Townships: Habergham Eaves

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

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'Townships: Habergham Eaves', 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/pp454-468 [accessed 25 November 2024].

'Townships: Habergham Eaves', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 25, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp454-468.

"Townships: Habergham Eaves". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 25 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp454-468.

In this section

HABERGHAM EAVES

Habringham, 1241 and commonly; Habercham, 1269; Habringgeham, 1296; Habringham Evez (or Eves), 1526. The g is hard.

This township is not distinguished from Burnley proper in the more ancient records, (fn. 1) while in recent times, as the town grew, the mills and dwellinghouses extended across the Calder, which was in general the township boundary, and the northern part of Habergham Eaves became part of the town, and was recognized as such under the Improvement Acts and in the borough charter. In 1894 the historical township was accordingly dissolved, nearly half being added to the extended township of Burnley, and the remainder with a small exception becoming the present township or civil parish of Habergham Eaves, (fn. 2) governed by a parish council. The industries of the former part are those of Burnley; in the latter part the land is mostly used for pasture, but coal mines and quarries exist over a large part of the township, some being still worked. The area of the historical township is 4,217½ acres, that of the present one 2,218 acres, including 25 of inland water; the population in 1901 numbered 52,229 and 396 respectively.

The dominating physical feature is the hill called Horelaw or Whorlaw in the centre of the southern end of the township. It has a height of 1,153 ft. above the sea, and from it the surface descends in all directions, but chiefly towards the north, being broken by many cloughs, some of them still wooded; and the Calder, along the northern boundary, falls from 420 ft. at the east to 320 ft. at the north. South of Horelaw the land falls and rises again towards the boundaries, attaining 1,240 ft. at Crown Point on the south-east and 1,200 ft. near Nutshaw on the south-west. The road from Manchester by way of Rawtenstall enters the township near the last-named corner, having Nutshaw to the left and Cronkshaw to the right, and goes north on the west side of Horelaw, passing Oakeneaves, Gibfield and Hudhouse; after turning east by Healey and Pickup, it goes north again into the centre of Burnley. (fn. 3) The other principal roads are those leading into Burnley from Blackburn by Padiham and from Accrington, which cross the north end of the township, and going eastward join before entering Burnley as Westgate. The former road also makes a less direct entrance into the town by Sandygate. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's line from Accrington to Burnley and Colne runs east near the highway, and before turning north to enter Burnley a branch from it leads east and south-east towards Todmorden. There are stations on the former line at Rose Grove and Burnley Barracks, and on the branch at Manchester Road and Towneley. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal also winds along through the northern end of the township, till at Finsley it turns sharply to the north to go through Burnley. Near Gannow it passes through a tunnel a third of a mile long. The Burnley electric tramways go to Padiham, and have branches to Rose Grove, Manchester Road and Towneley.

Habergham Hall, of which there are now no remains, stood near the western edge overlooking the boundary clough. In a projecting part in the north-west is Gawthorpe, on the western slope of Ightenhill. Towneley, the other principal hall, stands in its park on the eastern border of the township, with Castle Hill to the south and the district called Burnley Wood to the north of it. In addition to those named there are a number of houses and placenames of interest on account of their former possessors. Micklehurst lay south of Habergham Hall, Hollingreave, Moseley and Hufflen Hall are to the west of Burnley Wood and Small Hazels to the south-west of Towneley. Gannow is a hamlet to the west of Burnley; its progress was due to its position near the roads and canal. To its northeast are Whittlefield and Clifton, to the south and south-west are Hargher Clough, Sep Clough, Smallshaw and Kellor House, and to the north-west and west are Palace House (modern), Tipping Hill, Kiddrow (or Kidroe) and Thornhill Holme or Lower Houses. This north-west part of the township was formerly called Ightenhill. The barracks were built by subscription in 1819. (fn. 4) The Burnley cemetery is on the western boundary near Habergham Hall. The sewage works are north of Gannow. There are a number of recreation grounds maintained by the Corporation of Burnley. South of Healey there was formerly a race-course. To the south-west of this is Hollin Cross. There are remains of an ancient cross in Cross Field. (fn. 5)

Leigh about 1700 noticed several springs in the neighbourhood; one near Handbridge, Burnley Wood, was medicinal, (fn. 6) as was another near Barn Lane in what is still known as Spa Clough, where about seventy years ago baths and a well-house were built.

Manors

Although in some early deeds Habergham is described as a 'vill,' in others it is called only a hamlet in the vill of Burnley, and this appears to have been its position till comparatively recent times. It is not mentioned by name in the hearth tax return of 1666, although in 1650 the parochial chapelry of Burnley was stated to embrace the 'townships' of Burnley, Habergham Eaves and Worsthorne. (fn. 7) The greater part of the land was held by copy of court roll, (fn. 8) but there were some freehold estates described as manors. Of these was

HABERGHAM, which gave a surname to the owners. Roger de Lacy, who died in 1211, gave an oxgang of land in Habergham to Matthew de Habergham and his heirs for their homage, a rent of 3s. to be given yearly at St. Giles's Day. (fn. 9) Matthew de Habergham, with the assent of Peter his eldest son, somewhat later gave a moiety of the land he held of John (de Lacy), the constable of Chester, to another son Henry, at a rent of 6d. (fn. 10) The tenement thus appears to have been divided into two parts and the descent is not altogether clear. Peter and Henry had sons, and various alienations were made, though Peter de Habergham was recorded as holding the oxgang of land by the old rent of 3s. in 1258. (fn. 11) Geoffrey son of Peter de Habergham gave to Adam son of Robert de Holden all the land which he had from Adam son of Matthew through default of homage till the heir should come of age and satisfy Adam. (fn. 12) Geoffrey made other grants to Adam his son, (fn. 13) Adam de Holden (fn. 14) and John de Birtwisle. (fn. 15) In 1311 the free tenants were Adam de Holden and Henry de Birtwisle, who held 2 oxgangs of land by rendering 6s. yearly; this is twice the amount granted by the extant charter. (fn. 16)

It is probable that Adam the son of Geoffrey was father of the John de Habergham to whom in 1335 Mabel daughter of William son of Matthew de Habergham surrendered all her lands in the hamlet of Habergham in the vill of Burnley, together with the reversion of her mother Ellen's dower. (fn. 17) There is again a defect in the evidence. Ellis de Habergham, chaplain, who was a son of John, and acting as trustee, in 1363 granted to feoffees various lands in Habergham, with the reversion of the dower of Margaret widow of John de Habergham. (fn. 18) Richard de Habergham, whose parentage is not recorded, received possession about 1366. (fn. 19) The estate or manor descended (fn. 20) to Lawrence Habergham, who died in 1615 holding the 'Hall of Habergham,' with lands and coal mine there, part of the adjacent Bradley in Hapton and land in Foulridge; his heir was his son John, aged sixteen. (fn. 21) John Habergham in 1631 paid £10 as composition for declining knighthood, (fn. 22) and in 1638 gave lands to feoffees on marrying Anne daughter of George Pollard of Mill Hill in Hapton (fn. 23); but though he lived through the Civil War nothing is recorded of him, and his descendants sold the estate piecemeal, George Halsted becoming the owner of the hall in 1689 on the foreclosure of a mortgage. (fn. 24) After a time the hall, which was rebuilt in 1754, came by bequest into the possession of the Halsteads or Halsteds of Rowley in Worsthorne. It was sold in the middle of last century to Mr. Holt of Goodshaw Fold, who left it to William Preston of Mearley. He took the name of Holt, and was succeeded by his son Mr. Thomas Preston Holt. (fn. 25)

Habergham. Argent three crosses hermetty sable.

A Halstead family occurs in Habergham much earlier. Hugh Halstead was a freeholder in 1600 (fn. 26) and George Halstead compounded in 1631 for refusing knighthood. (fn. 27) The Birtwisle (fn. 28) and Holden (fn. 29) families long continued to hold land in Habergham; Palace House was formerly the residence of John Greenwood, one of the Holden heirs. (fn. 30) The Sagers' estate at Cowden Brook or Cole Clough descended to the Veevers family. (fn. 31)

TOWNELEY (fn. 32) was about 1200 granted by Roger de Lacy to Geoffrey son of Robert the Dean of Whalley, who was authorized to maintain a dwelling-place there for use when hunting in the district. The land was assessed as 2 oxgangs and was to be taken from a tract of country the bounds of which began at Thorny Clough, went down the Calder, and followed this stream as far as Bradbridge; going thence to Dedsyke, to Hawksnest Clough head, Pikedlow, Crombrook to its head, Withenslack head, Middlehill, Thornley syke head, and Thorny Clough. Geoffrey was to share in the common pasture of Burnley and have right of chase outside the lord's demesne heys. Lands in Coldcoats and Snodsworth in Billington were quitclaimed to him. For the whole estate, 8 oxgangs of land in all, Geoffrey and his heirs were to render the service due for the tenth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 33)

The succession of the Deans of Whalley has been related in the account of the church there. The early descent of Towneley is far from clear. In 1242 Henry Gedleng held the tenth part of a knight's fee in Towneley, Coldcoats and Snodsworth, all being included in the dower of the Countess of Lincoln. (fn. 34) The name 'Gedleng' does not occur again; Henry was probably the Henry de Towneley who, together with his brother Richard and son William, attested a charter by which Adam Abbot of Kirkstall (1249–59) granted to Walter the chaplain of Towneley certain land in Cliviger. (fn. 35) Henry de Towneley attested a Worsthorne deed about the same time. (fn. 36) The next in possession, so far as is known, was a Richard de Towneley, whose heirs in 1295–6 paid 10s. as relief on succeeding to the threefold estate, (fn. 37) but a Nicholas de Towneley is named among certain county magnates in 1292. (fn. 38) In 1302 John de Catterall and his parceners held the eighth part of a fee in Towneley and its members. (fn. 39) Cecily de Towneley in her widowhood in the following year granted to John son of Gilbert de la Legh all the lands she had by reversion of dower in Towneley, Brunshaw and Worsthorne. (fn. 40) In 1311 the heirs of Towneley held Brunshaw and Towneley for homage and by the service of 18s. 3d., doing suit at the court of Clitheroe from three weeks to three weeks. (fn. 41)

Towneley of Towneley. Argent a fesse with three mullets in chief sable.

