MUCH WOOLTON
Ulventune, Uvetone, Dom. Bk.; Wlvinton, 1188;
Wolventon, 1305, &c.; Wolvinton, 1341. The
commoner form is Wolveton, with variants Wolfeton
(1347) disclosing the local pronunciation, Mikel
Wolveton, 1301; also Wlvetun, 1220, &c.; Wolton
occurs from 1345; Wollouton, 1345; Woleton, 1350;
Wlton, 1380; Miche Wolleton, 1429. Other D.B.
name: Wibaldeslei. Brettargh appears as Bretharue
and Bretarwe in the Whalley Coucher.
This township measures about a mile and a half
in length by three-quarters across, and has an area of
795 acres. (fn. 1) It consists of park-like country on the
southern slopes of a ridge which runs north-west and
south-east. The village of Much Woolton with its
residences, grounds, park, and golf-links occupies the
greater portion of the township. The eastern portion
is devoted to agriculture, crops of corn, potatoes,
turnips, and hay thriving in the shelter of the wooded
hillside. The good and wide roads are pleasantly
shaded by trees. The bunter series of the new red
sandstone or trias underlies the township; the upper
mottled sandstones to a small extent in the eastern,
the pebble beds in the remaining portion. The
population in 1901 was 4,731.
The eastern and western boundaries lie along roads
from Liverpool which meet at the south-eastern
corner of the township, near the station (Hunt's
Cross) of the Cheshire Lines Committee's railway
from Liverpool to Manchester. A third road passes
between them through the centre, and this is crossed
at the village by the road to Garston.
A local board was formed in 1866, (fn. 2) and was
succeeded by an urban district council of nine members
in 1894. There are a free library, opened in 1890,
and public baths, a village club and a mechanics'
institution, this last dating from 1849.
A wake used to be held on the Green on Midsummer Day. A cross formerly stood in the centre
of the village; the remains were standing until 1900, (fn. 3)
and after displacement have been re-erected.
Two windmills are shown in a plan of 1613, but
only one now exists, and that is in ruins. There is a
fine sandstone quarry.
The Liverpool Convalescent Institution on the
hill side was built from the surplus of the Liverpool
fund for the relief of the Cotton Famine in 1862;
it is intended chiefly for patients who have been
treated at the Liverpool Hospitals, but there is a
wing for private patients. The police forces of
Liverpool and Bootle have an orphanage.
MANOR
The townships of MUCH and
LITTLE WOOLTON having early
come under the lordship of the Knights
Hospitallers were said to contain five plough-lands in
all. In 1066 there were here four manors, viz.:
1. Ulventune, with two plough-lands and half a league
of wood; it was held by Uctred and worth beyond
the customary rent the normal 64d. 2, 3. Uvetone,
with one plough-land; held by two thegns for
two manors and worth 30d. 4. Wibaldeslei, with
two plough-lands; held by Ulbert and worth 64d. (fn. 4)
Before the date of the Domesday Survey the whole
had become part of the Widnes fee, and before 1212
had been granted out in alms as follows: Two
plough-lands to the Hospitallers, by John, constable
of Chester, who himself was a crusader and died at
Tyre in 1190; three plough-lands to the abbey of
Stanlaw by his son Roger, who died in 1211. (fn. 5) This
latter grant was in Little Woolton.
The Hospitallers established a Camera at Woolton;
in 1338 it had one messuage, fifty acres of land, five
acres of meadow, a water-mill, and £8 of annual
rent, and was let to farm for 20 marks. (fn. 6) The manor
of Much Woolton had the Hospitallers' lands in South
Lancashire attached to its jurisdiction, but was itself
subordinate to the preceptory of Yeveley or Stidd in
Derbyshire. A rent of 5s. a year for the five 'caryks'
(plough-lands) was paid by the Hospitallers to the
receiver of the honour of Halton. (fn. 7) The superior
lordship was still supposed to reside in the barons of
Halton; thus in the Halton feodary the two Wooltons
are said to be held as part of the Widnes fee for
five plough-lands and to pay the relief of half a knight's
fee, that is £2 10s. (fn. 8) It descended in the earldom and
duchy of Lancaster, and so to the crown. (fn. 9)
In 1292 the prior of the Hospitallers was summoned to answer the king by what right he claimed
waif, infangthief, outfangthief and gallows in Woolton,
fines for breach of the assize of bread and beer, and
to have the chattels of fugitives, condemned persons
and other felons in Woolton, Linacre, La More,
Bretharche, and about a hundred other places in the
county, and to be exempt from common fines and
amercements of the county and suits of county and
wapentake courts. The prior in reply showed the
charter of Henry III confirming all the possessions
and franchises of his order, which charter had been
duly confirmed by the king himself in 1280. The
right of gallows was claimed in Woolton only. It
was objected that in the case of lands more recently
acquired the prior was liable to the king for the
services rendered by previous tenants; and the jury
very considerably limited the rights claimed. (fn. 10)
Probably the whole of the land was granted out in
small tenements. (fn. 11) In 1327 the then prior made a
claim against William the Woodward of Woolton for
a reasonable account for the time he was bailiff in
Woolton and receiver of his money. (fn. 12) Later there
occurs a complaint concerning a rescue of the
prior's cattle, taken for customs and services due.
