SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



Heaton land belonging to two oxgangs in Gotisbucth, 

 and land belonging to one oxgang in Bedecroft, in 

 exchange for land between Thorisbrook and the Mere- 

 brook between Denton and Haughton. 71 In 1341 

 Richard son of Alexander de Denton claimed by 

 right of inheritance a fourth part of the manor of 

 Denton against Adam son of Richard de Hulton and 

 Robert the Tailor of Tatton. 7 * The latter defendant 

 was omitted in subsequent suits/ 8 and in 1348 

 Richard continued his claim against Avice widow 

 of Adam de Hulton ; M four years later he renewed 

 it against Thomas de Booth. 75 



A family surnamed Moston 76 had an estate, 

 once described as a fourth part of the manor, which 

 appears to have been merged in those of the other 

 owners in Denton. 76a 



Among the other landowners of Denton in the 

 1 6th and I7th centuries were the Barlow, 77 Hulme, 78 

 Reddish, 79 and Tyldesley 80 families In 1597 an 

 agreement as to twenty-four messuages on forty 

 parcels of land reclaimed from the waste of Denton 

 and Haughton was made between Richard Holland, 

 Robert Hyde of Norbury, Alexander Reddish, 

 Alexander Barlow, Adam Hulton, Robert Hyde of 

 Denton, Thomas Ashton of Shepley, and Ralph 

 Haughton on the one part, and Sir Robert Cecil, 

 Hugh Beeston, and Michael Hicks on the other. 81 



From the land tax returns of 1789 it appears that 

 Lord Grey de Wilton and William Hulton paid two- 

 thirds of the tax ; the remainder was contributed by 

 a number of owners in small sums. 8 * 



In 1846 the land was held by twenty-seven pro- 

 prietors, the principal being the Earl of Wilton, 

 Miss Mary Woodiwiss, and the trustees of Ellis 

 Fletcher, these together holding two-thirds of the 

 total area. 83 



The church of ST. LAURENCE 



CHURCH (formerly St. James, the dedication 



having been changed about 1 800 by the 



rector) M stands on the south side of the town, and 



is a low timber building on a stone base, consisting of 

 chancel, north and south double transepts, and nave 

 with a bell-turret at its west end. The nave alone 

 is ancient, and is a simple parallelogram 76 ft. long 

 by 2 3 ft. wide. The chancel and transepts were added 

 in 1872, and are built in a style similar to that of the 

 original structure. The chancel is 26 ft. in length 

 and 1 8 ft. in width, and the transepts project 1 8 ft. 

 to the north and south, and are 35 ft. wide. These 

 measurements are all internal. The framework of 

 the original structure is composed of oak posts and 

 transverse beams in the usual manner of timber- 

 framed buildings. At the end of the i8th century 

 the church was in so dilapidated a condition that 

 the roof was taken off and reslated with the old stone 

 slates, and the ancient walls encased in cement on 

 the outside and lath and plaster within. There were 

 further repairs in 1816, 1837, and 1862. 



The exterior of the building, though retaining in 

 general its original appearance of black and white 

 work, preserves in reality no ancient detail. The 

 north wall has a plaster face painted to represent half- 

 timber work, while the south and west walls have 

 been boarded over and treated in a similar manner. 

 The lines of the ancient timbers are apparently 

 followed, the walls being divided at about half their 

 height by a horizontal piece, and the lower division 

 filled with upright studs, while the upper part has 

 four windows on each side, and the spaces between 

 filled with diagonal battens. A cove runs round the 

 entire building under the eaves. The west gable is 

 now without a barge board, but is said to have had 

 an ornamental one at the end of the i8th century. 

 The bell-turret, which is painted to represent half- 

 timber work, has a pointed roof with a weather-cock. 



The original church is divided into six bays, the 

 four western of which are 146. from centre to 

 centre and formed the nave, and the two at the east 

 end, which are only about 10 ft. wide, the chancel. 

 At the end of the 1 8th century, and probably earlier, 



71 Lord Wilton's D. From this it 

 would seem that Roger held three ox- 

 gangs. 



7 a De Banco R. 326, m. 271. 



7> Ibid. 328, m. 369 ; 333, m. 92 d. 



