Townships: Penwortham

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

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'Townships: Penwortham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp56-61 [accessed 7 October 2024].

'Townships: Penwortham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed October 7, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp56-61.

"Townships: Penwortham". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 7 October 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp56-61.

In this section

PENWORTHAM

Peneverdant, Dom. Bk.; Pendrecham, 1200; Penwrtham, 1204; Penuertham, 1212; Penwortham, 1260; Penewrtham, 1292.

This township occupies a plateau from 70 ft. to 100 ft. above the ordnance datum, and, as the surface falls sharply on the north and north-east to the level ground by the Ribble, the straggling village, with the church at the extreme northern end, seems to be perched up on a bluff. The castle stood near the church, the name of Castle Hill alone remaining. (fn. 1) The low ground by the Ribble, on the north-east, is called The Holme; it is common to the parishes of Penwortham and Preston. The area is 2,230½ acres (fn. 2) and the population in 1901 was 2,523.

To the south-east of The Holme is the bridge over the Ribble to Preston. (fn. 3) One road to it comes northward from Wigan; another, from Ormskirk and Liverpool, mainly going north-east, after nearing the river turns south-east to reach the bridge. Several lines of railway pass through the township, but there is no station in it; the West Lancashire portion of the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, coming from Southport, crosses the Ribble near the bridge named, and also turns eastward to join the Blackburn line and reach the passenger station in Preston by its bridge; and the London and North Western Company's main line to the north passes through the eastern end of the township, crossing the Ribble by a large bridge. The latter line is joined by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Liverpool to Preston line.

The soil is various—marsh, marl and red loam. The land is chiefly used for pasture. (fn. 4)

Water is supplied by Preston Corporation.

In 1666 there were eighty-two hearths taxed in the township, but the only house of any size was that of Edward Fleetwood, with seventeen hearths. (fn. 5)

The pedestal of a cross may still be seen in the avenue from the high road to the church. St. Mary's well lies to the south of the high road. The stocks were in the village, some little way to the southwest. (fn. 6)

William Adam Hulton (1802–87), judge of Preston County Court, long resided in the township. He edited the Whalley Coucher and Penwortham Priory for the Chetham Society. The lych-gate of the churchyard is a memorial to him.

Owing to its proximity to Preston and its pleasant situation by the Ribble the township has recently grown in population, and several handsome residences have been erected. Penwortham Hall, formerly called the 'Lodge,' was built in 1800 by John Horrocks, founder of the Preston cotton manufacture, and was sold by his son Peter to William Marshall, whose son Frederick died in 1889, leaving it to his sister, wife of the Rev. T. Ross Finch. (fn. 7)

Barony Manors

In 1066 King Edward held PENWORTHAM, in which were two ploughlands rendering 10d. By 1086 a castle had been built, and there were 2 ploughs in the demesne and 6 burgesses, 3 radmans, 8 villeins and 4 oxherds, who in all had 4 ploughs. The moiety of the fishery, woodland and eyries of hawks remained as in the time of King Edward, but the value was £3. (fn. 8) The two plough-lands may have been Penwortham and Howick. The castle is commemorated by Castle Hill, near the church, but nothing further is known of its history or of the borough which seems to be implied by the record of burgesses.

It was probably early in the next century that Penwortham became the head of a barony held by Warine Bussel, apparently the Warine who in 1086 held half a hide in West Derby Hundred and two plough-lands in Salford. The barony included a large part of Leyland Hundred, with many manors outside it, and was in 1205 acquired by Roger de Lacy, afterwards descending like Clitheroe to the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster and to the Crown. (fn. 9)

In the 16th century there were many disputes as to the suit and service due to the court of Penwortham from the members of the fee. (fn. 10)

In 1628 the royal manor was sold by Charles I to Edward Ditchfield and others, (fn. 11) and shortly afterwards was acquired by the Faringtons of Worden in Leyland. (fn. 12) It has since descended like this estate. Courts were held till recently, and numerous court rolls and books are preserved at Worden Hall. (fn. 13) Suit and service were demanded from a large number of townships in the county. (fn. 14)

