LITTLE WOOLTON
This township contains 1,388 acres. (fn. 1) In 1901 the
population numbered 1,091.
The greater part consists of level country under
mixed cultivation, having an open and pleasant aspect.
A smaller portion on the west lies on the slope of a
ridge, which rises to 285 ft. above sea-level. The
village of Gateacre, which lies partly in Much
Woolton, occupies the south-west side, and is nicely
situated in the midst of trees and gardens. The
roads are good, and hedged with hawthorn trimly
kept. Altogether the township wears the prosperous,
respectable look of a district removed from the smoke
and murk of the city, with its feet set on the edge of
the country. Lee is to the east of Gateacre, and
Brettargh Holt, or the Holt, to the north-east, across
the brook. The greater part of the township lies on
the pebble beds of the bunter series of the new red
sandstone; the westernmost portion and the higher
ground near the Holt are on the upper mottled sandstones of that series.
There are numerous roads and cross roads, leading
chiefly to Liverpool by Childwall, or Wavertree, or
Toxteth. Another road runs through the township,
turning round the Lee, to Halewood Green. Gateacre gives its name to a station on the Southport
branch of the Cheshire Lines Committee's railway,
which crosses the centre of the township. Netherley
lies on the eastern border, and gives a name to the
brook which bounds the township at that side, and to
the bridge on the Tarbock Road crossing this brook.
Widnes corporation have a pumping station here.
A local board was formed in 1867, (fn. 2) and the township has now an urban district council of nine
members.
In the extreme western corner of the township,
serving as mere stones, are the ancient Calderstones,
with 'ring and cup' marks. (fn. 3) In the map of Elizabeth's
time, made to illustrate the dispute as to Wavertree
and Allerton boundary, these stones are called Caldway
stones, Roger stones, or dojer stones; a Roger stone
is marked separately to the south-west of the Calder
stones. (fn. 4)
The ancient water-mill of the Hospitallers has disappeared, but a house called Peck Mill House, supposed
to have been connected with it, survived till the
beginning of last century. (fn. 5) Dam meadows and
Damcroft are names of fields near Naylor's Bridge,
where also are the Beanbridge meadows. Other
notable field names are Monk's meadow (west of Lee
Park), Causeway field, Hemp meadow, Tanhouse
meadow, Shadows, Winamoor, and Creacre. Coxhead
farm is of ancient date; an old form of the spelling is
Cocksshed.
MANORS
The history of LITTLE WOOLTON
is bound up with that of its neighbour,
Much Woolton, except for the time, about
a century, during which it was in the possession of
the monks of Stanlaw. Roger de Lacy, constable of
Chester and lord of the fee of Widnes, after granting
Little Woolton to his uncle (Brother Robert) and the
Hospitallers in the time of Richard I, (fn. 6) changed his
mind, took it from them and gave it to the abbey of
Stanlaw, founded by his father in 1178. The
charter, granted about the year 1204, states that
Roger gives the monks Little Woolton in alms as
freely as possible, quit from all earthly service and
secular exaction, for the souls of himself, his parents,
wife, and others. As a consequence, he ordered his
seneschal and bailiffs to make no claim on the men of
the place for any service or aid. (fn. 7) King John confirmed this arrangement, and in 1205 issued his
precept to the sheriff of Lancashire not to trouble the
monks of Stanlaw with respect to this manor, but to
levy all dues and services to which it had been liable
from other lands of Roger de Lacy. (fn. 8)
There were some earlier tenants within the township holding by charter of the lords of Widnes. One
of them, Gerald de Sutton, sold his land (four oxgangs)
to the monks for 11 marks, one mark to be paid to his
son Robert. John, constable of Chester, granted the
'vill' of Brettargh to William Suonis, with all easements of the vill of Little Woolton, and pannage,
rendering yearly 18d. to the Hospitallers. (fn. 9) John de
Sutton afterwards held it, and disputes which afterwards arose were settled by an agreement that Brettargh within its known bounds should be relinquished
by the monks, but that a strip of land between that
place and Woolton should be a common pasture, rights
of pannage and other easements to remain as before.
