Townships: Rivington

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

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Citation:

'Townships: Rivington', 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/pp286-294 [accessed 15 October 2024].

'Townships: Rivington', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed October 15, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp286-294.

"Townships: Rivington". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 15 October 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp286-294.

In this section

RIVINGTON

Rowinton, Rawinton, Revington, 1202; Ruhwinton, 1212; Riuiton, 1226; Rowynton, Rouynton, 1278 and common; Roynton, 1332; Rouyngton, 1400; Revyngton, Ryvington, xvi cent.

The township occupies the western and northern slopes of Winter Hill, which rises to the height of 1,498 ft. near the meeting-place of the boundaries of Rivington, Horwich, Halliwell, and Sharpies. A spur of this hill shoots out westward and then southward, terminating at the Pike or Peak, 1,158 ft. high; from this the ground slopes rapidly to the west and south, and more gently to the south-east. On the Pike is a tower built in 1733, and said to mark the position of an older beacon. (fn. 1) Fine views are obtained from this point. The western boundary is about 3 miles from north to south, and is formed by the reservoirs of the Liverpool Waterworks, begun in 1847, and completed ten years later. (fn. 2) The area of the township is 2,768 acres. (fn. 3) The population in 1901 numbered 421.

The little village of Rivington, with its church and chapel, lies near the embankment separating the upper and lower reservoirs; the hall is further to the east. A large part of the hill-side, from the village to the southern boundary, has been formed into a park, which was in 1904 presented to the corporation of Bolton by Mr. W. H. Lever, the present lord of the manor. (fn. 4)

The principal road is that along the foot of the hill from Horwich to the village, where it is crossed by a road from Anderton over the embankment and eastward to Belmont and Bolton. There are some other old roads, and new ones have been formed in connexion with the great park.

The River Douglas rises on Winter Hill and flows south-west, forming part of the southern boundary; while the Yarrow, rising on the same hill, forms the northern boundary.

There were calico-printing works at Knoll. (fn. 5) Veins of lead and calamine were formerly worked. (fn. 6) The soil is clayey, with subsoil of gravel, and grass is the chief crop.

On Noon Hill is an ancient mound.

The township is governed by a parish council.

There were 62 hearths in this township liable to the tax in 1666, but no house had as many as six hearths in it. (fn. 7)

Manor

The manor of RIHNGTON in 1212 was held of the king in thegnage by the Pilkingtons of Pilkington; it was assessed as 6 oxgangs of land, and a rent of 10s. was paid. (fn. 8) About the end of the 13th century an eighth part was acquired by the Hulton family, so that in 1324 Roger de Pilkington held seven-eighths of the manor at a rent of 8s. 9d., and Richard de Hulton held the other eighth by 1s. 3d. (fn. 9) This partition appears again in 1346 (fn. 10) and 1445. (fn. 11) From this time the descent of the manor cannot be traced satisfactorily. After the forfeiture by the Pilkingtons of Pilkington in 1485 the thegnage rents appear to have been collected directly from the tenants in possession, (fn. 12) and at the beginning of the 17th century five-eighths was held by the Pilkingtons of Rivington, (fn. 13) a fourth part by the Lathoms of Irlam, (fn. 14) and the other eighth by the Shaws of Heath Charnock. (fn. 15) Even in the 14th century a fourth part was held by the Westleigh and Birkenhead families, (fn. 16) and descended to the Birkenheads (fn. 17) and Chisnalls (fn. 18) in the 16th century, and to the Hamerton's (fn. 19) or Lathoms. (fn. 20)

The principal local family was that just named— the Pilkingtons of Rivington. (fn. 21) In 1202 Alexander de Pilkington, William his brother, and Alice his sister, secured from Thomas de Rivington a release of his right in 2½ oxgangs in Rivington and Worsthorne, all the parties claiming by descent; Thomas, however, received the oxgang in Worsthorne, the Pilkingtons retaining the land in Rivington, which was a fourth part of the manor. (fn. 22) At the same time Henry de Pilkington released to Alexander his claim to 3 oxgangs of land in the townships named. (fn. 23) In 1212 Alexander de Pilkington, the head of the family, held the manor of the king, and the sons of his uncle or stepfather held the land of him. (fn. 24) It is clear, therefore, that the land was much divided. Nothing is known of it for the greater part of a century, (fn. 25) but then another Alexander de Pilkington is found purchasing lands (fn. 26) in Rivington, apparently as an estate for his younger son Richard, (fn. 27) who settled there as the immediate lord of the place, or at least of the seven-eighths held by the Pilkingtons. Richard married Ellen, daughter of William de Anderton, who had a share of Rivington from her father; (fn. 28) she was living in 1301, (fn. 29) and Richard was living in 1310. (fn. 30) He was succeeded by his son Robert, (fn. 31) who had a son Richard married to Joan, daughter of John de Heaton, (fn. 32) and other children. Though a considerable number of the family deeds have been preserved the history of the manor is unknown for about thirty years, (fn. 33) from 1350 to 1380, and then another Robert de Pilkington is found in possession. His parentage is not stated. (fn. 34) His first wife was Alice, daughter of Adam de Hulton; and then he married Alice de Astley; but in 1379 this union was dissolved, on the allegation of kinship with his first wife; (fn. 35) and Robert soon afterwards married Katherine, daughter of John de Ainsworth, then settled near the Peak. (fn. 36)

Pilkington. Argent a cross flory voided gules.

Their son Alexander succeeded to the manor about 1403, (fn. 37) and in 1420 was found to hold seven parts of Rivington of Sir John de Pilkington in socage by the service of 5s. yearly. (fn. 38) He married Katherine, daughter of Richard de Crook, and was succeeded by his son Ralph. (fn. 39) From his first wife, Margery daughter of William de Lever, Ralph was divorced in 1432, (fn. 40) and he then married Margaret, sister of William Ambrose, (fn. 41) by whom he had a son and heir Robert. Ralph Pilkington died in 1476, holding messuages and lands in Rivington of the king as of his duchy. (fn. 42) Robert the son and heir was born about 1450. Another inquisition was taken in 1507. (fn. 43)

One of Robert's first acts was to build a hall and cross-chamber at Rivington. (fn. 44) He lost the Derbyshire estates, the Ainsworths establishing their right after some violent proceedings. (fn. 45) Robert married Joan daughter of Thomas Tyldesley. (fn. 46) and died in September 1508, holding lands of the king; the service is not stated in the inquisition. (fn. 47) Richard, his son and heir, then twenty-four years of age, is said to have built or rebuilt the chapel at Rivington, and was the father of several sons, who distinguished themselves as zealous Protestants in the second half of the century; one of them, James, was Bishop of Durham from 1560 to 1575, and founded the grammar school at Rivington in 1566. (fn. 48)

An inclosure of the waste made in 1536 gives an indication of the holdings of the three lords of the manor; for, out of 20 acres, Richard Pilkington had I 3, James Shaw 3, and George Lathom 4. (fn. 49) Richard Pilkington married Alice daughter of Lawrence Asshaw, (fn. 50) and at his death in 1551 was found to hold a messuage and chapel at Rivington by a rent of 12d. and suit of court; (fn. 51) George, his son and heir, was of full age. (fn. 52) The fortunes of the family were declining, and after the death of George's son and heir Robert in 1605, (fn. 53) the estates were sold.

Seal of Rivington School, 1566
The arms are those of Bishop James Pilkington, who bore Argent a cross patance voided gules, on a chief vert three suns or, impaled with the cross and lions of the bishopric of Durham.

