QUERNMORE
Quernemor, Quernemore, 1228. The local pronunciation is Wharmer.
This hilly district was part of the forest of the lords
of Lancaster. The northern portion contains the
well-wooded Quernmore Park; going east from Lancaster the ground rises till 500 ft. above sea level is
reached at a spot affording a fine view over Morecambe
Bay, and then descends steeply towards the source of
the Conder. This stream flows south, and most of
the township drains into it; but north of its source
the ground falls away to the Lune, being watered by
small brooks, of which Escowbeck is the chief. Still
further east of the Conder source the surface rises
quickly till 540 ft. is attained. The southern part
of the township lies on the western slopes of Clougha
Pike, the heights ranging from 1,500 ft. above sea
level on the east to 132 ft. beside the Conder, which
here forms the boundary. The area measures 6,789½
acres, (fn. 1) but the population in 1901 was no more than
606, including 77 belonging to the old township of
Bulk.
One road from Lancaster to Caton and Hornby
goes along the south bank of the Lune by the
beautiful Crook of Lune, where the river makes a
sharp turn south and then north between steep treeclad banks; overlooking it are Scarthwaite and Escowbeck Hall. Another road goes from the east side of
Lancaster over the hill and then north-east down the
valley to Caton, with Quernmore Park on the western
side. This road is joined by another coming north
from Garstang. Yet another road, that from Lancaster
into Wyresdale, crosses the southern part of the township in a south-east direction. The Midland Railway
Company's line from Lancaster to Hellifield runs
through the northern edge, by the Lune, and has a
station called Halton.
Roman pottery works have been discovered.
In 1625 a meeting of recusants was held at Quernmore, ostensibly for hunting, but probably to consult
as to some petition for relief. The chief justice
found nothing to proceed upon. (fn. 2)
The township is governed by a parish council. Its
bounds were extended in 1900 to include the part of
Bulk not then taken into the borough of Lancaster. (fn. 3)
The land is mostly in pasture; the soil is light,
with clay subsoil.
The pipe line of the Thirlmere-Manchester water
supply passes through the township.
Forest
In 1066 the northern part of the later
QUERNMORE was as Hotun held by
Earl Tostig as a member of his fee of
Halton; it was assessed as two plough-lands. (fn. 4) The
southern part may have been considered a dependency
of Lancaster in the same lordship. Afterwards the
whole was included in the forest, (fn. 5) but the burgesses
of Lancaster had certain rights of common. (fn. 6) Earl
Edmund in 1278 inclosed Quernmore Park, (fn. 7) which
thus became to some extent a separate estate.
Accounts of William de Hornby, master forester in
1314, have been printed. The receipts were for the
agistment of cattle, sale of dead wood, &c.; millstones
were sold for 6s. The expenditure was for wages,
repairs to the paling of the park and the stone wall
there, cutting down branches for the deer in winter
and so forth. (fn. 8)
In 1346 a customary due called ' boon silver' was
payable, amounting to 7½d. (fn. 9) At the same time the
herbage of the Park produced £13 6s. 8d. and that
of the rest of Quernmore £6; millstones yielded
ls. (fn. 9a)
During the year ending Michaelmas 1441 two
swainmotes were held for Quernmore and two for
Wyresdale; various small sums were received from
perquisites of court, fishery of the Wyre from Damas
Gill to the head of the river, and turves. Nothing
was received for slate stones, honey and wax. The
herbage of Quernmore produced 45s., the rent of
Scarthwaite was 13s. 4d., and of Hollinhead 53s. 4d.
The wages of Thomas Urswick, master forester, and
the building of a house, thatched with rushes, brought
the net receipts down to 19s. 11d. Thomas Harrington was parker of Quernmore Park, and his payment amounted to £4 10s., chiefly derived from
letting the herbage. (fn. 10) Swainmote courts were kept
much later than this, (fn. 11) and deer might be hunted
there as late as the 16th century. (fn. 12)
Owing to its peculiar tenure the township is seldom
mentioned in the records. (fn. 13) William Singleton of
Bank Hall in Broughton in 1573 held a tenement in
Quernmore of the queen as of her honour of Torrington in Devonshire. (fn. 14) Various grants were made from
time to time, (fn. 15) and in 1630 QUERNMORE PARK
was sold by the Crown. (fn. 16) It became the property of
Sir Thomas Preston of Furness, and was in 1681 in
danger of confiscation, like
other of his estates, because
it was suspected he had given
it to the Jesuits. (fn. 17) It went
by marriage to Hugh Lord
Clifford of Chudleigh (fn. 18) and
descended in his family till
1794, (fn. 19) when it was purchased by Charles Gibson of
Preston, who died in 1823.
His son and successor of the
same name died in 1832, (fn. 20)
and ten years later the park
was purchased by William
Garnett of Lark Hill, Salford, (fn. 21) who has been noticed in the account of Bleasdale. Quernmore Park descended in the same way
to his grandson, Mr. William
Garnett.
Clifford, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. Chequy or and azure a fesse gules.
William Rippon in 1631
compounded for refusing
knighthood. (fn. 22) In 1717 Mary
Walmesley of Park Hall in
Quernmore, widow, registered
her estate as a 'Papist.' (fn. 23)
Garnett of Quernmore. Gules a lion rampant argent ducally crowned within a bordure nebuly or, in a canton of the last a double-headed eagle sable.
An Inclosure Act was passed
in 1811, (fn. 24) and the award,
dated 1817, is kept at Lancaster Castle. (fn. 25)
In connexion with the
Church of England the first
St. Peter's was built in 1834.
and was replaced by the present church in 1860. The
incumbents, who are styled
rectors, are presented by the vicar of Lancaster. (fn. 26)
The other places of worship are for the Wesleyan
Methodists and the Society of Friends. (fn. 27)
While the Prestons held the Park there was a
resident priest to minister to the Roman Catholics of
Quernmore and Bulk. (fn. 28)