Tarleton

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

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'Tarleton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, (London, 1911) pp. 115-119. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp115-119 [accessed 18 March 2024]

In this section

TARLETON

Tharilton, 1246; Tarleton usually.

This township was separated from Croston in 1821, and made an independent parish by Act of Parliament. (fn. 1) The River Douglas or Asland, as it is here called, flowing north to the Ribble, forms the eastern boundary for some 3 miles. The low-lying level surface stretches west for about the same distance to reach the borders of what was Martin Mere, now drained. A stretch of slightly higher land lies all along the river bank, and about the centre of it is the village of Tarleton; at the south end is the hamlet of Sollom. On another slightly elevated piece of land on the west is the hamlet of Holmes, with Mere Brow to the south. A large part of the area is moss-land—Tarleton Moss on the north and Sollom Moss on the south. The area is 5,534½ acres, (fn. 2) and the population in 1901 was 1,800.

The principal road is that running north from Rufford parallel with the river and along the higher land described. To the south of the village it turns to the east—the northward continuation being known as Hesketh Lane — and crosses the Douglas by a bridge, near Bank Hall in Bretherton, and so goes on to Preston. A western branch, Blackgate Lane, leads from the village to Mere Brow and Crossens. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal branch goes north near the Douglas, which stream it joins to the north of the village.

The Ram's Head Inn, a long, low, yellow-washed group of buildings at the south end of the village, was a house of some importance in the coaching days, and, though much modernized, still presents a somewhat picturesque appearance. Over the door is the inscription 'H. L. 1640,' and in one of the out-buildings facing the road is a stone with the initials 'H. L.' and the date 1714.

Inscribed on a stone on the former residence of the curate is: 'This Hous was built A.D. 1726 for the Curate of Tarleton with Mrs. Margaret Thompfon's Legacy.'

The soil is loam and moss overlying clay; wheat and potatoes are grown. There are 3,209 acres of arable land, 1,995 of permanent grass and 154 of woods and plantations. (fn. 3)

Charters for fairs were procured in 1700, and later for fairs in April and in September and October, but these have not endured. (fn. 4)

A parish council governs the place.

There were formerly crosses on the greens at Tarleton and Sollom. (fn. 5) The stocks were near the manor-house in the village. (fn. 6)

St. Helen's Well existed near the old chapel of that name, and as late as the 17th century was 'very much resorted to by the devotees of those times.' (fn. 7)

'Ram's Head,' Tarleton

A halfpenny token was issued in 1669. (fn. 8) A box of coins was found about a century ago. (fn. 9)

Manor

What was in later times called the manor of TARLETON was, like Croston, part of the Montbegon or Hornby fee, and with Croston was given to John Malherbe. (fn. 10) The whole appears to have been assessed as two ploughlands, and one moiety, Tarleton proper, seems to have been granted to one of the Banastres of Bretherton, for in later times it was part of the Bank estate. In 1298 the right of John son of Adam Banastre to 8 oxgangs of land in Tarleton was assured by fine. (fn. 11) Henry Banastre of Bank, who died in 1526, held his messuages and land in Tarleton of the heir of Roger Montbegon by a rent of 8s. yearly, (fn. 12) and a like service is that recorded in later inquisitions. The 'manor of Tarleton' is named in 1555. (fn. 13) Lord Lilford is the present owner. (fn. 14)

The other moiety or plough-land was granted by Roger de Montbegon to Roger de Douay, who transferred it to Gilbert de Notton, (fn. 15) and Gilbert gave to Cockersand Abbey one plough-land of his land in Tarleton, viz. a moiety of the whole vill, with all its appurtenances in pure alms, but the service due to John Malherbe was to be rendered, namely, that of the fourteenth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 16) This portion seems in later times to have taken a name from Holmes, another part of Tarleton held by the Cockersand canons by grant of the Cluniac priory of Thetford in Norfolk. (fn. 17) It was afterwards acquired by the Heskeths of Rufford, (fn. 18) and continued to descend with this estate. (fn. 19) This moiety of the manor of Tarleton was sold by Sir T. Hesketh to Lord Lilford about 1886, by whose heir the whole manor is now held. Courts are held yearly. (fn. 20)

