Townships: Simonstone

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

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'Townships: Simonstone', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp496-503 [accessed 15 November 2024].

'Townships: Simonstone', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 15, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp496-503.

"Townships: Simonstone". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 15 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp496-503.

In this section

SIMONSTONE

Simundestan, c. 1230; Simondiston, 1258; Symoundeston, 1327; Symonstant, Symonstone, xiii cent.; the forms with 'd' inserted were the more usual; the termination 'stan' is found in 1292. The local pronunciation is Simmonston.

This township occupies part of the southern slope of a long ridge to the north of Padiham and Nelson. Going northwards from the Calder, which forms the southern boundary, the surface rises from about 230 ft. above the ordnance datum to over 800 ft. The village lies to the south-west of the centre; Huntroyde, with its extensive demesne, is on higher land to the north and east. A considerable part of the eastern boundary is defined by Huntroyde Brook, which runs down a wooded clough to join the Calder. Simonstone Brook flows south through the centre of the township. The area is 1,026 acres (fn. 1); there was a population of 491 in 1901.

The principal road is that through the village, joining Whalley and Padiham; another road between the same places runs about a mile to the north. Near the southern boundary is the road from Padiham to Blackburn. A cross-road connects these three. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's loop line from Blackburn to Padiham and Burnley crosses the lower ground in the south, and has a station named Simonstone.

The soil is clayey with subsoil of clay and rock. The land is in pasture. In 1552 there is mention of coal-getting on the king's waste of Simonstone. (fn. 2)

The township is governed by a parish council.

Manor

In the 13th century SIMONSTONE is found to be a member of the honor of Clitheroe and held in thegnage by a number of local families. It appears to have been assessed as 5 oxgangs of land, and in 1258 four parts rendered 12s. 9½d. a year to the lord, while the remaining fifth part—Huntroyde—was held by the service of a pair of spurs or 2d (fn. 3) The lordship of the manor, with one of the oxgangs, was inherited or acquired by Robert de Holden, (fn. 4) who in 1311 held it by the yearly rent of 3s. 2½d. at the Feast of St. Giles and suit to the three weeks court of Clitheroe. (fn. 5) Soon afterwards the manor descended to his son Nicholas, (fn. 6) who died about 1344, leaving his son Robert to succeed him. (fn. 7) Robert was living in 1399, (fn. 8) and was in 1411 succeeded by his grandson Thomas Holden. (fn. 9) Randle Holden occurs in the reign of Edward IV. (fn. 10)

William Boswell (fn. 11) of Chevet in Royston died in 1513 holding messuages and lands in Simonstone of the king as of his manor of Clitheroe in socage by a rent of 8d. for puture of the bailiffs of the forest of Pendle. The heirs were his daughters Elizabeth wife of Sir John Nevill, aged twenty-eight, and Alice wife of Robert Nevill, aged twenty-six. (fn. 12) On a partition the 'manor of Simonstone' became the share of the younger daughter, (fn. 13) and was in 1566 sold by her son George Nevill of Ragnell to John Braddyll, (fn. 14) who at his death in 1578 was found to have held it in socage. (fn. 15) His son and heir Edward obtained a confirmation of the manor from John Nevill, the son of George, (fn. 16) but appears to have sold it in 1596 to John Whitaker. (fn. 17) Nevertheless the manor is named in the inquisitions after the death of Edward Braddyll in 1607 and his son John in 1612; but the tenure is not stated. (fn. 18) From that time this manor disappears from the records.

The Whitaker family or families had long been settled in Simonstone, (fn. 19) and in 1599 Miles Whitaker sold a moiety of the manor, with a moiety of the water-mill, and lands, &c., to Roger Nowell of Read. (fn. 20) The Nowells had already some land in Simonstone, (fn. 21) and Roger at his death in 1624 was found to have held a messuage and land of the king in socage, nothing being said of a share of the manor. (fn. 22) The Whitakers have continued to hold an estate in Simonstone. (fn. 23)

SIMONSTONE HALL is a two-story stone-built house with gables, mullioned windows and stone slated roofs, built probably in the early 17th century, but very much modernized and of little architectural interest. The principal front, which faces west, has two gables with spiked ornaments, and a third recessed gabled wing at the north end, while the east elevation shows three flush gables. The front windows have all rounded heads to the lights, but appear to be early 19th-century restorations; those at the back being later are better in detail. Over the door is a shield with the arms of Whitaker with helm, crest and mantling. The interior is wholly modernized and without interest.

