Townships: Walton

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1907.

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'Townships: Walton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, (London, 1907) pp. 22-28. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp22-28 [accessed 17 March 2024]

In this section

WALTON

Waleton, Dom. Bk.; Walton, 1246.

This township, having a wedge-like form, lies on the west and north-west of West Derby and Fazakerley; it has a length of over 4 miles and an area of 1,944 acres. (fn. 1) At the extreme north is Warbreck on the border of Aintree; the Gildhouses were also at the north end, and along the southern border from north-west to south-east are the districts called Spellow, Anfield, Walton Breck, and Newsham; these are often regarded and named as Anfield. The natural features of the township have long since been obscured or entirely swept away by bricks and mortar, and thronged streets of small houses and busy shops and electric-car standards occupy the site of country lanes, gardens, and trees. The geological formation is the new red sandstone or trias, the ridge of higher land on the west, reaching the 175 ft. level, consists of the pebble beds, and the eastern slope towards the Fazakerley brook of the upper mottled sandstones of the bunter series of that formation. The population in 1901 was 54,615.

The principal road is that from Liverpool to Ormskirk, (fn. 2) passing close by the parish church on the higher ground; descending the hill it is called Rice Lane. (fn. 3) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from Liverpool to Preston passes through the township, having a station at Walton Junction; here the line to Bury and Manchester branches off to the east, with an adjacent station called Preston Road. The branch to the docks also goes through the township. The London and North-western Company's branch line from Edge Hill to the docks crosses the southern end of Walton, with stations called Walton and Spellow. The Cheshire Lines Committee's railway from Manchester and Liverpool to Southport crosses Warbreck, and has one branch turning south-west to the docks and another with a station at Walton village.

The old village (fn. 4) lay near the church, in a street bending round its northern side. The workhouse of the West Derby Union lies about a mile to the north; close by is a cemetery belonging to the parish of Liverpool. Farther north still is the county prison; here executions take place. The cemetery for Kirkdale lies near the Fazakerley border. Greenwich Park Athletic Grounds are near it.

The principal road, already mentioned, at its entrance into the township from Kirkdale, passes through Spellow. The grounds of Spellow House, used as a nursery garden till about twenty years ago, have been covered with streets of cottage houses; the district is now urban all along this road until Aintree is reached. On the west side of the road Clayfield Lane, now Breeze Hill, led from the church to Bootle; in it there is now a reservoir of the Liverpool Water Works.

From Spellow a road led east through Mere Green and thence north to the village. Stanley Park and Anfield Cemetery now skirt the right side of it; on the left is the Everton football ground. (fn. 5) On reaching the village, the road or lane was prolonged northwards to pass Walton Hall and demesne on the lower ground near the Fazakerley border; while another road, Rake Lane or Cherry Lane, ran eastward to West Derby. Near the Everton border two roads led south-eastward to Newsham; between these Stanley Park now lies, with the Liverpool football ground near it. (fn. 6) Further to the south-east the two roads are crossed by that leading through Everton to Kirkby, called Breck Road and Townsend Lane; 'Cabbage Hall,' an old-established inn, (fn. 7) has given a name to the surrounding district, which is also called Walton Breck. Here there is a disused stone quarry. At the extreme south-east, the projecting part of the township is crossed by the main road from Liverpool to West Derby, known here as Rocky Lane. Newsham House, in the modern park, is on the southern side of it. In the neighbourhood are the test house of the West Derby Guardians and a house of the Little Sisters of the Poor. This part of the township has long been urban.

MANOR

At the death of Edward the Confessor Winestan held the manor of WALTON; it was assessed as two ploughlands and three oxgangs of land, and its value beyond the customary rent was 8s. (fn. 8) After the Conquest it is supposed that Roger of Poitou included Walton in a large estate which he gave to Godfrey, his sheriff, by whom it was held at the date of the compilation of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 9) Possibly Godfrey resigned his lands to Count Roger, who in 1094 granted the tithe of his demesne to the abbey of St. Martin of Séez. (fn. 10)

After Count Roger's forfeiture Walton passed with the demesne of the honour of Lancaster until William, son of King Stephen, granted or confirmed fourteen oxgangs of land in Walton, Wavertree, and Newsham, to his servant Waldeve, with the office of master-serjeant or bailiff of the wapentake of West Derby. (fn. 11) The estate, with its accompanying grand serjeanty, continued in Waldeve's descendants for many generations.

His son and successor, Gilbert, was outlawed after the barons' rebellion of 1173–4, (fn. 12) but in 1176 made his peace, proffering the enormous sum of £400 to obtain remission of the sentence. (fn. 13) Between 1189 and 1194, John, count of Mortain, confirmed this estate and serjeanty to Gilbert, to hold by the yearly service of 2 marks. (fn. 14) Gilbert had two sons, Henry and Richard. To the former in 1199 King John confirmed the fourteen oxgangs; (fn. 15) to the latter, known as Richard de Meath, he gave in 1200 'the whole town of Walton with all its appurtenances,' which used to render 40s. farm, for the increased rent of 60s. (fn. 16) Richard de Meath soon afterwards gave four oxgangs here to Richard son of Robert de Walton to be held by a rent of 5s. 6d., which gift was confirmed in 1204 by the king. (fn. 17) For some reason not known Walton was resumed by the crown, so that the grant to Richard de Meath does not appear in the survey of 1212, which recites the minor holding of Henry de Walton, who had made grants in alms to the priory of Birkenhead and to the hospital of St. John at Chester; Hugh son of Gilbert held one oxgang for half a pound of pepper. (fn. 18)

Walton of Walton-on-the-Hill. Azure, three swans argent.