Holmes Wood Hall

HOLMES WOOD HALL (fn. 21) stands close to the former northern shore of Martin Mere in the southwest corner of the township. It is now a farm-house and retains little or nothing of the original structure. The house proper is a tower-like whitewashed brick building of three stories, measuring externally 25 ft. by 23 ft., with a gabled roof behind brick battlements, and having a large projecting chimney on the south side. There is a later addition with a lean-to roof on the west. In the east wall is a stone with the Hesketh sheaf and the initials and date T. H. (for Thomas Hesketh), 1568, but this probably was placed here in a comparatively late rebuilding. The date of the present building is difficult to determine, for, though modern, it may incorporate some parts of an older erection. The walls are 2 ft. thick, but the house possesses no architectural features, the windows all being new and of wood. On the north side, at a distance of about 15 ft., is a brick barn, with a stone and brick extension at its west end, and in its east wall a four-light mullioned window with hood mould, apparently in its original position, and in the gable above is a stone with the Hesketh double-headed eagle and initials and date as before. This end wall of the barn at least apparently belongs to some portion of the old house. The present buildings, however, whatever they represent, are but a fragment, the original building, which was restored by Sir Robert Hesketh in 1539, having entirely disappeared.

About 1324 Walter the Demand or Judge held an oxgang of land in Tarleton, doing suit to the three weeks' court of Leyland for Robert son of Robert de Hephale. (fn. 22)

Tarleton gave a surname to one or more families in the district, (fn. 23) but they do not appear to have had any lordship in this township.

Holmes Wood Hall, Tarleton

Richard Sutton of Tarleton occurs in 1444, (fn. 24) and William Dandy a century later. (fn. 25) A family described as Norris 'of Tarleton' recorded a pedigree in 1664. (fn. 26) John the Ferryman's son is named in 1345. (fn. 27)

In the 16th century there were several disputes about the fishery. (fn. 28)

William Banastre contributed to a subsidy in 1542–3 for his lands in Tarleton. (fn. 29) The hearth tax return of 1666 records seventy-three hearths, but only three dwellings had as many as three hearths. (fn. 30) The land tax return of 1798 shows that the land was much divided; Charles Croft, William Bamford and the heirs of Peter Legh were among the chief contributors. (fn. 31)

Church

The old chapel of ST. MARY (fn. 32) is situated at the south-east end of the village on high ground not far from the bank of the Douglas, opposite to Bank Hall. It is supposed to stand on the site of the earlier chapel of St. Helen. The building is the one erected in 1719, (fn. 33) and is a plain parallelogram 47 ft. 9 in. by 21 ft., with a semi-octagonal apsidal east end 12 ft. by 8 ft. There is a small belfry tower and cupola at the west end, together with a vestry and porch, these apparently having been added at the beginning of the last century, the stonework of the tower bearing the date 1824. The building is of brick and has a stone slated roof. The walls were originally roughly plastered externally and the plaster yet remains attached in places, but the brickwork is now generally exposed. There are four semicircular-headed windows on each side and two in the apse, the east wall of which, however, is blank. Between the windows are small triangular brick projections answering to buttresses and the end gables have stone copings and urn ornaments. Though very plain and simple the design is not without a certain merit. The apse has a dentilled cornice and on the wall between the windows is a good spout head with the arms of Banastre of Bank and the date 1719. Internally the building preserves all its original features, though much dilapidated. There is a gallery with well-designed front on the south and west sides, approached by a good staircase at the west end and supported by square fluted wood posts. The seating consists of rough benches at the west end and square pews 4 ft. high at the east. The floor is flagged and the roof partly ceiled. The reading desk is in the middle of the north wall, but a modern oak pulpit has been erected at the cast end. The chancel arch is semicircular and without moulding, and there is a good 18th-century circular font on a fluted pedestal. There is a brass in the floor to Eliza Cook, d. 1768. Service is held in the chapel only once a year, the building being used ordinarily as a mortuary chapel. There were originally two bells in the turret, but one of them has been removed to the new church. The one remaining is dated 1824.

