profits arising from the estate called Terleways and the garden in Upper Rawcliffe, after defraying the expenses of a dinner and a quart of ale to each vestryman, churchwarden, the curate of Copp, and clerk of St. Michael’s, at the respective days of Easter Tuesday and the 5th of November for 7 years ensuing, commencing with the present day (March 29, 1796), shall be suffered to accumulate during the above period towards purchasing an Organ for the Church of St. Michael’s; and that every Stranger introduced on the forementioned days at dinner, except it be on business of the parish, shall be paid for by the person introducing him.”

“July 15, 1799: To a Finger and Barrel Organ with the following stops—Open, Diapason, Stop do., Principal, Twelfth, Fifteenth, Sesqualtra, and Mixture,—£183 15s. 0d.”

In 1708 Richard Cornall gave £40 to be invested, and the interest applied towards the maintenance of a schoolmaster for Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre, and in 1808 Joseph Fielding, of Catterall, was the sole remaining trustee of a sum of money, amounting to £60, of which the £40 doubtless formed part, for educational purposes. At that date Joseph Fielding induced the Rev. Hugh Hornby, vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, and William Harrison, of Upper Rawcliffe, to undertake the trust with him on a fresh deed, the old one having been lost. A new schoolhouse was shortly erected on the site of the former building, and is now governed by the representatives of the trustees named. In 1813 Mrs. Elizabeth Crombleholme left £200 in trust to be invested, and the annual income therefrom paid to the master of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre school for teaching three poor children of the parish to read, write, and cast accounts.

Bread-money was probably established during the lifetime of John ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall, and arises from “two-sevenths of the clear rent of a close of ground lying in Kirkham, purchased with £20, to be distributed to the poor attending divine service in the parish church of St. Michael’s, at the direction of John ffrance, esq., and his heirs; Thomas Langton, gent., and his heirs; and the vicar of St. Michael’s for the time being.”[227]

Ralph Longworth, esq., of St. Michael’s Hall, left £5 per annum to the vicar, and £2 10s. to the poor of Upper Rawcliffe.

Thomas Knowles, gent., left £2 10s., and John Hudson, gent., £2 a-year to the poor of the same township.

The Terleway’s Lands were given by some one unknown at a very early date “for the use of the parish, as the vicar and vestry shall direct,” and consist of lands in Claughton and a garden in Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre.[228]

POPULATION OF UPPER RAWCLIFFE-WITH-TARNACRE.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 494 617 643 665 671 697 682 700

The area of the township embraces 3,743 statute acres.

GREAT ECCLESTON. Great Eccleston was anciently held by William de Lancaster as an appendage of the fee of Wyresdale. William de Lancaster died without issue, and Wyresdale, with its dependency Great Eccleston, passed to Walter de Lindsay, the eldest son of his second sister, Alice. The Lindsay line terminated in the heiress Christiana de Lindsay, living in 1300, who married Ingelram de Guynes, Lord of Coucy, in France, whose eldest son was created earl of Bedford in 1336, and whose second and third sons, Sir William de Coucy and Robert de Coucy, held Great Eccleston as part of Wyresdale, their inheritance, in 1346. The widow of Sir William de Coucy conveyed her portion of Great Eccleston in marriage to Sir John de Coupland, and the remainder was then held by Baldwin de Guynes and Joan, the heiress of John de Rigmayden. The whole of the township, with the exception of certain lands rented by the convent of Deulacres,[229] descended in the manner above described from William de Lancaster, through the Lindsays and Guynes or Coucys, to Coupland, Baldwin de Guynes, and Joan Rigmayden, and subsequently to their heirs. Amongst the _Familiæ Lancastrienses_ there are two families of Ecclestons, one of which is described as of Eccleston, near Preston, and the other of Eccleston simply, the latter doubtless being the Ecclestons who were seated at Great Eccleston Hall anterior to the Stanleys, the occupants in the seventeenth century, whose pedigree will be found, with others, in a former chapter of this volume. The Ecclestons, of Eccleston, near Preston, would belong to the place of that name in the Hundred of Leyland. Thomas Stanley, an illegitimate son of the fourth earl of Derby, settled, about 1600, at Great Eccleston Hall, which, together with the estate, was probably purchased; his descendants remained there until the death of Richard Stanley, in 1714, when Thomas Westby, of Upper Rawcliffe, obtained possession of the land and mansion, both of which have since descended in his line.