The Pilkington manor was purchased in 1611 by Robert Lever of Darcy Lever and Thomas Breres of Preston. (fn. 54) The former, who died in 1620, left his moiety of the manor and Old Hall, with appurtenances, to his younger son Robert, a great benefactor of Bolton School. (fn. 55) Dying unmarried Robert's estate went to a son of his elder brother James, a third Robert Lever. (fn. 56) The new possessor lived on till 1688, when by his will his lands, &c., in Rivington, Heath Charnock, and Walton-le-Dale went to his daughter Jane, who had married John Andrews of Little Lever in 1648. (fn. 57) Their heir was their son John, whose son and heir, also John Andrews, purchased the other moiety of the manor in 1729. (fn. 58)

This second moiety descended from Thomas Breres, who died in 1617, (fn. 59) to his son Thomas. On his death in 1673 Thomas Breres was followed by his brother John, a clergyman, sometime incumbent of Chorley. (fn. 60) The Breres family lived at Rivington, and several stones bear the initials of William Breres, the son and heir of John, and his wife Martha, showing their alterations in the hall buildings. William died in 1723, and his son John sold his moiety of the manor in 1729, as stated above. (fn. 61)

After their purchase the Andrews family seem to have removed from Little Lever to Rivington.61 John Andrews, the purchaser, died in 1743, (fn. 62) and was succeeded by his daughter Abigail, wife of Joseph Wilson of Bolton. In 1765, in default of issue, the estate reverted to the male line, the heir being Robert Andrews, grandson of Abigail's uncle Robert. The new owner pulled down the old hall and built the present house. On his death in 1793 the manor descended to his eldest son Robert, who died unmarried in 1858, then to the younger son John, who died in 1865, and afterwards to John William Crompton, grandson of their sister Hannah Maria, wife of Robert Fletcher of Liverpool, whose daughter Lucy in 1834. married Woodhouse Crompton.

In 1900 Mr. Crompton sold his interest in the manor and his estate in the township, including 2,100 acres of land, to Mr. William Hesketh Lever, of Thornton Hough in Wirral. Mr. Lever laid out about 360 acres as a park for his native town of Bolton. In 1902 the Corporation of Liverpool sought to buy all the land to preserve the purity of the Rivington water supply, and ultimately succeeded; they own the soil of the park, but have to maintain it.

RIVINGTON HALL is said to have been originally a wood and plaster building in the form of a quadrangle, inclosing in its centre a square court and approached by an open gateway. (fn. 63) No part of this timber structure, however, remains, though the quadrangular plan is still retained with an open side on the east. The house seems to have been partly rebuilt in stone at the end of the 17th, or beginning of the 18th century, though it is possible that the timber building did not extend to more than one portion of the whole. The north wing of the present building is of stone and bears on the lower parts of the wall to the courtyard, which has several built up low mullioned windows, a stone with the date 1700 and initials WBM [William Breres and his wife Martha (Gill)], while over a doorway on the west side of the court are the initials W B (William Breres) and the date 1694. The upper parts of both these wings have been rebuilt in stone in later times. The greater part of the house was pulled down in 1774 by Robert Andrews, who built the present west front, a substantial two-story structure, in red brick with a pediment. The date of erection and the initials of Robert Andrews are on the spout heads. The south wing is a later 19th-century addition also in brick. On the stable buildings to the east of the house are two door heads, one dated 1713 with the initials WBMI (William and Martha Breres and their son John), and the other 1732 with the initials IAA (John Andrews and Abigail Crookes his wife).

On the north-east of the hall is a very fine old barn 105 ft. 8 in. in length, divided into seven bays by six pairs of massive crucks standing on stone bases, varying in size from 10 in. to 15 in. by 18 in. to 20 in. The width of the main span is 25 ft. 6 in., but 'aisles' have been added in a recent restoration making the total width of the building at present 57 ft. 6 in. The timbers are now wholly exposed, new exterior stone walls having been erected during the restoration, porches added in the north and south sides, and the whole re-roofed with stone slates. The barn is now used as a place of refreshment in connexion with Lever Park.

The Hospitallers had lands in Rivington. (fn. 64)

Among the families occurring in the early deeds and pleadings are those of Rivington, (fn. 65) Broadhurst, (fn. 66) Knoll, (fn. 67) Gamelsley, (fn. 68) and Unton. (fn. 69) The only freeholder named in 1600 was Robert Pilkington, who was a justice of the peace, (fn. 70) but other names occur in the inquisitions, (fn. 71) and several are described as yeomen in the Protestation List of 1641–2. (fn. 72) From the returns of the hearth tax of 1663 it appears that the hall, the largest house, had only four hearths; there were three houses with three hearths, and seven with two. (fn. 73)

In 1796 the executors of Mr. Andrews paid nearly a third of the land tax. (fn. 74) At the appropriation of the tithe rent-charge in 1845 the estate of Robert Andrews was 1,777 acres, of which only 70 were cultivated as arable; moor and waste lands occupied a little more than half the whole, while the demesne was 200 acres.

Great House Farm is a two-story stone-built house with mullioned windows and stone-slated roof, erected probably in the middle of the 17th century. The principal front faces east, and has a small gable, and there are two dormer gables on the west side. The building was extended northward about the end of the same century or beginning of the 18th, and a further extension in the same direction but on a different axis (swung round to north-east) is probably ' the house newly erected on the Great House Farm,' leased to the master of the Grammar School in 1767. (fn. 75) North of the house are the remains of a fine old barn recently restored and used as a tea-house for excursionists, but reduced to three bays in length, carried on two sets of crucks measuring 9 in. by 20 in. on stone bases, with a span of 22 ft. The barn, which is now only 42 ft. in length, was apparently at one time of much greater size; like the Old Hall barn it is a very fine specimen of ancient timber construction and has been similarly restored, with a west porch and side aisles, which have increased its width to 48 ft. 9 in. The outer walls have been rebuilt, and the roof newly covered with stone slates. A short wing with a gable facing south was added on a date subsequent to the original building, (fn. 76) but this appears to have been removed during the restoration. In the west gable is preserved an old stone with the initials A TAR (Thomas, Alice, and Robert Anderton) and date 1702, probably the year of an extension or rebuilding of the outside wall.

'The south end of New Hall Farm, containing a fine large chimney-stack and a spiral stone staircase, is possibly as old as the beginning of the 16th century, while the interior oak and plaster partitions look even older. On the east side of the house, over a loft now used for hens, on a portion of the building which is clearly later than the south end, is the date 1642.' (fn. 77)

Church

The church of HOLT TRINITY is situated on abrupt rising ground commanding a fine view westward over the reservoirs and the country beyond. It is a plain stone building of little or no architectural interest consisting of a chancel 13 ft. 6 in. long by 15 ft. 6 in. wide, nave 55 ft. 6 in. by 27 ft. 6 in., and south porch. The latter is a modern addition built in front of the old south-west door of the nave, and a small vestry has also been added outside a corresponding door on the north side. The walls are of sandstone in uneven courses, with large quoins, many of which measure 3 ft. 6 in. in length, and some at the west end over 5 ft. The roofs are covered with modern green slates, and finished with overhanging eaves, and the coping of the stone gables has been renewed in recent times. At the west end is an octagonal stone bell-turret on a square base, with conical roof and good 18th-century cock vane, carried out partly in front of the wall on corbels.

