ECCLESTON

Although there was a lengthy dispute in the late thirteenth century about whether Eccleston was a chapelry of Croston, or a parish in its own right, the decision pronounced by the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield in 1317 was that Eccleston was, indeed, a parish. It comprised the townships of Eccleston, Heskin, Parbold and Wrightington and the chapelry of Douglas in Parbold.

The parish was situated to the west of the county, away from the more densely populated areas of Manchester and Preston and has been characterised as one of the ‘most Catholic’ parishes of the county (Haigh, p. 284). Bl. John Finch was born in Eccleston in about 1548. He converted to Catholicism and helped with the underground network of priests, sheltering some in his home. He was arrested and executed at Lancaster in 1584 after refusing to accept the Royal Supremacy.

The church is situated in the north of the parish. Part of the fourteenth century church building survives, comprising parts of the chancel and the lower part of the tower.

The building was reconstructed in the 18th century and although the original plan seems to have been to pull down the existing building and rebuild it entirely, this was not done and the churchwardens’ accounts record payments for repairs and rebuilding over the period from 1721 to 1737. It underwent subsequent substantial restoration work in the 19th century. The tower has no staircase and the only access to the belfry is by a ladder.

One moiety of the parish was given to the Benedictine Abbey of St Martin of Sées in Normandy shortly after the Norman Conquest and the remainder was given to the priory of Lancaster, a cell of that abbey, some two hundred years later. However, during the long periods of war with France the English monarchs seized some of the assets of alien monasteries so the rectors of Eccleston were often presented by the Crown until, in about 1430, the advowson was granted to Sir Thomas Stanley and so he and his successors, the earls of Derby, presented to the parish until 1596 when they sold it to Thomas Lathom of Parbold.

The parish was often held in plurality and for short periods, many of the rectors being non-resident.

There were coal mines and quarries for building stone in the parish and the cotton industry developed from the middle of the nineteenth century but much of the parish remained agricultural.

The black and white images are reproduced from volume 63 of the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire by kind permission of The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.

Sources:

E. H. Burton and J. H. Pollen (eds.), Lives of the English Martyrs. Second Series. The Martyrs declared Venerable (London, 1914), vol. i (1583-1588), pp. 114-126

F. H. Cheetham., ‘Eccleston church in Leyland’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vols 63 (1891 and 1892), pp. 201-232. Available online: https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-63-1911

Christopher Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (Cambridge, 1975)

‘The parish of Eccleston’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill (London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp155-162 [accessed 19 February 2025]

‘Eccleston – Edgbaston’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp139-144 [accessed 19 February 2025]

Historic England:
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Towngate (1362129)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1362129 National Heritage List for England

ROSTHERNE (ROSTHORNE)

The parish of Rostherne is situated in the north-east of the county of Cheshire. It comprised the townships of Marthall with Little Warford, Mere, Millington, Rostherne, Snelson, Over Tabley and Tatton plus parts of Agden and Bollington and the chapelries of High Legh, Knutsford and Over Peover.

The advowson of the parish passed to the family of Venables of Kinderton in the reign of Edward III. They remained patrons until they sold the advowson to the Egerton family of Tatton in the eighteenth century. The church was appropriated by the Priory of Launde in Leicestershire in 1507. The appropriation by the priory was controversial, however, as it seems that the prior also claimed the advowson. In a Star Chamber case the prior alleged that in 1529 William Venables had organised ‘misdemeaned persons to the nombre of 100’ who ‘came violently to the church, and pulled the … vycar owte of his stall’ and installed their own candidate (Stewart-Brown, Lancashire and Cheshire cases in the court of Star Chamber, p. 110).

Following the surrender of the priory in December 1539 the parish remained in the hands of the king until he transferred it to Christ Church in about 1546. 

