WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



is a small bell, supposed to be a re-cast in 1 7 1 6 of the 

 old Saints bell. 



Two of the chalices are dated 1633, and a silver 

 chalice and paten 1674 ; and there is other plate of 

 the eighteenth century. 1 



The churchyard was several times enlarged and im- 

 proved during the last century. 1 



The first express mention 01 the 

 JDrOffSON. church is in the confirmation charter 

 of Burscough Priory, in 1189 or 

 1190, by which Robert lord of Lathom conferred 

 on the new house ' the church of Ormskirk with all 

 its appurtenances.' 3 This was ratified by successive 

 bishops of Lichfield and by Pope Gregory IX in 

 1228.* But little is known of the early incumbents ; 

 the church is so near to the priory that it is probable 

 the canons themselves took turns in serving it. It 

 was not very long, however, before the bishops of 

 Lichfield intervened. William de Cornhill, bishop 

 from 1215 to 1220, judged it unfit that canons 

 regular should meddle with temporal matters, and, 

 allowing them not only the two-thirds of the revenues 

 they already had, but the other third also, in compas- 

 sion of their poverty, ordered that they should appoint 

 a suitable vicar to have charge of the church, answer- 

 ing to them in respect of temporalities, but to the 

 bishop as to spiritualities. 5 In 1285 Bishop Roger de 

 Meulent modified this, by allowing that on the resigna- 

 tion or death of the vicar then holding, one of the 

 canons, being a fit and honest priest, might be pre- 

 sented, seeing that Burscough was so near to the 

 church. 6 Alexander de Wakefield, appointed vicar in 

 1339, seems to have been dissatisfied at the provision 

 made for him, and appealed to the bishop, who on in- 

 quiry found that the preceding vicar had had a com- 

 petent manse and 4 acres of land assigned to him, 

 besides a stipend of 10, all liabilities being discharged 

 by the prior and canons. This the bishop confirmed,' 

 and the new vicar and his patrons accordingly came 

 to an agreement, which was many years afterwards 

 ratified by Pope Innocent VI. 8 



At the valuation made about 1291 by authority of 

 Pope Nicholas IV Ormskirk was found to be worth 

 20 marks a year. 9 At the inquiry of 1341 the ninth 



ORMSKIRK 



of sheaves, fleeces, and lambs was found to be worth 

 24 marks, Lathom answering for 1 2 marks, Hurleton 

 with Scarisbrick 6, and Bickerstaffe with Skelmers- 

 dale 6. 10 



The valuation in 1534 made the rectory worth 

 3 1 1 3*. ^d. from tithes and offerings of all sorts ; the 

 vicar received the 10 stipend fixed 200 years before." 



After the suppression of the priory of Burscough 

 the lo was continued to the vicar (Robert Madoke) 

 and his successors, with the profits of the house and 

 land attached ; and as the size of the parish rendered 

 an assistant priest necessary, a grant of 2CU. towards 

 the tenth payable to the king was made." The rectory 

 was leased out by the crown" until, in 1610, it was 

 granted to the earl of Salisbury and others, apparently 

 as trustees for the earl of Derby." It was sequestrated 

 with the rest of the family estates during the civil war, 

 and in 1650 the vicar had the profits of the vicarage 

 house and glebe, about 4 acres, valued at 5 a 

 year, and l a year bequeathed by James Blackledge 

 of London ; the old stipend of .10 increased to 2 1, 

 payable by the crown, and beyond this, 50 out of 

 the sequestrated estates in the hundred. 15 



A ' review ' of the possessions of the vicarage made 

 in August, 1663, describes the house as 'old' ; it had 

 a small barn and shippon, a garden, and about 4 acres 

 of land, worth 5 or 6 a year. 16 Bishop Gastrell, 

 about 1720, found the value of the vicarage to be 

 44, including the z I pension from the duchy. 

 There were six churchwardens, the jurors in the 

 several township courts appointing one for each." 



The rectory appears to have been part of the dowry 

 of Amelia, daughter of James the seventh earl of 

 Derby, who married the earl of Atholl ; in 1 7 1 3 it 

 was held by John earl of Dunmore. 18 ' The rectorial 

 tithes were some time since,' wrote Gregson in 1817, 

 ' the property of Colonel Francis Charteris, of infamous 

 character, whose grandson, the late Lord Elcho, sold 

 them to various impropriators.' " 



The right of presentation to the vicarage was pur- 

 chased by the earl of Derby in I 549 from Sir William 

 Paget 20 and has remained with his successors to the 

 present time. 



The bishop of Chester in I 593 sanctioned a division 

 of the body of the church into four equal parts, each 

 appropriated to one of the quarters of the parish. The 



243 



