The parish of Prestwich with Oldham: Oldham

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

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'The parish of Prestwich with Oldham: Oldham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, (London, 1911) pp. 92-108. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp92-108 [accessed 18 March 2024]

In this section

OLDHAM

Kaskenemore, 1212; Haskesmores, 1226.

Aldholm, 1226; Aldhulm, 1237; Oldhulme in Oldham, 1622.

Oldum, Oldom, Holdum, Olduum, Oldun, 1292; Oldome, 1427; Oldam, Oldham, Ouldham, (fn. 1) xvi cent.

This township, with an extreme length from southwest to north-east of over 4 miles, has an area of 4,665 acres. (fn. 2) The River Beal, flowing northwards, forms the boundary between Oldham on one side and Royton and Crompton on the other. To the east of it the surface rises, a height of 1,225 ft. being attained at Woodward Hill on the Yorkshire border. The rest of the surface is hilly, the average height decreasing towards the south-west. The ridge called Oldham Edge, 800 ft. high, comes southward from Royton into the middle of the town. The town of Oldham has spread over the whole of the centre of the township and beyond its borders; particularly along the road to Manchester. The population in 1901 was 137,246.

The old open Market Place may be taken as centre. From this High Street and Yorkshire Street—the latter running parallel with the old Goldburne—went eastwards through Mumps and Greenacres; a little off this road, on the northern side, is the church, to which Church Lane leads up from High Street. South-west from the Market Place the old Manchester road went out, crossed some 200 yds. away by King Street, going south to Ashton under Lyne, and westsouth-west goes out the present road to Manchester. From King Street George Street goes north-east to the Market Place, and Union Street east to Mumps. West Street leads from the Market Place towards Chadderton, and from it, as a continuation of King Street, Royton Street goes north to Royton and Rochdale.

Yorkshire Street, proceeding eastward, branches out into two great roads—to Holmfirth and to Huddersfield; the latter has also a branch leading north-east to Halifax. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company has cross lines through the township. That from Manchester, opened in 1842, enters the township from the west, where it is joined by the line from Middleton, at Werneth Station, and goes through and under the town to the Central station; near here it is joined by the London and North Western, the Oldham, Ashton, and Guide Bridge, and the Great Central Companies' line, running northwards from Ashton-under-Lyne, the stations being called Clegg Street and Glodwick Road. The combined railways run north-east to another station, Mumps, where a division takes place; the Lancashire and Yorkshire line goes northward to Shaw and Rochdale, with a station at Royton Junction, at which the Royton line goes off to the north-west, and the London and North Western's line runs eastward into Yorkshire. (fn. 3) A canal, joining with the Medlock, starts from Hollinwood, where a reservoir was formed in 1801.

The ancient divisions of the township were Sholver, (fn. 4) Glodwick, (fn. 5) and Werneth, (fn. 6) in the north-east, south-east, and south-west respectively; the modern divisions are Below Town and Above Town. Sholver lies near the middle of the Oldham part of the Beal valley; Broadbent Moss is to the south; in this division are Fulwood, Besom Hill, Moorside, Watersheddings, and Springhill. The town has spread south-east to include Glodwick; to the south are Fenny Hill and Keverlow, and to the west Alexandra Park, replacing the older name of Swine Clough. Werneth Park marks the site of Werneth Hall. About half a mile to the north of this stood Lees Hall and Bent Hall, and about the same distance to the south-east was Chamber Hall. Near this last are Hathershaw and Copster Hill. Hollinwood lies in the south-west corner of the township on the Manchester road.

There were 215 hearths liable to the hearth tax in 1666. The largest dwellings were those of Benjamin Wrigley (Chamber Hall), with eight hearths; Thomas Kay (Lees Hall), the same; Joshua Cudworth (Werneth Hall), six; and Bent Hall, six also. (fn. 8)

Defoe in 1727 thus records his impressions of the Oldham district:—'This country seems to have been designed by Providence for the very purposes to which it is now allotted—for carrying on a manufacture— which can nowhere be so easily supplied with the conveniences necessary for it. Nor is the industry of the people wanting to second these advantages. Though we met few people without doors, yet within we saw the houses full of lusty fellows, some at the dye vat, some at the loom, others dressing the cloths; the women and children carding or spinning; all employed, from the youngest to the oldest, scarce anything above four years old but its hands were sufficient for its own support. Not a beggar to be seen, not an idle person, except here and there in an almshouse, built for those that are ancient and past working. The people in general live long; they enjoy a good air, and under such circumstances hard labour is naturally attended with the blessing of health, if not riches. The sides of the hills were dotted with houses, hardly a house standing out of a speaking distance from another; and the land being divided into small inclosures, every three or four pieces of land had a house belonging to them. . . In the course of our road among the houses we found at every one of them a little rill or gutter of running water; . . . and at every considerable house was a manufactory, which not being able to be carried on without water, these little streams were so parted and guided by gutters and pipes that not one of the houses wanted its necessary appendage of a rivulet. Again, as the dyeing houses, scouring shops, and places where they use this water, emit it tinged with the drugs of the dyeing vat, and with the oil, the soap, the tallow, and other ingredients used by the clothiers in dressing and scouring, &c., the lands through which it passes, which otherwise would be exceeding barren, are enriched by it to a degree beyond imagination. Then, as every clothier necessarily keeps one horse at least, to fetch home his wool and his provisions from the market, to carry his yarn to the spinners, his manufacture to the fulling mill, and when finished, to the market to be sold, and the like, so every one generally keeps a cow or two for his family. By this means the small pieces of inclosed land about each house are occupied; and by being thus fed, are still further improved by the dung of the cattle. As for corn, they scarce grow enough to feed their poultry. (fn. 9)

The assessment for the house duty in 1779 shows only twelve dwellings of £10 rent and upwards. Chamber Hall was rented at £7 and the curate's house at £6. (fn. 10)

Dr. Aikin in 1793 found Oldham 'pleasantly situated on a high eminence, commanding an extensive and delightful prospect.' (fn. 11)

The modern history of the township is mainly that of the progress of its mining and manufacturing industries, beginning from the early part of the 17th century. The great extension of them occurred at the end of the 18th century, on the introduction of machinery; the growth of the place from a few scattered hamlets to a large well-organized town has since been rapid. The story is told in detail in Edwin Butterworth's Historical Sketches of Oldham. (fn. 12) Hatmaking was formerly an important industry, but decayed early last century, after the introduction of the silk hat. (fn. 13) Machine-making was introduced about 1794. Cotton-mills, however, are the most prominent business establishments. The mills in the district are said to consume over a million bales yearly, nearly a third of the cotton used in the kingdom.

As in most of the unenfranchised towns, the people of Oldham became Radical in politics in the early part of last century, and some movements suspected of sedition found patronage in the town. (fn. 14) John Lees, an operative cotton spinner, was one of the victims of the 'Peterloo massacre' of 1819, and the 'Oldham inquest' which followed was anxiously watched; the Court of King's Bench, however, decided that the proceedings were irregular, and the jury were discharged without giving a verdict. (fn. 15) Apart from politics the district was frequently disturbed by bread and labour riots, occasioned by periods of scarcity and the disturbance of employment following the introduction of machinery. (fn. 16)

Periodical literature began with the Oldham Observer in 1827. The first newspaper was the Chronicle, published weekly from May 1854. At present there are two newspapers—the Chronicle and the Standard— issued daily and weekly. (fn. 17)

The Oldham Rushbearing or Wakes are on the last Saturday in August; at Glodwick on the first Saturday in October.

The people have long been distinguished for their love of vocal music. (fn. 18)

The Oldham dialect has many peculiarities. (fn. 20)

Portions of the Roman road from Manchester into Yorkshire are recognizable in the southern part of the township. Some coins have been found. (fn. 21)

Lawrence Nuttall of Oldham issued a halfpenny token in 1669. (fn. 22)

Lawrence Chadderton, a Puritan divine, was a native of the town, (fn. 23) as was Samuel Ogden, one of the clergy ejected in 1662 for Nonconformity. (fn. 24) In more recent times Thomas Henshaw, the founder of the Bluecoat Hospital, was an inhabitant and tradesman here. (fn. 25) The Butterworths, father and son, rendered great services to students of local history. (fn. 26) Sir John Mellor, judge, was born at Hollinwood House in 1809, and died in 1887. (fn. 27) James Whitehead, M.D., 1812–85, son of John Whitehead, a herbalist of local fame, became a distinguished physician. (fn. 28) Thomas Oldham Barlow, R.A., 1824–89, was a famous engraver; the Oldham Corporation in 1891 secured an almost complete collection of his works. (fn. 29) Sir John Tomlinson Hibbert was born at Oldham in 1824, and was member of Parliament for his native town 1862 to 1874 and 1878 to 1895, holding minor offices in different Liberal ministries. He was made K.C.B. in 1893. On the formation of the Lancashire County Council in 1888 he was chosen to be its chairman, and retained this position till his retirement in February, 1908. He was appointed Constable of Lancaster Castle in 1907. He died at his house at Grange-over-Sands on 7 November, 1908. There should also be mentioned James Wolfenden of Hollinwood, a mathematician, who died in 1841 aged 87; John Whitehead, a botanist, who died in 1896; and James Dronsfield, of Hollinwood, 1826–96. Some prodigies are on record. (fn. 30)

Manors

In the 12th century KASKENMOOR, including Oldham and most of Crompton, was a thegnage estate held of the royal manor of Salford as 25 or 26 oxgangs of land by a rent of 20s., and sending a judge to the hundred court. Adam Fitz Swain was the tenant, and left two daughters, between whom the inheritance was divided. Maud married Adam de Montbegon, lord of Tottington, and her son Roger was the tenant of a moiety in 1212. Amabel, the other daughter, married William de Nevill, but this moiety was in 1212 in the king's hands, 'because the heirs had not spoken with the king.' (fn. 31) Each of the heiresses left issue, but the later inquisitions omit any reference to them, the descendants of their sub-tenants being stated to hold directly of the Earl or Duke of Lancaster as of his manor of Salford.

In 1212 the sub-tenants were Gilbert de Notton, for Crompton; Reyner de Wombwell, for Werneth and Oldham; Adam de Glodwick, for Glodwick; Ralph Tagun, for Sholver; and Henry de Scholefield, for Birshaw. Gilbert, Reyner, and Adam held a moiety under each lord; Ralph and Henry held under Nevill. The combined services due from them amounted exactly to the service required by the king.

There does not seem to have been any manor of OLDHAM, (fn. 32) but in later times it was usually supposed to be attached to WERNETH, the holder of this portion bearing the local name; thus in 1222–6 Alward de Oldham held 2 oxgangs in Werneth by a rent of 191/8d. (fn. 33) Though a number of Oldhams appear in pleadings, &c., (fn. 34) nothing is known of the descent of Werneth until the latter part of the 14th century, Margery daughter of Richard de Oldham and wife of John de Cudworth dying in October 1383 holding the manor of Oldham of the Duke of Lancaster by knight's service and by the rent of 6s. 6d. (fn. 35) Her son and heir, John de Cudworth, was born early in 1379, and proved his age in 1401. (fn. 36) The descent of the manor in the Cudworth family is fairly clear from this time (fn. 37) until 1683, when it was sold by Joshua Cudworth to Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton. (fn. 38) The new owner gave it with his daughter and co-heir Catherine to Thomas Lister of Gisburn Park, Yorkshire; the Listers sold it for £25,500 to Parker & Sidebottom of London, by whom it was sold in 1795 to John Lees, cotton manufacturer, for £30,000. (fn. 39) It is now owned by Mrs. Charles Lees of Werneth Park.

Cudworth. Azure a fesse erminois between three demi-lions rampant or.

Werneth Hall is said to have been originally a timber and plaster building, but this was destroyed by fire in 1456, (fn. 40) and no trace of it now remains. The present house, which is built of stone, stands on sloping ground on the south-west side of the town facing south at the corner of Werneth Hall Road and Frederick Street, the original portions dating probably from the beginning or middle of the 17th century. The house, however, has been so much altered and rebuilt both inside and out that its ancient appearance is almost wholly lost, but it was probably a building with a centre and end wings at the east and west. A portion only of the line of the old frontage remains; the west gable is still intact, but the centre portion has been replaced by a brick cottage, and the east wing appears to have been extended, and mutilated at the top, but whether it ever was a gabled building like the west wing is uncertain. There is an original entrance doorway in the east wing facing south, and the old five-light mullioned and transomed windows with labels still remain in both wings, except that the mullions in the lower windows have been cut away. The old west wing runs through to the back of the house, where there are two five-light mullioned and transomed windows with label mouldings, but a modern stone extension has been made to the house at the west, which effectually hides the old work on that side. The existing portion of the old hall is now used as a nurses' home.

CHAMBER HALL, to the south-east of Werneth, was for some centuries the residence of the Tetlows of Werneth, said to be descended from the Oldham family. (fn. 41) Lawrence Tetlow died 26 December 1582 seised of three messuages, &c., in Ashton under Lyne, held of the queen in socage by a rent of 5d.; and twelve messuages, &c., in Oldham, held of Ralph Barton in socage, by a barbed arrow at Christmas, and a pair of gloves (or 1d.) at St. Oswald's. Richard, his son and heir, was about thirty-seven years old. (fn. 42) Early in the 17th century the estate passed by sale to the Woods, (fn. 43) and from them in 1646 to the Wrigleys. (fn. 44) Henry Wrigley served as high sheriff in 1651, (fn. 45) and in local matters was a zealous supporter of Robert Constantine in the disputes as to the church of Oldham. (fn. 46) By marriage Chamber Hall passed to the Gregges of Chester, who in 1773 succeeded to Hopwood, and took this surname. (fn. 47) Edward Gregge Hopwood died in 1798, and left the Chamber Hall estate in equal portions to his three daughters. The eldest died unmarried; Elizabeth married James Starkey of Heywood; and the other married Maj.-General Peter Heron, Tory member for Newton in Makerfield from 1806 to 1814; and the estate was recently held by their heirs. (fn. 48)

Tetlow. Argent a bend engrailed sable cotised gules.