In 1215, however, Richard de Meath proffered four palfreys for seisin of his land of Walton, Formby, and Hale, and the offer being accepted the sheriff of Lancaster was directed to take security for the payment. (fn. 19) This was confirmed by Henry III in 1227. The succession to Richard de Meath's lands is stated more fully under Hale, which passed to his natural children. Walton was given by him to his brother Henry, whom he made his heir. (fn. 20) Henry de Walton, who thus became lord of the whole manor, died in 1241, when his widow Juliana received dower in his lands from his son William; (fn. 21) she failed in a claim against Richard son of Henry in 1246, (fn. 22) but partly succeeded in another against William de Walton for an oxgang and 20 acres of land and 8d. rent in Walton. (fn. 23)

William gave lands in the Breck to Burscough Priory, (fn. 24) and was still living in 1261. (fn. 25) Some of his grants have been preserved, including one for the maintenance of a chaplain in Walton church. (fn. 26) He died before 1266, for Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, gave the wardship of the heir, Richard, son of William, son of William de Walton, to Nicholas de la Hose, who assigned it to Robert de Holand. (fn. 27) The latter was afterwards charged with having permitted waste. (fn. 28) Richard died early, between 1295 and 1298, leaving as heir a son William, a minor. (fn. 29) Subsequently Thomas, earl of Lancaster, granted the lordship of the manor of Walton, with the homage and service of William de Walton, to Sir Robert de Holand. (fn. 30)

William de Walton in 1312 made a settlement of the manor of Walton, except seven oxgangs, with remainder to his son Simon. (fn. 31) Three years later he was one of the supervisors of the assize of arms and array in the county, and next year and in 1319 was returned to Parliament as one of the knights of the shire. (fn. 32) He died 1 June, 1321, holding fourteen oxgangs and the serjeanty; also the manor of Walton by the free service of 60s. a year. His mother Alice was still living and in possession of her dower lands; Simon, his son and heir, who was nearly seventeen years of age, had been married six years before. (fn. 33)

Simon de Walton proved his age in 1326 and had livery of his estates and office. (fn. 34) Between 1339 and 1343 he enfeoffed Gilbert and William de Haydock of lands worth £20 a year, which Gilbert de Haydock in 1357 recovered with damages against Simon de Walton and Eleanor his wife. (fn. 35) Already, however, Robert son of William de Walton (fn. 36) had in 1355 sued several persons for lands in Walton which he claimed against Emma, wife of Richard de Halsall, bastard; she and her husband having, as he alleged, no entry except by Simon de Walton, who had disseised Robert's father. (fn. 37) He afterwards succeeded to the manor and bailiwick, and lived until the beginning of 1400; John de Walton, his son and heir, being then sixteen years of age. (fn. 38)

The heir's claim was impugned by Robert de Fazakerley and Ellen his wife, eldest daughter of Robert de Walton, who alleged bastardy. In August, 1412, Robert with a hundred others came in warlike array to the manor of Walton and dispossessed John de Walton, his wife and children, taking away all the goods and chattels there. (fn. 39) Sir Thomas Gerard and others were commissioned to expel the evildoers and make inquiry, (fn. 40) and in 1418 the sheriff was directed to make proclamation that Sir John de Stanley, Robert de Fazakerley and others, under penalty of £100, should, by authority of Parliament, suffer John de Walton to occupy peacefully his manor of Walton. (fn. 41) The dispute was not settled until 1426–7, when a third part of the manor was awarded to Robert de Fazakerley and Ellen his wife in lieu of her marriage portion. (fn. 42) Thomas de Walton succeeded his father John about 1450–1, and his son, Roger de Walton, was the last of the name to possess the manor. (fn. 43)

Roger had issue two daughters—Elizabeth, who married Richard Crosse of Liverpool, and Margaret, who married William Chorley, of Chorley; they divided their two-thirds of the manor equally, so that the lords became Crosse, Chorley, and Fazakerley. (fn. 44) Richard Crosse left a son Roger, who died in 1530, holding lands in Walton of the king, as well as other estates. (fn. 45) Roger and his brothers all dying without issue, their mother's third of the manor was divided between their sisters Blanche and Margaret. The latter married George Garston of Walton, (fn. 46) and dying childless, the other sister and her heirs had the whole share.

Crosse of Liverpool. Quarterly gules and or, in the first and fourth quarters a cross potent argent.

Blanche Crosse married Roger Breres. (fn. 47) Their son is said to have been Lawrence Breres, who in giving evidence at West Derby in 1570 described himself as fiftyfour years of age. (fn. 48) He died in 1584, holding various lands in Walton and Fazakerley of the queen by a rent of 20s., i.e. a third of that due from the whole of Walton. Roger, his son and heir, was fortynine years of age. (fn. 49) This son survived his father only about nine years, his heir being his son Lawrence, ten years old. (fn. 50) Lawrence Breres also was short-lived, dying in 1612, and leaving a son and heir Roger, aged nine years. (fn. 51)

The family adhered in the main to the Roman Catholic faith, and Roger Breres, as a convicted recusant, paid double to the subsidy in 1628; (fn. 52) he appears, nevertheless, to have escaped the attentions of the Commonwealth authorities, and was still living in 1665, when a pedigree was recorded at the visitation. His eldest son Lawrence was then dead without issue, the heir being a younger son Robert, who had married a daughter of John Molyneux of New Hall in West Derby. (fn. 53) Robert Breres was reckoned among the gentry of the parish in 1688, (fn. 54) but in his will dated April, 1708, is described as 'of Wigan.' (fn. 55) In this he mentions Roger his son and heir, whose wife's name was Bridget, and who had two children, Lawrence and Catherine. These last, in 1730, mortgaged Walton Old Hall to Thomas Moss of Liverpool, and subsequently to Nicholas Fazakerley, who in 1746 purchased it, (fn. 56) no doubt as agent for John Atherton. (fn. 57) John's grandson, John Joseph Atherton, sold it about 1804 to Thomas Leyland, banker, of Liverpool. (fn. 58) It descended like the other Leyland properties. (fn. 59) The hall has lately been pulled down.

