A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



the tithes." The same benefices were returned at the 

 reduced rates in 1341. 3S In 1535 the value of the 

 rectory was estimated at 100 a year, 3 * and that of 

 the vicarage at 2 i I/." The rectorial tithes were 

 usually let on lease.* 6 In 1650 the vicar received 

 80 a year from tithes and other dues as well as 50 

 augmentat'on from the Committee of Plundered 

 Ministers. 37 About 1717 the income was given as 

 only 60, arising from the small tithes, Easter dues, 



and surplice fees; there was an old house with a 

 customary acre of glebe belonging to it." The 

 value of the small tithes advanced rapidly in the 

 latter part of the 1 8th and the beginning of the 

 i gth century, being 1,600 in i835. 39 The vicar's 

 income is now returned as 400.* The Dean and 

 Chapter of Christ Church have recently given the 

 rectorial tithes of the present reduced ecclesiastical 

 parish of Kirkham to the vicar." 



The following have been incumbents : 



RECTORS 

 Name Patron 



Adam the Dean " 



Walter de Grey " The King . . 



Simon le Blund 4 ' . 



Richard" 



Instituted 

 C. 1 1 70 . . 

 C. I 2 I I . . 



4 July 1213 



c. 1225 . . 



1236 . . 



29 Jan. 1246-7 



c. 1251 . . 



c. 1258 . . 



Cause of Vacancy 



William de York * The King 



Aymer de Valence " 



Artaud de Sancto Romano* 3 ... 



Henry de Wingham *' 



" Popt Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 309 ; 

 the Penwortham share was estimated at 

 2 and that of Lancaster at i 6s. 8</. 

 The former priory received 235. 4^. in 

 1535 ; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 233. 



33 Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 37. The 

 tithes of corn, &c., were thus valued in 

 the several townships : Clifton, $ 61.; 

 Newton, 2 55. &J.; Freckleton, 3 u.; 

 Warton, 2 51. 8</.; Bryning, 2 js. %d.; 

 Ribby, 2 141. 4,*.; Westby, 2 2,. ^d.; 

 Wceton,^2 7i.8</.; Singleton, $ 145. 4<A; 

 Hambleton, 2 6s. ; Larbreck, 2 1 71. 8 d. ; 

 Thistleton, 2 91.; Wesham, i 175. 4^.; 

 Trcales, ^3 141. 4*/.j Kirkham, 2 u. ; 

 Goosnargh, 6 135.4^.; Whittingham, 

 5 61. id.; Newsham, t 6s. Sd. The 

 difference between the old and new 

 taxations was accounted for by the omis- 

 sion of the tithe of hay, &c., about 

 10 marks a year, small tithes, oblations, 

 &c., pertaining to the altarage 20 marks 

 and the glebe of the church 10 marks j 

 but the main deficiency was due to the 

 destruction and war of the Scots, viz. 

 ,80 a year. 



34 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 209 (mis- 

 printed 1001.). In 1540 the farm of the 

 tithes of Kirkham produced 64, those 

 of Goosnargh 29 91., and the manse 

 t IOJ. ; Dugdale, Aion. Angl. v, 711. 



35 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 263. 

 The manse was valued at u., tithes of 

 wool and lambs 7, of hay, small tithes 

 and Easter roll 14 91. ^d. The church 

 dues paid by the vicar amounted to 

 95. 4</._ 



3G Fishwick, op. cit. 36 ; Commonly. 

 Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Chcs.), 

 153-4. Tn<: family of Clifton of Westby 

 and Lytham have usually been lessees of 

 all or part. 



87 Ibid. 1 54-5 5 Plund. Mins. Accts. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 9, 96. 



88 Gastrell, Notitia Ceitr. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 414. There were four churchwardens 

 chosen by the vicar aJld thirty men, viz. 

 one yearly out of Treales or Weeton, one 

 out of Clifton-with Salwick, one out of 

 Westby with Plumptons and the other 

 out of the remaining townships. 



39 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), iv, 385. 



Manet. Dioc. Dir. 



41 Information of the Dean of Christ 

 Church, Oxf. 



ts He is called 'de Kirkham' and was 

 probably rector of the church and Dean of 

 Amounderncss ; Farrtr, op. cit. 38, 409, 



366. He was concerned in the plea of 

 1194 regarding the advowson already 

 mentioned. A charter of about the same 

 date was attested by Adam the Dean, 

 William de Kirkham and other ecclesi- 

 astics, while another was attested by Simon 

 and William chaplains of Kirkham living 

 while Richard was rector there ; Cocker- 

 sand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), i, 335, 332. 

 See also the account in Torks. Arch. 

 Journ. xxi, 59. 



