Townships: Read

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

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Citation:

'Townships: Read', 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/pp503-507 [accessed 15 November 2024].

'Townships: Read', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 15, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp503-507.

"Townships: Read". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 15 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp503-507.

In this section

READ

Reuet, 1202; Reuid, 1259; Reued, 1269.

Read lies in the tongue or promontory between the Calder on the south and Sabden Brook on the north; a small part, on the bank of the former stream, is level, but the greater part consists of the western termination of the long ridge already spoken of as extending for more than 7 miles on the south side of Pendle Hill. In Read, at the eastern boundary, this ridge attains 860 ft. above sea level. A Roman road runs along part of the ridge. The village of Read stands at the foot of the southern slope; the hall and park lie to the west of it. The scenery is picturesque. Sabden occupies part of the north corner. The population in 1901 was 1,346; the area measures 1,548½ acres. (fn. 1)

The principal road is that from Whalley to Padiham and Burnley. A minor road from the west goes along the top of the ridge. The Great Harwood loop line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company crosses the southern corner of the township, but there is no station.

There are now cotton-mills near the eastern boundary and at Sabden. The land is mostly used for pasture. The soil is loam and clay, overlying shale.

This township has a parish council. In 1904 part of the area was taken into the new township of Sabden.

There is a reading room in the village, with a small library.

Manors

Included in the honor of Clitheroe, READ seems to have been assessed as 8 oxgangs of land, which were demised to free tenants or thegns at the rent of 1s. 6d. an oxgang. In 1201–2 Henry de Read obtained a writ concerning 5½ oxgangs of land in Read held by John de Read and Gamel his brother, Henry son of William and Alexander son of Richard. (fn. 2) In 1258 the township paid 12s. to the lord of Clitheroe, (fn. 3) but the details recorded in 1311 are either imperfect or show that the tenements and services had become confused, for Henry de Lacy then had the following tenants: John del Holt, 1 oxgang of land, paying 2s. 3d.; John son of Simon, the same and a parcel called Leysinglands, 2s. 3d. and 9d.; Adam del Clough, 3½ oxgangs, 4s. 6d.; Williamson of Henry de Clitheroe, 1 oxgang, 2s. 3d.—12s. in all from 6½ oxgangs of land and another piece. (fn. 4) The Church's land is not mentioned.

Adam del Clough, the principal tenant in 1311, was probably the son of a John del Clough who occurs in 1292. (fn. 5) Adam (fn. 6) left a son John, (fn. 7) whose heirs appear to have been two daughters—Katherine, who married Lawrence Nowell of Great Mearley, and Joan, who married Sir Richard de Greenacres. (fn. 8) The latter pair in 1364 released their right in the moiety of Read to the Nowells, in return for Great Mearley and an annuity of £20. (fn. 9)

The Nowells, who were thenceforward described as 'of Read,' though they had lands near Wakefield in Yorkshire also, (fn. 10) acquired all but one of the other tenements in the township. Lawrence Nowell was dead in 1375. (fn. 11) His son John Nowell of Read died in 1433 holding 'the manor' of the king as Duke of Lancaster by a rent of 9s. 9d.; his heir was a grandson Alexander (son of Nicholas) Nowell, aged twenty. (fn. 12) Roger Nowell son and heir of Alexander was in 1468 to marry Grace daughter of John Towneley. (fn. 13) Described as of Arksey, he died in 1486 (fn. 14); his son John, who obtained a royal charter for imparking land in Read, (fn. 15) died in 1525 holding the manor with various messuages, &c., of the king as duke by the old rent of 9s. 9d. His son Roger, over thirty years of age, was his heir. (fn. 16) Roger died in 1566 holding the same estate, and leaving a son Thomas, aged forty, to succeed him. (fn. 17) A pedigree was recorded in 1567. (fn. 18)

Nowell of Read. Argent three covered cups sable.

