A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



named Derleigh ' and Fowler * also held land here in 

 the fourteenth century. 



Richard Johnson of Lunt was returned among the 

 freeholders in 1600.* 



John Lunt as a ' Papist ' registered a leasehold 

 estate here in 1717.* 



THORNTON 



Torentun, Dom. Bk. ; Thorinton, 1212; Thorinton, 

 Thornton, and Thorneton, 1292. 



This township has an area of 773 acres;* the 

 population in 1901 was 265. It is situated in flat 

 country consisting of pastures and cultivated fields. 

 The soil is loamy, producing crops of potatoes, turnips, 

 and corn. The pastures near the Alt lie very low 

 and are often flooded in winter-time and wet seasons. 

 Trees are not a prominent feature of the open land- 

 scape. The geological formation is the same as in 

 Sefton. In the summer the village is much resorted 

 to by pleasure parties. The road from Sefton to 

 Great Crosby passes through it. To the north-east 

 is a hamlet now called Homer Green, formerly 

 Hulmore. 



There is the pedestal of a cross called Broom's Cross. 

 An ancient sundial on a stone pillar stands on Thorn- 

 ton Green ; close to it are the stocks. 6 



The wakes are held a fortnight after the Great 

 Crosby wakes. It was formerly the custom for a 

 painter to be brought from Liverpool on this day to 

 paint the sundial pillar white with a black diaper 

 pattern over it. 



The old oak chest, containing overseers' books and 

 the parish mace, has on it the letters GC. TC. 1 7 . 



Dialect words in colloquial use which may be 

 noticed here are ' neave ' for fist, ' narky ' for fractious, 

 and ' coi ammered ' or ' cain ammered ' for testy or 

 contentious. 



One of the fields is named Mass Field ; among 

 others are Windpool, Crane Greave, Tush Hey, 

 Bretlands, School Croft, and Little Eyes. 



The township is governed by a parish council. 



In 1066 THORNTON was held by 

 M4NOR Ascha, its half-hide being worth beyond 

 the customary rent the normal 8s.' After 

 the Conquest it was divided, two plough-lands being 

 annexed, with Ince Blundell, to the barony of War- 

 rington and the third to the Sefton fee. 8 Subse- 

 quently Pain de Vilers, lord of Warrington, granted 

 one of these plough-lands to Robert de Molyneux of 

 Sefton and the other to Eawin. 9 There were thus 

 three manors there. 



The portion held by the lord of Sefton in chief 

 was granted by Robert de Molyneux, father of the 

 Richard living in 1212, to his brother Gilbert to be 

 held by knight's service ; Richard son of Gilbert 

 held it at the date named. 10 This tenant appears to 

 have assumed the local surname, and both Richard 

 son of Richard de Thornton and Simon son of 

 Richard de Thornton occur during the first half ot 

 the thirteenth century." Simon died before 1246, 

 leaving a son Amery, a minor, whose story will 

 follow." 



In the Warrington fee the plough-land granted to 

 Eawin was held by his son Gilbert in 1212." This 

 family also assumed Thornton as a surname. Gilbert 

 was succeeded by his son Robert, who made a grant 

 to Cockersand," and Robert by his son, another 

 Robert, who was in possession in 1243." The 

 younger Robert, known as the ' Priestsmock,' had 

 several sons, but the eldest, Adam, surrendered all 

 his right in Thornton to the chief lord, William le 

 Boteler, who thereupon granted it to the above- 

 named Amery de Thornton in exchange for the latter's 

 possessions in Great Marlon. 16 Thus Amery came 

 to hold two of the three plough-lands, one from 