The parish church, situated to the north of the village of Rostherne is built of sandstone overlooking Rostherne Mere to the north with the M56 in the distance. There has been a church on the site since at least the twelfth century. The tower dates from 1744 and replaced a sixteenth-century steeple which had collapsed three years earlier, damaging the body of the church. Fortunately, the boys from the parish school, who were taught in the base of the tower, had left for the day when this collapse happened. The body of the church was comprehensively remodelled in 1888 although some late Tudor parts survive.

Outside the church, many of the gravestones in the older area of the churchyard have been laid flat. The lych gate, dating from 1640, is one of the oldest in Cheshire and has an unusual self-closing mechanism using a weight.

Although not as big as many Cheshire parishes, Rostherne did cover quite a large area and the Puritan minister, Adam Martindale, while vicar at Rostherne which was contiguous with Great Budworth, complained in the mid-seventeenth century that ‘the minister of Great Budworth and I had such vast parishes to go through, that multitudes of the people would be dead, in all probability, ere we could goe once over them’. Martindale faced this problem by preaching his Rostherne Sunday sermon again at High Legh and Tabley during the following week whenever he could (Parkinson (ed.), Life of Adam Martindale, p.122).

The parish remains a largely rural area.

Sources:

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. i, pp. 429-439

Rev. F. Parkinson (ed.), Life of Adam Martindale (Chetham Society, old series, 4, 1845)

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches (Revised and enlarged edition, Didsbury, 1973), pp. 286-288

R. Stewart-Brown (ed.) Lancashire and Cheshire cases in the court of Star Chamber (part I) (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 71, 1916-17)

‘Houses of Augustinian canons: The priory of Launde’, in A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 2, ed. W G Hoskins, R A McKinley (London, 1954), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/leics/vol2/pp10-13 [accessed 12 February 2025]

‘Ross – Rothwell’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp697-703 [accessed 12 February 2025]

Historic England
Church of St Mary, Rostherne Lane (1230301)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1230301  National Heritage List for England

MIDDLEWICH

The parish of Middlewich is situated in central Cheshire. It comprised the townships of Byley cum Yatehouse, Clive, Croxton, Kinderton, Middlewich, Minshull Vernon, Moresbarrow cum Parme, Newton, Occleston, Ravenscroft, Sproston, Stublach, Sutton, Weever and Wimboldsley cum Lea. The township of Middlewich is situated on junction of the Trent and Mersey Canal, dating from the late 1770s, and a branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. The main industry in the town was the manufacture of salt which was produced from brine springs and there was some silk manufacture.

The rectory of Middlewich was appropriated to the monastery of Lenton in Nottinghamshire in 1504, at which time it was worth £30 a year. After its dissolution in 1538 the advowson passed to the Crown and was sold to Sir William Brereton in 1607, with the appropriated rectory. In 1663 the advowson of the vicarage was acquired by the Lowe family. In 1817 the tithes and patronage of the vicarage were appropriated by a group of local landowners. Various early leases indicate that the vicar was to be paid an annual salary of 19 marks (£12 13s 4d) but in 1658, during the Interregnum, this was increased to £50 but this order for the increase was revoked following the Restoration.

The parish church is situated in the middle of the town of Middlewich. The oldest surviving parts of the church building date from the twelfth century but the chancel and most of nave were rebuilt in the late fourteenth century, and the tower was added about a hundred years later. The church was substantially restored in 1857-60. The chancel roof, dating from 1621, fell victim to death watch beetle and was replaced in 1951-2.

There were two battles in Middlewich during the Civil War, during the first battle in March 1642/3 the church was occupied by the royalists who were defeated by the parliamentarians. The church suffered some damage during the battle, following which the parliamentarian forces were said to have looted both the townspeople and the church. The second battle, some nine months later, was won by the royalists.