Roger's half-brother was the celebrated Dr. Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's. Educated at Middleton School and Brasenose College, Oxford (M.A. 1540), he became a strenuous Protestant. He was appointed prebendary of Westminster in 1551, and was head master of the school from 1543; he was also in October 1553 member of Parliament for Looe in Cornwall. Soon after the accession of Mary he went into exile at Strasburg and Frankfort, returning to London immediately after the accession of Elizabeth and being at once employed by her in the re-establishment of Protestantism. He was of note as a preacher, and was sent into Lancashire in 1568 and 1580 to reduce the recusants of the county into some degree of conformity to the established religion. He was appointed to the deanery of St. Paul's in 1560, and held it till his death in 1602. (fn. 19) His brother Lawrence, also a Protestant exile in Mary's reign, was by her successor in 1560 rewarded with the deanery of Lichfield; he died in 1576. He compiled an Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary and made other antiquarian collections. (fn. 20)

Thomas Nowell of Read did not survive his father many years, dying in 1575, and leaving a daughter Grace, wife of Thomas Proctor, as heir. (fn. 21) Roger the brother of Thomas Nowell succeeded and on his death in 1591 was followed by a son Roger. (fn. 22) The family prospered; the estates were augmented by the purchase of lands formerly belonging to Whalley Abbey and of the fifth or remaining part of the manor. Roger Nowell thus became sole lord. (fn. 23) He was sheriff in 1609–10, (fn. 24) and was later a zealous witch-hunter. (fn. 25) A pedigree was recorded in 1613. (fn. 26) In 1615–16 he obtained from the Crown a charter for view of frankpledge, &c., in his manors of Read and Simonstone. (fn. 27) Roger Nowell died 1624, and his son Roger having died before him, the heir was his grandson Roger, eighteen years of age. The manor of Read was held of the king as duke by the old rent of 9s. 9d.; the Lower Hall was held of the king in chief by knight's service and 2s. 4d. rent. (fn. 28) The heir in 1631 paid £15 for having declined knighthood. (fn. 29)

Though the family had long been Protestant, Roger Nowell at the outbreak of the Civil War took the king's side. In face of the sequestration of his estates he did not long persevere, surrendering before December 1645, and soon afterwards petitioning for 'a favourable composition.' His fine was in 1649 fixed at £736 4s. 6d. (fn. 30) After the Restoration he showed himself an active persecutor of Thomas Jollie, whom he had at first been inclined to favour, and his nonconforming adherents. (fn. 31) He recorded a pedigree in 1664, (fn. 32) and lived on till 1695, surviving his son Alexander by a few months. Thus his grandson Roger succeeded to the estates. His grandson Alexander Nowell was the last of the line; largely by his extravagance the estates became much involved, and after his death in 1772 were sold by order of the Court of Chancery. (fn. 33)

The manor of Read was purchased by James Hilton of Pennington, who sold it in 1799 to the Oakenshaw Printing Company. The estate, which included also Parkhead and Moreton in Whalley, was divided among the partners, Messrs. Taylor, Fort and Hargreaves, and thus in 1801 Richard Fort became lord of the manor. (fn. 34) He died in 1829, and has been succeeded by his son John (d. 1842), grandson Richard (d. 1868) and great-grandson Richard. The last-named in 1896 sold the estate to Mr. Henry Harrison Stuttard, now lord of the manor. No rights of lordship are now in exercise. (fn. 35)

READ HALL is a plain two-story stone building of classic type, reconstructed from an older house by Mr. Fort between 1818 and 1825. (fn. 36) The south or principal front has a central semicircular domed projection, with a colonnade of Ionic columns on the ground floor supporting a railed balcony above. The entrance is at the west under a portico of four columns. (fn. 37) The original building was an interesting house with central hall and projecting end wings, (fn. 38) but it had been almost ruined by injudicious alterations carried out by Alexander Nowell prior to 1772.

In the time of Elizabeth there were a number of disputes as to the right to dig stone and slate and take turf on Read Moor, (fn. 39) but the Nowells appear to have gained decisions in their favour. (fn. 40) It was found by inquiry in 1598 that Read was not copyhold. (fn. 41)

The fifth part of the manor (fn. 42) held in 1311 by John de Holt (fn. 43) passed to his son John in 1324, (fn. 44) and about 1410 by Katherine daughter of a later John to her husband Richard Holker. (fn. 45) In 1416 Katherine Holker widow of Richard held the fifth part of the vill in thegnage, and had a son and heir William. (fn. 46) The Holker family continued to hold land in the township, (fn. 47) though in 1595 Roger Nowell purchased the fifth part of the vill from Thomas Goodale. (fn. 48)

