The parish of Penwortham

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

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'The parish of Penwortham', 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/pp52-56 [accessed 8 November 2024].

'The parish of Penwortham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1911), British History Online, accessed November 8, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp52-56.

"The parish of Penwortham". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1911), , British History Online. Web. 8 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp52-56.

In this section

PENWORTHAM

Penwortham; Farington; Howick; Hutton; Longton

The parish of Penwortham occupies a comparatively level area on the south bank of the Ribble from opposite Preston westward to the River Douglas. The highest points, about 100 ft. above sea level, are near the eastern boundary, from which there is a gradual slope westward to the 50-ft. level, and then, at least on the northern boundary, a steep descent to the low lands by the Ribble. In this parish, as elsewhere, the 25-ft. level appears to indicate the limit anciently habitable, the old hamlets and mansions standing above it. The parish has an area of 11,249 acres, including 1,323 acres of tidal water, and in 1901 had a population of 6,754.

PENWORTHAM PARISH.

Each of the townships is now governed by its parish council.

The growth of Preston has affected Penwortham as a residential district, but apart from agriculture the principal industries are a cotton factory at Farington and breweries at Longton. The agricultural land in the parish is thus divided: Arable, 2,521 acres; permanent grass, 6,455; woods and plantations, 156. (fn. 1)

To the ancient 'fifteenth' the parish paid thus: Penwortham, 9s.; Howick with Farington, 23s. 8d.; Hutton, 13s. 4d.; Longton, 28s. 9d. (fn. 2) For the county lay of 1624 it was divided into three 'quarters' as follows: Penwortham and Hutton, Farington and Howick, and Longton, each paying equally. (fn. 3)

Leland, writing about 1536, says: 'Penwortham seemed to me more than half a mile from Preston; and there goeth Ribble; standing in respect of the town of the further side of Ribble, the which there divided the diocese of Chester from the diocese of York. Penwortham is a parish church and cell to Evesham Abbey, and standeth in Chester diocese.' (fn. 4) At that time the various branches of the Farington family were the chief landowners. (fn. 5)

Probably owing to its being so largely in the hands of religious orders the parish had, it would seem, a very peaceful history; and since the Reformation there is but little to relate. The chief resident family, the Fleetwoods of the Priory, were Protestants, and the main body of the population seem to have conformed without resistance, (fn. 6) though for a short time there was a Roman Catholic priest at Farington Hall. In more recent times Nonconformity has been very popular in the district. An observant writer remarked some thirty-five years ago: 'The soil all along this part of the western coast of Lancashire seems to be very favourable to the growth of Dissent. At Longton this is apparent; at Bretherton we have much of it; at Tarleton it is strong; at Hesketh Bank it is predominant. In fact, all along the coast from Southport to Longton the Dissenters have a strong hold; the Established Church is "nowhere," taking the entire range; and as for Roman Catholics, why you can't find a single church or chapel of theirs in any part of it.' (fn. 7)

An old survey-plan of Penwortham, Hutton and Howick is preserved at the Record Office, London. (fn. 8)

Church

The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN (fn. 9) is situated on elevated ground commanding an extensive view of the Ribble valley, slightly to the south of the Castle Hill, from which it is separated by a deep fosse, (fn. 10) and about 300 yds. to the north-east of the site of the priory. (fn. 11) The building, which stands at a considerable distance from the road, is approached from the south by a fine avenue of trees, and consists of chancel 30 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. 9 in., nave 60 ft. 6 in. by 25 ft., with north and south aisles 14 ft. wide, south porch and west tower 12 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements being internal. Only the chancel and tower, however, are old, the nave having been rebuilt in 1855–6, at which date also the chancel roof was restored, the tower arch opened out, and a west gallery removed. (fn. 12)

Little or nothing can be said as to the development of the plan, but there was probably a building in the 14th century covering approximately the present area, with the exception of the west tower, of which the chancel is a portion. The windows on the north and south sides of the chancel are of this period, and though the walls themselves appear to have been rebuilt, either wholly or in part, at a much later date, there is no reason to suppose that the present chancel is not substantially that of the 14th-century church. The tower is of 15th-century date, to which period or later the destroyed nave seems to have belonged. The church was repaired in 1812, when a north gallery was erected and 'the higher part of the body of the church was fronted and castellated in the latest style of Gothic architecture.' (fn. 13)

