The parish of Prestwich with Oldham: Chadderton

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: Chadderton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp115-121 [accessed 4 December 2024].

'The parish of Prestwich with Oldham: Chadderton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed December 4, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp115-121.

"The parish of Prestwich with Oldham: Chadderton". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 4 December 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp115-121.

In this section

CHADDERTON

Chaderthon, Chaderton, c. 1250; Chaterton, 1291; Chatherton, 1304; Chadderton, 1468.

This township measures about 3 miles from north to south, and less than 2 miles across; its area is 3,138 acres. (fn. 1) The surface is hilly, but the general slope is from east to west; the highest points, 500 ft., are in the extreme north-east. The Irk and some tributary brooks flow through the township. The growth of Oldham has given an urban character to the east and south-east borderland; and on the west a small town has grown up round Middleton Junction. The population in 1901 was 24,892.

The road from Manchester to Oldham passes near, and sometimes within the south-eastern boundary. Three roads from Middleton to Oldham go through the township from east to west, with numerous crossroads. (fn. 2) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from Manchester to Rochdale, opened in 1839, traverses the western half of it, going northwards, and has a station about the centre, called Middleton Junction, from which lines branch off west and east to Middleton and to Oldham. The same company's Manchester and Oldham line runs along the eastern boundary, and has a station at Hollinwood. The Rochdale Canal also passes through the township.

Chadderton Heights, Chadderton Fold, and Brichin Lee are hamlets in the northern part of the township; Foxdenton lies to the east of Middleton Junction; Black Lanc, Nimble Nook, Butler Green, and Coldshaw (fn. 3) on the south-east border; Hale Moss and White Moss on the south. (fn. 4) Here also was the district called Theale Moor. (fn. 5)

The boundaries of Chadderton have varied from time to time. Butterworth, writing in 1817, calls attention to the then ancient bounds, shown on his map, as contrasted with his verbal description; Hollinwood had in 1713 been taken into Oldham. (fn. 6) There was also a small detached portion, lying under Copster Hill on the southern border of Oldham, into which it has now been absorbed.

There is a tumulus close to Chadderton Hall. Remains of Roman roads are found.

The soil is sand, with subsoil of clay and gravel. The land is mostly pasture, the dairies being the chief agricultural industry. There are numerous cotton mills on the Oldham side; also collieries, iron works, chemical works, and brick works. The coal pits are mentioned frequently in the 17th century. (fn. 8) In 1833 hats were made.

A local board was formed in 1873; (fn. 9) this has become since 1894 an urban district council of eighteen members, chosen by three wards—North, Central, and South. The public library, built by Mr. Carnegie, was opened in 1904. The other public buildings include town hall, baths, and isolation hospital.

One of the Oldham cemeteries is at Springbrook, on the Middleton road.

There were 121 hearths liable to the tax in 1666. The largest houses were those of Edmund Ashton, thirteen hearths, and Alexander Potter, seven. (fn. 10)

Manor

From the earliest record of it, the survey of 1212, it appears that CHADDERTON was a member of the Montbegon or Tottington fee, (fn. 11) and so passed to the Lacys and the Crown. At the date mentioned, having been given to the 'ancestors' of Gilbert de Notton, lord of Barton in right of his wife, it was held by him as 12 oxgangs of land, by the service of the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 12) It is supposed to have been held under him or his immediate successor by Geoffrey de Chetham, thus passing to the Traffords. (fn. 13) About 1255 Gilbert [de Barton] son of Sir William de Notton, released to Sir Edmund de Lacy the homage and service of Richard de Trafford for the manor of Chadderton and its appurtenances. (fn. 14) From this time, therefore, the Traffords held directly of the lords of Tottington and Clitheroe. (fn. 15)

Richard de Trafford made a partition of his estates, and thus Chadderton came into the possession of his younger son Geoffrey, who adopted the local surname. (fn. 16) It is difficult to decide as to the succession at this point; a Henry de Chadderton seems to have been in possession in 1292, (fn. 17) yet Geoffrey de Chadderton, either the same or his son, held the manor in 1 302. (fn. 18) William de Chadderton, son of Geoffrey, followed; he was living in 1332. (fn. 19) His son Geoffrey left a daughter and heir Margery, who in or before 1367 married John de Radcliffe, (fn. 20) illegitimate son of the rector of Bury. The husband died in 1407, having survived his wife and their son John, but continuing to hold Chadderton by the courtesy of England until his death. The tenure was described as of the king as Duke of Lan caster by the fourth part of a knight's fee, and by 3s. yearly (for sake fee) and 2s. for ward of Clitheroe Castle. (fn. 21)

Chadderton. Argent a griffon segreant gules.

The heir, John, grandson of Margery, was only fourteen years of age in 1407. He proved his age in 1415, (fn. 22) was made a knight, and was living in 1431 when he made a settlement of his manor of Chadderton, his wife at that time being Elizabeth. (fn. 23) His heir, a son Richard, died in 1436, (fn. 24) leaving a son a little over a year old, (fn. 25) and three daughters, Joan, Margery, and Elizabeth, who succeeded their brother and divided the inheritance among them. Joan married Edmund Ashton, of the Ashton-underLyne family; their descendants, the Ashtons of Chadderton Hall, held the manor till the end of the 17th century. Margery married Ralph Standish of Standish, and a third of the manor long remained in the possession of this family. Elizabeth married Robert Radcliffe of the Ordsall family, and their descendants settled at Foxdenton.

Ashton of Chadderton. Argent a mullet sable pierced of the field.

