A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Land in Healdhouses was granted to the Traffords S3 

 and held by them from the I3th to the i6th cen- 

 tury, 34 when part or all was sold to the Mosleys. 36 

 There are some records also of a Fallowfield family. 36 

 One or two other small estates appear in the inquisi- 

 tions. 37 Near Fallowfield was the place called Ald- 

 hulme, mentioned in the Cockersand and other grants ; 

 it is now represented by fields called Great and Little 

 Oldham, on the south side of Fallowfield Brook. 38 

 Apart from these alienations, mostly on the outskirts 

 of the township, the land appears to have been re- 



tained by the lords of the manor; and in 1784 

 William Egerton contributed three-fourths of the land 

 tax in Withington and Fallowfield. 39 



About 1567 there were disputes between Edmund 

 TrafFord and Nicholas Longford respecting the ' waste 

 grounds, moors or commons called Didsbury Moor, 

 Withington Moor, Moss Green alias Moss Side, and 

 Chorlton Moor.' 40 



For the Established Church St. Paul's, Withington, 

 was erected in 1841," and Holy Innocents', Fallow- 

 field, in 1872." The patronage in each case is 



gerith de Withington gave 8 acres on the 

 south side of the great ditch (Nico Ditch), 

 as marked by crosses ; also 4 acres ex- 

 tending from the great ditch along the 

 churchway towards the land of Walter de 

 Withington, &c. ; Cockersand Chart (Chet. 

 Soc), ii, 729, 731. The Traffbrds were 

 tenants of these lands in 1451 and later ; 

 ibid, iv, 1238. As the charters cited were 

 afterwards among the deeds of Worsley of 

 Platt (Harl. MS. 2112, fols. 46, &c.) this 

 family no doubt acquired the land. 



In 1292 the Abbot of Cockersand was 

 called upon to justify his claims in With- 

 ington ; Plac. de Quo /iPar.(Rec.Com.),379. 



88 The de TrafFord evidences contain 

 the following : Ellis son of Robert de 

 Pendlebury to Henry son of Robert son 

 of Ralph de TrafFord all the land of 

 ' Gildehusestide ' within bounds beginning 

 at Gooselache, thence to the pool where 

 Matthew son of William raised a dyke to 

 turn the water for his mill ; by another 

 dyke to the moss and so back to Goose- 

 lache ; with all the liberties which the free- 

 men of the said Matthew his lord enjoyed, 

 but Matthew would have a road across the 

 land for carrying his hay. A rent of 45. 

 was payable ; De TrafFord D. no. 310. 



Another charter concerning the same 

 land (as it seems) reduced the rent to 31.5 

 no. 311. Roger de Pendlebury afterwards 

 released to a later Henry de TrafFord all 

 right to rent for the land in the Gild- 

 houses ; no. 312, 128. At that time Sir 

 Simon de Gousill was the chief lord of 

 the land ; no. 313. Meantime Matthew 

 son of Matthew de Haversage had granted 

 land near Gooselache to Richard de Traf- 

 ford ; it measured 20 acres by the perch 

 of 22 ft., and the bounds began at the 

 Great Moss, went up Gooselache to the 

 boundary of Platt and thence across to 

 Grenclowlache, with common of pasture 

 of the vill of Withington ; the rent was 

 an iron spur or 3</. ; no. 129. The seal 

 shows a coat of five pales with a chief, 

 and part of the legend : . . . EV : DE : 



HAVER . . . E. 



Simon de Gousill released to Henry de 

 TrafFord his claim to the 3*. rent due 

 from the Gildhouses, or rather reduced it 

 to zs. ; and he granted all his part of the 

 land outside Henry's ditch within bounds 

 beginning at the corner of the Twenty 

 Acres (held by Henry of Simon) as far as 

 the ditch called the Hules towards With- 

 ington, so that the ditch of the Hules 

 might extend straight across the moss as 

 far as the corner towards TrafFord. A 

 rent of id. was due; ibid. no. 131, 132. 

 The charter last quoted is endorsed, ' For 

 the Moss green and boundary of the same," 

 and the above grants seem to relate to 

 lands partly at least in the later townships 

 of Moss Side and Rusholmc. 



A further charter from Simon de Gou- 

 sill remitted the rent above-named, substi- 

 tuting the annual gift of a pair of gloves 

 or id. ; ibid. no. 133. 



Nicholas de Longford, lord of Withing- 

 ton in 1317, granted to Sir Henry de 

 TrafFord a portion of his waste in the vill 

 of Withington within these bounds: Begin- 

 ning at Gooselache to the out-lane of the 

 Platt, following the highway north to 

 Greenlowlache, down this lache west to 

 Kemlache, and thence south (by pits and 

 ditches) to the 'Yhildhouse' Ditch and 

 by it to the starting point. A rent of 

 \js. was payable; ibid. no. 136. Com- 

 mon of turbary in the ' Yhildhouse ' Moss 

 was also allowed to Sir Henry de TrafFord 

 and his tenants; no. 137. The seal of 

 Nicholas de Longford shows a coat of 

 three pales with a chief, debruised by a 

 bend. 



