THORNTON, CARLETON, MARTON, AND HARDON-WITH-NEWTON.
Torentum, or Thornton, was estimated in the time of William the Conqueror
to contain six carucates of land fit for the plough, but this computation
was exclusive of Rossall and Burn, which were valued at two carucates
respectively, so that the whole townships held ten carucates, about one
thousand acres of arable soil, or farming land, a large amount for those
days, but insignificant indeed when we recall the nine thousand seven
hundred and thirty acres embraced by the township at present, either in
use for grazing and agricultural purposes, or forming the sites of town
and village buildings.
Thornton was held immediately after the Conquest by Roger de Poictou, and
subsequently by Theobald Walter, after whose death it passed to the crown.
During the reign of King John, Margaret Wynewick held two of the six
carucates of Torentum, or Thornton, in chief from that monarch, and her
marriage was in his gift. In 1214-15 Baldewinus Blundus paid twenty
marks to John for permission to espouse the lady and gain possession
of her estate.[87] The request was granted conditionally on Blundus
obtaining the consent of her friends; and in this he appears to have
been successful, for we learn from a writ to the warden of the Honor of
Lancaster in 1221, that Michael de Carleton paid a fine of ten marks
to Henry III. at that date for having married Margaret, the daughter
and heiress of William de Winewick, without the royal assent, and for
marrying whom Baldewinus Blundus had formerly paid twenty marks to King
John.[88]
In 1258, Margaret de Carleton still retained her lands in Thornton in her
maiden name of Winewick,[89] and it is probable from that circumstance
that her second husband was then dead, for the writ cited above expressly
commanded that her inheritance should be handed over to Michael de
Carleton, the penalty of ten marks for his disobedience having been
received.
According to the _Testa de Nevil_, Matilda de Thorneton, a spinster,
whose marriage also lay in the king’s gift, held lands in Thornton, of
the annual value of twenty shillings; and later, about 1323, a moiety of
Thornton was held by Lawrence, the son of Robert de Thorneton, a member
of the same family. In 1346, John, son of Lawrence de Thorneton, held one
carucate of land in Thornton and Staynolfe, lately of Robert Windewike,
in thanage, paying yearly at four terms thirteen shillings relief, and
suit to the county and wapentake.[90] In 1421 John de Thornton died,
possessed of half the manor of Thornton and the Holmes, which descended
to his son, William de Thornton, who died in 1429, aged thirty years,
leaving four daughters—Agnes, afterwards the wife of William Wodey;
Katherine, who married William Carleton; Elizabeth, the wife of Robert
Adlington; and Johanna, who espoused Christopher Worthington.[91] Much as
it is to be regretted, no more than the scanty information here given can
be discovered concerning the Thorntons, of Thornton; even tradition is
silent on the matter of their residence or local associations, although
it is very likely they occupied Thornton Hall, a mansion long since
converted into a farm house, and consequently we are obliged to dismiss
with this brief notice what under more favourable auspices would probably
have proved one of the most interesting subjects in the township. In 1292
the king’s attorney sued Thomas de Singleton for the manor of Thornton,
etc., but the defendant pleaded successfully, that he only held a portion
of the manor, Thomas de Clifton and Katherine, his wife, holding the
third of two parts of twelve bovates of the soil.[92] In the seventeenth
year of the reign of Edward II., William, father of Adam Banastre, who
granted certain concessions to the prior of Lancaster, held, half the
vill of Thornton, the other half being held, as before shown, by Lawrence
de Thorneton.
In an ancient survey of the Hundred of Amounderness, completed in the
year 1346, it is stated that the following gentlemen had possessions
in the place called Stena, or Stainall, in Thornton, at the rentals
specified:—John de Staynolfe held four oxgangs of land, at four shillings
and sixpence;[93] Roger de Northcrope, one messuage and one oxgang, at
sevenpence halfpenny; Sir Adam Banastre, knt., five acres, at fourpence;
Thomas, the son of Robert Staynolfe, one messuage and one oxgang, at
sevenpence halfpenny; William Lawrence, a fourth part of an oxgang, at
sixteen pence; Thomas Travers, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen
pence; John Botiler, a fourth part of an oxgang, at sixteen pence; and
Richard Doggeson, five acres, at sixpence. William de Heton held one
carucate of land at Burn, in Thornton township, for which he paid yearly
at two terms, Annunciation and Michaelmas, ten shillings relief, and suit
to the county and wapentake.[94]
In 1521, during the sovereignty of Henry VIII., Thomas, earl of Derby,
was lord of the manor of Thornton, which subsequently passed into the
hands of the Fleetwoods, of Rossall, who retained it until the lifetime
of the late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, bart., when it was sold.
Thornton has for long been regarded only as a reputed manor. The largest
land proprietors at present are the Fleetwood Estate Company, Limited,
and the trustees of the late John Horrocks, esq., of Preston, but in
addition there is a number of smaller soil-owners and resident yeomen.
Burn Hall is a building of the fifteenth century, and was occupied in
1556 by John Westby, of Mowbreck, the owner.[95] In 1323 the land of Burn
was held by William Banastre at a rental of ten shillings per annum, and
about 1346 one carucate of the same land was held, as already stated, by
William de Heton for a similar yearly payment. Within the residence of
Burn was a domestic chapel, over the doorway of which stood a polished
oaken slab or board inscribed—“Elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei mei, magis
quam habitari in tabernaculis peccatorum.”[96] The walls were panelled
with oak and carved with shields and foliage, whilst the ceiling was
embellished with representations of vine leaves and clusters of grapes.
Modern alterations have destroyed most, if not all, interesting relics
of past ages. After the death of John Westby, of Burn Hall, a descendant
of the John Westby before mentioned, in 1722, Burn passed to the Rev. J.
Bennison, of London, who had married Anne, his fourth daughter. It is
said that Mr. Bennison utterly ruined his property, by attempting a style
of agriculture similar to that described by Virgil in his Georgics. Burn
Hall is now, and has been for many years a farm-house, and the estate
forms part of the large tract held by the representatives of the late
John Horrocks, esq. The land lying towards the coast was formerly subject
to occasional inundations of the sea, but an effectual barrier has been
put by raising a mound round such exposed localities.
The extensive area known as Thornton Marsh, was a free open common, used
as a pasture by the poor cottagers of the township until 1800, when it
was enclosed, together with Carleton Marsh, and has since by cultivation
been converted into valuable and productive fields.
A church and parsonage house were erected at Thornton in 1835, the
former being a neat whitewashed building in the early English style of
architecture, with a low square tower, but presenting externally no
special features of attraction beyond its profuse covering of ivy, which
renders it a most picturesque object in the surrounding landscape. The
churchyard also is well worthy of notice, if only for the luxuriance
of its foliage, the beauty of its flowers, and the taste and elegance
exhibited in several of the monuments. This, like the church and
parsonage, is embosomed in trees. The sacred edifice has been named
Christ Church, and a separate parochial district was assigned to it in
1862, the title of vicar being accorded to the incumbent.
CURATES AND VICARS OF THORNTON.
------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------
Date of | NAME. | Cause of vacancy.
