Townships: Broughton

BROUGHTON

Broghton, Brochton, 1277; Brogthton, 1292.

As stated above, this township, often called Broughton-in-Cartmel to distinguish it from other Broughtons in the neighbourhood, has recently been divided into two called Broughton East and Grange. It gave a name to one of the bailiwicks. It has an area of 3,425 acres, (fn. 1) and in 1901 had a population of 218, while Grange had 1,993. The township is divided physically by Hampsfell, or Hampsfield Fell, a ridge over 600 ft. high running north and south through the centre. On the western slope of it is Hampsfield Hall. To the west of the fell is the comparatively level vale in which are situated Field Broughton and Wood Broughton to the north and Aynsome to the south. The surface rises again on the western edge. On the south-east of the fell, sloping down to Morecambe Bay, is the modern town of Grange, with Blavvith at its northern end, pleasantly sheltered by the tree-clad hills.

The Furness railway runs along the coast at Grange, where there is a station. From the station the chief roads go north-east to Castlehead and Lindale, and west over the fell towards Cartme], with a branch sloping down to Kent's Bank on the south-west. Up the Broughton Vale a road goes north from Cartmel, passing through Field Broughton and past the new church to Staveley, with a crossroad from Low Wood to Lindide.

A beautiful view may be obtained from the summit of Hampsfell, where the Rev. Thomas Remington, sometime vicar of Cartmel, raised a small tower or hospice for the accommodation of visitors. There is a tumulus close by.

By St. Andrew Moor, at cross-roads named Four Lanc Ends, is a boulder of greenstone, called Egg Pudding-stone. The local story was that it turned round when Cartmel Church clock struck twelve at midnight, and the spot was avoided after dark. (fn. 2)

At Grange, near the Hydropathic establishment, is a convalescent home belonging to the friendly societies of the north-east counties. There is a Working-men's Institute. The well-wooded Holme Island to the east was formerly quite cut off by the tides, but has been connected with the mainland by a breakwater. It was made residential by Alexander Brogden, the engineer of the Furness railway. Mrs. Williams now owns it.

Under the present township arrangements Broughton East is governed by a parish council of five members. Grange has an urban district council of nine members. The council offices were built about 1902. Gas is supplied by a private company, and there is a water supply.

Manor

Almost the whole of Broughton was held as part of the manor of Cartmel by the customary tenants of the canons. (fn. 3) The name Broughton originally covered also the country to the east and north-east. (fn. 4) The rental of 1508–9 (fn. 5) gives a number of details of the several holdings. Thus William Mokeld took a tenement at a rent of 19d. each term, paying 15d. for service and 20d. for ingress, with 1d. and a hen and a half for tithe hay and 9 bushels of oats and 6 pecks of barley for tithe corn. The tithes appear to have been thus paid with the rent in most cases. William Bare, in addition to a moiety of his father's tenement, took Elvi's Place at a rent of 5d. each term, and other sums for service, &, and tithes. William Harrison took it after him. (fn. 6) Aynsome was a separate division, with tenements of the same character. (fn. 7)

The only estate called a manor was that of HAMPSFIELD, originally Hamsfell. (fn. 8) The tenure is older than the foundation of the priory, for Henry II granted to Simon son of Uckeman, his seneschal in Cartmel, the whole moiety of Hampsfield, which Uckeman his father had formerly held; a rent of 1 mark was to be paid by equal portions at the four terms. (fn. 9) The next tenants known had taken a surname from their manor, of which a settlement was made in 1314 by John de Hampsfield, the remainders being to his children John, William, Adam, Alice and Godith. (fn. 10) In 1320 the Prior of Cartmel was claiming suit at Broughton Mill against John son of John de Hampsfield, Norman de Redmayne and Mary his wife and Simon de Hampsfield. (fn. 11) In 1417 inquiry was made as to the bounds between the lordship of Cartmel and the lands of the free tenants of John Philipson and John Travers of Hampsfield. (fn. 12) It thus appears that the manor had descended to heiresses, and shortly afterwards the two parts were purchased by Rowland Thornburgh, or Thornborough, (fn. 13) whose family held the estate for a long period.

William Thornburgh died in 15 21 holding messuages and lands called Hampsfield in the vill of Broughton of James Gregg, Prior of Cartmel, by the yearly rent of 13s. 4d. He was succeeded by a son and heir Rowland, twenty-four years old. (fn. 14) Rowland was dead in 1544, when his son William was engaged in dispute with the tenants of Cartmel as to common of pasture on the waste, part of which William had inclosed as belonging to his manor of Hampsfield. (fn. 15) He acquired some of the monastic estates, (fn. 16) and by his wife Thomasine Bellingham acquired others in Westmorland. (fn. 17) He took part in the invasion of Scotland in 1547, and was knighted by the Duke of Somerset at Roxburgh. (fn. 18) His son William married Awdrey Carus, whose monument stands in Cartmel Church, (fn. 19) and died in 1608 (fn. 20) Their grandson William in 1636 sold Hampsfield to Robert Curwen of Cark and his nephew, and the estate has since descended with Cark Hall. (fn. 21) The Thornburghs, adhering with fair steadiness to the Roman Catholic religion, suffered the legal penalties, (fn. 22) but as they removed into Westmorland, where they had long had an estate, their story ceases to concern this county. (fn. 23)