The chancel roof is of framed spars and at the time of the restoration was covered with blue slates. The walls appear to have been originally built of gritstone, but have been a good deal patched with red sandstone, the whole of the middle part of the east wall from some 4 ft. above the ground being so constructed. The east window is of three lights, the jambs, head and mullions being new, but the tracery is apparently original, though later in date, probably early 16thcentury work. On the south side are two pointed 14th-century windows of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in the head, and between them two buttresses and a priest's door, the jambs and head of which have the wave moulding. Above the door is a stone with the date 1653 and the initials of John Fleetwood and Anne (Farington) his wife. This date probably indicates the year in which the chancel walls were rebuilt or repaired, the inscribed stone and the walling on each side of it being of red sandstone. There is also some brick patching under the eaves, and the bottoms of the buttresses have been renewed. At the east end of the north side is a similar 14th-century window, but the other north window of the chancel is of a nondescript character, apparently made up of fragments from two later windows in another part of the church. There are two buttresses on the north side of the chancel similar to those on the south, and diagonal buttresses at the angles. Internally the chancel walls are of bare stone, and the floor, together with that of the nave and aisles, was tiled in 1884. The chancel arch is modern. (fn. 14)

The nave is of four bays and has a clearstory of five two-light windows on each side. On the east wall of the tower are the lines of two former roofs, the lower one of steep pitch coming down below the springing of the tower arch and apparently indicating the original roof of the church. The other, of flatter pitch, would appear to be that of 1812. There is a gallery at the west end. The tower arch is of two chamfered orders, the inner one dying into the wall at the springing. The arch is open to the nave, but is filled in under the gallery by a modern wood screen.

The tower was restored in 1884. Its stages are unmarked externally by any string course except below the west window. There is a projecting vice in the south-east corner, and the top terminates in an embattled parapet with angle pinnacles. The belfry windows are of two lights with cinquefoiled heads and tracery under a pointed arch with hood mould. The west window is of three cinquefoiled lights with tracery and hood mould, and above is a niche with canopied head. The buttresses are of six stages, placed diagonally, and terminating below the level of the belfry windows. The west door is pointed with continuous moulded jambs and head and hood mould. There is a clock on the south side, and on a gargoyle on the same side is a shield with coat of arms, much defaced.

The fittings are almost entirely modern, but a small four-sided font, dated 1667, yet remains (fn. 15) in addition to a modern octagonal one, and in the chancel windows are some fragments of old glass. In the easternmost window on the north side is the emblem of the Trinity and in the other window are a female head, portions of lettering and other fragments. The west window on the south side has a small shield with the arms of Fleetwood impaling Legh, with crests above, and below the inscription, 'Richard Fleetwood and Margery his wife 1595.' In the same window is part of an inscription in black letter in which the words 'Harewood,' 'Botelier' and 'fieri fecit matris sue' occur. There are two helmets suspended from the chancel roof, one with the Fleetwood crest.

Penwortham Church From The South-west

The organ is in the westernmost bay of the north aisle. In the chancel is a mural monument to Sir Christopher Musgrave, bart., of Edenhall (d. 1735), and there are memorials in the church to members of the Rawstorne family.

In the churchyard north of the chancel is a stone slab with a floreated cross within a circle and sword on dexter side, and there are a number of 17th and early 18th-century stones with good raised lettering.

There is a pedestal sundial dated 1845, and an oak lych-gate was erected in 1896. The churchyard is surrounded by trees and is very picturesquely situated.

There are six bells cast by Abraham Rudhall in 1712, but the treble seems to have been recast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1858, and again by Mears & Stainbank in 1891, it bearing both names and dates. (fn. 16)

The plate consists of a chalice, paten, breadholder and flagon of 1846–7, inscribed 'Penwortham Church 1849,' presented by the Rev. R. A. Rawstorne, incumbent. There is also a plated chalice.