Whalley Church about 1217 received land in Read from Henry son of William (fn. 49) and Hugh son of Siward. (fn. 50) Afterwards Luke the Harper by grant of Geoffrey the Dean obtained this church land, (fn. 51) and had a confirmation from John de Lacy. (fn. 52) It descended in the Harpers family till 1333, (fn. 53) when it was recovered by the monks of Whalley in right of the rectory. (fn. 54) Ten years later they obtained from John del Clough a messuage and the tenth part of the manor (fn. 55); they were to pay to Queen Isabel, then lady of the honor of Clitheroe, a rent of 1s. 1½d., and perform half a suit of court. (fn. 56) After the Suppression the abbey's estate was sold by the Crown to John Braddyll and others, (fn. 57) but seems in the main to have been acquired by the Nowells. (fn. 58)

The other ancient estates cannot long be traced. (fn. 59)

The Subsidy Rolls give the following landowners in Read: 1524, Alexander Nowell and Nicholas Holker; 1543, Roger Nowell, John Holker and the widow of Nicholas Holker; 1600, Roger Nowell and John Holker; 1626, Roger Nowell (in ward) and Ralph Holker. (fn. 60)

Roger Nowell's house had twelve hearths liable to the tax in 1666 and John Holker's four. The total of hearths recorded was forty-nine. (fn. 61)

In 1788 James Hilton seems to have owned the whole township. (fn. 62)

St. John the Evangelist's, in connexion with the Church of England, was built in 1884, and the vicars are presented by the vicar of Whalley. A district was assigned to it in 1893.

Mass is said once a month at St. Mary's, Sabden, by one of the Jesuits stationed at Clitheroe.