Sources:

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. iii, pp. 173-186

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches (Revised and enlarged edition, Didsbury, 1973), pp. 234-237

B. Ll. Vaudrey, ‘Some notes on the parish church of Middlewich, Cheshire’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. 27 (1874-1875), pp. 1-12. Available online: https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-27-1874-1875/

‘House of Cluniac monks: The priory of Lenton’, in A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London, 1910), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/notts/vol2/pp91-100 [accessed 13 February 2025]

‘Middleton-in-Teesdale – Midley’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp310-313 [accessed 13 February 2025]

A Guide to St Michael & All Angels church Middlewich, (second edition), leaflet available in the church

 Historic England
Church of St Michael and All Angels (1138795)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138795  National Heritage List for England

BUNBURY

This extensive parish is situated on the Cheshire Plain between Nantwich and Tarporley. It comprised eleven townships, Alpraham, Beeston, Bunbury, Burwardsley, Calveley, Haughton, Peckforton, Ridley, Spurstow, Tilston Fearnal, Tiverton and Wardle.

Although there was a priest here at the time of the Domesday Book, much of the surviving church fabric dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with nineteenth century centoration.

During the reign of Richard II Sir Hugh Calveley founded a college in the church with a master and six chaplains, and the rectory was appropriated to the college. He died in 1394 and a monumental effigy of him survives in the church. This is said to be the earliest alabaster monument in Cheshire.

A colourful tomb commemorates Sir George Beeston, Admiral of the Fleet, who played a part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. He is said to have lived to the age of 102.

The church is still based on the medieval plan, apart from the addition of the Ridley Chapel by Sir Ralph Egerton of Ridley on the south side of the chantry in the early sixteenth century. This chapel is separated from the chancel by a stone screen.

When the college was dissolved in about 1548 it was headed by a dean, with a staff of six chaplains and two ‘conducts’ according to the chantry certificate reproduced by Ormerod. The tithes were then leased for some time but Thomas Aldersey, a Londoner descended from a prominent Chester family, purchased the rectory and the advowson in 1594. He provided for a school and there is still a school in Bunbury which bears the family name. He also endowed a preacher for the parish, to be supported by a curate and appointed the London Company of Haberdashers as trustees. This resulted in the appointment of a series of puritan clergy, leading to conflict with those parishioners who sympathised with religious conservatives.

In December 1642 Civil War leaders of both sides met at Bunbury and drew up a declaration of neutrality in the hope of keeping Cheshire out of any further fighting. This declaration became known as ‘The Peace of Bunbury’, but it did not last, and the county was soon drawn into bitter conflict.

The church and village of Bunbury suffered bomb damage during the Second World War, which has led to the relocation of the village centre away from the church.

Sources:

R. N. Dore, The Civil Wars in Cheshire (Chester, 1966), p. 15

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. ii, pp. 253-268 (black and white image of the church from this volume courtesy of HathiTrust)

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches (Revised and enlarged edition, Didsbury, 1973), pp. 74-82

R. C. Richardson, Puritanism in north-west England: A regional study of the diocese of Chester to 1642 (Manchester, 1972), pp. 128-130, 169-170

A. Wolfgang, ‘Ancient screens in Cheshire and Lancashire churches’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. 64 (1912), pp. 20-42. Available online: https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-64-1912/

‘Bulbridge – Bundley’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis (London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp428-431 [accessed 1 February 2025]

Historic England
The church of St Boniface (1138626)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138626  National Heritage List for England
North gates to St Boniface’s churchyard (1330103)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1330103 National Heritage List for England
West gates to St Boniface’s churchyard (1138628)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138628 National Heritage List for England
The Chantry House (1138635)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138635  National Heritage List for England
Bunbury Cottage Tudor Cottage (1138632)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138632  National Heritage List for England

DODLESTON

This parish is situated about 5 miles south west of Chester, straddling the border with Wales. It comprised three townships, Dodleston, Higher and Lower Kinnerton. Higher Kinnerton was in the county of Flintshire in Wales.

The church had been granted to St Werburgh’s Abbey in Chester probably during the reign of King John and passed to the dean and chapter of the cathedral following the surrender of the abbey in 1540.