Institution.| |
------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------
1835 |David H. Leighton |
1837 |Edward Thurtell |Resignation of D. H. Leighton
1841 |St. Vincent Beechey, M.A.| ” ” E. Thurtell
1846 |Robert W. Russell | ” ” St. V. Beechey
1853 |Isaac Durant, M.A. | ” ” W. Russell
1869 |Samuel Clark | ” ” I. Durrant
1870 |Thomas Meadows, M.A. | ” ” S. Clark
------------+-------------------------+-------------------------------
Within the building there is a small gallery at the west end, and the
private pews are arranged in two rows, one being placed along each side
of the body of the church, whilst the central portion is filled with
open benches, or forms, free to all worshippers. A marble tablet “To the
memory of Jacob Morris, a faithful warden for 20 years, who died Oct.,
1871,” is fixed against the south wall, and over the mantel-piece in the
vestry is a white-lettered black board stating that—“This Church was
erected in the year 1835, containing 323 sittings; and, in consequence
of a grant from the Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement,
building, and repairing of churches and chapels, 193 of that number are
hereby declared to be free and unappropriated for ever.—David Hilcock
Leighton, minister; James Smith and Richard Wright, churchwardens.” On
the font is the following inscription:—“Presented to Thornton Church by
Elizabeth Nutter, of Rough Hall, Accrington, July 13th, 1874.”
Mr. James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 1717, devised
to Peter Woodhouse, of Thornton, and six others, and their heirs, the
school-house lately erected by him on Thornton Marsh, and the land
whereon it stood, to be used for ever as a free school for the children
of the township; in addition he bequeathed to the same trustees several
closes in Carleton, called the Far Hall Field, the Middle Hall Field,
and the Vicar’s Hey, amounting to about twenty-one acres, to the intent,
that the annual revenue therefrom, less 10s. to be expended each year
in a dinner for the trustees, should be devoted to the payment of a
suitable master. In 1806, Richard Gaskell, the sole surviving trustee,
conveyed by indenture to John Silcock, John Hull, Thomas Barton, of
Thornton, Charles Woodhouse of Great Carleton, Bickerstaff Hull, and
Thomas Hull, and the said Richard Gaskell, their heirs and assigns, the
premises above-mentioned, for the purposes set forth in the will of the
founder.[97] A further endowment of £500 was left by Mr. Simpson, with a
portion of which farm buildings have been erected on the school estate.
The school-house is situated on the east side of Cleveleys Station,
and consists of a small single-storey building, having two windows and
a central doorway in front. To the west end is attached a two-storey
teacher’s residence. The double erection was built some years ago, by
subscription amongst the inhabitants, on the site of the original fabric
at a cost of rather more than £100. The master is elected and, when
necessary, dismissed by the trustees, who forego their claim on the
10s. left for an annual dinner. In 1867 the number of scholars amounted
to eighty-eight, fifty-nine of whom were boys, and twenty-nine girls,
presenting about an average attendance since that date.
The small village of Thornton comprises only a limited cluster of
dwellings and the old windmill. The Wesleyan Methodists had established
a place of worship in the township as early as 1812, and about ten years
later the Society of Friends opened a meeting-house here.
The arable land of Rossall, in Thornton township, or Rushale, as it was
written, is estimated in the Domesday volume at two carucates. At that
time Rossall was included amongst the princely possessions of the Norman
baron, Roger de Poictou, after whose banishment it passed, by gift of
Richard I., to Theobold Walter, and again reverted to the crown in 1206,
on his demise. King John, at the instigation of Ranulph de Blundeville,
earl of Chester and Lincoln, presented the grange of Rossall to the
Staffordshire convent of Deulacres, a monastic house founded by that
nobleman; and in 1220-1 Henry III. issued a writ to the sheriff of this
county, directing him to institute inquiries by discreet and lawful men,
into the extent of several specified places, one of which was the pasture
of Rossall, recently, “granted by my father, King John, to the abbot of
Deulacres.”[98] In 1227-8 a deed was drawn up between Henry III. and the
abbot whereby the grange was conveyed, or confirmed, to the latter[99];
and twenty years subsequently a fresh charter appears to have been framed
and to have received the royal signature, for in the following reign of
Edward I., when that monarch laid claim to the land as a descendant of
King John, the head of the Staffordshire convent produced a document of
31 Henry III. (1247), at the trial, granting “to God, the church of St.
Mary, and the abbot of Deulacres and his successors for ever, the manor
of Rossall with its appurtenances and with the wreck of the sea.”[100]
Sir Robert de Lathum, Sir Robert de Holaund, Sir John de Burun, Sir
Roger de Burton, Sir John de Cornwall, Sir John de Elyas, and Sir Alan
de Penyngton, knights; Alan de Storeys, Robert de Eccleston, William du
Lee, Hugh de Clyderhou, and Roger de Middleton, esquires, who composed
the jury in the above suit, decided in favour of the abbot’s title, but
at the request of the king’s attorney, judgment was arrested, and it was
pleaded on behalf of the regal claimant that the abbot’s allegations
seemed to imply that the manor of Rossall was formerly held by the monks
of Deulacres in bailiwick of Kings, John and Henry; that thirty years
at least of the reign of Henry had elapsed before the predecessors of
the present abbot held any fee or free tenement in the manor, which was
worth 100 marks per annum; and that this rent had been in arrears during
the whole of the time; wherefore the king’s attorney demanded that the
accumulation of these arrears, amounting to 3,000 marks, or £2,000,
should be paid by the abbey to Edward I. The jury stated in their verdict
that the manor had been held by the abbot’s predecessors as pleaded by
the king’s attorney, but that during the last seven years of King John,
and the first twenty-four years of Henry III., the manor was only worth
30 marks per annum, and in the remaining six years before the date of the
charter put in as evidence by the abbot in the first trial, they valued
the manor at 40 marks per annum, on which scales the abbey of Deulacres
was condemned to pay the accumulated arrearages. In 1539, during the
reign of Henry VIII., the grange was valued in the Compotus of the king’s
ministers at £13 6s. 3d. per annum.
The site of the original Hall has long since been washed away by the
waves, but in earlier years, before the sea had made such encroachments
on the land, the foundations of red sandstone and the remnant of an
old ivied wall were visible near the edge of the cliff, all being
sufficiently traceable to indicate that the mansion had been one of no
mean dimensions. A coat of arms of the Fleetwood family, rudely engraven
on a flat stone, some ornamental pinnacles, and other relics of the
ancient edifice, have also been discovered at different times. Numerous
foundations of large buildings were once scattered about the sandy soil
of the grange, but most of them were removed eighty years since as
impediments to the course of the plough. In a plot of ground, known by
the title of “Churchyard field,” remains of a structure, running east
and west, in length thirty and in breadth twelve yards, were taken up
about half a century or more ago by a farmer named John Ball, who whilst
removing them came upon some human bones. The fabric once standing there
was conjectured to have been a chapel or oratory, and the bones to have
been those of priests or others buried within its precincts. Harrison,
in describing the course of the Wyre, says “that at the Chapell of
Allhallowes tenne myles from Garstone it goeth into the sea,” and Mr.
Thornber suggests, in his History of Blackpool and Neighbourhood, that
the foundations disturbed by Mr. Ball may have been the remains of the
oratory alluded to by the ancient topographer; but whilst admitting that
the character of the relics discovered points to there having been at one
time a religious edifice on the site, we cannot think that its claims to
be the missing chapel are nearly so great as those of Bispham, which is
now known, by an inscription on an old communion goblet, to have been
actually dedicated to All-Hallows, or at least to have been commonly
designated by that name in the seventeenth century.
