WARRINGTON
|
| WARRINGTON |
POULTON-WITH-FEARNHEAD |
| BURTONWOOD |
WOOLSTON-WITH-MARTINSCROFT |
|
RIXTON-WITH-GLAZEBROOK |
The ancient parish of Warrington lies along the
northern bank of the Mersey between Sankey Brook
and Glazebrook; the township of Burtonwood, however, lies to the north-west of this area, on the
western side of the Sankey. The total area is
12,954 acres, and the population numbered 69,339
in 1901. (fn. 1) The surface is level and lies low. From
Penketh on the west to Glazebrook on the east,
the geological formation consists wholly of the new
red sandstone or trias, and mainly of the upper
mottled sandstone of the bunter series of that formation. In Great Sankey and Burtonwood the pebble
beds of the same series occur, and in Rixton-withGlazebrook the keuper series, owing to the effect
of a fault running from south-east to north-west
through the township. The soil is loamy and fertile,
and the neighbourhood has long been famous for
potatoes and other vegetables. (fn. 2)
For the county lay, fixed in 1624, each of the
four townships paid equally, this parish contributing
£6 5s. when the hundred gave £100. (fn. 3) To the ancient
fifteenth Warrington itself paid £2 12s. 8d., Burtonwood 18s. 4d., Woolston-with-Poulton £1 2s. 8d.,
Rixton £1 2s. 4d., and Glazebrook 8s., making
£6 3s. 8d. (fn. 4)
The history of the parish is largely that of the town
of Warrington. This place is supposed to have been
of British origin. Two Roman roads, from the south
and from Chester, (fn. 5) met at Latchford on the south
bank of the Mersey, near which point considerable
discoveries have been made; crossing probably at this
ford, the north road was continued through Warrington to Winwick and Wigan. (fn. 6) Sometime before
the Norman Conquest Warrington became the head
of a hundred.
Afterwards the lordship was divided. Warrington
and Rixton seem to have been original parts of the
Warrington barony, created early in the twelfth century, and long held by Pain de Vilers and his descendants the Boteler family. Woolston, Poulton,
and Burtonwood were retained by the lords of the
district 'between Ribble and Mersey,' the two former
in time becoming part of the fee of Makerfield, and
Burtonwood being added to the fee of Warrington.
The lords of Warrington established their residence
or castle at the mote hill, (fn. 7) from which the town
spread westward along the road to Prescot. (fn. 8) A bridge
was built, (fn. 9) perhaps early in the thirteenth century,
and this soon became one of the principal means of
communication between the north and south of
England. The street leading north from it was
called the Newgate as late as 1465. Near the bridge,
on the west side of Newgate, was a house of Austin
Friars, and at the point where this new street crossed
the old road to Prescot a market was established
about 1260. (fn. 10) The town gradually increased round
this point, and in time the parish church, at the
extreme east end, became somewhat isolated; the
change was no doubt assisted by the removal of the
lord's residence from the mote hill to Bewsey in
Burtonwood. (fn. 11)
A borough was created about 1230, but its growing
strength appears to have alarmed the lord, who contrived to repress it before 1300, granting certain
privileges to the free tenants as compensation; and
the town remained under the authority of the lords
of the manor until the beginning of last century. A
survey of the portion belonging to Sir Peter Legh in
1465 has been printed; (fn. 12) this shows that the houses
had extended from the church westward as far as the
market, and a little way along Sankey Street; also
south from the crossing down Newgate to 'the place
where the bridge formerly stood.' Other streets,
north and south of Church Street, are mentioned;
on the north side of the market-place was a row of
houses called Pratt Row; their long back gardens
touched the great heath, (fn. 13) on which stood a windmill.
Across the heath the main road led north by Longford to Winwick, but there was a branch to Bewsey.
To the south of the town were the great meadows of
Howley and Arpley. The water-mills were on
Sankey Brook. The visit of Henry VII to Lathom
in 1495 induced the earl of Derby to rebuild the
bridge and provide for its maintenance. (fn. 14)
Leland about 1535 thus records his impressions:
'Warrington, a paved town; one church (and) a
Freres Augustine at the bridge end. The town is of a
pretty bigness. The parish church is at the tail of all
the town. It is a better market than Manchester.' (fn. 15)
The Reformation was here received as elsewhere in
the district. The chantries were suppressed and the
services of the parish church altered; but the grammar
school, founded in 1526, was preserved. A lease of
the rectory made in 1544 reduced the rector's stipend
to £20, at which sum it remained for 200 years.