The new church of the HOLY TRINITY was built in the centre of the village in 1886 and consists of chancel, nave with north and south aisles, and west tower. The tower, however, is incomplete and roofed with the nave. The building is of stone with blue slated roofs and in 14th-century Gothic style. The plate consists of a chalice, inscribed 'T. H. 1744—This chalice is given by Thomas Harrison of Tarleton for the use of Tarleton Chapel'—a chalice dated 1836, and a paten and large flagon of 1883. There are also a silver-plated paten and four silverplated almsdishes of 1886.

The registers begin in 1719. The burials are complete to the present time, but the baptisms are wanting for the year 1757 (fn. 34) and the marriages from 1756 to 1821.

Advowson

There was at Tarleton an ancient chapel, known as St. Helen's, (fn. 35) in which a priest named George Dandy about 1525 founded a chantry for his soul and all Christian souls. (fn. 36) There being 'an arm of the sea' between Tarleton and the parish church the priest was often compelled to minister the blessed sacrament to the people there. The endowment, derived from lands in Tarleton, Bretherton, Ulnes Walton and Longton, was £4 11s. in all, but 20s. 4d. was in reversion at the date of confiscation. (fn. 37) In the chapel yard was a hermitage, occupied at that time by one Hugh Dobson, who had been professed hermit of the order of St. Anthony about 1530, when fifty years of age, at Tadcaster before Dr. Bainbridge, suffragan of the Archbishop of York. (fn. 38)

The chapel was sold to Sir Thomas Hesketh, who at once pulled it down, (fn. 39) and Tarleton remained without a place of worship until the time of the Commonwealth, when a small building was erected by the Presbyterians. (fn. 40) On the Restoration it became episcopal, but was little used and went to ruin. (fn. 41) In 1719 Mrs. Legh of Bank gave land for St. Mary's for the worship of the Church of England, others of the people subscribing towards the building. (fn. 42) She and her heirs were to have the nomination of the curate, with the approbation of the rector of Croston. There was no endowment at that time. (fn. 43)

The patronage seems to have been acquired by the rector absolutely, for in 1821, when Tarleton was made an independent parish, the Rev. Streynsham Master, the rector, held it and gave it to his son, the Rev. R. M. Master; it was afterwards sold to the Rev. M. Fletcher, whose son, the present rector of Chorley, is now patron. The value of the benefice is returned as £530. (fn. 44)

The following have been the curates and rectors:—

1720 William Charnley, B.A. (fn. 45) (St. John's Coll., Camb.)
1722 William Tomlinson, B.A. (fn. 46)
1746 George Barber, B.A. (fn. 47)
1765 George Chamberlaine, M.A. (fn. 48)
1795–1800 Edward Master, B.A. (fn. 49)
Rectors
1821 Streynsham Master, M.A. (fn. 50) (Balliol Coll., Oxf.)
1864 Matthew Fox Fletcher, B.A. (fn. 51) (T.C.D. and Oxf.)
1875 Robert Crompton Fletcher, M.A. (fn. 52) (Sidney Sussex Coll., Camb.)
1908 Christopher Cronshaw (fn. 53)

The schoolroom at Mere Brow is used for service.

The Wesleyan Methodists have chapels at Tarleton (fn. 54) and at Holmes, (fn. 55) and the Primitive Methodists one at Mere Brow. (fn. 56)

A school was founded in 1706. (fn. 57)

Charities (fn. 58)

Hannah Leadbetter in 1757 bequeathed £100 for cloth for the poor. The money was invested in land in Hesketh, which produces £15 10s. a year, spent in gifts of calico. (fn. 59) The township has a share of Dr. Layfield's Croston charity, £5 17s. 7d. a year, used in a similar manner, (fn. 60) and twice every ten years receives the Crooke and Master charity for religious books, £11 18s. 6d. (fn. 61)

