WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WIGAN 



In 1600 the freeholders were James Bankes, Ed- 

 mund Atherton, and James Winstanley of Blackley 

 Hurst. 17 William Bankes and William Blackburne 

 contributed to the subsidy of i6z8. 18 William 

 Bankes, Thomas Blackburne of Blackley Hurst, clerk, 

 and the heirs of James Winstanley of Hough Wood, 

 contributed in i663. 19 A number of Winstanley 

 Quakers were in 1670 convicted as 'Popish recu- 

 sants,' two-thirds of their properties being sequestra- 

 ted. 20 Thomas Marsh, John Buller, William Jameson, 

 and Thomas Appleton, as ' papists,' registered estates 

 here in 



ORRELL 



Horul, 1212 ; Orel, 1292 ; Orhull, 1294 ; Orul, 

 1307.^ 



This township, sometimes called Orrell in Maker- 

 field, to distinguish it from Orrell in Sefton parish, 

 has an area of 1,617^ acres. 1 It is divided from Up- 

 holland on the west by Dean Brook, flowing through 

 a pleasantly- wooded dingle to join the Douglas, which 

 forms the northern boundary. It is situated on the 

 eastern slope of the ridge of high ground stretching 

 north from Billinge to Dalton. The country is open 

 and varied, and consists of pasture land and fields, 

 where the crops are chiefly potatoes, wheat, and oats. 

 Towards the south the country is even more bare and 

 treeless as it merges into the colliery district. The 

 soil is clay with a mixture of sand, over a foundation 

 of hard stone. The town of Upholland is partly 

 situated in this township, and the Abbey Lake, a small 

 sheet of water, is the rendezvous of picnic parties and 

 excursions from the larger towns in the neighbourhood, 

 such a lake being attractive on account of the scarcity 

 of water in the district. 



The principal road is that from Ormskirk to Wigan, 



which passes through the township from west to 

 east, and is crossed by a road leading northwards 

 from St. Helens to Standish. Orrell Mount, over 

 300 ft., and Orrell Post are to the east of the 

 point where the roads cross ; to the south-west is 

 Far Moor, and to the north Ackhurst. Lamberhead 

 Green lies on the eastern edge, partly in Pemberton. 

 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Liverpool 

 and Wigan line crosses the southern corner of the 

 township, having a station there called Orrell ; the 

 same company's Wigan and Southport line passes 

 through the northern portion, close to the Douglas, 

 with a station called Gathurst. 



The population in 1901 numbered 5,436. 



Nail-making is carried on, and there is a cotton 

 mill. Roburite is made at Gathurst. In 1787 there 

 were coal mines working under five different owner- 

 ships. 2 



A local board was formed in i872. s The town- 

 ship is now governed by an urban district council of 

 twelve members. 



Before the Conquest, as afterwards, 

 M4NOR ORRELL was the extreme north-west 

 berewick of the manor or fee of Newton 

 in Makerfield/ and it remained a member of it until 

 the 1 7th century. 6 The available materials for its 

 history are but scanty. At the survey of 1 2 1 2 it was 

 held in thegnage by Richard de Orrell as half a plough- 

 land, by the service of i os, rent and finding a judge ; 

 this was an arrangement ' of ancient time.' 6 There 

 was an ancient subordinate holding, William holding 

 half an oxgang after giving Thomas de Orrell two ox- 

 gangs in free marriage in the time of King Richard. 

 Richard de Orrell himself had recently given one 

 oxgang to his brother John, and previously 4 acres to 

 the Hospitallers. 7 Soon afterwards grants were made 

 to Cockersand Abbey by Richard de Orrell and John 

 his son. 8 



Gent. Mag. 1785, ii, 747. She died in 

 1803 without issue. 



The following members of the family 

 matriculated at Oxford, Brasenose College: 

 William son of William Blackburne of 

 Billinge, plebeian, i6z6, aged 17 (after- 

 wards vicar of Chartbury) ; Richard son 

 of William, 1633, aged 21 ; Thomas son 

 of William, of Blackley Hurst, 1639, 

 aged 18 (B.D. 1661) ; John son of Wil- 

 liam, of Billinge, 1640, aged 18 (B.D. 