The Butlers conformed to the Elizabethan order in
religion, (fn. 16) but this did not stave off their ruin; their
successors, the Irelands, were also Protestants. Most
of the gentry remained attached to the Roman
Catholic religion; and Woolston and Rixton provided refuges for the missionary priests in the times
of persecution. How the townsmen of Warrington
were affected is not so clear. After the Restoration congregations of Presbyterians and Quakers were
formed, and have continued to the present. James I
visited Sir Thomas Ireland at Bewsey in 1617 (fn. 17) in his
progress from Scotland southwards.
The Civil War necessarily affected Warrington
through the town's situation on the road to the north,
which made it 'the principal key of Lancashire.'
Hitherto the people of the district had known of war
only at a distance, (fn. 18) now they had personal experience of it. The earl of Derby in September, 1642,
marched through the town with 4,000 men for his
futile attack on Manchester; (fn. 19) and at the end of
November he was stationed at Warrington, which he
made a garrison, in order to secure the passage of the
Mersey. (fn. 20)
Sir William Brereton was defeated on 3 April,
1643, at Stockton Heath when advancing to attack
Warrington. (fn. 21) Sir William afterwards crossed the
Mersey and attacked the town from the west; but
Lord Derby began to set the town on fire, on which
the parliamentary forces desisted. (fn. 22) Colonel Edward
Norris, eldest son of the lord of Speke, was left in
command of the king's garrison. He was attacked on
22 May by Sir William Brereton, and after six days'
siege gave up the town, leaving arms, ammunition,
and provisions behind. On Trinity Sunday, 28 May,
Sir George Booth, a parliamentary commander, and
lord of the manor, made a formal entry into the town,
and was received by the people with the usual tokens
of joy. (fn. 23) The townspeople were treated with great
leniency by the victors. (fn. 24)
The next five years were uneventful, but the duke
of Hamilton's Scottish force on being defeated at
Winwick 19 August, 1648, retreated to Warrington,
where 4,000 surrendered upon quarter for life—arms,
ammunition, and horses being relinquished. (fn. 25) There
were skirmishes near the town in 1651 when Charles II
with the Scottish army forced the bridge on their
march to Worcester, (fn. 26) and in August, 1659, part of
Sir George Booth's troops, after their defeat at
Winnington, surrendered at Warrington to the parliamentary garrison. (fn. 27)
The rising of 1745 occasioned the partial destruction of the bridge in order to prevent the Young
Pretender from crossing the Mersey there. Some
Highlanders are said to have been captured near
Rixton, at which point the duke of Cumberland
crossed the Mersey in his pursuit. (fn. 28) In 1798 a body
of volunteers was raised, on threats of a French invasion, but their only active service was in suppressing
a riot in Bridge Street in 1799. (fn. 29) In 1859 a corps of
volunteers was formed; it is now known as the
1st V.B. Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment).
In 1693 an inquiry was held at Warrington as to
certain lands and moneys devoted to 'superstitious
uses,' Lord Molyneux, Sir William Gerard of Ashton,
William Standish of Woolston, and other gentlemen
of the neighbourhood having been reported to the
government as holders of money or lands for the use
of the Jesuits, Franciscans, or secular clergy. (fn. 30)
The prosperity of the town does not seem to have
been affected by the Civil War or later troubles. (fn. 31) In
1673 it was thus described: 'Warrington is seated
on the River Mersey, over which there is a curious
stone bridge, which leadeth to Cheshire. It is a very
fine and large town, which hath a considerable market
on Wednesdays for linen cloth, corn, cattle, provisions,
and fish, being much resorted to by the Welshmen,
and is of note for its lampreys.' (fn. 32)
Dr. Kuerden, who passed through the town about
1695, recorded his passing the Mersey 'over a fair
stone bridge of four arches,' and 'through the Market
Gate to the height of the market'; then 'keeping
the road northward over the common at a distance of
about half a mile stands a spacious hall or mansion
called Bradshaw. . . . You meet with two roads,
one leading to Bewsey Hall on the left, and that on
the right towards a fair hall with a spacious garden
and orchard belonging to Mr. Jonathan Blackburne,
justice of the peace.' Then he crossed the Orford
Brook by 'an arched bridge of stone,' and through
'a plashy way' to Hulme. (fn. 33)
About 1730 Warrington looked 'a large, populous,
old built town, but rich, and full of good country
tradesmen. Here is particularly a weekly market for
linen . . . a sort of table linen called Huk-a-back or
Huk-a-buk.' The writer adds: 'I was told there
are generally as many pieces of this linen sold here
every market-day as amount to £500 value, sometimes
much more, and all made in the neighbourhood of
the place.' (fn. 34)
Judge Curwen in 1777 was less complimentary:
'Streets narrow, dirty, and ill-paved; like many
other towns, with a gutter running through the
middle, rendering it inconvenient passing the streets.
