Presented 



30 Oct. 1826 

 29 Dec. 1839 

 24 Nov. 1874 



A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Name Patron 



. Jonathan Topping T. 3rd Lord Lilford . 



. James Irvine, M.A. 1 



. Joseph Heaton Stanning, M.A. 8 . . T. 4th Lord Lilford . 



Vacant by 

 d. last incumbent 



A dispute as to the patronage occurred after the 

 death of John de Urmston in 1326. Henry de 

 Rixton, clerk, was admitted 20 September, 1326, 

 upon the presentation of William de Urmston, 3 against 

 whom, however, the king recovered his right to pre- 

 sent, by reason of the lands of Robert de Holand 

 being in his hands, and Rixton was removed on the 

 nominal plea of his being a married man. 4 The king 

 then presented John de Blebury, clerk, on 5 January, 

 1327.* Protracted proceedings ensued consequent 

 upon Urmston's presentation. Rixton refused to give 

 up possession, and being cited to appear at Lichfield 

 on 4 January, 1328, to show cause why he should not 

 be removed, failed to appear, and Blebury was again 

 instituted on the day following. Rixton still retained 

 possession and appealed to the court of the primate, 

 who ordered the parties to be cited before him, but 

 afterwards his official withdrew the inhibition issued 

 against Blebury. Meantime the parishioners had 

 been holding the church and rectory against Blebury. 

 At length, on the morrow of Midsummer, 1328, the 

 prior of Holland, by the direction of his diocesan, 

 proceeded to Leigh and inducted Blebury, his oppo- 

 nents having withdrawn their opposition under threat 

 of excommunication. 6 Upon Blebury's death John 

 de Holand, clerk, was admitted on 20 December, 

 1339, being presented by Sir Robert de Holand, knt. 7 

 He died in Lent, 1 346, when the same patron pre- 

 sented Thomas de Tansouere chaplain. 8 



The Clergy List of 1541-2 shows that in addition 

 to the vicar there were four priests at Leigh, one of 

 them being the curate. 9 The Visitation List of 

 1548 records eight names, but one died about that 

 time and another was absent. The number was 

 quickly reduced, as in other places, and only four 

 appeared in 1554 ; in 1562 and later visitations the 

 vicar and the curate were the only clergy recorded. 10 



That the changes in outward ceremonial were at 

 once carried out in Leigh is known by the story of 

 Geoffrey Hurst, who, associated with Simon Smith, 

 Henry Brown, and George Eckersley, was one of the 

 Elizabethan commissioners to ' see the queen's pro- 

 ceedings take place.' Henry Brown was afterwards 

 reproached with having pulled down the crosses, rood- 



sollar, and images of the saints which stood in the 

 church. Thomas Leyland of Morleys, an adherent 

 of the old order, ' did very few times come to the 

 church, but said he was aged.' When he did appear 

 he brought ' a little dog which he would play with all 

 service time, and the same dog had a collar full of 

 bells, so that the noise of them did molest and trouble 

 others as well as himself from hearing the service.' " 



In 1575 'great misorders' were committed in the 

 church owing to Thomas Langley, steward of the 

 lord of Atherton, claiming to nominate a curate, 

 apparently in right of the former chantry. The 

 vicar stated that ' on Innocents' Day Langley and his 

 associates swarmed about him in the chancel like unto 

 a swarm of bees, he being himself alone in the quire,' 

 saying that their old curate, one Horrocks, should 

 serve them in spite of all men ; and that ' such a boy ' 

 as the vicar's nominee was not able to serve them, 

 and should not serve, though ' he were as well learned 

 as the Dean of Paul's.' 1 ' In 1590 the vicar, a 

 ' preacher,' was resident in Cheshire, and his curate, 

 who was ' no preacher,' does not appear to have had 

 any assistance in a parish supposed to have 2,000 

 communicants. 13 In 1592 it was found that the 

 church needed repairs ; there were no perambulations. 