Hampsfield Hall (fn. 24) is a picturesque two-story gabled house standing at the foot of Hampsfell, below an extensive wood known as the Haening. (fn. 25) The building, which is of stone and rough-cast, was erected shortly before 1636, (fn. 26) and yet retains many of its ancient features, notably a large external chimney, but some of its mullioned windows have given place to sashes and the building has been otherwise modernized. The interior contains some old panelling. On the hill-side, about 60 yds. above the house, are the foundations of an older building, a portion of which in the form of a tower, (fn. 27) measuring 36 ft. by 23 ft., was standing till about the year 1814, when it was pulled down by the tenant in the absence of the owner and the materials used in the erection of new farm buildings. Since 1686, when the widow of Robert Rawlinson died there, Hampsfield Hall has been used as a farm-house. (fn. 28)

Another free tenancy, the origin of which is not known, was that in WOOD BROUGHTON, held by the Waleys and Knipe families. One Robert de Prees in 1277 claimed the manor of Cartmel against the prior, who defended by alleging that he did not hold the manor entirely, for Robert le Waleys held 60 acres, John de Aythehead 11 acres and Thomas Wydemer (or de Wimbergton) 30 acres, and this plea was accepted. (fn. 29) William le Waleys and Godith his wife occur in 1309 (fn. 30) and 1321. (fn. 31) In 1314 Simon de Knipe (fn. 32) settled a messuage, 60 acres of land, &, in Broughton, in addition to lands in Westmorland, upon Henry de Knipe and Beatrice his wife for life. (fn. 33) In 1321 two messuages, 80 acres of land, &, in Broughton and Holker were settled by Simon de Knipe upon Alexander le Waleys with remainders to his brothers Roger, John and Simon, with further remainder to William son of Alexander. (fn. 34) Alexander Waleys died about 1340 holding a tenement in Heysham and five messuages, &, in Cartmel of the prior by a rent of 3s., doing suit to court and mill. (fn. 35) There is then a long period of silence. In 1578 George Thornburgh claimed land in Wood Broughton against Robert Walles (fn. 36); Miles and William Walks occur about the same time. (fn. 37) Isaac Knipe, who had land at Darlington, died in 1618 holding a water mill called Anysham (Aynsome) Mill of the king as of his manor of East Greenwich; his son William, aged eleven, succeeded. (fn. 38) This William recorded a pedigree in 1665, having then a son of his own name and eight daughters. (fn. 39) The male line ended with a William Knipe who died in 1761, having devised the Broughton Hall estate to his four surviving sisters. (fn. 40) This came to the youngest, Susanna wife of Walter Barber, captain of a Liverpool privateer, whose only child Elizabeth married John Gardner. The estate was sold by her son Walter Gardner, who settled at Broughton Bank, and was in 1843 purchased by Gray Rigge of Wood Broughton; his son Henry Fletcher Rigge purchased Broughton Bank in 1866. (fn. 41)

The Fletchers are named in the rental of 1508–9 as customary tenants in Broughton. (fn. 42) The family is found established at Field Broughton later in the century. (fn. 43) By various marriages and by purchase the Hampsfield, Wood Broughton and Cark Hall estates came into the possession of the Rigge family, and have thus descended to Mr. Robert Stockdale Grayrigge of Wood Broughton. (fn. 44)

Aynsome a century ago was the seat of a Machell family. (fn. 45) Another branch of the Machells had Broughton Grove, where Richard Machell was living in 1826. (fn. 46) This estate was purchased from them by the late Thomas J. Hibbert in 1859 and is now the property of his nephew Mr. Henry Hibbert, who resides there. (fn. 47) Broughton seldom occurs in the older records. (fn. 48) Grange comes into notice only recently. (fn. 49)

In connexion with the Church of England a chapel of ease was built at Field Broughton in 1745 (fn. 50); this was replaced by the present church of St. Peter in 1893–4. The benefice is in the gift of five trustees. A separate parish was created for it in 1875. (fn. 51) The Rev. H. A. Ransome, M.A., is the incumbent. At Grange St. Paul's was built in 1853 and had a parish assigned to it in 1884; the Bishop of Carlisle has the patronage. Services are also held at Grange Fell.

The Wesleyan chapel at Grange was built in 1874–5. The Congregational chapel there dates from 1899.

The small Roman Catholic church of St. Charles was built in 1884, the mission having been founded two years before. (fn. 52)