Footnotes

  • 1. Local Act, 1 & 2 Geo. IV, cap. 103.
  • 2. The Census Rep. of 1901 gives 5,545 acres, including 22 of inland water; in addition there are 9 acres of tidal water and 4 of foreshore.
  • 3. Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
  • 4. Raines in Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 370. It is said that about sixty years ago the ceremony of reading the charter still continued; an old mace was carried in the public procession on the occasion.
  • 5. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xvii, 9. The pedestal is still to be seen at Tarleton, a little removed from its old site. At Sollom the old step was destroyed to make room for a weighing machine.
  • 6. Ibid.
  • 7. Notitia Cestr. ii, 369, quoting a statement drawn up in 1718, which speaks of it as 'within the memory of man.' The recusant roll of 1628 contains very few names in Rufford, Tarleton and Hesketh, though the squire's wife was one, so that the 'devotees' must have come from a wider district; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 174, 176. For a list of recusants some fifty years later see Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), v, 92 (Tarleton), 94 (Rufford), and 101 (Hesketh Bank).
  • 8. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 91.
  • 9. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 132.
  • 10. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 62. See further in the account of Croston. John de la Mare, lord of Croston, released all his right to the plough-land given to Cockersand Abbey, reserving, however, the service due for the fourteenth part of a knight's fee; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 460.
  • 11. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 184. Earlier than this Richard Banastre had given an acre lying on Wolfshaw (now Wilshers) to the canons of Cockersand, extending one way to the Asland (Askelon) and the other to Burnildsgate; Cockersand Chartul. ii, 464. In 1352 Gilbert de Ince and Alice his wife complained that Thomas son and heir of Adam Banastre of Bank held a moiety of the manor of Tarleton of Alice by knights' service, and had, while under age, refused a suitable marriage; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. 3. Some years later Gilbert appears as Thomas's bailiff in Tarleton; ibid. 7, m. 3. Thomas Banastre in 1361 charged Joan widow of John Banastre with waste of his houses, &c., in Tarleton; ibid. 8, m. 5 d. In an extent of 1445–6 Eleanor widow of Richard Banastre was said to hold the fourth part of a knight's fee in Tarleton, the relief being 25s.; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20.
  • 12. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 34.
  • 13. Ibid. x, no. 37, after the death of William Banastre. The superior lord at that time was Sir Thomas Stanley, lord Mounteagle. Lands, &c., in Sollom were named in conjunction with Tarleton. See also Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 77, when Thomas Ashton of Croston was superior lord; and ibid. iii, 332.
  • 14. See the account of Bank in Bretherton. In 1397 Thomas Banastre of Bank gave lands in Tarleton formerly belonging to William son of John de Tarleton to his bastard son Thomas Banastre, with successive remainders to seven other bastards; Towneley MS. DD, no. 79. This probably formed part of the estate of Thomas Banastre of Wigan sold to Thomas Hesketh in 1503; Final Conc. iii, 154.
  • 15. Cockersand Chartul. ii, 462.
  • 16. Ibid. ii, 459. The grant was confirmed by John Malherbe, and later, as above stated, by his successor John de la Mare. Roger de Montbegon also confirmed it. Adam de Argaythel appears to have been a free tenant in this part of the manor. He gave land to William son of Jordan de Newton, from whom it passed to Adam de Holmes, whose son William gave it to the canons; while Richard, another son of Adam de Holmes, surrendered to them a half-oxgang held of them. See ibid. ii, 462–4.
  • 17. Ibid. ii, 466–70. The place is called 'Holmes by the mere of Tarleton.' The priory of Thetford had it by grant of Roger de Montbegon. Adam son of Adam de Holmes and others released their rights to the canons, who in exchange for one such surrender by Richard le Boteler son of Adam de Holmes gave him an oxgang in Tarleton, a mark being payable as relief on a change of tenants; ibid. In 1340 an agreement respecting the bounds between Rufford and the Holmes was made by Sir William de Hesketh and the abbot. The bounds were declared to begin at the mere, proceed east along a syke to the moss, through a certain lache (as long as it endures), and across the middle of the moss to Monks' lache, according to pits and other marks; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1393.