This town abounds in dissenters, and has an academy
for young preachers of that persuasion.' (fn. 35)
The most notable institution in the modern history
of the town was the Academy just referred to, founded
in 1757 for the education of candidates for the ministry among the Protestant Nonconformists. It endured
for nearly thirty years, when, owing chiefly to internal
dissensions, it was dissolved, a similar institution at
Manchester (the 'ancestor' of Manchester College,
Oxford) replacing it in 1786. John Seddon, minister
of the Presbyterian congregation, was its projector;
among the tutors were John Taylor, Joseph Priestley,
F.R.S.; John Aikin, sen.; Reinhold Forster, William
Enfield, George Walker, F.R.S.; Gilbert Wakefield,
Nicholas Clayton, Pendlebury Houghton, and John
Holt. Most of these have a place in the Dictionary
of National Biography. (fn. 36) Thomas Barnes, president of
the Academy after its transference to Manchester, was
a native of Warrington. (fn. 37)
Among other natives or residents calling for some
notice were the Ven. James Bell, a Marian priest
executed at Lancaster in 1584; (fn. 38) Charles Owen, a
resident Presbyterian minister; (fn. 39) Edward Evanson,
an Anglican divine who became heterodox; (fn. 40) John
Macgowan, a baker and satirist. Thomas Percival,
a physician, founder of the Manchester Literary and
Philosophical Society, was born at Warrington in
1740. (fn. 41) Peter Litherland, the inventor of the lever
watch, was a Warrington man; and John Harrison,
of chronometer fame, resided in this town. Samuel
Fothergill (1715–72), a Quaker minister, brother of
Dr. John Fothergill, resided here. (fn. 42) John Blackburne
of Orford and Anna his daughter were famous for
their studies of plants and birds. Michael Adrian
Hankinson, O.S.B., became bishop of Port Louis,
Mauritius. (fn. 43) Among artists Hamlet Winstanley, a
painter of note, who died in 1756; (fn. 44) and John
Warrington Wood, a sculptor, who died in 1886,
were natives.
In addition, many others might be named, as
William Beamont of Orford, the indefatigable local
historian, who died in 1889. His son, the Rev.
William John Beamont, the two Kendricks, John
Fitchett, Thomas Kirkland Glazebrook, George
Crosfield, William Wilson, John Fitchett Marsh,
and Peter Rylands have found places in the Dictionary
of National Biography. (fn. 45)
The printing press was not regularly established
until the eighteenth century. The first newspaper,
the Warrington Advertiser, was published here in 1756,
but soon ceased. It was issued from the Eyres Press,
which had been at work since 1731. (fn. 46) A recent paper
called the Advertiser was issued from 1862 to 1889.
The Warrington Guardian (now issued twice a week)
was established in 1853; the Examiner, founded in
1875, and the Observer in 1888, (fn. 47) are weekly papers.
The Review is also published weekly.