Light is thrown on the succession by a pleading in 1315, when Robert de Gretton and Agnes his wife complained that John de Legh and Cecily his wife, Philip de Clayton and Isabel his wife had refused to make partition of the manor of Towneley, which Agnes, Cecily and Isabel had inherited from their brother Nicholas de Towneley. (fn. 42) The three co-heirs appear again in 1322 holding as in 1302. (fn. 43) John de Legh was in 1323 charged with unlawful hunting in the East Moors in Towneley and in Cliviger, but he justified himself on the ground that it was his wife's right. (fn. 44)

John de Legh was the son of Gilbert de Legh of Hapton, otherwise Gilbert son of Michael, the head stock-keeper of the Accrington vaccaries in 1296 and later. (fn. 45) John de Legh was living in 1333 (fn. 46) and 1339, (fn. 47) but may have died before his father, (fn. 48) being succeeded by his son Gilbert. Gilbert de Legh and others held the tenth or eighth part of a knight's fee about 1350. (fn. 49) In 1372 the feoffees of Gilbert son of John de Legh granted to other trustees that third part of the manor of Towneley which had formerly been held by Philip de Clayton and Isabel his wife, (fn. 50) and in 1381 William son of Richard the Parker released to Gilbert de Legh and John son of Richard de Towneley all his right in that third part which formerly belonged to his kinsman John son of John de Catterall. (fn. 51) Thus the whole manor was reunited, and Towneley was used for the surname of its lords. In the year before a jury had found that Gilbert de Legh might without loss to the king grant to feoffees the fourth part of the bailiwick of Blackburn wapentake, held of the king in chief; he held also of the Duke of Lancaster the manor of Hapton, two-thirds of the manor of Towneley and the manors of Cliviger and Birtwisle. His share of Towneley was held by knight's service and a rent of 6d.; it was worth £10 a year clear. (fn. 52) Gilbert died before his wife Alice, who dying in 1388 was found to have held his estate; there being no issue of the marriage, the heir was John son and heir of Richard de Towneley, brother of Gilbert, then thirty-eight years of age. (fn. 53) This Richard had died in 1379 holding a fourth part of the bailiwick of Blackburnshire. (fn. 54) John son and heir of Richard de Towneley had the usual protection in 1386 on engaging to go to Calais on the king's business, but he forfeited it by staying in Kent attending to his own affairs. (fn. 55) In 1397 the feoffees regranted to John de Towneley his manors of Towneley and Cliviger, (fn. 56) and two years later he died in possession of them. He had married Isabel or Elizabeth daughter and heir of William de Rixton, and left a son Richard, aged twelve, as heir to Towneley and the other manors and lands. (fn. 57)

Richard Towneley made a feoffment of his paternal lands in 1410, (fn. 58) and accompanied Henry V in his expedition to France in 1415, taking part at Agincourt. (fn. 59) He and the Abbot of Whalley in 1446 held the tenth part of a knight's fee in Towneley, Coldcoats and Snodsworth, 5s. being due from each in respect of relief. (fn. 60) Richard died in 1454 holding the manor of Towneley of the king as of his duchy of Lancaster by knight's service and a rent of 12s. 9d.; holding also two parts of the bailiwick of Blackburnshire and various manors and lands in the hundred. His son John was over forty years of age. (fn. 61) John Towneley had in 1418 been contracted to marry Isabel daughter of Nicholas Boteler of Rawcliffe, but this marriage having been declared null on the ground of pre-contract, (fn. 62) he in 1445 married Elizabeth daughter of Richard Shireburne. (fn. 63) Soon after succeeding he made a settlement of his manors and lands, including some at Flint in North Wales. (fn. 64) In 1456 he obtained the bishop's licence for a domestic chapel at Towneley, Cliviger and Birtwisle. (fn. 65) He was living in 1472 when his son Richard was contracted to marry Joan sister of Christopher Southworth. (fn. 66) He died soon afterwards, for in 1474 Richard Towneley granted Willisill in Hapton and Nutshaw in Birtwisle to his brothers Lawrence and Nicholas. (fn. 67)

Richard Towneley took part in the Scottish expedition of 1482, and was in Hutton Field made a knight by Lord Stanley on 24 July. (fn. 68) He died in the following September holding Towneley by knight's service and many other manors, &c. His heir was his son John, only nine years old, but already married to Isabel daughter of Sir Charles Pilkington. (fn. 69) This John took part in the expedition into Scotland in 1497, and was there made a knight. (fn. 70) In the following year he was summoned to show cause for his claim to have free chase in Blackburnshire, as appurtenant to his manor of Towneley. (fn. 71) He did not prove his age till 1500. (fn. 72) Some of his charters are known, (fn. 73) and he founded a chantry in Burnley Church. (fn. 74) He dismissed the herald very curtly in 1533, telling him that 'there was no more gentlemen in Lancashire but my lord of Derby and Mounteagle.' (fn. 75) He had been sheriff in 1531–2. (fn. 76) He obtained the king's licence to impark all his lands in Whalley. (fn. 77) He was probably too infirm in 1536 to take any part in resisting the Northern rebellion, but John the brother of Sir John Towneley was to be ready with six or eight tall men. (fn. 78) A Towneley rental, compiled 1 January 1536–7, has been printed. (fn. 79) Sir John died in 1541, (fn. 80) when his son Richard succeeded. (fn. 81) He had a son Sir Richard Towneley, who was made a knight in 1547 at 'the camp besides Roxburgh' by the Duke of Somerset, (fn. 82) but died in 1554 before his father, (fn. 83) leaving a daughter Mary as sole heir. The elder Richard died soon afterwards, (fn. 84) the heir male being his nephew John son of Charles Towneley, the second son of Sir John, (fn. 85) who in 1556 married his cousin Mary by dispensation.

After a period of wavering John Towneley decided to refuse conformity to the religious changes made by Elizabeth, and in 1568 was cited to appear before the commissioners. (fn. 86) Their orders had little or no effect upon him, and he became an unswerving recusant. (fn. 87) In 1581 he is found in the Gatehouse, Westminster, a prisoner for religion, being removed to the New Fleet, Manchester, in 1582, (fn. 88) having practically no freedom from that time till his death, besides being compelled to pay the £260 a year levied for recusancy by the Act of 1581. (fn. 89) He made a settlement of his estates in 1594, (fn. 90) and died in 1608 holding the manors of Towneley and Hapton of the king as duke by knight's service; also the manors of Cliviger and Birtwisle, with lands, &c., there and in Burnley, Burnley Wood, Habergham Eaves, Briercliffe, Extwistle, Hurstwood and Worsthorne in Lancashire, and the manors of Nocton and Dunston and the advowson of Water Willoughby in Lincolnshire. His wife had died before him, and he was succeeded by his son Richard, then forty-two years of age. (fn. 91) Richard Towneley followed his father's steps in religion, but little is known of him. He recorded a pedigree in 1613, (fn. 92) and died in London in 1628, being buried at St. Clement Danes. (fn. 93) His eldest son Richard in 1632 compounded for the recusancy fines by an annual payment of £213 6s. 8d. a year, (fn. 94) and dying unmarried in 1636 at Nocton, was succeeded by his younger brother Charles, (fn. 95) who had for a time been an ecclesiastical student in Rome, but had left with the permission of the authorities. (fn. 96) On the Civil War breaking out Charles Towneley at once took the king's side, (fn. 97) and fell in the battle of Marston Moor in 1644. (fn. 98) His estates were sequestered and in 1651 declared forfeit and put up for sale. (fn. 99) As in other cases portions of the inheritance were secured for the children, and Charles's son Richard succeeded to Towneley. He recorded a pedigree in 1664. (fn. 100) He lived quietly and devoted his leisure to study. (fn. 101) In 1678, at the time of the Oates Plot, he and other members of his family were indicted for recusancy, (fn. 102) and remaining faithful to James II he was made prisoner in 1689 and was accused of participation in the fictitious plot of 1694. (fn. 103) He died at York in 1707. (fn. 104)

His son Charles dying in 1711 was followed by his son Richard, who married a daughter of Lord Widdrington, (fn. 105) and being zealous for the Stuarts joined the Jacobites at Preston in 1715. (fn. 106) He was tried for high treason, but acquitted for want of evidence. (fn. 107) In 1717 he registered his entailed estates as worth £921 a year; others of his family also registered annuities charged on Towneley. (fn. 108) His brother John entered the service of France and was made a knight of St. Louis; he translated Hudibras into French. (fn. 109) Another brother, Francis, took an active part in the Jacobite rising of 1745, and was made colonel of the Manchester Regiment; being captured at Carlisle, he was tried for high treason and executed in 1746. (fn. 110) At home the family had little chance of distinction, the laws shutting them out of public life for their religion; but Charles Towneley, grandson of Richard, who held the Towneley estates from 1742 till 1805, had a European reputation as a connoisseur. Educated at Douay, he afterwards visited Italy and made a famous collection of marble and other objects of art, purchased by the British Museum after his death. (fn. 111) He was unmarried, and Towneley went to his brother Edward Standish (fn. 112) (d. 1807) and then to his uncle John Towneley (d. 1813). (fn. 113) The last-named was succeeded by his son Peregrine Edward Towneley, who after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act was able to take part in public life and served as high sheriff in 1831. Dying in 1846 he was succeeded by his son Charles, high sheriff in 1857. At his death in 1861 he left three daughters, ultimately co-heirs of the family estates (fn. 114) : Caroline Louisa (d. 1873), who married Viscount Norreys, now Earl of Abingdon, and had several children; Emily Frances (d. 1892), who married Lord A. F. Gordon Lennox, and left a son; and Alice Mary, who married a distinguished lawyer, Thomas O'Hagan, twice Lord Chancellor of Ireland, created a baron of the United Kingdom in 1870. Lord O'Hagan died in 1885; his eldest son and successor died during the South African War 1900, being a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, and was succeeded in the title by his brother. The estates were divided. Lady O'Hagan, who seceded from communion with the Roman Catholic Church in 1897, in 1901 sold Towneley Hall and the grounds around it for £17,500 to the Corporation of Burnley, who have formed a museum and art gallery there, which was opened in 1903. It does not appear that any 'manor' has been claimed at Towneley for a long period, and Dr. Whitaker could write thus a century ago:—

O'Hagan, Lord O'Hagan. Quarterly argent and azure, in the first quarter a shoe proper and on a canton per cheveron gules and ermine three covered cups or, in the second quarter a flag of the first charged with a dexter hand of the fourth, in the third quarter a lion rampant gold and in the fourth quarter a fish swimming proper.

The manors of Towneley and Cliviger have been recognised in all the family conveyances down to the year 1685; but as no courts have been holden from time immemorial, as the superior lords have long exercised an uncontested right over the commons, mines, and minerals, and the several freeholders over the latter within their own estates; and moreover as a modern park affords an easier supply of game and venison than an ancient free chase, this shadow of feudal superiority has passed away and is now forgotten. (fn. 115)

TOWNELEY HALL stands in a low situation about a quarter of a mile from the west bank of the Calder and about 1¼ miles south-east of Burnley. It is a large three-story stone mansion built on three sides of an open court and facing north-east, dating originally in all probability from the 14th or early 15th century, but altered so considerably from time to time since that little or nothing of the early building is now visible. Dr. Whitaker, (fn. 116) writing about 1788, states that the house was, 'until about a century ago,' a complete quadrangle with four turrets in the angles, and that on the north-east side, which was then as now open, there were 'two turrets in the angles, a gateway, a chapel, and a sacristy, with a library over. These,' he goes on to state, 'were removed by Charles Towneley about a century ago and placed in their present position, having been preserved entire.' This statement of Whitaker's as to the existence of a north-east wing seems to be the only evidence as to the former plan and appearance of the building, the structure itself showing no signs of any such violent alteration, which it seems reasonable to suppose if carried out at so comparatively recent a date as the end of the 17th century would have left some trace. It has been suggested, however, that the gate-house and chapel may have existed in a detached building whose removal would not cause mutilation to the adjoining wings, (fn. 117) but so much work has been done externally in the 18th century that it is extremely difficult to come to any definite conclusion as to what the building was like at the time when the destruction of the north-east side of the quadrangle is said to have taken place. The plan of the house now consists of a south-west or middle wing containing the great hall measuring externally 86 ft. in length by 34 ft. in width, with long north-west and southeast wings at right angles forming the three sides of a courtyard measuring 80 ft. by 76 ft. This probably forms more or less the plan of the mediaeval house, or part of it if it were entirely quadrangular, and the south-east wing apparently retains its original walls, 6 ft. thick, all round. This wing is 95 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, and like the wing opposite stands in front of the centre block some 75 ft., the internal angles being emphasized by square staircase towers 15 ft. on the face, but with a projection of only 4 ft. in front of the main wall. The north-west wing is of the same length and may have been originally of equal width, the outer wall on the west side, which is 6 ft. thick, being apparently of equal date with those of the south-east wing. The north-east wing was, however, rebuilt by Richard Towneley shortly before his death in 1628, and the wall facing the courtyard is of that date. At a later period William Towneley, who died in 1742, added a new building on the west side against the old outer wall which had been retained in the rebuilding, increasing the wing to its present width of 53 ft. The junction of the old and new work is not observable on the front elevation, the end wall having been presumably entirely re-erected at that time, but at the back it stands slightly in front of the older wall. The back portion of the outer building, however, which in the upper floor contains the chapel, is said to have been part of the old north-east wing removed at the time of its destruction to its present position by Charles Towneley, the stones having been marked and numbered. However that may be, (fn. 118) the north-west wing has now as completely lost all traces of its mediaeval appearance as that opposite, the ancient work there visible belonging to the 17th century. In the rebuilding of 1628 the wall facing the courtyard may have been erected within the line of the older wall, supposing the wings to have been originally of equal width, and the courtyard space consequently increased, but this is not certain, the wings possibly having been of unequal width from the first.