Breres of Walton Ermine, on a canton azure a falcon volant or.

The Chorleys' third part of the manor descended with the Chorley estate until 1715, when, being forfeited for Richard Chorley's participation in the rebellion it was sold to Abraham Crompton, (fn. 60) whose descendant Abraham Crompton died at Skerton in 1822, having dispersed most of the Walton estate. (fn. 61)

The Fazakerleys' third part descended in that family until the eighteenth century, when it was sold to James, tenth earl of Derby, and has since descended with the earldom. (fn. 62)

Chorley of Chorley. Argent, a chevron gules between three cornflowers slipped proper.

In 1328 Richard de Northbrook granted his capital messuage at Northbrook in Walton to Thomas, son of Richard de Molyneux of Sefton, (fn. 63) and in 1382 Hugh de Ince of Wigan released all his claim in the same place to Thomas de Molyneux of Cuerdale. (fn. 64) This and other lands granted to younger branches of the Sefton family (fn. 65) appear to have been purchased by the head of the family, and were acquired in the fifteenth century by Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton, with other small holdings in Walton. (fn. 66) These were afterwards reputed a manor. (fn. 67)

NEWSHAM

NEWSHAM with its four oxgangs of land, was part of the original grant to Waldeve de Walton, as already stated. (fn. 68) In the inquest taken after the death of John Bolton of Newsham in 1613, it was found that he held a messuage, with 30 acres of land, &c., of the king in socage, and that Robert Bolton his son was his next heir. (fn. 69) Robert Bolton died 18 October, 1630, his son and heir John being only sixteen years of age. (fn. 70) The family appear to have adhered to the Roman church or reverted to it, for in 1717 John Bolton of Newsham within Walton, registered his entailed estate as a 'Papist.' (fn. 71) Ten years later it is mentioned that his daughter had married a Mr. Molyneux. (fn. 72) It was, perhaps, in this way that the estate came into the possession of a family named Molyneux, one of whom, Thomas Molyneux, held it a century ago and built the present Newsham house. 'In 1846, owing to commercial reverses, the estate was offered for sale and purchased by the Corporation of Liverpool for the sum of £80,000'; (fn. 73) an adjacent estate was also acquired, and eventually both were laid out as public parks, Newsham House being fitted up as a residence for the judges. Queen Victoria resided there during her visit to Liverpool in 1886.

SPELLOW

SPELLOW gave its name to the family who resided there in the fourteenth century; (fn. 74) afterwards escheating to the lord of Walton, (fn. 75) it was acquired by the Fazakerley family, (fn. 76) and descended with their share of the manor until 1728–9, becoming the property of James, tenth earl of Derby. (fn. 77)

Among the earlier families may be named those of Hauerbergh, Quicke or Whike, (fn. 78) Rice and Halsall. (fn. 79) Thomas Harrison, of Walton, as a 'papist' registered an estate in 1717. (fn. 80) The land tax returns of 1785 show that there were then a large number of proprietors; the chief were the rector, John Atherton, Abraham Crompton, Lord Derby, — Howard, and S. H. Fazakerley.

One of the notabilities of the village was John Holt, (fn. 81) schoolmaster, parish clerk, and antiquary, who died in 1801.

An enclosure award for Walton-on-the-Hill and Fazakerley was made in 1763. (fn. 82)

A local board was formed in 1863 (fn. 83) and a school board in 1883. (fn. 84) The township was incorporated within the borough of Liverpool in 1895, when three wards were assigned to it, each with an alderman and three councillors.

The parish church has been described already; a mission room in Rice Lane was opened in 1890. A number of churches have been built in recent times for the worship of the Established Church. These are as follows:—Holy Trinity, Walton Breck, built in 1847; patron, Mr. J. H. Stock. The old St. Peter's, Aintree, at one time the Aintree cockpit, was opened for service as an Episcopal chapel in 1848, but never consecrated. The present church was built in 1877; the rector of Sefton is patron, the marquis de Rothwell having given a large contribution to the building fund on that condition. (fn. 85)

St. John the Evangelist's, Warbreck, was built in 1881, an iron church having been used for ten years. (fn. 86) Emmanuel is a chapel of ease. The patronage is in the hands of official trustees—the bishop and archdeacon of Liverpool and the rector of Walton. St. Margaret's, Belmont Road, a large and dignified church of brick, was erected in 1873; the patronage is vested in the Preston trustees. (fn. 87) St. Luke the Evangelist's, Spellow, dates from 1882, a temporary building giving place to a permanent one in 1892; the bishop of Liverpool collates. St. Simon and St. Jude's, Anfield, is the result of work begun in a room in Anfield House, since demolished, in 1883; an iron church followed in 1884, and on the demolition of St. Barnabas', Toxteth, the money received was applied to the building of the church, which was consecrated in 1896. The patronage is vested in trustees.

The Wesleyan Methodists have several churches. Kirkdale Chapel, in County Road, dates from 1880; Anfield Chapel, in Oakfield Road, from 1885; and Walton Chapel, in Rice Lane, from 1890. There are others at Warbreck Moor, 1899, and Cowley Road, 1903. In Anglesea Road is a preaching room. The United Methodist Free Church has a school chapel, built in 1890. The Primitive Methodists have churches in Walton and Warbreck.

The Baptist church in Carisbrooke Road was opened in 1879; that in Rice Lane in 1888.

In 1870 the Congregationalists began to conduct services in an uninhabited house in Walton Park; a school chapel was opened in the following year, which was enlarged in 1875. Services were also commenced in a mission hall in Rice Lane in 1890. (fn. 88)

In Walton Park the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have a church. For their English-speaking members there are chapels in Spellow Lane and Breeze Hill.