Although the lower part of the church tower survives from the early sixteenth century, most of the church was rebuilt in sandstone in 1870 to designs by John Douglas, who also added some height to the existing tower and probably designed the lychgate.

A motte and bailey castle, adjacent to the churchyard on the Welsh side of the River Dee, was probably built shortly after the Norman Conquest, forming part of a defensive network along the border to protect against Welsh incursion. A manor house was later built on the site. It was probably this hall which was the headquarters of the parliamentarian troops during the siege of Chester in 1644 to 1646 and the parish registers recorded several burials of soldiers including ‘a soulldier, from his horse fell and brake his necke’ (Ormerod, vol. ii, p. 851). A rectory succeeded the manor house on this site.

Another manor house, Dodleston Hall, was built in the middle of a moated site to the north of the motte and bailey. The hall was owned by Richard Grosvenor and was bought by Thomas Egerton, a Cheshire man, related by marriage to the Grosvenor family, who was Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for more than two decades until his death in 1617. Despite his work in London, he sometimes lived at the hall. This was a timber framed building which was demolished about 1788, and a farmhouse was built on the site. Sir Thomas Egerton died in London but chose to be buried in the parish church of Dodleston.

The parish remains largely agricultural, being both arable and pasture.

Sources:

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. ii, pp. 844-852

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches (Revised and enlarged edition, Didsbury, 1973), pp. 145-148

Rachel Swallow, ‘Palimpsest of Border Power:  the Archaeological Survey of Dodleston Castle, Cheshire’, Cheshire History, (54), (2014-2015), pp. 18-44

‘Doddington – Donisthorpe’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp63-69 [accessed 22 January 2025]

Historic England
Dodleston motte and bailey castle (1012419)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1012419 National Heritage List for England
Church of St Mary, Church Road (1129915)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1129915 National Heritage List for England
Dodleston Hall moated site (1011786)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1011786  National Heritage List for England

BOLTON-LE-MOORS

The parish of Bolton-le-Moors (subsequently known as Bolton) comprised the townships of Anglezarke, Blackrod, Bradshaw, Breightmet, Darcy Lever, Edgeworth, Entwistle, Great Bolton, Harwood, Little Bolton, Longworth, Lostock, Quarlton, Rivington, Sharples, Tonge-with-Haulgh and Turton plus the chapelry of Little Lever.

Much of the area of the parish was moorland. However, the local growth of fabric manufacture, which developed particularly from the second half of the eighteenth century, was stimulated by inventions such as Crompton’s mule towards the end of that century. Samuel Crompton was a local man who lived for a time in part of Hall i’ th’ Wood in the township of Tonge. The hall was at that time divided into tenements and rented out and is now a museum. Compton was buried in the parish churchyard and is commemorated there. Cotton manufacture and associated industries like bleachworks developed rapidly during the nineteenth century, together with iron foundries, coal mines and steam engine manufacture. Other industry such as stone quarrying and lead mining continued intermittently in areas of the parish from Roman times until the twentieth century.

From the thirteenth century the parish had been a prebend of Lichfield cathedral annexed to the archdeaconry of Chester. Prior to this the parish had belonged to the priory of Mattersey in Nottinghamshire, which retained the right of presentation until the surrender of the priory in 1538. At the time of the foundation of the diocese of Chester in 1541 the rectory was appropriated to the new bishopric of Chester which also received the right of presentation of the vicar. Following the Reformation the area became determinedly Puritan. A free school was founded in 1641 by Robert Lever.

The parish church of St Peter was demolished in 1866 and rebuilt between 1867 and 1871. There had been a succession of at least three church buildings on the site evidenced in part by fragments of Viking and Anglo-Saxon stone carving found during the demolition, some of which survive in the reconstructed church. A cross, which is thought to be pre-Norman, was discovered and was perhaps a preaching cross. Medieval woodwork incorporated into the new building includes three stalls in the Lady chapel. There was a small museum of fragments of architectural interest which were preserved by Canon Henry Powell, vicar at the time of the demolition, which he preserved in the tower of the new church.

