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]

LOW (or WALTON-LE-DALE)

Walton-le-Dale was a township and chapelry in the parish of Blackburn. The chapel, dedicated to St Leonard, was also known as Low Chapel and it seems that the chapelry was known both as Low and Walton-le-Dale. It is situated on the south bank of the River Ribble at the confluence of the River Darwen, almost opposite to the town of Preston. The banks of both rivers rise steeply, and the chapel is situated of high ground overlooking the rivers. Farming in the parish was largely pastoral with some arable and woodland and there was market gardening on the lower ground. By the mid-nineteenth century the cotton industry had developed and there was an iron foundry.

The manor of Walton was owned by the Banastre family and passed by marriage to the Langtons in the fourteenth century and then to the Hoghton family in the reign of Elizabeth. In a tithe cause brought by Thomas Langton against Laurence Banastre, Langton is described as ‘baron of Walton’.

The chapelry belonged to the monastery of Whalley. However, it seems that local residents resented the influence of the monastery. In 1525 Thomas Langton refused to allow any priest appointed by the abbot of Whalley to serve the chapelry and in 1526 some residents refused to pay mortuaries to Whalley. They were summoned to appear before the consistory court at Lichfield, but the case was eventually dismissed. Following the suppression of Whalley in 1537 the chapel with its tithes was valued at £27 11s 2d and  passed under lease to Richard Breame and then, in 1547, to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer together with the rectory of Blackburn (A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6). It became a perpetual curacy.

The tower of the parish church building is late medieval, as is the chancel, but most of the rest of the building dates from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Sources:

Christopher Haigh, Reformation and Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (Cambridge, 1975), pp. 32, 57 (Haigh refers to this chapelry as ‘Lawe’)

‘Walton – Walton, Wood’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp453-457 [accessed 5 January 2025]

‘Townships: Walton-le-Dale’, 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/pp289-300 [accessed 5 January 2025]

Historic England:
Church of St Leonard, Church Brow (1074102)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1074102 National Heritage List for England

ASHTON UPON MERSEY

Ashton upon Mersey is situated on the south bank of the River Mersey. It was formerly in Cheshire but is now part of Trafford district of Greater Manchester. The parish comprised the township of Sale and half of Ashton and was a rectory of which the advowson was owned by the Ashton family who held a portion of the manor of Ashton. During the seventeenth century, however, it passed from the Ashtons to a succession of other families.

An early church building, dating from 1304, was destroyed by a storm in 1704. Money was needed for the construction of a new church, and church briefs were collected to help out. It presumably took some time to raise the necessary funds. In 1710, for example, the amount of 12s was raised in Reading and 2s 9½p came from a Sussex parish in 1711.

Eventually the new church was built and finished, probably in 1714 in accordance with the date over the north porch. It was later extended during the nineteenth century. These extensions included the addition of a large, square brick tower, topped by a timber-framed belfry, built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

In the nineteenth century some market gardening, notably the production of potatoes, was carried out in the area for the Manchester market. The area of the parish is now largely residential although an early nineteenth-century farmstead has been preserved in the conservation area around the church.

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. 558-566 

Raymond Richards, Old Cheshire Churches (Revised and enlarged edition, Didsbury, 1973), pp. 22-24 

CCEd location ID: 4994

Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd Series, xvi, p. 2; 2nd Series, i, p. 88

‘Ashton – Ashton, West’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp90-96 [accessed 31 December 2024]

Historic England:
Church of St Martin, Church Lane (1067893)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1067893 National Heritage List for England

SHOCKLACH

This small parish, on the border of Cheshire and Wales, comprised three townships: Church Shocklach, Shocklach Oviatt and Caldecott. There are the remains of two castles at Shocklach, included in one entry in the National Heritage List for England. The site to the east (pictured below) was a motte and bailey castle, originally constructed soon after the Norman Conquest, in part as an element in a defensive network along the River Dee to protect against Welsh incursion. The site to the west was a motte castle, understood to have been built later. This site is ‘the only example in Cheshire of paired mottes’. There was later a toll gate across the road separating the castles, giving them an added commercial function and making Shocklach ‘certainly a place of significance in medieval England.’ (Swallow, pp. 35-36).

The Brereton family of Malpas held much of the land in the parish. Members of this influential family held positions at the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII and in 1572 they bought the manor of Shocklach.

The parish belonged to the college of St John in Chester until the dissolution of the college in 1547 or 1548 when it passed to the king and continued to be served by a stipendiary curate. The dean and chapter of the college had granted a lease of the parish to William Brereton from 1533 for 5 years, but he was executed for treason in 1536 and his personal property passed to the crown.

The small parish church, dedicated to the Ango-Saxon Saint Edith of Polesworth, is built in red sandstone with a slate roof and the earliest parts, including the south doorway, are thought to date from the mid-12th century. The font dates from the 15th century although the carving on the bowl has been restored. The pulpit is embellished with the date ‘1687’ set out in brass nails. The problems of travel in the area during the eighteenth century are evidenced by an inscription scratched into one of the windows of the chancel which states that three visitors in 1756 found the local roads so bad that they felt in danger of their lives.

In the north wall of the nave is a stone carving of a mounted person. Opinion is divided as to whether this is a 17th century knight or, as the horse appears to have more than 4 legs, it may be a Viking carving depicting Odin riding Sleipnir, his 8-legged mount.

