WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



crown was made in May, I 547, to Sir William Paget ; 

 it included the site of the priory, all the demesne lands, 

 Martin Grange, rights of pasture, fishing, mills, and so 

 forth ; but no mention is made of manorial rights. 1 

 Shortly afterwards (1549) the grantee sold the estate 

 to the earl of Derby, from whom it has descended to 

 the present earl. 2 The manor was granted in August, 

 1560, to Sir George Stanley of Cross Hall, in reward 

 for the 'great, painful, and valiant service' done by 

 him in the wars in Ireland and foreign countries. 3 

 After his death (1570) it passed to his sons, Edward, 

 who died in 1576, and Henry, who died in 1590 

 without male issue, when it reverted to the crown. It 

 was in 1591 granted to the earl of Derby, 4 and has 

 since passed with the earldom. In 1651, when the 

 rights of the crown were in the hands of trustees for 

 the Commonwealth, a report was made that certain 

 profits had never been attended to or collected. 5 



Immediately after the surrender it was ordered that 

 the buildings of the priory should be demolished. The 

 earl of Derby was very reluctant to destroy the church, 

 his ancestors having been buried there, and offered to 

 maintain a priest if permission were granted. 6 This 

 must have been denied as the buildings have been 

 demolished, the only conspicuous fragments now re- 

 maining being the northern piers of the central tower ; 

 portions of old walls remain just below the surface of 

 the ground. In 1886 a systematic exploration of the 

 ground on which the church stood was carried out, and 

 many interesting details and remains of the building 

 were found. 7 



ORMSKIRK 



The church was cruciform with a presbytery 42 ft. 

 by 24 ft. ; central tower 22 ft. 6 in. square ; north 

 transept 26ft. 6 in. by 25ft. 6 in. ; south transept 

 24ft. by 23 ft. ; and nave looft. by 24ft. gin. with 

 a north aisle 1 2 ft. wide. On the south side of the 

 nave were the claustral buildings, the cloister being 

 about 67 ft. square. The eastern and southern ranges 

 were not cleared, but the approximate size of the frater, 

 54ft. by 21 ft. was ascertained by sounding with a 

 bar. About half the western range was uncovered, 

 and the foundations of a building were cleared adjoin- 

 ing the north side of the north transept. The parts 

 now above ground are the north-east and north-west 

 piers of the central tower of the church, which stand 

 to some height above the springing of the crossing 

 arches, though the voussoirs of the arches themselves 

 have been removed. The work is plain but good in 

 design and workmanship, its date being c. 1280, and 

 both transepts and the presbytery appear to have been 

 of the same date. 



Whether any part of the older church was discovered 

 is not stated, but the gap between the east wall of the 

 cloisters and the south transept suggests that the former 

 is on the site of the twelfth-century cloister, and pre- 

 served the old arrangement after the eastward enlarge- 

 ment of the church c. 1280. The plan of the nave 

 also may represent that of the twelfth-century church. 

 A careful and complete excavation of the site is much 

 to be desired. 



Court rolls of the period during which the manor 

 was held by the crown have been preserved. In I 536 



259 