The river was formerly the great means of communication with Liverpool, (fn. 48) and was improved by the
Mersey and Irwell Navigation; (fn. 49) 'the communication
between Manchester and Liverpool' by its means
was, in 1825, described as 'incessant; the brickdustcoloured sails of the barges are seen every hour of the
day on their passage, flickering in the wind.' The
first stage-coach (fn. 50) in the county issued from this town,
according to the same authority, and 'between sixty
and seventy coaches on an average passed through
Warrington every day, and the principal streets were
kept by them in a state of perpetual animation.' (fn. 51)
The fishery was formerly a valuable one. In 1825
it belonged to John Arthur Borron and Edward
Pemberton, but by that time it had ceased to be of
much importance. (fn. 52)
The agricultural land in the parish is now occupied
as follows: Arable land, 7,635 acres; permanent
grass, 1,546; woods and plantations, 164. (fn. 53)
CHURCH
The church of St. Elphin stood till
after the middle of the last century at
the extreme east end of the town of
Warrington, but has since become surrounded by
houses. The churchyard is of irregular shape, the
longest dimension being from north to south. The
fabric of the church has in the last two centuries
undergone many changes and reconstructions, and
retains nothing of mediaeval date except the chancel.
The site is undoubtedly one of great antiquity, but
the oldest work that has been found belongs to the
latter part of the twelfth century; a series of small
capitals of this date, found during the rebuilding of
the nave, being preserved in Warrington Museum.
The present building consists of chancel with south
vestry, central tower and transepts, and nave with
north and south aisles.
The chancel of three bays is recorded to have been
built in 1354, and its details agree well with the
date. In common with the rest of the church it is
entirely faced with red sandstone ashlar. It has an
east window of five trefoiled lights with flowing
tracery, and on each of the north and south sides
three three-light tracery windows of similar style,
those in the western bay being modern. The original
windows in this bay were destroyed by a fall of part
of the tower some fifty years since. Beneath the
eastern bay is a contemporary crypt, vaulted in two
bays with a modern ribbed vault springing from old
corbels, and lighted by two two-light windows on the
east, and one each on the north and south. It is
approached by stairs on north and south, but only
the stair on the north is ancient. This is contained in a
broad buttress, and leads down from the chancel to
the crypt, and formerly led upwards from the
chancel to the roof, though this part of it is
now broken away. The buttress in which it is
contained dies into the wall before reaching the
top, the upper part being modern. The door from
the chancel to the stair is modern, but replaces an
original doorway which stood a little farther to the
west, and after having been hidden by panelling for a
long time was rediscovered in 1824. Before this
date the crypt had been inaccessible, probably for some
centuries, as it had never had an entrance from the
churchyard, and had also at some time been filled in
with earth, and the crown of its vault destroyed, in
order to lower the level of the floor at the east end of
the chancel. The window in the buttress which
lights the stair is modern, and the west jamb of an
older window is to be seen close to it. The doorway
at the foot of the stair, opening to the crypt, is also
modern, but occupies the site of the original entrance.
It seems unlikely that the crypt has ever contained
an altar, and as the sills of its two east windows
were originally carried down to the floor level, it may
have been a charnel, and it is to be noted that many
bones were found in it when it was cleared out. But
against this must be set the fact that it is unusually
well lighted for such a purpose, and it is possible that
it was intended for a vestry. Under the second
window on the south side of the chancel is an original
doorway, once external, but now opening into a
vestry built about 1740; it is designed for a door
opening inwards, but the present door opens towards
the vestry, to the detriment of the mouldings of the
outer arch.
The central tower dates from 1860, and is carried
on four moulded arches of fourteenth-century style.
There are two two-light belfry windows in each face,
with crocketed gabled hood-moulds, and above them
a pierced and panelled parapet with angle pinnacles,
and a tall stone spire with three tiers of spire-lights, the
total height being 281 ft. The former central tower
is recorded to have been built in 1698 in place of an
older one damaged in the Civil Wars, but it is not
clear whether the older tower was taken down to the
ground or not. Sir Stephen Glynne, (fn. 54) describing the
church in 1843, says that the tower arches are part
of the original structure, and have continuous mouldings of great depth, and that there is stone groining
under the tower with strong ribs. This points to
the fact that the upper part only of the tower was
rebuilt in 1698, and extant views seem to confirm
this. It had an embattled parapet with pinnacles,
and large belfry windows, in poor Gothic style, with
labels and large dripstones, four of which, representing
a lion, a griffin, a dog, and a swan, are preserved in
the Warrington Museum.
The north transept, or Boteler chapel, in which was
the Lady altar, was rebuilt in 1860. It contained work
of the fourteenth century, as the two arched tombrecesses in its north walls appear to be copied from
former recesses of this date, and retain carved corbels
of c. 1320. The windows were of fifteenth-century
style, that in the east wall having five lights.
