Townships: Hoghton

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

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Citation:

'Townships: Hoghton', 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/pp36-47 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'Townships: Hoghton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp36-47.

"Townships: Hoghton". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp36-47.

In this section

HOGHTON

Hocton, 1204; Hoghton, 1290 and usual; Hoghtone, 1306.

The River Darwen, flowing north and west, forms part of the eastern boundary of this township. Near the centre of the northern portion of the area is the steep hill on which is perched Hoghton Tower, 556 ft. above sea level. To the north-cast is the hamlet called Hoghton Bottoms, being on the lower ground by the riverside, and to the south-west is Riley Green; Brimmicroft lies to the south. Further south again the surface rises in one place to 600 ft. The area is 2,232 acres. (fn. 1) In 1901 the population numbered 940.

The principal road is that on the westerly side of the township, from Bolton-le-Moors to Preston, and is joined at Riley Green by the road coming westward from Blackburn. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's railway from Preston to Blackburn crosses the northern part of the township, and has a station called Hoghton about a mile west of the Tower. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through Brimmicroft.

The most notable event in the history of the township appears to be the visit of James I to Hoghton Tower in 1617. He stayed there three days, 15–18 August, hunting and feasting, and is said there to have resolved upon the proclamation as to Sunday sports which gave so much offence to the Puritans. The mock knighting of 'Sir Loin' is also associated with the visit. (fn. 2) In February 1642–3 the Parliamentarians sent 300 men to take Hoghton Tower, which was 'fortified with three great pieces of ordnance, and some say with betwixt thirty and forty musqueteers and some say more.' After half an hour's consideration the place was surrendered upon quarter, but on Captain Starkie of Blackburn searching the place for powder and arms an explosion took place, by which he and a number of his company were killed and others maimed. The explosion was due to the carelessness of one of his men, but at the time was attributed to the malice of the defenders. (fn. 3)

Hoghton Tower had twenty-two out of the seventyseven hearths in the township taxed in 1666; the residence nearest in size was that of Mrs. Lathom, with five hearths. (fn. 4) The soil is clayey and sandy; wheat, oats and potatoes are grown. The township is mainly agricultural, but a cotton factory has long been established. There is also a large quarry. Formerly alum was mined. (fn. 5)

There is a parish council.

Joseph Knight, a botanist, was born at Hoghton in 1781. He died in 1855. (fn. 6)

Manor

In the 12th century HOGHTON seems to have been considered a part of Gunolfsmoors, (fn. 7) a name which survived until about 1600 (fn. 8) and is perpetuated in the 'Moor quarter' of the parish. (fn. 9) The whole was within the barony or fee of Penwortham, and it is on record that Richard Bussel gave to Alan son of Swain, in marriage with his sister, 4½ plough-lands in Gunolfsmoors. (fn. 10) It is probable that the grant was made by Richard's father, Warine Bussel, (fn. 11) for about 1160 Richard Bussel, with the assent of his brothers Albert and Geoffrey, gave to Richard Fitton eight plough-lands, viz. Elswick, Clayton-le-Woods, Whittle-le-Woods, Wheelton, Withnell, Hoghton, and Roddlesworth, with all appurtenances, to be held by the fourth part of a knight's fee; but when Richard should gain possession of the land held by William son of Alan the service to be rendered should be doubled. (fn. 12) According to an ancient statement of the descent William son of Alan's lands were parted between three daughters and coheirs, (fn. 13) but, as Hoghton is not expressly named in the partition, it may have been for the most part outside the 4½ plough-lands granted to Alan. In later times, as will be seen, the Hoghton manors were said to be held by the third or the fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 14) Richard Fitton, perhaps the same or his successor, was the tenant in 1212, holding Gunolfsmoors of the barony of Penwortham by knights' service. (fn. 15) Later, perhaps about 1280, Edmund Fitton granted his lordship to Sir Henry de Lea, (fn. 16) from whom, some forty years later, it descended by marriage to the Hoghton family, the immediate lords of the manor. (fn. 17)

The early connexion of this family with Hoghton is obscure. The earliest ancestor known is one Hamon or Hamlet le Boteler, to whom Warine Bussel gave two plough-lands in Heaton in Lonsdale and Elston, in free marriage with his daughter. (fn. 18) Hamlet had two sons, Richard and William, (fn. 19) and Richard's son Adam had some land or lordship in Hoghton, for in 1203 he was known as Adam de Hoghton. (fn. 20) He did not hold directly of the Fittons, for it is clear from what follows that Hoghton was parted between two mesne lords, one surnamed Hoghton and the other Ollerton. Adam had successors of the same name, (fn. 21) and in the latter part of the century a Sir Adam de Hoghton becomes prominent. (fn. 22) He extended the family possessions and in particular acquired the lordship of a fourth part of the manor. It appears that Henry son of Henry de Hoghton, one of the mesne lords above mentioned, held three-fourths of the manor in his own right and the other fourth part of Richard de Ollerton by the service of 3s. yearly. Adam, who was Henry's tenant for the other three parts, holding by a rent of 6s. 9d., purchased the service of the fourth part from Ollerton; so that he then held three-fourths of Henry by a rent of 6s. 9d., and Henry held the other fourth of him by a rent of 3s. It was consequently agreed that for the future Adam should pay 3s. 9d. only and Henry nothing. (fn. 23) The descendants of Henry can be traced for some time later, but appear to have sold their possessions to Adam's descendants, (fn. 24) the latter thus becoming sole lords of the manor.

Sir Adam, who died about 1290, had several children, including sons Adam, Thomas, Geoffrey and Master Richard. (fn. 25) Adam seems to have died soon after his father, and Master Richard, sheriff of the county in 1298, (fn. 26) succeeded. (fn. 27) In 1311 it was found that Richard de Hoghton held Gunolfsmoors and Whittle-le-Woods by the service of half a knight's fee, rendering 2s. for sake fee and doing suit to the court of Penwortham. (fn. 28) A number of his charters are extant; by one he settled his manor of Hoghton upon his son Richard. (fn. 29) It appears to be this son who married Sibyl, the sister and heir of Sir Henry de Lea, and so acquired Lea and many other manors in this county and in Cheshire. (fn. 30) The family was often called Hoghton of Lea, the chief manor-house having been there at one time.

Sir Richard in 1337, shortly before his death, procured the king's charter for himself and his son Adam to have free warren in their demesne lands of Hoghton and Withnell and to inclose 500 acres of land for a park. (fn. 31) Sir Adam, the son, succeeded, and held the manors for about fifty years. (fn. 32) He was several times knight of the shire, (fn. 33) and dying in 1385 (fn. 34) was succeeded by his son Sir Richard de Hoghton, one of whose first acts was to obtain the royal licence for an extension of the park. (fn. 35) In 1383 and 1402 he was knight of the shire. (fn. 36) He died in 1415 (fn. 37) holding the manor of Hoghton with its members, viz. Clayton, Wheelton, Heapey, Roddlesworth and Gunolfsmoors, of the king (as Duke of Lancaster, Earl of Lincoln, and lord of Penwortham) by knights' service and the payment of 2s. 0½d. yearly. He also held a moiety of the manor of Whittle-le-Woods, and a great number of other manors (including the above-named moiety of the manor of Heaton in Lonsdale), with messuages, lands, &c. His son Sir William having predeceased him the heir was his grandson Richard son of Sir William, of the age of twenty-four or more. (fn. 38)

The heir, Sir Richard Hoghton, was in 1431 found to be holding the manor of Hoghton by the fifth part of a knight's fee, (fn. 39) and in 1445–6 it was found that he held the third part of a knight's fee in Hoghton, Clayton, Wheelton-with-Heapey, Withnell-with-Roddlesworth, and the moiety of Eccleshill. (fn. 40) He died in or before 1468, being succeeded by his son Sir Henry, (fn. 41) who in 1470 and 1475 obtained papal indulgences for himself, his wife Ellen and his children. (fn. 42) Dying in 1479, (fn. 43) Sir Henry was followed by his sons Sir Alexander, who died in 1498, (fn. 44) leaving an only daughter, and William, who died three years afterwards, (fn. 45) holding Hoghton and being succeeded by his son Richard, a minor. (fn. 46)