The present structure appears to be a rebuilding, about 1666, of the 16th-century chapel of Richard Pilkington. Many repairs have been carried out, however, in recent times, and the building underwent a thorough restoration about twenty-five years ago. (fn. 78) The building externally has little architectural interest, the work being of the plainest description, with no plinth to the walls, and all the windows have chamfered jambs and mullions and plain heads without hood-moulds. The chancel has a window of five pointed lights with a transom at the east end under a segmental head, and a three-light square-headed window on the north and south with round-headed lights. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders dying out at the springing.

The nave has three square-headed windows of three-lights on each side, the lights on the south being round-headed, while those on the north are square. Between the second and third windows from the east on each side is a doorway, and there is a door at the west end; there is no west window. The roof is divided into five bays by four original oak beams which have recently been exposed by the removal of a plaster ceiling. The roof of the chancel being lower than that of the nave there is a small window over the chancel arch.

An oak screen divides the chancel from the nave, but only a small portion is original. It appears to be of 15th-century date, and may have belonged to the former chapel. The screen has four openings with traceried heads on each side of the centre space, buttressed posts and embattled top. The pulpit, which is of oak and semi-octagonal and plain, stands on a stem against the north-east wall of the nave. It is probably of 16th-century date, and is a very good specimen of the work of the period, each side having two linen-pattern panels, and with an embattled and carved cornice. There is a good 18th-century chandelier. The rest of the fittings are modern, the old square oak pews having been taken out some years ago and modern benches substituted. The organ is at the west end above the entrance. Over the north door is a copy of a curious genealogical painting relating to the Pilkington family, (fn. 79) and there are brasses to John and George Shawe of Anglezarke (died 1627 and 1650).

To the west of the church stands a small stone building measuring 13 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft. 6 in. outside, called the bell-house. It is supposed to have been built originally to receive the great bell purchased in 1542 from the church at Wigan, which is said to have weighed '1080 poundes.' (fn. 80) The structure has been re-roofed and is now used for storage purposes. The Wigan bell has disappeared, and there is now one modern bell in the west gable turret. The oldest gravestone is dated 1616, and there are some with very good raised lettering.

The plate consists of a silver chalice of 1799, a large plated paten with inscription: 'The Rev. John Fisher, minister, William Latham, chapel warden 1788,' and a plated flagon, probably of the same date.

The original registers begin in 1730, but there are copies (made in 1834 'from a register book much decayed') of all the entries of baptisms and burials from 1702 down to 1730. The marriage registers begin in 1745.

The stone ends of the stocks are still in position in the parsonage garden, the ground having been taken in from the village green.

Advowson

A chapel of ease was built at Rivington some time before the Reformation, (fn. 81) and was rebuilt or restored by Richard Pilkington about 1540 ; (fn. 82) this was probably claimed or purchased by him, and, as above stated, was considered his property in 1551. (fn. 83) In 1566, however, it was made parochial. (fn. 84) The Pilkingtons early became Protestant, and service appears to have been maintained in the chapel. (fn. 85) By 1650 some small endowment had been secured, (fn. 86) and in 1718 the income was £28. (fn. 87) The net annual value now is £340. The incumbents are elected by the inhabitants. The following is a list:—

oc. 1620 Robert Worthington (fn. 88)
oc. 1635 Edmund Shaw (fn. 89)
oc. 1641 Robert Dewhurst (fn. 90)
oc. 1647 Thomas Blackburne (fn. 91)
1648 John Walker (fn. 92)
1649 Ralph Nuttall (fn. 93)
? 1654 [Thomas] Abbott (fn. 94)
1657 Samuel Newton (fn. 95)
1662 Thomas Blackburne (restored) (fn. 96)
oc. 1674 Samuel Newton (fn. 97)
? John Walker (fn. 98)
1686 John Battersby, M.A. (fn. 99)
oc. 1701 Joshua Dixon, B.A. (fn. 100)
oc. 1725 Andrew Gray (fn. 101)
oc. 1728 John Waddington, B.A. (fn. 102) (Trinity Coll. Camb.)
1755 William Walsh, M.A. (fn. 103) (Brasenose Coll. Oxf.)
1763 John Fisher, B.A. (fn. 104) (Peterhouse, Camb.)
1813 William Heaton, B.A. (fn. 105) (Queen's Coll. Oxf.)
1823 James Jackson (fn. 106)
1856 Thomas Sutcliffe (fn. 107)
1879 William Ritson, M.A. (fn. 108) (Pembroke Coll. Camb.)

Nonconformity dates from the Restoration. The principal inhabitants adhered to the Presbyterian system, and though the minister was ejected from the church he is said to have returned to it after a short interval, and it seems to have remained practically in the hands of the Nonconformists for many years. Some separate meeting-place appears to have been used also, and in 1693 Thomas Anderton of Great House gave £100 or a rent-charge of £5 10s. a year for the endowment of the minister. Ten years later the present chapel was built; it contains a monument to the Willoughbys of Parham, who were concerned in its erection. Unitarian doctrine gradually prevailed in the latter part of the 18th century, and the building is now a recognized Unitarian Chapel. (fn. 109)

The grammar school was founded in 1566. (fn. 110)