  • 18. The free tenants for some generations were named Banastre, Croston, Call, Forshaw and Wignall. Holmes was held by a tenant at will, the rent rising to 56s. a year. See the lists, Cockersand Chartul. iii, 1252–3. John son of Thurstan Wignall of Tarleton in 1535 gave to William son of Henry Dandy (perhaps as trustee) all his lands in Tarleton, Sollom, Charnock and Coppull; Towneley MS. DD, no. 105. In 1537 the abbot and convent demised to Sir Robert Hesketh the messuage, &c., called the Holmes, with a fishery in Martin Mere, for sixty-one years at 56s. rent; ibid. no. 411. Two years later they granted a lease of all their lands in Tarleton and Sollom to the same Sir Robert for ninety-nine years, at £4 19s. 8½d. a year, which was 'the usual rent thereof'; ibid. no. 412. The Cockersand lands in Tarleton and Sollom, also the land called Holmes, with the appurtenances, including a fishery on Martin Mere, were granted in 1551 by the Crown to Anthony Browne; Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. vi. Three years later the whole was sold to Sir Thomas Hesketh; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 15, m. 119. Robert Hesketh, who died in 1541, owned two messuages, &c., in Tarleton, held of the king 'by reason of the surrender of the Abbot of Cockersand'; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 14. Sir Thomas Hesketh in 1566 claimed a right of way through ground called North Holmes (the inheritance of Henry Banastre) in right of his messuage and lands called the hall and demesnes of Holmes, his tenants having right to carry and recarry with horse or otherwise; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. xlix, H 5; lxxvi, H 4.
  • 19. In the inquisition after the death of Robert Hesketh in 1620 the 'manor of Tarleton-with-Sollom,' with messuages, lands and rents, is erroneously stated to have been held by him 'of the Earl of Derby as of the dissolved monastery of St. John of Jerusalem' in socage. A son Robert, by his father's grant, was in possession of this part of the estate. See Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rcc. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 351–8; Misc. (same Soc.), i, 167. The same manor occurs among the estates of Robert Hesketh of Rufford in 1696; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 237, m. 52. It also occurs among those of Sir T. D. Hesketh in 1798.
  • 20. Information of Mr. John B. Selby, Lord Lilford's agent.
  • 21. So named from the adjacent Holmes Wood in Rufford.
  • 22. Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 44. This may have been the oxgang which in 1246 John de 'Mundegum' was called to warrant to Richard de Tarleton and Avice his wife, who held it by charter of Adam father of John; Assize R. 404, m. 1 d. In 1330 Margery daughter of Thomas son of William the Judge of Sefton and widow of Richard del Lowe released to Thomas son of Adam Banastre of the Bank all her right in lands, &c., in Tarleton given to her mother Almarica by Walter the Judge, father of the said Almarica; Towneley MS. C8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), S 82. Six years later William son of John son of Gilbert de Tarleton confirmed to Alice de Preston two butts of land in Tarleton, one lying between lands of the Abbot of Cockersand and Adam Banastre of the Bank, the other being one received from Richard the 'Demand' of Tarleton; to be held of the chief lords by the rent of 1d.; ibid. T 63.
  • 23. See preceding notes. William de Tarleton and Margaret his wife (in the latter's right) claimed five messuages, an oxgang of land, &c., in Bretherton and Tarleton in 1353; Final Conc. ii, 137. In a complaint by James Walton of Preston and Hugh Farington of Ribbleton in 1543 it was alleged that William Tarleton granted them a rent of 4 marks 'from his manor of Tarleton' to the use of Joan wife of William; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Hen. VIII, xv, W 2. Nothing else is known of this 'manor.' The surname occurs in Croston and other neighbouring townships; also in Fazakerley, Garston and others further away. Sollom and Holmes in like manner occur as surnames locally.