Joan Ashton died in August 1478; her husband Edmund continued in possession of her third part of the manor until his death in March 1489–90; their grandson Edmund son of John was then eleven years of age. The mesne lordship of the Traffords, ignored in some preceding inquisitions, was now exercised, Sir John Trafford taking the wardship of the heir. (fn. 26) Edmund Ashton married Janet, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Sir James Harrington, (fn. 27) and died on 5 March 1542–3, leaving a son and heir James, then forty-eight years of age. In addition to the third part of Chadderton, he held the manor of Shuttleworth, and lands in Chadderton, Shuttleworth, Oldham, and Rochdale. (fn. 28) James Ashton died 25 August 1549; his son Edmund, married in his grandfather's lifetime to Anne daughter of Ralph Prestwich, was over twenty-eight years of age. (fn. 29) This son Edmund left the family estate unaltered at his death in August 1584, and was succeeded by his son James, forty-nine years old. (fn. 30) A pedigree was recorded in 1567. (fn. 31)

James Ashton married Dorothy, one of the four daughters and co-heirs of Sir Robert Langley of Agecroft, and received with her the advowson of Prestwich and various lands; and although they died without issue, the Ashton family appear to have retained Dorothy's share of the Langley property. James Ashton was sheriff in 1590–1. (fn. 32) At his death in 1612, he was succeeded by his brother Richard's son Edmund, only eleven years of age. (fn. 33) He served as sheriff in 1627–8. (fn. 34) He fought on the king's side in the Civil War, being one of those who surrendered at Oxford in 1646, and afterwards compounded for his estate. (fn. 35) He died early in 1650, leaving a son James, (fn. 36) who had a family of nine children. The eldest son, Edmund, was stated to be seventeen years of age in 1664, when a pedigree was recorded. (fn. 37) The ultimate heir of the Chadderton estates was the youngest son, William, born about 1649, who was the rector of Carlton in Lindrick and of Prestwich till his death in 1731. He sold the family inheritance, but left a considerable fortune, divided between his daughters, Katherine, wife of John Blackburne of Orford, and Dorothy, wife of Sir Darcy Lever of Alkrington. (fn. 38)

Horton of Chadderton, baronet. Gules a lion rampant argent charged on the breast with a boar's head couped azure, a bordure engrailed of the second.

Chadderton Hall, with its third part of the manor, was purchased in 1684 by Joshua Horton of Sowerby, Yorkshire, who came to reside here. (fn. 39) His son Thomas, sometime Governor of the Isle of Man, was succeeded by his son William, high sheriff in 1764, (fn. 40) when he was made a baronet. He died ten years later, his son Sir Watts Horton succeeding. (fn. 41) On his death in 1811, Chadderton went to his brother, the Rev. Sir Thomas Horton, (fn. 42) and on his death without sons to Sir Watts's only daughter, Harriet Susanna Anne, who married Major Charles Rees of Kilmaenllwyd, Carmarthenshire, and died in 1827, leaving a son Horton and two daughter. Major Rees or Rhys retained Chadderton till his death in 1852. It was sold to the Lees of Clarksfield family in 1865, and the trustees of the late Colonel Edward Brown Lees are the present owners. No manor is now claimed. (fn. 43)

Chadderton Hall

Chadderton Hall (fn. 44) is a brick-built 18th-century house with stone dressings, the principal front facing south with projecting end wings, connected on the ground story by a well-designed classic screen of coupled Tuscan columns carrying entablature and balustrade. The design is one of some merit, and together with the stables and other outbuildings which are built at right angles on either side, forms a good architectural whole. The roofs have flat hips and are covered with green slates, and the window bars and the sashes remain. The interior contains a good staircase with rich renaissance detail. Of the appearance of the former old hall nothing is known, but the house was probably rebuilt in its present form about the middle of the 18th century by Sir William Horton. (fn. 45) The grounds are now used as pleasure gardens.

Of the third part of the manor held by the Standishes of Standish little can be said. The family do not seem to have resided here, but the share is duly mentioned in inquisitions (fn. 46) and settlements down to 1660. (fn. 47) Two years later it was sold, with Royton, to Thomas Percival and his brother Richard, and descended with Royton for some time. (fn. 48)

In 1787 Thomas Butterworth Bayley of the Hope in Pendleton was one of the chief landowners. (fn. 49)

Radclyffe of Foxdenton. Argent two bends engrailed sable, a label of three points gules.

FOXDENTON, (fn. 50) the family seat, gives a name to the third of the manor which belonged to Elizabeth Radclyffe and descended to her son William, who died in 1507, leaving as heir his son Thomas, then six months old. In this case also the wardship was claimed by the Traffords in right of their mesne manor. (fn. 51) In 1567 Thomas Radcliffe made a settlement of his manor, and dying in the same year was succeeded by his son William, then forty years of age. (fn. 52) William, who forfeited the manor to his brother John in ten years, (fn. 53) died in 1590 without issue. John, dying in 1587, was succeeded by his daughter Margaret, (fn. 54) who at her death in 1590 was also the heir of her uncle William; she married Richard Radcliffe of Newcroft, a younger son of Sir William Radcliffe of Ordsall, and left as heir a son William, nine years of age in 1591. (fn. 55) He was living in 1642, when he made a settlement of his estates. (fn. 56) He left three sons, one of whom, Sir William, fought on the king's side in the Civil War, and was knighted. (fn. 57) He was with Lord Hopton's force when it capitulated at Truro in 1646. (fn. 58) He died soon afterwards, and was succeeded by his brother Alexander, (fn. 59) but the ultimate heirs were two daughters — Mary, who married John Byrom of Salford, and Susan, who married Alexander Potter of Manchester. (fn. 60) These ladies bequeathed Foxdenton to their distant cousin Alexander Radcliffe, great-great-great-grandson of the Sir William Radcliffe of Ordsall from whom they were descended. (fn. 61)