The Presbyterian Church of England has Trinity Church in Rice Lane, built in 1898, the congregation having been formed in 1881.

The provision possible after the Reformation for Roman Catholics is unknown; but as the three squires, down to 1715 at least, and many of the inhabitants (fn. 89) were numbered among them it is probable that missionary priests were able to minister here at intervals. A mission at Fazakerley was served from Lydiate till the end of the eighteenth century. The existing churches, however, are of recent foundation. That of the Blessed Sacrament, Warbreck, originated in 1872 in the saying of mass in a barn, generously lent by a Protestant; the church was opened on Trinity Sunday, 1878. Work at St. Francis of Sales' in Hale Road had an equally humble beginning, a stable being used from 1883 to 1887, when a school chapel was erected. All Saints', Walton Breck, also a school chapel, was opened in 1889. (fn. 90)

Footnotes

  • 1. Including 11 acres of inland water; Census Rep. of 1901. A small part of the township, around Newsham House, was transferred to the West Derby local board district in 1868.
  • 2. The Liverpool end is now called County Road.
  • 3. At the west side formerly stood a house called Sounds.
  • 4. For a curious inn sign at Walton see Lancs. and Ches. Hist. and Gen. Notes, ii, 210.
  • 5. Known as Goodison Park, from the landowner's name.
  • 6. Sherriff's map of 1823 shows a windmill in Anfield Road at the corner of what is still called Mill Lane. Breck House is marked on a map of about 1850 as standing on the Liverpool side of Walton Breck Road.
  • 7. It is marked on Sherriff's map.
  • 8. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 284a. This 'value' is that usually attributed to manors of half a hide or three ploughlands.
  • 9. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 279.
  • 10. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 290.
  • 11. By charter dated at Chinon 23 September, 1199, King John confirmed 'to Henry, son of Gilbert, son of Waldeve, and his heirs, six oxgangs of land in Walton, four oxgangs in Wavertree, and four oxgangs in Newsham, and the masterserjeanty of the wapentake, free and quit by the service of serjeanty for all service and custom, in fee and inheritance, to hold of us and our heirs, &c., as Waldeve his grandfather wholly held the same lands and the said serjeanty in the time of William, count of Boulogne, Warren and Mortain, and of King Henry our father, and as we whilst we were count of Mortain granted and confirmed the same lands and the said serjeanty to Gilbert father of the said Henry'; Chart. R. (Rec. Com.), 23. The six oxgangs were probably in Gildhouses, at the north end of the township. Waldeve, or Waltheof, is the subject of an interesting notice in the Pipe R. of Worces. and Staffs. Henry II, journeying through Staffs. in 1157, halted at Chesterton, and 'took up his lodgings in the house of Waldeve de Walton. The house was burnt—probably owing to the carelessness or insobriety of some of the king's attendants. The king recompensed his host munificently. He gave him by charter thirty solidates of land in Chesterton or its adjuncts.' Pipe R. 4 Hen. II (ed. Hunter), 156; Staffs. Hist. Coll. ii, 81, 87; and Lancs. Pipe R. 111. The master serjeant, in addition to the estates held with the office, received a profit called 'foldage' from cattle impounded in execution at the rate of ½d. for each night in winter and ¼d. in summer. The office was worth £9 13s. 4d. a year in 1321; Inq. p. m. 15 Edw. II, n. 31. In 1166–7 Walton paid 3½ marks to the aid of an expedition to Normandy. Lancs. Pipe R. 35.
  • 12. Ibid. 31, 33.
  • 13. Ibid. 31–49 passim; the last instalment was paid by 1183.
  • 14. Lancs. Pipe R. 106. Gilbert in 1194 rendered 40s. as a fine to have the king's good will after having participated in the rebellion of Count John; ibid. 78. He appears to have had lands in Warwickshire also; Pipe R. 1 Ric. I (ed. Hunter), 123.
  • 15. Gilbert died in 1196, in which year his son Henry owed 40s. for livery of the serjeanty of Derbyshire and appurtenant lands; Lancs. Pipe R. 94. King John's charter of 1199 has been given in a previous note. For it Henry had proffered a palfrey or £5; ibid. 106. In 1206 the king took a fine of 5 marks from Henry de Walton for a reconfirmation of his serjeanty, which had been seized into the king's hands in consequence of an inquiry ordered concerning serjeanties of the honour alienated from the honour of Lanc.; Close (Rec. Com.), 55. See also Lancs. Pipe R. 106.
  • 16. Chart. R. 74; the increase of the rent had only just been made; Lancs. Pipe R. 113.
  • 17. Chart. R. 141; the king received a palfrey or 5 marks for the confirmation; Lancs. Pipe R. 180.
  • 18. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 23, 26; see also 116. The three acres given to Birkenhead were probably in Newsham, where at the dissolution the priory had a fee-farm rent of 15s.; ibid. p. 26, quoting Minis. Accts. 28 Hen. VIII. On the accession of Henry III the serjeanty was seized into the king's hands, but restored a year later; Close (Rec. Com.), 333.
  • 19. Lancs. Pipe R. 252, 257. The woods and the tallage of villeins were reserved to the king, and Richard was not to levy any distress upon that land nor upon the villeins; Fine R. 17 John, m. 7.
  • 20. His charter is printed in Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 138. It was confirmed by Hen. III in 1227 to Henry de Walton, who gave the king a palfrey for it; Orig. R. 11 Hen. III.
  • 21. The date is fixed by the pleadings in the suit against Richard son of Henry, in which it is stated that she had sued for her dower before Robert de Lexington; i.e. at the Assizes in Nov. 1241. The dower agreed upon was four oxgangs in Newsham—two in demesne and two in service—three in Wavertree in demesne and 40 acres of waste in Walton in a fitting place; saving to her the dower she previously had.