The registers began in 1586, but perished in a fire in 1856. (fn. 17) The present registers, therefore, do not begin till 1857.

Advowson

The church, which was a parish church, was granted by Warine Bussel, lord of Penwortham, to the abbey of Evesham about the year 1140. (fn. 18) The monks on their part undertook to place at Penwortham three of their number, together with a chaplain, for the service of God, and thus the cell or priory of Penwortham came into existence. (fn. 19) The church was served by the monks, and thus no institutions were necessary, and the successive priors may be regarded as incumbents of the benefice. (fn. 20) On the Dissolution, the Fleetwoods, having obtained possession, (fn. 21) held the tithes as lay rectors, and placed a stipendiary minister in charge, regarding the cure as a donative. Thus there were no institutions and first-fruits were not paid, the curates or ministers being licensed by the bishop. This continued until a century ago, when a grant of £,640 from Queen Anne's Bounty having been obtained the benefice became an ordinary perpetual curacy. (fn. 22) In the 18th century the 'advowson' was sold by the Fleetwood trustees in 1749 to John Aspinall, who sold it to John Barton. About 1810 it was purchased by Lawrence Rawstorne of Hutton, and has descended to the present patron, his namesake.

In 1291 the value of the church was estimated at £20, (fn. 23) but fifty years later at only 20 marks, the difference being accounted for by the glebe of the church, worth 40s., and the tithe of hay, &c., 7 marks, belonging to the altarage. (fn. 24) It should be observed that Brindle was included in this valuation. The gross value of the rectory in 1535 was £36 11s. 10d. (fn. 25) The tithes were valued at £174 a year in 1650, and £60 a year was paid out of them to the minister. (fn. 26) The value of the incumbency had risen to about £100 by 1720, (fn. 27) and is now returned as £227. (fn. 28)

The following have been curates and incumbents, (fn. 29) styled vicars since 1868:—

oc. 1542–63 Ralph Garstang (fn. 30)
oc. 1580–91 Thomas Spode
1599 William Duxbury
1599 George Clark
oc. 1600 Matthew French (fn. 31)
oc. 1601 Nicholas Bamford
oc. 1607–21 Nicholas Peele (fn. 32)
1625 Roger Wright
oc. 1634–40 Nathaniel Bradshaw (fn. 33)
oc. 1641 John Jacques
oc. 1647 James Chrichley (fn. 34)
oc. 1650 William Seddon (fn. 35)
1653 Thomas Robinson
1654 —Bradshaw
oc. 1676–88 Henry Rycroft (fn. 36)
1689 Peter Gregory (fn. 37)
1696 James Butterworth (fn. 38)
1712 Ralph Loxam (fn. 39)
1725 Edward Martin
1753 William Loxham, M.A. (fn. 40) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1794 James Barton
1802 Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 41) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1809 James John Hornby, M.A. (fn. 42)
1814 Thomas Selkirk
1819 William Birkett, M.A. (fn. 43) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1826 James Taylor Waring
1831–3 Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 44) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1852 Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 45) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.)
1858 William Edward Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 46) (Christ Ch., Oxf.)
1889 Daniel Holland Stubbs
1894 Augustus Manley Winter, M.A. (Hertford Coll., Oxf.)
1909 Oliver Burton, M.A. (St. John's Coll., Camb.)

There was no endowed chantry at Penwortham, but there seem, nevertheless, to have been three or four resident priests in the parish before the Reformation, (fn. 47) one of whom would serve Longton Chapel. After the Reformation only one 'curate,' the incumbent of the parish church, appears in the visitation lists. (fn. 48) As the Fleetwoods quickly became Protestant the starveling's wage they paid him cannot be ascribed to hostility to the then newly-established order. About 1610 Penwortham was described as 'an old priory in the possession, by inheritance, of Richard Fleetwood, esquire, who maintaineth a stipendiary minister there.' (fn. 49) Even in 1650 there was only one, Longton Chapel being vacant. After the latter chapel in 1719 obtained a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty, there was probably an additional minister usually resident in the parish. The incumbents of Penwortham, however, were often beneficed elsewhere.