An Episcopal chapel was erected, in 1723, on the summit of a hill at Copp, almost a mile from the village of Great Eccleston, and near to Elswick chapel, “which,” says Bishop Gastrell, “being never consecrated and in the possession of the Dissenters, it was thought more proper to build a new one there than to seize upon that.” Subjoined is a letter from John ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall, to William Stafford, Commissary of Richmond, and Secretary to Bishop Gastrell, called forth by sundry matters in connection with the newly completed place of worship:—

“Eccleston parva, Aug. 3, 1724.

“Upon some discourse with Mr. Dixon (vicar of Kirkham) about Cop Chapell I will give you the trouble of this. When Subscriptions were desired towards building the said Chapell it was proposed and intended to be not only for the use of the Inhabitants of St. Michael’s, but likewise for the use of several townships, which lye in the Parish of Kirkham, remote from their Parish Church; and the Inhabitants of this township (Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick) have contributed more towards the Building than those of St. Michael’s, and would have erected it within Kirkham Parish, if the situation had been thought equally convenient. And likewise the person, who promised to pay the hundred pounds towards the Queen’s Bounty, gave a note touching the same, with conditions in favour of Kirkham Parish.

“Before the Chapell was erected the two Vicars of the Parishes aforesaid were together, seemed to encourage our proceedings, and talked amicably and agreeably about Nomination, etc.; but since the Chapell was built several proposals have been made to which the Vicar of Kirkham has consented, but the Vicar of St. Michael’s seems to dislike them. One of the proposals was that the determination of the affair might be referred to the Bishop of Chester, whose generous offer to procure £100 towards the Endowment of this Chapell gave great encouragement to our undertaking the building thereof. Some people have refused to pay their Subscriptions on pretence that the Vicar of St. Michael’s has departed from former proposals; but we hope (if these differences could be amicably settled to the satisfaction of the neighbourhood) that not only the old, but likewise several new Subscriptions might be procured, especially if our grateful behaviour for by-past favours may continue his Lordship’s Countenance and Encouragement; and we desire you to represent the matter to him as favourably as you think it will bear.”

(Signed) John ffrance.

The chapel was a small plain brick building, dedicated to St. Anne, but in 1841 a tower was added, and at the same time a burial ground was enclosed and licensed in connection with it. Great Eccleston, Elswick, and Little Eccleston-with-Larbrick townships were, in 1849, constituted a separate ecclesiastical district, known as the parish of Copp, of which this chapel is the parochial church. There is a vicarage house.

CURATES AND VICARS OF COPP.

------------+-----------------------+--------------------- Date of | NAME. | Cause of Vacancy. Institution.| | ------------+-----------------------+--------------------- Before 1775 |Christopher Swainson, | | B.A. | | | ” 1841 |Reginald Sharpe | | | In 1841 |Thomas Hathornthwaite, | Resignation of | L.L.D. | R. Sharpe | | ” 1864 |William C. Dowding, | Resignation of | M.A. | T. Hathornthwaite | | ” 1870 |William Bateson, M.A. | Resignation of | | William C. Dowding ------------+-----------------------+----------------------

A new Catholic chapel was completed in 1835, and superseded one of considerable age. Three fairs are held each year on March 14th, April 14th, and November 4th, for cattle.

The origin of the free school at Copp has not been discovered, but the earliest endowment to be found dates from 1719, when William Fyld, yeoman, of Great Eccleston, left the remainder of his personal estate, amounting to about £250, to be invested in trustees, and the interest to be paid yearly “for a Master to teach Poor Children here, or in some other part of the township.” By his will, dated 1st of April, 1748, William Gaulter bequeathed £242 14s. to certain trustees to augment the stipend of the master of this school, and directed that in case the educational establishment should ever be abandoned, or the terms of the will not be observed, the annual income derived from his bequest should be distributed amongst the poor inhabitants of the neighbourhood. In 1866 the school was temporarily closed, whilst the charity was under the revision of the Charity Commissioners; and in 1871 a new and more commodious building was erected. There is also another school in this township, called Lane Head school, held in a building erected by subscription on the site of the original one, which had collapsed through age. The only endowment is a rent charge of £5 supposed to have been left by Thomas Clitherall.