  • 22. Assize R. 404, m. 5. This was a claim for dower in the twelve oxgangs in Wavertree, and was defeated by Richard's appeal to the record of the previous settlement.
  • 23. Ibid. m. 8 d.; she recovered the oxgang of land and five acres. The 40 acres agreed upon were afterwards confirmed to her for life, viz. 20 acres between Walton Meadow and Derby Brook, and 20 acres between Wood mill and Kirkby; Final Conc. i, 101. In 1244 Juliana had demanded from William de Walton her younger son Robert, whom he had taken from her custody, and three oxgangs which she had purchased for his maintenance; Cur. Reg. R. 132, m. 4.
  • 24. Burscough Reg. fol. 46; a plat 28 perches long by 8 wide in the townfields, with pasture for 100 sheep with the lambs of two years old, and two oxen, with housebote and heybote in the underwood of Walton for enclosing the land with hedges and making their buildings. The gift was for the souls of himself and his wife Agnes.
  • 25. At Michaelmas in that year he withdrew a plea against Henry de Hale; Cur. Reg. R. 132, m. 4; R. 171, m. 32 d.
  • 26. He enfeoffed William son of Alan de Lente of two oxgangs in Walton, which Alan had held, with pasture for his swine as well at Fazakerley as in the underwoods of Walton, for his homage and service of 3s.; he also granted 4 acres to Henry son of Stephen Bullock; Croxteth D. BB, iv, 1, 2. To John the chaplain of Walton he gave land below the hedge of Gildhouses, within bounds beginning at Small Cross and going down below Gildhouses in a straight line to Wolgarford, saving mills, mines, hawks, and honey outside these bounds; John was to hold it by a payment of 12d. towards the maintenance of a chaplain to celebrate divine service in the chapel of St. Paulinus of Walton, for the health of the soul of Henry III etc.; Kuerden MSS. iii, W 10, n. 13. Another of his grants was to Henry, son of Richard son of William the smith of West Derby; one of the witnesses was Master William de Walton (i.e. the rector); ibid. n. 2. The Gildhouses, reckoned as seven oxgangs, had to provide a horseman and two grooms for the bailiwick of the wapentake; Assize R. 430, m. 28 d.
  • 27. Plac. de quo Warr. (Rec. Com.) p. 387. At this time, 1292, Richard de Walton had been summoned to show by what warrant he claimed to be the king's bailiff of the wapentakes of West Derby and Makerfield and the boroughs of Liverpool and Wigan. He replied by proffering the charters of William, Count of Boulogne to Walter (Waldeve) and of King John to Henry son of Gilbert, and these were considered sufficient; ibid. 382.
  • 28. Assize R. 408, m. 69; a chamber worth 40s. had been thrown down, as well as a grange worth 40s.; and land had been marled and marl sold to the heir's loss. As Richard, lord of Walton, he granted to Patrick Taylor land within the dyke, one of the boundaries being the 'Huthlone' leading to Derby wood; Crosse D. (Trans. Hist. Soc.), n. 4. The homage and service of Richard de Walton and his heirs 'lately recovered from Robert de Holand,' were in 1295 granted to Edmund, Earl of Lanc.; Chart. R. 88, (23 Edw. I), m. 1, n. 5, see Cal. Pat. 1292–1301, p. 148.
  • 29. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, p. 288; 'William, son and heir of Richard de Walton, who is under age and in ward to the king, ought to be bailiff of fee of the Crown and master serjeant of the whole wapentake of West Derby. He ought also to have one horse bailiff, either himself or another, and two under bailiffs on foot to execute the said office.'
  • 30. See the inquest of William de Walton, below; and Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 35; six oxgangs in Walton were excepted. Maud, Lady Lovell, held it of the king in 1423 by fealty only; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 1. Here, as elsewhere, the earls of Derby succeeded the Lovells, and their superior lordship was still recognised in 1650; Chorley Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 41.
  • 31. Final Conc. ii, 14.
  • 32. Palgrave, Parl. Writs, ii (3), 1576; Pink and Beavan, Parl. Rep. of Lancs. 17, 19.
  • 33. Writ of Diem cl. extr. 7 June, 1321; Chanc. Inq. p.m. 15 Edw. II, n. 31; Escheator's Accts, 3/25. The manor of Walton was held of the king in chief, by reason of the lands of Robert de Holand being in the king's hands; worth nothing beyond reprises. There were 88 acres of land in demesne, worth £4 5s. 4d.; 12 acres of demesne meadow, worth 18s.; two-thirds of a several pasture, worth 16d.; a windmill and a watermill, worth 40s.; 4 messuages and 4½ oxgangs of land, worth 13s. 6d.; 5 acres of land demised to divers tenants for terms of years, worth 5s.; of free rents of divers free tenants, 44s. 10½d.; and the render of one barbed arrow and two roses yearly. The widow is called Anilla in Cal. of Close, 1318–23, p. 468. During the minority of the heir the serjeanty of the wapentake, except dower, was committed to William de Chisenhale, who was to render yearly to the exchequer £10, and should the dower cease, 20 marks.
  • 34. Cal. of Close, 1323–27, p. 456. He held the manor of Walton, except 6 oxgangs, by the yearly service of 60s.; Rentals and Surv. n. 379, m. 12. An extent made in 1324 states that 'Simon son of William de Walton had six oxgangs in Gildhouses in Walton, and four in Great Crosby by the service of grand serjeanty, to wit, by being master bailiff in the wapentake of West Derby'; Dods. MS. cxxxi, fol. 35b. There are charters by Simon de Walton from 1326 to 1344 in Kuerden, iii, W 10, 11, n. 8, 15, 17, 18, 23. In 1334 he granted to Alan, son of John le Norreys, senior, land in the Breck; and ten years later he confirmed to the same Alan land which he had acquired from Robert del Edge, the latter holding it by grant of Simon's father, William lord of Walton, in 1314–15; Norris D. (B.M.) n. 50–56.