A school was founded at Longton about 1527 and refounded in 1552; though now situated in Hutton it is known as Penwortham Grammar School. (fn. 50)

Charities

Apart from the school endowments, there are three benefactions for the poor. The Penwortham Dole, with an income of over £64, the result of a number of ancient gifts, (fn. 51) is spent partly in apprenticing boys from Penwortham and partly in gifts to people residing in Penwortham and Howick. 'The number of recipients in 1898 was 176, of whom some three or four were in receipt of poor law relief, but most were ratepayers and in receipt of good wages, and very few were really poor persons. In defence of this system it was stated that it had the sanction of antiquity, and that the householders who have hitherto received a dole expect and claim one.' (fn. 52) For Longton, the poor's land, now represented by consols, produces an income of £38 4s. 2d., which is distributed once a year in money doles varying from 5s. to 35s (fn. 53). A stock for Hutton, founded by the gifts of several benefactors, has now an income of £6 1s. 4d.; of this £2 is spent on beef, and the rest is given in small money doles, the distribution being made about Christmas time. (fn. 54)

Footnotes

  • 1. The details are:
    Arable Grass Woods, &c.
    ac. ac. ac.
    Penwortham. 1,489 4,451 81
    Farington & Penwortham 1,032 2,004 75
  • 2. Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 19. The whole amounted to £3 14s. 9d., when the hundred paid £30 12s. 8d.
  • 3. Ibid. 17, 22. Each 'quarter' paid £3 14s. 1d.—£11 2s. 3d. in all—when the hundred paid £100.
  • 4. Itin. v, 97.
  • 5. Subs. R. 130, no. 86 (1525). Henry Farington was the chief contributor to the tax; others were Alice (widow), Thomas, Robert and Peter. The other contributor for lands was William Forshaw.
  • 6. The scanty list of recusants in 1628 is printed in Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 180.
  • 7. Hewitson, Our Country Churches, 270.
  • 8. Lancs. and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 24.
  • 9. Various early charters show the dedication. Thus Robert son of Geoffrey about 1205 released to God and St. Mary 3 oxgangs of land and a croft formerly belonging to Wolfwin in Penwortham; Kuerden fol. MS. (Chet. Lib.), p. 54. Robert Bussel, perhaps the same benefactor, gave for the health of his soul a rent of 6d. from his lands at Longton for the light of St. Mary of Penwortham; ibid. Geoffrey Bussel son of Robert gave to God and the church of B. Mary of Penwortham the service of John son of William for land in Leyland; ibid. Robert son of Sibyl de Longton granted part of his lands in pure alms to God and the church of St. Mary of Penwortham; ibid. p. 236. Ellis de Hutton, with the consent of Robert his heir, gave to God and the church of the holy Mother of God of Penwortham certain parts of his demesne at Hutton for the sustenance of Evesham monastery; ibid. p. 172. The same Ellis made other gifts of land to the church; ibid. p. 171. In 1548 it was found that a rent of 4s. was applicable to the finding of a light in the church; Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc.), 253.
  • 10. V.C.H. Lancs. ii, 533, where a plan and description of the Castle Hill are given.
  • 11. 'Slightly inclining from the direct view to the front of the priory, the parish church and castle of Penwortham stood prominently forward on the very verge of the bank. Looking eastward up the valley the ground was thickly clothed in wood. . . . The leading features of this charming scene have been preserved to the present day. The approach to the parish church still remains rarely equalled'; Chet. Soc. Publ. xxx (1853), p. xxxv. The view has been in some measure spoiled in late years by the construction of Preston Docks.
  • 12. There is an illustration of the church, dated 1855, in Hardwick's Hist. of Preston (1857), which shows the old nave to have had two tiers of three-light windows and a south porch. The old building was described by Canon Raines as a 'small gloomy structure'; Chet. Soc. Publ. xxii, 387. In order to light the north gallery and the body of the church it was resolved in 1812 to raise the principal roof and also the north and south walls and to make therein four handsome windows.
  • 13. Baines, Lancs. (1836).
  • 14. Before 1856 there was no chancel arch, but a beam 8 ft. from the ground bearing the royal arms.