The other manor of Penwortham was that of the abbey of Evesham, to which not only the church but 3 oxgangs of land were granted by the Bussels. (fn. 15) The abbey acquired other lands by gift or otherwise, (fn. 16) and having also Howick, Farington, and part of Longton, the Priors of Penwortham, as representing the abbey, became the chief resident landowners in the parish. Their tenure was peaceful, the principal dispute being due to a claim for puture made by the queen or the Earl of Lancaster in 1343; it was successfully resisted. (fn. 17) After the Dissolution John Fleetwood, who had in 1539 obtained a lease of the Evesham manors and lands, (fn. 18) purchased their estate from the Crown in 1543, (fn. 19) receiving a confirmation or extension in 1564. (fn. 20) He continued to prosper, and in 1578 was sheriff of the county. (fn. 21) A pedigree was recorded in 1567. (fn. 22) He died in 1590 holding among other estates the manors of Penwortham, Farington, Howick and Longton, the grange of Penwortham with the demesnes, fishings and turbaries there, various messuages, lands, water-mill, windmill, rents, fisheries in Ribble and Asland, &c., in Penwortham, Middleforth, Howick, Longton, Hawe, Hutton and Leyland; the manors and lands being held of the queen in chief by the fortieth part of a knight's fee, and the grange with its appurtenances, including the advowsons of the rectory of North Meols and vicarage of Leyland, by the twentieth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 23) Leaving his lands in Staffordshire to his eldest son, he in 1568 settled Penwortham on his second son Richard Fleetwood, who in 1582 married Margery daughter of Thomas Leigh of Egginton in Derbyshire. (fn. 24)

Evesham Abbey. Azure a chain in cheveron padlocked at one end and ringed at the other between three mitres all argent.

Richard Fleetwood in 1599 purchased from the Crown the rectories of Penwortham and Leyland, of which he already held the patronage. (fn. 25) Richard's eldest son Edward died before his father, having married a daughter of Sir William Norris of Speke. This gave the father great offence on religious grounds, and by his will he strictly ordered that the wardship of his heirs, Edward's children, should 'by no ways or means' come into the hands of Sir William Norris 'or any other who is not conformable to the laws ecclesiastical now established.' (fn. 26) In 1625 he made provision for his wife Margery, and died in April 1626, being succeeded by his grandson John, aged fifteen, son of Edward. (fn. 27)

Fleetwood. Per pale nebuly azure and or six martlets counterchanged.

John Fleetwood at first took the king's side in the Civil War, sending men and arms, but he does not appear to have served personally. (fn. 28) His estates were sequestered by the Parliament, and in 1647 he compounded for them, paying a fine of £617 3s. 4d. (fn. 29) He died in February 1656–7, (fn. 30) and was succeeded by his son Edward, (fn. 31) who, being childless, settled his manors and lands on Arthur Fleetwood of Westminster and his male issue, with remainders to other Fleetwoods. (fn. 32) Henry, the son of Arthur, who succeeded Edward Fleetwood in 1704, had no children, and after his death in 1746 the estates were found to be burdened with a debt of £16,000, while the rents were under £800; it was therefore resolved to sell the estates, a Private Act of Parliament being obtained in 1748 by Henry's trustees and representatives. (fn. 33)

John Aspinall (fn. 34) purchased them in 1749, and in 1752 sold most of the Penwortham lands to James Barton of Ormskirk, (fn. 35) by whose representatives they were sold to Colonel Rawstorne of Hutton. (fn. 36) They have since descended with Hutton.

The Fleetwoods made their residence in the old Priory buildings.

The later house called The Hall, but at present known as Penwortham Priory, is a picturesque modern brick building of two stories with gables and mullioned windows, erected in 1832 on part of the site of the Priory buildings. (fn. 37)

Albert Bussel granted 4 oxgangs of land in Penwortham to Gerald de Clayton, who was to act as seneschal. (fn. 38) This descended with Clayton for some time, (fn. 39) but at length was perhaps sold or surrendered and granted out to others, becoming the origin of several estates occurring in the records. Philip de Penwortham made settlements of messuages and lands in 1333 (fn. 40); part of these appears to have been given to John de Ellisley in 1376, (fn. 41) and in the 17th century 'Ellisley lands' were owned by Alexander Rigby of Middleton. (fn. 42) In 1542–3 the following contributed to the subsidy for their lands: Christopher Charnley, Robert Aughton and William Werden, clerk. (fn. 43) In 1564 John Fleetwood and William Forshaw are named in the same way. (fn. 44) Ploket, (fn. 45) Bower, (fn. 46) Forshaw, (fn. 47) Hesketh, (fn. 48) Norris, (fn. 49) Pleasington, (fn. 50) Sutton, (fn. 51) and Werden (fn. 52) occur in pleadings and inquisitions (fn. 53); and Lord Mounteagle held lands, probably as successor to James Harrington. (fn. 54) William Farington of Worden acquired an estate in Penwortham known as the Lower Hall. (fn. 55) There were many disputes as to the moss. (fn. 56)

Penwortham Priory

In 1783 the principal landowners were James Barton, Serjeant Aspinall and the heirs of Sir William Farington, who together paid about half the land tax. (fn. 57)

The parish church has been described above. At Middleforth Green are the iron church of St. Leonard and a Wesleyan chapel.