In the churchyard is part of a medieval cross which may have been used as a plague stone where food and water were left for victims.

The area of the parish remains largely agricultural, and parts of a medieval field system and the earthwork remains of the related settlement have survived.

Sources:

J S Barrow, J D Herson, A H Lawes, P J Riden, M V J Seaborne, ‘Churches and religious bodies: The collegiate church of St John’, in A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 Part 2, the City of Chester: Culture, Buildings, Institutions, ed. A T Thacker, C P Lewis( London, 2005), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/ches/vol5/pt2/pp125-133 [accessed 29 December 2024]

E. W. Ives (ed.), Letters and accounts of William Brereton of Malpas (The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 116, 1976), pp. 1, 108

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. 684-693

Rachel Swallow, ‘Two for One:  the Archaeological Survey of Shocklach, Castle, Cheshire’, Cheshire History, (53), (2013-2014), pp. 18-44

Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd Series, xvi, pp. 48-49

Historic England

Church of St Edith, Worthenbury Road (1228322)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1228322 National Heritage List for England
Medieval Cross in St Edith’s Churchyard, South of Church (1228350)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1228350 National Heritage List for England
Medieval settlement and part of field system at Castletown Farm (1016588)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1016588 National Heritage List for England
Shocklach Castle Motte and moated enclosure (1012620)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1012620  National Heritage List for England

IRTON

The parish of Irton, standing on the River Irt and lying in the south west of the county of Cumberland, included the townships of Irton, Melthwaite and Santon. By the early twentieth century the parish ‘consisted almost entirely of scattered farms, and lying neither upon the sea coast nor among the mountains, though very near to both.’ (Moor, p. 148) However, there was a granite quarry near Irton Hall, where the Irton family lived for centuries.

Christopher Jackson of London claimed in about 1508 that 10 acres of land in Irton, previously owned by Calder Abbey, had been sold to his father by his uncle, who had been abbot of Calder. By the time that the Valor Ecclesiasticus was drawn up in 1535 Calder Abbey is not recorded as owning any land in Irton (Thorley, p. 158). It is possible that Nicholas Jackson, one of the plaintiffs in a Chester tithes cause (EDC 5/10/2), was related to Christopher Jackson.

The rectory was appropriated to the nunnery of Lekeley (also called Seton) in the thirteenth century. Following the dissolution of the convent in 1536 Sir Hugh Askew of the king’s household acquired the lease of the rectory and was granted a further lease for 21 years in 1543.

The parish church building dates from the mid-nineteenth century, having been rebuilt on the site of a medieval building.

Sources:

John Thorley, ‘The Estates of Calder Abbey’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, series 3, vol. 4 (2004), pp. 133-162

Rev. C. Moor, ‘The Old Statesman Families of Irton, Cumberland’. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, series 2, vol. 10 (1910), pp. 148-200

‘Irby – Isfield’, in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp620-623a

‘Houses of Benedictine nuns: The nunnery of Seton or Lekeley’, in A History of the County of Cumberland: Volume 2, ed. J Wilson( London, 1905), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cumb/vol2/pp192-194 [accessed 2 January 2025]

Historic England:
Church of St Paul (1086671)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1086671 National Heritage List for England

SAIGHTON (SALGHTON/SAUGHTON)

The manor of Saighton was held by the canons of Saint Werburgh’s before the Norman Conquest and confirmed to the Benedictine monks in 1093 following the establishment of the abbey. A manor house was built at Saighton in the late fifteenth century for Abbott Simon Ripley.

After the dissolution of the abbey, Saighton Manor, with other lands, passed to the dean and chapter of the new cathedral. However, during the reign of Edward VI Sir Richard Cotton, comptroller of the royal household, procured the arrest and imprisonment of the dean and two of the prebendaries who were intimidated into granting him a lease of most of the cathedral lands at a reduced rent. Despite attempts by later deans to overturn this unfavourable lease it was confirmed by Queen Elizabeth, although at a higher rent.

The gatehouse of Simon Ripley’s manor house, dating from 1490, survives and is now part of a private school attached to the Victorian manor house which replaced the previous medieval buildings following purchase of the property by the Grosvenor family.

Part of the boundary wall to the north and west of old gatehouse is on the National Heritage List for England and is understood to be medieval.

A large army training camp was built in Saighton during the Second World War. It was closed in about 1999 and the land has since been redeveloped for residential housing.

The village remains a largely agricultural area.

Field names 

named in EDC 5/10/1 :
beggarsborough
The tithe map for Saighton, drawn up in 1840, records six plots in the township with name variations of ‘Beggars Brook’ https://maps.cheshireeast.gov.uk/tithemaps/

Sources:

R. V. H. Burne, Chester Cathedral From its Founding by Henry VIII to the Accession of Queen Victoria (London, 1958), pp. 24-26, pp. 72-82

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. 253-255; vol. ii, pp.769-770 (black and white image from this volume courtesy of HathiTrust)

Historic England:
Boundary Wall North and West of Abbey Gate College (1330250)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1330250 National Heritage List for England
Abbey Gate College Gatehouse Gateway (1138394)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1138394 National Heritage List for England
Abbey Gate College, the Main Block except the Gatehouse (1136660)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1136660 National Heritage List for England