Robert son of John de Sutton gave all his land in
Hasaliswallehurst to the monks as well as 2d. rent,
which he had received for a ridge in the croft by
Woolton mill, and Hugh [de Haydock] and Christiana
his wife released all their right in the same land. (fn. 10)
Henry son of Cutus de Denton and Maud his wife,
daughter of Richard the Mason, relinquished all their
claim to the latter's land called Whitefield, held of the
abbot; and John son of Roger de Denton concurred. (fn. 11)
In 1278 Edmund son of Richard de Woolton and
John de Denton sued the abbot and Alan son of
Robert for a messuage and 15 acres of land in Little
Woolton. (fn. 12)
About 1275 the Hospitallers revived their claim to
Little Woolton, and after some negotiation the prior
promised the abbot £100 for the surrender of it.
Subsequently at Lancaster, in 1292, Peter de Haugham,
prior of the Hospitallers, sued Henry de Lacy, earl of
Lincoln, whom Gregory, abbot of Stanlaw, had called
to warrant, for a messuage, a mill, two plough-lands,
and 100 acres of pasture there, and the earl acknowledged the prior's right. Thus, 'by the consent, or it
may more truly be said by the compulsion,' of the
earl, the manor passed from the monks to the
Hospitallers, and remained with the latter till 1540. (fn. 13)
The manor has since descended in the same way as
Much Woolton to the marquis of Salisbury.
The priors of St. John were involved in several
suits. In 1306 William son of Henry de Huyton
was charged with cutting trees within Woolton, and
the prior charged Henry de Huyton with entering
his wood by force of arms and cutting and carrying
off trees. (fn. 14) A curious case arose out of the forfeiture
of Sir Robert de Holand in 1322. It appeared
on inquiry that the Hospitallers held the manor of
Alice de Lacy, daughter and heir of the earl of
Lincoln, in pure and perpetual alms without rendering any other service; its yearly value was 23 marks.
William de Tothale, formerly prior, with the consent
of the chapter, had demised the manor to one Roger
de Fulshaw for life, at a rent of 20 marks. The
tenant transferred his right to Robert de Holand, and
gave his charter back to the prior, who, without consulting the chapter or troubling to make out a new
charter, passed it to Robert de Holand in the name
of seisin. Roger died in 1317, when, of course, the
charter ceased to have effect, but Robert continued to
hold the manor during the lifetime of William de
Tothale, who died in 1318, his successor, Richard
Paveley, and the then prior (Thomas L'Archer),
without any further grant or sanction of the chapter. (fn. 15)
It does not appear that this revelation made any
difference; the manor was in the king's hands, and in
the next reign was restored to Maud de Holand,
widow of Sir Robert; and in 1330 the prior took
action against her in regard to it. (fn. 16)
In 1324 Roger son of John le Walker, of Tarbock,
and Avice his wife secured by fine three messuages,
80 acres of land, and 12 acres of meadow, which in
default of heirs of Avice were to remain to William de
Huyton and his heirs. The story is not clear, (fn. 17) but
the disputes are of interest as introducing the Brettarghs
of Brettargh Holt. William de Stockleigh, in 1355,
surrendered to Avice de Brettargh—apparently the
daughter of Avice, who was the wife of Roger le
Walker—his life interest in a third part of the manor
of Huyton, and in 1358 an agreement as to a third
part of this manor was made between William de
Walton and Avice and William de Brettargh, the
latter renouncing their title in favour of Walton. (fn. 18)
From 1358 onwards several persons bearing the
name of William de Brettargh occur as witnesses to
charters and in other ways. (fn. 19) In 1398–9 William de
Brettargh the elder and William de Brettargh the
younger claimed from Alan le Norreys and Alice his
wife a messuage and 120 acres in Little Woolton, in
which the latter acknowledged the claimants' right,
receiving 20 marks. The land was to descend to the