Footnotes

  • 1. For investigations on the Castle Hill in 1856 see Trans. Hist. Soc. ix, 61–76. 'Land called the Castle Hill in Penwortham' is named in a deed of 1579; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, 61. A list of copyhold lands belonging to Henry Fleetwood about 1720 mentions the Prison house, Blashey (adjoining Howick), Castle Hill and the Courthouse (north of the churchyard), the windmill and Aspley Greaves. Paper in possession of W. Farrer.
  • 2. 1,975 acres, including an acre of inland water; Census Rep. 1901; to this should be added 36 acres for The Holme. There are also 8 acres of tidal water and 4 of foreshore. A small part of Penwortham was added to Preston in 1894; Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31607. This part contains the Albert Edward Dock, to make which the course of the Ribble was altered.
  • 3. No bridge was built there till 1756; the first was badly constructed and fell in 1759, being rebuilt by commissioners. The earlier crossing was by means of fords and a ferry boat.
  • 4. Adam the Goldsmith of Penwortham is named in deeds of 1349; Harl. MS. 2042, fol. 103.
  • 5. Subs. R. 250, no. 9.
  • 6. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xvii, 5, 6. A. Hewitson, writing in 1872, says: 'Before the new Burials Regulation Act came into operation, Catholics, whenever they had a funeral in Penwortham churchyard, used to halt with the corpse at a point opposite this cross, then kneel down and offer up short prayers. On the western side of the church there is a spring of water called St. Anne's Well'; Our Country Churches, 6. There was formerly the pedestal of another cross about a mile west of the church.
  • 7. Information of Mr. Finch.
  • 8. V.C.H. Lancs. i, 287b.
  • 9. The story of the barony is told ibid. 335–6. For details of the infeudations made by the Bussels see Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 35–6. In 1259 Lawrence del Brook, on behalf of the king, charged Robert Banastre and a large number of others with having cut down trees in the wood of Penwortham and carried the timber away; Curia Regis R. 164, m. 6; 165, m. 7. Henry de Lacy in 1292 had wreck of the sea, infangenthef, &c., at Penwortham; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 382. He received a grant of free warren there in 1294; Charter R. 87 (22 Edw. I), m. II, no. 23. Accounts of the manor and lordship for 1296 and 1305 have been printed by the Chetham Society in De Lacy Compoti, 9, 105. The farm of the assarts and cottiers was in one year £2 4s. 8d.; Adam Ploket paid 23s. rent for his land; the demesne meadows and fishery were let for £8 13s. 4d., to be increased to £9 6s. 8d., and a plot between the priory and the mote hall rendered 1d. The herbage of Middleforth produced 15s.; peat sold, 4s.; fines for entering lands, 15s. 4d.; fees of court, £7 14s. 4d.; while Thomas de Leyland paid 30s. for the beadlery of Penwortham. The inquest after the death of Henry de Lacy in 1311 shows another valuation. The capital messuage at Penwortham was valued at 2s. yearly, and the perquisites of the three weeks' court at 40s.; the fees of the serjeanty of the court were worth 6s. 8d. The fishery in the Ribble was the most valuable part of the estate, being worth £6 13s. 4d. a year, and then came the 24 acres of meadow, worth £3 12s. The rents of free tenants, as recorded, show that Thomas de Leyland paid 1s. for an oxgang of land; Adam Ploket 20s. for one assart and 3s. 1d. for a second. See De Lacy Inq. (Chet. Soc.), 20–22. Accounts for 1323 will be found in Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 194. The farm of the assarts and oxgangs was £2 13s. 10d.; the herbage of Middleforth produced 3s.; the rent of Blackshaw was 26s. 5d.; charcoal sold, 12d.; turves, 10s.; perquisites of the court amounted to £6 9s. 5d.; farm of the serjeanty, 33s. 4d. In 1327 and later the manor was part of Queen Isabel's land; Cal. Pat. 1327–30, p. 69; Q.R. Memo. R. 143, m. 4 d. In 1341–2 the receipts of the farms of the oxgangs and assarts amounted to 53s. A plot of land between the priory and the hall of pleas yielded 1d., while repairs to the latter building cost 4s. 6d. For agistment of beasts in the wood of Middleforth 3s. 3d. was received. The demesne meadows and fishings were let to farm at £6 14s. 4d. Court fees and perquisites amounted to £4 7s. 2d.; Mins. Accts. bdle. 1091, no. 6. The Dowager Queen Isabel, who held the Lacy manors from 1327, resigned those of Penwortham, Tottington and Rochdale in 1348 to Henry Earl of Lancaster; Close R. 22 Edw. III, pt. ii, m. 5. Henry Duke of Lancaster in 1358 demised the fishery and demesne meadows to Adam de Skillicorn for six years at a rent of only £4; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 338. In 1401 the custody of the moss was given to Henry de Howick and Roger de Werden for thirty years, at a total rent of 65s.; ibid. xl, App. 530. A list of tenants in various parts of Penwortham fee is printed in Farrer's Clitheroe Court Rolls, 502–3. Henry Waring was made bailiff, during pleasure, in 1444; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 537. Sir John Booth had a lease of the manor in 1508; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxi, 61a. See, for bounds, Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 24; ii, 278; and for a survey in the time of James I, ibid. ii, 239.