The middle or south-west wing containing the hall was entirely altered in 1725 (fn. 119) by Richard Towneley, whose initials and crest are in the rainwater heads facing the court. It then assumed its present form of a classic entrance-hall going the full height of the building, the floor being removed and a stone staircase with iron balustrade being introduced at the south-east end. How much of the old walling remains in place it is difficult to say, as all the windows belong to the reconstruction, and indeed the appearance of the exterior of the whole of the building has an 18th or even early 19th-century Gothic character which deprives the house of any pretensions to architectural merit. The back elevation of the middle wing, however, consists of a plain classic design and suggests an entire rebuilding of the wall on that side. (fn. 120)

Following on his remodelling of the hall Richard Towneley in the year following entirely reconstructed the south-east wing, taking out the first floor and forming two lofty apartments 20 ft. in height on the ground floor with large round-headed quasi-Gothic windows under square hood moulds along the east side and at either end. To this period, too, probably belong the diagonal buttresses to the north-west and south-east wings terminating in embattled turrets, and possibly the embattled parapets, though these may be of earlier date. There were further slight additions in 1736 and also in the middle of the last century, about 1849–50, when an addition, four stories in height, forming a kind of tower, 15 ft. by 30 ft., was built rather awkwardly at the outer angle of the north-west wing. There is also a low twostory wing on the north-west side forming outbuildings and a dwelling-house over 120 ft. in length.

The walls are constructed of roughly-coursed rubble, but the porch and angle buttresses are of ashlar. The older windows have mostly mullions and transoms, but the later 'Gothic' windows mullions only with heavy hood moulds. The walls terminate throughout in embattled parapets, behind which the hipped roofs are scarcely visible.

The principle entrance is by the porch, which is of early 19th-century date, into the 18th-century hall, occupying the middle portion of the south-west wing. The oak door, which stands within the porch, may have been brought to Towneley from Standish Hall by Edward Standish (1805–7). It bears the quartered arms of Standish and also the initials of Ralph Standish. Across the door is an inscription—
R et Ahsoista | Tw Fec a Dni ModoXXX
The meaning is not clear, beyond that the door was made in 1530. The hall, which is 42 ft. by 28 ft. and 30 ft. in height, has a flagged floor and three windows on the south side opposite the entrance, the middle one forming a garden door, each flanked by Ionic pilasters, a form of decoration which is continued round the room. There is a fireplace at each end and doors leading to the staircase lobbies. The pilasters support a deep entablature and carved plaster ceiling with good centre ornament. Over the door are the Towneley arms in a shield of eighteen pieces. The staircase at the west end of the hall is of oak with turned balusters and probably of about 1628 date, at which time most likely some reconstruction of the plan would be necessitated at this point.

Towneley Hall

The two large 18th-century rooms in the southeast wing are of no particular interest, but the floor being raised considerably above the level of the ground outside allows of a basement story, in which some ancient features may still be seen, the lower part of a circular stone staircase being still in position near the inner wall at the north end. The basement is entered from the courtyard through a doorway of unusual shape, the opening narrowing towards the top, which is round-headed under a square hood mould. This door is apparently of 16th-century date pierced through the older wall and is 6 ft. high, though its peculiar shape makes it appear much less. The basement is also connected with the wing opposite by a passage running along the front of the middle wing. The upper floor of the south-east wing is now gained by the 18th-century stone staircase at the east end of the hall and is divided down its full length by a narrow wall, the west side to the courtyard being occupied by a long gallery 84 ft. by 12 ft., lit by a window at each end and by two windows to the courtyard. Five small rooms open from the gallery on the west side, and it is panelled in oak, now varnished but apparently of 17th-century date, with a scalloped panelled frieze and square-moulded panels below. The ceiling is quite plain.

The ground floor of the north-west wing is 4 ft. below that of the hall and wing opposite, there being a descent of six steps at the west end of the hall. The kitchen is at the south end at the back, presumably occupying its original position in the mediaeval building, when it would be connected with the hall by a direct passage. The original arrangement of the hall, however, has been almost entirely lost, and the floor may have been raised. The kitchen, which is 15 ft. in height, has a flagged floor and is lit by a large double transomed window of five lights. It has been 29 ft. by 23 ft., but later alterations have reduced its size by the introduction of wooden partitions, which form a passage-way on two sides. On the west wall are two wide fireplaces and an oak settle is still in position. The other rooms on the ground floor are the offices and servants' quarters, and are now mostly abandoned and quite without interest.

On the first floor the two principal rooms in the north-west wing facing the courtyard are known as the dining and drawing rooms, the former, which is 26 ft. by 22 ft. and 11 ft. 6 in. high, being an interesting 17th-century apartment with oak wainscoted walls in diagonally set panels and ornamental plaster ceiling, the date 1628 being on the panelling in a recess on the south side of the fireplace. It is lit by three windows, and contains a long oak table dated 1613 and bearing the initials W.B., S.B., which formerly belonged to Barcroft Hall. The drawing-room, which leads from it on the north side, has been modernized and is of little interest. It has, however, a good stone angle fireplace.

The chapel, which, as before stated, is situated at the back or south end of the added portion of the wing, is 33 ft. by 18 ft., and about one-third of its length is taken up by the sanctuary, the remaining two-thirds constituting the nave. The sanctuary end, which in reality faces south-west, is much loftier than the rest of the room, the height of which is only 12 ft., and the 'east' window, which has a fourcentred head, being placed high in the wall gives a very excellent lighting effect. The sanctuary has a richly moulded oak cove and elaborately panelled wainscot and ceiling, probably dating from the latter half of the 15th century, and said to be the fittings of the original chapel in the destroyed wing, which is stated to have been the work of Sir John Towneley in the reign of Henry VII. The rest of the panelling is of a later period, apparently having been erected or restored at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, since the date 1601 and the initials R.T., I.T. are carved over the priest's door together with a shield of sixteen pieces. There are three windows in the west side and a door leading to a small priest's chamber, whose projection externally breaks the long straight line of the wall. The ceiling of the nave is supported by richly moulded oak beams and joists. The other rooms on the first floor are without interest. On the upper floor there were formerly five small rooms on the inner side overlooking the courtyard, but these have since 1902 been converted into a long picture gallery lit from the roof, the windows on the east side being blocked up.

In the grounds at the back of the house is the Foldys Cross, dated 1520, which formerly stood on the south side of Burnley Parish Church, but was removed here in 1789. (fn. 121)

The Towneley MSS., now dispersed, are reported upon by the Historical MSS. Commission. (fn. 122)

GAWTHORPE may have grown up from land in the vill of Ightenhill, which was in 1389 surrendered by John del Eves to the use of Ughtred de Shuttleworth. (fn. 123) In 1470 Lawrence son of Nicholas Shuttleworth married one of the four daughters and co-heirs of Richard Worsley of Downham and Twiston, (fn. 124) and from that time the descent of the estate seems clear. (fn. 125) Richard Shuttleworth of Gawthorpe, a successful lawyer, became chief justice of Chester and was made a knight. (fn. 126) He married Margaret widow of Robert Barton of Smithills, but had no issue. (fn. 127) The accounts of his property at this time have been printed by the Chetham Society. (fn. 128) He died in 1600, when his estates went to a brother and then (1608) to a nephew, Richard Shuttleworth, (fn. 129) who married the heiress of Richard Barton of Barton near Preston. He was sheriff in 1618 and 1638, member for Preston in 1641, (fn. 130) took an active part on the Parliamentary side in the Civil War, (fn. 131) and was a member of the Presbyterian Classis. He recorded a pedigree at the visitation of 1664 (fn. 132) and died in 1669. His eldest son Richard, who shared his father's principles, (fn. 133) having died in 1648, he was succeeded by a grandson Richard, whose son and namesake was knighted at Windsor in 1684. (fn. 134) Gawthorpe descended (fn. 135) to Robert Shuttleworth, who died in 1818, leaving as heir his infant daughter Janet. She married in 1842 Dr. James Phillips Kay, who assumed the surname of Shuttleworth. He was created a baronet in 1849, acted as sheriff in 1864 and died in 1877. (fn. 136) His son Ughtred James Kay Shuttleworth, who succeeded to Gawthorpe on his mother's death in 1872, represented the Clitheroe division in Parliament from 1885 to 1902, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Shuttleworth. He was made lord lieutenant of the county in 1908.

Shuttleworth, Lord Shuttleworth. Quarterly; I and 4, Argent three shuttles sable, for Shuttleworth; 2 and 3, Argent three ermine spots between two bendlets sable and as many crescents gules.

GAWTHORPE HALL (fn. 137) stands near the western boundary of the township about half a mile to the north-east of Padiham in a valley close to the former bed of the River Calder, 1½ miles to the west of its junction with Pendle Water, where it swept through flat meadows westward. The Calder was diverted from the hall to the opposite side of the valley at the beginning of the last century owing to its being extensively polluted by manufacturing refuse, and the surrounding scenery, once of great beauty, has greatly suffered by the growth of industrialism.

The house, which is an admirable specimen of the stone-built mansion of the late Elizabethan period, is three stories in height over a spacious basement containing the kitchen and offices, and was designed with much regard to external symmetry, with a central porch set in a projecting square bay which is carried up the full height of the building, and flanked with similar semi-octagonal bays standing 7 ft. from the angles, the wall being blank at either end. The floors are marked externally by string courses dividing the front horizontally into three parts, and the mullioned windows, which stretch across the front from bay to bay, are of equal height to each floor and have a single transom.