Sir Richard received an unfavourable character from Thomas Benalt, the herald who visited the county in 1533. (fn. 47) He was sheriff in 1540 (fn. 48) and knight of the shire in 1553. (fn. 49) He died on 5 August 1559, (fn. 50) and was succeeded by his son Thomas, (fn. 51) who had a moiety of the manor of Ashton-under-Lyne in right of his mother. Thomas Hoghton it was who about 1564 erected Hoghton Tower. (fn. 52) About the same time he entertained William Allen, afterwards cardinal, who was visiting Lancashire in order to animate Roman Catholics in their resistance to the new ecclesiastical laws, and he became a resolute opponent of Protestantism. Consequently at the beginning of the Elizabethan persecution in Lancashire he was required to conform, and finding that he could not do so with a good conscience he fled to the Continent, taking refuge in Antwerp. On his failing to make peace with the queen, his estates were seized, (fn. 53) and he died in exile at Liege in 1580. His body was afterwards buried at Douay, he having been a liberal benefactor to the English seminary there. (fn. 54) At Hoghton he was succeeded by his brother Alexander, (fn. 55) who was followed by a half-brother Thomas, (fn. 56) killed in a family feud at Lea in November 1589. (fn. 57)

Thomas's son Richard, twenty years of age, (fn. 58) was given as ward to Sir Gilbert Gerard, whose daughter he married, and he conformed to the Church of England. He was made a knight in 1600 and a baronet in 1611 at the first creation. (fn. 59) He was sheriff of the county in 1599, (fn. 60) and afterwards knight of the shire. (fn. 61) He entertained James I at Hoghton Tower in 1617 on the king's return from Scotland, (fn. 62) and died in 1630, (fn. 63) being succeeded by his son Sir Gilbert, (fn. 64) a zealous Royalist in the Civil War. (fn. 65) At the end of November 1642 he fired his beacon on the top of Hoghton Tower, and thus assembled all 'the papists and malignants of the Fylde and in Leyland Hundred'; he led them to an attack on Blackburn, which seems to have been as useless as it was timid. (fn. 66) He fortified Preston, and on the storming of the town in 1643 escaped to Wigan. (fn. 67) His estates were sequestered by the Parliament, but he died in or before 1646, (fn. 68) and as his son and heir Sir Richard had taken the Parliament's side they were restored. (fn. 69)

Sir Richard was knight of the shire (fn. 70) and sheriff (fn. 71) during the Commonwealth period. A pedigree was recorded at Sir W. Dugdale's Visitation in 1664, (fn. 72) and in 1678 Sir Richard was succeeded by his son Sir Charles, who represented the county as a Whig between 1679 and 1690. (fn. 73) Sir Henry son of Charles, a Nonconformist, opposed the Jacobite rising at Preston in 1715 and was made one of the commissioners of forfeited estates. (fn. 74) Dying in 1768 he was followed by his nephew Sir Henry son of Philip Hoghton, who represented Preston as a Whig from 1768 till his death in 1795. (fn. 75) He was the acknowledged Parliamentary leader of the Nonconformists. His son and successor, also a Whig and Nonconformist, was Sir Henry Philip Hoghton (fn. 76); his brother, MajorGeneral Daniel Hoghton, was killed at the battle of Albuera in 1811, and has a monument in St. Paul's Cathedral. (fn. 77) Sir Henry, at his death in 1835, was followed by his son Sir Henry, who took the surname of Bold before Hoghton, having married the heiress of the Bold family. (fn. 78) In 1862 their son Sir Henry succeeded; having sold his mother's estates, he adopted one of the old forms of the surname, becoming de Hoghton; the other children of his father took the same course. His only son Cecil having died unmarried in 1874, Sir Henry was followed in 1876 by his brother Sir Charles, and the latter in 1893 by his half-brother Sir James de Hoghton, eleventh baronet, the present lord of the manor of Hoghton. (fn. 79)

De Hoghton, baronet. Sable three bars argent.

Bold. Argent a griffon segreant sable.

Hoghton Tower is strikingly situated near the summit of a bold eminence about half-way between Blackburn and Preston. The position is a commanding one, and the prospect from the top of the entrance tower is very extensive, ranging from the mountains of the Lake District to those of North Wales, with the great plain of south-west Lancashire stretching to the Irish Sea below. On its north and east sides the hill, which is the highest ground in the neighbourhood and a conspicuous object in the landscape for miles around, is precipitous, and at its base on the east side the River Darwen passes through a deep wooded ravine. On the west it slopes gradually, and on the higher part of the sloping side, but some little distance from the summit, the building is situated. The site of the house is about 560 ft. above the sea level and some 360 ft. above the general level of the surrounding country, but the building follows very largely the slope of the hillside, the gardens at the east end being at a considerably higher level than the outer, or west, courtyard.

The house is an admirable specimen of the large stone-built mansion of the middle 16th century, erected round two courtyards, with the great hall and living rooms generally grouped round the upper court. The offices and servants' quarters are built westward north and south of the lower courtyard, the west end of which is inclosed by an embattled gateway, with low flanking towers joined to it by curtain walls.

The buildings appear to be of two main dates, the greater part of the house, including probably most of the buildings round the upper court as well as the western entrance gateway and towers, belonging to the early years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, while at a later time, towards the middle or end of the 17th century, the buildings were extended westward north and south of the lower courtyard, which had before been apparently inclosed only by walls. Only two definite dates, however, can be assigned to the building, the older parts of which have been erected at different times, as is evidenced by the absence of any bond at nearly all the inside angles of the courtyards, and by other internal evidence in the walls. The assigning of dates to many parts of the house is therefore rendered extremely difficult, and the more so by reason of the general uniformity of style which prevails throughout the building. Over the archway in the upper courtyard is the date 1565, (fn. 80) with the arms and initials of Thomas Hoghton, which probably gives the year of the completion of the middle range of buildings between the two courts, and probably those on the north of the upper court, as well as other parts of the house since altered or destroyed. The west gateway, together with the flanking towers, would seem also to belong to this first building, as it bears the same arms and initials. The only other date on the house proper is the year 1700, which together with the initials of Sir Charles Hoghton is on the western range of buildings on the south side of the lower court. The great barn to the northwest of the house is dated 1692.

Dr. Kuerden, writing in the middle of the 17th century, is responsible for the statement, often since repeated, that Hoghton Tower was 'built in Queen Elizabeth's reign by one Thomas Hoghton, who translated this manor-house, formerly placed below the hill near unto the water side.' It has been questioned, however, whether the house built by Thomas Hoghton was a new building 'translated' to the top of the hill from a former site near the river, the theory being put forward that the manor-house of the Hoghtons always stood on its present site and was merely rebuilt by Thomas Hoghton in 1565. (fn. 81) There seems, however, to be no substantial reason for doubting Dr. Kuerden's statement, though no records or remains of an older building at the bottom of the hill are known to exist. The evidence of the present building, however, though showing it to have been erected at different times, does not support the view that an older house was rebuilt in Elizabeth's reign, the detail in no part of the structure suggesting an earlier date than the middle or end of the 16th century. Dr. Kuerden's statement seems, too, to warrant acceptance from the fact that in a petition of Thomas Hoghton to the Chancellor of the Duchy as plaintiff in a suit against Barnard Townley, a waller and hewer of stone, and Ralph Holden in 1562–3 (5 Eliz.), it is maintained that 'he hath enterprised and begun' to build a house in his demesne of Hoghton. (fn. 82)

Leyland: Plan of Hoghton Tower: Ground Floor

Hoghton Tower: Plan of First Floor

The extreme length of the buildings from west to east is about 270 ft. and the width 160 ft. The house is of two stories throughout except in the south-east wing and on the south side of the lower courtyard, where it is three stories in height, a difference little marked in the latter instance, however, the drop of the ground making the first floor of the later buildings level with the ground floor of the older parts further east. The walls are of local gritstone, and the roofs, which are covered with stone slates, are picturesquely broken up with gables and chimneys, the gables being ornamented with balls.