  • 10. See Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), passim. William Cowper, a bailiff, distrained two cows belonging to James Anderton of Euxton in 1537 while the people were at chapel, and a rescue followed. Sir William Molyneux seems to have endeavoured to withdraw his suit and service. The same Sir William had taken to his house at Sefton certain casks of wine cast ashore from a wreck at Kirkdale, parcel of the fee of Penwortham; Duchy Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 113–15. Sir Henry Farington, as the king's steward, complained in 1543 that Peter Farington had assembled a number of armed men within the lordship and forbidden them to wear the red rose or be sworn to serve the king. It appeared that Sir Thomas Langton had summoned them as his tenants to wear the Maiden's Head (his badge) and accompany him in the expedition against the Scots; ibid. ii, 185, 189. William Charnock, farmer of the fee in 1544, complained that whereas the tenants of Whittingham had done suit and service at Penwortham, being there presented and fined for any 'assaults, frays, bloodwipes, assizes of bread, ale, and all other misdemeanors,' Thomas Leyland and others had levied unlawful fines upon the tenants; ibid. ii, 200. About 1590 William Farington, the farmer of the royal manor and bailiwick of Penwortham, complained that tenants had refused to pay the fines levied in the leet court, and that 'rescues' had been made of goods distrained; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. cl, F 6. He made a similar complaint in 1602, pointing out that if the court fines could not be recovered he would be at a serious loss, having to 'pay a heavy rent for the manor'; ibid. ccii, F 10.
  • 11. Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiv; the lordship or manor with the whole bailiwick. It would appear from this grant that Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, attainted 1554, had formerly held the manor.
  • 12. In 1679, in a fine concerning the manor of Penwortham, Hugh Dicconson was plaintiff and Henry Farington and Susan his wife were deforciants; and the same Henry and Susan, together with William Farington, were deforciants in 1684 in a fine as to the manor and lordship of Penwortham and other Farington manors, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 202, m. 47; 213, m. 30. For later recoveries of the 'manor, lordship and fee' of Penwortham, free fishery in the Ribble, &c., see Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 503 (1715), m. 4 d.; 554 (1742), m. 5; 557 (1742), m. 8.
  • 13. The rolls of 1323–4 have been printed in Lancs. Ct. R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 36–46. Licence for having coals in Middleforth was granted; also for tanning and brewing. Wrecks are mentioned. There are other early court rolls in the Record Office, from 1417 onward; Duchy of Lanc. Ct. R. bdle. 78, no. 1008, &c. There is little of interest in them, but in that named (Henry Hoghton, steward) the proctor of Ribble bridge complained that the executors of the will of John Hollins detained 40s. bequeathed to the bridge. The court rolls at Worden begin in 1590, William Fleetwood being steward. They contain long lists of free tenants and copyholders. The following judicatores are named in 1625—of Standish with Langtree, Duxbury with Adlington, Hoghton with Withnell, Warton, Kirkdale, Charnock Richard, Welch Whittle, Prees, Freckleton, Adlington and Bolton. The constables for thirty-three townships were expected, but half of them were absent.
  • 14. The townships were: In Leyland Hundred—Penwortham, Longton; Leyland, Euxton, Cuerden, Clayton, Whittle, Hoghton with Withnell, Gunolfsmoors, Roddlesworth with Wheelton and Heapey; Brindle; Croston, Bretherton; Eccleston, Ulnes Walton; Standish with Langtree, Coppull, Welch Whittle, Charnock Richard, Charnock Gogarth, Duxbury with Adlington, Anderton, Shevington. In West Derby—North Meols, Kirkdale. In Amounderness and Lonsdale—Freckleton, Carleton, Claughton, Whittingham, Elswick, Kellamergh, Newton with Scales, Warton. This is the list of 1625; it has several peculiarities of grouping, and Cuerden appears to have been included in error. Two places not named in it— Prees and Bolton—had to send judgers. A later list may be seen in Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1836), iii, 487.
  • 15. Two oxgangs of land appear to have been given by Warine Bussel together with the church; they are not named in his charter, but occur in the confirmation by his son Albert; Penwortham Priory (Chet. Soc.), 5. The third oxgang was given by Richard Bussel, who also allowed a court to the abbot in Penwortham 'as freely as my father Warine had his court, or I mine'; ibid. 4. The same Richard also gave the fourth fish of all his fishery at Penwortham; ibid. 5. See also Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 32. Another oxgang of land was granted by Richard Bussel to the priory of Bolton in Yorkshire; ibid. About 1270 the convent there released to Richard son of Lauys de Knoll their right in the fishery of Penwortham in the Ribble, which they had by the gift of Richard Bussel as confirmed by Roger Constable of Chester— viz. the third fish in the fishery and a free net—also in an oxgang of land, of the same donation, held of them by Thomas Bussel. A rent of 2d. was to be paid; Dods. MSS. viii, fol. 20b. The 'land of the parson of Bolton which Thomas Bussel clerk held of the abbot' is named in a charter by John de Clayton; Kuerden fol. MS.(Chet. Lib.), 76.
