FLIXTON
Flixton; Urmston
The parish of Flixton, (fn. 1) a compact area of three
plough-lands ancient assessment lying in the tongue
between the Irwell and Mersey, appears to have been
cut off from Barton; the boundary between them is
a straight line running east and west, while the
eastern boundary is merely a part of that between
Barton and Stretford, also a straight line running
south from the boundary of Whittleswick to the
Mersey. Similarly the division between the component townships of Flixton is a straight line running
southwards. The area is 2,581 acres, and the population in 1901 was 10,250. The geological formation consists of the Upper Mottled Sandstone (Bunter
series) of the New Red Sandstone.
From its position the parish has had a quiet and
uneventful history. It lies out of touch with the
old main roads from Manchester to Warrington and
to Chester, and only one of its local gentry has taken
any prominent part in the movements of the day,
namely Peter Egerton of Shaw, an active partisan
of the Parliament during the Civil War.
To the ancient 'fifteenth' Flixton paid 14s. 6d.
and Urmston 8s. 6d., the hundred in all paying
£41 14s. 4d. (fn. 2) For the county lay of 1624 Flixton
was assessed at £3 7s. 5¼d. when the hundred paid
£100, the townships of Flixton and Urmston contributing in the proportions of seven and four. (fn. 3)
The parishioners of Flixton making the Protestation in 1641 numbered 171, being headed by the
two squires and the curate. (fn. 4)
To the hearth tax of 1666 eighty-nine hearths
were found liable in Flixton, where the only house
with more than four hearths was that of Leonard
Egerton, with eleven; and sixty hearths in Urmston,
where the chief houses were those of Roger Rogers
and Richard Starkie, with nine and six hearths
respectively. (fn. 5)
There are at present 863 acres of arable land in
the parish, 813 devoted to permanent grass, and 3 to
woods and plantations.
Church
The church of ST. MICHAEL stands
at the east end of the village on high
ground about 250 yds. north of the
River Mersey with a very extensive view from the
churchyard southward over Carrington Moss. It
consists of chancel 27 ft. by 17 ft., with north vestry
and organ chamber, nave 36 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 6 in.
with north and south aisles, and west tower 13 ft.
square. These measurements are all internal. The
south aisle extends the whole length of the nave and
chancel, and is 61 ft. 4 in. long by 12 ft. 3 in. wide.
The north aisle is the same width and 37 ft. 10 in.
in length. Though the foundation is a very ancient
one, and a church is known to have existed here
since the 12th century, the present structure retains
so little ancient work that little or nothing can be
said of the development of the plan. Two fragments
of what appear to be 12th-century stones with
lozenge ornament are built into the east wall on the
outside, but apart from these the oldest work in the
building is contained in the chancel, which, in something of its present form, dates from the 15 th century.
It has been so much rebuilt, however, that little or
nothing of the original work remains except in the
reconstructed walling, the lower part of which appears
to be old or entirely rebuilt of ancient masonry.
The 15th-century church apparently occupied
pretty much the same area as at present, with the
exception of the north vestry, and stood in all probability till the 18th century. In 1731 the parish
rebuilt the tower (fn. 6) in the style of the day, and in
1756 the nave and aisles. The chancel had to be
partly rebuilt in 1815, when one of the piers gave
way and the wall fell in. (fn. 7) In 1851 the north-east
vestry was built; and in 1863, the tower, of which
there had been a partial restoration in 1824, was
declared unsafe, and the ringing of the bells was
stopped. A general restoration took place in 1877,
when the galleries which had been erected in the
18th century were removed, the ceiling opened out,
new seats put in, and two doors, one at the west end
of the north aisle and the other at the east end of the
south aisle, were built up. In 1888 the tower was
entirely rebuilt and the ringing of the bells resumed.
The church is built of red sandstone, the roofs of the
chancel, nave, and aisles being covered with stone
slates, and that of the vestry with green slates.
The chancel of two bays is open to the nave without
structural division and has an east window of late
15th-century style, of three cinquefoiled lights under a
four-centred head in modern stonework. Its east
wall stands slightly in front of those of the vestry
and south aisle, and has diagonal buttresses at the
angles. On the north are the vestry and organ
chamber, and on the south an aisle. Before the
building of the vestry the north wall was solid, with
an external buttress, (fn. 8) but has now an arcade of two
low arches of two chamfered orders springing from
an octagonal shaft and responds with moulded capitals.
The west respond is built against a 3 ft. length of
old walling which marks the extent of the north
aisle. The vestry and organ chamber are built in
15 th-century style, and are separated from the aisle
by an arch constructed when the east wall of the
aisle was taken down. On the south side the chancel
has an arcade of two pointed arches of two chamfered
orders, the crowns of which come immediately under
the wall plate. They spring from octagonal shafts
21 in. in diameter with moulded capitals and chamfered bases, and are probably a modern copy of the
original 15th-century arcade, erected after the accident
of 1815. The height of the pillars to the top of the
capitals is 7 ft. 9 in., but on the north side the pier to
the new arcade is only 5 ft. 3 in., and the arch above
of corresponding height, leaving a wide extent of wall
space above, which has lately been decorated with a
frieze of painted figures. This difference in height
is accounted for by the roof of the vestry being considerably lower than the roofs of the chancel or aisle.