In what year the house was finally abandoned as a residence is not certain, but the addition of a new wing in 1700 seems to imply that the family continued to live there till well into the 18th century. Walton Hall, however, became the chief residence of the Hoghtons before the century was very far advanced, and in 1807 Britton describes Hoghton Tower as falling fast to decay. (fn. 83) At that time the later buildings south of the lower courtyard were inhabited by 'a few families of the lower class,' (fn. 84) mostly weavers, and the house continued in this dismantled and dilapidated state throughout the first half of the 19th century. Harrison Ainsworth introduces Hoghton Tower into The Lancashire Witches, (fn. 85) and Charles Dickens, who visited the building in 1854, made use of it as the background for one of his short tales. (fn. 86) There was a scheme for its restoration about the year 1830 from designs by Webster of Kendal, a well-known architect of his day, who did a good deal of work in north Lancashire, but it was happily never carried out, (fn. 87) and it was not till after the succession of Sir Henry de Hoghton to the estates in 1862 that the restoration was begun. The picture of the ruin and decay of the building seems, however, to have been overstated, as the writer of a description of the building as it was in 1857 states that, although the ground floor had been seriously dismantled, 'the whole place might, however, be repaired at a small expense, the account of its dilapidation and rapid decay in Baines being almost wholly erroneous,' the walls apparently being 'still good' throughout. (fn. 88) The restoration begun by Sir Henry de Hoghton was continued by Sir Charles and completed in 1901 by Sir James de Hoghton, the architect of the later work being Mr. R. D. Oliver of London. The restoration as now completed is an extremely successful one, all the old features having been retained and the new work following most admirably the spirit of the original builders.

The house is approached from the west by a long drive up the hillside leading from the high road, now open on each side, but formerly lined with trees, the woods extending to within 400 ft. of the front of the west gateway to a point marked by a low stone wall and tall gate piers, now standing isolated and apparently meaningless and inclosing a kind of grass forecourt. The west front, which is the outer wall of the lower courtyard, consists as before stated of a gatehouse and two low embattled towers connected by a curtain wall. The gatehouse, which is 42 ft. long by 18 ft. 6 in., has a lofty central embattled tower over the archway flanked by two lower wings of the same height as the detached corner towers, with a room on each side of the gateway, three rooms on the first floor, and another in the upper part of the tower. The western front now forms the only part of the building where the walls are finished with battlements, though originally no doubt the great tower over the inner archway between the two courtyards would be so built. It is questionable, however, whether the present castellated and even military appearance of the west front is the original design as first built, or intended to be built, as the roofs of the lower portions of the gatehouse are gabled behind the embattled parapet, and a straight joint on each side of the tower seems to show that the parapet was a later addition or afterthought. The north-west angle tower has a similar gabled roof behind the battlements, and there is also the weathering of a gable on all four sides, the building having apparently been originally finished with four stone gables. The south-east tower, which, like its companion, has a room on each floor, has been modernized inside and a lead flat substituted for the old roof. The angle towers measure 19 ft. by 18 ft. externally, and are now used in connexion with the stables and offices. The gateway tower has a lead flat, and the first floor rooms are approached by an internal stone staircase on the south side. The entrance to the courtyard is under a pointed archway 12 ft. wide, with middle gateway, the arch springing from moulded imposts. Above, facing west, is a panel with good Renaissance ornament, under a label, carved with the representation of a man struggling with a beast, a possible reference to Samson slaying the lion, together with the initials of Thomas Hoghton. Over this again is a threelight mullioned window and another to the tower room above. There are two-light windows also to the first floor rooms in the flanking lower parts, and the angle towers have each a two-light window facing west on each floor.

The lower courtyard measures 145 ft. from west to east and about 120 ft. in width, and is divided into two portions, a kind of lower and upper ward, the lower being paved with stone setts. The ground here falls so steeply that at the east or upper end a wall has been built inclosing a grass plot with a flight of steps at either end, raising this portion of the quadrangle nearly to the level of the upper court. The effect of the inclosing low stone wall with its tall gate piers and flight of semicircular stone steps is very picturesque, and gives architectural distinction to what might otherwise, since the destruction of the great tower, have been a rather featureless open space. On the south side is the three-storied block of buildings erected in 1700 by Sir Charles Hoghton, 74 ft. in length, originally detached from the main structure and separated from it by a space of 14 ft. On the front is a panel with the inscription 'C.H., M.H. 1700. 2 Pet. Ch. iii, 11, Seein then, etc.,' the initials being those of Sir Charles and Mary Hoghton his wife. (fn. 89) The elevation preserves all the characteristics of the older part of the house, and, now that it is joined up to it by the erection of modern buildings over the intervening space, there is little or nothing to indicate that it is not part of the original design. Internally a corridor on the south side of the ground floor of the older buildings is now continued at the same level along the first floor of the later structure. The north side of the courtyard has been largely rebuilt, but original work remains in the outer walls of the servants' hall, though the windows and internal arrangements are modern. All the old buildings on the north side of the house between the servants' hall and the kitchen have now given place to new work, though the old well-house still remains in the northeast corner of the courtyard. This is a small onestory structure 15 ft. by 13 ft. inside attached to the main building on its east side, inclosing a draw well of great depth. The buildings on the north of the courtyard are of two stories, but the upper rooms being really attics lit from stone gables in the roof, the height to the caves is only about 16 ft. The buildings stop short some 50 ft. of the west side of the courtyard, which is inclosed at that point by a high fence wall and gateway to the stable yard. The stable, which is 51 ft. long by 20 ft. wide and of 17th-century date, is 13 ft. to the north of the north-west tower, standing well in advance of the main west front of the building. The east side of the courtyard now suffers architecturally by the loss of the gateway tower. The wall has been raised about 2 ft. by the addition of two courses of stone above the windows, and the roof is now carried through from end to end, the original appearance of the middle wing being thus completely lost. The windows are small, without transoms, and, with the exception of the central archway, the corbelled chimney stacks at each end alone give any distinction to the elevation. The archway is very similar in detail to that in the west entrance, springing from moulded imposts, and over it, facing west, is a panel with the initials of Thomas Hoghton and a shield of arms, Hoghton quartering Assheton, with supporters, helm, crest, and mantling. (fn. 90) Over the arch facing east to the upper court the arms are repeated, without crest, mantling or supporters, but with the date 1565 below.

The upper courtyard is about 70 ft. square, and has the great hall and kitchen on its north side, with the state rooms on the east and the living rooms on the south and west. Originally the chapel occupied a position at the north-east corner leading from the east end of the great hall, but it had fallen into complete ruin before the time of the restoration, and all that was left of it was then removed and a new entrance to the house constructed on part of its site. The chapel was slightly swung round from the line of the house so as to orientate correctly, the line of the entrance hall still indicating its position.

The west and north sides of the upper courtyard appear to have been erected first, and were probably followed by the buildings on the south side, the east wing, containing the state rooms, being most likely the last to be completed. No definite conclusions, however, can be arrived at concerning the order of erection of the different parts of the earlier structure, but absence of any bonding in the south-west, southeast and north-east corners of the quadrangle indicates that the buildings were not originally erected on any premeditated plan. As originally built the extreme south-west corner was open on the west, the south wing of the lower court being afterwards built against it, probably in the middle of the 17th century. This is proved by the discovery during the restoration of a large window in the upper floor facing west, and by the existing straight joint in the walling on the south front to the garden marking the former external south-west angle of the building at that point. The east wing again appears to be of two periods, there being a straight joint in the walling towards the court about half-way in its length, and the north end of the King's Hall shows an older wall on the west side for some portion of its length, making the total width of the outside wall at this point 4 ft. 6 in. This would seem to indicate the existence of an older and slightly narrower wing whose west side has at a later date been brought forward to the line of the newer buildings to the south of it. There was probably a good deal of reconstruction carried out immediately prior to King James's visit in 1617, and most likely the east wing would assume more or less of its present aspect at that time.