  • 16. The 3 oxgangs appear to have been confirmed to the abbot in 1204 by Robert son of Geoffrey (Bussel), who was to hold them of the abbot by a rent of 5s.; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 23. See other confirmations in Kuerden's fol. MS. p. 54, 110. In the Evesham Chronicle (Rolls Ser.) the grant is dated much earlier; p. 75. Among the minor gifts to the abbey of Evesham or its cell at Penwortham, recorded by Kuerden, are the following:— Release by Roger son of William le Spencer of land called the New Close in Penwortham and of all other lands which were the queen's; fol. MS. p. 370. Grant by Adam called the Ferryman to Philip de Cheldesey, Prior of Penwortham, of 14 perches of arable land in Penwortham moor; ibid. p. 130. John de Clayton released his right in an oxgang of land, and made other grants; ibid. 76. Right in the same oxgang was also relinquished by Richard de Hurleton and Alice his wife, daughter of William de Heyland; ibid. p. 170. Also by Alice's son John son of Walter Linley; ibid. p. 234. Edmund de Lacy gave land called Herfordriding, the bounds of which began on the east side of Wadischegreves and went south to the land belonging to the oxgangs of land, thence west and north to the marsh by the Ribble, and east to Heggedemorncliff, and along the cliff to the starting-point; ibid. p. 231. There are other grants and confirmations by John de Lacy, Thomas Earl of Lancaster, and his successors; ibid. For the inquiry as to the grant of 8 acres of the waste made to Evesham by Earl Thomas, see Penwortham Priory, 14–16. It was found that each acre was worth 4d. a year. The manor was held by the earl of the king as Earl of Lincoln by the service of one knight. A release by Queen Isabella in 1334 of lands in each township in the parish is printed ibid. 29. A lease of the Earl's Meadow in Penwortham was made to the abbot in 1446, at a rent of 33s. 4d., for the term of forty years; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 539. The bounds between the Earl's Meadow in the king's manor of Penwortham and the township of Howick were decided in 1528; a stone cross on the Eegh Marsh is named; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv, 59. A further dispute was settled in 1544; Duchy Plead. ii, 203. For the application of the revenue from Penwortham see Evesham Chron. 209, &c.
  • 17. Penwortham Priory, 35–40. John de Radcliffe, as seneschal of the liberty of Penwortham for Queen Isabella, claimed from the priory a certain puture for himself, his officers and their horses and men, in food and drink one day and two nights every three weeks, viz. while the court was being held. The abbot pleaded that he held in free alms and was not subject to such burdens. The seneschal was convicted of an unjust and novel extortion and was sent to gaol. Henry Earl of Lancaster in 1350 released any claim to puture for the sheriff or any of his officers. See also Assize R. 430, m. 6 d. A complaint had come from Amounderness in 1334 that whereas a serjeant on horse with his groom used to perform the duties of bailiff within the barony, and whereas 16 oxgangs of land used to provide puture for them, of late puture had been claimed from the lesser residents or money in lieu of it; and sheaves and money from the greater residents; Coram Rege R. 297, Rex m. 22 d. In 1382 it was alleged that the abbot had acquired lands in Penwortham without the king's assent; Q.R. Memo. R. 159. The Prior of Penwortham in 1409 agreed with William Forshaw as to the carriage of corn and hay from a field called the Ro across William's field called Gargape; this passage would be allowed on request, but the prior and his tenants were to inclose the Gargape so that no damage might be done to the crops there growing. Any damage was to be paid for by the judgement of the good folk of the vill; Penwortham Priory, 59.
  • 18. Ibid. 79–83; see the account of the advowson. It was provided that should the abbot visit Penwortham 'convenient meat and drink and bedding, hay and provender and sufficient stallage for their horses' for a whole week in any one year were to be given the abbot and his retinue by the farmer.
  • 19. Pat. 34 Hen. VIII, pt. viii. The grant of Penwortham and Calwich is printed in full in Penwortham Priory, 112– 23. John Fleetwood was described as 'of London.' An extent of the lands, &c., in the township is also printed; the site of the 'priory, cell, manor, or grange' of Penwortham was valued at £1 a year; the field names include Hereford ridding at Hangmans bank, Ferryman hey, Blasshaw, Over eye and Nether eye. The grant included the eighth part of the fishery in the Ribble between Evyn or Ivye pool to the head of the marsh in Penwortham and Howick; turbary and a grove of trees adjoining the priory; also the advowsons of North Meols and Leyland. A rent of 9s. 11d. was to be paid to the king, and the lands of the priory were to be held by the twentieth part of a knight's fee.
  • 20. Ibid. 124–32; Pat. 6 Eliz. part vii. It is remarkable that nothing is said in these grants as to the maintenance of divine worship in Penwortham Church.
  • 21. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 22. Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 59. The origin of the family is obscure, but at this time it had several prominent members; see the account of Heskin.