Gregge. Or three trefoils between two cheverons sable.

Chamber Hall lies on the south side of Oldham at the bottom of Chamber Lane, but on an eminence formerly commanding a very extensive prospect of the country to the south. (fn. 49) The building belongs to two periods. The older part at the back was apparently erected in 1640, along with the barn to the south, and is a stone-built house of two stories and an attic with mullioned windows and gables, and the roofs covered with grey stone slates. Some of the windows are built up and others modernized, but many of the original 17th-century windows with the labels over remain. The walling is of long thin coursed stones with squared quoins, many of great length, at the angles.

The front of the house was pulled down in 1752, when the present block facing the street was erected. It is of three stories, built in stone in the plain classic style of the period, with central door and two squareheaded windows on each side of it. There are five large windows on the first floor with small attic windows over. The ground floor windows have architraves and keystones, but the upper ones architraves only, and the sashes retain their original wood bars. The front is faced with large squared coursed stones, with chamfered quoins at the angles, the chimneys are of brick, and the roof is covered with blue slates. On the south-west of the house is a large stone barn, with stone slated roof and wide end gables. The entrance doorways in each side of the barn have also smaller stone gables, that facing the house bearing the initials g. w., 1. w., and the date 1640 on a stone over a blocked three-light mullioned window. The initials are probably those of George Wood and his wife Jane (Tetlow), the builders of the house. The barn is a fine specimen of the stone-built barns of the 17th century. At the other side of the house, to the south-east, is a range of stone buildings, two stories high, now a cottage and stable, with outside stone steps at the north end. It has low mullioned windows and a stone-slated roof, and over the stable door is the date 1648 and the initials h. w., being those of Henry Wrigley, who bought the hall from the Woods in 1646. He is said to have 'employed numerous artisans in the trade of fustian weaving, and converted part of the outbuildings of his hall into a warehouse.' (fn. 50) The door with his initials may be an insertion in one of the original outbuildings, but it is more probable that he erected this range of buildings himself for workshops.

A portion of the Tetlow estate passed by marriage to the Langleys of Agecroft, and long continued in that family. (fn. 51) Another Tetlow family was settled at COLDHURST, (fn. 52) which was formerly an estate of the Hospitallers. (fn. 53)

LEES HALL was long the residence of the Chadderton family of Oldham and Crompton. (fn. 54) George Chadderton, living in 1515, held Rowdefields, Magot Fields, and Lees in Oldham of John Cudworth by knight's service and a rent of 4d. His widow Katherine died 10 April 1543, and their grandson Thomas (son of Thomas son of George) was the heir, and twenty-two years of age. (fn. 55) In the latter part of the 17th century it was acquired by the Lyon family, (fn. 56) and passed through various hands. Lawrence Chadderton, a famous Puritan divine, first master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, is said to have been born here. (fn. 57) The site is now occupied by saw-mills. Bent Hall, in the same neighbour occupier, John Lees, and has descended in the family to the hood, was at one time occupied as a hat manufactory. (fn. 58)

HORSEDGE, like Coldhurst, belonged to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 59) The tenants were families named Taylor (fn. 60) and Hopwood. (fn. 61) The inheritance of the former passed to the Nuttalls and Radclyffes of Foxdenton. Whetstone Hill and Derker lie to the north-east of Horsedge. (fn. 62)

Hollinwood, (fn. 63) Hathershaw, (fn. 64) and other lands in the southern part of Werneth have left no trace in the records. Hathershaw Hall is a long low two-story stone building dating from the end of the 16th century, but with its eastern end rebuilt a century later, and what remains is probably but a fragment. It is divided into five cottages, and stands back from the road, facing south with an open space in front, in the midst of mills and small house property. The older portion is about 54 ft. in length with a slightly projecting wing at the west end, and is described as having quite gone to decay in 1826. (fn. 65) There have been sufficient repairs since to keep the building habitable, but nearly all trace of its original appearance has gone. There is a built-up stone doorway with a moulded head at one end, and a three-light stone mullioned window on the first floor at the other, but all the other windows are modern, and the building is of little or no architectural interest. The east end appears to have been rebuilt in 1694, (fn. 66) and is loftier than the older part, with quoins at the angles and square-headed two-light windows with centre mullion and transom. The windows are of good design, 3 ft. 6 in. wide, and 5 ft. 9 in. high, with double chamfered heads and jambs, and placed with an almost 18th-century regularity. The floor-line is marked by a stringcourse, below which the walling is of large squarecoursed blocks, and above of rough narrow-coursed stones. This portion of the building, which is about 38 ft. long, consists of two cottages, in one of which the mullions and transoms of the windows have been cut away and modern casements inserted. Two of the upper windows are built up, and a new doorway has been made to the second cottage. The roofs of the two portions of the building are ot different levels, and are covered with old grey stone slates, with stone ridge tiles. The end gables yet preserve their ball ornaments, though the copings are gone. Some of the old stone ornaments of the house now lie in front of one of the cottages in a small inclosed garden.

Old Plan of Oldham

Clarksfield, on the eastern border, was held of the Cudworths by the Ashtons of Ashton-underLyne; it descended to the Booths. (fn. 67) It was in 1625 purchased by the present time. (fn. 68) The Cudworths also had the whole or part of Greenacres. (fn. 69)

Lees. Argent two bars raguly between three crosslets fitchy in chief and a falcon belled in bate all gules.

Roundthorn was part of the estate of Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton, and on his death in 1716 passed to Sir Nathaniel Curzon of Kedleston, in right of his wife Mary, a co-heir of Sir Ralph's, and descended to Earl Howe. (fn. 70) Waterloo, formerly Sheepwashes, was in the 17th and 18th centuries the residence of the Brierley family. (fn. 71)

GLODWICK, another of the ancient divisions of Oldham, (fn. 72) came by 1301 into the possession of Hugh de Atherton, (fn. 73) and descended to the Nevills of Hornby. (fn. 74) The later history is uncertain. In the 16th century the Radcliffes of Foxdenton paid the chief rent of 3s. 2d. due to the duchy, but the Standish and Ashton families also had shares. (fn. 75) During the 17th century the estate appears to have been sold in parcels. (fn. 76) The duchy rent of 3s. 4d. was in 1779 paid by the Rev. — Richardson. (fn. 77)

SHOLVER was in 1212 found to have been held by Ralph Tagun as 4 oxgangs of land; it was part of the Nevill estate then in the king's hand. (fn. 78) By 1246 it seems to have become divided; (fn. 79) but in 1324 Robert (or Roger) de Ashton paid the chief rent due for it, holding in right of his wife, it being of the inheritance of Gilbert de Hulme. (fn. 80) In 1346 it was held in moieties by Richard de Pilkington and Cecily dc Hulme. (fn. 81) From the Hulmes it descended to the Prestwich family, (fn. 82) who held it till the middle of the 17th century. It was sold to various persons about 1657. (fn. 83)

Count Hill, (fn. 84) Polden, (fn. 85) Crowley, (fn. 86) Watersheddings, Barrowshaw, Broadbent, Peacote, Fullwood, and Hodgeclough, lie in this portion of the township.

The growth of the town at the beginning of last century induced some of the inhabitants to procure an Act of Parliament, 1802–3, for the inclosure of the moors; the commissioners appointed had by 1807 completed the division of the lands among the landowners and occupiers. (fn. 87)

Borough

The government of the town appears to have been formerly in the hands of the vestry or the county magistrates. (fn. 88) In 1826 a board of Improvement Commissioners was constituted, who governed the town for twenty-two years. (fn. 89) During this time the Reform Act was passed, and in 1832 Oldham was made a parliamentary borough, the limits for this purpose including the whole chapelry. Two members were assigned to it. One of the first elected was the celebrated William Cobbett, who represented the place till his death in 1835. (fn. 90) The ratepayers becoming discontented with the administration of affairs by the commissioners, (fn. 91) petitioned for incorporation, and a charter was granted on 13 June 1849, constituting the inhabitants of the township a municipal borough; (fn. 92) the town was divided into eight wards, each having an alderman and three councillors. (fn. 93) William Jones, a representative of Werneth Ward, was the first mayor. (fn. 94) A town hall had been built in 1840; the present town hall succeeded in 1879. One of the first acts of the new council was to create a police force. (fn. 95) In 1854 the gas and water works, established by an Act passed in 1825, (fn. 96) were purchased. (fn. 97) The paving and lighting of the town were attended to, and public baths were opened. (fn. 98)

Borough of Oldham. Sable a cheveron injected and plain cotised or between three owls argent, on a chief engrailed of the second a rose between two annulets gules.

Markets and fairs had grown up, (fn. 99) and in 1855 a covered market was built by a private company. This was in 1865 purchased by the corporation; the fish market, adjoining it, was built in 1873. (fn. 100) The Lyceum, in the hands of trustees, was erected in 1856 as a library and reading room; (fn. 101) attached to it is a school of science and art, erected in 1864, and enlarged in 1880–81. (fn. 102) In the free library, art gallery, and museum is a reference and lending library, and an exhibition of pictures is held annually; the building was opened from 1883 to 1887. A school board was formed in 1871; (fn. 103) its offices were built in 1893. Alexandra Park was opened in 1865. (fn. 104) There are cemeteries at Greenacres, (fn. 105) Hollinwood, and Chadderton. The Corporation Electric Tramways and others provide services in the borough, and connect it with Middleton and Ashton. (fn. 106)

The infirmary was built in 1870, and has been several times enlarged. There is a medical mission hall.

The other public buildings include the county court, post office, and theatres. (fn. 107) The workhouse is in Rochdale Road.

The 6th Volunteer Battalion of the Manchester Regiment has its head quarters at Oldham; (fn. 108) there is also a squadron of yeomanry.

Church

The church of ST. MART (fn. 109) stands on high ground east of the market-place on an ancient site, but is a modern building belonging to the early part of the 19th century. In 1476, Ralph Langley, parson of Prestwich, built ' a body of a church' there. This seems to impiy the existence of a chancel at that date. The indenture between Rector Langley and the masons he employed is still preserved in Prestwich Church, and sets forth that the building is to be of four arches on each side, of hewn stone, 12 ft. wide between the pillars and 18 ft. high, with a width in the nave of 20 ft., and a cross arch at each end, that at the west 'according for a steeple with two buttresses.' The aisles were to be 10 ft. wide, and the outer walls 12 ft. high, with five windows to the south aisle, one at each end and three upon the side, and a door and porch. The north aisle was to have four windows, one at each end and two in the north wall, and a door, but apparently no porch. Four of the windows were to be of three lights and the rest of two lights, and there were to be three buttresses to the south aisle and four to the north. This work, with later restorations (fn. 110) and additions, apparently lasted till the beginning of the last century.

Illustrations of the old church as it existed towards the close of the 18th century (fn. 111) show a building consisting of chancel with north and south chapels, nave with north and south aisles, south porch, and west tower, and a vestry added at the east end under the chancel window in 1777. (fn. 112)

James Butterworth, writing in 1817, says that the north wall had been built at three distinct periods, the portion eastward from the tower to the fourth buttress being the most ancient and containing the original windows, 'each window on the north side being composed of two pointed arches and on the south side of three, each compartment of equal height divided by mullions and with trefoiled heads.' This would tolerably well agree with the description of the 15th-century work set out in Langley's indenture, and presumably refers to his work. It suggests that the four three-light windows of the contract were all in the south aisle. Butterworth goes on to say, 'from the fourth to the fifth and from the fifth to the sixth buttress . . . are successive enlargements . . . other marks of enlargements are visible in the interior, which is a plain, simple, unadorned specimen of the early (sic) gothic style consisting of a body and two side wings or aisles.' The two chapels north and south of the chancel, and at the east end of the aisles, were clearly added after the completion of Langley's nave, which had eastern windows to both of its aisles, but whether the chancel was of later or earlier date than 1476 is uncertain. The chapel north of the chancel was known as the Cudworth chapel, being associated with the Cudworth family of Werneth Hall, and contained a marble monument to John Cudworth (d. 1652), with a long Latin inscription in the form of question and answer. (fn. 113) The south chapel was associated with the Radcliffe, Ashton, and Horton families, and was probably erected by Edmund Ashton of Chadderton in the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. (fn. 114)

The old church was pulled down in 1827, and the present structure erected between that date and 1830 (fn. 115) in the Gothic style of the period. It consists of a chancel 20 ft. wide by 14 ft. long, with small north and south vestries, nave of six bays 90 ft. by 26 ft., with north and south aisles each 17 ft. wide, and west tower 10 ft. square inside with walls 5 ft. thick. There are galleries on three sides, approached by wide stone staircases at the west end of the aisles north and south of the tower, and none of the fittings of the old building has been preserved. It has twice been restored, the last time being in 1897–9, when many improvements were effected in the interior, including the removal of the old square pews and the substitution of oak benches, and the placing of stalls in the first bay of the nave. The exterior is of stone, now gone black, and is of no architectural merit. (fn. 116)

In the vestry is an old oak chest with three locks, without date or inscription, but probably belonging to the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century.

An octagonal font, formerly belonging to the church, is now in the Oldham Museum. (fn. 117)

The churchyard, which is on the north, east, and south sides, sloping from west to east, is paved with flat gravestones, (fn. 118) but is in a neglected condition. (fn. 119)

There is a ring of twelve bells, (fn. 120) cast by Mears in 1830. They were rehung in 1897. In 1486 Ralph Langley gave three bells to Oldham Chapel, (fn. 121) and in 1553 'four great bells' are recorded. (fn. 122) In 1722 the four bells were recast, and two new ones added, (fn. 123) but on the erection of the new church it was provided with an entirely new ring. (fn. 124)

The plate consists of a chalice of 1663, inscribed with the initials G. H. and A. H., and with the maker's mark H N over a bird; another 17th-century chalice; a flagon of 1770, inscribed with date and churchwardens' initials, and bearing the mark of Francis Crump; a flagon of 1788, inscribed with the date 1790 and initials of churchwardens, maker's mark t w; a paten of 1789–90, inscribed with the names of the minister (Rev. Thos. Fawcett) and churchwardens, 1790; two chalices of 1873, and two chalices and two patens of 1877.

