202 A HISTORY OF LOXGEIDGE. [Chap. 8. 



He refers to Hesketh End, a curious Elizabethan house, not far 

 from the chapel. It has on the outsiflo numerous inscriptions in Latin, 

 etc., as mentioned before. It also bears the inscription: "EICHAED 

 ALSTON' MADE THIS HOUSE, ANNO DOMINI, 1582. LOED, 

 SAVE IT, AND BE KIND." 



From his diary it would appear that at this time (1729) some 

 thousands of acres of land were bog and moss, and that the land along 

 the Thornley side of Longridge EeU was common land. It was not 

 enclosed until 1807. 



Mr. Pearson's notes on the state of agriculture in 1843 are worth 

 reproducing. He says : — 



"The inhabitants of Chipping were originally, and stiU continue 

 to be, in a great measure devoted to this honourable pursuit, and 

 though the old system of farming is generally adopted, thoy neverthe- 

 less have brought it to such a perfection as almost to outrival the 

 polished eiforts of modern agricultiu'ists. 



"The produce of wheat is not very considerable, but every other 

 description of grain is cultivated with singular success. In the breeding 

 of cattle, also, the farmers of Chipping surpass their neighboui's in 

 other parishes, and most of their commodities are sold either on the 

 spot or at Preston market. 



" The arable land in the township is about one-fourth of the whole^ 

 and the average rent is about SOs. the customary acre, or 15s. the 

 statute acre." 



Leageam Hall and Ch.apel. 



Mr. Weld, of Leagram, has very kindly favoured me with some 

 interesting notes regarding the hall and chapel at Leag^-am, which 

 are embodied in the following account : — 



The present house stands on t'le site of the ancient Park Lodge 

 existing at least from the creation of the Duchy of Lancaster, and was 

 used as a permanent or occasional residence by the officers appointed 

 by the Crown to the Keepership of the Park. Early in the sixteenth 

 century it became a dower house for the Sherbourne familj' of Stony- 

 hurst, from whom, as I have said, it passed in 1752 into the "Weld 

 family. Mr. Weld's grandfather, Mr. Thos. Weld, of Lulworth Castle, 

 took down the centre of the old house to erect a residence for the priest_ 



'Ashton? 