William Fyld, of Great Eccleston, bequeathed £2 annually to the poor of that township.

Ellen Longworth left the interest of £20 to be distributed in bread to the poor people attending divine service at Copp church.

POPULATION OF GREAT ECCLESTON.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 455 540 648 624 661 631 641 565

The area of the township in statute acres is 1,412

OUT RAWCLIFFE. The manor of Out Rawcliffe was presented to Theobald Walter by Richard I., and from that time to 1715 remained in the hands of the same family. Theobald Walter, the son of the above-named gentleman, and _Butler_ of Ireland, a title which, as elsewhere stated, he adopted as a surname, gave the whole of Out Rawcliffe, and one carucate of land in Stainall, to his relative, perhaps son, Sir Richard Butler, and from him sprang the long line of Butlers of Rawcliffe.[230] In 1627 the inquisition _post mortem_ of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, revealed that his possessions consisted of the two manors of Out and Middle Rawcliffes, and of lands in Upper Rawcliffe.[231] Henry and Richard Butler of Rawcliffe, father and eldest son, joined the ranks of the insurgents in 1715, and after the suppression of the rebellion, their estates were confiscated; Henry escaped, but Richard was seized, and died in prison at London in 1716, before the day appointed for his execution. The sale of Out Rawcliffe by Government was enrolled on the 19th of September, 1723, the purchasers being the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, (vicar of St. Michael’s), John Leyland, Cornelius Fox, and James Poole; and in the diary of the Rev. Thos. Parkinson, curate of Garstang, reference is made to the completion and terms of the transfer as follows:—

“April 1723.— ... At night I preached for T. Raby, of Tarnacre, at St. Michael’s. His son paid me 10s. Mr. Crombleholm, the vicar there, came from London, whilst I was there, who, in conjunction with three more, had bought Rawcliffe demain and tenants, paying to the board £11,260. It cost them near £1,000 more in hush money, as they call it.”

In 1729 the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, who seems to have bought up the shares of his co-investors, died, and five years later his heir, Edward Crombleholme, disposed of the lordship of Out Rawcliffe, with its courts, fishing in the Wyre, rents, etc., to Thomas Roe, whose only child and heiress married John ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall. The only son and heir of John ffrance, of Rawcliffe and Little Eccleston, also called John, became lord of the manor on the decease of his father in 1774. He espoused Margaret, the daughter and heiress of ⸺ Rigg, of Lancaster, and, dying without issue, devised his property, after the death of his widow, to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, whose wife, the daughter of ⸺ Cross, of Shaw Hall, Chorley, was his nearest relative. Thomas Wilson assumed the surname of ffrance in addition to his own, and was succeeded, under the will of John ffrance, by his son, Thomas Robert Wilson-ffrance, who effected great improvements on the land by draining and re-covering the mosses, thereby increasing the value of the estate considerably. T. R. Wilson-ffrance died in 1853, and Rawcliffe descended to his only son, Robert Wilson-ffrance, who lived but six years afterwards, and bequeathed his estates to his sole offspring, Robert John Barton Wilson-ffrance, esq., at that time an infant, and now in possession. Rawcliffe Hall lies on the south of the township, in a park-like enclosure, leading to the banks of the river Wyre. The present mansion was built in the 17th century, but during more recent years has undergone material alterations. The remains of the Catholic chapel attached to it are situated at the rear.

The church of Out Rawcliffe was consecrated in 1837, and was erected by subscription and a donation from the late T. R. Wilson-ffrance, esq., who also gave the site, and retained the patronage. The style of architecture is said to resemble some portions of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with a fine Norman arch over the west end. There are 250 sittings, of which 150 are free. The first incumbent was the Rev. W. Chadwick, who was succeeded by the Rev. Joshua Waltham. The Rev. James C. Home, M.A., is the third and present holder of the living.

There is a good day-school supported out of the Rawcliffe estate.