In this branch of the family—the spelling Radclyffe being used—Foxdenton has descended to the present time. (fn. 62) Alexander was duly succeeded by his son, grandson, and great-grandson, each named Robert. The last of them, dying in 1854, had a son and heir Charles James, who was in 1882 followed by his son Mr. Charles James Radclyffe, born in 1839, of Foxdenton and Hyde near Wareham. (fn. 63) Foxdenton ceased to be the family residence about a century ago. (fn. 64)

Foxdenton Hall

The hall is a plain classic building with projecting end wings and steep hipped roofs, erected probably about the beginning of the 18th century. The first hall was described as a 'noble and lofty edifice of the 16th century fronting northerly, with two wings, overlooking a beautiful lawn. (fn. 65) Of this house, however, nothing remains, and a stone under the steps of the present hall on the north side, which bears the date 1620, together with the initials w.r. and the Radcliffe coat of arms, seems to indicate a rebuilding of some portion of the house at the date mentioned. (fn. 66) The sash windows retain their wooden bars, and the elevation has a certain dignity now much impaired by neglect and change of surroundings. A gatehouse, named in the year 1651, has now disappeared. (fn. 67)

Manor courts were held in the 17th century by the three lords jointly, as it would appear. (fn. 68)

The church at Prestwich had land in Chadderton of the gift of Gilbert de Barton; a moiety of it was granted by Robert the rector to Richard son of Gilbert de Scolecroft. (fn. 69) The Hospitallers also had land in the township, (fn. 70) and grants to Stanlaw and Cockersand Abbey will be found recorded in the notes. (fn. 71)

Apart from the lords of the manor there were not any freeholders of note before the 17th century. (fn. 72) About that time the Scholes family came into notice; they held land in Okeden or Ogden of the lords of the manor. (fn. 73) The mills are mentioned in several ancient deeds. (fn. 74) Matthew Fold is mentioned in 1691. (fn. 75) John Ashton of Cowhill was one of the victims of the 'Peterloo Massacre' in 1819. (fn. 76)

There are several places of worship in Chadderton. (fn. 77) The earliest in connexion with the Established Church—St. Margaret's, Hollinwood—is now in Oldham. It was followed by St. Matthew's, 1848–57; the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester present alternately. (fn. 78) Then came Christ Church in 1870, the patronage being vested in five trustees; it has a chapel of ease called Emmanuel, and some mission rooms. (fn. 79) St. Luke's, to which the Bishop of Manchester collates, was built in 1888: the district was taken from St. Matthew's.

The Wesleyan Methodists have churches at Chadderton Fold and Middleton Junction, and a preaching room at Cowhill.

The Baptists have a chapel at Mills Hill, on the border of Tonge.