Field Names

Named in EDC 5/13/1:
gladishyll pyke

Sources:

Fred. H. Crossley, ‘On the remains of mediaeval stallwork in Lancashire’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol 70 (1918), pp. 1-42. Available online: https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-70-1918/

William Fergusson Irvine ‘Notes on the history of Hall i’ th’ Wood’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vols 55 & 56 (1903 & 1904), pp. 1-41. Available online: https://www.hslc.org.uk/journal/vol-55-1903-and-vol-56-1904/

James Christopher Scholes, History of Bolton: with Memorials of the old Parish Church, (ed. William Pimblett, Bolton, 1892), pp. 65-106

‘The parish of Bolton-le-Moors’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp235-243 [accessed 13 January 2025]

‘House of Gilbertine canons: The priory of Mattersey’, in A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2, ed. William Page( London, 1910), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/notts/vol2/pp140-141 [accessed 13 January 2025]

Historic England:
Church of St Peter (1387969)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1387969 National Heritage List for England
Hall i’ th’ Wood (1388052)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1388052 National Heritage List for England

The black and white images are reproduced from volumes 55 and 56 of the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire by kind permission of The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.

SANDBACH

The parish of Sandbach is situated in the east of Cheshire, not far from the border with Staffordshire. It comprised the townships of Arclyd, Betchton, Bradwall, Hassal, Sandbach and Whelock. The parochial chapelries of Goostrey and Holmes Chapel contained a further seven townships.

In the Market Square are the Sandbach crosses, two Anglo-Saxon crosses probably dating from the ninth century. Both are decorated with figures on all sides, and one shows biblical scenes, including three scenes from the life of Christ. Although they are understood to have been complete during the reign of Elizabeth I, it seems that they were later broken up and parts were removed. They were restored as far as possible in their present position in 1816.

It is understood that there was a church in Sandbach at the time of the Norman Conquest. The advowson was given to the abbey of Dieulacres. This abbey was originally situated in Poulton near Chester but moved to a site near Leek in Staffordshire in the early thirteenth century. Following the surrender of the abbey in 1538 the rectory passed to the Crown and was leased to John Broughton and then in 1599 to William Tipper and Richard Cartwright and the advowson of the vicarage was granted in 1556 to Richard and Thomas Wilbraham and then passed in 1588 to William Leversage.

The existing church building dates from the fifteenth century, although some parts have survived from earlier dates. It was restored in 1847-49 by George Gilbert Scott with later additions and restoration. The base of the west tower is open on three sides and a public footpath across the churchyard passes through it. It is one of only two parish churches in Cheshire to have a right of way passing through it.

There is a marble relief in the church of John Armistead, vicar from 1828 to 1865.The Armistead family served as clergy in Sandbach continuously for over 100 years from 1828 to 1941.

The Old Hall Hotel, almost opposite the church, occupies a timber-framed hall dated 1656. It was formerly the home of the Radclyffe family. Between 1828 and 1865 twenty almshouses and a school were built in Sandbach.

The main industries in the nineteenth century were silk throwing and shoemaking with the later development of salt works and an iron foundry. However, the opening of the station in Sandbach on the Manchester to Crewe line led to its development as a residential area for commuters.