POPULATION OF OUT RAWCLIFFE.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 413 484 598 575 728 791 771 832

The area in statute acres of Out Rawcliffe is 4,340.

ELSWICK. From the _Testa de Nevill_ it appears that about 1400 Warin de Wytingham and Alin de Singilton held respectively the eighth and sixteenth parts of a knight’s fee in Elswick from the Earl of Lincoln. Edmund Dudley had the manor until his attainder at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII.; and in 1521, Thomas, earl of Derby, held it of that monarch. The soil is now in the possession of several landowners.

In 1650 the Parliamentary Commissioners of the Commonwealth reported that the inhabitants, “being fifty families, and five miles from their parish church, had lately, with the voluntary and free assistance of some neighbouring towns, erected a chapel.” The Rev. Cuthbert Harrison, who had been ejected from his benefice in Ireland for refusing the oath of Uniformity, procured a license from Charles II. in 1672 for the same chapel, “for the use of such as did not conform to the Church of England, commonly called Congregational.” Parliament, however, decreed that the King’s authority was insufficient, and forbade divine service to be held there a short time later. In 1702 the chapel seems to have been again opened, and continued in use amongst the Independents until 1753, when it was superseded by a new one, enlarged in 1838. The memorial stone of the present chapel, erected to commemorate the persecutions under the Five Mile Act of two centuries ago, was laid by Sir James Watts, of Manchester, on the 30th of July, 1873, and the building completed with all expedition. The chapel stands on a plot of ground presented by Mrs. Harrison, of Bankfield, adjoining the site of the former edifice, and is a handsome stone Gothic structure. The mortuary, with tower and spire, was given by R. C. Richards, esq., J.P., of Clifton Lodge, in memory of certain members of his family.

Elizabeth Hoole, by will dated 26th of April, 1727, charged a meadow in Elswick, which she gave to the Roman Catholic chapel of Great Eccleston, with the annual payment of £3 to the poor of Elswick.

POPULATION OF ELSWICK.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 232 256 290 327 303 307 290 254

The area of the township includes 1,009 statute acres.

WOOD PLUMPTON. In the Domesday Book Pluntun is entered as comprising two carucates of arable land. Robert de Stokeport died possessed of the manor in 1248, and his daughter and heiress married Nicholas de Eton as her first husband, and John de Arderne as her second. Robert de Eton, a descendant of her first marriage, obtained Wood Plumpton in 1340. Cecily de Stokeport, heiress of the Etons, conveyed the manor to Sir Edward Warren, of Poynton, in which family it remained until transferred, in 1777, to Viscount Thomas James Bulkeley on his marriage with Elizabeth Harriet, only child of Sir George Warren. The Bulkeley property ultimately passed to the Fleming-Leycesters, whence Lord de Tabley obtained the lordship. Charles Birley, esq., of Bartle Hall, is the present possessor of the manor. Wood Plumpton Hall was anciently the seat of the Warrens, whilst Ambrose Hall was occupied by a family of the same name, from which descended the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who was ejected from Garstang by the Act of Uniformity. Richard Ambrose, of Ambrose Hall, left a son and heir, William, who married the daughter of ⸺ Curwen of Lancaster, and had issue a son, Nicholas. Nicholas Ambrose espoused Jane, daughter of John Singleton, of Gingle Hall, Lancashire, and left six sons and a daughter, the eldest of whom, William, resided at Ambrose Hall in 1567, and was twice married, first to Anne, widow of Lawrence Cotham, of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre, and after her decease to Margaret, widow of Sir Richard Houghton. Flower’s heraldic visitation, from which the foregoing is extracted, was made in 1567, and consequently the pedigree cannot be traced further.

The church of Wood Plumpton is very ancient, being probably in existence during the earlier years of the 14th century. It was rebuilt in 1630, and has subsequently undergone numerous alterations, consisting now of nave, chancel, and two aisles. The communion table has the date and initials “W. A. 1635” upon it, and a beam in the roof is carved with the year “1639.” An organ was obtained in 1849. The principal window, the gift of R. Waterworth, esq., of Preston, is beautifully emblazoned, in addition to which there are several other richly stained windows. A handsome monument of marble, representing a sailor mourning, is situated in the north aisle, and was erected in memory of Henry Foster, R.N., F.R.S., son of a former incumbent who was drowned in 1831, in the river Chagres, Gulf of Mexico. The church is dedicated to St. Anne, and the Rev. Isaac Mossop is the present vicar.