The south transept, or Mascy chapel, was perhaps
originally of the same date as the north transept, but
underwent several alterations before the final rebuilding in 1860. It seems to have had an altar of
St. Anne, and a chantry was founded in it by
Richard Delves, rector, in 1486. In 1723 the
Patten chapel was built, adjoining it on the west,
and this, after being rebuilt in 1773, was pulled down
together with the transept in 1860, and rebuilt in its
present form.
The nave and north aisle date from 1860, and
replace a nave built in 1770, which had no arcades,
and being designed for galleries, had two tiers of
windows on north and south. A south aisle was
added in 1835, of the width of the south transept,
apparently by the process of removing the south wall
of the nave of 1770 to its present position, and refacing the south end of the Patten chapel to correspond with it. The upper tier of windows is in a
pseudo-Gothic style, evidently intended to harmonize
with the fourteenth-century windows of the chancel,
and the south doorway has a clumsy ogee head, on
which is cut 'Rebuilt 1770.'
The present west front of the church has three
gables flanked by pinnacles, with a large tracery
window of seven lights in the central gable.
The earlier history of the development of the
church is difficult to read on account of the rebuildings of the last few centuries, but something may be
deduced from old illustrations and the copy of a
small plan of 1628, unfortunately not drawn to scale,
which was formerly among the church papers. From
these it may be seen that the old tower was narrower
than the transepts, the line of its west wall being
eastward of that of the transepts. The mediaeval
nave certainly had arcades, and consequently aisles, as
foundations of the former were discovered in 1860,
not being in line with the north and south arches of
the tower, but further to the north and south, like
the present arcades. The tower arches appear to
have been of the fourteenth century, and perhaps
coeval with the chancel, which is of the same width
north to south as the tower.
These irregularities, and the evidence of the existence of work in the north transept of earlier date than
the rebuilding of the chancel, 1354, go to show that
the church was not completely rebuilt at the latter
date, but followed a gradual process of development,
after the usual fashion, having originally consisted of
an aisleless nave and chancel, which was afterwards
made into a cross church, the tower being built on
the west part of the chancel.
The traces of ritual arrangements in the church are
naturally scanty. In the south wall of the chancel
are three sedilia and a piscina, with ogee arched heads
and trefoiled spandrels under a horizontal string, poor
modern work of wood and plaster, but in the old
position. Parts of the old masonry remain at the
backs of the recesses, which have been altered since
Sir Stephen Glynne's visit in 1843, and do not
at all correspond to his description. There is no
ancient woodwork in the church, but the altar table
in the Boteler chapel was given to the church in
1720. In this chapel is a fine alabaster altar tomb,
on which are the effigies of Sir John Boteler,
ob. 1463, and his wife Margaret. The tomb was
taken to pieces in 1847, and when it was reset
the east end was made up in plaster. On the other
three sides are a row of canopies alternating with
shields now blank, and under the canopies are
alabaster figures or groups: on the north side, St.
James, St. Michael, St. Christopher, St. George,
St. John Baptist, and the Holy Trinity; on the west
a Crucifixion with our Lady and St. John, an angel
holding a shield, and an Assumption; and on the
south St. Faith, our Lord's Pity, St. Barbara,
St. Catherine, St. Margaret, and our Lady and
Child. The figure of Sir John Boteler is armed in
plate, but the arm defences, except the elbow-cops and
gauntlets, appear to be of leather. He wears a collar of
St. George, and holds his right gauntlet in the left hand,
while his bare right hand clasps that of his wife. She
wears a collar of St. Agnes, and has a lamb at her feet. (fn. 55)
In one of the arched recesses in the north wall of
this chapel is the sandstone effigy of a lady of late
fourteenth-century date. In the floor of the Patten
chapel is a cross slab formerly covering the grave of
Thomas Mascy, rector, who died in 1464, and close
to it is a modern altar tomb with the white marble
effigy of the late Lord Winmarleigh.
On the north side of the chancel, opposite the
south doorway, formerly stood the tomb of Richard
Delves, rector, 1527.
The font is modern.
There are eight bells, all cast by Henry Bagley of
Ecton in 1698. (fn. 56)
The church possesses a fine secular standing cup
and cover, silver-gilt, with the London date letter for
1615.
The registers begin in 1591.