Footnotes

  • 1. The Census Rep. 1901 gives 1,552 acres, including 14 of inland water.
  • 2. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 154. Some of the names occur in the Whalley charters and in the account of the Holt family below.
  • 3. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 217.
  • 4. Ibid. ii, 10. Leysing's assart is named in early 13th-century charters in Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc.), iv, 1067, &c.
  • 5. Assize R. 408, m. 56. Robert del Clough, perhaps an ancestor, obtained a messuage and land in Read from Margaret daughter of Richard de Church; Towneley MS. GG, no. 1102. She was living in 1310. Geoffrey son of Robert de Simonstone granted to Robert son of Eustace land in Read, in Ravensdenfield, Little ridding (by Gooselache), Gill ridding and Medulache, at a rent of 3s. 4d.; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1015.
  • 6. Adam probably acquired other parts of the manor. Adam son of Ellis de Standen gave all his lands in Read to Adam del Clough and Alice his wife; Towneley MS. DD, no. 41. In 1315 John son of Ellis de Read gave to Adam de Clitheroe a rent of 6d. due from Adam del Clough for a messuage and two selions in the Side and Oldlands obtained from Thomas son of Jordan son of Simon de Read; Towneley MS. RR, no. 340. Alice widow of John son of Simon de Read in 1316 claimed dower in a messuage, &c., held by Adam del Clough; De Banco R. 213, m. 239.
  • 7. John del Clough in 1343 recovered against feoffees of the Abbey of Whalley the tenth part of the manor of Read, of which he alleged they had disseised his father Adam del Clough in the time of Edw. II; De Banco R. 334, m. 179 d. The seal of John del Clough shows a cheveron engrailed between three cross crosslets; Add. MS. 32104, no. 904.
  • 8. Katherine's parentage is not stated directly, but in 1353–4 Roger son of Adam son of Roger Mawson (Matthewson) was claiming a messuage and land in Read against Richard (son of Thomas) de Knoll and Joan his wife, and Lawrence (son of Richard) Nowell and Katherine his wife; Assize R. 435, m. 11; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 3, m. 5 d. It seems likely that Joan and Katherine were the co-heirs. The case was deferred because Richard de Knoll had a protection while going to Brittany on the king's service in the retinue of Thomas de Holland. Henry son of Matthew de Read occurs in 1301; Assize R. 419, m. 4; 420, m. 8.
  • 9. Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 169, 154. There are numerous deeds concerning the transaction in Towneley's MS. DD, no. 594, &c. By one of them (no. 597) Sir Richard de Greenacres gives to trustees the manor of Read which he had in right of his wife Joan after the death of John del Clough her father. In others Joan's right is called a moiety of the manor. Henry son of Richard the Tailor and Roger son of Adam son of Roger de Read claimed messuages, &c., from Lawrence Nowell and Katherine his wife in 1366; De Banco R. 425, m. 504. Lawrence and Katherine were in possession of the manor in 1368; Towneley MS. RR, no. 7. Lawrence Nowell's armorial seal is drawn on the pedigree in Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 40.
  • 10. Ibid. 38.
  • 11. De Banco R. 457, m. 318; 463, m. 21.
  • 12. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 38; as John son of Lawrence Nowell of Read he had made a settlement of his estates in 1394. In 1370 John Banastre of Walton-leDale and Margery his wife claimed land in Read, &c., against John son of Lawrence Nowell; De Banco R. 440, m. 422 d. In 1378–9 John Nowell granted to feoffees his manor of Read and lands in Great Harwood and Church; Towneley MS. DD, no. 40. He had the king's protection in 1386 on going to Ireland with Sir John Stanley; Cal. Pat. 1385–9, p. 126. Richard son of Lawrence Nowell obtained a protection also in 1395–6 on going to Calais with the captain of the castle; Pal. of Lanc. Chan. Misc. bdle. 1, file 3. On John Nowell's death the custody of the manor, &c., was granted to Hugh Hesketh and Richard Towneley; Lancs. Inq. ut sup.; Duchy of Lanc. Misc. Bks. xviii, 32 d. His sons Arthur and Ottwell Nowell were executors of his will; Final Conc. iii, 126.
  • 13. Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), N 31. The dower of Alice widow of Alexander is named.
  • 14. His will dated 14 June and proved 17 July 1486 is printed in Test. Ebor. (Surtees Soc.), iv, 18. He left 10s. to the Abbey of Whalley, 10s. to the parish church and 3s. 4d. to Burnley Church. His daughters are named. His executors and residuary legateas were his wife Grace and his son Alexander. He founded a chantry at Wakefield.
  • 15. Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 39. He placed a window in 1510 in Whalley Church, asking for prayers for his father Roger and Grace his wife, also for himself, &c.; ibid. 13.
  • 16. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 76. In 1497 John had granted a messuage in Read to his brother Alexander for life. Elizabeth widow of John Nowell afterwards married Charles Towneley. She and a son John were executors of the will and had discharges from daughters Grace, Isabel, Margaret, &c.; Towneley MS. C8, 13, N 17, 25, 32, 33; Add. MS. 32104, no. 1132.