Other holders of land used the local name, but the descents cannot be traced clearly. (fn. 24) Ravensden gave a name to its holders. (fn. 25) Among the names recorded in pleadings and inquisitions are those of Shuttleworth, (fn. 26) Walmesley, (fn. 27) Hargreaves, (fn. 28) Lowe, (fn. 29) Lonsdale (fn. 30) and Robert or Roberts (fn. 31)

A partition of the wastes made in 1629 shows that the following were freeholders:—Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst, Richard Shuttleworth of Gawthorpe, Roger Nowell of Read, John Starkie of Huntroyde, Thomas Whitaker, John Whitaker, John Robert, Edmund Cockshott, George Whitaker, Thomas Lonsdale, Christopher Whitaker, Robert Sagar and Richard Mercer, all of Simonstone. (fn. 32)

HUNTROYDE was part of the land granted about 1230 by John de Lacy as lord of Clitheroe to John de Thelwall, by the description of a fifth part of the vill of Simonstone; a spur or 2d. was to be the annual service. (fn. 33) John de Thelwall's descendants were usually styled 'de Simonstone' (fn. 34); and in 1311 it was found that John son of John de Simonstone held an oxgang of land in thegnage of Henry de Lacy, and rendered yearly a pair of spurs of the value of 1½d. and suit to the three weeks court of Clitheroe. (fn. 35) The estate descended regularly in this family, receiving sundry additions, (fn. 36) until about 1460, when the heiress, Elizabeth, married Edmund son and heir of William Starkie of Barnton, near Frodsham, and carried it to the family which still retains it. (fn. 37)

Edmund Starkie died in 1511 holding the fifth part of the town of Simonstone of the king in socage by the rent of two spurs, and leaving a son James, aged twenty-four years. (fn. 38) In 1558 it was declared that the land was not held by knight's service. (fn. 39) The estate descended regularly, (fn. 40) and was increased by the marriage of Nicholas Starkie with the heiress of John Parr of Kempnough, (fn. 41) and of John Starkie with Alice Norris of Tonge. (fn. 42) The family appear to have been Puritans. John Starkie, son and heir of the above-named Nicholas, (fn. 43) was a member of the Presbyterian Classis in 1646. (fn. 44) As Colonel Starkie he took an active part on behalf of the Parliament in the Civil War, (fn. 45) and it was his son, Captain Nicholas Starkie, who was killed by the explosion after the capture of Hoghton Tower in 1643. (fn. 46) The eldest son of John and Alice Starkie inherited Huntroyde, (fn. 47) but his son Piers dying without issue in 1760, (fn. 48) this part of the estates went by will to the issue of a younger son Nicholas, who had been a prominent lawyer about 1700. (fn. 49) From Nicholas's grandson, Le Gendre Starkie, (fn. 50) Huntroyde has descended regularly to the present owner, Major Edmund Arthur Le Gendre Starkie, (fn. 51) who succeeded his father, Colonel Le Gendre Nicholas Starkie, in 1899.

Starkie of Huntroyde. Argenta bend sable between six storks proper.

HUNTROYDE stands close to the eastern boundary of the township about a mile to the north-west of Padiham, and is a large house built at three separate periods and altered and added to at the close of the last century. A plan and elevation of the old building, (fn. 52) portions of which still remain, show it to have been a 16th-century house following the usual type with central hall and end projecting wings, and having a total frontage to the south of 80 ft. The hall was 35 ft. by 20 ft., including the passage behind the screen at the west end, and was directly entered by a door, without porch, in the middle of the south wall with two windows on each side. The original arrangement, however, was probably slightly different from that shown in the plan, alterations having apparently been carried out in the 17th century, to which period probably the central doorway and the flanking windows belong. (fn. 53) A stone still preserved at the back of the house over the door leading to the kitchen court has the date 1576 with the initials E.S., and there is a similarly inscribed stone on the front near the ground at the south-east angle of the west wing. The date most likely gives the year of the first building on the site, which was of two stories with mullioned windows and plain gables to the wings, which projected 8 ft. A small gate-house, 22 ft. by 14 ft., appears to have been erected in 1631 at a distance of 47 ft. on the north side, forming the entrance to a courtyard about 92 ft. in length inclosed by walls. On the east side of the court, however, according to the 18th-century plan, were stables and other outbuildings, probably a new wing erected at the same time as the gate-house or shortly after, and attached to the original east wing of the house.

Plan of Huntroyde

In 1777 a large new wing was erected attached to the south-west angle of the old building, standing in front of it its full width of 35 ft., and such alterations were made to the older portion of the house as were required by the necessities of the new wing. This 18th-century building, which is 92 ft. long and planned on the regular classic lines of the time, contains on the ground floor a drawing-room and dining-room each 30 ft. by 21 ft., on either side of a central octagonal apartment opening to the garden with a circular staircase hall behind, from which a corridor runs along the north side of the rooms. The central feature projects as a wide bay on south and north, and the building, which is of a very plain character, with square sash windows, embattled parapets and hipped roof, is of two stories, the walls being of squared ashlar blocks on a low rusticated base. (fn. 54) A long servants' wing running northwards from the east wing of the old house appears to have been erected shortly afterwards, (fn. 55) and the elevation of the old building underwent some alteration, the plain gables and wall between being 'ornamented' by battlements and sash windows were introduced.

Plan of Huntroyde, 1777

In 1850 (fn. 56) a large wing containing a library and entrance hall supported by marble pillars was added at the north-west of the 18th-century building, running northwards some 64 ft. and forming the third side of a courtyard open to the north. In 1879 a range of offices was erected to the north side of the kitchen court incorporating the old gatehouse, which was restored; and in 1885–8 the whole of the old 16th-century building underwent yet another restoration, the front being wholly refaced, the sash windows removed and larger mullioned windows substituted, while many additions and alterations were made on the north side, including the erection of a lofty billiard-room on the first floor. The greater part of the exterior elevation of the house, which is built entirely of stone, is therefore modern and has little architectural interest. The 18thcentury central block remains unaltered, but is externally a singularly unattractive and dull example of the taste of the day, the square unmoulded battlements, if original, giving it a pseudo-Gothic appearance more usually met with fifty years later. The interior, however, contains some very good Adam decoration.