ADVOWSON
Before the Conquest the church of
St. Elphin had a plough-land in Warrington free from all imposts except
the geld. (fn. 57) The patronage, except for a grant to
Thurgarton Priory about 1160, which was a century
later granted back, (fn. 58) remained with the lords of Warrington to the latter half of the sixteenth century,
when it passed by sale to the Irelands of Bewsey, and
has descended like Bewsey and Great Sankey to Lord
Lilford, the present patron. (fn. 59)
In 1291 the value of the benefice was found to be
£13 6s. 8d; (fn. 60) and fifty years later the ninth of the
sheaves, wool, and lambs was estimated at twenty
marks, i.e. the same sum. (fn. 61) The gross value in 1535
was £41 15s. 4d., of which the glebe brought in
16s. 8d.; the payments included one of 20s. to the
abbot of Shrewsbury, and the net value was £40. (fn. 62)
The Commonwealth surveyors in 1650 found that
the tithes, valued at £150, were farmed by Gilbert
Ireland, who allowed the rector £20 a year; (fn. 63) this
was increased by an allowance of £50 a year out of
the sequestered tithes of Childwall, (fn. 64) reduced later. (fn. 65)
Bishop Gastrell in 1717 found the income to be
£61 18s. 3d. (fn. 66) At present the gross value is stated to
be £965. (fn. 67)
Warrington was from early times the head of a
deanery comprising the parishes in West Derby
hundred. (fn. 68) In 1535 the revenue of the dean was
estimated at £15 11s. 11d. (fn. 69)
The following is a list of the rectors:—
|
|
Date |
Name |
Patron |
Cause of Vacancy |
|
c. |
1180 |
Richard (fn. 70)
|
— |
— |
|
c. |
1220 |
James (fn. 71)
|
— |
— |
|
c. |
1250 |
Jordan de Hulton (fn. 72)
|
— |
— |
|
c. |
1265 |
William de Eybury (fn. 73)
|
— |
— |
| oc. |
1289 |
William le Boteler (fn. 74)
|
— |
— |
| (?) Feb. 1298–9 |
William de Sankey (fn. 75)
|
— |
— |
| 24 Nov. 1325 |
Stephen le Blund (fn. 76)
|
Sir W. le Boteler |
res. W. de Sankey |
| 3 April, 1330 |
Robert de Houton (fn. 77)
|
— |
exch. S. le Blund |
| 10 June, 1343 |
John de Luyton (fn. 78)
|
Sir W. le Boteler |
d. R. de Houton |
| 1 June, 1346 |
John de Stamfordham (fn. 79)
|
— |
exch. J. de Luyton |
| 10 May, 1351 |
Nicholas de Waddington (fn. 80)
|
Sir W. le Boteler |
d. J. de Stamfordham |
| 22 June, 1357 |
John de Swinlegh (fn. 81)
|
— |
exc. N. de Waddington |
| 13 Jan. 1361–2 |
John de Donne (fn. 82)
|
John earl of Lancaster |
res. J. de Swinlegh |
| (?) Dec. 1367 |
John Parr, senior (fn. 83)
|
Urban V |
— |
| 5 June, 1368 |
Ellis de Birtwisle (fn. 84)
|
John duke of Lancaster |
res. John Parr |
| 4 April, 1370 |
| 17 May, 1374 |
Robert de Sibthorpe (fn. 85)
|
Sir William le Boteler and Sir John his son |
d. Ellis de Birtwisle |
| (?) 1374 |
William (de Burgh) (fn. 86)
|
John duke of Lancaster |
" |
| 20 Mar. 1390–1 |
Richard de Carleton (fn. 87)
|
Sir John le Boteler |
— |
| 21 Aug. 1396 |
Richard le Walker (fn. 88)
|
" |
d. R. de Carleton |
| 27 April, 1435 |
Thomas Mascy (fn. 89)
|
Hamlet Mascy, &c. |
d. R. le Walker |
| 4 July, 1464 |
Thomas Neilson (fn. 90)
|
Richard Browne, &c. |
— |
| 18 May, 1466 |
Thomas Byrom (fn. 91)
|
" |
res. T. Neilson |
| 7 Sept. 1476 |
Mr. James Stanley (fn. 92)
|
John Holcroft |
d. T. Byrom |
| — |
Hugh Reddish |
— |
— |
| 16 June, 1486 |
Richard Delves (fn. 93)
|
T. Boteler |
res. Hugh Reddish |
| 6 Dec. 1527 |
Thomas Maria Wingfield (fn. 94)
|
H. Wingfield, &c. |
d. R. Delves |
| 8 Nov. 1537 |
Edward Keble, M.A. (fn. 95)
|
Sir T. Boteler |
res. T. M. Wingfield |
| 20 Nov. 1554 |
Nicholas Taylor (fn. 96)
|
John Grimsditch and Richard Penketh |
depr. E. Keble |
| 31 Dec. 1556 |
Thomas Amery (fn. 97)
|
— |
d. N. Taylor |
| 24 April, 1574 |
John Butler (fn. 98)