There has also been a great deal of change at the south-east end of the house, where a long narrow wing 52 ft. in length by 13 ft. wide externally runs southward at right angles to the main building. This wing, locally known as Hanging End, forms a very picturesque feature from the garden, but its original purpose is hard to determine. Additions have been made to it at its north end on both sides, reducing its apparent length externally by about onethird, and an external flight of stone steps leading to an entrance on the first floor has been erected on the east side. The first floor forms a kind of long gallery 50 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in., lit on the west by three windows, and by a single one in the end wall. The east wall has a single window of four lights, but during the restoration a continuation of this window northward was discovered showing it to have been originally a long window of twelve lights occupying the whole of the middle part of that side of the room.

The great hall occupies the whole of the north side of the upper courtyard, from which, with its long range of windows, great gabled bay, and flight of semicircular steps, it forms a very charming feature. It goes up the full height of both stories, and breaks the monotony of the otherwise almost too uniformly regular design of the house. On the three other sides of the courtyard the eaves run round at the same level, giving little distinction to the roof. A lead statue of King William III on a stone pedestal, brought from Walton Hall when that house was abandoned early in the 19th century, greatly adds to the picturesqueness of the upper courtyard, being placed immediately opposite the entrance archway slightly to the north of the centre of the quadrangle.

Owing, no doubt, to the irregularity of the site the usual disposition of the kitchen in relation to the great hall and screens does not strictly obtain in Hoghton Tower. The fall of the ground has been taken advantage of architecturally to raise the floor of the hall some 5 ft. above that of the lowest point of the courtyard, while the floor of the kitchen, which is immediately to the west of the hall, is some 2 ft. below. The usual doors to the kitchen and offices from the screens are therefore not possible, the way to the kitchen from the hall being from the south end of the screens by a descent of seven steps to a lobby opening from the courtyard from which the kitchen is entered. There is another descent of three steps within the kitchen itself. There is nothing to indicate that this arrangement is not part of the original plan, though it is possible that the hall was rebuilt in its present form in the beginning of the 17th century in anticipation of the king's visit. Architecturally, however, as viewed from the courtyard, the effect of the hall floor being thus raised above the level of the rest of the house is extremely good, being responsible for the emphasis of the great sweep of the stone steps in the north-west corner.

The great hall is 52 ft. 6 in. in length, including the passage behind the screen at the west end, and 26 ft. in width. It has a flat panelled wood ceiling 18 ft. high, and at the east end, north and south of the high table, are two fine semi-octagonal bay windows 12 ft. wide and 10 ft. 6 in. deep, the full height of the room, divided by three transoms, the sills 3 ft. 6 in. from the floor. The hall is further lit on the south side by a range of mullioned and double transomed windows, consisting of fourteen lights placed high in the wall, the sills being 7 ft. from the floor, and there is a similar window of eight lights at the east end. The floor is flagged and the walls are of stone, but panelled in oak to the height of 7 ft. All the panelling, however, and the woodwork to the ceiling belong to the modern restoration, but otherwise the hall has been very little altered and retains all its essential features. The screen and gallery at the west end are good examples of late 17th-century woodwork with turned Jacobean balusters, the lower part having open panels closed by shutters to the passage. (fn. 91) Over the fireplace is a lofty stone arch, now filled in, but probably marking the opening of an original ingle, the fireplace itself being a later insertion of stone with square moulded opening and carved spandrels. There is a good cast-iron grate and fire-back, the grate bearing the initials of Sir Charles Hoghton and the date 1702. There is a good 18th-century brass chandelier, and the original high table remains, though now on the south side of the room. There is no raised dais.

The doorway at the north end of the screens, which has moulded stone jambs and a four-centred stone arched head with carved spandrels, was originally an outer opening, but at some later date a large porch with room above, 16 ft. 6 in. by 19 ft., appears to have been added, having two semicircular-headed openings in the north side and a doorway of similar design in the south-east corner. Externally this north porch, now made into a private dining-room, exhibits some of the rare architectural ornament to be found at Hoghton Tower, the elevations on the ground floor having a series of pilasters on corbelled pedestals carrying a small entablature and cornice. The pilasters are carved with good Renaissance ornament. In the restoration the original exterior appearance of the porch has of course been lost, the openings being filled in with modern wooden windows and the doorway built up. The room above is gained from the minstrels' gallery and has an opening in the wall overlooking the great hall. Externally its gable and chimney form a rather picturesque feature taken in conjunction with the bay and chimney of the hall.

From the east end of the great hall a door leads by way of what is now the entrance hall to the east wing, which contains the state apartments, and originally to the chapel. The state rooms, sometimes called the King's Rooms, from the fact that they were occupied by King James I in 1617, consist on the ground floor of the King's Hall, a large apartment 38 ft. long by 20 ft. wide, with a staircase at its south end, and beyond it again to the south another room of the same width and 41 ft. in length, now used as a billiard room and library. The staircase is the original 17th-century one restored, but otherwise, like most of the other rooms in the house, these two pieces contain little that is ancient except their walls and windows. They extend, as is the case with most of the rooms in Hoghton Tower, across the full width of the wing, and are lit on both sides by windows to the courtyard and to the garden. On the upper floor the staircase, which is centrally placed, gives access to the King's Room on the north and the drawing-room on the south. From the King's Room a door leads to another large room, now Lady de Hoghton's private room, over the entrance hall and new porch. The fittings of the drawing-room, which is the same size as the billiard room and library below, belong to the latest period of the restoration, and are a fine piece of modern Renaissance work, but the panelling of the King's Room and the room beyond is apparently the original late 17th-century wainscot restored.

Round both courtyards the walls are faced with wide courses of squared masonry, irrespective of the different periods of building, the only exception being the well-house, where the walls are of rough stone. Round the upper courtyard all the first floor windows and those to the great hall have moulded jambs and mullions, and the ground floor windows hollow chamfers. Other parts of the building show great difference in detail in this respect, some of the windows having hollow and some rounded chamfers, while others are moulded. Most of the ground floor rooms are entered direct from the courtyards, the upper court having at present seven doorways in use, while two have been built up. There was originally a doorway on the south side of the entrance archway to what was probably a porter's room, but this also has been built up and a staircase erected in the room probably in the latter half of the 17th century after the destruction of the tower. To the south of this in the middle wing is an interesting room with panelled wainscot called the Oak Room, 18 ft. by 20 ft., lit by two windows on each side to either courtyard.

The modern overhanging eaves gutter now hides the original moulded stone eaves course, which, however, is seen running across the bottom of the hall gable on the north side of the upper court as a string course, and similarly in the gable of the southeast three-story wing. The gables throughout have plain copings with ball terminations, and with one or two exceptions are curiously ornamented in the apex by a very small carved human face.

The other rooms on the ground floor are for the most part unimportant, very little original detail having been preserved, though some of the furniture is made from timber belonging to the old house. Much the same may be said of the first floor, where, however, more structural alterations have perhaps been found necessary, many of the bedrooms having originally opened one from another, though the number of staircases in the house rendered this feature of 16th-century planning less objectionable than is usually the case. The bedrooms in the middle wing between the courts, however, have been curtailed in size by the introduction of a corridor the full length of the east side facing the upper court, and the curious room, south of these, known as the Guinea Room, by reason of the character of its panel decoration, has been mutilated and cut in two. (fn. 92)

The gardens lie on the south and east sides of the house, that to the east, which extends to the highest point of the hill, having formerly been known as the Wilderness. It is about 200 ft. long by 160 ft. wide, and is inclosed by embattled stone walls. These walls have been rebuilt, but in conformity with those which previously existed. On the north side, parallel with the wall, is a raised terrace walk. (fn. 93) On the south side of the house are two flower gardens at different levels inclosed by stone walls, from the upper one of which the picturesquely broken up south front of the house is best seen. In this garden is a well-designed 18thcentury lead vase, now in decay, and the lead figure of a boy on a new pedestal in the centre of one of the flower beds. There is also an old stone sundial shaft, but the plate is missing.