  • 17. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 26. Roger had in 1544 granted certain messuages, &c., in Read and Great Harwood to a younger son Roger, who was in 1567 living at Preston. In 1559 an agreement was made between Roger Nowell and his sons Thomas and Roger concerning the entailing of the manors; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 221, m. 3. 'Roger Nowell was a very irreligious man and never attended any public worship'; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 535.
  • 18. Visit. of 1567 (Chet. Soc.), 36.
  • 19. Dict. Nat. Biog.; Churton, Life of Nowell. The Parker Society reprinted Nowell's Catechisms (1570) and a notice of the author is prefixed. It is noteworthy that he was refused a seat in the House of Commons not because he was a clergyman but by reason of his prebend at Westminster.
  • 20. Dict. Nat. Biog.; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 539. The will of Lawrence Nowell is in Towneley MS. C 8, 13, N 56. Dr. Grosart edited the Spending of the Money of Robert Nowell (1877). Robert was brother of Alexander and Lawrence and became Attorney of the Court of Wards. He died in 1569. He spent much of his income in charity, taking care of 'poor scholars' in particular; Edmund Spenser was one of them.
  • 21. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 7; there is recited a settlement of the manors, &c., in 1563. Another was made in 1567; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 29, m. 150. Roger Nowell in 1599 purchased from Josiah Proctor his right in the manor of Read, &c.; ibid. 61, m. 250.
  • 22. Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 33. Provision was made in 1577 for a younger son Roger and a daughter Alice Shuttleworth, an elder son John being then alive. John died before his father, leaving a widow Lettice. She was a daughter of Edward Braddyll, and the marriage had taken place by 1577; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, B 76. The will of Roger Nowell, dated 1585 and proved 1591, is printed in Piccope, Wills (Chet. Soc.), i, 113. He desired to be buried under the 'throughe stone' on the south side of Whalley Church where his father and his son John were buried.
  • 23. The Lower Hall, held of the queen by knight's service and the rent of 2s. 4d., was occupied by John Nowell before 1591; but the fifth part of the manor, which from the service seems to have been involved with it, was acquired by the younger Roger Nowell in 1595 from Thomas Goodale; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 57, m. 27. According to the inquisition of 1624 the Lower Hall, or Smarshalls farmhold, had been purchased from Hamnet Ashton or Elizabeth his wife. This, from the entry in the Patent Roll, was part of the Whalley Abbey estate.
  • 24. P.R.O. List, 73.
  • 25. In Potts' Discovery (Chet. Soc.) he is called 'a very religious, honest gentleman, painful in the service of his country.'
  • 26. Visit. of 1613 (Chet. Soc.), 66; it shows: Thomas Nowell –s. Roger –s. Roger, living 1613 –s. Roger, aged thirtyfive –s. Roger, aged seven.
  • 27. Pat. 13 Jas. I, pt. iii.
  • 28. Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 420–9. The inquisition records a number of family arrangements. See also Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 69, no. 1.
  • 29. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 223.
  • 30. Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iv, 233. He was described as 'a strong malignant'; War in Lancs. (Chet. Soc.), 33. A brother Richard was a captain in the king's army, and was killed at the taking of Bristol in 1643; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 221.
  • 31. Jollie's Note Bk. (Chet. Soc.), 16, &c.
  • 32. Dugdale, Visit. loc. cit. Settlements of the manor of Read, &c., were made by Roger Nowell in 1628 and 1654; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 114, no. 13; 153, no. 108. Roger, his son Alexander and grandson Roger were at the Guild of 1682; Preston Guild R. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 192.
  • 33. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 39. The pedigree (ibid.) shows a descent as follows: Roger Nowell, d. 1695 –s. Alexander –s. Roger, sheriff 1702, d. 1725 –s. Roger, d. 1734 –bro. Alexander, d. 1750 –s. Alexander, d. 1772. The following recoveries of the manor, &c., are recorded: 1718—Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 509, m. 4, Roger Nowell; 1725 —ibid. 523, m. 4, Roger Nowell; 1754 —ibid. 581, m. 2, Alexander Nowell. An Act regulating the succession was obtained in 1735–6—9 Geo. II, cap. 11 (private). For some later particulars of the Nowell family see the pedigree in Whitaker and corrections in Pal. Note Bk. ii, 109.
  • 34. This part of the descent is from Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 40. A pedigree of Fort is inserted; ibid. 41. John Fort was M.P. for Clitheroe (Liberal) 1833–41, his son Richard in 1865, and the later Mr. Fort in 1880; Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of Lancs. 269–72.
  • 35. Information of Mr. Stuttard. There are some Read deeds, letters, &c., in Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 138.