  • 24. Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 6, m. 8. Joan widow of Gilbert Sutton occurs at the same time; ibid. m. 27.
  • 25. The Dandys occur among the tenants at will in the Cockersand rentals above quoted. Sir Thomas Hesketh in 1556 purchased a messuage, &c., in Tarleton from William Dandy; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 57. Captain William Dandy of Tarleton and his son, Parliamentarians, were killed at the capture of Bolton in 1644; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc.), 50.
  • 26. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 218– 19. See the account of Penwortham. Nicholas son of George Norris of Tarleton in 1556 obtained from Charles Hesketh a lease of a messuage, &c., including parcels in the town fields of Tarleton; Towneley MS. DD, no. 127. James Forshaw in 1563 held a messuage and land in Tarleton of the lords thereof by the service of a rose yearly; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 41.
  • 27. De Banco R. 345, m. 152.
  • 28. A dispute occured between Thomas Hesketh of Rufford and Henry Banastre of Bank concerning the title to parcels of waste and fishing within Tarleton and Holmes, and it was submitted to arbitration in 1552. The land and moss within a ditch lately made by Thomas Hesketh were awarded to him, as also the fishing in the Asland which had belonged to Cockersand Abbey. William Banastre and the tenants of North Holmes were to have the ground they had inclosed, and the fishing in the Asland lying to any such parcel of land. Nine years later a further agreement was made, Henry Banastre renouncing any greater interest than a moiety in the manors of Tarleton, Hesketh and Becconsall. See Towneley MS. DD, no 414, 415; also Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 241. About 1571 Sir Thomas Hesketh complained that, being seised of the manors of Rufford and Tarleton, a free fishing in Martin Mere, and lands, &c., in Rufford, Tarleton and Holmes (alias Holmes Wood), he was like to be disinherited because Richard Gillibrand, 'an unconscionable person,' having knowledge of writing divers hands, had delivered a false deed to Henry Banastre. The accused man replied that he had had occasion to go to the house of his brother Robert Gillibrand, 'and there he saw a piece of parchment written on but having no seal, which seemed to be very ancient; and his brother said it seemed to belong to Mr. Banastre of the Bank, and that before it came to his hands it had spices "lapt" up in it. There was contained in the same the liberty of fishing granted either to the said Mr. Banastre or to some of his ancestors,' and the deed was accordingly given up. See Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. lxxxvii, H 9.
  • 29. Subs. R. Lancs. 130, no. 126.
  • 30. Ibid. 250, no. 9.
  • 31. Returns at Preston.
  • 32. Gastrell in his Notitia, corroborated by Canon Raines, called it St. James's, but the name was usually said to be St. John's.
  • 33. The petition of Thomas Hesketh, Mrs. M. Legh, the rector of Croston and twenty-three freeholders of Tarleton to the Bishop of Chester in 1718 asks for a licence to erect 'a new chapel 16 yds. in length and 7 yds. in breadth.' These are the internal dimensions of the existing building.
  • 34. Memorandum 1757: 'The clark of the chapel negligently omitted delivering in an account of christenings in this year.'
  • 35. It existed in the first part of the 13th century; Cockersand Chartul. ii, 462. In pleadings in 1557 it was asserted that Richard Banastre (d. 1548) had built the chapel with the licence of the Pope and the Bishop of the diocese as a chapel of ease, the people being often prevented from going to the parish church 'by the rising of the great waters and rivers there.' The chapel and yard were claimed as part of the inheritance of Banastre of Bank. See Duchy Plead. iii, 236.