The Allens appear to have held Rossall on lease from the abbot of
Deulacres about a century after the dispute between that monastery and
Edward I. had been decided, for in 1397, during the reign of Richard
II., the name of “Allen of Ross-hall” was entered in the list of donors
to the fraternities of the Preston Guild of that year. George Allen,
of Brookhouse, Staffordshire, who held Rossall at the date of the
Reformation, by virtue of a long lease granted to his ancestors by an
abbot of Deulacres, is the earliest of this family to whom these tenants
of the grange can be traced genealogically. The widow and daughters of
the grandson of George Allen were ejected from Rossall in 1583, before
the expiration of their lease, and despoiled of valuable documents and
property by Edmund Fleetwood, whose father had purchased the reversion
from Henry VIII., at the time of the dissolution of monasteries. On that
occasion a neighbour, Anion, seized and appropriated £500 belonging to
the Allens on pretence of remitting it to Dr. William Allen, at Rheims.
Mrs. Allen made an attempt to recover possession of the grange, and a
trial for that purpose took place at Manchester, but her case broke
down through inability to produce the original deeds and papers, all of
which had been either stolen or destroyed when the Hall was plundered
during the ejection.[101] The estate, or grange, of Rossall, remained in
the hands of the Fleetwoods until the death of Edward Fleetwood, when
it passed to Roger Hesketh, of North Meols, who married Margaret, the
only child and heiress of that gentleman in 1733.[102] The Heskeths,
of Rossall, were descended from the Heskeths of Rufford, through Hugh
Hesketh, an offspring of Sir Thomas Hesketh, of Rufford. Hugh Hesketh
married the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Barneby Kytichene, or
Kitchen, and thus acquired a moiety of the manor of North Meols. At the
decease of Hugh Hesketh, in 1625, the lands of North Meols descended to
his son, Thomas Hesketh, then 56 years of age, whose son and heir, Robert
Hesketh, was already married to the daughter of—Formby, of Formby. The
only child of Robert Hesketh was the Roger Hesketh, mentioned above,
who also held Tulketh Hall and estate. The Heskeths continued to reside
at Rossall until the lifetime of the late Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood,
bart.; and under their proprietorship, at an early period, or in the
latest years of their predecessors, the ancient Hall was pulled or washed
down and another mansion erected more removed from the shore.
In 1843 the design of establishing a school for the education of the
sons of clergymen and other gentlemen, under the direct superintendence
of the Church of England, but at a less cost than incurred at the public
schools then in existence, was first promulgated by the Rev. St. Vincent
Beechey, incumbent of Thornton and Fleetwood; and mainly through the
exertions of that gentleman a provisional committee for arranging details
and furthering the object in view, was formed in the first month of the
ensuing year. This committee consisted, amongst others, of the Rev. J.
Owen Parr, vicar of Preston, chairman; the Revs. Charles Hesketh, vicar
of North Meols; William Hornby, vicar of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; John
Hull, vicar of Poulton; R. B. Robinson, incumbent of Lytham; St. Vincent
Beechey, incumbent of Thornton and Fleetwood, hon. sec. _pro. tem._; and
Messrs. Thomas Clifton, of Lytham Hall; Daniel Elletson, of Parrox Hall,
and T. R. Wilson-ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall. At their first meeting it
was decided that the management of the school should be placed in the
hands of a committee of twenty-four of the principal clergy and laity in
the neighbourhood, of whom fourteen should be clergymen and ten laymen,
with power to fill up vacancies; that the bishop of the diocese should
always be the visitor; that the provisional committee should be the first
members of the council, with which should rest the appointment of the
principal, who must be in holy orders, at such a liberal salary as would
insure the services of one eminently qualified for so important a post;
that the council should have power to dismiss the principal; that the
internal management, subject to certain regulations, should be committed
to the principal, who should have the appointment and dismissal of all
the inferior or subordinate masters; and that the system of education
should resemble that in the school connected with King’s College,
London, and in Marlborough school, consisting of systematic religious
instruction, sacred literature, classics, mathematics, modern languages,
drawing, music, etc.
With regard to the admission of pupils it was resolved that the school
should consist of not less than two hundred boys; that no child should
be admitted under eight years of age; that the mode of admission should
be by annual payment, nomination, or insurance; that any pupil should be
admitted on the payment, half-yearly in advance, of £50 per annum for
the sons of laymen, and £40 for the sons of clergymen; that nominations
might be procured, at the first opening of the school, in order to raise
the required capital, whereby pupils could be admitted on the yearly
payment of £40 for the sons of laymen, and £30 for the sons and wards
of clergymen; that a donation of £25, or the holding of two £25 shares,
fully paid up, should entitle the donor or holder, to one nomination,
and a donation of £50, or the holding of four shares of £25 each, should
constitute the donor, or holder, a life-governor, entitled to have always
one pupil in the school on his nomination; that the shares should be
limited to an annual interest of 5 per cent., and be paid off as soon
as possible, the return of such capital, however, not to destroy the
right of nomination during the life of a governor; that clergymen should
be able to provide for the admission of their children to the school
at a reduced charge of £25 per annum, by paying, on the principle of
life-insurance, small sums for several years previous to, or one large
sum at, the date of entry of each child into the establishment, such
payments to be regulated according to certain tables, and, of course,
forfeited in case the child died.
The committee stated that the outlay of capital required to erect a
building expressly for the purposes of the school would be greater than
they were likely to be able to meet at the low rate of nomination which
it had been deemed expedient to adopt, and, therefore, it had been
determined to take advantage of the offer of Rossall Hall by Sir P. H.
Fleetwood, bart., the mansion being eminently adapted to the purpose, on
account of its size and situation. It contained many suites of rooms,
and an organ chamber, well suited for a chapel, and furnished with a
fine instrument; and surrounding the Hall were meadows convenient for
play-grounds, and very productive gardens.
The title of the Northern Church of England School was given to the
institution, and on Thursday, the 22nd of August, 1844, it was formally
opened by the Head Master, Dr. Woolley, in the presence of the junior
masters and from forty to fifty pupils, with their parents. At that date
the school-buildings consisted of apartments in the old Hall for the
principal, junior masters, and lady superintendent; a dining room, 44
feet long and 20 feet wide, fitted with a general and masters’ tables;
four dormitories, able to accommodate 100 boys; and a chapel, formerly
the organ-room above mentioned, having benches for the scholars and
stalls for the masters, the school-house itself consisting of four lofty
rooms, each about 34 feet long by 20 feet wide, being detached from the
Hall, and fitted up with handsome oak desks and benches, fixed upon
bronzed cast-iron standards. The play-ground comprised many acres, and in
addition there were convenient covered areas for the recreation of the
boys in wet weather.
The school was opened with only 70 pupils, but at the beginning of the
second six months the number had increased to 115, and the establishment
was self-supporting.