Very few of the original features of the old building remain inside, but in one of the bedrooms is a fireplace dated 1668, and a large stone fireplace now built up and some of the old stone doorways yet remain on the ground floor. The interior of the house is, however, generally speaking, without antiquarian or architectural interest. The house contains some old furniture, including an oak chest, oak dresser, and four-post bed, all bearing the initials of Grace Murgatroyd, the wife of Nicholas Starkie, who perished in the explosion at Hoghton Tower in 1642–3.

Over the archway of the rebuilt gate-house a dated stone inscribed 'J.S. 1631 M.S.' has been retained, and on the lawn in front of the house is a 17thcentury stone sundial, similar in design to one at Loveley Hall, with the initials I.H. T.T. on the shaft, but undated, and with a new plate.

The hearth tax in 1666 found fifty-eight hearths in Simonstone liable. The largest houses were those of John Starkie and John Cockshott, each with eight hearths. Miles Whitaker's house had five, three houses had four and two had three hearths. (fn. 57)

The land tax return of 1789 shows that Le Gendre Starkie and Thomas Whitaker were the principal owners. (fn. 58)

There is no place of worship in Simonstone, but divine service has for many years been conducted by the vicar of Padiham in the National schoolroom.

Footnotes

  • 1. The Census Rep. 1901 gives 1,027 acres, including 5 acres of inland water.
  • 2. Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 133.
  • 3. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 217. Simonstone continued to be reckoned among the members of Clitheroe as late as 1699; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 243, m. 110.
  • 4. Deeds relating to the estate are in Add. MS. 32104, no. 836, &c., but the manner in which the Holdens acquired possession does not appear, unless Nicholas 'the vicar' was their ancestor. To him Alan son of Richard de Simonstone released all his title in a fifth part of the vill—namely, that which Alan had from Adam son of Adam de Simonstone—for the rent of a barbed arrow; and Geoffrey son of Robert de Simonstone gave a parcel of land; ibid. no. 891, 897. Robert de Holden obtained a messuage and three butts from Robert son of Geoffrey de Simonstone, and another messuage from Richard son of Robert de Braddeth; ibid. no. 894, 850. From John son of Roger the Cook he obtained a capital messuage, part of the water-mill, and the reversion of lands held by John's mother Margery; Towneley MS. DD, no. 999, 1012. Roger the Cook's estate seems to have been acquired in various ways; ibid. no. 1005, 1009, 1011, 1016. Geoffrey son of Robert de Simonstone released to Master Roger the Cook of Landeforet the rent of 7½d. due from certain lands; Add. MS. 32104, no. 878. Alan son of Ellis de Simonstone granted all his land in the territory of Simonstone (held of Richard son of Adam) to Robert son of Eustace de Warton; ibid. no. 889. The same Robert obtained further land from Hugh son of Alan de Simonstone, and from Geoffrey son of Robert he had half of Goosclache in Simonstone and land in Ravensdenfield in Read; DD, no. 1003, 1015. These acquisitions he gave to Isabel his daughter; ibid. no. 1000. Possibly they descended to the Holdens by marriage.
  • 5. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 10. The same inquest shows that Ellen de Laundy held an oxgang of land in thegnage by a rent of 3s. 2½d., and that Geoffrey de Simonstone and Alyott de Simonstone held half an oxgang and an oxgang (? half) by rents of 1s. 7½d. and 1s. 7¼d. respectively. The other portion, with a rent of 3s. 1¾d., has not been recorded; it may have been held by John de Simonstone of Huntroyde.
  • 6. In 1313 Robert de Holden granted all his lands, &c., in Simonstone to his son Robert and his issue at a rent of 46s. 8d.; Add. MS. 32104, no. 851. To the younger Robert, perhaps as trustee, lands were in 1315 given by Richard son of Alan de Read; ibid. no. 862, 856. He was no doubt the Robert de Holden, clerk, to whom in 1326 Thomas son of Richard de Simonstone gave a messuage and lands and the reversion of his mother Cecily's dower; ibid. no. 858. Nicholas son of Robert de Holden made a number of acquisitions between 1317 and 1338. In the former year he obtained land in a field called the Rodes; ibid. no. 845. From another grant (no. 846) it seems that he held for life certain tenements from Adam son of Alexander de Simonstone. The said Adam in 1329 claimed a rent of 7s. from Nicholas de Holden, but the latter showed that he had it by Adam's own grant; Assize R. 427, m. 2.
  • 7. In 1328 Nicholas son of Robert de Holden gave to Robert his son all his messuages and lands in Simonstone; Add. MS. 32104, no. 867. In 1335 Nicholas and Margery his wife were reenfeoffed of their lands, including the reversion of the dower of Cecily widow of Richard de Simonstone; ibid. no. 854. Again in 1341 a settlement was made of Nicholas's possessions, the reversion being to his son Robert and his issue by his wife Katherine daughter of John de Altham; ibid. no. 859, 853. In 1344 an agreement was made between Robert the son of Nicholas and Margery the widow as to her dower; ibid. no. 876.