  • 35. Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 4; many others of Walton, Fazakerley, West Derby, and Liverpool, were joined as defendants; the damages were fixed at £359 13s. 4d. Eleanor was the daughter of Matthew de Haydock; see Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxxviii, 253.
  • 36. Robert's father was probably brother of Simon de Walton. In 1351 William son of William de Walton was one of a number of defendants in a plea concerning land in Walton; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. viij d. Four years later a Nicholas son of William de Walton appeared as claimant against Simon de Walton, ibid. R. 4, m. 25.
  • 37. Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 4, m. 17; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 335. The jury called to try the plea was discharged because the wife of William de Liverpool (who was the sheriff's clerk and had arraigned the panel) was a kinswoman of Robert de Walton; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 16d.
  • 38. Towneley MS. DD (in the possession of W. Farrer), n. 1488. It was found that he held the manor of Walton of the king in chief (the Holland intermediate manor being ignored); three oxgangs in Thingwall, four oxgangs in Walton and Newsham; also 20 acres in Woolton of the prior of St. John by a service of 6s. 8d. yearly; he died 8 Mar. 1399–1400. The writ to the chancellor to take the oath of Emma, widow of Robert de Walton, that she would not marry without licence, and to deliver her her dower, was dated 8 Jan. 1401–2; Add. MS. 32108, n. 1493. John de Walton proved his age and had livery by writ dated 16 Mar. 1403–4; ibid. n. 1497. His wardship had been granted to Robert de Heathcote; Pal. of Lanc. Warrants, 1 Hen. IV, m. 3.
  • 39. Early Chancery Proc. bdle. 6, n. 48; Ellen de Fazakerley claimed by virtue of a settlement made about 1380 by her father before John's birth; the remainders were to Margery her sister, Henry de Walton, and Margaret, bastard daughter of Robert de Walton and afterwards wife of Henry le Norreys. For earlier proceedings between the parties in 1406 see Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 5, 7.
  • 40. Towneley MS. CC. (Chet. Lib.), n. 76.
  • 41. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 15. In 1423 it was found that John de Walton held the manor of Lady Lovell by the service of 40s. yearly; Lancs. Inq. p. m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 1. This service was two-thirds of the full amount due from Walton.
  • 42. Chorley Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 36. In 1429 John de Walton of Walton, 'yeoman,' and his sons Thomas, Nicholas, and James, with other yeomen and knaves of Walton, were indicted by Thomas Bridges, of Fazakerley, for waylaying him at Fazakerley with intent to kill him, and for wounding him and his servants; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 2, m. 9; Kuerden MSS iii, W 11, n. 31.
  • 43. Chorley Surv. p. 37. A Thomas de Walton alias Thomas Crosse, son and heir of John de Walton of Eccleston, granted to Sir Richard de Molyneux of Sefton all his lands, &c., in Walton in 1434; Croxteth D. Bb. i, 13. Roger Walton of Walton, Elizabeth widow of Thomas Walton, and Roger Fazakerley, late of West Derby, were defendants in a suit respecting damage to the turbary at Aintree brought about 1460 by Sir Thomas Harrington; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 21, m. 11 d.
  • 44. See the pedigrees in the Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc.), Crosse, 107; Chorley, 72; and Chorley Surv. 1.c., where it is stated that the deed of partition was dated 4 July, 1494.
  • 45. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. vi, n. 18. In 1509 Roger, son and heir of Richard Crosse, had granted his father all the lands, etc., in Walton and Adlington received from his mother Elizabeth, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Roger Walton, late of Walton; with remainder to John Crosse, chaplain, his brother, for life, and then to Robert, William, and Richard, other brothers; Crosse D. (Trans. Hist. Soc.), n. 171.
  • 46. Ibid. n. 179, 180. In the pedigrees in the Visit. of 1613 the facts are confused (Chet. Soc.), 93, 95.
  • 47. In 1515 an agreement was made between Richard Crosse and Roger Breres, 'yeoman and draper,' concerning the latter's marriage with Richard's daughter Blanche, which was to take place before Whitsuntide; Crosse D. n. 175. The surname has many spellings; Bryers is common. Then in 1533 an agreement was made between James Crosse, the halfbrother of Roger and John Crosse, and George Garston and Margaret his wife, and Roger Breres and Blanche his wife, to observe an arbitration award concerning lands in dispute; ibid. n. 179.
  • 48. Moore D. n. 635a. The pedigree in Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 59, has been followed rather than that of 1613 (p. 93), as agreeing better with the facts as known. The parentage of Lawrence Breres is not determined. He was described as 'of Up-Walton' in 1563; Crosse D. n. 191.
  • 49. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p. m. xiv, n. 8. The Walton holding was described as five messuages, four cottages, twelve gardens, 100 acres of land, 40 of meadow, 100 of pasture, 200 of moor, moss, and turbary, and 21½d. of free rents. There were other lands in Adlington, Ditton, Knowsley, and Rainhill. The will of Lawrence Breres, dated 14 Aug. 1584, was proved on the 27th; in it he mentions Margaret his wife, who was widow of Richard Sandiford; her will was proved in 1594.
  • 50. Ibid. xvii, n. 34.