On the grass opposite the west front to the south of the entrance is a sundial shaft mounted on a high circular stone base, the plate of which is also missing; it bore the inscription 'Mea Gloria Fides.' (fn. 94)

The great barn, built by Sir Charles Hoghton in 1692, stands about 120 ft. to the north-west of the lower courtyard, partly inclosing the north side of the grass forecourt. It is 139 ft. in length, with a central projecting gable 34 ft. wide on the south side. The east end remains much the same as when erected, with its narrow slit openings; but at the west it has been converted into stables, and modern windows have been inserted on both sides. Later buildings have been added at the east end on the north side. (fn. 95)

Manor courts were held till about thirty years ago. (fn. 96) There are court rolls from 1672 to 1689 (fn. 97) at Walton, and later records.

The Hoghton family having long been practically sole landowners, few other names occur as holding land in the township. (fn. 98) Sir Henry Hoghton in 1786 paid about a fourth part of the land tax. (fn. 99)

Brimmicroft, now in Hoghton, is the 'Broomicroft in Withnell' which was in 1293 given by Richard son of Sir Adam de Hoghton to his son Richard. (fn. 100)

The Anglican church of the Holy Trinity was opened in 1824. A district was assigned in 1842. (fn. 101) This is a vicarage in the gift of the vicar of Leyland.

There is a Wesleyan chapel, founded as early as 1794.

For over a century after 1662 there was a nonconforming congregation at Hoghton Tower, the banqueting room being used as a place of worship. (fn. 102)