  • 8. Robert son of Nicholas de Holden in 1363 made a general fcoffment of his tenements, &c., in Simonstone, Haslingden and Chaigley; Add. MS. 32104, no. 870. This affords an indication that the three Holden families of these townships were related. Robert Page in 1369 granted lands in Simonstone and Read to Robert de Holden; ibid. no 847–8. In 1372 an agreement was made between Sir John Savile and Robert de Holden, the latter's son John marrying Isabel (? Savile), and having settled on him the manors of Holden and Simonstone and lands in Ewood and Byroun; DD, no. 1028. In 1399 Robert son of Nicholas de Holden made a feoffment of these lands; Add. MS. 32104, no. 849. Robert Holden and Alice his wife occur in 1396 and 1408; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 41; Pal. of Lanc. Chan. Misc. 1/8, m. 23/4. Alice was living in 1413; Towneley MS. DD, no. 998.
  • 9. Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, App. 174. Robert held the manor of Simonstone and four messuages in the vill of the king as of his duchy of Lancaster by the service of thegnage. Thomas Holden son of John son of Robert was thirty years of age. Thomas Holden occurs in 1426 and 1434; Final Conc. iii, 92; Add. MS. 32104, no. 857, 869.
  • 10. Randle Holden and others as trustees in 1479 demised to Thomas son of John Harwood the third part of certain lands in Blackburn; John had married Joan daughter of Randle Holden. The remainder was to the heirs of Elizabeth widow of Michael Harwood and sister of Geoffrey Bastwisle, the former owner of the land; Add. MS. 32104, no. 875. In the same collection of deeds is a bond from Thomas Holden of Ewood, dated 1511; ibid. no. 874.
  • 11. It is not known how the Boswells acquired the estate; for the pedigree see Hunter, Doncaster Deanery, ii, 393. John Boswell died in 1507 holding five messuages, various lands and 12d. rent in Simonstone of the king as of his manor of Clitheroe by a rent of 8d. William Boswell, the son and heir, was about sixty years old; Add. MS. 32104, no. 836. It will be noticed that the rent is not the same as that of Robert de Holden in 1311.
  • 12. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 53. For pedigrees see Hunter, loc. cit., for Nevill of Chevet; and Visit. of Notts. (Harl. Soc.), 65, for Nevill of Ragnell.
  • 13. In 1516 James Starkie gave Robert Nevill land in the Mershey, Cockshotsfield, &c., in exchange; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1019. In 1520 Sir John Nevill and Elizabeth his wife were summoned to warrant Robert Nevill the younger and Alice his wife in Simonstone; Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. 11 Hen. VIII. In the same year was made a settlement of the manor of Simonstone, and lands in Simonstone and Broad Holden in the 'parish' of Haslingden; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 11, m. 214.
  • 14. Ibid. bdle. 28, m. 30. George Nevill and Barbara his wife at the same time sold some messuages separately; ibid. m. 7, &c.
  • 15. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m., xiv, no. 85.
  • 16. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 46, m. 213, in 1584.
  • 17. Ibid. 59, m. 162; Edward Braddyll and John his son and heir-apparent were deforciants. John Whitaker was perhaps acting for his brother Miles Whitaker of Simonstone, who in 1598 agreed not to alienate the moiety recently purchased from Mr. Braddyll without the consent of Roger Nowell of Read; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 500.
  • 18. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 87; ii, 108. They did not die seised of it.
  • 19. There were several families named Whitaker in the township. One of them, as will be seen below, was connected with the owners of Huntroyde. John de Whitaker in 1300 and Richard de Whitaker in 1325–6 occur among local witnesses; Add. MS. 32104, no. 883, 846. Richard sold land to Nicholas de Holden in 1327; DD, no. 1010. Roger de Whitaker contributed to the subsidy in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 75; see note 35 below. Richard son of Henry Whitaker went to Ireland in the retinue of Sir John Stanley in 1399; Cal. Pat. 1399–1401, p. 234. In 1426 Thomas Holden purchased a messuage, &c., from Richard Whitaker, Margery his wife, John Bank and Isabel his wife; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 92. Deeds relating to the purchase are in Add. MS. 32104, no. 969, 857, 869. Lawrence son of Miles Whitaker of Whitacre in Padiham died in 1515, leaving an infant daughter Elizabeth; but his lands in Simonstone, held of the king in socage, were settled on his brother Henry; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 77. Bernard son of Miles Whitaker of High Whitacre left two young daughters Elizabeth and Isabel, who in 1521 were their grandfather's heirs; the land in Simonstone was held of the king by the twentieth part of a knight's fee; ibid. viii, no. 25. A small piece of land, which may have been the same estate, was in 1569 sold by Lawrence Whitaker and Henry his son; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 31, m. 34. Humphrey Whitaker purchased a messuage from George Nevill and Barbara his wife in 1566, as did Thomas Whitaker; ibid. bdle. 28, m. 7, 22. Miles and Humphrey Whitaker were freeholders in 1600; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 235, 237. In 1631 John and Thomas Whitaker paid £10 each on refusing knighthood; ibid. i, 218.