  • 51. Lancs. Inq. p. m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 231; the two oxgangs, one-third of the ancient six, are duly mentioned. His will is recited in full; in failure of direct male heirs his lands were to go to his brothers Edward and Robert. He died at Orrell near Wigan, 4 Nov. 1612.
  • 52. Norris D. (B.M.).
  • 53. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 59.
  • 54. Kenyon MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), 194, 195. A lease of land by him is in Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 172.
  • 55. Payne, Rec. of Engl. Catholics, 136. Robert's wife at this time was named Elizabeth. In 1716, Lawrence Breres, a priest, had an annuity of £20 out of the Walton Hall estate, and his sister Catherine, a nun in the English monastery at Gravelines, also had an annuity from it; ibid. 121. Lawrence and Roger Breres are named in the will of Jane Johnson of Great Crosby, and as she calls Catherine and Elizabeth Breres her nieces (ibid. 151), they must have been the children of Robert Breres by his first marriage with her sister Mary; Dugdale, Visit. 203. The children of Robert and Elizabeth Breres seem to have been—Thomas, born 1692; Bridget, 1693; Mary, 1696; and Margery, 1698; Payne, op. cit. Bridget Breres of Wigan, spinster, registered an annuity of £10 in 1717; Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 152.
  • 56. Piccope (MSS. iii, 238, 252, 266, 352) gives various particulars from the deeds enrolled at Preston: On 25 Sept. 1730, Lawrence Breres, only son and heir of Roger Breres, deceased, and Catherine Briers of Liverpool, Roger's only daughter, mortgaged the Old Hall to Thomas Moss of Liverpool (2nd roll of George II). On 31 Oct. 1730, Lawrence Breres of Walton, gent. leased the Old Hall to Thomas Cotham; it is described as 'late in the tenure of Roger Briers, deceased, father of the said Lawrence'; ibid. On 30 Sept. 1734 there was another mortgage, to Nicholas Fazakerley (5th roll of George II); and another in 1740 (13th roll); then sale in 1746 (21st roll).
  • 57. Enfield, Liverpool, 113; Gregson, Fragments, 142. The will of John Atherton was proved in 1768, and that of his son John in 1789. The younger John Atherton entered St. John's Coll. Camb. as a fellow-commoner in 1756, aged eighteen; Admissions (ed. R. F. Scott), iii, 150. He was high sheriff in 1780; P.R.O. List, 74. See also Picton, Liverpool, ii, 154.
  • 58. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 285. Thomas Leyland, the founder of Leyland and Bullins' Bank, and thrice mayor of Liverpool, died in 1827, and has a monument in Walton church; ibid. For an account of him see Picton, Liverpool, ii, 141–3.
  • 59. His possessions passed to the Bullins and Naylors; see the account of Leyland of Haggerston in Burke, Landed Gentry.
  • 60. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 452; the price paid was £5,550. The Chorley Surv. already quoted, gives details of the Chorleys' estate in Walton as it was about 1650, 33–55. Their house was the Breck House, and particulars are given of their dealings with it and the demesne lands from 1494, as also of the other tenements, though a portion is missing. Particulars of the chief rents follow, 50–52; these were paid by Robert Mercer of Rice Lane, on behalf of Lord Molyneux, 9d.; by Mr. Fazakerley of Spellow, for Longworth's land, 10d.; by Thomas Blackmore of Kirkdale, for Eyres' and Bootle's lands, 2d.; and by Thomas Meadow of Walton, for Wiswall's land ½d. An estimate of the enclosed lands and commons made in 1639 is also given, with the names of the holders. The enclosed lands are ranged under the headings of 'Near to Walton,' 555 acres in all; 'Near to Walton Breck,' 162 acres; 'Townfields,' 138 acres; 'Warbreck Moor,' 78 acres; and 'In or near to Fazakerley,' 365 acres—1,304 acres in all. Of this Richard Chorley's share was 328 acres, Robert Fazakerley's 179 acres, and Roger Breres' 162 acres. The rector of Walton had 60 (for 62), Lord Molyneux 112, Richard Crosse 60, and fifteen others smaller quantities. The commons included 50 acres in the Breck, 50 in Warbreck Moor, 10 in the Mere Green by Spellow, 4 in the Rakes at Walton town's end, and 1 in the Laws in Walton; also 100 acres in Warbreck Moor and Fazakerley; excluding encroachments. The total thus recorded amounts to 1,519 acres of long measure, or about 3,340 statute measure, as compared with 3,653, the acreage of the two townships.
  • 61. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 285.
  • 62. Enfield, Liverpool, 113.
  • 63. Croxteth D. Bb. i, 1. The reversion of the dower of his mother Emmotta was included. Anilla, widow of William de Walton, released all her claim in the same; ibid. n. 2.
  • 64. Ibid. Bb. i, 10.
  • 65. Simon son of William de Walton in 1331 granted to Henry son of Richard de Walton, Margery his wife, and their heirs, land called Huddefield; ibid. Bb. iv, 14. Three years later, Walter de Sherualakes confirmed to Thomas de Penrith two messuages and a field called Huddefield, and other lands, with housebote, heybote, &c., paying 1d. rent to the chief lord, n. 16. Simon de Walton confirmed this, n. 17. In 1342 Thomas de Penrith and Richard del Riding made a grant in Walton to Richard, son of Richard de Molyneux of Sefton, with remainders to John, Robert, Thomas, Peter, and Simon, the brothers of Richard; and Isabel, widow of Simon de Walton released her claim to dower in the same; ibid. Bb. i, 3–5. Later in the same year Gilbert de Haydock leased lands in the Huddefield to Henry de Stonebridgeley and John the carpenter; ibid. Bb. iv, 21, 22. Nicholas del Sand of Crosby in 1348 gave to Alexander, son of Adam the Shepherd of Orrell, land in the Rice, extending from the high road in the east to the greens on the west; this in the following year Alexander sold to Thomas de Molyneux of the Edge; ibid. Bb. i, 6, 7.