Footnotes

  • 1. 2,223 acres, including 32 of inland water; Census Rep. 1901. A small part of Hoghton was transferred to Withnell in 1877; Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 7119.
  • 2. See Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 142; N. Assheton's Diary (Chet. Soc.), 38–46, with full notes by Canon Raines. For some heraldic glass at Causeway Farm (1616), see Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Notes, i, 223.
  • 3. Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 80, 128.
  • 4. Subs. R. 250, no. 9.
  • 5. The making of 'allomes' is mentioned in 1611; Exch. Dep. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 14. See also Assheton's Diary, 39 and notes. There is reference to a pamphlet (1659) by Captain James Benson, describing the failure of the works.
  • 6. Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Cath. iv, 74.
  • 7. The bounds of Gunolfsmoors, as given in a deed in Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 10b, appear to include the existing townships of Heapey, Wheelton (with Brinscall), Withnell (with Roddlesworth, Stanworth, and Ollerton), and perhaps part of Hoghton. See Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 375–6, and Whalley Coucher (Chet. Soc.), iii, 830, &c., where several of the documents are printed.
  • 8. 'Gonnolsmore' Waste is named in pleadings of the time of Henry VIII; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 193.
  • 9. This included Heapey, Wheelton, Withnell and Hoghton.
  • 10. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 31.
  • 11. Ibid. see note. Afterwards John Fitton was said to hold one plough-land in Withnell, one in Hoghton, two in Wheelton and a half in Whittle-le-Woods, for half a fee and the sixteenth part of a fee; Lansdowne MS. 559, fol. 23, quoted in Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 692.
  • 12. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 9.
  • 13. Ibid. fol. 10. This document calls the father of Alan Sir Reginald. The shares of the daughters of William son of Alan are thus described: (1) The wife of Richard de Ollerton had Ollerton and Heapey; (2) the wife of Roger de Stanworth had Stanworth, Brinscall, Monkshill, Wellcroft and Brighfield with a third part of the demesne; (3) the wife of Roger de Withnell had Withnell with the mill, a tenement called the Forth, and a plot of land called Kilncarr.
  • 14. See inquisitions, &c., quoted below.
  • 15. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 31. For the Fitton pedigree see Earwaker, East Cheshire, i, 50.
  • 16. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 12b. The grant included the homage and service of Adam de Hoghton for all that he held of Edmund Fitton in the vills of Walton (Wheelton), Ollerton and Hoghton; also of John de Clayton for his tenement in Clayton. Sir Henry and his heirs were to pay 1d. rent. The date may be conjectured from a fine between the same parties respecting rent in Ollerton in 1282; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 160. Sir Henry de Lea died in 1288, but of the Gunolfsmoor estate the only record is of 1 oxgang of land in Wheelton, held of Edmund Fitton in demesne for 2d. yearly; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 273.
  • 17. See the account of Lea.
  • 18. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 30; Adam de Hoghton held the plough-land in Heaton in 1212.
  • 19. Ibid. William son of Hamon in 1212 held three plough-lands in Golborne in Winwick; ibid. i, 74. This estate seems also to have come to Hoghton of Hoghton.
  • 20. Farrer, op. cit. 179; he paid 20s. to the fifth scutage, Richard Fitton paying half a mark.
  • 21. A Richard de Hoghton is found attesting charters about 1230; Whallcy Coucher, iii, 835, 836. Adam de Hoghton occurs in 1242 and later; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 151, 158, &c. A little earlier Adam son of Adam de Hoghton made a grant of his moiety of Heaton in Lonsdale (ibid. i, 30), the date being known by the appearance of Simon de Thornton, sheriff (1234–41), among the witnesses. Perhaps therefore the former Adam was succeeded by a son Richard and he by a brother Adam. From Alan de Lynstanhurst and Alice his wife Adam obtained a grant of all the land which they had in the vill of Hoghton, being a moiety of that within these bounds: From Deepclough ascending Darwen to Roddlesden, thence to Frinimdene, Broadoak, Russilache on Kempcroft, and so to Deepclough and the Darwen. A rent of 18d. was due to the chief lord, Henry de Hoghton; Add. MSS. 32106, no. 16; in which volume is a large collection of Hoghton deeds, marked Ho. Brun de Hoghton granted Adam de Hoghton all his part of Redleghs, and those therein dwelling were to be quit of pannage in Hoghton wood; ibid. no. 23. In 1241 Ellis son of Syrith and Agnes daughter of Henry sold to Adam de Hoghton two-thirds of 4 oxgangs of land in Hoghton, which they claimed as their reasonable share of the inheritance of Steynull de Hoghton, their grandfather; Final Conc. i, 83. Possibly Adam himself had inherited the other third from the same ancestor. Adam de Hoghton granted to Thomas son of Thomas the Dispenser of Hoghton and Adam his brother for their lives a portion of his land in the vill within these bounds (excepting the land of Henry de Hoghton): Beginning at the brook running down by Whitacresnape to the clough on the near side of Danderidding, by the clough as far as the Darwen, down this river to the lower head of the Nether Armetriding, and by its hedge to the starting-point; Add. MS. 32106, no. 10. This may have been in return for the grant made by Thomas son of Thomas the Dispenser to Adam of his right in an oxgang of land held of Henry de Hoghton; ibid. no. 24. Adam de Hoghton and John his son attested an early Salebury charter; Add. MS. 32109, fol. 7.
  • 22. From the interval of time between 1240 and 1290 it seems probable that there were two Adams in succession. If so, the relationship between them does not occur in the evidence. In 1290, however, Thomas son of Thomas the Dispenser claimed against Adam de Hoghton, Geoffrey and Thomas his brothers a tenement in Hoghton, including the eighth part of the pannage in 200 acres of wood, and stated that he had given an oxgang of land to Adam father of the defendants. It was said that Agnes wife of Adam de Hoghton (the father) had given the oxgang to Thomas in her husband's absence; Assize R. 1288, m. 13. In the following year Adam son of Adam de Hoghton claimed an oxgang of land, &c., against Thomas son of Thomas de Hoghton; De Banco R. 89, m. 13 d.
  • 23. This statement is from pleadings in 1292, when Adam the son and heir of Sir Adam claimed the fourth part of the manor against Henry son of Henry de Hoghton; Assize R. 408, m. 13 d., 23 d., 31. The grant by Richard de Ollerton is in Add. MS. 32106, no. 668; and the agreement as to 6s. 9d. rent, made in 1288, ibid. no. 1. See also no. 918 for Henry de Hoghton's confirmation of his manor to Adam. Richard son of Richard de Ollerton released to Sir Adam de Hoghton all his right in the mill of Hoghton and in lands called Lynstanhurst; ibid. no. 944, 781. Adam de Hoghton was plaintiff in 1278; Assize R. 1238, m. 32 d. In 1280 Adam, who had taken possession of the lands of Henry de Withnell until Henry's son Adam should come of age, surrendered them to the king; it was found that Adam was of full age but of unsound mind; Coram Rege R. 49, m. 40 (Whalley Coucher, iii, 831). Adam de Hoghton is named as the responsible tenant at the time of the transfer of the lordship to Sir Henry de Lea, as above related. He was dead, and his son Adam in possession, by 1290, as appears by a pleading already quoted. His seal, showing a cross flory, is drawn in Dods. MSS. lxx, fol. 154. Agnes widow of Adam son of Adam de Hoghton was living in 1306; Assize R. 420, m. 10 d.
  • 24. Henry de Hoghton and Siward his brother attested local charters in the first part of the 13th century; Whalley Coucher, iii, 835–6. Henry son of Henry, who came to the above-named agreement with Adam de Hoghton, was living in 1292. It was probably his son who in 1304 as Robert son of Henry de Hoghton gave to his brother Adam the whole tenement he had had from his brother Henry in Hoghton at a rent of 20s.; Add. MS. 32106, no. 12, 29. In 1321 Henry son of Henry son of Diana de Hoghton held the eighth part of the manor of Richard de Hoghton by knights' service and the rent of 3s.; ibid. no. 726. Joan, Cecily and Alice, daughters of Adam son of Henry son of Diana de Hoghton in and after 1313 gave their rights to their uncle John, another son of Henry; ibid. no. 7, 13, 715, 933. John son of Henry also had a grant from Richard son of Richard de Hoghton in 1317–18; ibid. no. 949. Henry son of Henry son of Diana made a grant to Sir Richard de Hoghton in 1321; ibid. no. 14. Their descendant was probably the Robert de Hoghton of Preston who in 1387–8 sold his lands, &c., to Sir Richard de Hoghton; ibid. no. 30, 742. Robert son of Adam de Hoghton had them from John son of James de Hoghton; ibid. no. 707.
  • 25. See preceding notes, also the account of Wrightington.
  • 26. P.R.O. List, 72; he seems to have held the office for three years. Richard de Hoghton was defendant in pleas of 1301 and 1302; Assize R. 1321, m. 1; 418, m. 6a. He was a clerk; Palgrave, Parl. Writs, i, 670.
  • 27. In 1307 after trial it was found that Master Richard de Hoghton, son of Sir Adam, was older than his brother Thomas by eight years, and was therefore the true and right heir of Sir Adam; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 2. Master Richard was still living in 1313, when a similar decision was given in a Wrightington claim. Again in 1316 Thomas son of Sir Adam de Hoghton gave a general release of his claim on the manors of Alston and Hoghton and lands in Hothersall, Dilworth, Goosnargh, Chippingdale, Ollerton and Wheelton, Howath and Ashbrennerhurst, to Richard; de Hoghton son of his brother Richard; also he released his claim on the sixth part of Wrightington to Richard son of William de Greystock and his heirs; Add. MS. 32106, no. 710.
  • 28. De Lacy Inq. (Chet. Soc.), 22.
  • 29. Add. MS. 32106, no. 8; without date, but Henry de Lea, rector of Halsall, was a witness. Fines respecting various parts of his estates show that the elder Richard had a daughter Joan, wife of William de Greystock; Final Conc. i, 192, 207; ii, 14. The identification of Richard son of Master Richard with Sir Richard seems fully proved, considering the settlement of the manor of Hoghton and the quitclaim by Thomas de Hoghton above cited. It is usually stated, however, that Sir Richard was son and heir of the Adam who appeared as son and heir of Sir Adam in 1292. The legitimacy of Richard son of Master Richard seems doubtful, considering the way in which his mother Christiana is referred to in a deed made while the father was still living; Whalley Coucher, iii, 851 note. On the other hand it does not seem that there were any disputes about the succession. In a pleading of 1305 defendants, who alleged a feoffment by Adam de Hoghton, called Richard, his son and heir, to warrant them; and at the same time Master Richard de Hoghton asserted that Agnes widow of Adam, who was another defendant, had nothing in the tenement claimed, 'except dower, of the inheritance of the said Richard'; Assize R. 420, m. 10. In 1317 Richard son of Richard de Hoghton granted lands to John son of Henry de Hoghton, the bounds beginning where Roddlesden fell into the Darwen, going up Roddlesden to Finesdenbrook, so to the highway and Lynistanhurst and back by Whitacre and Whitacre Clough to the Darwen; Add. MS. 32106, no. 34. For Richard de Hoghton see also Palgrave, op. cit. ii, 1012.