7* Ibid. 353, m. n8d. Richard 

 claimed by a grant made to his father 

 Alexander in the time of Edward II by 

 one William de Tintwisle. Avice replied 

 that what was called a fourth part of the 

 manor was two oxgangs of land in Denton 

 only, and that they had been granted to 

 Adam de Hulton by Alexander son of 

 Roger de Denton, she holding for life 

 with reversion to Roger the son of Adam. 

 The fine above cited (which, however, 

 concerns one oxgang only) was referred to. 



7* Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, m. 

 2 d. (July). The defence was that 

 Thomas was not in possession. 



76 The Moston family have been men- 

 tioned in preceding notes. 



In 1256 Richard de Moston made com- 

 plaint of a ditch overthrown in Denton ; 

 Orig. 40 Hen. Ill, m. 9. In 1278 he 

 appeared as plaintiff in a similar case 

 against Robert Grelley ; Assize R. 1238, 

 m. 31 ; 1239, m. 39. Richard lord of 

 Moston in 1319-20 granted to Richard 

 his son an oxgang in Denton, with the 

 reversion of another then occupied by the 

 grantor's son Hugh ; Harl. MS. 2112, 

 fol. 163/199. John son of Hugh de 



Moston in 1346 granted rents from his 

 lands in Denton to Richard and Hugh, 

 sons of Henry de Tyldesley ; Lord Wil- 

 ton's D. 



76a William de Moston in 1349 claimed 

 a fourth part of the manor of Denton and 

 30 acres of land against Thurstan son of 

 William de Holland ; De Banco R. 359, 

 m. 13 ; 362, m. 14. Again in 1352 

 Thomas son of William de Abneyof High 

 Peak claimed the fourth part of the 

 manor against Thurstan de Holland, 

 alleging that he was brother and heir of 

 one Adam de Abney, whose land had been 

 wrongfully taken by Richard de Moston, 

 the vendor to Thurstan ; his claim was 

 rejected ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, 

 m. 9 (Pentecost) ; see also Dep. Keeper' t 

 Rep. xxxii, App. 334. An agreement was 

 afterwards made between the parties ; 

 Lord Wilton's D. 



77 Sir Alexander Barlow in 1620 held 

 land in Denton and Haughton of Hamnet 

 Hyde of Norbury in socage, by a rent of 

 i8</. ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 206. From the account of 

 Barlow in Chorlton it will be seen that 

 the connexion of the family with Haugh- 

 ton can be traced back to about 1400. 



" 8 Booker, Denton, 39. William Hulme 

 of Reddish in 1637 held a barn, &c., in 

 Denton, also a messuage and lands lately 

 improved from the waste ; Duchy of 



Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, 3. This forms 

 part of the estate of the Hulme Trustees. 

 7' Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 253. 



80 Thurstan Tyldesley in 1560 pur- 

 chased from Adam Hulton and Clemency 

 his wife ten messuages and various lands 

 in Denton, Openshaw, and Gorton ; those 

 in Denton he appears to have sold in 

 1564 to John Haughton ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdles. 22, m. 39 ; 26, m. 116. 



81 Ibid. bdle. 58, m. 203 ; see also 

 Booker, op. cit. 5, where it is stated that 

 292 acres of the waste were inclosed at 

 that time, whereof Richard Holland 

 received 79, Robert Hyde of Norbury 88, 

 Adam Hulton 46, Robert Hyde of 

 Denton 38, Robert Hulme 6, Robert 

 Ashton 5, Alexander Reddish i, Ralph 

 Haughton 22, and Alexander Barlow 7. 



82 Returns at Preston. 

 88 Booker, op. cit. 9. 



84 ' Deceived by false information 

 (Britton and Brayley, Beauties of England 

 and Wales, ix, 288) Mr. Greswell has 

 been led to assign to the structure an 

 earlier date of foundation than the facts 

 of the case warrant and has perpetuated 

 the error by an inscription ..." Struxit 

 Ricardus Holland de Denton, armiger, 

 anno Edwardi IV septimo"'; Booker 

 op. cit. 46. The inscription unfortunately 

 remains on the south side of the church. 