Footnotes

  • 1. 3,082 including 39 of inland water, according to the census of 1901.
  • 2. 'This township is truly remarkable as containing a great number of roads, on the borders of which are erected numerous cottages, which are all denominated lanes, viz., Burnley Lane, Stock Lane, Block Lane, Old Lane, Denton Lane, Thompson Lane, Dowry Lanc [Drury Lanc], Mought Lane, Turf Lanc, Tonge Lanc, and Bawtry Lanc'; Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1817), 163.
  • 3. The right of way through Coleshaw Lanc, on payment of ½d. a year, was recognized in 1672; Shaw, Oldham, 178.
  • 4. 'This township extends to a white stone, which formerly was fixed near the middle of White Moss'; Butterworth, op. cit. 163. A perambulation of the bounds between Chadderton and Nuthurst was ordered in 1520; Towneley MS. CC, no. 834.
  • 5. See further in the account of Moston. Leases of land in Theale Moor are given in Shaw, Oldham, 50, 173, 174, 193.
  • 6. Butterworth, 167; the boundary here was: 'From Werneth old mill to Collier stone, near Cash yate, from thence in a direct line, cutting off about five yards of the south-east corner of the chapel yard [St. Margaret's], by Grace well, to the corner house above Grocock's, and so on by the Bowling green aforesaid.' Collier Hill indicates one of these boundaries; Grace Well has perhaps been absorbed in the canal reservoir. A survey of Hollinwood was made in 1614; Shaw, op. cit. 56. The bounds as. settled in 1713 are given in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 220–2, from the RainesMSS. in Chet. Lib. xxiv, 255.
  • 8. See a letter from Mrs. Byrom and Mrs. Potter in 1683, printed in Shaw, Oldham, 190.
  • 9. Lond. Gaz. 21 June 1873.
  • 10. Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lancs.
  • 11. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 61. In 1324 it was returned that Thomas Earl of Lancaster had held the fee in right of Alice his wife; the sake fee due from Chadderton was 3s.; ibid, ii, 102.
  • 12. Inq. and Extents, loc. cit. It descended to Gilbert's son Roger (who died in 1241), and was in 1234–5 granted by Roger to Gilbert de Barton (his nephew) as the manors of Chadderton and Denton in Lancashire with mills and the land of Crompton; Feet of F. Hen. III, Div. Cos. no. 66. Gilbert de Notton granted to Stanlaw Abbey land in Chadderton within bounds beginning at the Constable's Oak, and going by Netherlee Brook and the Moss, 'as the moss and the dry land divide,' to Tache Lache and the bounds of 'Caule Shaw' (Coldshaw), and by a lache on the south back to the oak; Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc), i, 48. In 1549 two parts of a messuage in Chadderton were held by James Ashton of the king, by reason of the attainder of the Abbot of Whalley, the service being 4d. yearly; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, 29. A house called Thatch Leach lies about a quarter of a mile to the south-east of Foxdenton Hall. In 1242 Gilbert de Barton held the fourth part of a knight's fee in Chadderton, of the Earl of Lincoln's fee of Tottington; it belonged to the dower of the countess; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 153. In 1324 the judge of Chadderton paid 4s. to the steward of the court at Tottington in respect of a fine for respite of suit; Lancs. Ct. R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 9. In 1626 three constables were required to attend the Tottington court; Shaw, Oldham, 70.
  • 13. See the account of Cheetham.
  • 14. Duchy of Lanc. Anct. D. L.1221; the date is fixed by the name of the first witness—'Henry de Wingeham, Chancellor of the King,' 1255–8. Gilbert de Barton's succession had been in 1224 disputed by Roger de Notton; Cal.Pat. 1216–25, p. 488.
  • 15. The Trafford tenure is that recognized in the feodaries, &c. In the De Lacy Inq. of 1311 (Chet. Soc. p. 19) it was stated that Henry de Traffbrd held of the earl the manor of Chadderton by the service of one knight's fee, and suit of court. In 1346 Isabel Queen of England held it of the heirs of Alice de Lacy as the fifth of a knight's fee, paying 3s. by the hands of Henry de Trafford her tenant, and 2s. for castle ward; Add. MS. 32103, fol. 146. In 1445–6 Sir Edmund Trafford held Chadderton for the fifth part of a knight's fee; the relief due for it was 20s., but he said that he was in ward, and no relief was paid; Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. The reduction from the fourth part of a knight to the fifth may have been due to the separation of Foxdenton. In 1856 Chadderton still owed suit and service to the court baron of the honour of Clitheroe; E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 13.
  • 16. Margery, widow of Geoffrey de Chetham, in 1275 claimed dower in 20 acres in Moston and Chadderton against Geoffrey de Chadderton; De Banco R. 10, m. 35. Chadderton is not noticed in the settlement of Geoffrey de Chadderton's estate in 1278, unless the 'Couentre' is a mistake for it; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 153. Geoffrey de Chadderton was a juror in 1282; Inq. and Extents, i, 244. In 1291 Thomas de Cowlishaw complained that Geoffrey de Chadderton, the chief lord, had deprived him of common of pasture in 100 acres of moor in Chadderton, appertaining to Thomas's free tenement in Foxdenton; but he did not succeed; Assize R. 1294, m. 9. In the same year Geoffrey de Chadderton made a claim against William son of Robert de Staynringes, and Christiana his wife, respecting his hereditary estate; ibid. m. 11 d. The defendants may have been the William de la Hacking and Christiana his wife of the fine above referred to.
  • 17. Henry son of Henry son of Richard de Trafford claimed the manor of Chadderton against Henry de Chadderton, on the ground that his grandfather had demised it to the defendant while of unsound mind. As in relating he claimed against Geoffrey de Chadderton, the defendant Henry was acquitted ; Assize R. 408, m. 40 d.
  • 18. Inq. and Extents, i, 313. In 1301 Geoffrey de Chadderton was one defendant to a plea of novel disseisin; and Geoffrey son of Geoffrey de Chadderton, was a defendant in another case; Assize R. 1321, m. 3. In 1304 Geoffrey de Chadderton the elder claimed certain lands as his inheritance against Adam de Rossendale and Margery his wife; Assize R. 419, m. 4. In the following year Geoffrey de Chadderton called upon Henry son of Henry de Trafford to warrant him in the possession of certain lands in Chadderton claimed by the rector of Prestwich; De Banco R. 153, m. 292 d. Between 1301 and 1305 Geoffrey de Chadderton and Joan his wife acquired an estate in Ancoats; Mamecestre (Chet. Soc), ii, 250 ; Final Conc, ii, 1. Geoffrey de Chadderton and Geoffrey his son attested a Roy ton charter in 1310. Geoffrey, perhaps the younger, was living in 1318, when Richard his son is mentioned; Mamecestre, loc. cit. He died before 1320, in which year his son William held Foxdenton; ibid. 279.