  • 30. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 32b.
  • 31. Charter R. 11 Edw. III, m. 35, no. 75; Add. MS. 32106, no. 359. One of the charters referred to above (Add. MSS. 32106, no. 14) shows that he was a knight in 1321. After his death an inquisition was made in 1337 as to his manors in Cheshire, and it was found that he had held Mollington Banastre, and had given it to his son Sir Adam de Hoghton; Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 51. Sir Richard represented the county in several Parliaments from 1322 to 1337; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 20–26. In 1334 Richard de Hoghton and Henry son of Henry de Hoghton claimed 80 acres of wood against Maud widow of Robert de Holland and many others. The defence was that the wood claimed was partly in Samlesbury; Coram Rege R. 297, m. 96.
  • 32. In 1346–55 he and his tenants were holding Hoghton, Clayton, &c., as once held by Richard Fitton and Robert de Clayton, for the third part of a knight's fee; Feud. Aids, iii, 86. In 1347 he made a feoffment of all his manors and lands in Lancashire, and another in 1359; Add. MS. 32106, no. 722, 701. He was in 1354 acquitted for life from serving on juries, &c.; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 333. Five years later he had the king's protection on going abroad in the company of John Earl of Richmond; ibid. 347.
  • 33. In 1347, 1363 and 1365; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 29, &c.
  • 34. Writ of diem cl. extr. issued 2 Sept. 1385; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 358. For the Cheshire Inq. p.m. see Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 574. Richard his son and heir was stated to be thirty years of age. His seal (1359) showing his arms (three bars) is sketched in Dods. MS. lxx, fol. 157b. Margaret wife of Adam occurs in 1364; ibid. cxlii, fol. 36b. His widow, however, was named Ellen; Add. MS. 32106, no. 26.
  • 35. Dods. MS. lxx, fol. 153; a licence from John Duke of Lancaster for the enlargement of the park of Hoghton by the addition of Holmeley, dated at Plimpton, 17 May 1386. See further Cal. Pat. 1388–92, p. 459. For his manors see Add. MS. 32106, no. 893, and Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 358, no. 99. Joan his wife is named. Geoffrey de Breres in 1401 gave to Sir Richard de Hoghton land in Hoghton called the Moreacres; it had descended to him from his father, John son of Henry de Hoghton; Add. MS. 32106, no. 15. Sir Richard's acquisition of other lands of the other Hoghton family has been mentioned above; see ibid. no. 30, 721, &c. In 1405 Sir Richard agreed with William son of Richard de Hoghton (i.e. apparently his son) and cousin and heir of John the Ward of Hoghton as to certain lands in the vill; these were delivered to William, his age being proved; ibid. no. 19. For Sir Richard's brother Sir Henry de Hoghton see Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 12, 42.
  • 36. Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 40, 46. In 1406 he founded a chantry at Ribchester; Inq. a.q.d. 8 Hen. IV, no. 18.
  • 37. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 145–6. The date is doubtful, as the writ diem cl. extr. was not issued till 20 July 1422; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 21.
  • 38. Lancs. Inq. loc. cit. In it are recited grants by Sir Richard the father for his son Sir William and Alice his wife (Goosnargh), also for his grandson Richard and Margaret his wife (Charnock Richard, 1410). For the livery of his manors, &c., to the younger Richard, see Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 21. Alice widow of Sir William is named in 1419; ibid. 17.
  • 39. Feud. Aids, iii, 93. The members of Hoghton were then considered to be Clayton, Heapey, Roddlesworth, Withnell and Gunolfsmoors; Harl. MS. 2085, fol. 447b.
  • 40. Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. In 1443–4 Lawrence Ribbleton gave to Sir Richard Hoghton the fourth part of his water of Ribble, on the north side, in the vill of Ashton; Towneley MS. C 8, 7 (Chet. Lib.), no 125. In 1445 Sir Richard Hoghton complained that some of the Shireburnes and Baileys had broken into his park at Hoghton, hunted there without leave, and taken beasts away; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 8, m. 2. The king in 1464 granted to Sir Richard Hoghton of Lea exemption from service on juries, &c.; Cal. Pat. 1461–7, p. 333.
  • 41. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 80. The inquisition recites a feoffment made by Sir Richard in 1458. Sir Henry, his heir, was over forty years of age in 1468.
  • 42. Add. MS. 32106, no. 1107, 700. Settlements made by Sir Henry in 1468 and later are printed in Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 127; also Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvii, App. 178–9; Final Conc. iii, 134. General pardons were in 1469 granted to Henry Hoghton, Ellen his wife and Alexander Hoghton; Add. MS. 32106, no. 366–7.
  • 43. Lancs. Rec. Inq. p.m. no. 47–8; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 539. Sir Henry's son and heir Alexander was twenty-six years of age; William brother of Alexander is named.
  • 44. Alexander was made a knight in Scotland in the expedition of 1482; Metcalfe, Book of Knights, 7. In 1483 he held the third part of a knight's fee in Hoghton and its members; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. cxxx. Sir Alexander died in November 1498 holding the manor of Hoghton, with tenements in Hoghton, Clayton, Wheelton, Heapey and Withnell of the king in chief by the fourth part of a knight's fee; they were worth £20 a year clear; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 66. Anne his daughter and heir was eleven years of age; she died in June 1524 without issue; Ormerod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), ii, 574. The Lancashire inquisition is illegible. Her mother was Elizabeth daughter of Sir William Troutbeck; ibid. ii, 42. For her dower see Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 544.
  • 45. William died 18 Aug. 1501 holding the manor of Hoghton, &c., as successor of his brother Alexander. He had in 1496 received from his mother Ellen the capital messuage called Alston Hall, to be held by him and Margaret daughter of Sir Christopher Southworth; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. v, no. 66.
  • 46. Richard was of full age in 1519 when the inq. p.m. of his father was taken. The printed inquisition (Chet. Soc. ii, 127) is erroneous in this point. In 1503 the custody of the park of Hoghton was granted to William Smith during the minority of Richard son of William Hoghton, deceased; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 542. The wardship of the heir was in 1509 granted to Sir John Southworth; ibid. xxxix, App. 554. Livery of lands was granted to Richard in 1519; Towneley MS. CC (Chet. Lib.), no. 831. Sir Richard was made a knight in or before 1523; Add. MS. 32106, no. 831.
  • 47. Visit. of 1533 (Chet. Soc.), 48. 'The said Sir Richard hath put away his lady and wife and keepeth a concubine in his house by whom he hath divers children, and by the lady he hath Lea Hall [an error], which arms he beareth quartered with his in the first quarter. He says that Mr. Garter licensed him so to do and he gave Mr. Garter an angel noble; but he gave me nothing nor made me no good cheer, but gave me proud words.'
  • 48. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 49. Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 62. It was the last Parliament of Edward VI, and Sir Richard was quickly replaced by Sir Robert Worsley of Booths.
  • 50. He held the manor of Hoghton as before and the wide estates of his house, having made some additions to them, e.g. Stanworth from the confiscated estates of Whalley Abbey; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 2. Thomas Hoghton the son and heir was forty-one years of age. In April 1555 Sir Richard acquired lands, &c., in Hoghton and Lea from Sir Thomas Hesketh and Anne his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 15, m. 24.
  • 51. For licence to enter see Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 554.
  • 52. See Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Notes, i, 201–3; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 266, 287.
  • 53. Duchy of Lanc. Special Com. 212; the survey was made 26 April 1572.
  • 54. The above particulars are taken from J. Gillow's account in the Haydock Papers, 10–17, where is reprinted a (supposed contemporary) ballad called 'The Blessed Conscience,' recording the feelings of Thomas Hoghton in his exile. This ballad was first printed from the recital of an old fiddler about 1840. Like others of P. Whittle's publications it is of doubtful authenticity. It is noteworthy that it attributes Thomas's failure to find an accommodation with the queen to bribery by his brothers, who desired him to be kept out of the way. The only faithful one, it declares, was Richard Hoghton of Park Hall in Charnock, one of the illegitimate issue of Sir Richard. This brother in 1576 obtained the queen's licence to go abroad to see his brother and advise him 'to return unto this our realm and to submit himself unto us and our laws according to the duty of a good subject.' The visit had probably a further object—to provide for the exile's sustenance. A facsimile of the permit with notes by Mr. Gillow will be found in Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), iii. He left £100 with Cardinal Allen to be employed temporarily for the use of students at Douay, but 'with this intention, to employ the same sum wholly, when God shall have mercy on our country and restore the same to Catholic faith and service, upon a pair of organs, one table, and certain singing books in the parish church of Preston.' He had a son Thomas, not named in the pedigree recorded in 1567 (Chet. Soc., 25), and therefore probably illegitimate. This son studied at Douay, was ordained priest about 1580, and sent on the Lancashire mission. He was at once seized and thrown into Salford Gaol, where he remained for some years, probably dying there, as nothing more is known of him; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. of Engl. Cath. iii, 325; Knox, Douai Diaries, 117. His heir was his daughter Jane, who married James son and heir of Roger Bradshaw of Haigh; Visit. loc. cit. She was twenty-six years of age in 1580, at which time the tenure of Hoghton was again described as by the fourth part of a knight's fee; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 26. Alexander brother of Thomas was then living at Lea. A settlement of the Hoghton estates made by Thomas Hoghton in 1560 gives the following remainders: To his brothers Alexander, Thomas the younger and Rowland; to Leonard, Richard the elder, Richard the younger, Gilbert, Arthur and George, bastard sons of Sir Richard Hoghton; to a certain Edward Hoghton of Charnock, and to a certain Arthur Hoghton of Kirkham; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 22, m. 142. For others see ibid. bdle. 40, m. 210; 42, m. 36; Add. MS. 32106, fol. 131 (1563), and no. 876, 990.