  • 66. Ibid. Bb. i, 11–18, dated from 1429 to 1450; the lands had belonged to the Bootle, Bullock, and Walhill families and others. John son of William de Bootle acquired land here in 1363, and in 1406 Joan widow of William de Bootle granted to John her son lands in the Rice; in 1443, Hugh son of John de Bootle of the Rice released all his claim in his father's lands to Sir Richard de Molyneux; ibid. Bb. iv, 25, 31; i, 15. The Bullock estate went back to the end of the thirteenth century, when Henry, son of Stephen Bullock, had a grant from the lord; ibid, iv, 2. In 1304 Robert son of Henry Bullock had a grant in the waste, lately approved, from William, son of Richard de Walton; the boundaries mention the old field of Elias Bullock by the Outlane of the Overenesse and Quenilda's croft; the service was to be 12d. a year; ibid. n. 3. A few months later, Roger de Harbergh (? Harbreck) granted a parcel of his land to Robert Bullock; n. 4. William, son of Robert Bullock in 1321 granted to his father the lands received from William de Walton; n. 8. Three years later, the same grantor gave lands to his brother Richard and Margery his wife; n. 10, 11. Richard son of Robert Bullock also occurs in 1334; n. 15. John Bullock, who had children named Richard, Thomas, and Margaret, appears in 1393–4; and it was probably the last named Richard Bullock whose lands were sold in 1431 to Sir Richard de Molyneux; ibid. K. 5; B. i, 11. William de Walhill had lands in 1391, and Margery del Edge, his widow, sold her lands in the Rice, by Small Breck Moor, to William, son of John Rose, in 1439; and in 1450 William Rose sold to Sir Richard de Molyneux; ibid. B. iv, 29, 34; i, 17, 18. The lands of Robert del Edge occur in 1306, and of Alan del Edge in 1328; ibid. iv, 5, 12.
  • 67. Lancs, lnq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 389; the jury could not state the tenure.
  • 68. See note above. The ancient spelling was Newsum, 1212; in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the initial was often dropped and the word became Ewzam, Ewsome, &c.
  • 69. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 245. The land was held 'of the manor of East Greenwich,' so that it may have been in part the former holding of Birkenhead Priory. The priory's land was sold by the crown in 1557–8; Pat. 4 & 5 Phil. and Mary, pt. xii. Robert Bolton of Newsham was buried at Walton, 18 Dec. 1593. Catherine, daughter of Richard Molyneux of New Hall, was wife of John Bolton of West Derby, and Jane, daughter of Ralph Mercer of West Derby married Robert Bolton of Newsham; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 203, 197.
  • 70. Towneley MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 56. This John Bolton of Newsham is mentioned in the Chorley Surv. of 1639, p. 53, as holding 40 acres in Walton.
  • 71. Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, p. 125; the value was £70 5s.
  • 72. N. Blundell's Diary, p. 229.
  • 73. Picton, Liverpool, ii, 430.
  • 74. Before 1300, Richard, lord of Walton, enfeoffed Richard son of Robert of 4 oxgangs of land called Spellow field, lying between Kunsacre and the ditch of Colesgrave on the east and north, and the boundaries of Kirkdale and Bootle, with acquittance of pannage of his own and his tenants' swine in the underwoods of Walton and of the multure of his house in the mill of Walton; Kuerden, ii, fol. 243. The grantee is probably the Richard de Spellow who attested several local deeds, one being dated 1284; Moore D. n. 513, &c. William de Spellow, his son, followed him, 1306; ibid. n. 511, &c.; Final Conc. i, 208; Assize R. 1321, m. 8 d. A John de Spellow occurs in 1361; Croxteth D. Bb. iv, 24.
  • 75. In 1340 a messuage and ploughland in Walton were in the king's hands, owing to the outlawry for felony of Thomas de Spellow, who had held them of Simon de Walton. After a year and a day had elapsed Simon was put in seisin of the same by the sheriff; Cal. of Close, 1339– 41, p. 552.
  • 76. It appears to have been part of the third share of the manor given to Ellen, wife of Robert de Fazakerley.
  • 77. Deed of sale by Robert Fazakerley and others; Knowsley muniments. The property included Spellow House with 40 acres of land in Walton, and land in Rosemary or Fazakerley Street and neighbourhood in Liverpool. The name is preserved by Spellow Lane, part of the boundary between Kirkdale and Walton, and by the railway station.
  • 78. In 1292 Henry son of John de la Wyke unsuccessfully claimed certain land against Richard son of William, son of William de Walton, asserting the defendant entered into the land not through John Gernet but through his grandfather; Assize R. 408, m. 31.
  • 79. No detailed accounts can be given of these families, but a few particulars may be gained from the notes. For a case in 1334 involving many members of the Rice family see Coram Reg. R. 297, m. 3 d.
  • 80. Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 111.
  • 81. A biography with portrait is given in Trans. Hist. Soc. vi, 57.
  • 82. Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 47. The Act was passed in 1759.
  • 83. Lond. Gaz. 10 March, 1863.
  • 84. Ibid. 2 Jan. 1883.
  • 85. Information of Rev. W. Warburton, formerly incumbent.
  • 86. For district see Lond. Gaz. 2 Sept. 1881; and for endowment 11 Aug. 1882, and 8 June, 1883.
  • 87. Ibid. 20 Oct. 1874; endowment, 12 Nov. 1875, and 18 Feb. 1881. The first incumbent, the Rev. John Sheepshanks, was appointed bishop of Norwich, 1893.
  • 88. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. vi, 216.
  • 89. For a list of recusants in 1641 see Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xiv, 237, and for the numbers in 1717 and 1767 ibid. xviii, 215. Spellow House had a chapel and was 'full of hiding-places'; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Caths. ii, 233.
  • 90. Liverpool Cath. Ann. 1901.