SALFORD HUNDRED 



ECCLES 



Instituted Name Patron 



Feb. 1 86 1. . James Pelham Pitcairn, M.A. 71 . . The Crown . . 



1893. . Hon. Arthur Temple Lyttelton, M.A." 



1899. . Frederic D'Austini Cremer, M.A." . 



Cause of Vacancy 

 d. W. Marsden 

 d. J. P. Pitcairn 

 prom. A. T. Lyttelton 



Before the Reformation the regular staff consisted 

 of the vicar, who was bound to reside, and three 

 chantry priests ; there were, however, others residing 

 in the parish, and at the visitation of 1 548 seven 

 names were recorded, while six appeared in 1554. 

 The old priests dying out, there were only four at the 

 visitation of 1563 ; viz. Edward Pendleton, the con- 

 forming vicar, who had also to attend to the school at 

 Manchester ; his curate ; George Wirrall, the survivor 

 of the chantry priests ; and John Pilsworth, chap- 

 lain of the Lady Brereton of Tatton. Two years 

 later the curate had disappeared, his place being taken 

 by ' a reader ' ; George Wirrall still survived, but the 

 chaplain had no mention. 74 The parish church and 

 the chapel at Ellenbrook were probably served for 

 some time by the vicar and a licensed reader. In 

 1592 it was stated that the vicar, Thomas Williamson, 

 did not wear the surplice, and the warden was enjoined 

 to offer it to him 'so often as he shall hap to minister 

 the sacraments.' Two men were presented for abusing 

 one another in time of divine service, and giving bad 

 words to * the reader.' 7S 



It was not long before things improved somewhat, 

 for in 1610 the vicar and the incumbent of Ellen- 

 brook were both * preachers.' 76 In 1650 the parish 

 church had two ministers, but Ellenbrook, which was 

 not endowed, had sometimes 'a preaching minister* 



and sometimes not. 77 Little or no change seems to 

 have been made until last century. 78 Many of the 

 1 8th-century vicars were non-resident, the curate of 

 the parish church and the minister of Ellenbrook 

 composing the working staff. The first additional 

 church was that at Pendleton in 1 776. 



Attached to the parish church there were formerly 

 several chantries. That at the altar of the Trinity 

 in the south chancel aisle was founded by Sir Geoffrey 

 Massey of Worsley in 1453, for a priest ' to celebrate 

 mass and divers obsequies for the souls of him and his 

 antecessors.' The endowment, ^4 8j., was derived 

 from lands at Wigan and in Cheshire. 79 The Booths 

 of Barton founded more important chantries about 

 the same time. Lawrence Booth, Bishop of Durham 

 1457 to 1480, secured the king's licence in 1450 to 

 found a perpetual chantry at the altar of St. Katherine 

 in Eccles Church ; * there were to be two chaplains, 

 and a rent of 24 marks was assigned for their support. 

 In addition to their special duties, on double feasts 

 the chaplains were to take part in the procession with 

 the other priests and celebrate the canonical hours 

 ' in their surplices, with note devoutly and with 

 skill, within the choir of the church.' 81 An appro- 

 priation of the rectory of Slaidburn was obtained, 

 but lost again, and this chantry failed about I5io. 8 * 

 Lawrence's half-brother, William Booth, Archbishop 



7 1 Educated at Jesus Coll. Cambridge ; 

 M.A. 1851 ; rector of St. John's, Long- 

 sight, 1850-61. It was during his time 

 that Eccles Church was restored. 



? a Son of the fourth Lord Lyttelton ; 

 educated at Trinity Coll. Cambridge ; 

 M.A. 1 877 ; master of Selwyn Coll. 

 1882-93 5 Hulsean Lecturer, 1891. He 

 published a volume of sermons and con- 

 tributed to Lux Mundi. In 1898 he was 

 made suffragan Bishop of Winchester, 

 with the title of Bishop of Southampton. 

 He died in 1903. 



7 Educated at Wadham Coll. Oxford ; 

 M.A. 1873 5 v ' car f Upholland, 1881 ; 

 rector of Keighley, 1888. 



7< From the visitation lists at the Chest. 

 Dioc. Reg. 



The church ornaments, &c., existing in 

 1552 are recorded in Ch. Gds. (Chet. Soc.), 

 20. 



7 8 Lanes, and Cbes. Antiq. Soc. v, 612. 

 At the same time a number of non- 

 communicants were admonished and the 

 churchwardens were ordered to levy the 

 I2</. fine for non-attendance at church, 

 which had not been done. Two parish- 

 ioners were censured for killing a pig ' at 

 time of divine service upon the Sabbath 

 day.' 