  • 20. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 61, m. 169. Miles was the son and heir of Thomas Whitaker, which Thomas died in 1589 holding a messuage and land in Simonstone of the queen as of her castle of Clitheroe by a rent of 2s. 4d.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 15. Miles, who was then about fifty years old, died in 1600, leaving a son and heir Thomas, aged fourteen; ibid. xviii, no. 4. Thomas died in 1648 and his son Miles in 1705; Padiham Reg. John Whitaker died in 1637 holding a messuage of the king as of his castle of Clitheroe by a rent of 20d.; Robert his son and heir was thirty-three years old; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 86. George Whitaker died in 1639 holding of the king as of his manor of Clitheroe by suit of court and rent, leaving a son and heir Christopher, aged forty; ibid. xxx, no. 54.
  • 21. Roger Nowell claimed common of pasture in Simonstone moor in 1565; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 313.
  • 22. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 422. The moiety of the manor is named in a Nowell feoffment of 1607; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 298, m. 2 d. In 1619 Nicholas Starkie and other freeholders complained that Roger Nowell was claiming service from them in virtue of a grant of court leet for his manor of Read and Simonstone; but it was shown that he had no right in the latter place, except for a small tenement (10s. a year) lately purchased from Edward Sagar; Duchy of Lanc. Decrees and Orders, xxviii, fol. 236. This tenement (bought in 1609) was in 1653 sold to John Starkie of Huntroyde; Huntroyde D.
  • 23. The descent from the Thomas Whitaker of 1600 is given in Whitaker's Whalley (ed. Nicholls), ii, 43. When Simonstone moor was partitioned there were four freeholders of the name—Thomas, John, George and Christopher, but the last was probably the son of George. The descent seems to be: Humphrey Whitaker (d. 1610)– s. John (d. 1637) -s. Robert -sons John and Robert. The third family was probably descended from the George Whitaker who died in 1639. This note is due to Mr. H. Ince Anderton.
  • 24. Alan son of Warine de Simonstone in the first half of the 13th century granted his brother Richard the land he had had from Robert son of Godrich, a rent of 4d. being payable; DD, no. 1018. The same Alan gave Roger son of Uctred de Simonstone certain land to be held by the rent of 12d. yearly; ibid. no. 1025. To the latter gift the following among others were witnesses—Adam, Robert, Thomas and Ellis de Simonstone. Alan son of Ellis de Simonstone gave half the land he had held of Alan son of Warine to John son of William the Smith; Add. MS. 32104, no. 885, 892. In 1246 Sibyl widow of Alan son of Warine sued Stephen son of Kenwrick for dower in 2 oxgangs of land in Simonstone, but as Stephen denied her marriage the Bishop of Lichfield was ordered to inquire; Assize R. 404, m. 6 d. Simon son of Adam de Simonstone confirmed to Hugh son of Alan certain lands; DD, no. 997. This Hugh may have been the father of Roger, who as Roger son of Hugh attested some local charters and was in 1356–7 named, together with Robert son of Nicholas de Holden, as suitor for Simonstone to the court of Clitheroe; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 5, m. 10 d. Agnes and Margery, infant daughters of John son of Roger de Simonstone, are named in 1349; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1024. Margery was living in 1367; Add. MS. 32104, no. 943. Geoffrey son of Robert de Simonstone has been named (notes 4, 5). His father may have been the Robert son of Simon who, with John de Thelwall, Alan son of Warine and Thomas son of Uctred, attested a grant of land made by Robert son of Godrich de Simonstone to Alan son of Simon; Add. MS. 32104, no. 893. Geoffrey was called 'chief lord of the fee' in 1292 in a claim for a messuage and land put forward by William son of William de Withinlache, but it was shown that the claimant's elder brother Richard had released the disputed tenement to Geoffrey; Assize R. 408, m. 29 d. In 1350 Robert de Holden gave a messuage, &c., in Hulcrofts to Richard son of Adam son of Alexander de Simonstone in exchange for lands in Arpifield, Thickthornes, &c.; DD, no. 1017.
  • 25. Geoffrey son of Robert de Simonstone released to Robert de Ravensden the rent of 4d. due from land in Gooselache and Meadowlache; DD, no. 1008. Robert de Ravensden also held land of Richard son of Adam de Simonstone by a rent of 9½d. for a term of years, and in 1292, having been outlawed for felony, the land was claimed by Richard; Assize R. 408, m. 20 d. An inquiry made the same year showed that John son of Robert de Ravensden held the land; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 275. In 1366 Robert son of Richard de Ravensden demised lands in Simonstone to Robert de Holden for life; Add. MS. 32104, no. 852. The above-named Richard son of Adam de Simonstone made a grant to James son of Henry de Clayton, as also did Geoffrey son of Robert; ibid. no. 881, 896. The grantee gave the lands to John his son; Kuerden MSS. iii, A 9. Thomas son of Richard de Simonstone was a suitor of the Clitheroe court in 1323; Lancs. Ct. R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 49. See also De Banco R. 189, m. 53.