  • 19. The descent here followed is that recorded in the inquisition of 1408, recited in 1511; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, 96. Geoffrey de Chadderton had several other sons, e.g., Alexander and Roger; Assize R. 1435, m. 37. They had lands in Moston and Nuthurst in 1320; Mamecestre, 279. Alexander was living in 1329; Assize R. 427, m. 3. William de Chadderton, who, as shown above, succeeded before 1320, was in 1332 among the plaintiffs regarding land in Chadderton and Oldham; Assize R. 1411, m. 12 d. In the same year Margery, widow of William de Chadderton, contributed to the subsidy; Exch. Lay Sub. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 30.
  • 20. John de Radcliffe, 'the parson's son of Bury,' and Margery his wife were plaintiffs respecting waste in Chadderton against John de Huxley and Beatrice his wife in 1367, and against Sir Henry de Trafford in 1369; De Banco R. 426, m. 35; 435, m. 126. Margery seems to have been living in 1386; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 525, 526.
  • 21. Inquisition recited, as above stated, in Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 96. The clear value was 20 marks. The other Chadderton estate named is a ploughland in Witton. John de Radcliffe seems to have married a second time; for the feoffees of John son of Roger de Barlow in 1405 granted lands in Manchester and Spotland to John de Radcliffe for life, with remainders to Robert, Alice, Jemima, Joan, Ellen, and Elizabeth, his children—probably by Margery de Barlow, after whose death the trustees had them.
  • 22. He was born 26 Jan. 1392–3, at Medecroft, and baptized in Bury Church, the sponsors being John de Radcliffe of Chadderton and Margaret del Heap; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 543.
  • 23. Final Conc. iii, 97. Elizabeth, the widow of Sir John, died 15 Aug. 1442; her daughter and heir was Margaret, wife of Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, then aged about thirty years; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1489.
  • 24. The writs of Diem clausit extr. after the deaths of Sir John de Radcliffe of Chadderton and of Richard his son were respectively issued on 7 Oct. and 13 Nov. 1436; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 37.
  • 25. The inq. p.m. is in Towneley MS. DD, no. 1487; in this the mesne lordship of Sir Edmund Trafford is recognized; the clear value of the manor was £30. Richard and Elizabeth his wife had jointly held messuages and lands in Spotland.
  • 26. Two records remain; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, 74,80. In the former, Edmund Ashton is stated to have died 20 Mar. 1489–90; in the latter, on 29 Aug. 1488. The third part of the manor and lordship of Chadderton, with ten messuages, 200 acres of land, &c., were held of the king as Duke of Lancaster by the third part of the fourth part of a knight's fee, and were worth £20 a year clear Sir John Trafford sold the marriage of the heir to Edward Ashton, clerk, and other members of the family, for £46 13s. 4d. The inquisitions seem to have been taken, on the heir's coming of age, in 1500 and 1501, and to have been connected with the Traffords' mesne lordship and its appurtenant right of wardship and marriage. This mesne lordship having been ignored in the inquisition the king, as duke, put in a claim to the £46 13s. 4d.; to the 'utter undoing' of the said Edward Ashton and the others; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 47. The matter again came up in the cases of Thomas Radcliffe and Ralph Standish, in 1511 and 1512; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, 96; iii, 2.
  • 27. The agreement for the marriage was made in 1491; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 3, no. 47. On the division of the Harrington of Wolfage estates in 1517 James Ashton of Chadderton, son of Janet, received lands in Brixworth valued at £15 15s. a year, as his portion; Norris D. (B.M.).
  • 28. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. viii, 4; the rent of 12d. for sake fee is mentioned. Edward Ashton, brother of Edmund, had the manor of Shuttleworth for life. James Ashton had special livery of his lands in 1545; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 550. A detailed account of his possessions at the time is among the Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 60.
  • 29. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, 29. The provision for the son's wife is recorded in the previous inquisition. Edmund son of James Ashton had special livery in 1550; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 550.
  • 30. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, 66. A settlement of the manor, &c., was immediately made by James Ashton; Pal of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 56, m. 33. The will of Edmund Ashton, dated 1583, is printed in Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 169, 170.
  • 31. Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc), p. 20; this records the marriage of James Ashton.
  • 32. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 33. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 224. Annuities of £10 each were settled on Richard Ashton in 1569, and on Edmund Ashton in 1577, by their father Edmund and elder brother James; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 65, 66. The will of James Ashton is printed in Shaw, Oldham, 53. Richard Ashton died in May 1609, holding lands in Oldham; his wife Anne survived him, and his son Edmund was eight years of age; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 145. In addition to their lands the Ashtons had a lease of the tithes of Oldham chapelry, and presented to the curacy; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 112.
  • 34. P.R.O. List, 73. A settlement of his third part of the manor was made in 1624; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 103, no. 18. He paid £25 in 1631 on declining knighthood; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 216. An early will (1623) of his is printed in Shaw, Oldham, 63.
  • 35. Roy. Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 91; he had taken the National Covenant and the Negative Oath.