The rules of the school have undergone some slight modifications and
additions since they were first framed by the provisional committee,
and no pupils are now admitted under ten or over fifteen years of age,
whilst the annual payments of all pupils have been raised £20 in each
case. The insurance plan of entrance was never adopted. A donation of
50 guineas now entitles the donor to a single nomination, and one of
100 guineas constitutes him a life-governor, with power to vote at all
general meetings, and to have always one pupil in the school on his
nomination. Other rules for the internal management and government of the
school have been framed as the number of scholars has increased and their
requirements become greater.
There are three exhibitions connected with this institution, of £50
a year each, called respectively the Council, Beechey, and Osborne
exhibitions, (the last two being named after the late Honorary Secretary
and the late Head Master, through whose exertions the funds were mainly
contributed,) tenable for three years at any of the colleges of Oxford or
Cambridge; and one of £10 a year, in books, tenable for three years, and
founded by Lord Egerton, of Tatton. Besides these there are about eight
or ten entrance scholarships offered for competition every year, ranging
in value from £10 to £20 each. Of these seven were founded by George
Swainson, esq., and one by the Bishop of Rupertsland. A number of other
special prizes have been instituted by the present Head Master, the Rev.
H. A. James, B.D.
In 1850 the estate was purchased, and since then fresh buildings have
been erected to provide accommodation for 400 boys. The old chapel, which
was built to supersede the one in the organ-room, has of late years
been converted into a library and class-room. A dining hall, schools,
class-rooms for different branches of study, spacious dormitories, and
a swimming bath have all been added; whilst extensive enlargements and
improvements have taken place in the sanatorium, kitchens, laundries,
etc. The old school has been arranged and fitted up as a lecture-room
and laboratory. The new chapel is a handsome edifice, containing stained
glass windows and a richly decorated chancel; it is dedicated to the Holy
Trinity. It should be added that the original name,—The Northern Church
of England School,—has been discontinued, and that of Rossall School,
substituted, as a more comprehensive title for a great public school.
HEAD MASTERS OF ROSSALL SCHOOL.
------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------
Date of | NAME. | Cause of vacancy.
Appointment.| |
------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------
1844 |Rev. John Woolley, D.C.L. |
1849 |Rev. William A. Osborne, M.A.|Resignation of John Woolley
1869 |Rev. Robert Henniker, M.A. | ” ” W. A. Osborne
1875 |Rev. Herbert A. James, B.D. | ” ” R. Henniker
------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------
A preparatory school in connection with this college was successfully
established during the reign of Mr. Osborne, about one mile distant along
the shore, in a southerly direction, to which pupils are admitted at
seven years of age, but not younger, and subsequently drafted into the
higher institution.
POPULATION OF THORNTON TOWNSHIP, EXCLUSIVE OF FLEETWOOD.
1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871.
617 739 875 842 1,014 1,013 1,023 934
CARLETON, anciently written Carlentun, is named in the Domesday Book
as comprising four carucates of land; and in the Black Book of the
Exchequer, it is stated that during the reign of Henry II., 1154-89,
Gilbert Fitz Reinfred held four carucates in Carlinton and another
place. In 1254 the manor of Carleton in Lancashire belonged to Emma de
St. John, and at that date there appears to have been some litigation
concerning her right of proprietorship, but how settled we have no means
of discovering.[103] In the _Testa de Nevill_ it is recorded that Roger
Gernet had the 24th part, and Robert de Stokeport the 48th, of a knights’
fee in Little Carleton of William de Lancaster’s fee.
The earliest allusion to the local territorial family occurs in 1221,
when Michael de Carleton, as before stated under “Thornton,” paid a
fine to Henry III. for having espoused Margaret Wynewick, or Winwick,
a royal ward, without first obtaining permission from the king. It has
been conjectured that Much Carleton received its peculiar title from
this member of the family, and amongst the records of some ancient
pleadings is one of 1557 concerning certain lands in _Miche Carlton_, a
mode of writing the name which lends considerable support to the theory.
Alyce Hull, widow, was the plaintive in the dispute. The Carletons, of
Carleton, were connected with the neighbourhood for a very long period
as holders of the manor; Alicia, the daughter of William de Carleton
married Sir Richard Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, in 1281, and received the
manor of Inskip as her dowry; and in 1346 H. de Carleton possessed four
carucates and a half in Carleton.[104] Thomas de Carleton held the manor
of Carleton up to the time of his death in 1500, when he was succeeded
by his son and heir George Carleton, aged 22,[105] who died in 1516,
leaving an only child, William, then eleven years of age.[106] William
de Carleton came into possession of the property on attaining his legal
majority,[107] and died in 1557, being succeeded by Lawrence Carleton,
probably his brother. Lawrence Carleton, who had married Margaret, the
daughter of George Singleton, of Staining, held the estate for barely
twelve months, as he died in 1558 without issue, leaving his lands and
tenements in Carleton, amounting to several extensive messuages and
Carleton Hall, to his only surviving sister, Margaret, the wife of Thomas
Almond.[108] Thus Lawrence Carleton was the last of the manorial family
of that name connected with the township. Of the ancient Hall of Carlton,
the seat of the Carletons for over three centuries, nothing can be learnt
beyond the fact that it stood opposite the Gezzerts farm, and that
almost, if not quite, within the recollection of the present generation
some ruins of the once noble mansion were visible on its former site,
long since enclosed and used for purposes of agriculture. In 1261 the
abbey of Cockersand held some property in Carleton, as appears from an
agreement entered into at that date between the abbot of Cockersand and
H. de Singleton Parva, by which the latter transferred a messuage in
Carleton, by the side of other messuages already belonging to the abbey,
to the abbot, in exchange for messuages and an acre of ground in the
vicinity of Stanlawe abbey in Cheshire.[109] Stanlawe abbey itself had
sundry possessions in Carleton shortly after its foundation in 1175,[110]
all of which were conveyed to the abbey of Whalley in 1296, when the two
monastic houses were united, and thus it happened that this township was
included amongst the localities in which Whalley abbey held lands at the
time of its dissolution.
Sometime during the reign of Henry VIII. the Sherburnes, of Stonyhurst,
Hambledon, etc., became holders of soil in Carleton, and at a later
period had acquired the manorial rights and privileges. In 1717 Sir
Nicholas Sherburne, bart., bequeathed the manor of Carleton, amongst
numerous other estates, to his only child and heiress, Maria Winifreda
Francisca, the duchess of Norfolk, and two years later the duke of
Norfolk had obtained a settlement by which he held a life interest in
Carleton, Stonyhurst, and other places, the duchess, however, having
reserved to herself the power to dispose of the reversion or inheritance
by will or deed, executed in the duke’s lifetime. The duchess of
Norfolk bequeathed her real estate, including Carleton, on her death
in 1745, to her cousin Edward Weld, esq., grandson of Sir John Weld,
of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire, whose descendant Edward Joseph Weld,
esq., has disposed of most of his inheritance in the township to various
purchasers, chiefly amongst the local yeomanry and gentry.