Footnotes

  • 1. The 'beacon upon Rivington Hill' is mentioned in 1591; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 603.
  • 2. W. F. Irvine, Rivington, 149–53. The portion of the reservoirs and filter beds within the township occupies about 275 acres.
  • 3. The 1901 Census Rep. gives 2,771, including 218 of inland water.
  • 4. Mr. Lever's gift also includes the beacon tower on the Pike and land around it.
  • 5. a Baines, Lancs. Dir. 1825, ii, 670.
  • 6. a Lewis, Topog. Dict., ed. 1831.
  • 7. a Subs. R. Lancs, bdle. 250, no. 9.
  • 8. a Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 67. In this account of the township great help has been derived from Mr. W. Fergusson Irvine's Hist, of Rivington (1904), and Lieut.-Col. J. Pilkington's Hist. of the Pilkington Family (1894), and the authors' further aid.
  • 9. a Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 37b.
  • 10. Add. MS. 32103, fol. 146b; in addition to the 10s. rent, puture and a double rent for relief were paid. Roger de Pilkington and John de Hulton were the tenants.
  • 11. Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, 2/20; Sir John Pilkington and James Hulton were the holders. The Hulton share descended in the Farnworth branch of the family, but is not mentioned in any of their inquisitions, though rents in Rivington, of which no particulars are given, are named among the possessions of William Hulton of Farnworth as late as 1556; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 32.
  • 12. There is no indication that this part of the Pilkington lordships was granted to the Earl of Derby.
  • 13. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 153.
  • 14. Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), fol. 755; the inquisition after the death of Edmund Lathom, 1640, in which it is stated that George his grandfather had, among other properties, held a fourth part of Rivington of the Crown, and made a settlement in 1570. George Lathom and Elizabeth Lathom, widow, were engaged in suits with Richard Pilkington and others in 1549 and 1550, respecting Moldesfield and land in Rivington; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 240, 242, 243, 286. In Towneley MS. GG these are described as George Lathom of Huyton and Elizabeth his wife; no. 1721, 1836. Earlier (1486) Edmund Lathom of Riding Chapel occurs; no. 1965, 1966. Hyefurth House at Dene Head was part of the Lathom estate; ibid. no. 1988. The disputes went on until 1614, when Thomas Lathom son of George received an allotment of 50 acres in satisfaction of his claims on the waste; Irvine, Rivington, 30–4.
  • 15. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 28. John Shaw was defendant in Rivington cases in 1507, 1528, and again in 1545; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 1; i, 201, 178. It seems natural to assume that this was the eighth part previously held by the Hultons. Robert Shaw, son and heir of the Thomas Shaw whose inquisition has just been referred to, made a settlement of the eighth part of the manor of Rivington and other lands in 1606; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 70, no. 68. In 1765 Holt Leigh acquired lands in Rivington, Anglezarke, &c, from Baxter Roscow and Helen his wife, and Elizabeth Shaw, widow; ibid. bdle. 373, m. 122.
  • 16. In 1347 Roger de Westleigh of Irlam, Emma his wife, and Adam de Birkhead or Birkenhead of Wigan claimed the fourth part of two messuages, &c., in Rivington against Robert de Rivington, Richard his son, and others; Assize R. 1435, m. 18. Three years earlier Roger son of Roger de Westleigh and Emma his wife had made a settlement of the fifth part of the manor of Rivington and the fourth part of an oxgang in Bartonon-Irwell in favour of their son Richard, whose wife's name was Ellen; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 121. A settlement in 1448 probably refers to the same estate; ibid, iii, 114.
  • 17. Henry Birkhead of Wigan held a messuage and lands in Rivington of Richard Pilkington by a rent of 2d.; his heir in 1513 was Joan, sister of Richard son of Hugh so 1 of Richard son of the said Henry, and she was four years of age; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 26. By another inquisition it was found that her father Hugh, who died in 1514 (sic), held the same estate in Rivington of the king as of hiB Duchy of Lancaster by the rent of 7½d. and William Birkhead, uncle of Hugh, was the occupier; ibid, iv, no. 87. Yet another inquisition was held in which the tenure of the king by a rent of 7½d. was confirmed, and some furthur particulars were recorded; Hugh is now stated to have died 16 Jan. 1510–11 ; ibid, v, no. 23. See further in the account of Wigan.
  • 18. Richard Chisnall died in 1587 holding six messuages, &c, in Rivington of the queen as of her manor of Salford, in socage by a rent of 7½d. ibid, xiv, no. 39. Richard Chisnall had been plaintiff in several Rivington suits in preceding years; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 109, 125, 142, 157. John Chisnall, his nephew and heir, was defendant in 1588 ; ibid, iii, 226. The estate in Rivington was in 1635 stated to be held of the Crown by a rent of 16½d.; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, no. 8.
  • 19. The Chisnall estates descended to the Hamertons; James Hamerton was a vouchee in a recovery in 1772; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 615, m. 11. A little later the Rivington lands were sold to the Andrews family.
  • 20. a The Lathom estates in Rivington and elsewhere seem to have been inherited from the Westleigh family, though the share of Rivington is called a fourth part. The fractions are uncertain.
  • 21. See Pilkington, Pilkington Family, 34, &c.
  • 22. Final Conc. i, 18.
  • 23. Ibid, i, 22.
  • 24. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 67.
  • 25. A collection of Rivington charters is preserved in Towneley MS. GG (Add. MS. 32107), no. 1657–2078.
  • 26. Richard son of Richard de Gamelsley granted to his lord, Alexander de Pilkington, his claim in the holding of Roger de Broadhurst; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1703, 1873. William son of Roger de Broadhurst also granted to Alexander his lord all his rights in lands and services in Rivington; ibid.no. 1925. William son of Richard de Rivington gave to the same Alexander the land he had received from Ellis son of Simon ; and Ellen and Maud, daughters of John son of Richard son of William de Rivington, gave a release of their claim on the lands of their uncle William ; and in 1279 Roger son of Richard de Rivington also granted a release; ibid. no. 2066, 2069, 2070.
  • 27. Ibid. no. 1658. The seal bore the Pilkington cross.
  • 28. Ibid. no. 1657, 1962; the 'remainder ' was to John, another son of Alexander de Pilkington, in free marriage with Margery, another daughter of William de Anderton. Alice widow of Adam son of William de Anderton released her claim to dower in Rivington to Richard de Pilkington; no. 1661. Roger de Broadhurst in 1297 entered into a bond to discharge Richard de Pilkington and Ellen his wife from all his claims against them on any account ; no. 1831.
  • 29. In that year John de Hindiey successfully asserted his right to common of pasture in 200 acres of moor, &c, in Rivington against Richard de Pilkington, the chief lord, Ellen his wife, Alice widow of Alexander de Pilkington, Adam de Heywood, Roger de Broadhurst, and others; Assize R. 419, m. 12. Richard de Pilkington and Ellen his wife were among the defendants in a plea of the following year ; ibid. 418, m. 2.
  • 30. Richard de Pilkington acquired land between Tunstead Brook and Baxtondene water from Roger son of Simon del Knoll; and he made a grant to Godith, Simon's widow; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1662, 1918; also no. 2051, 2052. In 1310 Richard del Knoll demised to Richard de Pilkington, for ten years, all his land in Rivington; ibid, no, 2000.
  • 31. Robert was a minor at his father's death, and in 1318 took action against Robert son of John de Ditton and Ellen his wife for an account of his lands which they had held whilst he was under age; De Banco R. 222, no. 232. In the previous year he had acquired from Richard son of John del Knoll all his land at the Knoll in Rivington; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1914. In 1322 Robert and his brother Adam agreed to waive their actions against John de Ditchfield and his brothers Richard and William; ibid, no. 1866. Robert occurs again in 1330, 1333, and 1335; no. 1958, 1955, 1714. He contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 31. He enfeoffed Alexander son of Cecily of his manor of Rivington in 1336, and it was regranted to him ten days later with remainders to his son Richard, and in default of issue to John and William, brothers of Richard; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1730, 1675. Robert was still living in 1347; Assize R. 1435, m. 18.