|
Thos. Butler |
— |
| 26 Nov. 1579 |
Simon Harward, M.A. (fn. 99)
|
Edward Butler |
d. J. Butler |
| 4 July, 1581 |
Michael Johnson, B.A. (fn. 100)
|
Sir Hen. Scurwen |
— |
| 3 June, 1589 |
John Ashworth (fn. 101)
|
Thos. Ireland |
— |
| 1 Mar. 1607–8 |
William Gillibrand (fn. 102)
|
" |
d. J. Ashworth |
| 29 May, 1621 |
William Ward (fn. 103)
|
Sir T. Ireland |
d. W. Gillibrand |
| oc. |
1646 |
James Smith (fn. 104)
|
" |
res. W. Ward |
| — Dec. 1646 |
Robert Yates (fn. 105)
|
Gilbert Ireland |
" |
| 17 Jan. 1662–3 |
Samuel Ellison (fn. 106)
|
Sir G. Ireland |
exp. R. Yates |
| 4 Oct. 1664 |
Joseph Ward, B.A. (fn. 107)
|
" |
— |
| 10 Jan. 1690–1 |
Samuel Shawe, M.A. (fn. 108)
|
James Holt |
d. J. Ward |
| 22 Jan. 1718–9 |
Thomas Egerton, M.A. (fn. 109)
|
Ric. Atherton |
d. S. Shawe |
| 21 June, 1723 |
John Haddon, M.A. (fn. 110)
|
" |
res. T. Egerton |
| 27 Dec. 1766 |
William Farington, B.D. (fn. 111)
|
R. V. A. Gwillym. |
d. J. Haddon |
| 14 Sept. 1767 |
Edward Owen, M.A. (fn. 112)
|
" |
d. W. Farington |
| 3 June, 1807 |
Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 113)
|
Lord Lilford |
d. E. Owen |
| 3 Jan. 1832 |
Hon. Horatio Powys, M.A. (fn. 114)
|
" |
res. R. A. Rawstorne |
| 2 Sept. 1854 |
William Quekett, M.A. (fn. 115)
|
The Queen |
prom. Bp. Powys |
| 20 May, 1888 |
Frederic William Willis, M.A. (fn. 116)
|
Lord Lilford |
d. W. Quekett |
The most noticeable feature of the above list is the
rapidity of the succession in many periods. About
1360 the title appears to have been uncertain. The
lease of 1534 having reduced the income from tithes
to £20 a year for two centuries, Warrington was not
as a benefice very attractive.
The commissioners of 1535 found a rector and four
endowed chantry priests serving the church; one of these
also taught the school, and another served the chantry
at Hollinfare. (fn. 117) The clergy list of 1541–2 shows that
besides the rector, probably non-resident, and the four
cantarists, there were in the parish eight priests, one
of them being the curate, and the others paid by private persons or living on casual fees and offerings;
two of them seem to have removed soon afterwards. (fn. 118)
The visitation list of 1548 records the names of the
rector and eight other clergy, four being chantry
priests; two died about the same time. Six years
later the rector, just deprived, is not named; six names
are recorded, two of the bearers, however, appear to
have been absent; the four chantry priests were still
living, though unemployed. The diminution in the
number of clergy went steadily on at Warrington; in 1562 the rector Thomas Amery, his curate,
and two others were named in the list; but one of
the latter did not appear. The rector, appointed in
Bishop Cotes's time, had thus conformed to the
Elizabethan statutes, and continued to hold his benefice. In the following year five names appear, two of
them being new. In the margin is the record—'They
took oath according to the statute,' i.e. acknowledging
the queen's supremacy, the formal act of separation
from the ancient system. (fn. 119) One of the five, John Barber,
curate of Rixton, appears to have repented quickly, a
note stating that he had 'fled.' In 1565 the rector
and two others appeared; these two were survivors of
the 1548 clergy, one being the schoolmaster. (fn. 120)
Block Plan of Site of Augustinian Friary, Warrington
Warrington thus fared better than other parishes in
the neighbourhood in maintaining a staff of three
clergy, there being only one chapel to serve in addition
to the parish church. The school stipend was, of
course, a means of supporting one beside the rector.