The Bambers, of the Moor, in Carleton, were people of position in the
township. Richard Bamber, during the latter half of the sixteenth
century, married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Singleton, of Staining
Hall, and consequently was the brother-in-law of John Leckonby, of
Leckonby House, Great Eccleston, who had espoused Alice, another daughter
of the same gentleman. It is impossible to affirm with certainty what
children sprang from the union of Richard Bamber and Ann Singleton, but
of one of them, Edward, who entered the Romish priesthood, we subjoin an
interesting and tragic account, extracted from the “Memoirs of Missionary
Priests, by the Right Rev. Richard Challoner, D.D.”:—
“Edward Bamber, commonly known upon the commission by the name
of Reding, was the son of Mr. Richard Bamber, and born at a
place called the Moor, the ancient mansion-house of the family,
lying not far from Poulton, in that part of Lancashire called
the Fylde. Having made good progress with his grammar studies at
home, he was sent abroad into Spain, to the English college at
Valladolid, where he learnt his philosophy and divinity, and was
ordained priest. My short memoirs leave us much in the dark as to
many passages and particulars relating to the life and labours
of this good priest, as well as to the history of his trial; but
then short as they are they are very expressive of his zeal and
indefatigable labours, his unwearied diligence in instructing
the catholics under his charge, disputing with protestants, and
going about doing good everywhere, with a courage and firmness
of mind almost above the power and strength of man. When, how,
or where, he was apprehended, I have not found, but only this,
that he had lain three whole years a close prisoner at Lancaster
castle, before he was brought to the bar, where he stood with an
air of fortitude and resolution of suffering in defence of truth.
Two fallen catholics, Malden and Osbaldeston, made oath that
they had seen him administer baptism and perform the ceremonies
of marriage; and upon these slender proofs of his priesthood,
the jury, by the judge’s direction, found him guilty of the
indictment. Whereupon the judge sentenced him to be hanged, cut
down alive, drawn, quartered, etc., as in cases of high treason.
It was on the 7th of August, 1646, that he, with two fellow
priests, and a poor wretch, named Croft, condemned to death for
felony, were drawn upon sledges to the place of execution at
Lancaster. There Mr. Bamber exhorted Croft to repentance, and
besought him to declare himself a Catholic, confess some of his
more public sins, and be truly contrite and sorry for all—‘and
I, a priest and minister of Jesus Christ, will instantly in
his name, and by his authority, absolve thee.’ On hearing this
the officers of Justice began to storm but Mr. Bamber held his
ground, and finally absolved the man in sight and hearing of
the crowd. As Mr. Bamber mounted up the ladder, he paused after
ascending a few steps, and taking a handful of money from his
pocket, threw it amongst the people, saying, with a smiling
countenance, that ‘God loveth a cheerful giver.’ Mr. Bamber was
encouraging Mr. Whitaker, one of the other two priests about to
suffer, who appeared not a little terrified at the approach of
death, to be on his guard against the temptation to save his life
by renouncing his creed, when the sheriff called out hastily to
the executioner to dispatch him (Bamber); and so he was that
moment turned off the ladder, and permitted to hang but a very
short time, before the rope was cut, the confessor being still
alive; and thus he was butchered in a most cruel and savage
manner.”
The two following verses, relating to his death, form part of a long ode
or sonnet written at the time:—
“Few words he spoke—they stopp’d his mouth,
And chok’d him with a cord;
And lest he should be dead too soon,
No mercy they afford.
“But quick and live they cut him down,
And butcher him full soon;
Behead, tear, and dismember straight,
And laugh when all was done.”
The free school of Carleton was founded towards the close of the
seventeenth century. On the 17th of May, 1697, Richard Singleton, John
Wilson, John Davy, and six others recited in an indenture between them,
that Elizabeth Wilson, of Whiteholme, by her verbal will of the 22nd
of September, 1680, declared it to be her wish that the interest of a
fourth of her goods, which amounted to £59 2s. 0d., should be used by
the overseers of Carleton for the purpose of procuring instruction for
so many of the poorest children of the town of Carleton as they should
think proper; and that one-quarter of her estate had been invested
in land, and the annual revenue therefrom employed according to her
last directions and desire. William Bamber, by will dated 13th of
October, 1688, bequeathed £40 to his wife Margaret Bamber, and Richard
Harrison, vicar of Poulton, to the intent that they should lay out the
sum in land or other safe investment, not to yield less than 40s. per
annum, half of which was to be given, at their discretion, amongst the
most needful of the poor of Great Carleton, and the other moiety to
be expended in purchasing books, or obtaining tuition for such poor
children of the same place as they might select. After the deaths of
the two original trustees, the will directed that the bequest should
pass under the management of the vicar of Poulton, for the time being,
and the churchwarden of Carleton. The money was invested on the 11th of
May, 1689, in a messuage and appurtenances, a barn, and several closes,
called the Old Yard, the Great Field, the Croft, the New Hey, the Two
Carrs, and the third part of a meadow, named the Great Meadow, all being
situated in Blackpool, and containing by estimation six acres and a half.
The property was immediately leased to the vendor, John Gualter, at a
rental of 40s. a year. By an indenture, dated the 31st of December, 1706,
between Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of Carleton, Hambleton, and Stonyhurst,
and John Wilson, with three others, of Carleton, it appears that Sir
Nicholas leased to the latter, and their assigns, the school-house, newly
erected at a place called the Four Lane Ends, in Great Carleton, and the
site thereof, for a term of 500 years from the foregoing date, at the
nominal rent of 1s. per annum; and John Wilson, with his co-trustees,
covenanted that the same should be used for no other purpose but that of
a school, excepting that Sir Nicholas Sherburne and his heirs should
have free liberty to hold the courts for the manor of Carleton within
the building. Margaret Bickerstaffe, by her will of the 19th of April,
1716, left £20, the interest of which she directed to be employed by
her executors in educating some of the poor children of Carleton. On
the 2nd of February, 1737, Richard Butler and Richard Dickson, trustees
for the sale of certain estates for paying the debts of James Addinson,
conveyed to George Hull, John Sanderson, and others, and their heirs, in
consideration of £42, a close in Thornton, formerly called Rushey Full
Long Meadow, and now Wheatcake, comprising one acre, in trust, to hold
the same and pay the annual proceeds to the master of the Four Lane Ends
school “for his care and pains in teaching such poor children of Carleton
as should be appointed each year by the chief inhabitants or officers
of the township.” The money seems to have been given by some persons
not wishing to disclose their names, and who selected George Hull, John
Sanderson, and five more, as their agents in the matter, and as first
trustees of the charity. When five of the trustees had died, it was
ordained that seven fresh ones should be elected, and the two remaining
be relieved of their trust. John Addinson, in return for £20, given by
some person, to the inhabitants of Carleton, conveyed to the same parties
a close called the Rough Hey, in Thornton, containing half an acre, to be
dealt with and used as in the previous case. It is very likely that the
£20 here concerned was the sum before mentioned as the legacy of Margaret
Bickerstaffe. All the premises belonging to the school were vested in six
new trustees by a deed, dated 3rd of June, 1777; and at the visit of the
school commissioners in 1867, the attendance of boys was 50, and of girls
20, being somewhere about the usual average of later years. The trustees
manage the school property, and appoint or dismiss the master.
POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE CARLETON.
1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871.
269 308 356 319 378 400 363 433
The area of the township embraces 1,979 statute acres.