'* Hitt. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 1 2. 

 The vicar of Eccles and the curate or lec- 

 turer of Ellenbrook appear somewhat later 

 in the list of clerical contributors referred 

 to above ; Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 54, 66, &c. 



77 Commoniv. Ch. Sur-v. 13, 14. 



~ 8 The visitation list of 1691 shows 

 the vicar and the Ellenbrook curate to 

 have been the only clergy ; the latter was 

 also master of the school. 



? 9 Raines, Lanes. Chant. (Chet. Soc.), 

 i, 129 ; the ornaments were a chalice, 



two sets of vestments, a missal, 'two 

 curtains for the altar ends, of silk,' &c. 



An account of the foundation of this 

 chantry is given in Duchy Plead, i, 49-5 1 . 

 Sir Geoffrey Massey in 1453 8et ap ar t 

 certain lands to the intent that his feoffees 

 ' should find a pnest to say mass and do 

 other divine service yearly in the chapel 

 of the Trinity at Eccles.' John Rainford, 

 it was stated, was the first chantry priest, 

 and was succeeded by Geoffrey Grims- 

 ditch. He in 1510 complained that he 

 had been deprived of his income by the 

 injustice of Sir John Brereton and Dame 

 Joan his wife, who had appointed another 

 priest possibly the Richard Penkethman 

 joined with them as a defendant. The 

 chantry is also mentioned in Sir Geoffrey's 

 will of 1457, in which John Gartside is 

 named as first chantry priest, to be suc- 

 ceeded by Roger Bentley ; Ellesmere D. 

 no. 189. 



Thomas Swain was cantarist in 1534 

 (Valor Eccl. v, 227) and Randle Antrobus 

 in 1 548 (Chant, loc. cit.). The latter is 

 stated to have been possessed in 1552 of 

 ' a silver cup standing on an eagle's foot,' 

 perhaps part of the old chantry furni- 

 ture ; Ch. Gds. 21. In 1569-70 he was 

 living at Frodsham ' an old papist priest, 

 and doth not minister ;' ibid. 22. 



80 Thomas de Booth of Barton in 1368 

 directed that his body should be buried 

 in Eccles Church, before the altar of 

 St. Katherine the Virgin; Chant. 131. 



81 The statutes of the 1450 foundation 

 are printed in Chant. (132, 133) from the 

 Lich. Epis. Reg. x, fol. 89, &c. William 

 Booth, then Bishop of Lichfield, vested 

 the lands (of the value of 24 marks a year) 

 in Lawrence Booth, Sir John Byron, and 

 Seth Worsley, but the Bishops of Lich- 

 field were to nominate the two chaplains. 



361 



These chaplains, receiving equal portions 

 of the endowment, were not to be absent 

 more than thirty days in the year, nor 

 hold any ecclesiastical office outside the 

 parish ; they were daily to say the office 

 and mass for the dead, for the souls of the 

 founders and others named, also 'for all 

 persons to whom God had made him a 

 debtor." On the founder's obit 30*. was 

 to be distributed as follows : To the vicar 

 and each chaplain and stipendiary priest 

 there present, 6d. each ; to other chap- 

 lains and to the parish clerk, 4</. each ; 

 to each of the four clerks singing, id. ; 

 the rest to the poor, with zos. additional, 

 id. being given to each person. A board 

 was to be fixed in St. {Catherine's Chapel, 

 bearing the names of the founder and 

 others who were to be prayed for. 



The following names of the chaplains 

 have been found in the Lich. Epis. Reg. : 

 (i) In 1466, Robert Baguley, chaplain, 

 having died, Ralph Legh (or Lees) was ap- 

 pointed ; ibid, xii, fol. 103. After Ralph's 

 death, Robert Almon was in 1487 ap- 

 pointed ; xii, fol. 121. (ii) In 1468 

 Peter Berdesley having resigned, Oliver 

 Smoult was appointed ; xii, fol. 104. 

 Smoult in turn resigned, and Ralph Der- 

 wynd was appointed in 1473 ; xii, fol. 1 08. 



One vacancy must have followed, for in 

 1487 William Bulkley was instituted, after 

 the death of Henry Reddish ; xii, fol. 121. 

 Both chaplaincies were filled up on th: 

 same day ; and the same thing occurred 

 again in 1498, when Thomas Seddall and 

 William Bretherton were appointed ; xiii, 

 fol. 231. 



82 Whitaker, Whalhy (ed. Nichols), ii, 

 511 ; the advowson of Slaidburn, held by 

 the Prior of Pontefract, was purchased in 

 1456 by the Booth feoffees, but the king 

 afterwards claimed it successfully, and the 



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