The registers begin in 1558, and are contained in eighty-one volumes. The earlier ones have been transcribed by Mr. Giles Shaw. (fn. 125)

Advowson

The parochial chapel of St. Mary is of unknown antiquity. (fn. 126) In 1406, on the complaint of the parishioners of Prestwich, the Archdeacon of Chester ordered the inhabitants of the chapelry of Oldham to contribute towards the blessed bread at Prestwich, as also bread, wine, and altar lights, the chapel at Oldham being 'notoriously dependent' upon the parish church. (fn. 127) Thomas Wild, curate of Oldham, is mentioned in a deed of 1411, (fn. 128) but though he and other curates probably retained their charge for life, their names do not occur in the Lichfield books. In 1447 the then Archdeacon of Chester addressed the chaplain celebrating in Oldham Chapel, enforcing his predecessor's decree as to the provision of blessed bread, &c on pain of suspension; the chapelry then, as now, comprised the townships of Oldham, Crompton, Royton, and Chadderton. (fn. 129) It was found necessary to issue similar orders from time to time; (fn. 130) but in spite of the desire of the people of Oldham to make their chapel a parish church, the parish has never been divided, except for a few years under the Commonwealth, (fn. 131) and though many ecclesiastical parishes have been created from 1835 onwards, Prestwich still includes Oldham, and the rector receives the commutation for the tithes of the chapelry. Even in official documents, however, Oldham has from time to time been styled a parish.

There was no endowment, and the chapel is therefore not mentioned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534. (fn. 132) The list of ornaments in 1552 shows that it was well supplied at that time, there being at least three altars. (fn. 133) Under the Commonwealth, Edmund Ashton, farmer of the tithes, as the price of his peace with the Parliamentary authorities, agreed to give £140 to the chapels of Oldham and Shaw, of which £100 went to the former. (fn. 134) On the lapse of this arrangement at the Restoration, the curate again became dependent on whatever stipend the rector of Prestwich might assign him. (fn. 135) In the 18th century grants were made by the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, the lands therewith purchased yielding a rent of £22 in 1778. (fn. 136) At this time, in addition to the ancient Shaw chapel, three new churches had been built in the neighbourhood, at Oldham, Hollinwood, and Royton.

The chapel became the head of an ecclesiastical district in 1835. (fn. 137) The rector of Prestwich presents the incumbent, and the income is now £530 a year.

The following have been the parochial chaplains and vicars:—

oc. 1379 John de Blackburne (fn. 138)
oc. 1411 Thomas Wild
oc. 1517 N. Cowper (fn. 139)
oc. 1540 Thomas Sherock (fn. 140)
oc. 1563 Roger Wrigley (fn. 141)
oc. 1585 Richard Bateson (fn. 142)
oc. 1589 Thomas Hunt (fn. 143)
1619 Isaac Allen, M.A. (fn. 144) (Queen's and Oriel Colleges, Oxford)
oc. 1619 — Hall (fn. 145)
oc. 1641 William Langley (fn. 146)
1646 Humphrey Barnett (fn. 147)
1647 John Worthington, (fn. 148) B.A. (St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge)
1647 Robert Constantine (fn. 149)
1650 John Lake, B.A. (St. John's College, Cambridge) (fn. 150)
1654 Robert Constantine (fn. 151)
1662 — Loben (fn. 152)
oc. 1664 John Walworth (fn. 153)
1669 Isaac Harpur, (fn. 154) B.A. (St. John's College, Cambridge)
1696 Richard Sugden, M.A. (Clare College, Cambridge)
1712 John Halliwell, (fn. 155) M.A. (Brasenose College, Oxford)
1730 James Sugden, (fn. 156) B.A. (St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge)
1732 Samuel Towson (fn. 157)
1773 Thomas Fawcett (fn. 158)
1818 John Fallowfield
1842 Thomas Lowe
1861 David Mitchell Alexander, (fn. 159) M.A. (Brasenose College, Oxford)
1864. William Walters, (fn. 160) M.A. (Christ Church, Oxford)
1873 William Francis Wilberforce, (fn. 161) M.A. (University College, Oxford)
1876 Alfred Julius James Cachemaille, (fn. 162) M.A. (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
1892 George Perry-Gore (fn. 163)

In 1548 four priests at Oldham were summoned to the bishop's visitation; one of them, Lawrence Hall, was attached to the chapel at Shaw in Crompton. In 1563 onwards only one appeared. (fn. 164) The curate at the end of the century (T. Hunt) was a strong Puritan, who refused to wear the surplice and to comply in other respects with the statutory requirements. His successor was in 1625 presented to the Bishop of Chester for not wearing the surplice; he said he would do so as soon as the churchwardens should provide one. (fn. 165) During the Commonwealth (fn. 166) the Presbyterian incumbent appears to have been popular; he was ejected in 1662. From this time there is little to record. (fn. 167) In 1778 the church was 'regularly served every Sunday and two sermons preached, and prayers read on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year ; and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper administered the second Sunday in every month . . . and the younger part of the congregation catechised every Wednesday and Friday between Easter and Whitsuntide.' (fn. 168) The provision made in the two other Oldham churches was not so liberal. (fn. 169)

The growth of the town in modern times has led to a great increase in the number of places of worship. In connexion with the Established Church the two buildings just named, St. Peter's in Chapel Street (fn. 170) and St. Margaret's, Hollinwood, (fn. 171) were erected in 1765–8 and 1766–9 respectively; the rector of Prestwich is patron. The former, after being enlarged, was rebuilt in 1901 and the latter in 1879. St. James's, Greenacres Moor, followed in 1829; (fn. 172) Christ Church, Glodwick, in 1844; (fn. 173) St. John's, on the border of Chadderton, in the same year; (fn. 174) Holy Trinity, Waterhead, in 1847; (fn. 175) Holy Trinity, Coldhurst, (fn. 176) was consecrated in the next year; St. Thomas's, Leesfield, consecrated also in 1848; (fn. 177) St. Thomas's, Werneth, (fn. 178) which has a mission-room called St. Michael's, was built in 1855: St. Thomas's, Moorside, (fn. 179) in 1872; St. Stephen and All Martyrs', Lower Moor, in 1873; (fn. 180) St. Andrew's, Werneth, in the same year; (fn. 181) St. Mark's, Glodwick, (fn. 182) in 1876; St. Paul's, Ashton Road, in 1880 ; (fn. 183) and All Saints', Northmoor, in 1891. The patronage of these is in various hands ; the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester present alternately to Coldhurst, Leesfield, Waterhead, Chadderton St. John, Werneth St. Thomas, and Glodwick Christ Church; the bishop alone to St. Paul's; the rector of Prestwich to St. James's ; five trustees to Werneth St. Andrew, St. Stephen's, St. Mark's, and Northmoor ; Thomas Mellodew and John Lees to Moorside St. Thomas. Another church—St. Matthew's, Roundthorn—is a chapel-of-ease to St. Thomas's, Lees.

The Free Church of England has a place of worship in Hollinwood.

The Wesleyan Methodists' first chapel was built in 1775; the church in Manchester Street was opened by John Wesley in 1790, and enlarged in 1850. (fn. 184) There are also chapels at Greenacres Road (Wesley), Glodwick, Watersheddings, Moorside, and Northmoor. There are two circuits.

The Primitive Methodists have four circuits in the Oldham district, with nine chapels in the township. The Methodist New Connexion has six chapels; the Methodist Free Church four, and the Independent Methodists five. (fn. 185)

The Baptists have four churches, and the Particular Baptists four. (fn. 186)

Robert Constantine, on being ejected from the curacy of Oldham in 1662, continued to minister in the village and neighbourhood. Before 1695 he was living in a house at Greenacres, which also did duty as a place of worship; he removed to Manchester, and for a time nothing is known of his congregation, but a barn converted into a chapel was used from 1699 till 1784–5, when the Independents erected the chapel which served till 1854, the date of the present building. (fn. 187) Union Street represents an effort made in 1807; the first chapel was opened in 1823, and after a fluctuating history the congregation built the present one in 1855. Hope Chapel was built by Samuel Lees, of the Soho Iron Works, in 1823; it was replaced by the present one in 1866. Providence Chapel is the result of a secession from Hope in 1829. Townfield Chapel began as an undenominational meeting-place in 1850, then it was Methodist, and from 1874 Congregational. A secession from it in 1883 led to the erection of Derker School-chapel in 1886. The history of Werneth Chapel begins in 1868, but the school-chapel was not built till 1874. A cottage meeting in 1878 led to the school-chapel in Ashton Road in 1880. At Hollinwood, then 'a much neglected village,' work began in 1850, but the chapel was not built till 1866. At Waterhead services commenced in cottages in 1837; other buildings succeeded, and a chapel was built in 1870. The chapel at Pastures was built in 1856. (fn. 188)

The Presbyterian Church of England was founded in 1883, the building being opened four years later. (fn. 189) Salem Moravian Church, Clarksfield, was built in 1824, becoming an independent congregation in 1836; on the other side of the town Westwood Church was opened in 1869, after some years'preparatory work. (fn. 190) There are Catholic Apostolic (or Irvingite), Welsh Calvinistic, Salvation Army, and Church of Christ chapels, and some mission rooms. The Society of Friends has long had a meeting-house here. (fn. 191) The Unitarians have a chapel. (fn. 192) The Latter Day Saints (Mormons) also have services. (fn. 193)

There are four Roman Catholic churches: St. Mary's, built in 1838; (fn. 194) Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Patrick's, 1862–70; St. Anne's, Greenacres, 1880–1903; and Corpus Christi, Hollinwood, 1878.

The Grammar School was founded in 1606; the building was erected in 1611.

Charities

The report of 1826 is the latest official record. (fn. 195) The principal endowments at that time were educational, (fn. 196) but some were for the poor of Oldham, (fn. 197) Crompton, (fn. 198) and Royton. (fn. 199) Chadderton had no special fund.