  • 32. The settlement referred to in the last note was made just after Richard's marriage, and Robert de Pilkington on the same occasion granted Richard and Joan certain lands in Rivington. The bounds began at 'the oak in the lane,' went along the lane to Tunstead Brook, beyond the brook to the hedge dividing Goose Hey and Fernylea, along the hedge to Baxtondene Water, down this to the boundary between Anderton and Rivington, and then by the boundary of Broadhurst to the starting-point. The remainders are the same as before, except that Margaret, a daughter, is inserted; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1678. In 1330 Alice, widow of Roger son of Simon del Knoll, released to Richard son of Robert de Pilkington all her right in Rivington; ibid. no. 2075. Richard occurs again in 1346 and 1347; no. 1903; Assize R. 1435, m. 18.
  • 33. John de Pilkington of Rivington was witness to a local charter in 1367; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1870. He was no doubt the younger brother of Richard mentioned in the remainders in 1336, and may have been a trustee in possession. An incident of this period may be recorded. Ralph de Pennington, clerk, prosecuted two men called 'Baxton men' in 1375 for digging in his quarry at Rivington; De Banco R. 457, m. 381 d.
  • 34. Col. Pilkington (op. cit. 36) considers that he was a younger son of Sir Roger de Pilkington of Pilkington, and that the silence is explained by Robert's constant service abroad. As there is no evidence of any grant from the older Robert to the younger, it is more probable that the descent of the manor was regular, and that the second Robert was grandson and heir of the former one. Robert Pilkington of Rivington was a witness in the Scrope-Grosvenor trial, 1385–9. He was then aged forty or more, and had seen Sir Robert Grosvenor use the disputed coat at the taking of the tower of Brosses and at La Roche sur Yon about 1369, and all through that expedition; Sir H. Nicolas' Scrope Roll, 302 (quoted by Col. Pilkington, op. cit. 66). In 1386 one Robert de Pilkington went to Ireland, having the king's protection; Cal. Pat. 1385–9, p. 156.
  • 35. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1785; decree of divorce between Robert and Alice. The first marriage—if it was a marriage, about which there is some doubt —took place about 1360. The reason is given in proceedings concerning the third marriage; no. 2055. There was issue of the first (or second) marriage, for in 1445 Robert de Bolton claimed the manor of Rivington as son and heir of Imania, daughter and heir of Alice and Robert; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 8, m. 16b. In 1385 Robert de Pilkington agreed that his daughter Imania should marry Roger son of Robert de Bolton, lord of Little Bolton; Mr. W. H. Lever's D. (note by Col. Pilkington). Roger son of Robert de Bolton in 1408 gave a receipt for part of a debt of 25 marks due by Alexander de Pilkington; GG, no. 1660.
  • 36. Some account of the Ainsworth family is given under Middleton. The marriage agreement was made in Aug. 1382, in which it was recited that as Katherine was nearly related to Alice de Hulton, John her father should seek a dispensation from the Court of Rome; GG, no. 1843. He appears to have neglected to do so, and it was not until they had been married many years that the dispensation was sought; it was granted by Boniface IX in 1401. On receipt of his decree the Bishop (of Lichfield) made the usual inquiry by the Abbot of Whalley and the Prior of Burscough, and the latter absolved the parties and confirmed the marriage on 10 June 1403; Lich. Epis. Reg. vii, fol. 210; Towneley MS. GG, no. 2055. It was recorded that Robert and Katherine were married at Castleton Church in Nov. 1382, between the third hour and the ninth (or, between terce and none), in the presence of a number of relatives and friends, and after due publication of banns at Bolton and Castleton. About the middle of 1402 a settlement was made by Robert de Pilkington and Katherine daughter of John de Ainsworth, who is not called Robert's wife, no doubt on account of the proceedings mentioned above. The remainders after their deaths were to Robert's sons: Alexander, Richard, William, Robert, Roger, John, and Ewan; then to Richard son of Henry de Pilkington, and then to Sir Roger de Pilkington; ibid. no. 1716. A later one was made in Nov. 1402; ibid. no. 1668. Robert seems to have died shortly after this, for the executors of his will were discharged, after the performance of their duty, in October 1403; no. 1920.
  • 37. In June 1402 Robert de Pilkington gave to Alexander his son and Katherine his wife, daughter of Richard del Crook of Whittle, certain lands in Rivington which he had acquired from Roger de Barton and Alice his wife, and from Robert del Knoll, &c.; ibid. no. 2076, 2077, 1682, 1683, 1705. The manor of Rivington and all its appurtenances had been granted by Robert to his son in 1398, no. 1677, 1731; but see also no, 1683, 1707, 1733, 1734. Inquiry was in 1407 ordered into a complaint by Robert Unton that Alexander de Pilkington, Katherine his wife, and Ralph his son had disseised him of his free tenement in Rivington; no. 1666. The date (8 Hen. IV) may be erroneous; in 1428 (7 Hen. VI) Alexander agreed to Robert Unton's claim to the Knoll; no. 1741. In 1441 a similar agreement was made by Alexander's son Ralph; no. 1758. The dispute was amicably settled before 1436; no. 1688. In 1447 Robert Unton released all actions against Alexander de Pilkington; no. 1972.
  • 38. Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 25, 26. The rent, which is that for half, not seven-eighths, of the manor does not agree with the other records quoted above. Alexander de Pilkington occurs frequently until 1473, and he seems to have died in the following year. In 1429 he made a settlement of his lands in Rivington and Mellor; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1698, 1723. Again, in 1460, he made a feoffment of the manor of Rivington; no. 1699. In 1473 Peter Shuttleworth and others became bound to him in £20; no. 1810. In the followingyear Giles Lever, vicar of Bolton, and others made formal testimony 'that Alexander Pilkington of Rivington, lying on his deathbed, being in good mind, was examined by the said vicar his ghostly father if ever he had made any bargain, annuity, or gift of any of his lands andtenements in Lancashire or in Mellor except for a term of years; and in reply he swore before all of them that he had not done so, but that his lands would descend to the right heirs of his body; no. 1717 (dated 14 Hen. IV for Edw. IV). Alexander had a daughter Clemence, who married Sir Lawrence Fitton, dead in 1460; no. 1942.
  • 39. See a preceding note. Ralph son of Alexander Pilkington occurs in 1459–60, and in 1468 made a lease of lands in Rivington to Edmund Crosse ; ibid, no. 1679, 2006, 1681.
  • 40. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1709; no reason is mentioned, but in the preceding year the king ordered the arrest of Geoffrey de Livesey and a number of his family and neighbours on the charge of abducting Margery wife of Ralph de Pilkington ; Riv. D. no. 23 (Irvine, Rivington, 18). William de Lever was in 1437 party to an agreement with Alexander Pilkington and Ralph his son respecting the claims of Robert Unton; GG, no. 1689.
  • 41. In 1447 Alexander Pilkington settled certain lands for her life upon Margaret, sister of William Ambrose and wife of Ralph Pilkington; ibid. no. 1738. The remainders were to Robert and Richard, sons of Ralph.
  • 42. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 104; the socage rent of 6s. 3d. is named. He also held the chapel croft and parcel of a tenement called Catholes of the Knights Hospitallers by 12d. a year. A deed of 1478 names Ralph as living in 1475; he had sons Robert (the heir) and William ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 2157. Dame Margaret's dower was agreed upon in 1476; GG, no. 1862, 1906. The widow was living in 1479; no. 1924.
  • 43. Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 33; this estate is described as twenty messuages, 60 acres of land, 5 acres of meadow, 2 acres of wood, and 10 acres of moss, of the clear annual value of 20 marks.
  • 44. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1701, 1737. In 1478 his grandfather Alexander's feoffee released to Robert son of Ralph Pilkington all his right in Rivington and Mellor; no. 1670. A short time afterwards Robert himself made a feoffment of all his lands in Rivington; no. 1757. An award also was made in a dispute between him and William son of William Anderton; no. 1801, 1744, 1906. Oliver Hilton and his son Roland released lands in Rivington and a rent of 9s. to him in 1480; no. 1861. In 1483 he was summoned by the Archdeacon of Chester to answer certain complaints ; no. 2043. Edmund Lathom of Ridding Chapel was in 1486 bound to an arbitration as to his dispute with Robert Pilkington ; no. 1965. Two years later a similar arbitration was agreed to respecting land in Kilchurch in Rivington claimed by John Shaw; no. 1951. William Orrell in 1508 delivered to Robert two boxes of evidences; no. 2042.