  • 36. The architect was Webster of Kendal, who did a great deal of work in the district, as well as north of the Ribble, at this period.
  • 37. Notes to Whitaker's Whalley (ed. 4, 1876), ii, 39.
  • 38. There is an engraving of the building as it was in 1750 in Whitaker's Whalley, loc. cit.
  • 39. Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 313; iii, 376.
  • 40. Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 238, 261, 274, 279.
  • 41. Duchy of Lanc. Special Com. 563. There was a further inquiry ten years later; ibid. 800.
  • 42. It was called a fifth part because it paid a fifth part of the oxgang rent, 2s. 3d.; in the later inquisitions this becomes 2s. 4d.
  • 43. Henry de Holt occurs in 1290; Assize R. 1288, m. 14. He gave the Abbot of Stanlaw in perpetuity a barn which Peter de Chester had held for life; Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc.), i, 322. Siegrith daughter of Alexander de Read gave to Henry son of Richard and her sister Alice his wife all claim on the third part of half an oxgang in Read; Towneley MS. DD, no. 523. John de Whithalgh by Alice daughter of Hugh de Read had three daughters, Agnes, Amery and Alice (ibid. no. 535), of whom Alice and Agnes made a release to Henry de Holt and Alice his wife; ibid. no. 529, 530.
  • 44. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 186. In 1329 inquiry was made after the death of John de Holt, who held a messuage and land in Read of the castle and honor of Clitheroe by a rent of 18d. yearly, and it was found that his heir was a son William aged twenty-six; ibid. ii, 231. This must refer to another Holt family Henry son of Thomas de Holt gave a release to John de Holt in 1320; DD, no. 526. John son of John de Holt of Read in 1330 granted his son John all his lands in Read and Simonstone; ibid. no. 525. John (de Holt) of Read the younger in 1333 granted leave to the monks of Whalley to quarry stone in all the wastes of Read; Whalley Couch. iv, 1084. In 1356 John son of Thomas son of Adam de Read gave a messuage in Read to John son of John de Holt; Towneley MS. DD, no. 524. John de Holt is named in 1338 and 1345; Cal. Pat. 1338–40, p. 75; 1343–5, p. 531.
  • 45. Towneley MS. DD, no. 531; an extract from a court roll. The land was named the Holt; the lord recovered 40s. and the steward for his fee 5s. 8d. In 1415–16 a settlement was made by Katherine widow of Richard Holker, in which her mother Margaret is named; ibid. no. 532–3. This may be the Margery de Holt who in 1408 was one of the 'judges' of Read, John Nowell being the other; Dunkenhalgh D. William Holker was 'judge' in 1420; ibid.
  • 46. DD, no. 537. In 1457 Peter Holker agreed to a fine of 26s. 8d. for the fifth part of Read and 3s. 4d. for the sixth of a fifth of Simonstone; William Holker was his surety; ibid. no. 539. In a bond dated 1475 there are named Isabel widow of Peter Holker and William his son; Dunkenhalgh D.
  • 47. Randle Holker, Margaret Holker and John Holker occur in pleadings from 1554 on; Ducatus Lanc. i, 278, 280, 285; iii, 21, 225.
  • 48. See note 23 above. John Holker is called a 'copyholder of the manor' in 1598; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 376. In 1600 he was returned among the freeholders; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 237. Randle son of John Holker in 1608 deposed that his hereditary estate was a fifth part of the manor of Read, being 'wapentake lands and held by copy of court roll'; Duchy of Lanc. Special Com. 800. To this can only be added the statement of Whitaker (c. 1800) that 'the Nowells gradually appropriated the whole township, excepting one estate, which continued in the Holkers, a family of substantial yeomanry, down to our own times'; Whalley, ii, 38.
  • 49. Whalley Couch. iv, 1067. The gift consisted of 8 acres lying in Helme, Wilfchristheland (touching the Calder), Syde and Barnland. Another charter (ibid. 1068) calls it 7½ acres.
  • 50. Ibid. 1069. For the souls of the parents of Gilbert de Rishton he gave 5 acres in Thistleridding in Ewood, Hyndebranceis in Braderidding in Helme.
  • 51. Ibid. 1072–3; he was to render 1 lb. of wax and 6d. yearly. Luke also obtained charters from Henry son of William (10 acres at 1s. rent) and Ellis son of Gamel (5 acres at 6d. rent to Whalley); ibid. 1070–1.
  • 52. Ibid. 1075. Ellis the son of Luke obtained a confirmation from Peter de Chester as rector, and the chapters of Coventry and Lichfield concurred in 1248–9; ibid. 1075–6. In 1246 Ellis the Harper and Alice his wife claimed common of pasture against Ellis de Dene and Thomas de Stanlaw; Assize R. 404, m. 4 d. Alexander de Read, John son of Simon de Read, John son of Henry de Read and Alexander son of Alan de Read gave all their land in Read to Ellis the Harper and Alice his wife at 6d. rent; DD, no. 45.
  • 53. Ellis de Read the Harper gave all his land in Read (15 acres) to his son John, who was to pay 12d. and 1 lb. of wax to Whalley Church; Whalley Couch. iv, 1076. John (living in 1333) afterwards gave the same to his son John, and the younger John in 1330 to his son John; ibid. 1077–8. In 1292 Simon de Altham and Maud his wife (as widow of Ellis the Harper) claimed from John son of Ellis dower in two messuages, half an oxgang and 15 acres of land in Read, and it was decided that plaintiffs should recover part from Maud (wife of Richard de Winkley) and Alice, minors, who were next-of-kin and heirs of Ellis de Read, and therefore bound to warrant; Assize R. 408, m. 38 d.