Footnotes

  • 1. A number of local place-names are collected in Mr. G. Shaw's Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 101, &c.
  • 2. 4,736, including 32 of inland water, according to the census of 1901; of this Oldham Below Town has 1,946 acres, and Oldham Above Town 2,790. The increase is probably due to the inclusion of the detached portion of Chadderton, to the south of the town, which took place in 1880.
  • 3. The original line was extended from Werneth to Mumps in 1847; the Oldham and Guide Bridge line was opened in 1861; the line to Royton and Rochdale in 1863; and that to Newton Heath in 1880.
  • 4. Solhher, 1202; Solwere, 1275; Sholver, 1278; Sholuere, 1291.
  • 5. Glothic, 1212; Glotheyk, 1307,1346; Glodyght, 1474.
  • 6. Vernet, 1226 (?); Wernyth, 1352.
  • 8. Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lancs.
  • 9. Quoted in E. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1856), 99, 100, from the Tour through Gt. Brit.
  • 10. Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 190.
  • 11. Country around Manch. 236. Hats and strong fustians were then the staple manufactures of the place.
  • 12. Pp. 92 onwards; a list of the early mills is given, p. 117. An account of the state of trade in 1846 is printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, iii, 74–83.
  • 13. E. Butterworth, op. cit.121,188, 247.
  • 14. Three Oldham men were sentenced to transportation in 1801; ibid. 148. The first public meeting in favour of reform was held on Bent Green in Sept. 1816, ibid. 167. John Knight, a local Radical, was several times imprisoned on charges of sedition and treason; ibid. 173.
  • 15. Ibid. 170–2. A full report of the proceedings at the inquest was published by William Hone in 1820.
  • 16. Especially in 1795, 1799, 1812, 1826, and 1834; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 138, 144, 162, 190, 213.
  • 17. Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 194; iii, 10.
  • 18. Notes on the musicians in the neighbourhood are given by Edwin Butterworth, op. cit. 251–5. Elias Hall, born in Oldham, published a Psalm-singer's Compleat Companion in 1708. It was written at Oldham and dedicated to the Rev. H. Pigot, rector of Brindle and vicar of Rochdale.
  • 20. Pal. Note Bk. i, 13, &c.; Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. vi, 182.
  • 21. Ibid, viii, 155, 156; x, 251.
  • 22. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 87.
  • 23. See the account of Lees Hall.
  • 24. See below, under Horsedge.
  • 25. He was a native of Prestbury, but apprenticed in Oldham, and became hat manufacturer there. He drowned himself in 1810, having been for some years of unsound mind, and his will was therefore contested; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 153–5, 236, 237.
  • 26. James Butterworth, the father, was born in Ashton in 1771. His account of the Oldham district was published in 1817; it contains a plan of the town and map of the chapelry, together with pedigrees and a directory. A second edition appeared in 1826. The author died in 1837. Edwin Butterworth, his son, born in 1812 at Oldham, published a brief history of the town in 1832. He compiled the local accounts for Baines' Hist, of Lancs. 1836. His Historical Sketches was begun in 1847; the instalments were interrupted by his death in April 1848, but were reprinted with a supplement in 1856. For notices of them see the account of Edwin by Mr. Giles Shaw in Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xxii; Manch Guardian N. and Q. no. 584, 648; Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 35, 205, 209. Their works and the Oldham Annals and Oldham Notes and Gleanings have proved of great assistance to the editors.
  • 27. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 28. Ibid.
  • 29. Ibid.
  • 30. Elizabeth Bradbury; Manch. Guardian N. and Q. no. 520; Daniel Newton, ibid, no. 1237.
  • 31. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 63, 64; where it is stated that Roger de Montbegon held 13 oxgangs in thegnage by 9s. 2½d. and by half a judge; and that William de Nevill had held, in right of his wife, 13 oxgangs by 10s. 9½d. and by half a judge. Roger's under-tenants held only 12 oxgangs; while his share of the thegnage rent is apparently intended for 1 oxgang less than half, being 9½d. less than 10s. William's tenants held 13 oxgangs, and his thegnage rent indicates that he held an oxgang more than half. His holding was ten years afterwards called 14 oxgangs; it had escheated to the king; ibid. 132. Possibly an even division had at first been made, accounting for the 13 oxgangs each of the 1212 survey, and then 1 oxgang transferred to the Nevills, the thegnage rent being altered accordingly. Ailric held lands in Yorkshire in the time of Edward the Confessor; his son Swain succeeded and died in 1131, being followed by his son Adam, a benefactor of Pontefract, who died in 1159. Maud, one of his daughters, married Adam de Montbegon, and by him had a son Roger, the holder of Kaskenmoor in 1212, who died in 1227 without issue; she married, secondly, John Malherbe, and their daughters Mabel and Clemence respectively married William de la Mare, a feudatory of the honour of Richmond (having an heiress, wife of Geoffrey de Nevill) and Eudo de Longvilers; thirdly, she married Gerard de Canvill. Amabel, the other daughter, by her first husband had a daughter Sarah, who married Thomas de Burgo and had issue; and by her second husband, Alexander de Crevequer, left a daughter Cecily, who by her husband, William de Nevill, was ancestor of the Nevills of Mirfield. These particulars are from the account of the family by the late Richard Holmes in his edition of the Chartul. of St. John of Pontefract (Yorks. Arch. Soc), i, 95 ; ii, 306, 307, with some correction. William de Nevill occurs in 1201 as contributing 40s. to the tallage; Lancs. Pipe R. 151. The sheriff in 1210 rendered account of 12s. 6d. for the mediety of William de Nevill's pasture in Kaskenmoor; ibid. 236. For grants to William de Nevill and Amabel his wife see also Cal. Pat. 1317–21, p. 245. Oldham, Crompton, and Royton continued to be fees of the court leet of the manor and hundred of Salford down to 1856; Edwin Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 13. The name Kaskenmoor does not seem to have come down to modern times.
  • 32. Nothing further is known of Reyner de Wombwell, who held 6 oxgangs of land under Montbegon and 2 oxgangs under Nevill; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 63, 64. The latter part, as appears by the next note, was Werneth. His name occurs as witness to deeds in the Pontefract Chartulary above referred to.
  • 33. Ibid. 133. The rent for 2 oxgangs agrees more nearly with 25 than 26 for the whole of Kaskenmoor. The other 6 oxgangs of Reyner may have been held by Alward, but not of the king.
  • 34. In the 1324 Feodary (Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 38b) the Oldham family's holding is stated to have been formerly that of Adam de Eccles. Among the Hopwood charters is a deed by Adam de Eccles, granting land in Oldham to Henry de 'Oldulm,' and another making a grant to Jordan de Crompton. In 1275 Adam de Oldham and Geoffrey de Chadderton jointly took action against John de Byron respecting tenements in Oldham and Chadderton; Assize R. 405, m. 3a. Probably the boundaries of Royton were in dispute. Adam de Oldham, William de Oldham, and Adam son of Adam de Oldham appear in 1292 in suits about tenements in Oldham of which no particulars are given; Assize R. 408, m. 18, 58; Cal. Close, 1288–96, p. 40. At the same time Christiana daughter of Peter de Oldham claimed a messuage and land against Robert son of Warine de Marcheden; the latter had received them from Christiana's next of kin Cecily daughter of William son of Peter, whose mental soundness was the point in dispute. Finally Robert gave a mark for licence to agree, and received a quitclaim; Assize R. 408, m. 15; see also De Banco R. 108, m. 12; 110, m. 7. Isabel daughter of Adam de Oldham claimed 20 acres and half an oxgang of land against her father in 1297; De Banco R. 118, m. 124. Among the Hopwood charters are grants from Adam son of Adam de Oldham to William his brother; one is dated 1300. Adam de Oldham occurs again in 1302; Assize R. 418, m. 11. In 1310 he granted to Sir John de Byron of Clayton part of his waste in Oldham and Werneth; Shaw, Oldham, 7. Adam and his son Richard in 1319 granted Sir Richard de Byron land and wood in Menewood; and next year Richard son of Adam de Oldham released to Sir Richard son of Sir John de Byron all claim in the portion of waste granted by the charter of 1310; ibid. 8; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxv, 36. From a suit of 1315 it appears that the Earl of Lancaster had granted the manor to Sir Robert de Holland, for Geoffrey de Chadderton then appeared against Adam de Oldham on the plea that Adam as mesne tenant should acquit him of the service demanded by Sir Robert; De Banco R. 212, m. 51 d. No more is known of the Holland lordship. Richard son of Richard de Oldham in 1324 paid 6s. 6d. for an oxgang (no doubt for Werneth); Duchy of Lanc. Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 13. A William de Oldham contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 31. Richard de Oldham was lord of the town in 1354; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 6d. The heirs of Richard de Oldham in 1378 held part of Oldham by a rent of 6s. 6d.; Harl. MS. 2085, fol. 422. A later Richard de Oldham is named in 1427 in two of the Raines deeds (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 3, no. 36, 37; his daughters Ellen and Margery quitclaimed the lands called 'Hasellenshagh,' which had belonged to their father, to William son of Richard de Aspenhalgh (Aspinall), who had married Alice, another daughter. William de Aspenhalgh and John his son were in 1438 bound in 25s. to John de Colyn; ibid. no. 39.
  • 35. Towneley MS. DD, no. 1455; the clear value was £3 13s. 6d. The date of the inquisition is 1401, when John de Cudworth had come of age.
  • 36. Ibid. no. 1500. Richard de Tetlow gave evidence that John the heir was born March 1378–9, and baptized in Oldham by John de Blackburne, chaplain, the godparents being John del Forth and Margery del Helde. The inquisition taken after the death of his father in October 1384 is printed in Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 13. It differs in some details from the above. The tenure is more fully stated—by knight's service and by a rent of 6s. 8d.; and by doing suit to the county from six weeks to six weeks, and to the wapentake from three weeks to three weeks; also by finding a bailiff for the duke in the wapentake of Salford. The custody of the heir was given to Richard de Tetlow. See also Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 2.
  • 37. Pedigrees were recorded in 1567 (Visit. Chet. Soc. 15), 1613 (ibid. 80), and 1664 (ibid. 90). There is another in Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1817), 69. John Cudworth made a feoffment of his lands in Oldham in 1405; Dods. MSS. cxvii, fol. 165. In 1445–6 John Cudworth held the twentieth part of a knight's fee in Oldham, but did not pay 5s. for relief, as being in ward; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, 2/20. John Cudworth of Werneth contributed to the subsidies of 1523 and 1541; Shaw, Oldham, 15, 18. John Cudworth, who according to the pedigrees was great-grandson of the John of 1401, died 22 June 1555, holding a mansion-house called Werneth, eight messuages, &c., in Oldham, 4s. 7d. free rent, viz. 20½d. from lands late of John Hopwood in Nether Horsedge, 21d. from land called Hazelshaw belonging to John Aspenhalgh, and 2d. from Robert Butterworth's land next Cowhill (Coohill); all held of the Duchy of Lancaster by knight's service and a rent of 6s. 8d. He had granted certain lands to Agnes daughter of Alexander Lees (who married his son Ralph), and the rest of his estate—as 'the manor of Werneth,' &c.—to his son and heir Ralph, who at the taking of the inquest in 1556 was fifty years of age; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. x, 36. Ralph Cudworth died 28 Nov. 1558, holding much the same estate. The details of the 4s. 7d. rents are more fully given: 21½d. from Edmund Ashton for land in Greenacres; 9d. from John Taylor in Over Horsedge and Redlees, 1½d. from John Hopwood in Nether Horsedge, 21d. from Haslinshaw, and 2d. from the land next Cowhill. Ralph, the son and heir, was twenty-six years of age; ibid. xi, 62. The descent of Redlees is given by Edwin Butterworth; it was owned in 1856 by John Bradshaw Greaves; Oldham, 43. Ralph Cudworth made a settlement of the manor of Werneth, ten messuages, &c., in Oldham in 1561; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 23, m. 117. He died 22 Aug. 1572 holding the manor or capital messuage of Werneth, &c., as before, and six burgages, &c., at Wakefield. By his will he set apart a third of the profits of his lands for thirteen years for the education and marriage of his daughters—Alice, Margery, and Anne. The heir was his son John, then eight years of age; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 1. By his will he desired to be buried in the chapel on the north side of the parish church. His wife Jane, his son and daughters, and William Ashton his brother-in-law are mentioned. He set apart £30 a year for life for his bastard son Ralph, and gave 40s. to this Ralph's son Ralph; Shaw, Oldham, 26. He also made provision for a posthumous son of his own, who was baptized as Ralph at Oldham, 2 Sept. 1572. He was the Dr. Ralph Cudworth, fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who was father of the celebrated author of the True Intellectual System of the Universe; note by Mr. J. C. Whitebrook. See Dict. Nat. Biog. John Cudworth occurs in various ways in the early part of the 17th century. He was one of the first governors of Oldham Grammar School in 1606. His eldest son John was twenty-eight years of age in 1613, and died in 1652, leaving as heir his son Joshua, who in 1664 was fifty-one, and had a son, also Joshua, aged eighteen; see Visitations. The curious inscription on John Cudworth's monument (died 7 June 1652, aged sixty-eight) in Oldham church, erected by his sons Richard and Thomas, is printed in Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1817), 26. Thomas had been 'vitae et necis civilis arbiter classis, non nimis felicis, quae petiit Jamaicam.' The will of Joshua, the father, made in 1661 and proved in 1667, is printed in Shaw, Oldham, 167.
  • 38. It was the younger Joshua who in 1683 sold Werneth; ibid. 191. A settlement of the manors of Werneth and Oldham had been made in 1668 by Joshua Cudworth and Anne Cudworth, widow; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 181, m. 146. John Smith, clerk, who died at Cambridge 22 Aug. 1638, held a messuage, &c., in Oldham of John Cudworth; Thomas Smith, the brother and heir, was sixty years of age; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 38.
  • 39. Butterworth, op. cit. 69; 'It is only about 100 acres, but contains an invaluable quantity of coal, and much common right.' In 1773 there was a recovery of the manors of Oldham and Werneth, the tenant being Thomas Lister; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 617, m. 9 d. He was father of Thomas Lister, Lord Ribblesdale, who sold Werneth in 1792. John Lees, son of Daniel Lees of Barrowshaw, began business about 1775 in Church Lanc. He aroused great indignation, as lord of the reputed manor of Oldham, by claiming tolls on the market stalls; this claim he withdrew. He died in 1823, was succeeded by his son Edward, who died in 1835, and was in turn succeeded by his sons John Frederick Lees and George Lees, the former of whom was member for the borough (Conservative) from 1835 to 1837, and died in 1867; E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 24, 129, 159; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 310. Lord Ribblesdale's deeds contain a number relating to Oldham from 1552 onwards; they concern the Cudworth and Crompton families.