  • 45. His narrative of the long struggle— from 1478 to 1501—is printed in the Hist. MSS. Commission's Various Collections, ii, 28–56. In the earlier year named 'Sir John Savage came into Lancashire and took Robert Pilkington prisoner in the night, and carried him to Macclesfield in Cheshire, where he was grievously fettered and was threatened to be put to death unless he would yield his right to Mellor.' In spite of this opening the narrative is chiefly one of the law's delays.
  • 46. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1864; the marriage was to take place by August, 1476.
  • 47. Ibid. no. 1681, 1986; also Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 10. Only a messuage and 60 acres of land were recorded. A certificate of good character was given to Elizabeth daughter of Robert Pilkington in 1507–8 by the vicar of Bolton ; Towneley MS. GG, no. 2031.
  • 48. James Pilkington was born about 1520; educated at Cambridge; B.A., and fellow of St. John's College, 1539 5 B.D. 1550. With other Protestants he fled to the continent on the accession of Mary, and lived at Zurich, Basle, Geneva, and Frankfort until her death. He then returned to England and was quickly appointed on the committee for revising the Common Prayer Book and on the Commission of Visitors of the University of Cambridge. The master of St. John's College being deprived for his adherence to the Roman religion Pilkington was made master and Regius Professor of Divinity (1559). At the end of 1560 he was made Bishop of Durham; he obtained the restitution of the lands belonging to the see, but had to pay over £1,000 a year to the Crown as compensation. At the Northern rising in 1569 he was in London, and the queen did not allow him to profit by the forfeitures which followed on its suppression, his claim, in right of his Palatinate, being set aside 'for that time.' Nevertheless he was not only able to found Rivington School, but to provide handsomely for his daughters; he was indeed regarded as very penurious, and left the buildings of the see in ruins. He promoted his four younger brothers. He died at Auckland 23 Jan. 1575–6, and was buried there without ceremony, and then in Durham Cathedral on 24 May following. His published works have been reprinted by the Parker Society (1842), with a biography and list of works ; there are letters also in the same society's Zurich Letters, i, 222, 286 and Parker Corres. 221; these show him to have been of the extremer and more arJent class of Protestants. In his statutes for Rivington School he ordained that the master should be 'a hater of popery and superstition,' and that the scholars should be taught in Calvin's Catechism and Institutes. There are biographies in Dict. Nat. Biog.; Baker, Hist, of St. John's College (ed. Mayor), i, 146–51 (with the epitaph), 248; Cooper, Athen. Cantab, i, 344, 563; Low, Durham (Dioc. Hist.), 227–31; White, Elizabethan Bishops, 163–7. Leonard Pilkington, D.D., his brother, adopted the same ecclesiastical principles; he was fellow of St. John's, Cambridge, in 1545; ejected for religion in 1554, and became an exile; returned to be reinstated in his fellowship and was appointed master on his brother's resignation in 1561. His patronage of the extreme party among the Protestants led to great disorders, and he resigned in 1564. His brother promoted him to benefices and a prebend in his diocese. He died in 1599, and left some books to his college. See notices in Dict. Nat. Biog.; Baker, op. cit. i, 152–6; Athen. Cantab, ii, 268, 550. John Pilkington, another brother, was Prebendary and Archdeacon of Durham; Athen. Cantab. ii, 358, 553. Lawrence Pilkington, another brother, was also beneficed in the diocese of Durham. Francis Pilkington, another brother, had in 1560 a lease of the manor of Millington in Yorkshire granted by St. John's College for twenty years; Baker, op. cit. i, 385. He was steward for the bishop.
  • 49. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1989–93; it is stated 'that Richard Pilkington of Rivington and his ancestors have been lords of the waste and commons of Rivington, and also have herbage or else a yearly rent therefor of all the inhabitants of the said town, and also have had all manner of mines upon the same.' For later divisions of the waste see Lancs, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 274–5.
  • 50. Towneley MS. GG, no. 1686,1952; the marriage was to take place before 30 Nov. 1504.
  • 51. Ibid. no. 1672. The rent shows this to refer to the Hospitallers' lands. The date of death is taken from the Rivington family picture. One of the Towneley deeds, however (GG, no. 1977), is a grant of dower in 1547 by George Pilkington to his mother Alice; the date is probably erroneous. Richard appears to have added to the family possessions by purchases in Heath Charnock, &c.; but as in previous cases only a small part of his estate appears in the inquisition. In 1521 he enfeoffed Thurstan Tyldesley and others of his manor of Rivington and lands in Heath Charnock, Walton-le-Dale, and Croston; GG, no. 1948. About the same time he allowed one Piers Bradley to make a waingate through a parcel of land called Little Rivington in the occupation of Piers' brother Henry Bradley; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1713. For the family picture above mentioned, showing Richard Pilkington, his wife and children, see the account of the church, infra. There are prints of it in the works cited.
  • 52. The New Hall in Rivington and its appurtenances, except the church and churchyard and the water-mill, and mill hill were in 1544 granted by Richard Pilkington to George, his son and heir, and Anne his wife at a peppercorn rent; ibid. no. 1724. A settlement of the manor of Rivington and lands in Rivington, Heath Charnock, and Walton-leDale was made in 1579 by George Pilkington and Anne his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 41, m. 203. George appears to have purchased four messuages and lands in Rivington and Heath Charnock in 1569 from Christopher Anderton and Dorothy his wife; ibid. bdle. 31, m. 53. In 1590 George Pilkington appears as a plaintiff; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 225. A little later, in 1596, he gave lands, &c., in Walton-le-Dale to his son and heir Robert; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1722. He died soon afterwards.
  • 53. Robert in 1601 mortgaged the manor and other estates to William Bispham, of London, who took possession the following year and held it till Robert's death on 17 Nov. 1605. The manor of Rivington was found, as already stated, to be held of the king in socage by 6s. 3d. rent. The heir was Robert's brother James, and sisters Katherine and Alice were living; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 151–3.
  • 54. In July, 1611, by fine Robert Lever and Thomas Breres secured from the executors of Robert Pilkington's will and James his heir, the manor of Rivington, and messuages, lands, water-mill, dovecote, &c., in Rivington, Walton-le-Dale, and Heath Charnock; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 79, no. 7. A survey of the Old Hall estate, made in 1610, is printed in Irvine, Rivington, 158–60. The New Hall was then in the possession of Katherine Pilkington, sister of Robert and James; a water corn mill and kiln was let at a rent of £1, six days' 'shearing' and five boon hens; 'a fair inn, with a fair new barn, stables, and other necessary buildings,' brought in a rent of 15s., and four days' shearing was due. Chief rents were received as follows: The heirs of Adam Bradshaw, 8d.; of Robert Birkenhead, 2d.; of William Rivington, a barbed arrow; of Roger Broadhurst, 3d.; of Robert Shaw, 1d.; of Richard Knoll, 3d.; and of Roger Rivington, nil. The extent of the demesne was 80½ acres, to which 10 acres inclosed from the common had been added; the other tenements comprised 155 acres. A survey made in 1627 is printed ibid. 161.
  • 55. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 255–6. His will is printed in Irvine, Rivington, 161–3; he bequeathed 40s. a year to 'the wages of a preacher to be hired at Rivington.' To the subsidy of 1622 there contributed 'for lands' Robert Lever and Ellen Breres; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 152.
  • 56. Robert Lever's will is printed ibid. 166–8; it does not provide for the descent of Rivington. For the Lever pedigree see Dugdale's Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 186.