  • 15. It was removed when the new font was presented, and, after being used as a flower vase at houses in Preston and Ashton-on-Ribble, was restored to the church in November 1906.
  • 16. The other five bells are inscribed: 2. 'God save Queen Anne, A.R. 1712.' 3. 'Prosperity to the Church of England, 1712.' 4. Names of Wardens, 1712. 5. 'Abr. Rudhall cast us all Anno Dom. 1712.' 6. 'Ralph Lomax, minister, A.R. 1712.'
  • 17. Some extracts from them are printed in Misc. Gen. et Herald. (new ser.), ii, 205. There are transcripts at Chester.
  • 18. For the charter of confirmation see Farrer's Lancs. Pipe R. 320.
  • 19. See V.C.H. Lancs. ii, 104 for the history of the priory and list of the priors or custodes, who had charge of the parish also.
  • 20. In 1394 the Prior of Penwortham had licence to celebrate divine service in the parish church, without prejudice to the oratory in his priory; Lich. Epis. Reg. vi, fol. 131 b. Thomas Somervill was prior in July 1431; Shireburne Abstract Bk.
  • 21. See the account of the manor.
  • 22. W. A. Hulton in Penwortham Priory, p. xxxviii. There are added (lxxi-iv) verses entitled 'The Complaint of the Church of Penwortham,' by a Mr. Richardson, 1635, censuring John Fleetwood, then proprietor, who had prevented his receiving any recompense for his efforts to propagate the Word of God in the parish, and paid the minister a most wretched stipend. This minister, it appears, sat at table with the servants, not with the patron.
  • 23. Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 249.
  • 24. Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 40. The details were: Penwortham, £2 1s. 6d.; Farington with Howick, £2 6s. 8d.; Hutton, £2 16s. 3d.; Longton, £4 8s. 11d.; and Brindle, £1.
  • 25. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 233. The chief revenue was derived from tithes, those of grain amounting to £25 0s. 10d., of hay, hemp, &c., 26s. 8d., and of lambs, &c., 23s. 4d., small tithes and Easter roll £5 11s. There were also pensions from Kirkham Church, 23s. 4d.; North Meols, 6s. 8d.; and the vicarage of Leyland, 40s. The gross revenue of Evesham from Penwortham and Leyland was £114 16s. 10d., of which only £63 1s. 10d. was sent to the abbot; the net remainder, after payment of various fees and rents, was £29 18s. 7d., which was therefore returned as the value of the cell of Penwortham. In a return made a few years earlier (1527) the value of the priory or cell was estimated at £36; Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, 5/15. The Abbot and convent of Evesham in 1539 demised the manor and rectory of Penwortham to John Fleetwood for ninety-nine years at a rent of £99 5s. 3d., but allowance was to be made of the pension of Richard Hawkesbury, late prior or custos of the cell. The lessee was to maintain the chancel, and to find 'an honest and sufficient priest' to serve the church; Penwortham Priory, 79–83.
  • 26. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 105. No tithes were paid from the demesne lands at Penwortham.
  • 27. Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 387. There were four churchwardens and four assistants.
  • 28. Manch. Dioc. Dir.
  • 29. Many of the names given were taken from the old registers by Mr. W. A. Hulton; some of them may have been assistant curates or curates of Longton. Other names are from Baines, Lancs. (ed. Croston), iv, 210, and Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 80, 92.
  • 30. He is probably the Ralph 'Grange' who was in 1541–2 paid by John Fleetwood, farmer of the rectory; Clergy List (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), 17. As 'Garstang' the name appears in the visitation lists of 1548, 1554, 1562 and 1563; in the last year he was described as 'curate of Longton,' and was ordered to be cited; Lists at Chester Dioc. Reg.
  • 31. Rector of North Meols 1599–1614.
  • 32. Mr. Peele, 'lecturer' at Penwortham, contributed in 1622 towards the recovery of the Palatinate; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 67.
  • 33. 'Mr. Bradshay, preacher,' did not contribute ship-money in 1635; ibid. 109.
  • 34. Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 51. An order was made that £50 a year should be paid him out of the impropriate rectory, sequestered from John Fleetwood, a 'delinquent.'
  • 35. He was commended as 'a godly, preaching minister,' and had been placed in charge by Mr. Fleetwood, 'with the consent of the rest of the parish'; Commonw. Ch. Surv. 105.