  • 40. Shaw, Oldbam, 13. For description of remains in 1890, see Lancs, and Cbes. Antiq. Soc. viii, 147.
  • 41. In 1292 Adam son of Adam de Oldham bound himself to repay 4 marks borrowed from Adam de Prestwich, or instead grant him land called the Northhey; Agecroft D. 3. In 1332 Richard de Tetlow and others did not prosecute their claim against Richard de Byron respecting lands in Oldham and Chadderton; Assize R. 1411, m. 12 d. Thomas son of Adam de Prestwich in 1335 granted to Richard son of Adam de Tetlow all his part of Adamhey in the Northwood in Oldham—perhaps the Northhey of the above-cited bond; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 3, no. 28. In 1337 the sheriff was ordered to inquire whether Richard de Tetlow was seised of 80 acres of land and 20 acres of wood in Oldham and Crompton; Alice his widow claimed a third of it as dower against Amabel widow of Adam de Tetlow. She further claimed dower in other lands in Oldham and Cheetham; De Banco R. 310, m. 160 d.; Cal. Close, 1337–9, p. 116. Another Tetlow family is shown in pleadings of 1480, in which the grant of a messuage, &c., in Oldham by Eva daughter of William de Oldham to Richard son of Adam de Tetlow, with remainder to Richard's brother Adam, was claimed by the descendants of Adam's three daughters — George Chadderton, Ralph Belfield, Bernard Butterworth, and Elizabeth his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Writs of Assize, 20 Edw. IV. Hugh son of Adam de Tetlow in 1340 gave lands in the Coppedhurst and Payrehalghus to his mother, Anabil, for life, with remainder to his brother Roger; Raines D. no. 29. Adam son of Richard de Tetlow in 1347 successfully claimed eight messuages, &c., in Oldham, held by Adam son of Adam de Tetlow; Assize R. 1435, m. 39. In 1375 Roger son of Richard de Langley gave to Richard son of Richard de Tetlow all his lands in Manchester, Crompton, and Oldham, with remainders to Richard bastard ton of Adam de Tetlow, and to John son of Richard de Oldham; Agecroft D. no. 48. In the following year Richard son of Richard de Tetlow occurs as plaintiff; De Banco R. 462, m. 121 d. Richard de Tetlow in 1390 confirmed to Robert Walker, chaplain, a burgage and messuage in Oldham and Manchester; Shaw, Oldham, 11. Cases of cow-stealing and trespass in 1441 and 1443 bring in other members of the family—Robert and Alexander, sons of Robert de Tetlow; Robert son of Richard de Tetlow and Isabel his wife; Robert Tetlow of Oldham and Richard his son; Pal of Lanc. Plea R. 3, m. 31; 5, m. 15 b. Richard Tetlow of Werneth granted to John Langley 5 acres in Oldham in 1474; the bounds mention Hunwalgate, Glodwick Brook, the Clough Bottom, the old kiln, the lime-pits, Hollinwood, and Northwood; John Langley resigned his claim to the Spurfield land; Raines D. bdle. 3, no. 43. Arthur Tetlow, of Chamber Hall, contributed to the subsidy in 1523; Shaw, Oldham, 15. John Tetlow contributed for goods in 1541; Misc. (Rec. Soc Lancs, and Ches.), i, 145. Lawrence Tetlow in 1551 made a feoffment of messuages and lands in Oldham and Ashton under Lyne; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 178. He was among those summoned in 1574 to provide equipment for the muster; Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 31.
  • 42. a Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, 56. The inquisitions of the Bartons of Smithills do not mention any lands in Oldham, but the Butterworths of Butterworth also held lands of them by 'an arrow with an iron barb'; ibid, xiii, 2. Richard Tetlow, in return for the surrender of a lease granted by his father Lawrence, gave a new lease of a messuage in Oldham in 1596; the rent was to be 82s. a year, with four hens at Christmas, two capons at Easter, and four days' shearing (reaping) in harvest. Richard further agreed that Robert his son and heir apparent should confirm it on coming of age; Shaw, Oldham, 40. In 1610, in conjunction with Katherine his wife, he made a settlement of his 'manors of Oldham and Werneth,' with thirty messuages, mill, lands, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 78, no. 5. He died in 1611, and his will and inventory are printed by Shaw, op. cit. 51, 52; he mentions his wife Katherine, son Robert, daughter Jane wife of William Bradshaw, grandson Adam Pilkington, and others, and desired to be buried in the 'chapel church of Oldham.' The only book was 'a great old Bible'; the arms were a caliver, two great bills, a yew bow and a quiver, and a broken cross-bow; 'a pair of playing tables' was valued at 1s. Robert Tetlow contributed to the subsidy in 1622; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 157. Nine years later he paid £10 on refusing knighthood; ibid. 216. As a convicted recusant he paid double to the subsidy of 1626–7 (Lay Subs. bdle. 131, no. 312), and in 1630 compounded for his sequestered two-thirds by an annual fine of £10.
  • 43. By indenture dated 14 September 1635 Robert Tetlow of the Chamber Hall in or near Oldham, and William Horton of Barkisland, Yorks., conveyed to George Wood of Groby and John Wood of London, for £2,120, the capital messuage in Werneth, with lands, &c., there and in Greenacres, the names and rents of the occupiers being given; Raines D. (Chet Lib.), bdle. 5, no. 77. This was accompanied by a fine, Robert Tetlow and Mary his wife, William Horton and Elizabeth his wife, being deforciants; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 128, no. 33. George Wood, who is said to have married Jane the daughter and heir of Robert Tetlow, contributed to the subsidy of 1641 for his lands; Shaw, op. cit. 87. In the following year George and John Wood gave a lease of the messuage, &c., called Broad Heys in Oldham; ibid. 93.
  • 44. Ibid. 102.
  • 45. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 46. See the correspondence in Manch. Classis (Chet. Soc), App. Henry Wrigley died in London, and was buried there 26 July 1658; Shaw, op. cit. 152. Henry Wrigley the younger, son of Henry Wrigley of the Chamber in Oldham, at Ashton under Lyne on 5 April 1654 married Susannah daughter of Samuel Jenkinson of Woodhouses. A son, Henry, was buried at Ashton 23 Mar. 1654–5. Benjamin Wrigley, the next owner of Chamber, was summoned to attend the Herald's Visitation in 1664, but no pedigree is recorded; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), p. v.
  • 47. E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), from which this account of the descent is mainly taken. By his will, 1671, Benjamin Wrigley devised his property in Oldham, &c., to his eldest daughter Martha and her issue; and she married Joseph Gregge. In 1681 Joseph Gregge and Martha his wife made a settlement of the manors of Werneth and Oldham; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 207, m. 84. In 1682 Joseph Gregge granted a lease of a messuage at a rent of 10s., a heriot at every death, two fat hens at Christmas, a fat capon at Easter, a day's harrowing with two harrows, and three days' reaping as required; Shaw, op. cit. 187. Joseph Gregge died in 1705; ibid. 241. In a recovery of the manors of Werneth and Oldham in 1712 the tenants were Benjamin Gregge, Elizabeth his wife, and Henry Ashton; Pal of Lanc. Plea R. 496, m. 4. Benjamin Gregge was high sheriff in 1722; P.R.O. List, 74. A settlement was made of the manors of Werneth and Oldham in 1773 by Edward Gregge Hopwood and Judith his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 389, m. 28.
  • 48. In 1856 these heirs were:—Edmund John Gregge Hopwood, Catherine Heron, Mary Felicia Barry, (Rev.) George Heron, Henry Heron, (Rev.) Frank George Hopwood, and Hervey Hopwood; Butterworth, op. cit 28. On the same page is an account of the haunting of Chamber Hall. In 1890 Chamber was stated to be the property of the Gregge Hopwoods; see an account of the place in Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. viii, 150–4, where is printed an ungallant couplet written on a window pane of the hall.
  • 49. J. Butterworth, op. cit. 1826.
  • 50. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. viii.
  • 51. In 1352 lands in Crompton, Oldham, and Werneth were part of the Tetlow estate settled upon Richard de Langley and Joan his wife; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 132. Disputes had occurred already with other lords of Oldham, for in 1351 Adam de Chadderton and Alice his wife claimed a messuage and land against Richard de Langley and Joan his wife, William son of Robert de Radcliffe, Anabil de Tetlow, and Thomas de Parr, and though the first writ was dismissed for the error of questus est instead of questi sunt the suit continued; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1 (July), m. 4 d.; (Lent), m. 2, 2 d. One Hugh de Tetlow had been seised of the disputed tenement, which on his death descended to Joan de Langley as daughter of Jordan, elder brother of Hugh; but while Joan was a minor in the duke's wardship, and living at Pontefract, Adam de Tetlow, a younger brother, took, possession, and granted to Adam and Alice, the plaintiffs. On the other hand it was said that Adam de Tetlow had been in seisin during Hugh's lifetime, and had granted it to one Robert de Oldham for life, and after his death to the plaintiffs. At Easter 1354. the Langleys claimed common of pasture in 8 acres of moor and pasture, as pertaining to Joan's inheritance (a messuage and 20 acres) in Oldham, against Richard son of Richard de Tetlow, Adam son of Alice de Pussh', and Richard de Oldham, lord of the town, who had made an approvement of the waste. Sufficient pasture had been left, but the Langleys had previously had greater freedom of entry by a certain lane, in which Richard de Oldham had made a lydiate (lideata) and a ditch to shut out the beasts coming there. Though the lydiate could be opened at will a certain amount of injury had been caused, and the defendants made fines of ½ mark, ½ mark, and 10s. respectively. One security for Richard de Tetlow was Richard de Cudworth; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 6 d. A decree respecting common of pasture in favour of Robert Langley was made in 1440 against Robert Tetlow; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 39. This tenement continued to descend with Agecroft until 1561, when, on Sir Robert Langley's death, it became part of the portion of his daughter Dorothy, who married James Ashton of Chadderton; the deed of settlement speaks of 'manors, messuages, lands, &c., in Oldham and Crompton'; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 63; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 24, m. 3; 47, m. 93. The Ashton family held already a considerable estate in Oldham, and in 1612 James Ashton died seised of ten messuages, 100 acres of land, &c., in Oldham and Glodwick, by inheritance from his father Edmund, and of twenty-four messuages, &c., of his wife's inheritance; the former were held partly of John Cudworth by knight's service and a rent of 5d., and partly of the king (for the Knights Hospitallers) in socage by a rent of 6½d.; the latter were held together with lands, &c., in Alkrington, Tonge, and Crompton, by the twentieth part of a knight's fee and 9d, rent; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 225, 230. Richard Ashton purchased a messuage, &c., in 1596 from George Towers, William and John Aspinall; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle 59, m. 237. This land was that called Hardshaw, as may be seen by comparing its rent of 21d. with that in the Inq. p.m. of Richard Ashton; (Rec. Soc), i, 145.
  • 52. Edmund Tetlow of Coldhurst contributed to the subsidy of 1523; Shaw, Oldham, 15. The will of John Tetlow of Coldhurst, 1598–9, mentions Ellen his wife, Edmund, George, John, and Anne Tetlow his children, Abraham Taylor and Ambrose Jackson his sons-in-law; ibid. 41. Edmund Tetlow of Coldhurst was a freeholder in 1600, and contributed to the subsidy in 1622; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 248, 157. In 1639, on a complaint being made of the destruction of the timber, &c., on the moors of Oldham and Crompton, he stated that he and his ancestors were seised of a capital messuage called Coldhurst and about 60 acres of land; also of two messuages in Crompton and 40 acres, with rights of common on Crompton Moor, Greenacres Moor, Edge Moor, North Moor, and Hollinwood, but not on Sholver Moor. He was not aware that the king was the owner of the soil or had ever granted leases of the commons; Shaw, 77–81. In the following year Edmund Tetlow the elder and Edmund Tetlow the younger sold the Great Meadow near Fogg Lanc for a poor's field; Char. Com. Rep. (1826), xvi, 227. Anne, the eldest of three daughters and co-heirs of Edmund Tetlow, in 1709 married Edmund Radcliffe, and though she died without issue her inheritance appears to have descended to the Radcliffe's heirs; E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 45. Coldhurst itself, however, was sold to Sir Ralph Assheton, and descended like Werneth until 1804, when Lord Ribblesdale sold it to Abraham Crompton of High Crompton; ibid. 34.
  • 53. Lancs, and Ches.Antiq. Soc.viii, 149– 50. A rent of 4½d. was payable, which ceased to be demanded about eighty years ago.
  • 54. Of the earlier generations of this family some account will be found under Crompton. Robert son of Adam de Impetres, by Margaret daughter of Richard del Lees, claimed a messuage and lands in Oldham in 1351 and 1352; and as Adam de Chadderton warranted, and Thomas son of Thomas de Chadderton was summoned, it is probable the land was in or near Lees Hall; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. 5 d.; 2, m. 8.
  • 55. a Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, 31. In 1537 Thomas the heir had married Joan daughter of John Tetlow (who survived him), and lands, &c., in Lees and Crompton were then settled upon him by his grandparents. He died 16 Aug. 1572 holding Lees of Ralph Cudworth by the sixtieth part of a knight's fee and a rent of 4d. a year; George his son and heir was twenty-four years of age. The estate had been increased by messuages in Manchester; ibid, xiii, 7. His will is printed in Piccope's Wills (Chet. Soc), ii, 130; to his son Lawrence he left 40s. a year from his inheritance at Foulfyn in Staffordshire till the son should have an income of 100 marks a year from benefices. The Manchester burgages seem to have been acquired in 1561; Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. i, 63,149. George Chadderton died in 1606 holding lands in Staffordshire as well as in Crompton, Oldham, and Manchester. He had in 1576 espoused Mary daughter of John Kuerden, who survived him; they ad several children, the heir being the son Thomas, fourteen years of age on 25 Sept. 1606; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 62–4. Thomas Chadderton contributed to the subsidy in 1622; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 157. Two of his leases, dated 1621 and 1662, are given in Shaw, Oldham, 75, 76; a day's 'shearing' was required of the tenants. A pedigree of three generations— Thomas, George, Thomas—was recorded in 1613; Visit. (Chet. Soc), 5. Alice, co-heiress of George Chadderton, married John Greenhalgh of Brandlesholme, but died without issue.