  • 26. John de 'Swttellesar' received lands and part of the mill from John son of Alan de Simonstone; DD, no. 1014. Ellis son of Henry de Shuttleworth had a grant from Geoffrey and Adam son of Ellis de Simonstone; Add. MS. 32104, no. 890. Before 1326 Henry de Shuttleworth, who left a son John, had land in Simonstone held in thegnage; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 220. John son of Henry de Shuttleworth exchanged lands with Nicholas de Holden in 1329; the fieldnames include Honnolands and Cockshoot; ibid. no. 864. Henry Shuttleworth in 1423 granted land in the Crocke to his mother Magot, widow of John Shuttleworth; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1004. Robert Shuttleworth of Hacking in 1513 held a tenement in Simonstone of the king by a rent of 2s.; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 69. See also Kuerden MSS. iv, B 10b. Bernard Shuttleworth in 1563 purchased a messuage from John Hindle and Agnes his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 25, m. 251. In 1572 Charles Shuttleworth had land in Simonstone; ibid. bdle. 34, m. 148. See also Ducatus Lanc. ii, 403.
  • 27. Sir Thomas Walmesley of Dunkenhalgh in 1612 held a messuage of the king in socage; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 249. Anne daughter of Robert and sister and heir of Richard Shuttleworth married Sir T. Walmesley, the judge; Towneley's note.
  • 28. Lawrence Hargreaves purchased lands in 1566 and Henry Hargreaves in 1596; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 28, m. 145; 59, m. 115. Henry Hargreaves died in 1598 holding his messuage, &c., of the queen in socage; his son and heir Edward was twenty-two years old; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 56. A later inquisition states that he held land of Roger Nowell and Miles Whitacre by knight's service and rent; ibid. no. 69.
  • 29. William Lowe was a purchaser from George Nevill in 1566; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 28, m. 11. He died in 1585 holding his messuage of the queen in socage, as of her castle of Clitheroe. Christopher, his son and heir, was thirty years of age in 1600; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 60. The son appears to have sold to Nicholas Starkie; Huntroyde D.
  • 30. Robert Lonsdale purchased a toft, &c., from Edward Braddyll and John his son in 1596; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 128. Robert died in 1601, leaving a son Thomas, about sixteen years old; the land was held as of the castle of Clitheroe; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 363. After Thomas's death the estate went to two aunts, and theirheirs (Ingham and Hanson) eventually (1724 and 1752) sold their moieties to Piers Starkie; Mr. Anderton's note.
  • 31. John Roberts died in 1640 holding a little land of the king's manor of Clitheroe, and leaving as heir a son Nicholas, aged fifty-six; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 55. The Roberts holding was no doubt that formerly held by Shuttleworth and Walmesley, for it was sold to Nicholas (son of John) Robart or Roberts in 1618. The heirs in 1727 sold to Piers Starkie; note by Mr. Anderton. Wilfrid Banastre, probably of Stainton (Whitaker, Craren, 236), sold messuages in 1560–2 to Edmund Cockshott, Robert Sagar and John Braddyll; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdles. 22, m. 90; 23, m. 88; 24, m. III. Christopher Mercer and Isabel his wife occur in 1583; ibid. bdle. 45, m. 128. The Shireburnes of Stonyhurst had land in the township, as appears by the deed of partition (1629) and the inquisitions. There was also a minor family of Starkie of Simonstone, descended from William a younger son of the Edmund who died in 1617, as shown below.
  • 32. Huntroyde D.
  • 33. Ibid. H 1; the name Huntroyde does not occur in the charter. The grantor is styled only 'constable of Chester'; he became Earl of Lincoln in 1232. The fifth part had formerly belonged to Quenilda. In 1258 John de Thelwall still held this part of Edmund de Lacy; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 217. He made a grant of land in the Fowlrakes in Simonstone; Huntroyde D. H 3.
  • 34. Alan brother of Robert de Simonstone released a rent of 5d. due from John son of John de Thelwall from Milnedey; ibid. H 4. Apparently a little later, several of the same witnesses attesting, John son of William de Simonstone granted all his father's lands to John son of John de Simonstone and Margaret his wife; ibid. H 5.
  • 35. De Lacy Inq. 14. This John was perhaps the grandson of John de Thelwall. In 1312–13 Robert son of John de Simonstone made a feoffment of all his lands in the vill, while in 1317 Adam son of Adam de Gucschagh granted a messuage and land in Gucschagh in the vill of Simonstone to John the elder son of John son of John de Simonstone, with remainder to John the father of the grantee; Huntroyde D. H 10, 12. It seems to be the father who as John de Simonstone the elder made in 1328 a settlement of his lands in Simonstone, with the reversion of his mother Alice's dower; the remainders were to John and Maud, children of John, and to Roger de Whitaker his brother; ibid. H 13, 14. John son of John de Simonstone in 1342 granted lands in the Mikerode, Littlerode and Oldhey to Adam del Holt and Maud his wife; ibid. H 15.