  • 36. James Ashton of Chadderton was buried at Oldham 1 May 1651. John Vicars in Dagon Demolished says about Mr. Ashton that he was 'once a desperate Malignant in the first war against the Parliament, but afterwards, having made his peace, taken the Engagement, and turned a great stickler for the present times, was made a justice of peace and became one of Mr. Constantine's greatest enemies, 'sequestered his benence(Oldham), banished him, and otherwise persecuted him. His death, by 'such a languishing sickness as made him daily pine away, so as no means or physic could help him,' was regarded as a divine punishment, and it happened the day before or day after Mr. Constantine was to have appeared before him, as justice; Local Gleanings Lancs. and Cbes. ii, 17.
  • 37. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 18. Edmund Ashton is said to have been killed in a duel 17 March 1664–5; he was gentleman of the bedchamber to the Duke of York, and lieut.-colonel in the Horse Guards; Butterworth, Oldham, 157. The story must be false, for Edmund Ashton, having attained his majority, appeared by proxy at Ightenhill manor court on 15 April 1665, to be admitted to lands at Padiham previously held by his grandfather Edmund; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 8. The age, as recorded by Dugdale, may therefore be some years too little. Edmund Ashton was still living in 1684, when he concurred with the other lords of the manor in granting leave 'to dig, delve, search for and get coals, to sink, tunnel, and make pit shafts,' &c., on the North Moor, on the west side of the Mere Ditch; Shaw, Oldham, 188.
  • 38. See the account of him among the rectors of Prestwich. By his will (1728) he made provision for the payment of £4,000, the marriage portion of his daughter Dorothy; and by a codicil (1731) left to her and her son Ashton Lever, and the heirs male, his chapel in Prestwich Church.
  • 39. These particulars are from the Horton pedigress in Burke's Commoners, i, 284, with later particulars from Landed Gentry, under De Ferry of Kilmaenllwyd; G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, v, 128; Shaw, Oldham, 193, &c., and Canon Raines in Notitia Cestr. (1849), ii, 114. William, son of Joshua Horton of Chadderton and Mary his wife, was baptized at Oldham 12 October 1686. Other children were also baptized there, showing that the family resided.
  • 40. P.R.O. List, 74.
  • 41. He was high sheriff in 1775. There was a recovery of the third part of the manor in 1778, Sir Watts Horton being tenant; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 628, m. 7a. Sir Watts Horton's conciliatory conduct at a time of bread riots in Oldham is described in E. Butterworth's Hist. of Oldham (ed. 1856), 138.
  • 42. Sir Thomas was the owner in 1817; Butterworth, Oldham, 155. He died in 1821. A large number of letters and papers of the Ashton and Horton families came into the possession of Canon Raines, and are now in the Chetham Library, vols. xxxii-xxxv of his MSS.
  • 43. Information of Mr. Thomas Heywood.
  • 44. A view of the hall (1794), with a short description, is given in Dr. Aikin's Country Round Manch. 241.
  • 45. a Raines' notes to Gastrell's Notitia (Chet. Soc. xix).
  • 46. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 126; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, 76; after the death of Margery, wife of Ralph Standish and then of Thomas Radeliffe, one of the daughters and heirs of Richard Radcliffe of Chadderton, who died in May 1476 seised of the third part of the manor and various lands and messuages held of the king as of his duchuy of Lancaster by knight's service, Sir Alexander her son was heir. Sir Alexander died in 1507 holding the same third by the same service; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, 25. Ralph his son and heir in 1512 came forward to correct the finding of the inquest, stating the descent of the manor and establishing the Traffords' mesne lordship ; ibid, iii, 2. In 1540 the king granted the Earl of Derby an annual rent of 20 marks issuing from the third part of the manor of Chadderton, together with the wardship and marriage of Ralph son and heir of Alexander Standish, a minor; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxii, 161 d. Edward Standish in 1556 sought a division of 100 acres of land, &c., which he held in Chadderton jointly with Thomas Radcliffe of Foxdenton; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 202, m. 13. About the same time Mary Standish, widow, complained of the interruption of a road between Chadderton and Alkrington ; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 305. Edward Standish, who died in 1610, held the third part of the manor; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 185. In this and other inquisitions the service is erroneously stated as the third part of a knight's fee, instead of the third part of a fourth part.
  • 47. E.g. Pal. of Lanc Feet of F. bdle. 75, no. 11 (1610); bdle. 81, no. 8 (1613); bdle. 121, no. 5 (1632); bdle. 165, no. 8 (1660).
  • 48. Shaw, Oldham, 157. The Standish inheritance seems to have been sold piecemeal. In 1668 Edward Standish sold land, &c., to various tenants; ibid. 169.
  • 49. Land Tax returns at Preston. The other principal contributors were Sir Watts Horton and Mr. Radclyffe's executors.
  • 50. As above stated, Gilbert de Barton sold his right in Chadderton to the superior lord, Edmund de Lacy, about 1255. Foxdenton, however—or Denton simply, as it was anciently called—was not included in this sale, but transferred to the Grelleys, lords of Manchester, and held of them by the Chadderton family—e.g. by Geoffrey de Chadderton in 1282, and by William de Chadderton in 1320, as 1 oxgang, by the rent of 1d.; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 247; Mamecestre, 279. From this time Foxdenton seems to have merged again in Chadderton, its connexion with Manchester being forgotten. Gilbert de Barton granted to the canons of Cockersand land in Denton, with the usual easements in the vills of Chadderton and Denton, and acquittance of pannage for their pigs in the wood of Lyme. The bounds recited mention Ridley Syke, Blacklache, the Church land, Hazelhead Brook, and Ripley Brook; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 732.
  • 51. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 139; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, 36 ; iv, 96. From this it appears that Elizabeth had married again, and in 1497 gave John Duncalf for life a messuage and 40 acres in Chadderton. William Radcliffe's feoffment, made shortly before his death, is recited, making provision for his various children. Two of these, John and Roger, were illegitimate, and their lands reverted at their death in 1527 and 1528 to Thomas Radcliffe; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, 60. The inquisition after William Radcliffe is also recorded in Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 113, m. 19, in connexion with the Trafford claim to the wardship of the heir. At m. 18 is the Standish case. Margery Kirke, widow of William Radcliffe of Chadderton, died in 1521, Thomas the son and heir being then described as over sixteen years of age; she had held eight messuages, 40 acres of land, &c., in the township; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, 38.