  • 57. Irvine, Rivington, 39–41, 177, where an abstract of his will is given; also of that of his wife Frances, dated 1694. John Andrews was a captain in the Parliament's army during the Civil War, and one of the elders of the Bury Presbyterian Classis; ibid. 50, and Shaw, Bury Classis (Chet. Soc.).
  • 58. Irvine, Rivington, 50, 51.
  • 59. Ibid. 41. An abstract of his will is given; he also left 40s. a year towards a preacher for the church of Rivington.
  • 60. For the will of John Breres see ibid. 178.
  • 61. Ibid. 41–3, 48–50. In 1657 a fine was made between John Breres, clerk, and Thomas Breres touching a moiety of the manor of Rivington; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 160, m. 20. From the will of John Breres, clerk, the younger, made and proved in 1667, it appears that he was the purchaser, and had demised it for fifty years after the death of his uncle Thomas, subject to provisions for redeeming it; Irvine, op. cit. 173. In 1657 a John Breres was appointed to be minister of the chapel of Heapey; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 201. The younger John was son of the elder, and was admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge, as a sizar in 1655, being then over eighteen years of age; he had been at school at Burnley; Admissions St. John's Coll. i, 121. In the hearth tax of 1663 he paid for three hearths while Thomas paid for one only; Irvine, op. cit. 47. Thomas Breres' will is printed, ibid. 174; he left the hall of Rivington, &c., to trustees, and mentions his brother John Breres. An abstract of John's will is given ibid. 48. For the Andrews and Crompton tenure see Irvine, op. cit. 51, 52, and the pedigree in Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iii, 230; also Local Cleanings Lancs. and Ches. ii, 240.
  • 62. His will is given by Mr. Irvine, op. cit. 185.
  • 63. Introduction to 'Statutes of Rivington School,' by Rev. Joseph Whitaker, 1837, quoted by Irvine, Rivington, 124.
  • 64. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 105; held by Ralph Pilkington in 1476. Catholes, part of the land, lies to the north of the church, between Dean Brook and the reservoir. Richard Pilkington held it by the same rent of 12d. in 1540; Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. The expression 'church land' in a charter of Cecily de Worsley (Towneley MS. GG, no. 1673) may refer to the Hospitallers' estate.
  • 65. Some deeds of this family have been quoted in previous notes. From the survey of 1610 it appears that William Rivington held by the rent of a barbed arrow. His estate is thus identified with part of that called the Street in Charnock, held by Alexander Waddington at his death in 1622; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 339–341. The place gave a name to the Street family about whose possessions there were some violent proceedings in 1533; Ducby Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 60–69. One of the earliest Rivington charters is a grant by Simon, de Rivington to William de Burnhill of a part of Winterhold (Winter Hill), in the northern part of the township; the bounds mention Tunstead End, the Hoarstones, Winterhold Pike, Armshead, and the Deane; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1818. Again, a Roger de Rivington gave to Hugh son of William de Worthington all his part of Winterhold, the bounds again naming Winterhold Pike; ibid. no. 1974. Nel son of Geoffrey de Brun and Isabel his wife released to Cecily widow of Roger de Worsley land in Rivington called Winterhold; ibid. no. 1659; Irvine, op. cit. 155. Cecily was the daughter of William de Rivington, and she granted a fourth part of Knolleshalgh (Knowlshaw) to Adam son of Robert son of Dorant; the bounds mention Caldwell by William's house, Whernstonescliff, Frith Brook, Rivington Pike, Standing Stone, Cringlebrook, and the foot of the cliff; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1673; Irvine, op. cit. 156. She was probably the mother of the Alexander son of Cecily already mentioned, living in 1327 and 1336.
  • 66. The Broadhurst estate is probably the eighth part of the manor subsequently held by the Shaw family; Irvine, Rivington, 5, 22. Robert de Broadhurst in 1277 claimed common of pasture in Rivington against Robert del Knoll; Assize R. 1238, m. 34d. Roger de Broadhurst in 1279 complained that Richard de Heywood and others had broken into his house at Rivington; De Banco R. 30, m. 84 d. Roger son of Roger de Broadhurst took action in 1301 against Roger de Broadhurst and others, concerning messuages, &c, in Rivington; but the case was deferred through an error in the writ due to a blunder by the scribe; Assize R. 419, m. 9. In the following year Roger de Broadhurst unsuccessfully claimed 80 acres of moor and pasture in Rivington and 13s. 4d. rent against Richard de Pilkington, Adam de Heywood, and others; Assize R. 418, m. 2. Roger was again a plaintiff in 1313, respecting land he had demised to Richard de Hulton for a term; De Banco R. 201, m. 64 d. William de Broadhurst contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Excb. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 31; he was a defendant in 1347; Assize R. 1435, m. 18. It appears that William was a son of Roger de Broadhurst; in 1327 a settlement of his estates was made on William and his wife Ellen, with remainder to Richard de Hulton; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1663. From a document cited in the text it appears that Richard de Hulton was already in possession of an eighth part of the manor. This deed may therefore refer to a part of his estate lying in the Hulton lordship. The surrender of lands to Alexander de Pilkington, already quoted (GG, no. 1704), may have preceded the grant by Pilkington to Hulton. The heir of Roger Broadhurst, however, paid a chief rent of 3d. to the Pilkingtons in 1610. From a suit in 1506 it appears that a William Broadhurst in 1390 settled his lands on his daughter Ellen and her issue by Robert son of Thomas Bradshaw, their descendants being the plaintiffs Robert Banastre and Hugh Eccleston. Ellen, however, had another husband, Richard Bulhagh, and another settlement was made by her father, in virtue of which John Shaw held the estate in 1506. There had been an arbitration about the succession in 1440; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 33–6.
  • 67. Simon, son of Henry de Knoll, married a Godith, and they had a son Roger; thus Thomas de Coppull granted the Hanging Load in Rivington to Simon son of Henry de Knoll and his wife Godith; the bounds began at Tunstead Brook, and passed the land of Roger son of John de Broadhurst; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1933; Simon de Knoll and Godith his wife made a grant to Roger their son; no. 1799; and Roger son of Simon de Knoll granted to his mother, Godith de Broadhurst, a fourth part of' his land of Anderton Carr between Tunstead Brook and Baxstondene water; no. 1910. Roger and Godith appear to have surrendered their lands to Richard de Pilkington (no. 1662, 2052), who granted Broadhurst to Godith again; no. 1918. Alice the widow of Roger claimed dower in 1324 (De Banco R. 257, m. 136 d.), and held it in 1341; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1896. Other members of the family are mentioned in the deeds: Robert son of Hugh, Towneley MS. GG, no. 1817; Richard son of John (1316), no. 1914,&c. Adam de Knoll in 1347 held half a messuage by charter of his father Roger, on Adam's marriage with Alice daughter of Roger de Tonge; Assize R. 1435, m. 18. Thomas Knoll and Robert his son and heir in 1564 surrendered a rent of 6s. in Rivington to James son and heir of Christopher Anderton; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 26, m. 36. Christopher Anderton of Lostock died in 1592 holding lands in Rivington of George Pilkington; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 41. The heirs of Richard Knoll in 1610 paid 3d. chief rent to the Pilkingtons' successors.
  • 68. Gamelsley appears to have been in the south-western corner of the township, and is now covered by the reservoir and filter beds. Richard son of Richard de Gamelsley has been mentioned above. Roger de Gamelsley granted to William his eldest son, on his marriage with Mabel daughter of Thomas de Ridleys, all his lands in Rivington; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1740. Two persons named William de Gamelsley contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. 32. Thomas de Gamelsley of Rivington in 1367 made a feoffment of his lands; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1870. By 1442 the lands of the above-named William de Gamelsley had descended to Robert Unton; they included a messuage called the Knoll and other lands; no. 1739, 1740.