  • 36. Robert son of John de Simonstone occurs in 1361; Huntroyde D. H 16. In 1391 John de Birtwisle, chaplain, and Richard son of Richard de Whitaker, as feoffees, gave to Alice daughter of Robert de Whitaker lands in the vill and fields of Simonstone received from Robert son of John de Simonstone; ibid. H 18. The same feoffees afterwards granted to Robert son of John all his lands, with remainders to John and Thomas sons of Robert, to the heirs of Robert by Alice daughter of Robert de Whitaker, to Alice widow of John de Altham and to Roger son of Richard Banastre of Altham; ibid. H 19. Huntroyde is named in a deed of 1412 by which Robert Simonstone gave to John his son, who had married Margaret daughter of John Livesey, a messuage called 'Huntrode,' which Henry Sankey had occupied, and land in the Marshey; ibid. H 20, 21. By 1419, however, John son of Robert Simonstone had married Katherine daughter of John Lister of Middop, and Huntroyde was settled on them and their issue; ibid. H 23. In 1436–7 settlements were made by John Simonstone, Katherine his wife and Richard his son and heir (a minor) being named; ibid. H 25–9. John son of Richard Whitaker of Northwood was a trustee. John Simonstone made another feoffment of all his messuages and lands in Simonstone and Huntroyde in 1446; ibid. H 31, 32. John son and heir of Robert Simonstone occurs again in 1451; Towneley MS. DD, 1216, 1207.
  • 37. The Simonstone records give little information for the latter part of the 15th century, but a certificate has been preserved stating that Edmund Starkie on 12 Jan. 1464–5 appeared before Ralph Langley in the church of Manchester, and, he being seventeen and his wife Elizabeth thirteen, they publicly professed their willingness to ratify the contract of marriage between them; Huntroyde D. Bn xvii. In 1475 Edmund Starkie and Elizabeth his wife granted to his father William a lease of the messuage in which William then dwelt in Simonstone, with all the lands except the Huntroyde (which he had already); note by Mr. H. Ince Anderton. The following seems to be the ancestry of Edmund Starkie: Geoffrey -s. Randle (1315) -s. Hugh (1355) -s. William (1389) -s. Ralph (1393) -s. William (1437–53) -s. Edmund; Huntroyde D. Bn i-xvi. In 1504 Richard son and heir of Edmund Starkie paid sums of money to Ellen Law; ibid. H 33, 34. Elizabeth wife of Edmund Starkie occurs in 1507; ibid. H 35. In the same year Edmund made an agreement for the marriage of James his son and heir-apparent to Jane daughter of John Tempest, the manor of Barnton being settled on them; they were to live at Huntroyde, paying the rent of 26s. 8d.; ibid. H 36. At that time, therefore, Huntroyde had not become the chief residence. The Simonstone Hall occupied by the Starkie family is said to have been within the park of Huntroyde. It has long since disappeared.
  • 38. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 20. In 1517 James Starkie of Simonstone made a feoffment of his lands in Simonstone and Barnton, with remainder to his son and heir Lawrence; but Huntroyde was to be given to another son, Thomas, for life; Huntroyde D. H 42. Jane the wife of James Starkie is mentioned in 1535; ibid. H 49. A year later a deed by James Starkie 'of the Huntrode,' Lawrence his son and heir, William bastard son of James and Alison Hancock mother of William gave a rentcharge of 4 marks to William and his mother for life; ibid. H 51. James Starkie seems to have died soon afterwards, Lawrence being in possession in 1537; ibid. H 53. Another Lawrence Starkie—the 'cousin' of James (ibid. 1144)—was the acting sheriff of Lancashire from 1497 onwards to 1523; P.R.O. List, 72. Some letters relating to him are printed in Whitaker's Whalley, ii, 46–8. Lands were in 1539 settled on Lawrence Starkie of Simonstone and Florence his wife; Huntroyde D. H 55, 56. Lawrence died in Sept. 1546 holding three messuages in Simonstone of the king as of his duchy by the hundredth part of a knight's fee; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 37. Edmund the son and heir was nine years old; this is probably right, but he was fourteen according to a 'note of the extent and clear yearly value' of the estate among the Huntroyde D. (H 61). This shows that the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of the ward were still living. Edmund Starkie petitioned for the livery of his father's lands in 1555; ibid. H 63.
  • 39. This was a decision of the Court of Wards and Liveries correcting the return made after the death of Lawrence Starkie; Ct. of Wards Misc. Bks. ciii, fol. 236.
  • 40. Edmund Starkie in 1561 settled Huntroyde and other lands on his wife Anne for jointure; his mother Florence, then wife of Roger Nowell, had Simonstone Hall for her life; Huntroyde D. H 66. In 1570 he was exempted from serving on juries owing to chronic illhealth; ibid. H 70. He was buried at Padiham 7 Feb. 1616–17; Reg. According to the inquisition after his death he held a fifth part of the vill of Simonstone of the king, and his son and heir Nicholas was fifty years old; Huntroyde D.
  • 41. See the account of Worsley. In 1578 John Parr of Cleworth and Edmund Starkie became bound to observe covenants of marriage; ibid. H 71. The will of Margaret Parr (1594) widow of John is found ibid. T 9. Nicholas had a son John and a daughter Anne by this marriage; it is of them that the story of demoniacal possession is related in 1594. The narrator states that 'Mr. Nicholas Starkie having married a gentlewoman that was an inheritrix and of whose kindred some were Papists; these, partly for religion and partly because the estate descended not to heirs male, prayed for the perishing of her issue, and that four sons pined away in a strange manner, but that Mrs. Starkie, learning this circumstance, estated her lands on her husband and his heirs, failing issue of her own body, after which a son and daughter were born, who prospered well till they arrived at the age of ten or twelve years'; quoted in Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1868), i, 201. Nicholas Starkie died 20 Aug. 1618 holding a fourth part and a fortieth of the vill of Simonstone of the king in socage by a rent of 2d., lands in Salford, &c. His heir was his son John, aged thirty; Inq. p.m. among the Huntroyde D.