  • 52. Ibid, xi, 25. The settlement recited in it granted the manor, after the death of Thomas, to the use of his eldest son William for sixty years, then to the use of any wife of William for her life, then to any son of the said William and his heirs male; then to the second and third sons of Thomas in the same way. William was to 'leave and forbear the company of Margery Hawkirk, with whom he was suspected to lead an ungodly life,' and within ten years marry 'such gentlewoman or other woman being of honest name and fame,' approved by the trustees; see ibid, iii, 13. The will of Thomas Radcliffe is printed in Piccope's Wills (Chet. Soc. ),ii, 163–4; his sons William and John, and daughters Katherine, Ellen, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Anne, are named, and three bastard children. He desired to be buried in Oldham Church, near his wife.
  • 53. In accordance with the father's settlement.
  • 54. Inq. p.m. last cited, and xiv, 54. John Radcliffe, who was 'of Gisburn,' in 1580, in consideration of the marriage between his daughter Margaret and Richard Radcliffe of Newcroft, gave his manor and lands in Chadderton to trustees for their benefit. John had various disputes with his elder brother William (see Ducatus Lanc. [Rec. Com.], iii, 177, 512), who in 1589 laid claim to the estate, but seems to have been defeated. William made settlements of the third part of the manor, with various messuages, water-mills and dovecotes, lands, &c., in Chadderton, Foxdenton, Oldham, and Glodwick, in 1587 and 1588; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 49, m. 54; 50, m. 118. William Radcliffe died 30 June 1590, holding two messuages, &c., in Glodwick, his heir being his niece Margaret; ibid, xv, m. 23. His nuncupative will is printed in Wills (Chet. Soc. new ser.), i, 108. He left his goods to his wife and his son Walter.
  • 55. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, 25. She died 28 November 1590. There were a younger son and six daughters, of whom one grew up. Her husband died 13 January 1602–3, and was buried in Flixton Church, where there is a brass.
  • 56. He granted to Sir Alexander Radcliffe of Ordsall and other trustees his capital messuage of Denton and the manor of Chadderton, with the demesne lands; the coal mines at Huntclough; part of a water corn-mill and two kilns, and various tenements; the capital messuage called Newcroft in Urmston; for the use of his son and heir Robert, with remainder to younger sons William and Alexander. The father reserved to himself rooms at Foxdenton and an annuity of £40, and made provision for his younger sons and his daughters—Margaret, Elizabeth, Susan, and Mary; Shaw, Oldham, 93.
  • 57. He was made a knight in the field, at the pursuit of Essex's army, 1 September, 1644; Metcalfe, Knights, 202.
  • 58. He had a colonel's commission from Prince Charles. After the surrender he had leave to return to Foxdenton, Lord Fairfax reporting that he was 'very civil and fair in his demeanour,' the country commending him 'for preserving them often from the injuries which they were subject unto by the unruly soldiers.' His estates were, of course, sequestered by the Parliament, but he compounded, stating the annual value of the estates as £235, and claiming a mitigation of the fine on the ground that he was neither 'a papist in arms,' nor a participant in the 'rebellion of Ireland.' He made his will in 1647, desiring to be buried in Oldham Church, and making provision for his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Rowland Egerton of Farthinghoe; Shaw, Oldham 96–8, 103–8. Dame Elizabeth's will, dated 1650, is printed ibid. 116, 117.
  • 59. In 1652 a settlement was made by Alexander Radcliffe and Mary his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 152, m. 65. The remainders, after his issue, were to Susan, then wife of Alexander Potter of Foxdenton, to Mary Radcliffe, to Sir Alexander Radcliffe of Ordsall, &c.; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), 4/72. See also Cal. Com. for Compounding, ii, 1445. He died about eighteen months after this, for his widow Mary joined in a mortgage of Foxdenton in 1654; Shaw, Oldham, 146. By this time his sister Mary was the wife of John Byrom of Salford. A fine respecting a third part of the manors of Glodwick, Oldham, and Chadderton in 1662 may relate to the Radcliffe inheritance; the deforciants were John Deane and Magdalen his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 168, m. 118.
  • 60. Major Byrom and Dr. Potter were in possession in 1667, when the manor court allowed John Hall, with their permission, to build a cottage, which might stand 'so long as those who live therein do not beg, but labour for their living'; Shaw, op. cit. 169.
  • 61. The Potters resided at Foxdenton. In 1681 Alexander Potter was assessed there; ibid. 186. He and his wife made a demise of their moiety of Foxdenton in 1684; ibid. 192. He died in 1691, aged eighty-eight, and was buried in Oldham Church; ibid. 205. His widow was buried there 25 January 1696–7; ibid. 218. In 1692 there was a recovery of Mary Byrom's moiety of the manor; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 228, m. 97. On 11 May 1693 Susan Potter of Foxdenton and Mary Byrom of Salford, widows, made their wills, devising Foxdenton and other estates to trustees, for the benefit of John, grandson of Sir Alexander Radcliffe of Ordsall, and then of Alexander, elder son of Captian Robert Radcliffe, late of Withenshaw—he was killed in a duel in 1686; Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), iii, 617—and his sons in tail male; then of Edward, younger son of Robert, &c.; Shaw, Oldham, pp. 210–13. Alexander was at this time about fifteen years of age. Abstracts of a number of Radclyffe leases from 1707 onwards are printed in Shaw's Oldham, pp. 243, &c. On 6 January 1725–6 Alexander Radclyffe of Foxdenton leased to Edmund Radclyffe the messuage called Cowper's Tenement, wood and timber and mines of coal and stone being excepted, but with reasonable hedgebote, &c. The rent was to be 21s., one day's ploughing (or 4s. 6d.), the carriage of twenty baskets of coal to Foxdenton Hall (or 2s. 6d.), one day leading dung (or 2s. 6d.), four days' 'shearing' in harvest (or 2s. 8d.), three days' harrowing (or 3s.), two fat hens (or 1s. 4d.), at death the best beast; two young oaks or ashes were to be planted each year; ibid. 284. A 'fifteenth' levied in 1720 is printed on p. 272. A settlement was made in 1730 by Alexander Radclyffe, Elizabeth his wife, and Robert Radclyffe; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 305, m. 97.