  • 56. The northerly portion of the estate passed to the family of Lingard; a large part of it is said to have been sold to the ancestors of the Cleggs of Bent. In 1747 a third of the estate was held by Thomas Percival of Royton. The hall and land around it became vested in the family of Lyon, of whom were Henry Lyon (living 1681), John Lyon (1702), and Nicholas John Lyon (1747). The hall was in 1752 owned by James Bowden; in 1765 by John Winterbottom, who died in 1794; it was then sold to John Lees of Werneth, and in 1856 was held by the executors of James Whitehead; from E. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1856), 30. Canon Raines in Notieia Cestr. ii, 116, gives a somewhat different account of the descent. It appears, however, that Thomas Chadderton sold Lees Hall and his whole estate to John Plumpton of Warrington. In 1681 there was a suit respecting it, under the purchaser's will, between Henry Lyon and Sarah his wife (widow of John Plumpton), William Denton and Mary his wife, and William King v. John Davy, clerk, and Susan his wife; Exch. Dep. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 59. William Denton resided at Lees Hall in 1684; Shaw, op. cit. 193. In 1696 Henry Lyon of Lees Hall was an overseer, and in that year 'old Mrs. Lyon of Lees' was buried; ibid. 217, 218.
  • 57. Lawrence Chadderton was the younger son of Thomas Chadderton, who died in 1572, and is mentioned in his father's will, as already stated. He is usually said to have been born in 1536, but did not enter Christ's College, Cambridge, until 1562. He would probably be about fourteen at that time. He embraced Protestantism, to the great scandal of his father, who is said to have sent him a shilling as his whole share of the inheritance; if so, the father must have relented very quickly. He was appointed master of Emmanuel in 1584, took part in the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, and in the translation of the Bible in 1611. He resigned the mastership in 1622, and died in 1640. He wrote a treatise on Justification; see Dict, Nat. Biog.
  • 58. It is named by Bishop Gastrell in 1717, and was taxed for nineteen windows in 1728; Shaw, op. cit. 293. Edwin Butterworth (Oldham, 32) states that Bent Hall was in 1747 the property of the Rev. Samuel Sidebottom, who married Mary daughter of Alexander Radclyffe of Foxdenton; and that in 1758 it was occupied by John Clegg, hat manufacturer. The owner in 1856 was John Rowbottom. An illustrated sheet pedigree of the Cleggs of Bent House was issued in 1840; Richard Clegg son of James, son of the above-named John, being the head of the family. The Cleggs acquired Westwood, formerly the property of the Whitehead family; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 48, 49. There was also a Lower Bent Hall, owned by a family named Taylor; Butterworth, ut sup.
  • 59. This appears from the inquisition cited below. The land lay on the north side of High Street and Yorkshire Street, and the name is preserved in Horsedge Street. There were seven crosses around it, and it was deposed in 1620: 'I did very well know seven crosses called Seven Holy Crosses, and also called St. John's Crosses, to be bounds and meres at Horsedge lands. I did know them all, either broken or whole, and do yet know the places where every of them stood. As first, a stone cross stood at the end of Greenacres Moor; the next, a wooden cross, stood at Horsedge stile; the next, a stone cross, upon the north-east side of the Edge, called the Cross under the Edge; the next, a wooden cross in Grimby, called Grimby Cross; the next, a stone cross, called Pighill Stile Cross; the next, a wooden cross, in the Town end; and the last and seventh, a stone cross in the end of the Shoot, being, as I judge, very mean of distance from the first cross of Greenacres moor with the rest of all the crosses, which be one from another of equal distance'; from the will of John Newton, collier, printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 111, from the Raines MSS. xxiv, 88.
  • 60. Horsedge Hall was to the north-east of the church. The inquisition of John Cudworth (1556) already cited shows rents from John Taylor of Over Horsedge and John Hopwood of Nether Horsedge. John Taylor died in 1574 holding land called Redleigh of Robert Tetlow and John Cudworth by fealty and 9d. rent, an acre at Okeden in Chadderton of the three lords of the town; also the capital messuage called Horsedge in Oldham with 40 acres of land, &c., of Queen Elizabeth by fealty and 7½d. rent. The inquisition was not taken until 1619—by which time the Hospitallers' lands had been granted to the Earl of Derby—and Edmund Taylor, the son and heir, was sixty-seven years of age; his son Edmund was living; Lancs. nq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 153. Edmund Taylor in 1596 granted a lease of a close called the Pighill (½ acre) in Horsedge to Roger Taylor, clothier, at a rent of 5s. and a day's 'shearing' in harvest; 40 marks was paid; Shaw, Oldham, 39. Edmund Taylor was returned as a freeholder in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 247. In 1622 Robert Tetlow of Werneth and Edmund Taylor of Horsedge claimed an estate in 'so much of the open land called Oldhulme at Oldham as it is divided within the crosses,' as also wastes, &c., within Oldham, Werneth, and Greenacres. They wished to inclose and improve the lands, and had agreed with the freeholders to allow them reasonable shares, but the lords of the adjoining manors of Chadderton and Royton objected; Shaw, Oldham, 59. In the time of Charles I it was stated that Edmund Taylor, who had leased his capital messuage and demesne lands of Horsedge, John his son, John Heap (brother-in-law of the latter), and John Jackson had broken down a stable belonging to Horsedge Hall, taken the tenant's cows and horses kept there, and driving them into Derbyshire, sold them at Ashbourne Fair. John Bretland, who had married Katherine daughter of Richard Nuttall—another daughter was Elizabeth, perhaps the wife of John Taylor—became surety for them, and they were acquitted, but £35 had to be paid as compensation to the tenant. The value of Horsedge was given as £30 a year; Duchy of Lanc. Plead, ccix, B, 26. See also Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 249. Elizabeth, widow of John Taylor, in 1649 compounded for her husband's delinquency; he had assisted the king in the 'first war'; Cal. of Com. for Compounding, iii, 2043. She was concerned in a dispute as to the tithes of Horsedge in 1659; Exch. Dep. 32. In 1663 an agreement was made as to the purchase of a third part of Horsedge Hall, with its common of pasture, turbary, mines of coal, slate, &c., by Elizabeth Taylor, widow, from her daughter Katherine wife of Adam Bankes of Wigan, mercer; it appears that Katherine was daughter and co-heir of John Taylor son of Edmund; Shaw, op. cit. 161. A further agreement in 1668 shows that the other daughters, then unmarried, were named Elizabeth and Eleanor; ibid. 170. Elizabeth soon afterwards married William Langley of Whittle; ibid. 173, 175. By 1674 Eleanor had married Thomas Nuttall of Tottington; 181. William Langley of Horsedge was buried at Oldham in 1689; 204. In 1697 Elizabeth Langley, widow, mortgaged her moiety of Horsedge; 219, 229, 232. In 1705 William Langley of Netherwood Hall, Darley, son and heir of Elizabeth, sold his moiety of Horsedge to Thomas Nuttall of Tottington, who thus acquired the whole; 240. By his will, dated 14 Mar. 1726–7, he gave his estates to his granddaughter Margaret daughter of Adam Bagshaw by Margaret, only child of the testator; with remainder to his kinsman Thomas son of William Langley of Thornscow, Yorkshire. He also left money for the poor of Oldham and the school there; ibid. 286–89. Margaret, the heiress, married in 1731 Robert Radclyffe of Foxdenton, and conveyed Horsedge to that family; Burke, Commoners, iv, 403. Canon Raines states that the Langleys continued to have a moiety of the estate, which was in 1849 the property of Joseph Jones of Walshaw House; Notitia Cestr. ii, 116. Some Horsedge deeds from Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxiv and xxxvii, are printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 164, 165, 169; iii, 29.
  • 61. In 1517 James son and heir of John Hopwood of Horsedge sold to Edmund Ashton of Chadderton a close of land called the Pighill, near Horsedge Moor; and a little later sold other lands, including Walshaw, Lower Raude, and the Spring; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 49–57. It has been stated above that James Ashton in 1612 held lands, formerly the Hospitallers', by a rent of 6½d. The Radcliffes of Foxdenton held another portion by a rent of 4d. Edmund Hopwood and Joan his wife in 1570 and 1587 sold small pieces of land to Ralph Walker; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 32, m. 13; 49, m. 11. There was in the 18th century a family of Hopwood at Bent Brow; E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 33. At Lower Horsedge, Greenacres, and Swineclough lived the Ogden family, of whom came Samuel Ogden, a celebrated Nonconformist minister, ejected from Mackworth in 1622; he died in 1697; ibid. 55; Dict. Nat. Biog. The New House in Greenacres was, with other property, granted on lease by Isaac Ogden in 1698 to Katherine Percival of Royton; Manch. Free Lib. D. 108. Edmund Ogden in 1702 purchased from Henry Lyon, John Lyon, Isaac Lyon, and Sara his wife two messuages and lands with appurtenances in Crompton and Oldham; Hulme D. 116–17.
  • 62. 'Whetstone hill is one of the most ancient homesteads in the township. The Kershaw family have been seated here a considerable period'; E. Butterworth, Oldham, 60. Dirtcar, now Derker, was owned by John Buckley in 1758, and by James Greaves in 1856; ibid. 42. Broadbent's and Hopkin Fold were other houses in the vicinity. Some Hobkin deeds from the Raines MSS. xxiv, are printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 171, 181; they relate the marriage of Edmund son of Edward Hobkin, 1526–9. Richard Hobkin of Oldham contributed to a subsidy in 1523 for lands; Shaw, Oldham, 15. A settlement of two messuages, &c., in Oldham was made by Edward Hopkin in 1537, Margaret and Edmund Hopkin being tenants for life; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 11, m. 59. For disputes as to their lands see Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 83–7, 216–18. Edmund Hobkin occurs in 1552; Shaw, Oldham, 19. He sold four messuages, &c., to Thomas Radcliffe in 1556; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 36. Arthur Hopkin of Hopkin Fold in 1649 leased or mortgaged the Great Hardfield to Henry Wrigley of Chamber; Shaw, op. cit. 110. Hopkin Green was formerly near Oldham Church.
  • 63. Hollinwood was formerly part of Chadderton; Shaw, Oldham, 253. Hollinwood Green, Oak, and Lyme House are noticed by E. Butterworth, op. cit. 49, 50.
  • 64. Hathershaw Hall was the residence of the Sandfords in the 17th century, of whom Edward Sandiford was a member of the classis in 1646; in the next century it had been acquired by the Sidebottoms, and Alexander Radclyffe Sidebottom was the owner in 1856; ibid. 35. The name is said to be a corruption of Hazleshaw, mentioned above as belonging to the Aspenhalghs and Ashtons. Copster Hill, Pauletts, and Hollins are also noticed; ibid. 51, 52.
  • 65. Jas. Butterworth, Oldham.
  • 66. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. viii.
  • 67. Sir John de Ashton, who died in 1428, held a messuage and land called Copthurst; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 22. Coppedhurst has been mentioned in a previous note regarding the Tetlow family. In 1507 the same was said to be held of John Cudworth, as cousin and heir of William son of Adam de Oldham, by the service of 2s. 6d. and an iron arrow; ibid, ii, 138. The service seems to have been compounded for, and is not mentioned in the inquest after the death of George Booth in 1543; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, 7.
  • 68. E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 38–40. The family were actively engaged in the business of the district as bankers, cotton spinners, and coal owners. John Lees of Fairfield in 1824 built Salem Moravian chapel and schools at Clarksfield. There is a pedigree in Burke, Landed Gentry—Lees of Thurland Castle, near Kirkby Lonsdale.
  • 69. Greenacres is mentioned as early as 1266, when Margery widow of Jordan de la Leye claimed dower, a messuage, and 30 acres there against Richard de la Leye. Margery had a son Adam; Curia Regis R. 176, m. 5 d. In the inquisition of Ralph Cudworth, above cited, Edmund Ashton is stated to have paid a rent of 21½d. for land in Greenacres in 1558. Some was bought from George Chadderton in 1537; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 11, m. 43. 'In 1702 a Mr. Rainshaw possessed much property here, which in 1725 was in the hands of Mr. Rothwell, and in 1752 of the Rev. James Rothwell, vicar of Deane'; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 41, 58. Dowry Mill and Wellyhole were in Greenacres. The latter of these was purchased from John Mayall by Edmund Ogden in 1748 ; ibid. 62.
  • 70. Ibid. 44. Curzon Street is on the east of this Roundthorn; there was another place of the same name near Glodwick; information of Mr. S. Andrew.
  • 71. Ibid. 56. The Brierleys or Brearleys were also seated at Barrowshaw, which became the property of the Radcliffes of Royton ; ibid. 61. The last-named family also purchased Priest Hill; ibid. 45.
  • 72. In 1212 Adam de Glodwick held two oxgangs of land of Montbegon and two of Nevill; Inq. and Extents, i, 63, 64. The latter portion escheated to the Crown, and about ten years later Agnes de Glodwick should have been in ward to the king in respect of two oxgangs held by a rent of 191/8d. and by finding the sixth part of a judge; ibid. 128. Jordan de Glodwick gave land in Oldham to his son Richard; 1d. rent was due to the king; Hopwood Chart.
  • 73. Final Conc, i, 210; a fine (1307) between Alexander Atherton, plaintiff, and Hugh de Atherton and Joan his wife, deforciants, of a messuage, 100 acres of land, &c, in Oldham and Glodwick. In 1292 Joan relict of Adam de Holdene was in possession of a messuage and 100 acres of land in Oldham, inherited from her mother Agnes, who "had married one Ralph de Astone (or Ashton). It is just possible that this Agnes was identical with Agnes the heiress in 1222–6. Being left a widow she married Jordan de Crompton, and Joan was their daughter. Later a claim to the estate was made on behalf of Jordan's son Adam, then a minor, probably the son of a later marriage, whom the father wished to benefit out of his former wife's estate. The jury, howeves, held that Jordan had never been seised as of fee, so that Joan's claim was upheld ; Assize R. 408, m. 7, 12. This Joan seems afterwards to have married Hugh de Atherton, for the claim of Adam de Crompton was prosecuted in 1301 against Hugh de Atherton and Joan his wife, who was seised when he married her; Assize R. 419, m. 13d. Hugh de Atherton in 1324 paid 3s. 11d. for two oxgangs in Glodwick; Duchy of Lane; Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 13. In other versions the rent is given as 3s. 2d. or 3s. 4d.; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 105. Richard de Oldham, clerk, and others, were in 1343 charged with having broken into Hughde Atherton's houses in Glodwick ; Assize R. 430, m. 32 d. For this Atherton family see further under Hindley and Aintree.
  • 74. In 1346 Sir Robert de Nevill was holding two oxgangs in Glodwick by the service of 3s. 2d. rent, puture of the serjeants, and double rent at death; Add. MS. 32103, fol. 146. In the following year the estate in Oldham and Glodwick—3 messuages, 140 acres of land, &c.—was settled by Sir Robert de Nevill of Hornby and Joan his wife (whose inheritance it was) upon his son John and Isabel his wife, with remainders to John's brothers; Final Conc. ii, 125. As a result of this a claim was made in 1363 by John de Nevill and Isabel his wife against Sir John (? Robert) de Nevill of Hornby, and Joan his wife; De Banco R. 416, m. 396 d.