MERETUN, or the town of the Mere, was estimated by the surveyors of
William the Conqueror to comprise six carucates of arable land, and
shortly afterwards Sir Adam de Merton held half of it, on condition that
he performed military service when required.[111] Somewhere about 1200
William de Merton, a descendant of Sir Adam, was one of the witnesses to
a charter, concerning a local marsh, between Cecilia de Laton and the
abbot of Stanlawe.[112] In 1207-8 the sheriff of Lancashire received
orders to give Matilda, widow of Theobald Walter, her third of the lands
at Mereton, which her late husband had held up to the time of his death
in 1206, at first for 12s. per annum, and subsequently for one hawk each
year.[113] According to the _Testa de Nevill_, Henry III. held three
carucates of the soil of Mereton for a few years, as guardian of the
heir of Theobald Walter, and in 1249, during the thirty-third year of
the reign of that monarch, Merton cum Linholme was in the possession of
Theobald Walter, or le Botiler as he was afterwards called, the heir
here mentioned.[114] Marton descended in the Botiler, or Butler, family
until the time of Henry VIII., when it was sold by Sir Thomas Butler to
John Brown, a merchant of London, in company with Great Layton, of which
manor it had for long been regarded as a parcel, although in 1323, Great
Marton was alluded to as a distinct and separate manor held by Richard le
Botiler.[115] Marton was purchased from John Brown by Thomas Fleetwood,
esq., of Vach, in the county of Buckingham, whose descendants and heirs
resided at Rossall Hall; and after remaining in the Fleetwood family for
many generations the manor of Layton, with its dependency Marton, was
again sold, and this time became the property of Thomas Clifton, esq., of
Lytham Hall, Sir P. H. Fleetwood, bart., being the vendor.
Little Marton was held in trust by William de Cokerham, in 1330, for the
abbot and convent of Furness,[116] but eight years afterwards, the manor
of Weeton and Little Marton, were held by James, the son of Edmund le
Botiler, earl of Ormond.[117] What claim James Botiler had to include
Little Marton amongst his possessions in 1338, cannot now be ascertained,
but it is certain that later, at the dissolution of monasteries, it
passed to the crown as part of the fortified lands of Furness Abbey.
Subsequently Little Marton passed to the Holcrofts, and from them, in
1505, to Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Lytham Hall, by exchange. John Talbot
Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant of Sir Cuthbert, and the
son of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, is the present owner
of Great and Little Marton. As the moss and mere of Marton, perhaps the
most interesting objects in the township, have been fully described in
an earlier chapter, devoted to the country, rivers, etc., of the Fylde,
we refer our readers to that portion of the volume for more detailed
information concerning them. In this place we must content ourselves
by stating that the mere was at one time a lake of no inconsiderable
dimensions, having a fishery of some value attached to it, and that from
the number of trunks of trees, discovered on the clayey soil beneath
the original moss, which extended six miles by one and a half, there is
conclusive evidence that in ancient times the whole of the wide tract was
covered by a dense forest, composed chiefly of oak, yew, and fir trees.
So enormous were some of the trunks discovered that it was impossible for
one labourer to grasp the hand of another over them. The hamlet of Peel,
situated within, but close to the Lytham border of the township, contains
in a field called Hall-stede, traces of the ancient turreted manorial
mansion of the Holcrofts, of Winwick and Marton,[118] and the remains
of a moat out of which about sixty years ago a drawbridge and two gold
rings were taken. The old lake of Curridmere, mentioned in the foundation
charter of Lytham priory in the reign of Richard I., was also located in
this neighbourhood, the site being indicated by the soil it once covered
bearing the name of the _tarns_. A little more than half a century since
the _tarns_ formed nothing but a trackless bog, and beneath its surface
a husbandman discovered the remains of a small open boat, which had
doubtless been used in earlier days on the waters of Curridmere.
About 1625 the inhabitants of Marton petitioned, that in conjunction
with “Layton, Layton Rakes, and Blackpool,”[119] the township might be
constituted a separate parish, stating in support of their prayer that
the parish church of Poulton was five miles distant, and during the
winter they were debarred by inundations from attending that place
of worship. This reasonable request does not appear to have evoked a
favourable response from the parliamentary commissioners, and it was not
until more than a century and a half later that the district had its
claims to the privilege desired practically acknowledged. The church
of St. Paul, in Great Marton was erected by subscription in 1800, and
opened by license the same year, but was not consecrated until 1804. It
was a plain, unpretending structure with front and side galleries, but
having neither chancel nor tower, and capable of holding upwards of 400
worshippers. In 1857 the increase of the population rendered it necessary
to lengthen the church at the east end, and at the same time a neat and
simple tower was added. Within the tower is the vestry, above which a
number of seats were raised for the Sunday school children, many of whom
had previously, for want of space, occupied forms in the aisles. A porch
was built over the entrance of the church about 1848, and in 1871 a
chancel was erected. Three bells were purchased by the parishioners, and
placed in the tower in 1868, whilst the present reading desk and pulpit,
were the gift of Miss Heywood, the daughter of Sir Benjamin Heywood,
bart., who formerly had a handsome marine residence at Blackpool.
Previous to 1845 the musical portion of the service was accompanied by
two bassoons and another wind instrument, but about that date they were
abolished, and a barrel organ substituted, which continued in force until
a few years ago, when it was succeeded by the more modern key organ at
present in use. The church of Marton has now an ecclesiastical district
of its own, but was originally a chapelry under Poulton. A little
anterior to the erection of the church divine service was conducted
in the school-house of Baines’s Charity, Mr. Sawyer being the first
appointed minister.
CURATES AND VICARS OF MARTON.
------------+---------------------+--------------------------
Date of | NAME. | Cause of Vacancy.
Institution.| |
------------+---------------------+--------------------------
About 1762 | ⸺ Sawyer |
” 1772 | George Hall |
In 1814 | Thomas Bryer | Death of G. Hall
” 1843 | James Cookson, M.A. | Resignation of T. Bryer
------------+---------------------+--------------------------
The old parsonage stood on the same site as the present one, and
consisted simply of two cottages united to form one small residence. In
1846 this house was pulled down, and another, elegant and commodious,
erected in its place, being completed the following year. Attached to the
parsonage are eleven acres of glebe land.
James Baines, of Poulton, by will dated 6th of January, 1717, devised
unto John Hull and six others, of Marton, their heirs and assigns,
the school-house lately erected by him in Marton, the land whereon it
stood, a messuage or tenement in Warbreck, containing about six acres,
a messuage or dwelling-house in Hardhorn-with-Newton, with the smithy
and two shippons thereto belonging, and several closes of land in the
same township, called the Sheep Field, the Croft, the Garden, being
about three acres; also the Many Pits, the Debdale, the Cross Butts, the
Wradle Meadow, and the field adjoining its north-west end, and the Carr,
containing twelve and a half acres, to the intent that the rents arising
from the foregoing should after the deduction of 10s. for an annual
dinner to the trustees, be directed to the maintenance of a master to
instruct the children of the township in the above-mentioned building.