At Hollinfare chapel the new services were probably
not kept up regularly. As to the parish church the
visitation of 1592 showed that the chancel was 'in
great decay'; there were wanting Bible, Communion
Book, Jewell's Reply and Apology, a 'comely table
covering and table cloth,' and surplice. (fn. 121) An improvement no doubt took place as time went on, the Stuart
bishops and the puritan ministers of the seventeenth
century bringing it about. The later rectors, with
one or two exceptions, do not call for remark. (fn. 122)
There were three chantries established in the parish
church, and another at Hollinfare. St. Mary's
Chantry was endowed or re-endowed by Sir Thomas
Boteler, apparently the Sir Thomas who died in 1522. (fn. 123)
By his will, carried out by his son Sir Thomas, he
founded also the grammar school, the master of which
was the priest at a second chantry. (fn. 124) Richard Delves,
rector from 1486 to 1527, founded the chantry at the
altar of St. Anne. (fn. 125) The chantries were suppressed in
1548, but the school was preserved. (fn. 126)
A house of Austin Friars, the only one in the
county, was established near the bridge. (fn. 127) Its church,
the Jesus Church, was probably the popular one, being
situated near the centre of the town. The friars had
an oratory on the bridge. The property was confiscated by Henry VIII and granted to Sir Thomas
Holcroft. (fn. 128) Nothing now remains of the buildings. (fn. 129)
It is supposed that the church was used for worship,
at least occasionally, down to the Civil Wars. (fn. 130)
The site of the house was partly explored in 1886,
and from the remains then found a plan of the
church was drawn up by Mr. William Owen. (fn. 131) It
shows a quire 58 ft. long by 24 ft. wide, an oblong
crossing typical of a friars' church, with screens to
east and west, a nave 86 ft. by 27 ft., and a very
large north transept 62 ft. by 44 ft. The evidence
for some part of the plan is slight, but there seems
no doubt that Mr. Owen is correct in his reading
of it, which has been confirmed, as to the size of
the transept, by recent excavations. The details
point to c. 1280 for the earliest work, and the large
north transept seems to be little, if at all, later than
the rest of the building. The crossing was doubtless
surmounted by an octagonal tower as in other friars'
houses. Part of the tile pavement of the quire was
uncovered, and is illustrated in Mr. Owen's paper,
being a very good specimen of its kind, dating probably from the early years of the fourteenth century.
The shaped tiles of the central panel are specially
interesting, though not so elaborate as those in the
well-known Crauden chapel at Ely. Part of this
pavement was taken up and is preserved in the Warrington Museum. Of other parts of the friary
nothing has been found except the north end of a
buttressed building south-east of the church and about
120 yards distant from it. It is 15 ft. wide, but its
length and purpose cannot at present be determined.
The principal charity of Warrington, apart from the grammar
school (fn. 133) and the bluecoat school, (fn. 134)
is the infirmary, with an income of nearly £740 a
year from investments. (fn. 135) Of the minor charities some
are for Warrington proper (fn. 136) and others for different
townships of the parish—Burtonwood, (fn. 137) Rixton, (fn. 138) and
Woolston; (fn. 139) that for Poulton has been lost. (fn. 140)
Plan of Church of Augustinian Friary, Warrington
The Warrington Clergy Institution for the relief
of widows and orphans of clergymen in the old archdeaconry of Chester, which included Cheshire and
South Lancashire, was founded in 1697, and still
continues its benevolent work. In conjunction with
it is a school for the orphan daughters of clergymen,
founded in 1842; the buildings were erected on the
site of the old mote hill, but the school was removed
to Darley Dale, Derbyshire, in 1905. There is a
training college for schoolmistresses in connexion with
the Established Church.