  • 75. The Nevill estates passed to the Harringtons, and Sir William de Harrington is recorded to have paid the chief rent in 1378 ; Harl. MS. 2085, fol. 442. In 1445–6 William de Strangeways held the two oxgangs of land in Glodwick in socage, rendering 3s. 2d. yearly, in right of his wife, who held by conjoint feoffment; Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. In 1526 the Radcliffes of Foxdenton paid 3s. as the chief rent due for Chadderton and Glodwick (Shaw, Oldham, 16); but about the end of the century Richard Radcliffe was responsible for 3s. 2d. rent for Glodwick; Baines, Lancs, (ed. 1868), i, 447. The inquisitions are not clear. Thomas Radcliffe, who died in 1567, held fifty messuages, Sec, in Oldham of the queen, as of the late Priory of St. John of Jerusalem, by a rent of 4d.; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, 25. In 1589 the tenure was stated more in detail; four messuages, &c., in Oldham, were held of the queen as of the dissolved priory by a rent of 4d.; another messuage, &c, was held of John Cudworth by a rent of 5d.; the rest of the lands, &c. in Oldham were held of the queen as of her Duchy of Lancaster, by a rent of 6d.; but of whom the lands in Glodwick were held the jury did not know; ibid, iii, 13. William Radcliffe, the disinherited, held two messuages in Glodwick of the queen in socage by a rent of 6d. ; ibid, xv, 23. Lands in Glodwick were included in a mortgage or sale by William Radcliffe in 1627; the tenants were—Pollit, Heap, and others ; Shaw, op. cit. 73. John Pollit in 1666 sold his interest in the lease to Edward Taylor ; ibid. 166. Edward Standish of Standish died in 1610 holding six messuages, 60 acres of land, &c, in Glodwick of the king in socage, by 11½d. rent; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 190. James Ashton of Chadderton, who died in 1612, as above stated, held messuages and lands in Glodwick ; ibid, i, 230.
  • 76. Swineclough was leased in 1570 by James Ashton and Dorothy his wife to Adam Ogden; it had lately been occupied by his father Adam Ogden, and the new lease was for the lives of Adam, Anne his wife, and Adam his son; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.). It was sold in 1670 to Adam Ogden by Edmund Ashton; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 37. The Dawsons and other owners of land at Glodwick are also named; and others, including Andrew of Lowside, at pp. 54, 56.
  • 77. Duchy of Lane. Rentals, bdle. 14, no. 25 m.
  • 78. Lancs. Inq, and Extents, i, 64 ; the thegnage rent in later times is usually given as 3s. 2d. Ten years earlier, Maud widow of Ralph Tagun made an agreement as to her dower with various tenants in Sholver; Final Conc. i, 20. Alward Tagun was on the jury for Salfordshire in 1242–3; Inq. and Extents, i, 153.
  • 79. In 1246 Andrew de Sholver complained that the Abbot of Roche and others had disseised him of his free pasture of Sholver; Assize R. 404, m. 1. In another plea respecting a mine Andrew was joined by Alward Tagun and Roger de Pilkington ; ibid. m. 2. The three occur in other suits respecting lands in Sholver ; ibid. m. 7, 9. Margery widow of Geoffrey de Chetham in 1275 claimed dower in a messuage and plough-land in Sholver against Geoffrey de Bracebridge; De Banco R. 9, m. 32 d. Lands in Sholver were among the moiety of the Trafford Estate given to Geoffrey de Chadderton before 1278; Final Conc. i, 153. In 1290, Ellen widow of Geoffrey de Bracebridge claimed lands in Oldham against Alexander de Pilkington and Geoffrey de Chadderton ; De Banco R. 81, m. 64. In 1291 his demesne lands in Sholver were among the places named in the grant of free warren to Roger de Pilkington; Chart. R. 84, m. 10, 41. From suits of the same time or a year later it appears that Geoffrey de Bracebridge had held a messuage, 60 acres of land, &c. in Sholver, which should have descended to his sister Christiana, wife of William son of Robert de Stanringes; but Geoffrey de Chadderton and Roger de Pilkington (perhaps as heirs of Chetham) had taken possession of the messuage and lands, Adam de Impetres had refused the 14d. rent, and Robert Attehill the rent of four barbed arrows. Geoffrey and Roger showed a charter from the plaintiffs releasing all claim to the tenements in dispute, and though it was repudiated, the jury decided for the defendants, ordering William to gaol because he had denied his deed. Afterwards he made fine by two marks; Assize R. 407, m. 2; 408, m. 12. Margery the niece of Geoffrey de Bracebridge was in 1305 plaintiff and defendant in several pleas regarding her uncle's lands in Oldham; in one case the plaintiffs included Geoffrey de Chadderton the elder, Roger de Pilkington, Adam de Impetres, &c.; Assize R. 420, m. 8; also m. i, 8, 9. In 1317–8 Geoffrey de Chadderton granted to Gilbert son of Cecily daughter of William le Bagher land in Sholver which he had had of the gift of Adam de Impetres and William son of Henry de Oldham, with remainder to Thomas the brother of Gilbert ; Hyde of Denton D. Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 153, &c. Robert son of Adam de Impetres was a claimant of lands in Oldham in July 1351; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 1, m. 5 d.
  • 80. Duchy of Lane. Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 13, where the tenant is called Robert de Ashton and the rent given as 11s. 8d.; and Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 105, where the rent is given as 3s. 2d. In 1322 Robert de Ashton and Margery his wife (in her right) appeared against Gilbert son of Cecily daughter of William the Baggere concerning a messuage and land in Oldham by writ of Quare cessavit per biennium; De Banco R. 244, m. 45.
  • 81. Add. MS. 32103, fol. 146; each held one oxgang in socage, by a total rent of 2s. 2d. (for 3s. 2d.), providing puture, and paying a double rent at death. A note in the manuscript adds: 'The heirs of Richard de Pilkington, 3s. 2d.
  • 82. The Hulme family perhaps bought the Pilkington share. In 1445–6 Ralph Prestwich held one oxgang in Sholver in socage, rendering 3s. 2d. yearly ; Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. Thus the full rent is paid, though only one oxgang is ascribed to him out of the original four. A dispute as to Sholver occurred in 1529, Ralph Prestwich being plaintiff; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 138. Edward Prestwich paid the chief rent of 3s. 2d. in the time of Elizabeth; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), i, 447. In 1639 Edmund Tetlow of Coldhurst disclaimed any right of common on Sholver Moor, conceiving that it belonged to Thomas Prestwich, as parcel of his lordship of Sholver; Shaw, Oldham, 81.
  • 83. E. Butterworth, op. cit. 42.
  • 84. In 1657 Joseph Clegg purchased land at Count Hill from Sir Thomas Prestwich; this and other purchases descended to Joseph Clegg, who died in 1835; ibid.
  • 85. Palden in Oldham was at one time owned by the rectors of Prestwich; L.T.R. Mem. R. 169 (5 Hen. IV), m. xii. Later it was 'the abode of a most eccentric rustic wit named John Brierley, a carrier, who from his long connexion with this place was called "Old Poden,' and who was buried 17 Mar. 1688'; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 62.
  • 86. Once the residence of a family of Byrom ; ibid.
  • 87. E. Butterworth, 156; 'these proceedings were not popular amongst the body of the people, for the rights of unrestrained pasturage for cattle and fowl, and the advantages of the moors as places of recreation and exercise, had rendered them spots deeply endeared to successive generations.' The Acts were 42 Geo. III, cap. 59; 43 Geo. III, cap. 44; a copy of the award may be seen at the County Offices, Preston. See also an award in 1804 in King's Bench Plea R. Trin. 44 Geo. III, m. 393. Another Act was passed in 7 Geo. IV, cap. 67. For the moors in 1640, with a plan, see Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 53; also 145, 204.
  • 88. Some of the Constables' accts. (from 1697) are printed in Shaw's Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 5, &c. From these it appears that they used to attend Salford Leet Court.
  • 89. E. Butterworth, Oldham, 227. The qualification for assuming the office was the possession of property worth £50 or the occupation of premises rented at £30 a year. The commissioners numbered 360 in 1848. The Act (7 Geo. IV, cap. 117) was known as the Oldham Police Act Its powers were transferred to the corporation in 1850.
  • 90. Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lanes. 307. John Morgan Cobbett, son of William, represented the borough from 1852 to 1859 as a Liberal, and from 1874 till his death in 1877 as a Conservative. Sir John Tomlinson Hibbert was member from 1862 to 1874, 1877 to 1886, and 1892 to 1895. John Platt, member from 1865 to 1872, has a statue near the town hall.
  • 91. In 1847 ' a disagreement arose between the political parties in the borough with regard to the conduct of the police, which was then under the management of the Commissioners, and the result was the introduction, by the magistrates, of the county force,' to the dissatisfaction of the people; E. Butterworth, op. cit. (ed. 1856), 227.
  • 92. Confirmed by Act of Parliament 13 & 14 Viet. cap. 42; the boundaries were extended in 1880 by 43 & 44 Vict. cap. 147. An Improvement Act was obtained in 1865, 28 & 29 Vict. cap. 311.
  • 93. The area of the borough remains unchanged, but has been divided into twelve wards—Clarksfield, Coldhurst, Hartford, Hollinwood, Mumps, St. James's, St. Mary's, St. Paul's, St. Peter's, Waterhead, Werneth, and Westwood.
  • 94. E. Butterworth, op. cit. 228–9.
  • 95. E. Butterworth, op. cit. 231.
  • 96. The first Act was 6 Geo. IV, cap. 171. The original reservoirs were at Strinesdale on the Yorkshire border; but many others have since been formed in the hills.
  • 97. E. Butterworth, op. cit. 233.
  • 98. Ibid. 231–5. The baths were enlarged in 1880. In 1894 new baths were built at Waterhead.
  • 99. A ' sort of market' on Saturday evenings, with standings in the main streets, was held before 1790; but became fully established about 1804. The fair held on 2 May began probably in the 18th century; that in Oct. a little later; while that on 8 July began in 1807; ibid. 160–1 At present fairs are held on the Thursdays after 2 Feb., 2 May, and 8 July, and the Wednesday after 11 October.
  • 100. The Public Health Act 1848 and Local Government Acts 1858 and 1861 were adopted in part in 1863 ; Lond. Gaz, 4 Sept.
  • 101. It began in a very humble way in 1839, a few young men, chiefly of the working classes, starting it to provide a library, news room, and evening classes. In 1845 the institution was removed from Queen Street to Clegg Street, near the Town Hall. Funds for the present building in Union Street were raised by an exhibition in 1854. The Butterworth Library was presented by James Platt, then president; Baines, Lancs, (ed. 1868), i, 462.
  • 102. Ibid. Among smaller institutions of a similar kind may be named the Glodwick Mutual Improvement Society's building, erected in 1857, Werneth Mechanics' Institute, opened 1867, and the Hollinwood Working Men's Club and Institute, built in 1868. The Horsedge Assembly Rooms, formerly the Working Man's Hall, date from 1844. A Botanical Society was formed about 1775; Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 46. The followers of Robert Owen built a Hall of Science, purchased by the Temperance Society in 1852, and thenceforward known as the Temperance Hall.
  • 103. Lond. Gaz. 22 Dec. 1871.
  • 104. For an account of the opening see Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1868), i, 461. A great boulder, found near Ashton Road, is placed in it.
  • 105. Opened in 1857.
  • 106. A tramway from Hollinwood to Waterhead was opened in 1880, and a steam tramway from Oldham to Rochdale in 1885.
  • 107. The first theatre was opened in 1807; the new theatre in 1810.
  • 108. Bodies of volunteers were formed in 1798, and again in 1803, on fears of French invasions ; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 144, 150.
  • 109. In J. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1817), 20–30, is quoted a local couplet: 'Old I am—Old is my name, The oldest church in Christendom.' The popular belief was that it should be called St. Paul's; E. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1856), 70.
  • 110. 20 April 1558, injunction of the Bishop of Chester to the residents and inhabitants of Oldham to undertake (amongst other things) the reparation of the said chapel.
  • 111. Shaw, Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 6 7, 131. A gallery was erected, chiefly for the singers, in 1703–4 ; Shaw, Oldham, 235. For other notices of the singers at that time see ibid. 225, 245.
  • 112. In a return for the visitation of the Bishop of Chester in 1778 the rector of Prestwich mentions Oldham Chapel as a 'very old edifice.'
  • 113. Given by James Butterworth, op. cit.
  • 114. The Story of the ancient parochial chapelry of St. Mary's, Oldham, by George Perry-Gore (vicar), 1906, from which much in the present account of Oldham Church is taken. A complaint as to the Chadderton Chapel and the encroachment by a parclose in the time of Henry VIII may be seen in Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc), ii, 274.
  • 115. A plan of the new church, published by H. G. James, and signed by the architect, R. Lane, is dated 28 Oct. 1829.
  • 116. (Sir) Charles Barry submitted a design for a new church, some of the drawings for which are now in the possession of the vicar. Barry would have retained the old chancel and end chapels, which are shown in his drawings, but acquaintance with his Gothic churches of that period makes it doubtful whether his design, with its lofty clearstory, would now be considered any more successful than the one adopted.
  • 117. There is a description of the font, and an account of its history subsequent to the year 1829, in Trans. Lancs, and Cbes. Antiq. Soc. viii, 158–9.
  • 118. The oldest stone is dated 1672.
  • 119. An effort is being made by the vicar to have it dedicated as an open space under the control of the corporation.
  • 120. Oldham is one of three churches in Lancashire having 12 bells; the others being Ashton-under-Lyne and St. Nicholas', Liverpool.
  • 121. The people seem to have subscribed £24 for the bells; they gave the money to the rector, who undertook to buy the bells and place them ready for ringing. Should the cost be greater he was to defray it, and if less, to return the surplus.
  • 122. The king seized three; his collector could not obtain possession, and for a time at least they remained safely in the church tower; Ducatut Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 163. Three bells were 'new cast' for the steeple in 1617 for £60 by William Oldfield of Nottingham; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 319, m. 16 d.
  • 123. One of them is now in use at St. Peter's, and another at St. James', Oldham.
  • 124. Perry-Gore, op. cit.
  • 125. The earlier volumes (to 1661), in which are many gaps, have been printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, where also may be seen extracts from the churchwardens' accounts, beginning 1734; the church ley, 1682, the constables' accounts, 1697; and the surveyors' accounts, 1765.
  • 126. Its existence seems implied in the record of the baptism of John de Cudworth in 1379.
  • 127. The decree, preserved at Prestwich, is printed by Booker, Prestwich, 252.
  • 128. Chadderton deed in Raines, Langley Autobiog. (Chet. Soc. Misc. vi), p. viii.
  • 129. Booker, op. cit. 254.
  • 130. In 1488 and 1558; ibid. 257. By the last decree Bishop Scott ordered the inhabitants of Oldham to contribute their share to the lights about the sacrament and the sepulchre yearly, and the candles on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in Holy Week used in 'the service, as it is called, in tencbris;' also the wax candles at the Purification ; they were also to contribute to the nave and belfry of the parish church, and the maintenance of the cemetery there. Edmund Ashton of Chadderton in 1517 gave to trustees a messuage and close at Oldham—Pighill, near Horsedge Moor— out of which 4s. 4d. was to be paid yearly to the clerk of Prestwich in lieu of the ' holy bread silver' due from the people of Oldham; Raines D.(Chet. Lib.),bdle.4,no. 51.