  • 23. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 34; the fortieth part of a knight's fee was added to the service due by the patent of Elizabeth.
  • 24. Ibid. There is a full account of the family in the introduction to Penwortham Priory, pp. lii-lxix. John Fleetwood was buried at Penwortham, but his monument is in Ellaston Church, Staffs.; ibid. p. lviii. An abstract of his will is printed.
  • 25. Pat. 42 Eliz. pt. xxvii. It appears that a twenty-one years' lease of the rectory had been granted to Thomas Fleetwood in 1586; Pat. 28 Eliz. pt. iii.
  • 26. His will, dated 1626, is printed in Wills (Chet. Soc., new ser.), ii, 194–6; his son Edward's (1615) in the same volume, 183. Papers relating to the disputes between Sir W. Norris and R. Fleetwood are among the Norris D. (B.M.). A pedigree, signed by Henry Fleetwood, son of Richard, was recorded in 1613; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 122. For notes on the arms and the family see N. and Q. (Ser. 10), vi, 264; vii, 303.
  • 27. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 22. The tenure of all the manors, rectories, &c., together is stated as the tenth part of a knight's fee. John Fleetwood paid £13 6s. 8d. as composition on refusing knighthood in 1631; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 214.
  • 28. He was appointed one of the commissioners of array in December 1642; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 67. After the defeat at Whalley in April 1643 Lord Derby stayed for the night at Fleetwood's house at Penwortham; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc.), 34.
  • 29. Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 321–3. An additional fine of £24 was levied on account of an omission in the statement of his lands.
  • 30. Penwortham Priory, pp. lxv-lxvii. He desired his heir to provide a preacher for Penwortham Church, 'endowed with learning and understanding and of a good life and conversation,' and to pay him not less than £40 a year.
  • 31. A pedigree was recorded in 1664; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 110.
  • 32. Penwortham Priory, p. lxviii; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 197, m. 66. The deforciants were Edward Fleetwood and Knightley Purefoy. Arthur Fleetwood was the son of Dr. James Fleetwood, provost of King's College, Cambridge, 1660, and Bishop of Worcester from 1675 till his death in 1683, who was grandson of Thomas Fleetwood of the Vache, brother of the first John Fleetwood of Penwortham. The bishop's hatchment was in Penwortham Church; an account of his life is in Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 33. 21 Geo. II, cap. 14. The Act contains particulars of settlements, &c., and provides for the proper distribution of any surplus from the proceeds of the sale. Henry's heirs were the representatives of his sisters Barbara and Honora; the former's only child, Barbara Goring, married Walter Chetwynd of Grendon; while Honora married — Hinton of Atherstone.
  • 34. For pedigree see Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 107.
  • 35. In a fine of August 1752, respecting the manors of Howick and Farington, the churches of Penwortham and Longton, and a fourth part of the manor of Longton, the deforciants were John Aspinall and Caroline his wife, the plaintiffs being James Barton and another; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 349, m. 98. No 'manor' of Penwortham is named, but lands, &c., there were included.
  • 36. In a recovery of the manors of Farington and Howick and various lands in 1806 James Barton was vouchee and Lawrence Rawstorne one of the demandants; Pal. of Lanc. Assizes, 46 Geo. III, R. 9.
  • 37. There are two illustrations in Twycross' Lancs. Mansions, i, 48. Whitaker (Richmondshire, ii, 428), writing shortly before 1823, describes the old building then standing on this site as a 'humble edifice,' three sides of which were still entire and inclosed by a moat. The fourth or north side, which he conjectured had contained the chapel, had been rebuilt within the recollection of people then alive. There was a quadrangle about 40 ft. square, but the structure had been so modified by the Fleetwoods that it was impossible to trace from it the disposition of the original priory buildings.
  • 38. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 33. The Clayton family does not occur again at Penwortham.
  • 39. Ibid. 149 (1242), 315 (1302).
  • 40. Final Conc. ii, 90, 91. Two separate estates were settled on Philip's son Nicholas, with remainders to daughters Agnes, Katherine, Joan, Margaret and Alice. Penwortham as a surname is found much earlier; it may have been used by some of the Bussel family; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 180. See also ibid. 323; Final Conc. i, 189. William son of Master William de Preston in 1310 claimed two messuages and lands in Penwortham against William the Harper, in right of his mother Alice, daughter of Adam son of Walter de Penwortham; De Banc. R. 183, m. 326.
  • 41. Richard de Certeden (as a trustee) in 1365 granted to Ellen daughter of Philip de Penwortham and her son John land in the place called Rolegh; and in 1376 the said Ellen granted the land to John de Ellisley and Alice his wife; Towneley MS. DD, no. 271–2. 'Ralee' occurs in a grant by Albert Bussel, with the consent of Geoffrey his brother and Lettice his wife, to the church of Evesham; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xiv. 49.