The nave arcade of the 15th-century church was a
continuation westward of that on the south side of
the chancel, but in the 18th century it was swept
away and the present classic nave and aisles erected
between the newly-built tower and the older chancel.
The nave has three semicircular arches on each side,
springing from circular stuccoed columns of the Tuscan order standing on pedestals 3 ft. high. There
are three columns on the north side and two on the
south, with a half column against the upper part of
the octagonal stone pier at the east end. The junction of the 18th-century work with that of the
chancel is clumsily effected, and
indicates the evident intention
to carry the rebuilding eastward. The spacing of the bays
on the north and south is unequal, the columns not coming
opposite each other, and on the
north the beginning of a fourth
semicircular arch butts against
the wall at the west end of
the chancel. The north aisle
extends slightly further westward than the south, and is
lighted by three high roundheaded windows on the north
side and one at the west, with
moulded sills, architraves, imposts, and keystones. The
south aisle is lighted along its
side by four similar windows
and one at each end. In the
south-west corner is a semicircular-headed doorway with
pilasters and pediment, and a
smaller round-headed window
over. The nave and aisles
have open timbered roofs of plain king-post type
Flixton Church: South-East View
The tower, as previously stated, is a modern rebuilding of the 18th-century one, and has a round
arch towards the nave. It is of three stages marked
by string-courses, with a vice in its south-west corner
entered from the outside, and is a mixture of classic
and 18th-century Gothic detail of no particular architectural interest, but a fair example of its kind. The
angles, like those of the aisles, have drafted quoins,
and at the corners of the embattled parapet are urn
ornaments. The lower stage has a round-headed
west doorway with a three-light debased Gothic
window breaking the string-course above, and over it
the inscription recording the rebuilding of the tower
in 1731. The upper stage on each side has a roundheaded three-light window with stone louvres and
label over. The window head has a keystone round
which the cornice above breaks, and which is carried
up as an intermediate pilaster in the middle of the
parapet surmounted by an urn. In the second stage
on the north side is an inscription to the effect that
the tower was rebuilt in 1888 in commemoration of
Queen Victoria's Jubilee. There is a clock presented
in 1889 in the second stage on the north and east
sides.
There is a 17th-century oak chest in the vestry,
but generally speaking all the fittings of the church
are modern, mostly dating from 1877 or later. The
font is under the tower, and an oak screen separating
the baptistery from the nave was erected in 1903.
At the west end of the south aisle was formerly a
brass to the memory of Richard Radcliffe of Newcroft
(died 1602), but during a recent decoration of the
church it has been removed to the vestry. It bears
the figures of Radcliffe in armour and his two wives,
kneeling at each side of a book desk, with the three
sons of the first wife, and the two sons, three daughters, and three infants (swaddled) of the second.
The first wife Bridget (Caryll) widow of W. Molyneux,
kneels with her three sons opposite to Radcliffe, while
the second wife and her children kneel behind him.
Over the desk is a shield with the arms of Radcliffe
of Ordsall with helm, crest, and mantling and on
each side a shield with the arms of Radcliffe impaling
those of his wives. (fn. 8a)
There is no ancient stained glass.
Until 1806 there were four bells, of which one,
known as the poor folks' bell, was subscribed for by the
villagers. Three of them bore the motto 'Jesus be our
speed,' and the fourth 'Leonard Asshawe, Peter Egerton, Esq. 1624.' (fn. 9) These were recast in 1806 by John
Rudhall of Gloucester, and four new ones added by
public subscription, the first peal being rung on
25 January 1808. On arrival at Flixton the tenor
bell was placed mouth upwards in a field and ten
guineas' worth of double strong ale put in for the populace to regale themselves with. (fn. 10) Some of the bells
were recast by Taylor of Lough borough in 1887.
The curfew is rung between 29 September and
25 March, and a bell, locally called the 'Pudding
bell,' is rung every Sunday at one o'clock and again
at two, the origin of which is said to have been to let
the people of Carrington know that there would be
service at Flixton in the afternoon.
The plate consists of a flagon, 1776 (the gift of
William Allan, esq., Davyhulme), a chalice and two
patens, and a large almsdish, 1875.
The registers begin in 1570. There is a loose
leaf of the churchwardens' accounts for the year
1690–91, but the account books do not begin till
1707. (fn. 11)
Additions to the churchyard were made in 1868
and 1887. The oldest gravestone is dated 1669, and
there is a pedestal sundial on the south side of the
church with the names of the churchwardens and
maker (James Sandiford, a Manchester clock-maker),
and the date 1772.
