

A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



of them by the Bickerstaths and Inces of Aughton, 

 whose rights passed to the Stanleys of Moor Hall. 1 

 It gave a name to the tenants ; Richard de Stotfold- 

 shaw occurs in the time of Edward II. One of his 

 grants to his son Henry has been preserved ; ' and 

 in 1370 Henry son of Simon de Stotfoldshaw re- 

 leased to Gilbert de Ince of Aughton all his lands in 

 Bickerstaffe. 3 Another family connected with the 



MOSSOCK flALL 



ip o 10 20 30 4p 



SCA.IC of Feet 



place was that of Withard, Whitehoud, or White- 

 head, sometimes called Stotfoldshaw. 4 



A long list of the inhabitants in 1366 is given in 

 the roll of contributors to the stipend of a priest at 

 Ormskirk. 5 



Stanley of Bickerstaffe was the only freeholder in 

 l6oo, 6 but in 1628 three were named Sir Edward 

 Stanley, Henry Mossock, and Thomas Cobham. 7 

 John Bullen of Bickerstaffe, as a ' Papist,' registered 

 an estate in 1 717. 



In 1650 the surveyors for the Commonwealth 

 recommended that a church should be built in this 

 township. 9 



The church of Holy Trinity was built in 1843 

 by the earl of Derby, and enlarged in 1860. There 

 is a burial ground attached. The incumbents are 

 presented by the earls of Derby. 



The Society of Friends early had a meeting at 

 Stanley Gate. 10 A house was licensed for meetings 

 in 1689," which were discontinued in 1786, and the 

 house made into cottages." They had also a burial 

 ground in Bickerstaffe, close to Moor Hall in Aughton." 



SKELMERSDALE 



Schelmeresdele, Dom. Bk. ; Skelmersdale, 1 202 ; Scal- 

 mardale, 1246; Skelmaresdale, 1300. There are some 

 eccentric spellings (e.g. Kermersdale, 1292), but only 

 one variant requiring notice, viz. Skelmardesdale and 

 the like, occurring 1300 to 1360. 



Skelmersdale is a particularly bare, unpleasing 

 district, for the most part occupied by collieries, with 

 huge banks of black refuse at intervals amongst tree- 

 less fields. In the outlying parts of the township 

 crops of potatoes and corn are grown in a soil which 

 appears to be sand and clay mixed. That clay con- 

 stitutes a large proportion of the sub-soil is evidenced 

 by the numerous brickworks, which do not tend to 

 render the landscape more picturesque. The River 

 Tawd flows northward through the township on its 

 way to the shady Lathom woodlands, quickly ex- 

 changing a monotonous landscape for one varied with 

 foliage and pleasant meadows. The geological forma- 

 tion consists almost entirely of the middle coal mea- 

 sures, which, over a very small area on the eastern 

 border of the township, are overlaid by the lower 

 mottled bunter sandstones. Near Sephton's Hall in 