43 Chancellor of England 1205-14, 

 Bishop of Worcester 1214, Archbishop of 

 York 1215-55 i D ' ct - Nat. Biog. Kirk- 

 ham was one of the benefices given him by 

 King John, who had the right of presen- 

 tation by reason of the minority of the 

 heir of Theobald Walter ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlix, fol. 58 ; Curia Regis R. 204, m. 20. 



44 Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 102 j 

 Simon Blund or Blundel was nephew of 

 the Archbishop of Dublin. The king pre- 

 sented to two-thirds only of the rectory, 

 which he held (as above) on account of 

 the wardship of the son and heir of 

 Theobald Walter ; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, 

 i, 120. Henry de Loundres was Arch- 

 bishop of Dublin 1212-28; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. 



"' Richard rector of Kirkham occurs 

 early in the time of Henry III ; for 

 instance, he attested a charter in con- 

 junction with Adam de Yealand, ' then 

 sheriff,' i.e. 1228-31 ; Lytham D. at 

 Durham, I a, 2 ae, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 40. 

 See also Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 

 459 ; Lane. Ch. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 429 ; 

 Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 197. It is thus 

 evident that he resided at Kirkham, but 

 he was only a ' clerk ' and had several 

 children, one of whom, Master William 

 de Kirkham, also a clerk, seems to have 

 been a man of standing in the district ; 

 Lytham D. 2 a, 2 ae, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 26 ; 

 Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), i, 217, 

 &c. Another son, Jordan, had land in 

 Goosnargh and Greenhalgh ; ibid, i, 240. 



It should be noticed that in one deed 

 Richard is called conrector of Kirkham ; 

 during the tenure of Simon le Blund he 

 held the other third part of the rectory, 

 and probably succeeded to the whole on 

 Simon's death ; Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 85*, 

 no. 27. Among the Lytham Priory 

 charters at Durham is one attested by 

 Simon Blund, rector of Kirkham, and 

 Richard, rector of Kirkham ; Misc. Chart. 

 r,o. 477. 



res. W. de Grey 



146 



.... res. W. de York 

 . . . . res. A. de Valence 

 d. A. de S. Romano 



46 Cat. Pat. 123247, p. 156. In the 



February following the king notified that 

 he had given the advowson of the church 

 of Kirkham (as part of the possessions of 

 the heir of Theobald le Boteler) to Richard 

 Earl of Poitou and Cornwall, guardian of 

 the heir ; ibid. 175. Richard, king of the 

 Germans, according to the later pleadings 

 confirmed the presentation of William de 

 York ; Curia Regis R. 204, m. 20. 

 William was a prominent public official, 

 one of the three custodians of the realm 

 in 1 242 and Bishop of Salisbury 1 24656 ; 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. He was provost of 

 Beverley in 1 246, when the rectory of 

 Kirkham was said to be worth 240 marks 

 a year ; Assize R. 404, m. 22. 



47 Cal. Pat. 123247, p. 496 ; he is 

 here called son of the Count de la Mjrche, 

 and elsewhere the king's brother, for 

 Isabel, widow of King John, married 

 Hugh Count of La Marchc. He became 

 Bishop of Winchester in 1250-1 and died 

 1260 ; Diet. Nat. Biog. Aymer is named 

 as rector in 1248 ; Close, 62, m. 10 d. 



In a charter of about 124565 there 

 occur among the witnesses 'Robert and 

 Roger, chaplains of the church of Kirk- 

 ham ' ; Lytham D. at Durham, i a, 2 ae, 

 4 ae, Ebor. no. 54. 



48 In the long statement regarding the 

 advowson in 1277 it is recited that King 

 John (as above) presented Walter de Grey 

 and Simon le Blund, and that the latter 

 died rector in the time of Henry III ; 

 also that Henry III presented William de 

 York (cause of vacancy not stated), Aymer 

 dc la Marche, Artaud de Sancto Romano 

 (who died rector), Henry de Wingham 

 and Henry de Gaunt ; De Banco R. 21, 

 m. i6d., 95. These presentations had 

 been made by reason of minorities, except 

 the last, when the king presented by 

 reason of regality, the rector having been 

 elected to the bishopric of London. 



Artaud de Sancto Romano was pre- 

 sented to Shalford in 1241 ; Cal. Pat. 

 1232-47, p. 268. He is often named in 

 the Patent Rolls, &c., being an officer of 

 the Wardrobe. He seems to have died 

 about 1257; Excerfta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. 

 Com.), ii, 252, 326. 



49 Cal. Pat. 1247-58, p. 624. Henry 

 de- Wingham or Wengham was also a 

 public official : keeper of the Great Seal 

 1255-9, Bishop of London 1259-62 ; 

 Diet. Nat. Biog. He was also rector of 

 Preston 125662. 