  • 42. Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xix-xx, 18. The marriage covenant was dated 1654, John grandson and heir of John Starkie of Huntroyde to Alice daughter of Alexander Norris; Huntroyde D. H 82.
  • 43. In 1619 John Starkie of Kempnough became bound to his brother Nicholas in respect of certain leases made by Nicholas their father and Edmund their grandfather; ibid. H 81. The inquisition after the death of Anne Starkie (1610) and Nicholas (1618) was made in 1619 with regard to the lands in Worsley and Tyldesley; John their son and heir was thirty years of age; ibid. T 10. John Starkie in 1631 paid £25 as composition on refusing knighthood; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 218.
  • 44. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1868), i, 227.
  • 45. Colonel John Starkie had charge of the levies, &c., in Blackburn Hundred in 1642; Lancs. War (Chet. Soc.), 9, 15, &c. He was one of the committee for 'sequestering notorious delinquents' estates' in 1643, and a member of the county committee in 1645; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 90, 210. According to Towneley he was sheriff in 1656; C 8, 13, p. 1096. The P.R.O. List gives no name for 1655. He was still living, aged seventy-six, in 1664 when a pedigree (incorrect) was recorded; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 296. He died in 1665.
  • 46. Civil War Tracts, 80; he is described as 'a worthy gentleman.' He had taken an active part in the raising of forces for the Parliament; War in Lancs. 15. His son John husband of Alice Norris died in 1670, the account of his funeral expenses being among the Huntroyde D. (V 31). Alice was buried at Bolton 29 Dec. 1683. Administration of her goods was in January following granted to her son John; ibid. H 84.
  • 47. His name also was John. He matriculated at Oxford in 1676; Foster, Alumni. In Sept. 1682 he eloped with Anne daughter of William Hulton of Hulton, who was to have been married to Mr. Farington; O. Heywood, Autobiog. ii, 132; Northowram Reg. 45. He died at the end of November 1697; Admon. at Chester.
  • 48. The will of Piers Starkie, dated 1758, devises the manor of Tonge, the manor or reputed manor of Westhoughton and the capital messuages of Huntroyde, Shuttleworth Hall in Hapton, Snydale in Westhoughton, Hall of the Wood in Tonge and Sunderland in Balderston to the uses of Edmund Starkie, Nicholas Starkie, Le Gendre his son, Thomas Starkie and William Starkie, merchant. A lease and release of the manor of Tonge near Bolton and lands in Simonstone (dated 1713), Padiham, &c., is in Com. Pleas Recov. R. Hil. 17 Geo. III, m. 40, 42.
  • 49. See the account of Lydiate. He matriculated at Oxford (Christ Church) in 1678 (Foster, Alumni), and was buried at Preston 17 Aug. 1735. Some of his letters are printed in Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 206, &c., and there are a number of references to him. He was attorney-general for the county palatine. His eldest son Edmund, also a lawyer, succeeded to Huntroyde; he represented Preston as a Tory from 1754 till 1768. He died in 1773.
  • 50. Son of Edmund Starkie's brother Nicholas. A Private Act was passed in 1798 allowing leases for long terms, sales of portion and timber to be cut on the settled estates of Le Gendre Piers Starkie.
  • 51. There are pedigrees in Whitaker, Whelley, ii, 45; Foster, Lancs. Peds.; Burke, Landed Gentry. The following is an outline: Le Gendre Starkie (d. 1791) –s. Le Gendre Piers, sheriff 1806 (d. 1807) –s. Le Gendre, sheriff 1815 (d. 1822) –bro. Le Gendre Piers (d. 1849) –bro. Le Gendre Nicholas (d. 1868) –s. Le Gendre Nicholas, sheriff 1868 (d. 1899). For the more recent descents see Howard, Visit. of Engl. and Wales, vi, 150–1. In the house there is a portrait of the first Le Gendre Starkie by Gainsborough.
  • 52. 'The Elevation of the South Front of Antient Huntroid together with a Plan of the Ground and Chamber Floors taken in 1777.' The drawing now hangs in the upper corridor of the middle, or south wing, of the house.
  • 53. The passage-way behind the screen in the 18th century plan has a doorway at the north end only, with a porch linable with the outer wall of a staircase which stood 6 ft. in front of the hall chimney on the north side. The original entrance to the house would be, however, by a door at the south end of the screen, which was presumably done away with in the 17th-century alterations.
  • 54. At the south-east and south-west angles of the base are cut the initials L G S and the date 1777.
  • 55. a There is a reference to proposed additions in 1789 amongst the estate papers.
  • 56. Before this date buildings of some nature appear to have been erected to the west of the 18th-century wing, giving balance to some extent to the appearance of the front elevation, but they were removed when the present north-west wing was built. They are shown in old pictures of the house previous to 1850.
  • 57. Lay Subs. Lancs. bdle. 250, no. 9.
  • 58. Returns at Preston.
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