heirs of William Brettargh the younger. (fn. 20)
In 1502 William Brettargh was one of the justices
of the quorum, and in 1514 a commissioner of the
subsidy. (fn. 21) The earliest Brettargh inquisition is that of
William Brettargh, who died in 1527; he had a
cottage, a dovecote, and 100 acres of land in Little
Woolton, held of the prior of St. John by fealty and
a rent of 18d., the value
being £5; his son and heir
William was eleven years of
age. (fn. 22) This son died in 1585,
having acquired by his marriage
with Anne, a daughter and
coheir of John Toxteth, an
estate in Aigburth. At his
death he held a capital messuage called the Holt, a dovecote, a water-mill, &c., in Much
and Little Woolton of the
queen (as of the dissolved
priory) by a rent of 18d. and
other land by a rent of 1d.;
a windmill in Little Woolton held of Sir William
Norris of Speke; also the capital messuage called
Aigburth and other lands there and in Garston, by
reason of the dissolution of the hospital of St. John
outside the Northgate of Chester. (fn. 23) His grandson
William, son of William, was the heir, and aged
fourteen years. (fn. 24)
Brettargh of Brettargh Holt. Argent, a fret gules; on a chief or a lion passant of the second.
The grandson married Katherine, sister of John
Bruen of Stapleford, a famous Puritan. (fn. 25) There was
only one child, Anne, of this marriage. (fn. 26) William
Brettargh married secondly Anne, daughter of William
Hyde of Urmston, (fn. 27) by whom he had a son Nehemiah,
who took part in the defence of Lathom House with
the rank of lieutenant. Nehemiah had paid £10 in
1631 as composition on refusing knighthood. (fn. 28)
Another local family was that of Orme, of numerous
branches; in the reign of Elizabeth there were Ormes
at the Lee, in the Portway, and at Wheathill, in
Little Woolton. There was a succession of Thomas
Ormes at the Lee; (fn. 29) one died in March, 1622–3,
leaving as heir his granddaughter Jane, daughter of
his son Thomas, whose wardship was undertaken by
Sir William Norris of Speke. She married Edward
Fairhurst of Liverpool. (fn. 30)
The Little Woolton court rolls of the middle
of the sixteenth century have many interesting
features. (fn. 31) The officers appointed were the constables, burleymen, hill bailiffs, (fn. 32) lay layers, affeerers,
bailiff of the vill, and ale fonders; surveyors
of the highway also occur. The 'cross in the
Oak lane' is mentioned; there were two stone
bridges—Astowe bridge and Benet bridge—and it was
forbidden to rete hemp or flax at either of them, or to
wash clothes or yarn at the former. Breaches of
manorial customs were duly brought before the court
for punishment—such as obstructing or diverting the
water-courses, fishing in other men's waters, and disregarding the orders of the officers of the manor.
The morals of the people were also cared for. (fn. 33) In
1559 it was ordered that no tenant, free or copyhold,
should suffer any crow, commonly called 'ruckes or
Whytebyll croeys,' to eyre or breed within his tenement. Hugh Whitfield of Gateacre had broken
the pinfold and taken a lamb seized in distraint;
perhaps, as a result of this, it was ordered that 'an
able pinfold' be made on the green. Transfers of
land made by sale or on the death of a tenant were,
of course, important parts of the business of the
court. Cases of assault and trespass, and also of debt,
came up for trial and sentence. Hospitallers' privileges were guarded by an order that every tenant
should have a cross set upon his house as was accustomed. At the same court the 'reeves of our Lady's
stock at Huyton' were summoned for a debt.
In 1785 the land was owned by a large number of
persons, as shown by the land-tax returns; the principal were James Okill for Lee, who paid about a
fifth of the tax; James Brettargh for the Holt, and
William Barrow.
In connexion with the Established Church, St.
Stephen's was built in 1873 as a chapel of ease to
Childwall, and made a separate ecclesiastical parish in
1893. The bishop of Liverpool is patron.