 The vicar refused to wear the surplice, and the youth 

 were not regularly instructed and catechized ; the 

 curate imitated his superior, but amendment was 

 promised. 14 About 1611 the incumbent was described 

 as being no preacher, but Mr. Midgeley, one of the 

 king's preachers, had been placed there. 15 



Chapels were built at Astley in 1631, and at Ather- 

 ton in 1648, both probably under the influence of 

 the Puritan movement, and their ministers were resi- 

 dent in 1650. 16 These chapels, after the Restoration, 

 continued for a long time in the hands of the Non- 

 conformists, the parish church remaining the only 

 place for the Established worship until the beginning 

 of the eighteenth century. 17 



In 1836 there were in addition to the parish 

 church sixteen places of worship, which by 1851 had 

 increased in number to twenty-eight. At the present 

 time there are altogether fifty-four places of worship 

 in the ancient parish, including fourteen Church of 



1 Educated at Marischal College, Aber- 

 deen, where he graduated M.A. He was 

 present at the battle of Waterloo in his 

 capacity of army chaplain. Was at dif- 

 ferent times involved in unfortunate 

 disputes with his parishioners, and after 

 several years' absence from the parish 

 through infirmity died in 1874, in his 

 8 3rd year; Manchester Guardian, 7 Oct. 

 1874. 



> Educated at Clare Coll., Camb. ; B.A. 

 1859, M.A. 1862. Canon Stanning is 

 rural dean of Eccles, surrogate and hono- 

 rary canon of Manchester, and honorary 

 chaplain of the Leigh Union. 



Lich. Epis. Reg. Northburgh, ii, 101*. 



Ibid. 103. Ibid. 



The numerous documents connected 

 with the proceedings are recorded in Duchy 

 of Lane. Misc. bdle. i, n. 1 8 ; Hist, and Gen. 

 Notes, ii, iii, passim. In consequence of the 

 attitude adopted by some of the parishioners 

 toward* Blebury, the principal free tenants 



of Atherton, Astley, Pennington, Tyldes- 

 ley, and Bedford were obliged to enter into 

 recognizances for the payment of consider- 

 able sums of money to Parson Blebury 

 from 133010 1336. Names and details 

 will be found in Cal. Close R. 1330-3, 

 pp. 172, 397, 611 ; 1333-7, PP 361-2, 

 535.720- 



^ Lichfield Epis. Reg. Northburgh, ii, 

 113*. 8 Ibid. 119. 



9 Clergy List (Rcc. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 14. The names have been given 

 in preceding notes. 



10 Visit. Lists at Chester. 



11 Foxe, Acts and Monti, (ed. Cattley), 

 viii, 564. It was further noticed that 

 Thomas Leyland, ' as he sat in his chapel 

 at service time,' used 'on a willow bark to 

 knit knots (for that he could not be suf- 

 fered to have his beads) and to put the 

 same upon a string also.' 



" Raines, Chant. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 171. 

 Canon Raines seems to be in error in sup- 



420 



posing 'Sir Horrocks' to have been the 

 former Atherton chantry priest ; the name 

 does not occur in the Visit. Lists down 

 to 1565. In 1542 Robert Atherton was 

 Mr. Atherton's chaplain, and was still 

 there in 1 548. The ' boy ' curate, Henry 

 Widdenstall, clerk, exhibited his letters 



20 August, 1575 ; Pennant's Acct. Book 

 (at Chester). 



13 Gibson, Lydiate Hall, 248, quoting 

 S.P. Dom. Eliz. ccxxxv, n. 4. 



Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), x, 187. 



" Kenyan MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), 

 13. This arrangement may not have 

 lasted very long. In 1620 the vicar of 

 Leigh paid nothing to the subsidy, and 



the only Leigh contributors ; Misc. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 53, 65. 



1 Commonwealth Ch. Surv. 55-9. 



V See the accounts of Atherton and 

 Astley. 