  • 131. There does not appear to have been any statute passed to effect the separation, but in the documents of the time Oldham is uniformly treated as a separate parish and rectory; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 39 ; ii, 239. A petition to Parliament in 1664 for the erection of Oldham into a parish, complaining of the 'mendicant preachers' supplied by the rectors of Prestwich in return for the tithes, is printed in Shaw, Oldham, 163. In 1704 the rector, at the request of the inhabitants, agreed to the separation of Oldham, but the necessary Act of Parliament was not procured; Raines papers in Chet. Lib.
  • 132. There were no endowed chantries. In 1458 the 'tithes, oblations, and emoluments belonging to the chapel of Oldham' were leased by the rector of Prestwich to Lawrence Ashton, priest, for 43 marks. The rector was to rind a parish priest for the chapel; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.) 3/41.
  • 133. Ch. Gds. 1552 (Chet. Soc), 43.
  • 134. Plund. Mins.Accts. i, 39; Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 22.
  • 135. Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 111, 112; 'the chapelry is very large,' he notices, and 'the congregation very numerous.' There was an endowment of 20s. per annum for the Haward Charity sermon. There were four churchwardens, one chosen by the rector, the others by the parish.
  • 136. Booker, Presvwich, 85. An account of the income in 1808 was given by Thomas Fawcett, then chaplain; he had £30 from the rector, about £40 from the lands, and about £20 from surplice fees; Oldham Notes and Gleanings, iii, 93.
  • 137. Lond. Gaz. 5 May 1835.
  • 138. Towneley MS. DD, no. 1500.
  • 139. Langley Autobiog. p. viii. He occurs again in 1529.
  • 140. He was a lessee of Edmund Ashton of Chadderton in 1540; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 59. As paid by the rector of Prestwich he appears in the Clergy List of 1541–2 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 12. He is named again in the Visitation Lists of 1548 and 1554.
  • 141. Probably the Roger Wnglcy who was curate of Prestwich in 1541–2. He occurs at Oldham in the Visitation Lists of 1563, 1565, and 1567. He was still curate in 1575; H. Pennant's Acct. Bk.
  • 142. Shaw, Oldham, 32. In the list of curates, where no other reference is given, this book should be consulted under the date named.
  • 143. A Lancashire Thomas Hunt graduated B.A. at Oxford (Brasenose College) in 1586; Foster, Alumni; but the Oldham curate is stated to have been appointed in 1580. He preached before the Earl of Derby in 1589. Next year he was summoned before the Bishop of Chester to give evidence of conformity, and Edmund Hopwood wrote to the archbishop desiring that there should be no interference with him as a 'discreet, peaceable, and honest man.' In 1604 he was again summoned before the bishop, as one of the ringleaders of nonconformity; in the next year is a note in the register of baptisms that three children were 'christened with the cross by Mr. Masson,' as if this were an exceptional ceremony. Shortly afterwards Thomas Hunt became master of the newly-founded grammar school, so that he had the confidence of the people. He retained his curacy, and at a visitation in 1608 it was stated that he did not wear the surplice, omitted the cross in baptism, and at a burial did not meet the corpse at the church stile. He died in 1611. Perhaps Thomas Jackson, master of the grammar school, also succeeded to the curacy; Shaw; see also Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 11, 16. Thomas Hunt, preacher of the Word of God at Oldham, in 1609 received £12 10s. from James Ashton of Chadderton as a half year's rent for 'all the white tithes in the parish of Oldham;' Raines Papers, Chet. Lib.
  • 144. Afterwards rector of Prestwich. In 1622 he was called 'lecturer,' while a Mr. Dickonson was ' curate at Chadderton ;' Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 67.
  • 145. Named in the Visitation List. He did not wear the surplice, and was suspected of incontinency.
  • 146. Shaw, op. cit. 88, 90; he resided at Chadderton. The Protestation was signed by 553 people.
  • 147. He was a member of the Manchester Classis in 1646; Manch. Classis (Chet. Soc), i, 6.
  • 148. He was ordained and appointed in 1647; ibid, i, 35, 38; afterwards at Tockholes.
  • 149. He had officiated at Fairfield and Buxton in Derbyshire; was 'presented by the people at Oldham for allowance to be their minister' in Nov. 1647, and approved by the classis; ibid, i, 59, 64. He signed the 'Harmonious Consent' in 1648, but refused the Engagement, and was suspended; in 1654 he was restored, and continued at Oldham until 1662, when he was ejected for nonconformity. He then ministered privately during the twenty years' proscription, and was the founder of the Independent chapel at Greenacres. He died at Manchester in 1699 ; ibid, iii, 424, 425.
  • 150. Afterwards rector of Prestwich, and Bishop of Chichester. During his tenure of the curacy at Oldham he resisted the Classis as much as possible; ibid, iii, 375–95.
  • 151. Reinstated by an order of the Com-: mittee of Plundered Ministers 15 Oct. 1654; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 54. After the Restoration he was summoned to answer the Bishop of Chester's official on charges that he was 'not a lawful ordained minister,' and had refused to read the Book of Common Prayer, &c.; the churchwardens supported him, and had refused to 'set up the old font in the place where it anciently stood according to the ancient custom of the Church,' suffering it ' to lie indecently in the belfry in scorn and derision.' Alexander Potter of Foxdenton had endeavoured to procure the resumption of the Prayer-book services; Chest. Consistory Ct. Rec. 1661.
  • 152. Mentioned by Calamy as a conformist at Oldham.
  • 153. The name is also spelt Walwork.
  • 154. Admissions to St. John's College, i, 145; his tutor was Mr. Kenyon, afterwards rector of Prestwich. He was ordained in 1664 and 1665. The date of his appointment to the curacy is from Stratford's Visitation List, 1691; but from Harpur's list of preachers at Oldham, printed in Pal. Note Bk. iv, 54–6, it is clear that he was in charge from early in 1665, for on 5 Apr. of that year he states that 'Mr. John Walworke, my predecessor,' preached.
  • 155. Previously at Milnrow and Shaw. He was of the Halliwells of Pike House; Fishwick, Rochdale, 441. His will is given in Shaw, Oldham, 300. He was buried 21 July 1730 at Oldham.
  • 156. The church papers at Chest. Dioc. Reg. begin at this time.
  • 157. 'He was one of those clergymen who distinguished themselves in the last [18th] century by the diminished interest they manifested in the political affairs of their localities. Not deficient in intellectual acquirements, he was tolerant in his views and refined and pacific in his conduct. He exerted himself, in conjunction with the wealthy of the parish, in doing all the good he could to the deserving poor in an unobtrusive way. For want of practising the art of speaking "with the proper ornaments of voice and gesture," many of his hearers were attracted to dissenting congregations, "for no other reason in the world but because the sermons were spoken extempore;"' E. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 1856), 78.
  • 158. He had been curate of St. Peter's, Oldham.
  • 159. Incumbent of Hanover Chapel, 1864 to 1870.
  • 160. vicar of Pershore, 1873 to 1894; Archdeacon of Worcester, 1889; rector of Alvechurch, 1894.
  • 161. Previously vicar of Royston, Yorks. 1862 to 1873; afterwards vicar of St. John, Micklegate, York, 1876 to 1882; of Fulford, York, 1882 to 1889; and of Brodsworth, 1889.
  • 162. Rector of Cheriton, Hants, 1892 to 1894; vicar of All Saints', Forest Gate, 1894.
  • 163. Previously vicar of St. Matthias', Sneinton, 1890 to 1892.
  • 164. Visitation Lists at Chester.
  • 165. Ibid.
  • 166. A 'monthly exercise' was arranged for Oldham in 1653, an arrangement modified two years later; Shaw, op. cit. 145, 148.
  • 167. Presentments for ecclesiastical offences made in 1684 are printed ibid. 191. Two men were charged 'for sitting in the church, with their hats on, in sermon time.'
  • 168. Booker, Prestwich,, 85.
  • 169. At St. Peter's, where the curate's salary was wholly derived from seat-rents, there were two Sunday services with sermon, and the Lord's Supper was administered once a quarter. At St. Margaret's, which had received a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty, only the Sunday services are mentioned; ibid. 85, 86.
  • 170. Consecrated 2 June 1768, see Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 85. It became head of a district chapelry in 1835; Lond. Gaz. 5 May. It was erected by voluntary contributions, and enlarged in 1804. About 1817 the congregation subscribed for a Thursday evening sermon in the summer months; Butterworth, Oldham, 38.
  • 171. Consecrated 8 July 1769. It became a district chapel at the same time as the last.
  • 172. Consecrated 19 Sept. 1829. There is a full account of the church in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 97, &c.; the Million Fund of 1818 made grants towards the building. It also became a district chapel in 1835. A chancel has been added.
  • 173. Consecrated 20 Nov. 1844; for the district see Lond. Gaz. 22 Oct. 1844.
  • 174. Consecrated 27 Nov. 1845. A district was assigned to it at the same time as to the last.
  • 175. Consecrated 5 July 1847. Services had been begun in 1845 in two rooms in the Grove, off Sidebottom Street; see the full history of the church in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, i, 195, 210, &c. A district was assigned in 1844; Lond. Gaz. 3 Dec.
  • 176. Consecrated 12 Feb. 1848. The district was formed in 1844; Lond. Gaz. 22 Oct.
  • 177. For district, ibid. 14 July 1846.
  • 178. Consecrated 21 Nov. 1855. The district had been assigned at the same time as Coldhurst.
  • 179. Consecrated 20 Apr. 1872. For district see Lond. Gaz. 29 Nov. 1870.
  • 180. Consecrated 9 May 1873. For district see Lond. Gaz. 8 Aug. 1873.
  • 181. Consecrated 14 May 1873. For district see Lond. Gaz. 16 Dec. 1873.
  • 182. Consecrated 14 June 1876. For district see Lond. Gaz. 30 May 1876.
  • 183. Consecrated 26 May 1880. For district see Lond. Gaz. 3 Aug. 1880.
  • 184. Butterworth, Oldham (1817), 40; an extract is given from the Life of John Murlin, a preacher; the Methodists came to Oldham, 'a place famous through all that country for daring and desperate wickedness,' and experienced 'heavy persecution for a season.'
  • 185. The Independent Methodists had a chapel in 1817 at a place formerly called Jackson's Pit; Butterworth, op. cit. 45. In 1824 the chapels were—Independent Methodists in George Street, and Primitive Methodists in Grosvenor Street.
  • 186. The first Baptist Chapel, at the top of Manchester Street, was purchased in 1816 from the Methodist New Connexion, who built it in 1805; the opening services included the baptism of fourteen persons in the reservoir at Hollinwood; Butterworth, op. cit. 43. The chapels in Chamber Road, at Glodwick and at Hollinwood (Beulah), date from 1863, 1876, and 1891, respectively; Bapt. Year Bk. In 1856 the Particular Baptists had three chapels, two in Hollinwood, and one in Horsedge Street.
  • 187. A History of the chapel, by its minister, the Rev. George Gaunt Waddington, was published in 1854; it gives views of the houses and chapels successively used, and an account of the various ministers. One or two of them had adopted the Unitarian doctrine prevalent among the Nonconformists in the latter part of the 18 th century, but stayed only a short time, and Calvinism was the rule; see the account in Nightingale's Lancs. Nonconf. v, 230–45. The chapel at Greenacres was one of those wrecked by the 'Church and King ' mob from Manchester in 1715; see works above quoted; and for the names and fines of some of the delinquents (1716), Raines Papers in Chet. Lib.
  • 188. Nightingale, op. cit. v, 245–64, 268–74.
  • 189. Official Handbook of the Presb. Ch. of Engl.
  • 190. The United Brethren began preaching at Greenacres in 1772, and continued at Lees. Salem Chapel was built at the expense of John Lees of Fairfield, James Lees of Clarksfield, and Joseph Lees of Plymouth Grove, the owner of the estate undertaking to discharge all taxes, &c.; from Short Sketches of Moravian Work (1888), 26–31.
  • 191. Heyside in Royton had been the meeting-place since 1665. In 1784 a meeting-house was opened in Oldham; in 1802 the present site was acquired, and the house was built in 1869.
  • 192. ' A small but comparatively handsome structure' in Lord Street, erected in 1816; Butterworth, op. cit. 44.
  • 193. These existed in 1856. In that year there was also a New Jerusalem or Swedenborgian Church in Lees Road.
  • 194. It was attacked by an anti-Catholic mob in 1861, when much damage was done; Kelly, Engl. Cath. Miss. 304.
  • 195. Char. Com. Rep. xvi, 1826, pp. 222–34. Oldham is called a parish, and treated separately from Prestwich.
  • 196. Oldham Grammar School, 1606; Hollinwood School, 1786, to which also John Walker's Charity of 1755 was applied ; and the Bluecoat School, founded by Thomas Henshaw in 1807. Samuel Scholes in 1747 gave rent-charges of £12 on lands in Glodwick, and £4 on messuages in Oldham for the education of poor children; and in 1826 there were thirty-nine being taught out of the proceeds at different schools.
  • 197. The Great Meadow, near Fogg Lane, was in 1640 granted by Edmund Tetlow the elder, and Edmund Tetlow the younger, charged with rents of 28s. 8d. and 3s. 4d. for the poor of Oldham and Royton respectively. Though these sums are named it seems to have been the practice from the first to give the whole rent of the field to the poor, and this was established by the later trusts. In 1804, on the division of the common lands, a small allotment was made in respect of the Poor's Field. In 1826 the gross rents were £20 2s., distributed with the following. John Tetlow in 1704 left land in Honeywell Lane, near Broadway Lane in Oldham, for the benefit of the poor; one boy was to be apprenticed each year. An allotment on North Moor was added in 1804; and the gross rents in 1826 amounted to £33 a year. This and the preceding charity money were distributed in blankets, linen, and calico. No apprenticeships had been made for many years. Samuel Haward in 1704 gave rentcharges on his lands in Salford, Thorpe in Royton, Hollinwood in Oldham, Failsworth, and Gorton for the poor of Salford and Oldham, 'who should constantly on the Lord's Day go to church or some legal assembly for divine worship, and there reverently behave themselves, morning and evening.' The three rent-charges of £25 in all were duly paid in 1826, and the money distributed according to the founder's intent, in Bibles, Catechisms, and clothing ; the minister had 20s. for a sermon on the first Wednesday after Michaelmas Day. Timothy Eyre of Hollinwood in 1728 left £100 for the poor. In 1826 the capital was in the hands of the incumbent of Oldham, who distributed £4 10s. as interest in linen cloth.
  • 198. James Wyld in 1672 left a rentcharge of £5 on his house and land for the poor of Crompton. In 1826 this was distributed by the churchwarden and overseer in gifts of linen cloth.
  • 199. Royton in 1826 received 37s. 3d. a year from the rents of the Poor's field in Oldham. It was distributed every two years by the overseer; linen cloth, blankets, and flannel being given.