The plan is comprised within a rectangle measuring 73 ft. 6 in. by 52 ft., the longer sides facing north and south, but on the north and east sides there are square recesses 15 ft. and 10 ft. wide respectively and 9 ft. 6 in. deep, and the whole mansion is grouped round a tower measuring internally 14 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft., standing back from the north wall the depth of the recess. The house was built between 1600 and 1605 by the Rev. Lawrence Shuttleworth, (fn. 138) and may have incorporated in it the walls of the keep or peel tower of an older structure upon which the present tower was built. (fn. 139) The walls are constructed of squared local sandstone blocks in regular courses with angle quoins, (fn. 140) and the roofs have lead flats. The building appears to have been abandoned and neglected in the latter part of the 18th century, (fn. 141) but was refitted and refurnished by Robert Shuttleworth soon after the beginning of the last century, (fn. 142) when the original oak staircase and panelling in the tower had fallen so much out of repair that they were removed and 'replaced in a style inconsistent with the rest of the structure.' (fn. 143) In 1850 a more thorough restoration took place under the direction of Sir Charles Barry, who rearranged some of the rooms, raised the tower and chimneys, and substituted a pierced parapet in the Elizabethan style for the plain upper portion of the original one. (fn. 144) Barry also altered the porch by raising the arch so as to afford space for a mullioned window above, excavated a level garden on the south side, formed a terrace on the north, and built a stone balustrade all round the house inclosing the area to the basement. (fn. 145)

The porch, which projects 5 ft., preserves some of its ancient features, but the round arch has been replaced by a four-centred one, and the flanking columns now support a modern entablature filling up the space, formerly quite plain, below the five-light window to the floor above. Over the entrance in the frieze is the Kay motto, 'Kynd Kynn Knawne Kepe,' and above this three square stone panels, the centre one being original, carved with the Shuttleworth arms with helm, crest and mantling and the date 1605 above. (fn. 146) The others are modern and bear the arms of Kay, and Shuttleworth and Kay quarterly. The porch leads to a vestibule, to the right of which, separated from it by a modern screen, is the entrance hall 29 ft. 6 in. long by 12 ft. wide, lit on the south side by a window of five lights and a recessed semioctagonal bay window 6 ft. 6 in. deep. The arrangement of the plan, however, in the south-east part of the house has been altered, the present entrance hall having been formed during the restoration of 1850. Immediately before that date it was divided into several small rooms, the work doubtless of a previous alteration, but the original plan is difficult to reconstruct, the names of various rooms which occur in the building accounts, some of which may have been in this part of the building, being of little help. Previous to the alterations of 1850 there was a panelled chamber, apparently forming the eastern end of the present hall, and lit by the bay window and a smaller window on the east. On its north side two panels in the upper part of the wall separating it from the hall opened into the music gallery of that apartment. The ceiling bore the date 1604 and some curious mottoes, and over the fireplace was a marquetry tablet bearing the initials and dates of various members of the Shuttleworth family between the years 1443 and 1604. This room was done away with by Sir Charles Barry, in order that the present entrance hall might be carried to the south-eastern angle of the building, (fn. 147) and in the course of removing the oak sill of the window in the east side a quantity of old coins, chiefly Portuguese, dating between 1709 and 1745, (fn. 148) were discovered. The window at the east end above the fireplace is modern, together with the whole of the north wall and all the panelling. The genealogical tablet just referred to, however, which consists of a series of inlaid oak panels with dates and initials, has been preserved, and is now fixed on the north wall. (fn. 149) It is flanked by two panels inclosed by geometrical marquetry borders, each with three more initials.

The plan is interesting as showing the complete abandonment of the central hall and end wings. The great hall, now called the diningroom, is in the north-east corner of the house, and the old dining-room, now the drawing-room, in the southwest, with a smaller apartment, probably 'the little diningroom,' but now used as a library, opening from it and from the staircase tower. On the east side is a circular stone staircase (fn. 150) from the kitchen and offices in the basement, and continued to the top floor.

The hall (now the dining-room) is 30 ft. long by 20 ft. in width, with a large square recessed window at the north-east corner 9 ft. square. At the south end the arrangement follows that of the ancient screens with a low music gallery over a passage 4 ft. 6 in. wide, the division between which and the room forms the screen. There is a dais at the upper or north end of the hall or dining-r om, (fn. 151) which is lit by a long window of seven lights, but the floor to the bay is slightly raised. The fireplace is on the west side and is modern, but the room retains its original oak wainscot to a height of about 5 ft., with square panels in the lower parts and longer fluted ones above. The screen (fn. 152) is a good example of Jacobean woodwork with turned balusters to the front of the gallery, access to which is gained from the stone staircase. In the spandrels of the screen doorways are four small shields, those on the east door bearing the initials HS / G and RS / K, and those on the west door LS / P and TS / G. (fn. 153) Over each door is the date 1605 The plaster ceiling, consisting of a rich geometrical pattern with pendants and the initials K S, was designed by Barry.

Gawthorpe Hall

The drawing-room, originally the dining-room, is 29 ft. long by 18 ft. 6 in. in width, and is lit on the south side by a five-light and a bay window corresponding to those of the entrance hall, with another window of five lights at the west end. It is the finest room in the house, and its original appearance has been little altered, though at periods when the house was abandoned in the 18th century it was used as a granary or store-room. (fn. 154) The walls are panelled to within 2 ft. of the ceiling with richly wrought oak wainscot, surmounted by a cornice, the whole being a very good example of Renaissance woodwork. The two upper ranges of panelling are of marquetry, the second row with arched heads. The fireplace is on the north side opposite the windows and is the original one, with a low stone arch 6 ft. 6 in. wide, above which the panelling is carried with three rows of five panels over the opening. On either side the squareness of the room is broken in the angles by a square partition carried up to the ceiling in front of the doors. Over the fireplace the central panel of the upper row is dated 1604, and in the second row four of the five panels are ornamented, the centre one with the Shuttleworth arms and crest. In the lower row immediately over the arch are the inlaid initials of the chief connexions of the family at the period when the house was built, as follows (fn. 155) :—

Plan of second Floor, Plan of first Floor

Initials inlaid in stone above arch

Above the panelling is a rich plaster frieze 18 in. deep, ornamented at intervals with costumed figures, and at the angles with lions and griffins holding shields. The plaster ceiling is very elaborate and has a vine pattern from which clusters of grapes hang as pendants.

The library has been almost wholly modernized, but retains its original plaster frieze, though the ceiling is new. The staircase in the tower belongs to 1850 and has the hardness of the detail of the time.

On the first floor a rearrangement of some of the rooms on the east side was carried out by Barry, but generally the plan remains approximately in its original form with four large bedrooms and a dressing-room facing south, two of these rooms retaining good ornamental plaster ceilings. Over the mantelpiece of the 'Grey bedroom' is a panel with the date 1604 and the initials of Lawrence Shuttleworth, and the arms of Shuttleworth impaling Fleetwood are carved on one of the old oak beds. On the second floor the whole of the front of the house is occupied by the long gallery, which is lit by the three great bay windows and two windows of four lights between, together with a slightly projecting bay of seven lights at each end. The long gallery is 70 ft. in length by 13 ft. 6 in., and has a good original geometrical plaster ceiling and ornamental frieze. The walls, however, are without wainscot, being covered with modern wall paper, and this, perhaps together with the lengths of blank wall between the windows and at the ends (which do away with the effect of a continuous window as at Astley Hall), somewhat detracts from what would otherwise be the very fine effect of the room. Over the fireplace in the middle of the north wall is a plaster panel flanked by caryatides supporting an entablature, and containing the royal arms of James I within a garter and surmounted by the crown with the royal initials I.R. and the date 1603. Two other plaster panels below, side by side, contain the following inscriptions:—
NON POTESTAS
NEC FORTVNA
SED DEVS
CONSTITVIT
AMBVLA CORAM
DEO ET ESTO PFECT'
FEARE GOD
HONOR Ye KINGE
ESCHEWE EVIL
AND DOE GOOD
SEEKE PEACE
AND ENSVE IT

In a small lobby on the north side of the gallery is a fragment of linen pattern wainscot. The other rooms on the second floor are without interest.

The entrance hall and dining-room contain a number of family portraits, (fn. 156) and old furniture remains in other of the rooms.

To the north-west of the house and of contemporary date is the great barn, (fn. 157) one of the loftiest and most spacious in the county. It is built of stone, with stone slated roof, and measures 100 ft. by 60 ft. It consists of central and side aisles and is divided into nine bays by eight low square stone columns supporting wooden pillars carrying the cross timbers and beams of the roof. Two bays at the south end have been divided off and made into stables.

The steward's accounts give the names of various rooms and places at the time of the building of the hall, but not all of these can be identified, and some rooms are probably called by more than one name. The following are mentioned:—
The hall
The gallery in the lower end of the hall
The dyning chamber
The little dyning chamber
The chamber next the dyning chamber
The little room or withdrawing place between the dining chamber and the hall
The kechinge
The pantery
The scullarye
The butterye
The over butterye
The lower butterye
The porch chamber
The chamber over the porch
The inner roum
The little roum
The mydle chamber
The chamber where Ivaby lay
The back starres
The little chamber at the starre foot
The under romes
The over romes
The chamber in the syed of the gallery
The hymost tower
The hymoste roum
The heighmost chamber in the weste side
The turret chamber
The milke-howse
The chamber over the mylkehowse
The deyhowse
The great barne
The oxe-howse in the great barne
The cowhowses in the new barne
The lower oxen-howse
The grouppe
The stable
The litle howse over the welle
The litle howse at the head of the garthen stares

In 1258 William de Ryland held 24 acres in Burnley by a rent of 4s., (fn. 158) and Thomas de Rylands held the same estate in 1311. (fn. 159) This may afterwards have come to a branch of the Whitaker family, (fn. 160) for in 1510 William Whitaker and Alice his wife made a feoffment of Ryland Hall, Healey, and Parkenrode. (fn. 161) Yatefield was another part of their estate. (fn. 162) Hollingreave, (fn. 163) Oakeneaves, (fn. 164) Pickup and Hudhouse (fn. 165) were the subjects of various disputes. Hudhouse or Hood House was later owned by the Halsteds of Rowley. After the death of Miss Halsted, who resided there, a portion of the estate was in 1895 purchased by the trustees of the late John Hargreaves Scott of Burnley and presented to the town as Scott Park, the house being demolished; the remainder of the land was sold for building purposes. (fn. 166) The 'manor of Moseley, otherwise called Habergham,' was in dispute about 1500. (fn. 167) Other small tenements also occur in the records. (fn. 168)

Richard Towneley complained that in May 1526 about eighty of the king's tenants had entered the coal mines or 'coal beds' at Broadhead, which he held by lease from the Crown. The tenants claimed the right to 'sufficient coal for their fuel, for their necessary occupation and burning within their houses,' one of them declaring 'the lease is of none authority to discharge us withall, except ye will discharge us by the sword.' One witness deposed not only to his getting coals there for his own use, but to selling them to Burnley people. Another witness said that about 1450 two men who had a bloomsmithy in Bentley Wood searched for iron at Broadhead and found coal, going on mining it; the son of one of them set up a 'turn or windlass.' A number of those who had taken coal were ordered to pay 4d. a fother for it. (fn. 169)

It was alleged in 1568 that Sir John Towneley had about fifty years before unlawfully inclosed a large piece of waste on the west side of Horelaw, his answer to remonstrances being that he had a sufficient deed which gave him the land 'for to keep a leash of greyhounds.' Many of the injured commoners thought the deed had been forged by 'one Roughneck.' (fn. 170) For this inclosure, says Dr. Whitaker, 'the malice and the superstition of the common people have doomed (his) spirit . . . to wander in restless and long unappeased solicitude, crying—
Lay out, lay out,
Horelaw and Hollinghey Clough.'
'Lay out' means 'throw open again.'

In 1617 there were thirty-seven tenements in Habergham Eaves and eight in Burnley Wood held of the manor of Ightenhill by copy of court roll. (fn. 171)

The first of the new churches of Burnley in connexion with the Church of England was erected in this township, namely that of Holy Trinity, Accrington Road, built in 1835–6; a parish was assigned to it in 1843, (fn. 172) and St. Aidan's Mission is connected with it. The Hulme Trustees are patrons. All Saints' was built in 1846–9, the parish having been formed in 1845 (fn. 173); the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester exercise the patronage alternately. The rector of Burnley presents to the three churches built more recently—St. Matthew's, 1879, (fn. 174) St. Stephen's, Burnley Wood, 1879, (fn. 175) and St. John Baptist's, Gannow, 1880. (fn. 176)

The Wesleyan Methodists have five churches, including one at Park Hill, built in 1843; the Primitive Methodists have four, including Bethel in Hammerton Street, 1852, also a mission room; and the United Free Methodists have three.

The Congregationalists have a church in Westgate, dating from 1860, and another. The Baptists have Mount Pleasant, 1868, and Mount Olivet, 1893. (fn. 177)

The Roman Catholic mission of St. Mary Magdalene, Gannow, dates from 1887; the new church was opened in 1904. St. Augustine's, Lower House, 1896, is served from Burnley. The old Towneley Hall chapel is noticed under Burnley.