The revenue of the school was greatly impoverished for many years by
the expenses of a chancery suit about 1850, which arose on the question
whether the school should be continued as formerly or be divided, and
part of its income be devoted to the establishment and support of a
similar institution in the adjoining district of Little Marton. The whole
of the funds were defrayed out of the funds of the charity. A scheme for
its regulation was framed in 1863 by the Master of the Rolls, providing
amongst other matters that the school should be open to Government
inspection, but in no way interfering with its gratuitous character. The
commissioner of 1869 reports:—“Sixty-three children were present on the
day of my visit, of whom fifty-two were girls, who are taught in the same
classes as the boys, and are with them in play hours. The school being
free, no register of attendance is kept. In arithmetic, six boys (average
age 11), and four girls (average age 10½), did fair papers; the questions
of course were simple ones. Grammar and geography, in which subjects I
examined the highest class, were tolerably good. The girls read well; the
boys (as usual) less so; spelling was up to the average. The girls are
taught to write a bad angular hand; the master says that it is to please
the parents. He has been in his present position five years, and receives
a salary of £50 a year.” The school property consists of forty acres of
land, producing a gross annual income of about £130. Both a playground
and gymnasium are attached to the school. There are now two masters. The
vicar of Poulton and the vicar of Marton, _ex officio_, and five other
trustees self-electing, residing within the township, appoint and dismiss
the masters, admit and expel scholars, appoint an examiner, and regulate
the studies. The chief master must be a member of the Church of England,
and is not permitted to take boarders.
Margaret Whittam, widow, by will dated 26th of July, 1814, bequeathed to
Edward Hull, Richard Sherson, and John Fair, of Marton, and her brothers,
their executors and administrators, the sum of £40, duty free, in trust,
the interest to be applied to the benefit of the Sunday school in Marton
so long as it should continue to be taught, and in the event of its being
abolished, to use the same income for the relief of such necessitous
persons of the township as received no alms from the poor rate. The
Sunday school established in 1814 is still kept at Marton, and the master
paid, in part from the interest of the legacy, and the remainder from
subscriptions. About twenty years ago between £200 and £300 were obtained
by means of a bazaar, and expended in the erection of a school building
on a piece of waste land in Marton, for the purpose of providing for the
education of children, both male and female, under the superintendence
of a mistress. At Marton Moss there is another school, used also as a
church, being served from South Shore, which was built a few years since
through the munificence of Lady Eleanor Cicily Clifton, of Lytham Hall;
and at Moss Side, a small Wesleyan Chapel was erected by subscription
about 1871.
Edward Whiteside, of Little Marton, sailor, bequeathed by will, dated
22nd December, 1721, as follows:—“It is my will, that my ground be kept
in lease, according as my executors shall see fit, and what spares it is
my will that they buy cloth and give it to poor people that has nothing
out of the town; it is my will that it be given in Little Marton, and if
there be a minister that preaches in Marton, that they give him something
what they shall see fit: It is my will, that if they can buy land, that
they sell my personal estate, and buy as much as it will purchase: It is
my will, that two acres, which my father hath now in possession, that
when it falls into my hands and possession, that it go the way above
named: It is my mind and will, that my executors give it when they shall
see fit, and I hope they will choose faithful men, who will act according
to themselves; and I make my well-beloved friends, Anthony Sherson and
Thomas Grimbalson, executors of my last will.”
William Whiteside left by will, dated 1742, £100 to be invested, and the
annual proceeds to be spent in furnishing clothing to the poor of Marton,
not in receipt of parish relief. John Hull, Thomas Webster, and Robert
Bickerstaffe, were the original trustees of this charity.
John Hodgson, by will dated 25th of September, 1761, devised his messuage
and lands in Marton, and his personal estate, to John Hull and Richard
Whittam, their heirs and assigns, in trust, to dispose of the same, and
after paying his debts and funeral expenses, to lay out at interest
the remainder of the money so acquired, and devote the yearly income
therefrom to the purchase of meal for poor housekeepers of Great Marton,
not relieved from the town’s rate. The meal to be distributed annually on
the 25th of December. The net amount of the legacy was £100.
Edward Jolly, of Mythorp, by indenture, dated 13th of February, 1784,
conveyed to James Jolly, James Sherson, and Thomas Fair, their executors
and assigns, the sum of £60, to the intent that it should be placed on
good security, and one shilling of the yearly income derived be expended
weekly in bread, to be distributed each Sunday to those poor persons
who had attended divine service in the morning at the chapel of Great
Marton. The deed directed that the dole should be given at the door of
the chapel immediately after morning service, by the clerk or some other
authorised person, and that in the event of Marton Chapel, which was
then unconsecrated and supported by subscription, being closed for four
successive Sundays, or converted into a Dissenting place of worship, the
bread money should be transferred to the townships of Great and Little
Singleton, and Weeton-cum-Preese; and the weekly allowance of food
be distributed as above at the parochial chapel of Great and Little
Singleton. The dole, however, had to return to Marton chapel as soon as
service, according to the Church of England, was again conducted there.
The chapel alluded to was Baines’s school-house, where it had been the
custom of Edward Jolly to distribute bread each Sunday for several years
previously, and it was with the intention of rendering this practice
perpetual, that the indenture was made. No re-investment of the money can
be legally made without the approval of the minister of Marton church.
POPULATION OF GREAT AND LITTLE MARTON.
1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871.
972 1,093 1,397 1,487 1,562 1,650 1,691 1,982
The area of the township amounts to 5,452 statute acres, inclusive of the
sheet of water called Marton mere.
HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON contains within the limits of its township the
three hamlets or villages of Hardhorn, Newton, and Staining, of which
the last only is alluded to in the Domesday Survey, where Staininghe is
mentioned as comprising six carucates of land in service. The Coucher
Book of Whalley Abbey furnishes much valuable and interesting information
relating to the district of Staining, and from it we find that sometime
between 1175 and 1296 John de Lascy, constable of Chester, “gave and by
this charter confirms to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the abbot and
monks of the Benedictine Monastery (Locus) of Stanlawe the _vill_ of
Steyninges, with all things belonging to it, in the _vill_ itself, in
the field, in roads, in footpaths, in meadows, in pastures, in waters,
in mills, and in all other easements which are or can be there, for the
safety of my soul and those of my antecessors and successors. To be held
and possessed in pure and perpetual gift without any duty or exaction
pertaining to me or my heirs, the monks themselves performing the service
which the _vill_ owes to the lord King.” The monks of Stanlawe retained
possession until 1296, when their monastic institution, with all its
property, including Staining, was united to, or appropriated by, the
abbey of Whalley, shortly after which, in 1298, an agreement was arrived
at between the prior of Lancaster, who held Poulton church, and the abbot
of Whalley, concerning the tithes of Staining, Hardhorn, and Newton.
“At length,” says the record, “by the advice of common friends they
submitted the matter to the arbitration of Robert de Pikeringe, Elbor.