  • 54. Whalley Couch. iv, 1079. John son of Ellis de Dene and his son John at the same time gave quitclaims; ibid. 1081. See also De Banco R. 288, m. 351 d.; 291, m. 127; 293, m. 272 d. John son of John son of Ellis de Read was defendant in 1332; Coram Rege R. 289, m. 104. William Dene and Thomas his son occur in 1442; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 4, m. 15.
  • 55. Whalley Couch. iv, 1082–3; Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 49.
  • 56. Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. III (2nd nos.), no. 48. Alexander and Roger Nowell occupied the abbey's lands in Read in 1537 at rents of £1 and 12s.; Whalley Couch. iv, 1218–19.
  • 57. To John Braddyll in 1544–5 was granted, among other lands, 'Marshalls place' in Read; Pat. 36 Hen. VIII, pt. xi. This may be the 'Smarshalls farmhold,' or Lower Hall, of later inquisitions, and probably refers to the Smerleshalgh (or Smereshalgh) family, of whom there are many traces in the records. William the Harper of Read, who, as appears below, was a son of Ellis, in 1290 complained of disseisin by Henry son of John de Read, John son of Simon de Read, William son of Alan de Read, Adam de Smerleshalgh and his sons Ellis, Richard and John; Assize R. 1288, m. 14. It appeared that William was engaged to teach John the son of Henry son of John six leges on the harp, and that Henry was to grant William certain messuages, &c. In 1292 Henry de Read in court acknowledged the charter by which he had given William son of Ellis de Read the Harper a messuage and various lands, the rents of Adam de Smereshalgh 5½d., John del Clough 6d., Adam son of Robert de Read 4½d., Richard de Smereshalgh 1d., the heirs of Ellis de Read the Harper 1½d., the heirs of Ellis de Sidenhalgh 14½d., Adam de Stanlaw a barbed arrow, John son of Ellis de Read 1d.; also the homage, &c., of free tenants; Assize R. 408, m. 56, 60. John son of Adam de Smerleshalgh in 1298 obtained from Adam de Smerleshalgh a messuage and 16 acres in Read; Final Conc. i, 186. In 1310 Adam son of Ellis de Smereshalgh appeared by his guardian to claim this tenement; De Banco R. 180, m. 184 d. In the following year Margery daughter of Richard de Church recovered 5 acres in Read against John de Smereshalgh; ibid. 187, m. 55. Adam son of Roger son of Matthew de Read and Alice his wife in 1335 recovered a messuage against Adam de Smereshalgh; ibid. 304, m. 30 d. Another grant was made by the Crown in 1585 when land in the holding of Hamlet Ashton and lately belonging to the abbey was sold to Walter Spendlow and others; Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. vi.
  • 58. In 1575 John Braddyll obtained from John Forster and Joan his wife a tenement called Light Hazels; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 37, m. 181. Roger Nowell in 1591 had a rent of 4s. 1d. from land called Light Hazels; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 33. As already stated, Roger also had the Lower Hall, which in the inquisition of 1624 is said to have been purchased from Hamlet Ashton and Elizabeth his wife. Raven House and land had been purchased from John Braddyll and Foster Field from Ralph Assheton of Whalley; Inq. of 1624. See note 28. John Chow in 1596 purchased a messuage in Read from Edward Braddyll and John his son; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 177.
  • 59. The Stanlaw family has occurred incidentally. In 1269 Thomas de Stanlaw (Stanlenwre) and Ellis his brother obtained judgement in their favour against Adam the Harper; Curia Regis R. 194, m. 7 d. William son of Jordan the Carpenter gave to — de Stanlaw the lands claimed by Adam son of Ellis the Harper; DD, no. 42. In 1308 Margery daughter of Richard de Church claimed land against Adam son of Ellis Stanlaw; De Banco R. 173, m. 185 d. See Smereshalgh cases above. Alice widow of John de Read claimed dower in 1302 against John son of Ellis de Read; ibid. 142, m. 50; 144, m. 84 d., 283 d. The same or another Alice as widow of John son of Simon de Read in 1314 claimed dower in five messuages, &c., against William son of John son of Simon de Read; ibid. 207, m. 115 d.; 209, m. 75 d. John Talbot had lands in Padiham, Read and Simonstone in 1424; Towneley MS. DD, no. 1030, 1034. Nicholas Rishton of Dunkenhalgh in 1508 held land in Read of 'the heir of Dene' by two hens rent, and his son Richard in 1530 held of Roger Nowell in socage; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 36, 9. Gilbert Rishton of Dunnyshope in Accrington in 1556–7 gave Ralph Rishton of Dunkenhalgh a messuage, &c., in Read; Towneley MS. HH, no. 151. Sir Richard Shireburne died in 1594 holding land in Read, but the tenure was not known; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 3; xxvi, no. 4.
  • 60. Lay Subs. Lancs. bdles. 130, no. 82, 125; 131, no. 274, 317.
  • 61. Ibid. bdle. 250, no. 9.
  • 62. Land tax returns at Preston.
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