Advowson
The advowson of the church belonged to the Grelley moiety of
Flixton, and was granted with it to
Henry son of Siward. On the foundation of Burscough the church was granted to the priory, (fn. 12) and
appears to have remained in its possession till far on
into the 13th century. (fn. 13) Then, by some unknown
means, the rectory was acquired by Bishop Roger
Meuland about 1290 and transferred to the cathedral
of Lichfield, becoming the portion of one of the prebendaries, who took his title from it. (fn. 14) William
Burnell died possessed of the prebend of Flixton in
1303, (fn. 15) but nothing is stated as to any appropriation
in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291, when the
annual value was returned as £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 16) The
prebendaries, who leased out the tithes, &c., (fn. 17) appointed a resident curate, this system continuing until
the patronage was about 1860 transferred to the
Bishop of Manchester, as representing the Bishop of
Lichfield, who had collated to the rectory-prebend. (fn. 18)
The incumbents are styled rectors, and have the tithe
rent-charge and glebe. (fn. 19) The value of the ninth of
the wool, &, in 1341 was £4. (fn. 20) In 1534 the
prebend was valued at £7 or £10. (fn. 21) The Commonwealth surveyors in 1650 found that the farmer of
the tithes, Peter Egerton of Shaw, had assigned a
house to the curate, worth £20 a year, and also, by
order of the Committee of Plundered Ministers, paid
him the £16 rent due to the prebendary. (fn. 22) Bishop
Gastrell, about 1717, recorded that the lessee paid
the curate £30 a year, and surplice fees and other
dues amounted to £4 more. (fn. 23) The present income
is £300 with a house. (fn. 24)
The following have been curates (fn. 25) and rectors:—
|
| oc. 1541 | Nicholas Smith (fn. 26) |
| oc. 1547 | Ralph Birch (fn. 27) |
| oc. 1552–4 | Edward Smith (fn. 28) |
| oc. 1563 | Robert Radcliffe (fn. 29) |
| 1565 | Richard Smith (fn. 30) |
| oc. 1588 | Nicholas Higson (fn. 31) |
| oc. 1604 | William Hodgkinson (fn. 32) |
| c. 1610 | — Jones (fn. 33) |
| oc. 1613 | George Byrom (fn. 34) |
| oc. 1622 | Edward Woolmer, (fn. 35) B.A. (Oriel College, and All Souls, Oxford) |
| 1660 | Thomas Ellison (fn. 36) |
| oc. 1663 | — Barrett (fn. 37) |
| oc. 1664, 1691 | John Isherwood, B.A. (fn. 38) |
| oc. 1709 | Edward Sedgwick (fn. 39) |
| 1723 | John Jones, M.A. (fn. 40) |
| 1752 | Samuel Bardsley, B.A. (fn. 41) |
| 1756 | Humphrey Owen, B.A. (fn. 42) (St. John's College, Oxford) |
| 1764 | Timothy Lowten, M.A. (fn. 43) (St. John's College, Cambridge) |
| 1771 | Thomas Beeley (fn. 44) |
| 1807 | Samuel Stephenson, M.A. (Trinity College, Cambridge) |
| 1816 | Henry Burdett Worthington, (fn. 45) M.A. |
| 1823 | William Asteley Cave Brown Cave, (fn. 46) M.A. (Brasenose College, Oxford) (fn. 47) |
| 1842 | Arthur Thomas Gregory, (fn. 48) B.A. (Lincoln College, Oxford) |
| Rectors |
| 1863 | Charles Barton, (fn. 49) B.A. (Dublin) |
| 1873 | Richard Marsden Reece, (fn. 50) B.A. (St. John's College, Cambridge) |
| 1906 | Arthur William Smith |
The ecclesiastical history calls for little comment.
There were no chantries, and the curate appears to
have been the only resident ecclesiastic. At the
Reformation the prebendaries of Flixton were conformists, (fn. 51) but the curates seem to have changed with
each visitation. The church was fairly well provided
with 'ornaments' as late as 1552. (fn. 52)
In 1592 the only charges against the curate and
wardens were that no collectors for the poor were
appointed and that the 12d. fine for not attending
church was not levied. (fn. 53) In 1641 the curate reported
that there were no 'delinquents' in the parish, the
people 'being all protestants and no papist' among
them. (fn. 54) The curate in 1680 was suspended for three
years for refusing to read the prayer for the queen,
the Duke of York, and the royal family. (fn. 55)
Land for a schoolhouse was leased in 1643, but
the school seems to have been built in 1662 upon a
patch of land by the roadside. (fn. 57) It was sold in 1861. (fn. 58)
Charities
Each of the townships in the parish
has some small charitable endowment,
the total income being £11 11s. 8d.,
of which £ 15s. 2d. is for the poor. A few old
benefactions have been lost. (fn. 59)