In 1449 some dispute had broken out 

 between Sir Nicholas Longford and Sir 

 Edward TrafFord respecting lands 'called 

 the Moss Green, otherwise called the 

 Yeldehouse Moss green," and it was re- 

 ferred to the arbitration of Sir Thomas 

 Ashton and others ; no. 139, 318. 



A dispute as to 20 acres in Moss Green 

 occurred in 1600. Richard Percivall had 

 in 1597 obtained a lease from Sir Robert 

 Cecil and others ; this he transferred to 

 Thomas Goodyer, whose right descended 

 to his son Robert. Rowland Mosley, 

 having purchased the fee simple, ejected 

 Robert Goodyer, alleging non-payment of 

 the rent of zos. due ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Plead. Eliz. cxcviii, G. 2. 



84 Lands in Withington, Yeldehouse, 

 Rusholme, Fallowfield, Moss Side, and 

 Chorlton are mentioned in the inquisition 

 after the death of Edmund TrafFord in 

 1563 ; they were held of Nicholas Long- 

 ford in socage by the rent of \js. id. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xi, n. See 

 also ibid, xv, 46, in which the tenures are 

 not stated. 



85 Rowland Mosley in 1597 bought a 

 messuage and lands in Withington from 

 Edmund TrafFord ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 58, m. 300. Rowland Mosley 

 held lands in Yeeldhouses, &c., at his death 

 in 1617; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc.), ii, 67. 



86 In a Birch Deed of 1301 mention is 

 made of Jordan son of William de Fallow- 

 field ; Booker, Didsbury, 124. 



Thomas son of John de Fallowfield 

 (Falufeld) in 1317 granted to Nicholas 

 son of Sir Henry de TrafFord land and 

 wood called Ditchflat in Fallowfield in 

 the vill of Withington. The bounds be- 

 gan at the corner of the assart formerly 

 belonging to John son of Alexander de 

 Fallowfield, went down to Huthunbethum 

 lache, followed the Heystowe between 

 Ditchflat and the lache named as far as 

 the Mickle Ditch, up this to the land of 

 the said John son of Alexander, and so to 

 the boundary ; De TrafFord D. no. 105. 



In 1348 Robert de Fallowfield claimed 

 a messuage and 2 acres in Withington 

 against Sir John de Strickland and Alice 

 his wife. The plaintiff alleged that he 

 was heir of one Odo Ingeson (? son of 



292 



Ingerith) who in the time of Edward I 

 had demised the tenement to Thomas son 

 of Odo for a term, and he put forward the 

 following pedigree : Odo -8. Robert -s. 

 John -dr. Cecily -s. Robert (plaintiff) ; 

 De Banco R. 356, m. 140. 



A Fallowfield dispute of the time of 

 Henry VIII may be mentioned here. 

 James Siddall, apparently a weaver, tenant- 

 at-will to Sir Edmund Trafford, died about 

 1530 leaving a widow Alice and sons 

 James and Henry. Henry's widow married 

 one Edward Holt, who tried to gain pos- 

 session of a chest kept in Alice's house in 

 ' the township of Fallowfield,' which con- 

 tained the family money and goods. It 

 is mentioned that Henry had been exe- 

 cutor of Thomas Siddall, a priest in Eccles 

 Church. George Siddall of Moss Side 

 and John Siddall of Fallowfield, both 

 Trafford tenants, are also named ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Deps. Hen. VIII, xxxvi, S. i ; 

 xlv, S. i. 



8 7 The Hulmes of Reddish had a barn 

 and lands in Withington, held of the 

 Mosleys as lords of Withington ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xviii, 10 ; xxix, 70. 

 The origin of the holding is probably a 

 grant made by Matthew son of William 

 to Henry de Trafford of his right in a 

 croft called Aldehulm, viz. three parts of 

 that croft within these bounds : From 

 Thelebrook by the ditch near Saltegate 

 as far as the head of the ridge of Alre- 

 barrow, down to Shepherd Croft, and by 

 this croft to Thelebrook and the starting 

 point. A rent of izd. was due ; Hulme 

 D. no. i. The name of the grantor shows 

 that the charter must be placed early in 

 the 1 3th century. 



The Strangeways family held a mes- 

 suage and 8 acres in Withington ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 130; Lanes. 

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

 132. 



88 Matthew de Haversage granted to 

 Richard de Trafford land which Adam son 

 of Alexander de Didsbury had formerly 

 held of him, within bounds beginning at 

 Cringle Brook, following the ditch to the 

 north as far as ' Holdholm ' Brook, along 

 this brook to the boundary between 

 Richard's land and Theumannes Croft, 

 following west to the high road (alta 

 strata), by the road to Holdholm Brook, 

 and by the ditch going south to Cringle 

 Brook, with common of pasture and other 

 easements in Withington. A rent of zs. 

 was payable ; De Trafford D. no. 130. 



89 Land tax returns at Preston. For 

 the chief landowners about 1850 see 

 Booker, Didsbury, 123. 



40 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. Ixxiv, 

 T. 7. The parties desired arbitration. 



41 Booker, op. cit. 128, 129. For dis- 

 trict see Land. Gaz. 16 June 1854. 



42 Mission services had been held for 

 some years previously. A district was 

 assigned to the church in 1873 ; Land. 

 Gas,, z Sept. 