  • 62. Robert Radclyffe paid a duchy rent of 2s. in 1779; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, 14/25 m.
  • 63. For pedigrees see Burke's Commoners, iv, 399; Landed Gentry; Foster, Lancs. Pedigrees.
  • 64. Butterworth says 'some time since,' writing in 1817; Oldham, 146.
  • 65. a Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xi, 162.
  • 66. b Ibid. The stone was probably a doorhead.
  • 67. c Raines' notes to Gastrell's Notitia (Chet. Soc. xix). Raines notes in 1849 that numerous family portraits still hung in the house.
  • 68. Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 223, from Raines MSS. xxiv, 107.
  • 69. Hornby Chapel D. The bounds described began on the east side of the springs, and mention the land of Robert de Hulton, the lache under Lonesedge, Romesdene, Hennerode; Ytheyc; and Tinte Carr. The rent payable was 1d. By another grant the parson of Prestwich gave to Robert son of Gilbert de Scolecroft and his heirs by Amaria daughter of Peter de Hopwood all the land in Chadderton granted in pure alms by Gilbert de Barton to God and B. Mary of Prestwich at a rent of 2s.; Booker, Prestwich, 250; Agecroft D. 5. Richard de Scolecroft, son of Gilbert son of Wllet, granted to his son Alan the half of the land he had purchased from Sir Gilbert de Barton, and to hold as freely as the grantor had held it of the rectors of Prestwich; Booker, op. cit. 252. The bounds of this land are identical with those of the first-mentioned deed, so that Gilbert de Barton, after selling to the Scolecrofts, had granted his lordship to Prestwich Church. Then Alan son of Richard de Scolecroft gave this land to his brother Robert; ibid. 251. William de Scolecroft in 1415 demised his lands in Chadderton to Robert de Buckley for five years; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), 3/35. The family took their name from a place in the north-west corner of the township, now Scowcroft. In 1304 Master William de Marklan, the rector, claimed two messuages, 31 acres of land, and 7 acres of meadow in Chadderton and Radcliffe as the free alms pertaining to the church of Prestwich; the defendants, who held it as a lay fee, were Richard de Radcliffe, Geoffrey de Chadderton, Margery de Scolecroft, and Adam her son; De Banco R. 149, m. 255; R. 158, m. 158 d, &c. Adam de Scolecroft and Adam son of Amaria contributed to the subsidy of 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 30.
  • 70. It is mentioned in the list of their lands in 1292; Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 375.
  • 71. These monastic lands are probably the lands in Chadderton held by Thomas Holt of Gristehurst in 1560; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, 46.
  • 72. In 1537 the free tenants numbered 12, 13, and 19 in the Standish, Ashton, and Radcliffe lordships; Shaw, Oldham, 13. An assessment for the fifteenth in 1577 is printed in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, iii, 61–3, from the Raines MSS. xxiv, 275. It gives the names of the contributors ranged under the three lordships.
  • 73. 'For goods' James Scholes contributed to the subsidy of 1526; Shaw, Oldham, 16. William Scholes contributed to that of 1541; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 145. Various members of the family holding under the Standish part of the manor paid to the fifteenth in 1577, John Scholes contributing as a 'mesne tenant'; Shaw, 29. John Scholes died in 1589, holding a messuage and 23 acres called Okeden of the lords of the manor in socage by a rent of 6d., leaving a son and heir John, aged over thirtyeight in 1619; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 147. This John Scholes died in 1630, holding the same lands, and leaving as heir his son William, over twenty-three years of age; Towneley MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), p. 1081–2. Robert Scholes contributed to the subsidy in 1622; Misc. (ut sup.), i, 157. Richard and William Scholes were two of the four presenting the names of those liable to be assessed in Chadderton in 1641; Shaw's Assessment, 14; see also Shaw, Oldham, 153, 155, 171. 'The late Mr. S. Scholes's estate, near Earnshaw Lane,' which separates Moston and Chadderton, is mentioned in Butterworth's Oldham (1817), 165. James Scholes, 1671, issued a half-penny token; Lanc. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 75. With regard to their holding it may be noted that Richard de Okeden paid 2s. 2d. to the subsidy of 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. 30. The other 'mesne tenants' in 1577 were the Mill, James Whitehead, Henry Brearley, and Francis Buckley. The Whiteheads and Buckleys occur in other lists. John son and heir of Richard Chadderton in 1507 demised his tenement called Colesha (Coldshaw) for twenty-one years to Nicholas Whitehead and Margery his wife; Raines D. (Chet Lib.), 4/48. Stockfield (Hibbert) and Birchen Bower (Robinson) are mentioned in 1817 as recently seats of the owners; Butterworth, op. cit. 162, 163.
  • 74. In 1448 John Huntington, warden of Manchester, was arbitrator in a dispute between the rector of Prestwich and the lords of Chadderton as to tithe of the mill. Elizabeth daughter of Richard de Radcliffe, one of the co-heirs, was not then of full age; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), 3/40. Twenty years later an agreement was made for the leasing of the 'old mill'; Edmund Ashton, Thomas Radcliffe, and Thomas Duncalf also agreed to make no new mill during the term, but would require their tenants to grind at the old one, as before; ibid. 3/42. The three lords in 1581 ordered their tenants to grind at the Chadderton mill and not elsewhere, under a fine of 6s. 8d.; Shaw, Oldham, 31. Further orders were made in 1599 and 1617; Oldham Notes and Gleanings, ii, 163 (from Raines MSS. in Chet. Lib. xxiv, 58). Edmund Ashton in 1669 leased to James Wilson of Poppythorn in Prestwich, clothier, the fulling mill in Chadderton; Raines D.
  • 75. James Taylor was the owner or lessee; Shaw, Oldham, 209.
  • 76. E. Butterworth, Oldham (ed. 1856), 170.
  • 77. The 'curate at Chadderton,' mentioned in 1622, was perhaps the curate of Oldham; later curates lived in Chadderton; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 67. The name of the place may be wrongly given.
  • 78. Lond. Gaz. 22 Oct. 1844. The original building of 1848—a temporary one, of wood—was burnt down; the present church was consecrated 9 November 1857.
  • 79. For district assigned, ibid. 28 Mar. 1871.