  • 42. He died in 1621 owning a messuage, &c., called Ellisley Meadow, and other lands in Middleforth and Penwortham, held of Richard Fleetwood in socage by a rent of 10d.; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 459; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 31.
  • 43. Subs. R. 130, no. 126, Lancs.
  • 44. Ibid. 131, no. 210.
  • 45. The name has already occurred among the Lacy tenants. In 1292 William de Wittingham withdrew a claim he had made for the fourth part of 60 acres of wood against Henry de Lacy Earl of Lincoln and Hugh Pluket; Assize R. 408, m. 63. William Ploket in 1333 granted to John del Wich all the land which had belonged to Hugh Ploket his grandfather, lying upon the Ribble between Duxupil and the land of William del Scales; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 310. See also the account of Longton.
  • 46. Adam son of Adam de la Bower (Bure) of Penwortham in 1294 claimed land against Cecily daughter of Robert de la Bower; Assize R. 1299, m. 14 d. In 1311 and later Henry son of Adam del Bower claimed a messuage and land against William the Harper, who alleged a grant by Cecily 'de Camera,' grandmother of the plaintiff; De Banc. R. 185, m. 9; 198, m. 87 d. Thomas Bower made a purchase from Richard Molyneux and Eleanor his wife in 1556; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 17, m. 153. The Molyneux land in Penwortham had been held of the priory; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 2.
  • 47. Thurstan Forshaw (son of Thomas son of William Forshaw) in 1453–4 made a feoffment of his hereditary lands in Penwortham, Bolton, Tarleton and Lathom; Kuerden fol. MS. p. 130. In 1462 one messuage with a meadow called Croking in Penwortham was restored to Thurstan; ibid. p. 370. In 1482 this was granted by Hugh Radcliffe to Hugh Woodcock; ibid. p. 357. Joan widow of William Forshaw is mentioned in a deed of 1445; ibid. p. 410. James Forshaw died in 1563 holding messuages and lands in Penwortham and the neighbourhood, and leaving a son and heir William of full age. The Penwortham lands were held of the queen as of her manor of Penwortham in socage by a rent of 11s. 1d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 41. From disputes in 1592, after William Forshaw's death about 1585, it seems that he held Banastre House and Lower Hall, his son John Forshaw making claim upon it against Alice his mother and her second husband Barnaby Kitchin; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. clx, F 19. The whole seems to have been sold to William Farington in 1595; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 57, m. 160. There are several references to the family in Ducatus Lanc.
  • 48. The tenure of the Hesketh of Rufford lands is not stated in the inquisitions; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 16. George, a younger son of Robert Hesketh, was in possession in 1623; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 353, 358. He paid £10 on refusing knighthood in 1631; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 214. An earlier George Hesketh (Kirkham) had held land in Penwortham of John Fleetwood; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 15.
  • 49. Nicholas Norris died at Longton in 1641 holding a messuage and land in Middleforth and Penwortham, and leaving a son and heir Nicholas, aged eight years; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxix, no. 12. A pedigree of the family (as Norris of Middleforth) was recorded in 1664; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 219. For a continuation see Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 199, 200, and the account of Davy Hulme in Eccles.
  • 50. William de Tatham, rector of Mitton, in 1338 gave to Henry de Pleasington lands in Penwortham to be held of the chief lords by the service of making daily passage across the Ribble by boat at his own charge, as in times past, and enjoining those who crossed to pray for the soul of Henry de Lacy and others; Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 138b. From later deeds it appears that Albert Bussel had granted a messuage and an oxgang of land to one Henry de Pleasington for maintaining a boat for foot passengers; in 1358 the lands, which had been taken into the duke's hand because Robert son of Henry de Pleasington had not conveyed horsemen also, were restored to Robert on his showing that this was outside the charter; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 345. But in 1385 Sir Robert de Pleasington was further charged with withdrawing the free passage, it being this time alleged that Henry de Lacy had given lands to Robert the Ferryman for maintaining a free boat, and that Sir Robert had taken possession of the lands while the ferryman charged a toll; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 22. John the Ferryman died in August 1383 holding 2 acres in Penwortham of the Abbot of Evesham as of his priory of Penwortham by a rent of 4d., but having committed suicide his land was taken into the duke's hand. Cecily his daughter and heir was fourteen years old in 1395; Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 15, 16. In 1387 Sir Robert and John de Pleasington made a settlement of lands in Penwortham, &c.; Final Conc. iii, 29. John Fleetwood in 1582 purchased Robert Pleasington's messuage, &c., in Penwortham; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 24, m. 175. Fleetwood had in 1557 purchased the estate of Alice daughter and heir of William Smallwood; ibid. bdle. 20, m. 116. A Thomas Smallwood had held a messuage and land in Penwortham in 1504; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 97, m. 9.