  • 36. Rector of North Meols 1684 to 1688.
  • 37. He appears in the 1691 visitation list. In 1689 he was 'conformable' to the government; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 230.
  • 38. His will was proved at Chester in 1704.
  • 39. Rector of North Meols from 1708 till his death in 1726; buried at Penwortham.
  • 40. This is the first appointment in the papers at the Diocesan Registry, Chester; the curacy was vacant by the death of Edward Martin.
  • 41. See later note.
  • 42. He was nominated by the attorneys of James Barton, then living at Benares.
  • 43. Afterwards rector of Haseley, Oxon. In reply to the visitation questions in 1821 it was stated that service was held on Sunday morning and afternoon, with sermon at each (of late); the sacrament was administered six times a year; there was service also on the great festivals and prayers were read on Ash Wednesday. The incumbent resided in the parish.
  • 44. Rector of Warrington 1807 to 1832, rector of South Thoresby, Lincs., 1807 till his death in 1852.
  • 45. Son of the preceding incumbent. He became vicar of Balderston in 1858, archdeacon of Blackburn 1885.
  • 46. Cousin of the preceding incumbent. He had been rector of Galby 1845–50, and vicar of Ormskirk 1850–3, hon. canon of Manchester 1870.
  • 47. The curate and three others are named in the visitation list of 1548, in 1554 the curate and one other, in 1562 the curate only.
  • 48. The ornaments remaining at Penwortham and Longton in 1552 are described in Church Goods (Chet. Soc.), 132. They included a Bible and a Communion book.
  • 49. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 11. There were monthly communions in 1619; Visit. P. at Chester.
  • 50. See Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), iii, 189; Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. ii, 116; and Endowed Char. Rep. for Penwortham. There were disputes as to its endowment in 1560; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 225. At an inquiry made in 1624 it was found that the school, then in Longton, had been discontinued for some time, and order was taken for revival; Harl. MS. 2176, fol. 35, 37b.
  • 51. An inquiry into the charities of the parish was made in 1899, and the report, issued in 1901, contains a reprint of that of 1826. The only charity recorded by Bishop Gastrell about 1717 was a gift of £125 by Robert Wearden, cook, in 1649; Notitia Cestr. ii, 388. In 1769 the charity stock amounted to £198, invested in the purchase of Lancaster field in Preston, but the only benefactor whose name was remembered was Edward Fleetwood, who had given £25. In 1826 the income was divided into thirteen parts, of which two were applied to apprenticing, two to the poor of Howick, and the rest to those of Penwortham and Middleforth. Under the Act of 1894 the parish councils of Penwortham and Howick appoint two trustees each, who act with the vicar and churchwardens.
  • 52. End. Char. Rep. 34. John Charnley in 1737 charged his lands in Penwortham (Crabby Nook) with 20s. a year for the benefit of poor housekeepers in the place. After a sale of the land charged in 1879 the rent was refused by the purchaser, and the vendors made no satisfaction, so that the charity has lapsed.
  • 53. The poor's stock seems to have amounted to £100 in 1751, when land called Killheys in Longton was purchased for the advantage of the poor of the township. Afterwards a workhouse was built and the land employed for the use of the paupers, thus relieving the rates; but on the Commissioners of 1825 pointing out the error of this course it was amended and a rent charged for a distribution to the poor. Afterwards the workhouse was disused and turned into cottages, the rents of which were applied to the relief of the rates, no acknowledgement being made to the trustees of the poor's land; this was remedied in 1854–7. The land was sold in 1881 and 1886, and the money received invested in consols, £1,359 in all, held by the official trustees. Some charities had been lost before 1826.
  • 54. Edward Fleetwood in 1704 gave £45, George Merryloft £70, and Thomas Marton £50 for the poor, while — Forest left £20 for beef. Another sum of £50 (now lost) was given for the minister of Longton Chapel. The capital is £220 14s. 6d. consols, held by the official trustees. The management is mainly in the hands of the churchwardens of Longton.