Footnotes

  • 1. In a trial in 1836 a witness aged seventy stated that he remembered Burnley and Habergham Eaves forming one township, having one overseer and one constable; Waddington MSS. In the Census Rep. of 1801 Habergham Eaves appears as 2 separate township.
  • 2. Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31666. The exception is a small part of the old township added to Ightenhill Park to form the present township of Ightenhill.
  • 3. The houses called Hudhouse and Healey Hall have been demolished; Pickup or Piccope is called Greenfield.
  • 4. They were built for cavalry, but later used as infantry barracks.
  • 5. Lancs. and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xviii, 48, 53. The Bull and Butcher Inn is on the Manchester road outside the borough boundary.
  • 6. Leigh, Nat. Hist. of Lancs. bk. i, 37–9. 'The Hanbridge Water, a small spring which lies betwixt Burnley and Towneley, yields a natron or natural alkali . . . and another alkalious salt. This water . . . is of great use in the stone and scurvy.' The other springs noticed were at Burnley and Emmott, near Colne. These have been lost by the coal mining.
  • 7. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 166. See note above.
  • 8. The details of the lord's receipts are but scanty. In 1241 only 8s. is recorded as due from Habergham, the greater part no doubt being given with Burnley; Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 156. Two free tenancies at least (Habergham and Gunnildisford) are named in 1258; ibid. i, 214. The farm of Habergham was £4 14s. 4d. in 1296 and 6d. more in 1305, when also 12d. was received for 3 acres that year approved from the waste; De Lacy Compoti (Chet. Soc.), 8, 104. The 11s. 4d. had been lost which William de Pendleton had formerly paid for 34 acres; ibid. 114. In 1311 tenants at will held 248½ acres at 4d. an acre; the free tenants were Holden and Birtwisle; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 7. In 1323 the rent and farm amounted to £6 0s. 11½d. and 1½ acres newly improved from the waste added 6d.; ibid. ii, 191.
  • 9. Kuerden fol. MS. 231; Harl. MS. 2077, fol. 322. The surname is spelt Hambrigh in these copies.
  • 10. Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), H 155. Geoffrey Dean of Whalley and his sons Robert and Henry were among the witnesses. Matthew de Habergham attested an early 13th-century charter about land in Birtwisle; Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc.), i, 322.
  • 11. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 214.
  • 12. Towneley MS. DD, no. 856; Michael de la Legh was a witness. There is another grant by Geoffrey to Adam de Holden of the service of Adam son of Matthew de Habergham; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, H 152. Matthew son of Peter de Habergham gave to Adam his brother (fratri, perhaps for filio) all the land in Habergham which he had had from his father Peter, to be held of Geoffrey, grantor's brother, by 12d. rent; DD, no. 841. One Matthew de Habergham was a juror in 1269; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 235. In 1311 Adam son of Matthew de Habergham released to Henry son of John de Birtwisle all his right in a messuage and 16 acres, &c., in Habergham; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1178. There had been a pleading about it in 1310; De Banco R. 183, m. 222 d. Another Matthew was son of Henry the brother of Peter de Habergham. Geoffrey son of Peter gave to Matthew son of Henry half his land in Habergham held of Henry de Lacy (except Henry's assart and an assart beyond the brook of Bradley) which Peter his father gave to Adam the grantor's brother; 2s. rent was to be paid; C 8, 13, H 153. The Adam named was probably husband of the Constance (or Christiana) widow of Adam de Habergham who in 1302 claimed dower in a messuage, &c., in Burnley against Henry de Birtwisle; De Banco R. 142, m. 38. Henry son of Matthew de Habergham confirmed to William his younger brother all his land in Habergham, for which 12d. a year was to be paid to Henry de Lacy; C 8, 13, H 151. This deed has no date, but in 1307 the same Henry confirmed to his brother William a messuage in the vill of Habergham and half of the land inherited from his father; ibid. H 123.
  • 13. Ibid. H 154; a confirmation of all the land in Habergham which Geoffrey had received in exchange from Adam his brother for the land of Bradley, except lands of Matthew son of Henry and Adam son of Matthew which he had granted previously. A rent of 12d. was to be paid.
  • 14. Ibid. H 149; the homage of Adam grantor's son for land called Reedyfurlong, Fennifold and Spinkholme, with a rent of 8d. a year. In a further grant (H 147) frater and filius appear to be confused.
  • 15. Ibid. H 150; a confirmation of land in a place called Overholme, between Henry's rood and Bradley Brook, with the service of Adam son of Barner de Habergham (viz. 2d. rent). The land was to be held of grantor and his heirs by rendering a barbed arrow at St. Giles' feast. Adam son of Geoffrey de Habergham confirmed to Henry son of John de Birtwisle all the lands, &c., which he (Adam) had of his father's gift; ibid. H 148.
  • 16. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 7. Henry de Lacy Earl of Lincoln granted to Henry de Birtwisle all the land which Robert son of William had held of him in Habergham, the new tenant rendering 6s. 10d. at St. Giles' Day; Kuerden fol. MS. 233. One Robert son of William had in 1258 held (in Burnley) 13 acres at 3d. an acre; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 214. Later inquiry was ordered as to the boundaries between the lands of Adam de Holden and Henry de Birtwisle in Hayridding, Hawkshead and Hesting in Habergham; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1237.
  • 17. C 8, 13, H 122. Mabel gave a further quitclaim in 1341; ibid. H 159. John de Habergham attested a charter in 1342; Whalley Couch. i, 325.
  • 18. Towneley MS. C 8, 13, H 124. As Margaret widow of John appears to have been living in 1429 (ibid. H 133), it is probable there were two Johns in succession, as in Towneley's pedigree; Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 180. The date (1364) may be wrong, for on the same day in 1353 Ellis son of John de Habergham, chaplain, had granted all his lands in Habergham to the same three feoffees; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1179. In 1354 Joan daughter of Richard del Eghs and Isabel daughter of William de Habergham gave their lands in Habergham to Ellis de Habergham, chaplain; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, H 125. Ellis was living in 1369; ibid. H 127.
  • 19. Ibid. H 128; two of the feoffees are the same. A further release was made in 1370; ibid. H 129. Here again two of the trustees are the same, but the donor is said to be Ellis de Habergham, rector of Warrington; this rector is in other places called Ellis de Birtwisle, yet in 1397 Richard de Habergham, as executor, was called to render account of certain lands of Ellis de Habergham, rector of Warrington, as from 1 Aug. 1371; Memo. R. (L.T.R.) 163, m. xiii. A third release was made in 1374 of lands in Hapton of the gift of Ellis son of John de Habergham, chaplain, and Gilbert del Legh;-ibid. H 131. Richard de Habergham in the same year gave land in Bradley to feoffees and had various lands in Habergham regranted to him and to Cecily his wife; ibid. H 130, 131 bis.
  • 20. Richard Habergham is mentioned in 1406–7; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 68. He was dead in 1411, when Cecily his widow and Robert their son gave lands to feoffees; ibid. H 132. In 1435 Robert Habergham gave land in Bradley in Hapton to trustees, who in 1441 transferred the same to John Habergham, who married Elizabeth daughter of Geoffrey Feilden (Feldhend); ibid. H 134–5. In the same year (1441) Robert Habergham and Joan his wife made a settlement, the remainder being to the above-named John son of Robert; ibid. H 136–7. From another deed it appears that Robert Habergham had some property in Grimston in Yorkshire; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1183. In 1471 John Habergham granted to feoffees all his manors, lands, &c., and they were regranted to him with remainder to his son and heir William; ibid. 32104, no. 1175, 1174. There is no evidence for some time, but in 1509 Hugh Habergham arranged the marriage of his son William with Joan daughter of Agnes the widow of Thomas Parker; C 8, 13, H 142–3. In 1511 he made a grant to feoffees (including his brother Robert), and his will of that year names his wife Margaret; ibid. H 138–9. Lawrence Habergham in 1551 made a settlement of Habergham Hall to the use of his son Richard, with remainder to another son John; ibid. H 144. The deed indicates that Lawrence was the son of William son of Hugh, for it mentions his mother Joan, then the wife of James Catterall. It also names an uncle Robert Habergham, and the same descent is proved by an entry in the Court Roll; Farrer, Clitheroe Ct. R. i, 338. Lawrence had about 1543 married Grace Hesketh, the lawful daughter of Sir John Towneley and widow of Sir Robert Hesketh, who died a few months after marriage, on 28 May 1543 (ibid. H 312), and later he married Margaret Ingham, illegitimate daughter (as was supposed) of the same Sir John Towneley by Janet Ingham; inquiry was made by the Archbishop of York in 1562, and it was decided that the marriage was lawful, the paternity in the second case being doubtful; ibid. H 156. A settlement of the manor of Habergham was made by Lawrence Habergham in 1551; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 14, m. 166. Richard the son of Lawrence was in 1566 contracted to marry Margaret daughter of Nicholas Hancock of Higham; C 8, 13, H 140. In 1570 he declared the uses of a settlement he had made, thus—To Lawrence my eldest son, Alexander my brother, John son of Lawrence Habergham by Margaret his wife (before marriage), John uncle of the said Lawrence (deceased) and Robert the brother of John; ibid. H 141, 145. Lawrence Habergham, the father of Richard, was dead in 1568, and administration was granted to his widow Margaret, the estate being much indebted; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1232. Margaret Habergham, widow, was buried at Burnley 15 Mar. 1604–5.
  • 21. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 20, 102. Lawrence Habergham was the son of Richard mentioned in the preceding note. The hall and lands were held of the king in socage by 2d. (or 2s.) rent. John Habergham, the heir, was already married to Anne daughter of Nicholas Bancroft; Chester Mar. Lic. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 180. Margaret daughter of Lawrence was in 1610 contracted to marry Michael son of John Green of Dean Grange, Guisley; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1239. Lawrence's will is printed in Wills (Chet. Soc. new ser.), ii, 182.
  • 22. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 217.
  • 23. C 8, 13, H 442. This deed contains a short account of Habergham Hall. There were closes called Rye Hill, Jarvis Field, Snape, &c. A coal mine was excepted.
  • 24. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 180–1. The descent is given thus: John Habergham, d. 1660 -s. John -s. John, b. 1650. The last-named dissipated the estate. 'In the year 1759 John son of Clay Habergham [brother of the John born 1650] made an ineffectual effort to recover the estate by filing a bill in Chancery against the late owner, but soon found three insuperable bars in his way, viz. poverty, a prior conveyance and the Statute of Limitations'; ibid.
  • 25. Ibid. ii, 182, 112.
  • 26. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 234. A Hugh Halstead was in 1549 plaintiff in suits respecting Ashenflat and Smithy Bank; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), i, 238. In 1582 Hugh Halstead the elder made a feoffment of a messuage, &c., in Habergham Eaves; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 44, m. 169. Hugh Halstead of Habergham Eaves was buried at Burnley 4 Oct. 1587; Reg. Hugh Halstead of Cowden Brook had a son Richard in 1608; Clitheroe Ct. R.
  • 27. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 217.
  • 28. In 1335 inquiry was ordered whether Gilbert son of Reyner had held a messuage and land in Burnley of Gilbert father of Adam de Birtwisle by rendering a pair of gauntlets; De Banco R. 301, m. 267 d. As shown above Birtwisle seems to have been used sometimes for Habergham.
