A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



has no trace, except for a few remains of Elizabethan 

 black-letter texts ; and the piece of panelling with the 

 Ireland arms and date 1 627, at the east end of the south 

 aisle, is the only old woodwork in the church, except 

 part of the stalls and the chancel roof already described. 

 It remains to notice the gabled building running 

 north and south, built into the angle of the tower 

 and south aisle. It was built to contain a grammar 

 school founded by Edward Halsall in 1593, and was 

 originally of two stories, the main entrance being the 

 now blocked doorway in the east wall, above which 

 are the Halsall arms with ' E. H. 1593.' The west 

 doorway, which is cut through the tower buttress, 

 gave access to the stairs to the upper room, and the 

 marks of their fitting remain in the tower plinth. 

 Over this doorway are two panels, the upper having 

 the Halsall arms and ' E. H. 1593,' and the lower a 

 now illegible inscription, the words of which have 

 fortunately been preserved : 



ISTIUS EXSTRUCTAE CUM QUADAM DOTE PERENNI 

 EDWARDO HALSALLO LAUS TRIBUENDA SCHOLAE. 



The windows, of which there are two on the west 

 and one on the south, are of two lights with arched 

 heads, churchwarden gothic of the poorest, inserted 



THE OLD RECTORY, HALSALL (from a Drawing) 



after the removal of the upper floor. A fireplace 

 remains at both levels, and in the east wall is a 

 modern doorway into the south aisle. 



There are six bells, four recast in 1 786, one cast 

 in 1811, and another in 1887. The curfew bell is 

 rung in the winter months. 1 



The church plate consists of several plain and 

 massive pieces, all made in London, viz. : a chalice 



and paten, 1609 ; chalice and paten, 1641 ; flagon 

 and paten, 1730 ; two small chalices, 1740.* 



The register of baptisms begins in 1606, that of mar- 

 riages and burials in 1 609 ; but they are irregularly kept 

 until 1662. From this time they seem to be perfect.* 

 From the dedication of the church * 

 ADVQWSON it has been supposed that Halsall 

 was one of the resting-places of St. 

 Cuthbert's body during its seven years' wandering 

 whilst the Danes were ravaging Northumbria (875- 

 83). The words of Simeon of Durham are wide 

 enough to cover this : the bearers ' wandered over all 

 the districts of the Northumbrians, with never any 

 fixed resting-place ' ; but the places he names the 

 mouth of the Derwent, Whitherne, and Craik (Creca) 

 point to Cumberland and Galloway rather than to 

 Lancashire. 5 



The patronage, like the manor, was in dispute in 

 the early years of Edward I between Robert de 

 Vilers and Gilbert de Halsall, 6 but the latter seems 

 to have vindicated his right, as his descendants con- 

 tinued to present down to the sale of the manor to 

 the Gerards, when the advowson passed with it. In 

 1719 and 1730 Peter Walter, a 'usurer' denounced 

 by Pope, presented ;' and about 1 800 the lord of the 

 manor sold the advowson to Jonathan Blundell, 

 of Liverpool, whose descendant, the late Colonel 

 H. Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, was patron. 



The Taxatio of 1291 gives the value of Halsall 

 as 10." The Valor of Henry VIII places 

 it at 28 id/. 9 The rectors have from time 

 to time had numerous disputes as to tithes and 

 other church property. Rector Henry de Lea 

 complained that in 1313 the lord of the manor 

 had seized his cart and horses owing to a dis- 

 puted right of digging turf. 10 A later rector, 

 about 1520, leased the tithes of the township 

 of Halsall to his brother Thomas Halsall, the 

 lord of the manor, for 14 marks yearly. But 

 seven years later he had to complain that Thomas 

 would not pay the tithe-rent, and that he had 

 refused the rector's tenants the common of pas- 

 ture on Hall green, and common of turbary, 

 which had been customary. 11 



Bishop Gastrell in 1717 found the rectory worth 

 300 per annum, Lady Mohun being patron. There 

 were two churchwardens, one chosen by the rector 

 and serving for Halsall township, the other by the 

 lord of the manor and serving for Downholland. 1 ' 

 From this time onward the value of the rectory 

 increased rapidly." The gross value is now ovei 

 2,100. 