  • 69. Alice widow of John Unton of Adlington made a settlement of her lands in Rivington in 1405; no. 1782. She was probably the heir of the Thomas de Gamelsley of 1367. A Robert Unton, who was the son of John and Alice, made a grant of his hereditary lands to Thomas and Hugh his sons in 1455; no. 1889. In 1458 Thomas son of Robert Honkinson de Unton released to Robert Unton all right to lands which the latter had had from his father; no. 1947; while ten years later Isabel widow of Robert Honkinson made a similar release to the same Robert Unton; no. 1959. The custody of two messuages in Rivington was granted to John de Unton of Adlington in 1400, they being in the king's hands by the outlawry of Anio ap Ithel Moil; a year later Robert the son of John had them ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 527, 529.
  • 70. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 246.
  • 71. Leonard Asshaw of Shaw in Flixton, who died in 1594, had land in Rivington; the tenure is not stated; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 11. Between 1544 and 1549 Peter Anderton claimed the Knoll in Rivington against Thomas Asshaw; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 168, 232; ii, 95. Leonard Asshaw was plaintiff concerning Moldesfield in 1579; ibid, iii, 73. The estate was sold to Robert Lever and Thomas Breres in 1612; Rivington D. The Bradshaws of Bradshaw held four messuages and lands of the Pilkingtons by a rent of 3d. yearly; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 33; ix, no. 31; xiii, no. 39; also in a fine of 1578 (Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 40, m. 206), and Survey of 1610 quoted above. John Ruttor in 1540 made a settlement of lands in Standish, Rivington, and Heath Charnock; they were purchased by Geoffrey Walkden in 1562; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 34; 24, m. 132; 38, m. 122. Ralph de Pilkington granted land in Rivington to Edmund Crosse in 1468; Rivington D. In 1580 John Crosse and Alice his wife sold to Geoffrey Yate; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 160.
  • 72. The list is printed in full in Irvine's Rivington, 44–6.
  • 73. Ibid. 47. The same work contains accounts of the following houses in the township; The Old Hall, which has a water-mill formerly used for churning, 123; New Hall, 128; Great House, formerly owned by the Bulloughs, then by the Shaws, who sold it in 1699 to Thomas Anderton of Rivington, and now the property of Mr. W. H. Lever, 126; Brown Hill, 130; School Brow, formerly the Andertons', 130; Moses Cocker's, 132; Ainsworth's Farm, 134; Ward's Farm, 135; Higher and Lower Knolls, 136; and Higher, Middle, and Lower Derbishires, 138.
  • 74. Land tax returns at Preston.
  • 75. Irvine, Rivington, 127.
  • 76. Ibid. 227.
  • 77. Ibid. 129.
  • 78. Croston, Historic Sites of Lancs. and Ches. (1883), 146.
  • 79. The original picture, which measures 53 in. by 35 in., was considerably damaged by fire in 1834. A careful copy had been made, however, in 1821, and from it the copy now in Rivington Church was made in 1835. The remains of the original painting are now in the possession of Col. John Pilkington of Wavertree. See Appendix to Fergusson Irvine's Rivington where a full account of the picture, supplied by Col. Pilkington, is given. It was originally placed in the Grammar School, but subsequently removed to the church.
  • 80. Irvine, op. cit. 64. Mention is made of the building in the Inq. p.m. of Robert Lever, 1621, where it is called 'domus campanarii.'
  • 81. The 'chapel croft' is named in a deed by Margaret Pilkington and her son Robert in 1476; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1726. This croft is also named in 1478, and was apparently part of the Hospitallers' land ; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 105. In a petition of 1628 it was asserted that the people of Rivington, Anglezarke, Hempshaw, and Folds built a chapel 'upon a little toft and quillet of land' where divine service was celebrated 'for many years of antiquity;' Raines, Chant. (Chet. Soc), ii, 261. On the division of the waste in 1536 an allotment was made to 'the use of a priest at Rivington chapel for evermore;' Towneley MS. GG, no. 1993.
  • 82. His building of it is asserted on the family picture. In the petition referred to in the last note it is stated that Richard Pilkington induced Bishop Bird to consecrate the chapel on 11 Oct. 1541, the fee being £5. Queen Elizabeth, in sanctioning the foundation of the grammar school, also ordained that the chapel should continue in use, and that baptisms, marriages, and burials should be performed there, the election of a 'discreet, learned and fit chaplain or minister' being left to the inhabitants. The priest in charge in 1541–2 was William Bradley ; Clergy List (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 13. The chapel seems to have been well provided with 'ornaments,' judging from the list of those remaining in 1552; the books were 'a mass book, an English Bible, and a manual.' It seems to have been considered parochial, and is called a church; Ch. Gds. (Chet. Soc), 37, 38. For a description of the church in 1869 see Glynne, Lancs. Churches (Chet. Soc.), 96.
  • 83. See his inquisition cited above.
  • 84. See a preceding note.
  • 85. Henry Croston's name as curate appears in the Visitation List of 1563, but it is crossed through, so that he left about that time. There is no name entered in the list of 1565. The unnamed curate in 1590 was 'no preacher' (S.P. Dom. Eliz. xxxi, 47), but about 1610 Rivington was reported to be 'well supplied with ministry' ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 11.
  • 86. Robert Lever and Thomas Breres had each endowed it with £2 a year, and 'several well-disposed persons' subscribed £36 towards the endowment; Commonwealth Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 34–6.
  • 87. Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 19; at that time the chapelry comprised Rivington and Anglezarke.
  • 88. Tebay, Stat. of Rivington School, 77; quoted in Irvine, Rivington, 65. In the latter work there is a full account of the church and curates, &c., pp. 53–89.
  • 89. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 112.
  • 90. Irvine, Rivington, 46.
  • 91. Bury Classis (Chet. Soc.), i, 8–10, &c; ii, 213; there were various charges against him of want of ordination, neglect of his charge, kneeling down on coming into the desk and pulpit, keeping 'profane company,' &c.
  • 92. Ibid, i, 42, &c; ii, 265; afterwards of Newton Heath.
  • 93. Ibid, i, 99, &c.: 'a godly, orthodox, and painful minister,' according to the Commonwealth Cb. Surv. of 1650 (p. 35). He removed to Stretford.
  • 94. Bury Classis, ii, 148, 149, 205.
  • 95. Irvine, Rivington, 73. He was ejected in 1662.
  • 96. Bury Classis, ii, 214.
  • 97. It is possible that he continued to minister as a Nonconformist, with the connivance of the bishop and others in authority; see Irvine, op. cit. 74. For his will, ibid. 175.
  • 98. Newton died in 1682, and his successor, according to Calamy, was the foregoing John Walker, a Presbyterian, ejected from Newton Heath in 1662; ibid. 76. He is said to have died in 1684, and to have had a son John, also a minister in Rivington; see his will, ibid. 181.
  • 99. Ibid. 77; he does not occur in the visitation lists of 1691 and 1696, so that his stay was very brief.
  • 100. Ibid. 77; he had been curate of Rinley.
  • 101. Ibid. 78; previously vicar of Mottram, Cheshire.
  • 102. Ibid. 79.
  • 103. Ibid. The Church P. at Chester begin with him.
  • 104. Ibid. In 1778 he reported that there were in his parish, out of sixty-eight families in all, twenty-seven families of Presbyterians (one a gentleman, viz. Andrews), one Quaker, four families of Methodists, and none of other denominations. There was an unlicensed meetinghouse.
  • 105. Irvine, Rivington, 81.
  • 106. Ibid.
  • 107. Ibid. 82; there was a contested election, accompanied by much unseemly conduct, and it was thought better to ask the bishop's nomination at the next vacancy.
  • 108. Ibid. 82.
  • 109. A full account, with a view and a list of the ministers and description of the monuments, is given in Mr. Irvine's work, 90–111; see also Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. iii, 81–98. There is a library, begun in 1821. Some efforts of the Methodists are narrated in the latter work, 97.
  • 110. End. Char. Rep. for Bolton, 1904, ii, 31; a summary of the statutes made by Bishop Pilkington, the founder, is given. These statutes were also printed by Mr. Septimus Tebay, then head master, in 1864. Since 1875 the school has been the Rivington and Blackrod Grammar School. See also Irvine, Rivington, 112–22. A list of the first scholars is printed in Tebay's Statutes, and in Col. Pilkington's Pilkington Family; see also Local Glean. Lancs, and Ches. ii, 107. The school library is described in Old Lancs. Libraries (Chet. Soc.), 189, 106.