  • 29. William de Mawdesley and Emma his wife in 1355 claimed dower in Habergham, &c., against Robert son of Adam de Holden, Emma having been the wife of John son of Adam de Holden; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 4, m. 5, 16 d. In 1518 Gilbert Holden of Haslingden had land in Habergham; C 8, 13, H 227.
  • 30. See the account of Haslingden.
  • 31. There was a succession of John Sagers, the last of whom (about 1772) gave his estates to his nephew Thomas Veevers son of his sister Ellen; Clitheroe Ct. R.
  • 32. Tunleia, c. 1200; Tounley, Touneley, 1296; Thunley, 1302; Tounleye, 1315.
  • 33. Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 189. There is an inaccurate abstract in Kuerden fol. MS. 233.
  • 34. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 150.
  • 35. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 198. The chaplain may have been Walter de Towneley serving the chapel at Holme in Cliviger.
  • 36. Ibid. ii, 229.
  • 37. De Lacy Compoti (Chet. Soc.), 13.
  • 38. Cal. Close, 1288–96, p. 263. He was among those released from the common summons of the eyre for common pleas for Lancashire. He attested a charter concerning lands in Burnley and Briercliffe; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 85. Isolda, his widow, was living in 1328; Final Conc. (same Soc.), ii, 75.
  • 39. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 318.
  • 40. Towneley MS. C 8, 13, T 61.
  • 41. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 7.
  • 42. De Banco R. 208, m. 124 d.
  • 43. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 134. Here 'Gretton' appears as 'Brocton.' In 1324 Robert de 'Grotton' claimed 10 acres in Burnley against William the Harper; De Banco R. 251, m. 78 d. It is evident that Agnes had previously married John de Catterall, and had issue by him.
  • 44. Plac. Abbrev. (Rec. Com.), 344, 347. The bounds within which his right lay were from Thriseden (Thursden) Head on the east to Bradley Brook on the west, and from Saxifield Dyke on the north to Crombrook on the south.
  • 45. De Lacy Compoti, 38, 99. He had a grant of land in Cliviger in 1302; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 203. He was assessed at Cliviger in 1332; Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 74. He was living in 1336. For John son of Gilbert de Legh and Cecily his wife, daughter of Richard de Towneley, see the account of Hapton, where other details of the descent are given.
  • 46. John de Legh contributed to the subsidy of 1332; ibid. 76. In the same year he and Philip de Clayton were jurors; Whalley Couch. iv, 995. Gilbert and John de Legh were among the more important parishioners in 1334, when a settlement about the tithe of hay was made with the Abbot of Whalley; ibid. i, 313. Lawrence son of John de Legh also occurs in 1342–3; ibid. i, 326, 329.
  • 47. In 1339 Gilbert son of John de la Legh gave to John his father certain lands in Burnley received from Philip de Clayton and Isabel his wife; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, L 166.
  • 48. Part of an indenture dated 1356 testifies that John son of Gilbert de Legh was bound (to someone) to pay 100 marks a year for the tenements he had had of the gift of Cecily daughter of Richard de Towneley and Adam de Botden in Burnley and Worsthorne; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, T 238. It is not clear that John was living.
  • 49. Gilbert de Legh, in conjunction with the heirs of John de Catterall and of Philip de Clayton, in 1349 held the eighth part of a knight's fee in Towneley, &c.; Lansdowne Feodary in Baines' Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 693. Gilbert de Legh alone in 1355 answered for the tenth part of a fee there formerly held by Henry 'Golding'; Feud. Aids, iii, 88.
  • 50. C 8, 13, L 192, B 265. In the former deed this third part is stated to have been given by the grandfather Gilbert to Gilbert son of John. It was purchased from the Claytons by Gilbert de Legh in 1328; Final Conc. ii, 75. In 1379 Gilbert son of John de Legh made a feoffment of the third part of the manor of Towneley, with his chase, &c.; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, L 163.
  • 51. Ibid. P 58, T 89; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 11. Richard de Towneley and Ellen his wife in 1345 claimed land by inheritance against William son of Ralph de Stirzacre; Assize R. 1435, m. 34. See also m. 43 d., 15; ibid. 1444, m. 7 d. In 1346 John son of John de Catterall granted to Richard de Towneley the third part of the manor of Towneley, with lands in Hurstwood, &c.; C 8, 13, C 123. In 1349 Richard de Towneley released his lands in Cliviger to Gilbert de Legh and Alice his wife for life; ibid. T 73, 108–9. William de Scargill and Richard de Towneley were in 1353 appointed receivers for Henry Duke of Lancaster; ibid. L 149. Richard was knight of the shire in 1361 and 1371; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 33, 36. He was sheriff in 1375–7; P.R.O. List, 72.
  • 52. Inq. p.m. 4 Ric. II, no. 87. The feoffment was for the use of Gilbert and Alice his wife.
  • 53. Inq. p.m. 11 Ric. II, no. 33. Alice also held lands in Briercliffe of Lawrence de Legh. Gilbert de Legh and Alice his wife had made provision for a chantry in Burnley Church in 1372; Add. MS. 32104, no. 818–33.
  • 54. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 153. John son and heir of Richard de Towneley in 1379 made a feoffment of all his lands in Burnley, &c.; C 8, 13, T 77. John son of William de Hargreaves in 1387 released to John de Towneley all claim to the lands which Richard de Towneley (father of John) had had from grantor's father; ibid. H 253.
  • 55. Cal. Pat. 1385–9, p. 157.
  • 56. Towneley MS. C 8, 13, R 60; John's wife Elizabeth is named.
  • 57. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 157, 158. The two parts of the bailiwick of Blackburnshire with the manors of Towneley and Cliviger were stated to be held of the king in socage, an annual rent of £4 12s. 8½d. being paid. The wardship of the heir was in 1399 granted to Thomas Fleming, but in 1402 to William de Rigmaiden, who had married Elizabeth widow of John de Towneley; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl, App. 528, 531. She had died in 1401; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), i, 160. It appears that Richard was born at Stydd in 1387 and baptized at Ribchester; ibid. 158. A complaint about waste in the manor of Towneley, by its custodian Roger Banastre, was made in 1407; ibid. 84.
  • 58. Towneley MS. C 8, 13, T 72.
  • 59. Nicolas, Agincourt (1827), 56, 95; he took only two footmen with him. Another document appears to assign to him three archers; Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 177/212b. Richard Towneley had been imprisoned in 1411 for some offence; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 10. Returning from France he was a juror in 1425 and in 1433 was one of the custodians of the manor of Read; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 9, 39.
  • 60. Duchy of Lanc. Knights' Fees, bdle. 2, no. 20. Richard said he had been in ward to the Duke of Lancaster for nine years, so that no relief was due from him.
  • 61. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 58–61.
  • 62. Ibid. ii, 25.
  • 63. Ibid. ii, 60. The original indenture is among the Raines D. in the Chet. Lib.
  • 64. C 8, 13, T 74, 141. The date is 1456; his sons Richard, Lawrence, Nicholas, Henry and Bernard are named in the remainders. In 1462 his wife was named Alice; ibid. T 151.
  • 65. Lich. Epis. Reg. xi, fol. 72. The licence was to continue during the bishop's good pleasure.
  • 66. Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 24b. A dispensation for the marriage was granted in 1474; Lich. Epis. Reg. xii, fol. 156.
  • 67. C 8, 13, T 83.
  • 68. Metcalfe, Bk. of Kts. 7.
  • 69. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 110–12. In 1481 the custody of the manors of Richard Towneley and the marriage of his son John had been granted to Sir Charles Pilkington; Towneley MS. RR, no. 1475. Later in the same year feoffees regranted to Richard Towneley various lands in Great Marsden, &c., with remainder to John Towneley; C 8, 13, T 84. Dame Jonet, widow of Sir Richard, in 1484 paid various sums to Lawrence and Nicholas Towneley, who paid £2 to Robert Boyes, priest, to James Wood 16s. 'for costs made at the mining of the said Richard Towneley,' 13s. 4d. to 'the nurse that keepeth the children of the said Dame Jonet and for their clothing'; ibid. T 148. The widow was living in 1495; ibid. T 152.
  • 70. Metcalfe, op. cit. 31.
  • 71. Pal. of Lanc. Writs.
  • 72. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 53. It was stated that Sir John was twentysix on 31 July 1499, his birthday being written in a missal in Burnley Church, where he was baptized. Richard Shireburne and Lawrence Towneley were godfathers.
  • 73. Sir John Towneley released to Lawrence and Nicholas Towneley his right in their lands in Hapton for life; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, T 85. In 1497 he obtained lands in Burnley and Cliviger from Richard son and heir of Thomas Towneley; ibid. T 66, 68, 115. In 1511 he made a feoffment of the manor of Towneley, &c.; ibid. T 160. He and his wife Isabel are named in 1521; ibid. T 112–13. His feoffees in 1523 restored to Sir John his manor of Towneley, &c.; ibid. N 20, 24. In 1534 he gave Lynerode in Little Marsden to his second son Charles Towneley; ibid. T 153.
  • 74. See the account of the church.
  • 75. Visit. 1533 (Chet. Soc.), 43; arms— Towneley impaling Gateford. The herald (Benalt) adds: 'I sought him all day riding in the wild country and his reward was 2s., which the guide had the most part; and I had as evil a journey as ever I had.' About the same time Leland wrote: 'Within a good mile ere I came to Worksop I rode through a park of Mr. Towneley's, a knight for the most abiding in Lancashire'; Itin. i, 96 (as quoted in Whitaker). This refers to Gateford, which Sir John had by his first wife.
  • 76. P.R.O. List 73.
  • 77. Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 301.
  • 78. L. and P. Hen. VIII, xi, p. 464.
  • 79. Chet. Misc. (Chet. Soc.), vi (1). Castle Hill, Chapel Lea, Old Park and Tynde Oak Lea are named in Towneley.
  • 80. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 191, citing Dodsworth. The date is perhaps a year too late. The Inq. p.m. has not been preserved.
  • 81. See the pedigree in Whitaker. In 1511 the feoffees had granted to Richard son and heir of Sir John Towneley and Elizabeth his wife lands in Burnley, &c.; C 8, 13, N 29. In 1540–1 he had some dispute with William Radcliffe, who had married Anne the widow of Sir John, concerning Hall Heys in Towneley, Extwistle Mill, &c.; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 67; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), ii, 167.
  • 82. Metcalfe, op. cit. 98; arms— Towneley quartering Gateford.
  • 83. The younger Richard was in 1537 contracted to marry Frances daughter of Mary Wimbish (heiress of the Byrons), widow; C 8, 13, T 92, 140. In 1541 Richard son of Richard Towneley was party to a bond entered into with Richard Towneley the elder; ibid. T 93. In 1553 Sir Richard agreed with Robert Parker of Extwistle regarding an exchange of lands in that township; ibid. T 158. Mary the daughter and heir of Sir Richard was thirteen years old in 1555; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 155–7.
  • 84. He had some disputes in 1555 with Dame Frances, his son's widow; Ducatus Lanc. ii, 165, 193; Duchy Plead. iii, 156.
  • 85. In 1556 Richard Towneley of Burnley and John Towneley of Gray's Inn, son of Charles Towneley, deceased, demised lands in Hapton to Hugh Halstead; C 8, 13, T 167. In 1539 Thomas son and heir of Richard Whitaker acknowledged that he had received two cows, &c., from Elizabeth the widow and John the son of Charles Towneley; ibid. W 88.
  • 86. He stated that he had attended 'his usual church,' Burnley, or Padiham Chapel, 'divers times,' and had 'heard service there' the day the commissioners' precept was served upon him; but he had not within the year received the communion. He had kept in his house a former curate of Padiham, who had relinquished that cure after a time of conformity, and he had also entertained the deprived vicar of Blackburn; Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 208 (from S. P. Dom. Eliz. xlviii, no. 367).