There is a Roman Catholic chapel at Cottam, erected in 1793. The date of the original one is unknown, but in 1768 it was almost completely destroyed by an election mob. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1815, and another for the Primitive Methodists about 1819.

The township contains an auxiliary workhouse, connected with the Preston Union, which was erected in 1823. Annual courts are held for the manor of Wood Plumpton, which includes the hamlets of Catforth, Eaves, Bartle, and Wood Plumpton.

The school at Catforth was established by Alice Nicholson, of Bartle, who gave in 1661 the sum of £100 in trust for the maintenance of a free school within the manor of Wood Plumpton. Subsequent benefactions have been received as follows:—The same Alice Nicholson £10 by will, in 1664; John Hudson, of Lea, £20 by will, in 1676; John Hall, of Catforth, £20 by deed, in 1732; James Hall, of Catforth, £10 by will, in 1741; Richard Eccles, £100 by will, in 1762; Elizabeth Bell, £100 by deed, in 1813; Richard Threlfall, £20 by deed in 1813; and Ann Robinson, £90 by will in 1817. The total endowment up to 1813, amounting to £380, was invested on the 21st of April in that year, in the navy five per cents., in the name of the trustees. The further bequest of £90 was placed out at interest.

In 1817, Ann Robinson, the benefactress just mentioned, also left £90 in trust, the interest to be given to the master teaching the Sunday school at Wood Plumpton church.

Thomas Houghton gave, in 1649, the fourth part of the rental of an estate in Wood Plumpton to the poor of that township.

It is recited in an indenture, dated 9th January, 1709, that George Nicholson bequeathed the rents of several closes of land, which he stood possessed of for a certain term of years, in trust, for the poor of Wood Plumpton, and also left for the same charitable object, the sum of £200, to be retained by his executors, and the interest only distributed, until the expiration of the above term, when the sum should be paid to the churchwardens and overseers, and used as heretofore. The indenture further recites that on the death of George Nicholson in 1672, a Chancery suit arose out of the will, the result being that the poor were awarded £210 as a settlement of their legal claims upon the property of the deceased. The money was ordered to be invested, and the annual income bestowed as directed by the testator.

POPULATION OF WOOD PLUMPTON.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 1,197 1,397 1,635 1,719 1,688 1,574 1,462 1,290

The township comprises 4,722 statute acres.

INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY. In the Domesday volume this township appears as containing three carucates of arable soil. Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, obtained the manor of Inskip in 1281 as the dowry of his bride Alicia, daughter of William de Carleton. Inskip was held by Cuthbert Clifton, of Clifton, in 1512, from whom it descended to Sir W. Molyneux, of Larbrick and Sefton, who had espoused his sole child and heiress. In 1554-68 it was in the possession of Henry Kighley, and afterwards passed to William Cavendish, earl of Devonshire, on his marriage with the daughter and co-heiress of that gentleman.

The fishery of “Saureby Mere” belonged to William Hoghton in 1519, at which epoch Thomas Rigmayden and the earl of Derby had lands in Sowerby. The Stanleys have for long been lords of Sowerby and continue to hold a court-baron there. In Inskip also a court-baron takes place each year in June.

A church, dedicated to St. Peter, was erected in 1848 at the joint expense of the earl of Derby and the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby, vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre. The living, now a vicarage, is endowed with £100 per annum out of the corn rents. The Rev. A. Sharples, B.A., appointed shortly after the church was built, is the present vicar.

One-fourth of the rentals from certain lands in Goosnargh and Chipping was given by Thomas Knowles in 1686 to the poor of Inskip.

In 1750 John Jolly bequeathed the residue of his estate in trust, for the use of such poor housekeepers of Inskip-with-Sowerby as received no parochial relief.

POPULATION OF INSKIP-WITH-SOWERBY.

1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 635 647 739 798 735 680 663 593

The area of the township in statute acres amounts to 2,888.

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