 1662) ; Foster's Alumni. 



William son of Thomas Blackburne 

 occurs in 1673 in the account of Newton 

 in Makerfield. 



William Blackburne, of Blackley Hurst, 

 John his son and heir apparent, and Wil- 

 liam the son of John, are all mentioned 

 in a lease enrolled in 1718 ; Piccope MSS. 

 (Chet. Lib.), iii, fol. 200, from 2nd R. of 

 George I at Preston. 



A Roger Rigby of Blackley Hurst, 

 brother of Edward Rigby of Burgh, was 

 in 1 5 90 reported as ' evil given in religion ' ; 

 Lydiate Hall, 250. 



*l Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 239, 242. Edward Winstanley and 

 Humphrey Atherton had a dispute con- 

 cerning lands in Winstanley in 1593 ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 291, 319. A 

 settlement of lands in Billinge was made 

 in 1596, Humphrey Atherton and Alice 

 his wife, and Edmund, the son and heir, 

 being deforciants ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 59, m. 21. 



Edmund Atherton of Winstanley died 



in 1613 holding land in Billinge of the 

 Baron of Newton ; Humphrey his son 

 and heir was four years old ; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 277. 



From deeds in the possession of W. 

 Farrer it appears that Romeshaw House 

 was part of the Atherton estate. 



" Norris D. (B.M.). 



19 Schedule in possession of W. Farrer. 

 A William Blackburne of Blackley Hurst 

 is also named. 



30 Local Glean. Lanes, and Cbes. i, 234, 

 where lists referring to this and neigh- 

 bouring townships are printed. 



ffl Engl. Catb. Nonjurors, 97, 125, 135, 

 151. Appleton's house was called The 

 Riddings. 



1 Including 7 acres of inland water ; 

 Census of 1901. 



9 Land tax returns at Preston. The 

 owners were William German, Blundell & 

 Co., Hardcastle & Co., Rev. Thomas 

 Holme, and Richard Culshaw & Co. 



8 Land. Gaz. 21 June 1872. 



4 y.C.H. Lanes, i, 286. 



5 See the various inquisitions of the 

 Langtons ; e.g. Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. 

 Soc.), i, 138 ; ii, 99; ibid. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 105. 



6 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 76. Richard de Orrell 

 occurs from 1201 in the Pipe R. (Lanes. 

 Pipe R. 152, 179, <fec.), but it appears 

 from the Survey that he had been in 

 posseition in the time of Henry II. 



7 Lanct. Inq. and Extents, loc. cit. 



The grant to the Hospitallers is not 

 mentioned in the list of their lands 

 in the Plac. de Quo War. (Rec. Com.), 

 375, nor in the rental of 1540; but in 

 1617 James Bankes of Winstanley held 

 a messuage and various lands in Orrell, 

 with common of pasture, of William, Earl 

 of Derby, as of his manor of Woolton, by 

 i zd. rent ; these were probably the Hos- 

 pitallers' lands ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. 

 Soc.), ii, 98. 



8 Cockersand Chart. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 

 651-4. Richard de Orrell granted a piece 

 of land between Clamsclough and Bradley 

 Brook, and between the Douglas and Os- 

 bernlea. 



John son of Richard de Orrell granted 

 Haselenhurst ; from Bradley Brook where 

 Small Brook enters it, up to the syke 

 dividing the Cockersand land from that of 

 William de Orrell, following the syke to 

 Small Brook, and down this to the start. 

 This land had been previously granted to 

 Adam son of Robert ; the charter state* 

 that Bradley Brook flowed down from 

 Swithel Hills. 



William son of Leising released his 

 claim in these lands to the canons. 



In 1501 Robert Orrell held a portion of 

 the abbey's lands, and the heirs of Robert 

 Holland the remainder, for a total rent 

 of izd. ; Cockersand Rental (Chet. Soc.), 



4, 5- 



The Cockersand lands here, as elsewhere, 

 appear to have been granted to Thomas 



Holt. 



12 