Gilbert le Grelle had with force and arms prevented
their being taken to the pound and had rescued
them. (fn. 13)
After the suppression of the English branch of the
Hospitallers by Henry VIII the lordship of the
manor remained in the crown for many years, (fn. 14) but
was in 1609 granted by James I to George Salter and
John Williams of London in part payment of money
lent by London merchants. (fn. 15) It was soon transferred
to the earl of Derby, and, descending in the same
manner as Childwall, is now held by the marquis of
Salisbury. (fn. 16)
The neighbouring families—Ireland of Hale,
Norris of Speke, and others—appear in extant
charters as holders of land in Woolton, as well as a
number of smaller families, including one or more
using the local surname. In 1301 Roger son of
Alan of Much Woolton sued Richard son of Hugh
le Fizorm in a plea of mort d'ancestor; (fn. 17) and
William son of Adam son of Richard of Much
Woolton appeared against William le Smale and his
wife Alice in 1308–9. (fn. 18)
In Edward II's reign Nicholas son of Henry de
Smerley had granted land in the New Branderth
abutting on the Portway on the east and Carkenton
on the west, to Henry de Garston, who transferred it
to his son Adam; (fn. 19) and shortly afterwards Nicholas
son of Henry le Rede of Smerley and Ellis his son,
Henry de Garston, Alice daughter of Robert son of
William the Reeve, Adam son of Robert del Brooks,
and others were accused of having disseised Juliana,
widow of William son of William the Reeve, of her
tenement in Woolton—two messuages and an oxgang
of land. (fn. 20) William the Reeve seems to have had
three sons—William, John, and Robert. (fn. 21) The
Brooks family was concerned in a large number of
charters; the two principal members of it at the end
of the thirteenth century were Robert and Alan. (fn. 22)
William de Laghok (fn. 23) occurs down to about the end
of Edward II's reign; he was succeeded by his son
Roger, living in 1345, and he in turn by William
his son, with whom the direct line ends, the property
in Woolton going to his relatives in Speke. (fn. 24)
The interest of the Irelands commenced in the
time of Adam Austin. (fn. 25) His son John de Ireland
acquired land from Adam son of William the Woodward in 1349, and made a grant to John son of
Alan le Norreys of Speke. (fn. 26)
The Norris family had, however, before this begun to
acquire lands in the township, Alan le Norreys of Speke
being apparently the first to do so. (fn. 27) A younger son of
Alan, John le Norreys, established himself at Woolton. (fn. 28)
John's elder son John, who succeeded, is mentioned in
the settlement made by Sir Henry le Norreys in 1367. (fn. 29)
His marriage was arranged in 1382, when it was
agreed that he should take to wife Anilla, daughter of
John Grelley, deceased; for which Isabel Grelley, the
widow, gave him 26 marks; besides which she was
to provide for him and Anilla at her table for
the first year after the espousals. William de Slene
also gave 40s. to John le Norreys on the day of the
marriage. John le Norreys occurs down to 1414. (fn. 30)
John le Norreys and Anilla had three daughters, viz.
Katherine, who married Roger Prestwich; Joan, wife
of Henry Mossock; and Margery, wife of Thomas
Bridge of Fazakerley. The last-named, in her
widowhood, in 1433–4, relinquished all her inheritance to Joan Mossock. (fn. 31)
From 1329 to 1331 a number of grants were
made to Richard de Alvandley, otherwise de Bold. (fn. 32)
He was succeeded by a son Nicholas. (fn. 33) The Blackburnes of Garston also had land in Woolton. (fn. 34) The
Charnocks of Charnock, (fn. 35) Lathoms of Allerton, (fn. 36) and
Ormes (fn. 37) of Little Woolton were also landowners.