Official,” who decided that the abbot and convent of Whalley, formerly
of Stanlawe, should receive in perpetuity the major tithes of every and
all their lands within the boundaries of Staining, Hardhorn, and Newton,
whether the harvests were cultivated by the monks themselves or by their
tenants; but the minor tithes, personal and obligatory, whether of the
abbey tenants or of the secular servants, were adjudged to the vicar of
the church of Poulton and the prior and monks of Lancaster. The abbot of
Whalley was also directed to pay to the prior of Lancaster at the parish
church of Poulton an annual sum of eighteen marks, as an acknowledgment,
half at the festival of St. Martin and the remainder at Pentecost. The
Coucher Book contains several deeds of arrangement touching marsh-land
in the vicinity of Staining. Cecilia de Laton, widow, gave to the abbot
and convent of Stanlawe, all her marsh between certain land of Staining
and a long ditch, so that the latter might mark the division between
Staining and Little Layton, the witnesses to the transfer being William
de Carleton, William de Syngleton, and Alan, his son, William de Merton,
and Richard de Thornton; Cecilia de Laton also quitclaimed to the same
monastery all her right to the mediety of a marsh between “Mattainsmure”
and Little Carleton. William le Boteler exchanged with the Stanlawe
brotherhood all the marsh between the ditch above mentioned and the
land of Staining for a similar tract beyond the trench towards Great
Layton, stipulating that if at any time a fishery should be established
in the ditch, which was doubtless both wide and deep, the monks and he,
or his heirs, should participate equally in the benefits accruing from
it. Theobald Walter granted power to the abbot of Stanlawe to make use
of his mere of Marton for the purpose of conducting therefrom a stream
to turn the mill at Staining, belonging to the monastery, care being
taken that the fish in the said mere were not injured or diminished.
Within the grange of Staining a chantry was in existence, and its
services were presided over by two resident priests, whose duty it also
was to superintend the property held by the convent of Stanlawe, and
subsequently by the abbey of Whalley, in the neighbourhood.
The following is a list of the conventual possessions and rentals in
Staining at the date of the Reformation:—The house of Staining 6s.
0d.; Scotfolde close, held by Lawrence Richardson, 5s. 0d., also Cach
Meadow, of one acre, 1s. 8d.; a messuage, 30 acres of land, held by
Lawrence Archer, £1 10s. 4d; a messuage, 16 acres, held by Thomas
Salthouse, 16s. 0d.; a messuage, 15 acres, held by John Johnson, 18s.
2d.; a fishery, held by Richard Whiteside, 18s. 4d.; a messuage, 15
acres, held by Richard Harrison, 18s. 10d.; a messuage, 18 acres, held
by William Salfer, 18s. 2d.; a messuage, 8 acres, held by William Hall,
10s. 4d.; a house and a windmill, held by Lawrence Rigson, £2 0s. 0d.;
a messuage, 18 acres, held by Robert Gaster, 18s. 2d.; a messuage, 30
acres, held by Constance Singleton, widow, £1 13s. 0d.; a messuage, 20
acres, held by Thomas Wilkinson, £1 0s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres, held
by John Pearson, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres, held by the wife of
William Pearson, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 6 acres, held by Robert Walsh,
6s. 8d.; a messuage, 13 acres, held by Thomas Dickson, 13s. 4d., and 4
hens; a messuage, 20 acres, held by John Sander, £1 0s. 0d. and 6 hens; a
messuage, 10 acres, held by William Hey, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage,
6 acres, held by Ralph Dape, 7s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 8½ acres,
held by the wife of Richard Dane, 7s. 6d. and three hens. In Hardhorn the
abbey possessed a messuage, 10 acres, held by William Lethum, at 10s.
per annum; a messuage, 20 acres, held by Robert Lethum, £1 0s. 0d.; a
messuage, 10 acres, held by Henry ffisher, 10s.; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by William Pearson, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by John ffisher, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens: a messuage, 10 acres, held
by William Silcocke, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held
by Richard Hardman until “ye time that Richard Hardman, son of William
Hardman, come to ye age of 21 yeares,” 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 10 acres,
held by Richard Hardman, junior, 10s. 0d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 10
acres, held by Robert Silcocke, 10s. 0d.; a messuage, 12 acres, held by
Robert Whiteside, 12s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 12 acres, held by
Richard Bale, 12s. 6d. and 3 hens; a messuage, 7 acres, held by Henry
ffisher, junior, 7s. 6d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 2 acres, held by John
Allards, 2s. 0d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by John Walch,
10s. 0d. and three hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Robert Crow,
10s. 0d. and 2 hens; a messuage, 20 acres, held by Richard Garlick, £1
0s. 0d. and 6 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by John Ralke, 10s. 0d.
and 3 hens; a messuage, 10 acres, held by Edmund Holle, 10s. 0d. In
Carleton the abbey owned a close named Whitbent, which William Carleton
rented at 1s. 6d., a year; and in Elswick, a barn and 3 acres of land,
held by Christopher Hennett, for an annual payment of 3s. 4d. In the
Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey, from which the foregoing information has
been obtained there occurs the following notice, relating to the Hall,
apparently written when the above survey was made:—“The house of Stayning
is in length xxvii. yards, and lofted ou’r and slated; ye close called
ye little hey contains by estimation halfe an acre, and ye said house
payeth yearly, 6s.” Sir Thomas Holt, of Grizlehurst, appears to have
been the first proprietor of the conventual lands of Staining after they
had been confiscated to the crown at the dissolution of monasteries;
and from him they were purchased, either towards the end of the reign
of Henry VIII., or at the commencement of that of Edward VI., by George
the son of Robert Singleton, by his wife Helen, daughter of John Westby,
of Mowbreck. The Singletons, of Staining, resided at the Hall until the
close of the seventeenth century, and during that long period formed
alliances with several of the local families of gentry, as the Carletons
of Carleton, the Fleetwoods of Rossall, the Bambers of Carleton, and
the Masseys of Layton. On the death of George Singleton, the last of
the male representatives of the Singletons of Staining, somewhere about
1790, the estates descended to John Mayfield, the son of his sister
Mary, and subsequently, on his decease without issue, to his nephew and
heir-at-law, William Blackburne. Staining Hall, now the property of
W. H. Hornby, esq., of Blackburn, is a small and comparatively modern
residence, presenting in itself nothing calling for special notice or
comment from an antiquarian point of view. Remains of the old moat,
however, are still in existence round the building, but beyond this there
is no indication of the important station the Hall must have formerly
held in the surrounding country, both as the abode of some of its
priestly proprietors, of Stanlawe and Whalley, and the seat of a family
of wealth and position, like the Singletons would seem to have been.
The township of Hardhorn-with-Newton contains the free school erected
and endowed by Mr. James Baines, which has already been fully noticed in
the chapter devoted to Poulton. In the hamlet of Staining a chapel and
school combined was erected by private munificence in 1865, the former
building used for such purposes being both inadequate and inappropriate.
The foundation stone was laid by Mrs. Clark, the wife of the late vicar
of Poulton, on a site given by W. H. Hornby, esq., of Blackburn and
Staining. The ceremony took place on the 26th of May, 1865, and on the
3rd of December in that year service was first performed in the edifice
by the Rev. Richard Tonge, of Manchester. The building is of brick, with
stone dressings, and comprises a nave, apsis, and tower of considerable
altitude, containing a fine toned bell.
On the 1st of February, 1748, Thomas Riding re-leased to John Hornby and
Thomas Whiteside, a dwelling-house and certain premises for the remainder
of a term of 1,000 years, to be held in trust by them and their heirs
for the use and benefit of the poor housekeepers in Hardhorn-with-Newton
township, in such manner as directed by the will of Ellen Whitehead. The
property of this charity in 1817 consisted of half an acre of ground,
and three cottages and a weaving shed standing upon it, together with
£40 in money, out at interest. It cannot be ascertained either who Ellen
Whitehead was or when she died.
POPULATION OF HARDHORN-WITH-NEWTON.
1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871.
311 324 392 409 358 386 389 436
The area of the township extends over 2,605 statute acres.
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