  • 51. Gilbert Sutton of Penwortham (son of Richard and Joan) in 1414 agreed to marry Joan daughter of John Farington and sister of William; Piccope MSS. xiv, 86. He appears to have married some years earlier Margaret a daughter of Henry de Howick; ibid. 56. Gilbert Sutton was in 1518 found to have held land in Penwortham of the king as Duke of Lancaster; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 67. This descended to Gorsuch of Scarisbrick in the same way as the other Sutton estates; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 63, no. 94.
  • 52. Roger de Werden had a lease of part of the moss in 1401; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 530. The administrators of the goods of John Werden (viz. Lettice the widow and James Werden) claimed a debt from Sir Alexander Standish in 1505; Duchy of Lanc. Ct. R. bdle. 78, no. 1011. William Werden in 1559 made a settlement of his messuage, land, &c., in favour of his illegitimate sons Arthur, Peter and James Werden; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 21, m. 140. George Werden of Penwortham, as a 'Papist,' registered a small estate in 1717; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 96.
  • 53. In 1394 it was returned that William son of William Grayveson, outlawed in 1391, had in right of Ellen his wife held a messuage and land of the duke in socage; Margery wife of Robert de Charnley was the daughter and heir of Ellen; Lancs. Rec. Misc. Inq. p.m. no. 4, 5; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 49.Thomas Kuerden purchased a messuage and land in Middleforth in 1551 from Nicholas and William Ambrose; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 235. Elizabeth Kuerden was in 1579 a defendant in a suit as to Estmar intakes; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 62, 88. Oliver Breres of Preston died in 1572 holding the Spence in Penwortham, but the tenure was not stated; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 13. John Charnock of Fulwood died in 1574 holding a portion of turbary called Penwortham moss of the queen by the fortieth part of a knight's fee; ibid. xii, no. 35. In his will he says that he had purchased the turbary from Sir Thomas Gerard and the copyhold lands from Thomas Serjeant; he bequeathed the former to Robert Charnock of Astley and the latter to Alice wife of Barnaby Kitchin and widow of William Forshaw; Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 209–10. William Charnock of Leyland in 1598 held messuages, &c., in Penwortham of the queen in socage; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 5. Robert Charnock of Charnock Richard in 1616 held a messuage, &c., in Penwortham of the king by knights' service; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 38. Charnock moss lies to the south of the township. William Kirkby of Up Rawcliffe in 1596 held two messuages, &c., of the queen as of her manor of Penwortham; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 16. Richard Serjeant in 1628 held three messuages, &c., in Middleforth, his heirs being his ten daughters; ibid. xxvii, no. 27. Henry Banastre of Bank in 1641 held a messuage in Middleforth; ibid. xxix, no. 15.
  • 54. Ibid. v, no. 64. The lands in Penwortham seem to have been called Cuerdale lands; they were held of Thomas Langton (of Walton-le-Dale) by services unknown. John de Cuerdale had lands (Blodhey, &c.) in Penwortham in the time of Henry IV, which seem to have descended to his son Geoffrey; Kuerden fol. MS. pp. 211–13, 246. Banastre House seems to have been part of the Mounteagle estate; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 242. See Forshaw above. Thomas Hesketh in 1596 purchased lands in Middleforth and Penwortham from Lord Mounteagle; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 338.
  • 55. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 181–4; it was held of the king by the hundredth part of a knight's fee. His purchase of the Forshaw estate has been recorded above. In 1572 he bought two messuages with lands from Robert Aughton and Ellen his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 47. About 1590 he had disputes with James Ayscough and others as to tenements called Hollins, Brandlewood, &c.; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 217, &c.
  • 56. References to the moss will be found in preceding notes. In 1403 the moss was let for £3 4s. a year; Lancs. and Ches. Recs. ii, 304. The turbary in the moss was included in the grant of Ulnes Walton and other manors by Edward IV to Thomas Molyneux of Sefton in 1481; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xix, 20. For various claims see Duchy Plead. ii, 183; iii, 11. In 1551 it was with the same manors sold to Anthony Browne; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xxiii, 70 d. His tenants had disputes with others as to the right of turbary in 1565, and there were later conflicts; Ducatus Lanc. ii, 304; iii, 109. See also Lancs. and Ches. Rec. ii, 261, 279. In 1595 the people of Preston claimed right of way over Middleforth moor and Penwortham moss; Ducatus, iii, 327, &c.
  • 57. Land tax returns at Preston.