  • 87. He was on the Bishop of Chester's list in 1577 or earlier; ibid. 215–16, quoting S. P. Dom. Eliz. cxviii, no. 451, 49. He was probably at liberty in 1580, when he became sub-lessee of two of the queen's coal mines, one in Burnley and the other in Brunshaw; Add. MS. 32104, no. 473. Next year he assigned his interest in the lease to John Woodroffe of Staple Inn; ibid. no. 464.
  • 88. Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), ii, 220, 225. He was still in the New Fleet in 1584, when Dean Nowell asked that he might be removed to another prison for his health's sake; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1581–96, p. 163; Gibson, op. cit. 229.
  • 89. His grandson Christopher Towneley, the transcriber, has preserved a note written in 1601 by someone acquainted with him, perhaps one of the missionary priests he entertained: 'This John, about the 6 or 7 year of her Majesty that now is, for professing the Apostolical Catholic Roman faith, was imprisoned first at Chester Castle, then sent to the Marshalsea, then to York Castle, then to the Blockhouses in Hull, then to the Gatehouse in Westminster, then to Manchester, then to Broughton in Oxfordshire, then twice to Ely in Cambridgeshire; and so now of 73 years old, and is bound to appear and keep within 5 miles of Towneley his house; who hath since the statute of 23 [Eliz.] paid into the Exchequer £20 the month and doth still, that there is paid already above £5,000'; Visit. of 1533, p. 45. A copy of this was fixed under his picture; it will be seen it makes his persecution begin a few years too early.
  • 90. Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 56, m. 85. There was included the 'advowson of a chantry in the church of Burnley.'
  • 91. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 93–6. There is recited an indenture of 1601 relating to the marriage of Richard the son with Jane one of the daughters of Ralph Assheton (of Great Lever), their children Richard and Charles being named. Shortly before his death the two-thirds of his estates sequestered for recusancy in religion were granted by the Crown to Ralph Assheton; Pat. 6 Jas. I, pt. xxviii.
  • 92. Visit. of 1613 (Chet. Soc.), 62.
  • 93. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 191.
  • 94. Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xxiv, 177.
  • 95. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 164. In the same year a settlement of the manors of Towneley, Cliviger, Hapton and Birtwisle, with various lands and rights, including the advowson of the Burnley chantry, was made by Charles Towneley; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 139, no. 24.
  • 96. Foley, Rec. S. J. v, 295. He entered the English College at Rome in 1621, aged about twenty-one, and left in 1624. His replies to the questions on admission are of interest: 'I was born at my father's house, Towneley, in Lancashire, where I was brought up for thirteen or fourteen years, and then sent to St. Omers, and remained there for nearly two years. I then returned to England, and for about three years lived at a house of my father's in Lincolnshire, when I again returned to Belgium and spent nearly a year at Louvain, and am now come from thence to Rome. . . My parents are Catholics. Their income is about £1,700 a year in rents. I have three brothers and one sister. My three uncles on my father's side are Catholics, except one; on my mother's side five, all heretics. Of the rest of my relatives many are heretics, and but a few Catholics. I was always a Catholic'; ibid. i, 669.
  • 97. He was one of the six leading recusants who in 1642 petitioned the king to be allowed to provide themselves with weapons; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 38. He took part in the siege of Manchester (ibid. 51), and in the defence of Preston early in 1643, narrowly escaping capture, but leaving his wife in the enemy's hands; ibid. 75.
  • 98. The visitation record and Beamont (quoting Black Tribunal, 369).
  • 99. Index of Royalists (Index Soc.), 2; Cal. Com. for Comp. iii, 2222–5; v, 3297. Charles Towneley was a 'delinquent' in 1643 and 1644, and recusancy was a further reason for sequestration. As by the settlement Charles had no more than a life interest in most of his estates, Richard Towneley, his son, had to be a party to sales. The Lincolnshire estate was at length disposed of to clear the rest; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 546.
  • 100. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 307. He was then thirty-seven years of age, and by his wife Mary daughter of Clement Paston had three sons and five daughters living. The wife is called Margaret on the epitaph. One of the sons, Thomas, born later, became a priest, and died on the Lancashire mission in 1737; Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.), iv, 376. Two other sons became monks and two daughters nuns.
  • 101. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 545–6.
  • 102. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 110.
  • 103. Ibid. 357–9, 369.
  • 104. There are references to him in Leigh's Lancashire, and Thoresby calls him 'that ingenious virtuoso'; Ducatus Lead. (1715), p. 624.
  • 105. Sister of the Lord Widdrington who took part in the 1715 rising, but was pardoned.
  • 106. A witness deposed that at Preston he saw 'Richard Towneley of Towneley, esq., with a cockade in his hat . . . with twelve or fourteen men with him, all with cockades, swords, pistols, and guns, on Sunday morning, marching amongst the said rebels to oppose the king's forces'; Payne, Rec. of Engl. Cath., 97.
  • 107. Ibid. 87. Patten writes: 'This gentleman's servants were found guilty of high treason for being in the rebellion with their master, and some of them afterwards executed in Lancashire; but he was acquitted by the jury at the Marshalsea. After which, endeavouring to go beyond sea, he was retaken into custody but soon discharged'; Rebellion of 1715, p. 115.
  • 108. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 99; also 92, 98, 100. Richard Towneley died in 1735 and was succeeded by his son William, who died in 1742. The pedigree is set out in a deed of 1737, enrolled at Preston, in which it is stated that Thomas Towneley, sometime of York, and afterwards of Euxton, and late of Sutton in Cheshire, deceased, was a nephew and executor of Charles Towneley; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 262, from 12th R. of Geo. II.
  • 109. Dict. Nat. Biog.; Pal. Note Bk. i, 26, &c.; iii, 144, &c.; iv, 94. He was a Jacobite also, and assisted the Young Pretender in Scotland in 1745. His Hudibras was published in 1757. He died in London in 1782.
  • 110. Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 111. Whitaker, a personal friend, writes that 'in his later years he grew more attached to his native place, and displayed in adorning the grounds about it a taste not inferior to that which distinguished his other pursuits'; op. cit. 540–4; see also Dict. Nat. Biog.
  • 112. He took the surname of Standish on succeeding his brother Ralph in that family's estates, their mother being Cecily Standish of Standish.
  • 113. He was a younger son of Richard Towneley, who died in 1735.
  • 114. Col. Charles Towneley was succeeded by his brother John as male heir, and he by his only son Richard Henry, who died in 1878, having had an only son who had died the year before. There is a pedigree in Foster's Lancs. Pedigrees.
  • 115. Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 214. The following recoveries of the 'manors' of Towneley, Hapton, Cliviger and Birtwisle are later than the date named by Whitaker: 1712 — Richard Towneley tenant, Thomas Harrison vouchee; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 495, m. 5. 1736—William Towneley a vouchee, Richard Towneley a demandant; ibid. 542, m. 10 d. 1760 —Charles and Ralph Standish Towneley vouchees; ibid. 592, m. 5.
  • 116. Hist. of Whalley (ed. 4), ii, 186.
  • 117. Taylor, Old Halls in Lancs. and Ches. 97.
  • 118. The evidence of the masonry hardly supports the tradition.
  • 119. This date is given by Whitaker. The spout-heads are dated 1726, but they may have been erected when the southeast wing was altered in the following year.
  • 120. The outer walls of the middle wing may have been considerably rebuilt or altered in the 17th century.
  • 121. Taylor, Anct. Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancs. 112, where a description of the cross is given. The old shaft was broken and has been replaced by a roughly squared one.
  • 122. Rep. iv, 406–16.
  • 123. Towneley MS. OO, no. 1641; an extract from a Burnley court roll; there were about 25½ acres of rodeland in the vill of Ightenhill and 7 acres in Padiham. This is probably the same Ughtred who was in the remainders in a deed of 1375, and who was in 1408 called her son by Agnes widow of Henry de Shuttleworth; ibid. no. 1640; Shuttleworth Accts. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 262. The same or later Ughtreds were at the Burnley court in 1425, and among the tenants of Ightenhill and Padiham in 1445; Farrer, Clitheroe Ct. R. ii, 7; i, 505, 506.
  • 124. See the account of Downham. In one of Lord Ribblesdale's deeds (T 5, 6, bdle. 30) is a contract of marriage between the son and heir of Nicholas (son of Lawrence) Shuttleworth and a daughter of Thomas Lister. The wife of Nicholas was named Helen (T 9). There was another Shuttleworth family in Winewall-in-Trawden.
  • 125. See pedigrees in Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 184; Foster, Lancs. Peds. There may be a generation omitted between Nicholas and Hugh (d. 1596). The printed visitation pedigrees of 1664, which give a different descent here, are unsatisfactory from S onward. Hugh Shuttleworth of Gawthorpe was buried at Padiham 26 Dec. 1596; Reg.
  • 126. He was made justice in 1589 and was probably knighted at the same time.
  • 127. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 44; she died in 1592.
  • 128. Old ser.; the accounts in xxxv, xli; the introduction and notes in xliii, xlvi. There are some biographies in xli, which has for frontispiece a portrait of the Rev. Lawrence Shuttleworth, S.T.B., the brother and heir of Sir Richard. Lawrence was of University College, Oxf.; B.A. 1575, B.D. 1583; rector of Kirklinton, Cumb., 1577 and Whichford, Warw., 1583; Foster, Alumni Oxon. He died at Gawthorpe in 1608 holding messuages in Padiham, &c., and leaving as heir his nephew Richard (son of Thomas) Shuttleworth, aged twentyfive; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 109. Thomas Shuttleworth died in 1593; his widow (d. 1637) afterwards married a Mr. Underhill; Shuttleworth Accts. ii, 297.
  • 129. Of Brasenose College, Oxf., 1605, and Gray's Inn; Foster, Alumni. He had two brothers, Nicholas and Ughtred; ibid. Richard Shuttleworth 'of Barton' and five sons were enrolled at the guild of 1622; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 77.
  • 130. Pink and Beaven, Parly. Rep. of Lancs. 151–3; elected 1640 (both Parliaments), 1654, 1656, 1659.
  • 131. He was a colonel in the Parliamentary army. His chief exploit was the defeat of Sir Gilbert Hoghton near Blackburn in 1642; Civil War Tracts (Chet. Soc.), 65. He was one of the sequestration committee. There are a number of references to him in the War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc.). Four of his sons were made captains on the outbreak of the war; ibid. 15. One of them (William) was killed during Lord Derby's attack on Lancaster; Civil War Tracts, 85. Two others, Nicholas and Ughtred, became colonels.
  • 132. Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 271.
  • 133. Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 253; he sat for Clitheroe 1640–8. He also was a member of the Presbyterian Classis in 1646. He was of Brasenose College, Oxf. (B.A. 1633), and the Inner Temple; Foster, Alumni.
  • 134. Le Neve, Knights (Harl. Soc.), 385; Foster, Alumni.
  • 135. The descent is thus given: Sir Richard, d. 1687 -s. Richard, d. 1749 -s. James, d. 1773 -s. Robert, d. 1816— sons James (of Barton) and Robert (of Gawthorpe). Richard the son of Sir Richard was knight of the shire for Lancashire from 1705 to 1749 as a Tory. His son James, also a Tory, represented Preston 1741–54, and the county 1761–8; Pink and Beaven, op. cit. 81–5, 163–4.
  • 136. From the printed pedigrees.