  • 55. For Alexander's marriage see Dods. MS. cxlii, folio 50. His will, dated and proved in 1581, expressed his wish to be buried in Preston Church near his father and his former wife Dorothy. His then wife Elizabeth he made executrix. His 'instruments belonging to music and all manner of play clothes' are named. Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), ii, 237–41.
  • 56. Thomas the younger is said to have been born when the life of his elder brother Thomas was despaired of; hence his name. A settlement of lands in Hoghton, &c., was in 1585 made by Thomas Hoghton and Anne his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 47, m. 182.
  • 57. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 39, in which are recited several indentures, fines, &c., relating to the estates. The tenure of Hoghton is recorded as of the queen by the third part of a knight's fee. See further in the account of Lea in Preston, and Add. MS. 32106, no. 1032. The custody of the younger children was granted to Anne the widow; ibid. no. 1039.
  • 58. Licence to enter was granted in 1590; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxix, App. 554. A settlement was made in 1595; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 57, m. 178.
  • 59. G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, i, 10, the eighth on the list. The name at that time was usually spelt Houghton or Haughton. Sir Richard Hoghton in July 1628 directed his bailiffs to make known to all his tenants that his daughter Katherine had just been married, 'whereby there is now due unto me (he writes) within one month after her said marriage two years' rent particularly of every one of them, as by covenants in their several leases may appear'; Add MS. 32106, no. 1041.
  • 60. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 61. Pink and Beaven, op. cit, 69; from 1601 to 1611. A pedigree was recorded in 1613; Visit. (Chet. Soc), 51.
  • 62. The king's visit took place 15–18 August, when two knights were made there; on the 20th he was at Lathom; Metcalfe, op. cit. 171. The visit may have been an over-burdensome honour. Sir Richard at the end of his life was for some years imprisoned for debt in the Fleet, the manor of Chipping, &c., being sold to satisfy the creditors; Pleas of Crown, Lane. bdle. 328.
  • 63. Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvii, no. 13. The manor of Hoghton was said to be held by the service of the fourth part of a knight's fee. Gilbert, the son and heir, was thirty-nine years of age. Settlements of Hoghton and other manors, &c., had been made in 1615 and 1616 by Sir Richard Hoghton and Sir Gilbert his son; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 86, no. 1; 89, no, 41.
  • 64. He had been made a knight in 1604.; Metcalfe, op. cit. 154. He represented the county in 1621, 1626, and the Short Parliament of 1640; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 69–71. He was sheriff in 1643; P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 65. Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 20, &c. In October 1642 he was removed by the Parliament from the commission of the peace; ibid. 60.
  • 66. Ibid. 65, 123; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc), 21.
  • 67. Civil War Tracts, 66, 68 (where Sir Gilbert is described, erroneously it seems, as 'a convicted Papist'), 75.
  • 68. Royalist Contp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 292, in a petition by Dame Margaret Hoghton widow of Sir Gilbert. In the same volume will be found records of the sequestrations of estates of other members of the family, including Dame Jane widow of Sir Richard father of Sir Gilbert. For Dame Margaret's dower see Add. MS. 32106, no. 987. She was an earnest Puritan; 'her house seemed to me as a college for religion,' said Isaac Ambrose in her funeral sermon in 1658; Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Notes, ii, 126–9.
  • 69. Sir Richard in 1653–4 petitioned respecting certain part withheld from him; ibid. iii, 299. He was one of the Parliamentary Committee of the county in 1645; Civil War Tracts, 210. In the following year he was the principal layman on the Presbyterian classis for the district. After the Restoration he befriended the nonconforming ministers.
  • 70. In 1646 and 1656; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 72, 75.
  • 71. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 72. Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 154.
  • 73. Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 79, 80; in 1679–81 and 1688–9 (the Convention Parliament). Sir Charles died in 1710. In 1680 a Private Act was passed for rectifying several errors and mistakes in the marriage settlement of Sir Charles Hoghton; 32 Chas. II, cap. 1.
  • 74. G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, i, 11, from which work the outline of the succession from this point has in the main been derived. Sir Henry represented Preston as a Whig in three Parliaments, 1710, 1715 and 1727; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 161, &c. In 1712 there was a recovery of the manors of Hoghton, Withnell, Wheelton, Walton-le-Dale, Ashton-on-Ribble, Lea, Alston, Dilworth and Grimsargh, and the advowson of Preston, Sir Henry Hoghton being a vouchee; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 493, m. 6. Sir Henry built chapels for the Protestant Dissenters at Walton-le-Dale and Preston.
  • 75. Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 165, &c.
  • 76. Ibid. 167.
  • 77. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 78. Sheriff of Lancashire, 1829; P.R.O. List, 74.
  • 79. Third son of Sir Henry BoldHoghton by his second wife. He served in the Ashantee War, 1873–4, and he has the gold and silver medals of the Royal Humane Society for the most distinguished act during 1874.
  • 80. The date is now practically illegible, but has been preserved by earlier writers.
  • 81. Joseph Gillow, Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), iii, 1.
  • 82. Pleadings in the Chancery Court of the Duchy of Lancaster, in Pub. Rec. Office, quoted in Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Notes, i, 201.
  • 83. 'Within the last few years the roof of the gallery and some of its walls have fallen prostrate. . . . The building is falling fast to decay and presents to view an object at once picturesque, grand, melancholy and venerable'; Britton, Description of Lancashire, 1807.
  • 84. Ibid.
  • 85. Ainsworth's description, written in 1848, speaks of the house as 'consigned to the occupation of a few gamekeepers.' 'Bereft of its venerable timber,' he says, 'its courts grass grown, its fine oak staircase rotting and dilapidated, its domestic chapel neglected, its marble chamber broken and ruinous, its wainscotings and ceilings cracked and mouldering, its paintings mildewed and half effaced, Hoghton Tower presents only the wreck of its former grandeur'; Lancs. Witches.
  • 86. 'George Silverman's Explanation,' Atlantic Monthly (1865). Dickens calls the house 'Hoghton Towers,' and speaks of 'the ancient rooms, many of them with their floors and ceilings falling, the beams and rafters hanging dangerously down, the plaster dropping, the oak panels stripped away, the windows half walled up, half broken.'
  • 87. The drawings are preserved in Hoghton Tower. If the designs had been carried out all the characteristic features of the house would have been destroyed.
  • 88. A Description of Hoghton Tower, by J. Heseltine, 1857.
  • 89. The Scripture allusion bears witness to the Puritan principles of the fourth baronet. It refers to 2 Peter iii, 11; 'Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness ?'
  • 90. The panel appears to be a restoration, the moulding round, however, being old.
  • 91. The balusters alone appear to be Jacobean. The panelling and woodwork look like late 17th or early 18th-century work, and perhaps are of the same period as the cast-iron grate.
  • 92. It was originally 18 ft. by 12 ft. and is now reduced to 12 ft. square. A portion of the old wainscot remains. In the four corners of each panel is a circular gilt ornament about the size of a guinea, the resemblance of which to the coin has probably given rise to the name of the room. The explanations given that the complete number of 'guineas' on the panelling indicated the rental of the estate, and that the room was once a gambling chamber, appear to have no authority or foundation.
  • 93. 'The east end forms the garden formerly called the Wilderness, now nearly an acre of well-cultivated ground. On this side other portions of the old building have evidently extended further east, as is indicated by portions of the thick walls, a communicating doorway, and other remains attached to the present walls. It is stated, indeed, that a ballroom that stood here was pulled down many years ago and the materials appropriated to the building of one of the barns.' A Description of Hoghton Tower, by J. Hescltine, 1857. These 'remains' have, of course, disappeared in the late restorations.
  • 94. Heseltine, op. cit. 36.
  • 95. A description of the building about 1840 was published at Preston by P. A. Whittle.
  • 96. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 142.
  • 97. Withnell and Whcelton were included for the appointment of constables, &c.
  • 98. Henry Moulden, Richard Livesay and Thomas Hodgson, tanner, as 'Papists,' registered small estates in 1717; Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 94, 101, 130.
  • 99. Land tax returns at Preston.
  • 100. Dods. MSS. cxlii, fol. 21b. There are other deeds relating to Broomicroft in Add. MS. 32106; e.g. Alice formerly wife of Hugh del Broomicroft released her right in the moiety thereof to Adam de Hoghton; no. 911. Sir Richard de Hoghton in 1406 granted a third part of it to John Lekas on lease; no. 778.
  • 101. Lond. Gaz. 3 May 1842.
  • 102. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. i, 68–75; ii, 54, 188.