  • 36. Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc.), 173. From the Ulnes Walton court roll it appears that the founder had in 1503 been the chaplain. Robert Smith of Liverpool, scholar, was accused of having broken into St. Helen's Chapel, Tarleton, in 1530, and stolen certain property of William Wilcocks, chaplain there; Pal. of Lanc. Assize R. 10. John Robinson was chaplain in 1533; Ulnes Walton Court R. In the Valor Eccl. of 1535 the foundation of the chantry is attributed to George Dandy and Richard Banastre; Henry Farington was then chaplain; v, 232. An account of the founding is given in Duchy Plead. iii, 245–9; it is stated that George Dandy died about 1528, and had a brother Henry, who had a son Robert Dandy, aged about sixty in 1557. Thomas Wilding, aged about fifty, was the chaplain in 1547; ten years later he was chaplain to William Kirkby of Rawcliffe; ibid. iii, 248.
  • 37. Raines, loc. cit. The chapel had only a chalice and two vestments.
  • 38. Duchy Plead. iii, 235–40. One deponent had known three hermits in successive occupation — James Piper, Robert Halworth and Hugh Dobson. The hermit had half an acre of land and half an acre of meadow as an endowment.
  • 39. Ibid. It can have been the site of the chapel alone that was sold, as in 1583 all the lands of the chantry were sold by the Crown to Thurstan Anderton; Pat. 25 Eliz. pt. i.
  • 40. In 1650 the inhabitants of Tarleton, Holmes and Sollom were building themselves a church at Blackgate Lanc end (the Three Lanes end), which it was recommended should have a parish assigned to it; Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 110. The recommendation was further approved in 1658; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 259.
  • 41. Notitia Cestr. ii, 368–70, notes.
  • 42. Some of those who had promised refused to pay, disapproving of the site chosen. For proceedings in 1726 to enforce payment see Chan. Petty Bag, Charitable Uses, 61/49.
  • 43. Notitia Cestr. loc. cit. There was one chapel-warden. Mr. Legh gave £200 in 1719 and Mrs. Barton added a like amount in 1723. A curacy house, described above, was built in 1729. The incumbent receives 10s. a year from Ellen Greenough's Charity; see Prescot.
  • 44. Manch. Dioc. Dir.
  • 45. The list of curates from 1720 to 1820 is due to the Ven. Archdeacon Fletcher, who has assisted the editors in other ways. W. Charnley was nominated by Henrietta Maria Legh of Bank.
  • 46. Collated by the bishop. He was buried at Preston 13 July 1746.
  • 47. Nominated by Peter Legh of Lyme.
  • 48. Nominated by Peter Legh of Bank.
  • 49. There was a contest as to the right of presentation. E. Master was nominated 10 Oct. 1795 by his father, Robert Master, as rector of Croston. On 15 Feb. 1796 John Ruller was nominated by Anthony Keck Legh of Bank, with the approbation of the rector. Then on 15 Dec. 1798 George Wearing was nominated by the rector, and on 21 Oct. 1800 Edward Master was again appointed by the rector. The cause of vacancy was the same in each case, viz. the death of G. Chamberlaine.
  • 50. Also rector of Croston; he was presented a second time in 1834. The Rev. Edward Master, rector of Rufford, lived in Tarleton and probably acted as curate. In 1821 there was service on Sunday morning and afternoon with a sermon each time, also on Good Friday and Christmas Day. The sacrament was administered four times a year.
  • 51. He had been curate of Tarleton from 1853, and previously was chaplain of the West Australia convict settlement.
  • 52. Archdeacon of Blackburn 1901, rector of Chorley 1907, alderman of the County Council.
  • 53. Hon. Canon of Manchester 1905; vicar of Christ Church, Pennington, 1868–73; St. Matthew, Bolton, 1874– 90; Westhoughton, 1890–1908.
  • 54. Built in 1896 to replace one of 1851–7.
  • 55. Rebuilt 1832.
  • 56. Built in 1863. There was another on Tarleton Moss in 1868. These dates are from Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 132.
  • 57. Notitia Cestr. ii, 370. It was built close to the site of the chapel of 1650, and some of the materials were used for it, including the date-stone.
  • 58. An official inquiry was made in 1899; the report includes a reprint of that of 1826.
  • 59. The rector, churchwardens and overseers appear to have acted as trustees, but in 1895 the parish council claimed the nomination, with the result that in 1899 there were no trustees.
  • 60. See the account of Croston charities. The distribution of the Leadbetter and Layfield gifts takes place in May; in 1898 the number of recipients was 121.
  • 61. The double share is due to the existence of two National schools—at Tarleton and Sollom. The money is expended in prayer-books and hymn-books for the church, tracts for distribution and the like.