  • 137. See an account of the building in the appendix to The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe (Chet. Soc. xli), 313–30, which has been used in the following description.
  • 138. The first stone was laid on 26 Aug. 1600. See House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths (Chet. Soc. xxxv). The steward's accounts from 1600 to 1605 contain numerous entries of payments for the new building, and the progress of the work can be almost exactly followed.
  • 139. This was the opinion of Sir Charles Barry.
  • 140. There are numerous payments for hewing stone 'in the stone delff at Gawthropp,' squaring it, and rough dressing it with the hammer, called 'scrappling.' Extra payment was made for 'window stuff.' The timber seems to have come principally from Mitton and Read woods.
  • 141. On the east side the spout heads bear the initials R.S. and the date 1732, showing that the house was kept in repair during the first half of the century.
  • 142. Whitaker, Whalley, 3rd ed. 1818.
  • 143. Chet. Soc. xli, 320.
  • 144. See engraving by Basire from an early 18th-century painting in the possession of the family in Whitaker's Whalley (ed. 1876), ii, 183. The height of the original plain parapet seems to have been the same as the present one, the upper part being removed and replaced by pierced work. Barry's alterations were in every way justified, and have effected a great improvement in the appearance as well as in the arrangements of the house.
  • 145. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, referring to the common failure of builders in former times to perceive the necessity for a landscape margin, says: 'Gawthorpe Hall, one of the most perfect old mansions in England, looked with all the numerous windows of its noble front upon an upward sloping piece of ordinary wooded ground; and when Sir Charles Barry enriched and renovated the building he enlarged its margin by excavating a level garden on that side and by creating a great artificial terrace on the other, the effect being a remarkable increase of stateliness and dignity in the house itself.'
  • 146. There are several entries referring to the cutting of these arms, viz. 'March 1604–5. Beginninge to worke my Mr armes in the stone.' 'April, 1605. Two days cutting the armes in the stone,' &c.
  • 147. These particulars are taken from the description given in Chet. Soc. Publ. xli, 328.
  • 148. There were also English coins of the reigns of Charles II, James II, William III, Anne, George I and George II. See ibid. xli, 329.
  • 149. The dates and initials are as follows: The initials are probably those of Lawrence and Elizabeth Shuttleworth 1443, Nicholas and Ellen Shuttleworth 1473, Hugh and Anne Shuttleworth 1577, Sir Richard Shuttleworth, kt., and Margery his wife, sepultus 1599; Lawrence Shuttleworth, presbyter, natus 1545; Thomas and Anne Shuttleworth 1586; and Richard, Nicholas and Ughtred Shuttleworth, the three sons of Thomas and Anne, 1604. The initials on the first of the flanking panels cannot be appropriated, but the second may refer to Thomas Lister and his wife, between whom and the Shuttkworths there was a covenant in 1527 that a son of Nicholas Shuttleworth should marry a daughter of Thomas Lister; Chet. Soc. xli, 323.
  • 150. 'Sept. 1604. A mason v days hewinge ashelars for the backe starres.'
  • 151. 'The long table in the head of the halle' was being made in Mar. 1605– 6.
  • 152. 'The skreine in the hall' was begun Sept. 1605.
  • 153. The initials are probably those of Hugh Shuttleworth (of) Gawthorpe and his three sons, Richard Shuttleworth, kt., Lawrence Shuttleworth, priest, and Thomas Shuttleworth, gent.; Chct. Soc. xli, 324.
  • 154. Chet. Soc. xli, 326.
  • 155. These initials have been conjectured to refer to various recent members of the Shuttleworth family (Chet. Soc. xli, 326), but considering that the date of the fireplace is 1604 the conjectures for the most part are impossible. The third initials, however, may possibly refer to Sir Richard Shuttleworth, kt., and Margaret his wife.
  • 156. They are enumerated and described in Chet. Soc. xli, 322, 325.
  • 157. It was in course of erection in Aug. 1604.
  • 158. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 214.
  • 159. Ibid. ii, 7.
  • 160. In 1311 John de Whitaker held 8 acres in Burnley by a rent of 4s., and Dowe de Healey held 13 acres by 3s.; ibid.
  • 161. Towneley MS. C 8, 13, W 82, 86. The remainder was to Edward (son of Nicholas) Tattersall and issue, in default to Alice Whitaker. Another deed, of 1539, names William Whitaker of Healey, Alice his wife and Nicholas his son; ibid. W 76. There was at this time a divorce between Nicholas and Isabel Tattersall alias Whitaker; ibid. W 84.
  • 162. In 1547 the feoffees of William Whitaker of Healey granted Yatefield to Nicholas, William's son and heir, &c.; and on Nicholas marrying Elizabeth daughter of Henry Barcroft of Reedley Hallows Yatefield was assigned to the wife; ibid. W 85, 79, 81; see also T 59, 147. Again in 1577, when Robert Whitaker of Healey married Isabel daughter of John Robinson of Old Laund, there was a surrender of Healey, Ryland Hall and Yatefield, the last-named being assigned to Isabel; ibid. W 77. The Whitakers remained at Healey till the death of Robert Whitaker in 1778, when he was succeeded by a daughter Mary, who married John Fletcher of Ightenhill; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 176. The estate was purchased by P. E. Towneley of Towneley in 1826.
  • 163. Hollingreave in Burnley Wood was the piece of alleged church land which was in 1557 claimed by Robert (son of William) Pickup in virtue of a surrender made about 1513 by his grandfather Robert Pickup; Duchy Plead. iii, 252. William Pickup was said to have conveyed the land in 1530–1 to Charles Towneley of Towneley, who gave it to a chantry priest. On the dissolution of the chantries it was, as stated, claimed by Robert Pickup. His claim was successful in Queen Mary's time, but John (son of Reginald) Whitaker, the tenant of Edward VI, tried again, and after a time his right was admitted, but Robert Pickup again claimed the land in 1574; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. lxv, W 11; xciii, P 2, 3. A trial in Lancashire was ordered. For a later reference see Ducatus Lanc. iii, 148. For Shorehey and Hollingreave see Ducatus Lanc. i, 260; Pat. 21 Jas. I, pt. xv.
  • 164. Oakeneaves also was claimed as church or chantry land. One William Booth had held it in 1508, when he settled it on his grandson William (son of Edward) Booth, but the trustees surrendered the land, apparently for a chantry, in 1526–7. In 1539 John Low and Isabel his wife claimed it, she being sister and heir of the younger William; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Hen. VIII, x, L 6. The claim must have failed, for William Low son of Isabel claimed again in 1560, and his brother and heir James Low in 1562, and after some time (1564) a decree against them was given; ibid. Eliz. xlv, H 3; lii, L 1; Decrees and Orders, xiii, Eliz. fol. 483.
  • 165. John Tattersall in 1562 made a claim against Robert Pickup and others; Ducatus Lanc. ii, 235. The will of John Tattersall of Pickup, who died in 1581, left half his goods to his wife Elizabeth, and made bequests to sons of his bastard brothers and others. He left his silver spoon to John son of Bernard Towneley of Hurstwood and 40s. to the poor of Burnley, Habergham Eaves and Padiham. For Hudhouse and Moseley in 1563 see Farrer, Clitheroe Ct. R. ii, 334–5. In the latter part of Elizabeth's reign there were many disputes in the Tattersall family respecting Pickup lands, Ridge End and other lands in Burnley and Habergham Eaves; ibid. iii, 264, &c. In one of the pleadings James son of Robert Tattersall of Pickup ('Pycopp') said that his father had in 1582 settled this tenement with remainder to Robert's son and heir Edmund Tattersall and his male issue by his wife Lettice Hargreaves. Hudhouse, then held by Elizabeth Tattersall, widow, was to descend in the same way. As Edmund died without issue, James, the plaintiff in 1589, entered into possession; but Lettice, who as widow had Hudhouse, married Randle Ryley, and they made further claims; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. cxlviii, T 8. In 1597 Edmund Tattersall, as son of Richard brother of Robert Tattersall of Pickup, laid claim to the estate, alleging that Edmund and James were bastards; ibid. clxxviii, T 4. Edmund Tattersall was buried 26 Aug. 1587 and Robert Tattersall a week later; Burnley Reg. The will of Robert Tattersall (1587), who had 'now no wife nor children living that be legitimate,' was in favour of his sons James and Robert. The will of Richard Tattersall of Burnley, tanner (1595), made Edward his eldest son executor, mentioning James Tattersall of Pickup as brother. Robert Tattersall of Pickup died in 1649.
  • 166. Information of Mr. W. Parker.
  • 167. Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 223, no. 45; John Savage of Henley, esq., and Anne his wife, daughter and heir of Ralph Bostock, v. John Ormeston, feoffee. Moseley was about the same time the property of Lawrence Tattersall, and descended to Edmund Tattersall, who left three daughters as co-heirs—Isabel wife of Richard Tattersall of Briercliffe, Joan wife of John son and heir of Robert Woodroffe and Elizabeth wife of John son and heir of John Robinson of Old Laund; C 8, 13, T 118. Elizabeth his widow afterwards married John Barcroft. In 1546 the heirs complained that various persons had broken into a wood there called Nanehey Wood, where plaintiffs had preserved timber and underwood for their own use, and had cut down ten of the best oaks, each worth 8s., thereby injuring also fourteen younger ones. The intruders claimed the authority of the chancellor of the duchy, but were not allowed to take the timber away. It was deposed that Moseley contained 50 acres copyhold and 8 acres freehold, and that the owners had been accustomed to have the timber there as their own property; Duchy of Lanc. Dep. Hen. VIII, xlvii, R 3.
  • 168. Cronkshaw belonged to the Townleys of Royle; Ducatus Lanc. ii, 104, 121. Smallshaw was disputed in 1532 between the representatives of John Ingham, clerk, viz. Alice his sister, wife of Robert Barcroft, and Richard Tattersall his nephew. Ingham, just before he died, had desired the parties to agree to arbitration, threatening that if they did not agree he would give all his lands to the Church; Duchy of Lanc. Dep. Hen. VIII, xx, B 12. There were later pleadings in the time of Elizabeth; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 47. Stanyneburgh is mentioned in 1583; ibid. iii, 125.
  • 169. Duchy Plead. i, 138–45. The right of the Crown was then established, and in 1577 the Broadhead coal mine was granted to John Braddyll for thirty years at 26s. 8d. rent. Complaint was made that in 1580 William Barcroft of Pendle had entered the said mine, also parts of the wastes called Rappock Lane and the Ridge, where he had made two coal pits. Barcroft replied that he claimed by a different lease, and that his new mines were 1½ miles from Broadhead; Duchy of Lanc. Plead. Eliz. cix, A 5.
  • 170. Duchy of Lanc. Special Commissions, no. 196. This encroachment was nullified. Other cases of inclosure were inquired into.
  • 171. Towneley MS. 'Honor of Clitheroe.' The tenants were: John Habergham, gent., John Towneley, gent., Thomas Aspden, Nicholas Bancroft, George Birtwisle, Adam Bridge, Robert Dean, Richard Gill, Lawrence Hargreaves, Nicholas Hargreaves, Robert Hargreaves, John Hartley, William Hartley, Hugh Halstead, John Higgin, Richard Ingham, William Isherwood, Richard Kippax, Robert Leigh, Edward Marsden, John Parker, Richard Pollard, Christopher Robinson, Edmund Robinson, Thomas Robinson, Charles Ryley, Edmund Spenser and Henry West (in right of wives), William Saltonstall, Edward Tattersall, Robert Tattersall, Henry Walton, Nicholas Whitaker, Robert Whitaker, James Willisill, John Willisill, Richard Woodroffe. Those in Burnley Wood were: John Folds, John Haworth and William Pollard (in right of wives), the same John Haworth, Robert Ingham, John Jackson, John Sagar, John Wade, Charles Wood.
  • 172. Lond. Gaz. 3 Jan. 1843.
  • 173. Ibid. 3 and 16 Sept. 1845.
  • 174. For district see Lond. Gaz. 30 Apr. 1880.
  • 175. Ibid. 17 Aug. 1879.
  • 176. Ibid. 14 Sept. 1880.
  • 177. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. ii, 167. It arose from a secession from Bethesda in 1859.