A Norris of Speke rental compiled about 1460 has
been preserved. At the end is a 'Rental of Much
Woolton, taken out of all the old rentals that were
made when it was first given to God and Saint John,
of certain chief of all the freeholders with their
obits.' (fn. 38)
About the beginning of Elizabeth's reign the
Brettarghs of the Holt in Little Woolton acquired
lands here. William Brettargh, who died in 1609,
held a cottage in Much Woolton in socage by fealty
and 1d. rent. (fn. 39) The family are said to have owned
the site of Woolton Hall, which descended to the
Broughtons, and in 1704 became the property of
Richard, fifth Viscount Molyneux, whose widow died
there in 1766. Soon after this it was purchased by
a Mr. Booth and came into the possession of Nicholas
Ashton in 1772. (fn. 40) He died in 1833, aged 91, having
greatly improved the house and grounds. The following description is given of its amenities about
1800:—'Woolton Hall, about six miles from Liverpool, upon an eminence commands grand and extensive
prospects, the two extreme points of view being
the Cumberland and Westmorland hills to the north,
and the Wrekin near Shrewsbury to the south; from
thence also may be seen Blackstone Edge in Yorkshire
and several of the Derbyshire and Staffordshire hills;
to the eastward the rivers Mersey and Weaver join
in view about four miles from this house, and very
soon opening into a fine sheet of water, continue
their course to the port of Liverpool. The prospect
to the south-west is terminated by an irregular scene
of Welsh mountains.' (fn. 41) Charles Ellis Ashton, son of
Captain Joseph Ashton, and grandson of Nicholas,
sold the house in 1865 to James Reddecliffe Jeffrey,
of Compton House, Liverpool. It was afterwards
purchased by Frederick Leyland, a Liverpool shipowner, and sold again upon his death, Mr. Peter
McGuffie being the present owner. It is used as
a hydropathic establishment.
The commoners at the passing of the Enclosure Act
in 1805, included Bamber Gascoyne (one-ninth), the
earl of Derby, Nicholas Ashton, James Okill, Thomas
Rawson, John Weston, Joshua Lace, and William
Slater. Among other matters the Act provided for
the formation of Church Road. Some land in Quarry
Street is said to belong to 'the poor of Dublin,' and
rates are paid by a person representing them. (fn. 42)
For the Established worship the church of St. Peter
was built in 1886–7 to replace that erected in 1826
on an adjacent site. (fn. 43) The bishop of Liverpool has
the presentation and the incumbents are styled rectors.
A mission church of St. Hilda has been founded as
the result of a bequest by Lucy Ashton, granddaughter
of the above-named Nicholas.
A grammar school now abandoned was in existence
in the sixteenth century.
In the High Street are the new Wesleyan church
(St. James's) and the Congregational church, built in
1864–5. An effort was made to establish a church
in connexion with the Congregationalists as far back
as 1822, but it failed. A second effort in 1863
proved more successful. (fn. 44) The old Wesleyan chapel,
built in 1834, is now used for unsectarian services.
The Unitarian chapel at Gateacre, formerly called
'Little Lee' chapel, is the oldest ecclesiastical building
in the township, having been licensed as early as
October, 1700, for an English Presbyterian congregation already formed there. It is a plain stone
building with a bell turret. The bell is dated 1723,
and there is a 'cup of blessing,' dated 1703–4, and
presented in 1746 by Joseph Lawton, minister for
over thirty years. The building remains with very
little alteration from its original condition. (fn. 45) It has
various endowments, £6,000 having been paid by the
Cheshire Lines Railway for land. (fn. 46) Among its ministers
is numbered Dr. William Shepherd (1768–1847),
author of a biography of Poggio Bracciolini. (fn. 47)
The first Roman Catholic church of St. Mary was
built in Watergate Lane in 1765, the mission having
previously been served from Woolton Hall. (fn. 48) A new
cruciform church was built in 1860 in Church Street.
The English Benedictines are in charge. From about
1782 to 1818 Dr. John Bede Brewer, one of the
ornaments of this congregation, was in residence; it
is said that he was on very friendly terms with
Dr. Shepherd, of Gateacre. (fn. 49) From 1765 to 1807 a
community of English Benedictine nuns from Cambrai
was established in the village. They are now at
Stanbrook, near Worcester. Richard Roskell, bishop
of Nottingham from 1853 to 1874, was born at
Gateacre. (fn. 50)