Sources:

John Minshull, St. Mary’s Church Sandbach, Cheshire (Sandbach, revised edition 1990) 

George Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (second edition, revised and enlarged by T. Helsby, London, 1882), vol. iii, pp. 95-109

G C Baugh, W L Cowie, J C Dickinson, Duggan A P, A K B Evans, R H Evans, Una C Hannam, P Heath, D A Johnson, Hilda Johnstone, Ann J Kettle, J L Kirby, R Mansfield, A Saltman, ‘Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Dieulacres’, in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, ed. M W Greenslade, R B Pugh( London, 1970), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol3/pp230-235 [accessed 12 January 2025]

Historic England:
Sandbach Crosses, Market Square (1159937)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1159937 National Heritage List for England
Church of St Mary, High Street (1330401)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1330401 National Heritage List for England
Old Hall Hotel, High Street (1310849)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1310849 National Heritage List for England

PENWORTHAM

The parish comprised Farington, Howick, Hutton, Longton and Penwortham. It is situated on the south bank of the Ribble, opposite Preston. It was a largely agricultural area, with mixed arable, grass and woodland and the main industries were cotton manufacture at Farington and breweries at Longton. With the rapid industrialisation and growth of Preston in the nineteenth century Penwortham developed as a residential area.

There is a medieval motte castle there on a natural mound known as Castle Hill overlooking a ford across the River Ribble. The castle was occupied from the early medieval period until the middle of the thirteenth Century.

Prior to the Dissolution, the church of Penwortham with its tithes and much of the land in the parish belonged to the priory of Penwortham. This was a cell of the abbey of Evesham which remained the legal owner of all this property. In 1539 the manor and rectory were leased to John Fleetwood of London who subsequently bought them from the king following the surrender of Evesham later that year.

The Fleetwood family retained the advowson and retained the tithes as lay rectors, appointing a stipendiary minister. This arrangement continued until the eighteenth century.

Although there was probably a church on the site from the fourteenth century, it has been rebuilt several times. The chancel dates from the fourteenth century and the west tower from the fifteenth. The nave was rebuilt in 1855, and the tower restored in 1884. The font is dated 1667.

Sources: 

‘The parish of Penwortham’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp52-56 [accessed 9 January 2025]

‘Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Penwortham’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1908), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol2/pp104-106 [accessed 9 January 2025]

Historic England
Church of St Mary, Church Avenue (1073058)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1073058  National Heritage List for England
Castle Hill Motte (1011868)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1011868 National Heritage List for England

HUTTON

The township of Hutton was part of the parish of Penwortham. Although much of the land in the parish had been owned by the priory of Penwortham until 1539, the manor of Hutton had belonged to Cockersand Abbey although part of the tithes was claimed by Evesham Abbey, the parent house of Penwortham Priory. Lytham Priory also held lands in Hutton.

After the dissolution of Cockersand the manor of Hutton was granted to Lawrence Rawsthorne in 1546. It is possible that he sublet it, or part of it, as Thomas Cuverden (or Cuerden) claimed in 1551 to be farmer of all the tithes of the township. However, there were several disputes between the Rawsthornes and their neighbours concerning Hutton.

Much of the area of the township comprised low land along the River Ribble, some of which is tidal. The farmed land was mostly pasture.

Field names 

named in EDC 5/12/2 –
the thre acres

Sources: 

‘The parish of Penwortham’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp52-56 [accessed 9 January 2025]

‘Townships: Hutton’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp67-69 [accessed 9 January 2025]

AINSWORTH

The hamlet or township of Ainsworth, although part of the parish of Middleton, was situated about 6 miles from the parish church and was separated from the central area of the parish by parts of the parishes of Radcliffe and Bury. Cockey Moor, part of which is in Radcliffe, lies to the east of Ainsworth. The chapel of Cockey, also known as Ainsworth Chapel, served as a chapel of ease. In 1586 it was described as ‘a chapel built of timber, beset round about with trees’. The chapel was rebuilt in 1832 and the chapelry became a parish in its own right in 1867.

The farming was mainly arable with some pasture. The cotton industry developed later and stone was quarried.

Field names

named in EDC 5/12/1 –
the intak
the park
the crofte
the marledyerthe
the old marledyerthe
the newe marlederth
the barine crofte

Sources:

‘Townships: Ainsworth’, in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp180-182 [accessed 8 January 2025]