A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



through various hands, and was in December 1845 

 purchased by Colonel George John Miller Ridehalgh 

 of Fell Foot near Ulverston, and on the death of his 

 widow became the property of Mr. George Ride- 

 halgh. 109 



Shaw Hall lies to the east of the parish church about 

 a quarter of a mile north of the River Mersey, and 

 is said to have been built in the reign of James I. 

 The house, however, has been almost entirely mod- 

 ernized, and on the outside no ancient features 

 remain. It is a two-story gabled building the walls 

 of which are now covered with modern rough-cast 

 (except at the back, or west side, where they are of 

 brick), and the roofs with blue slates, and the 

 general appearance is uninteresting. The gables, of 

 which the building possesses no less than fifteen, are 

 rough-cast like the walls, and have either modern 

 barge boards or copings, and all the windows are late 

 insertions. A cupola, formerly containing a bell, 

 which was originally a feature of the building on the 

 outside, has disappeared. 



The house is now divided into two separate dwell- 

 ings, and contains some of its original fittings, though 

 tthe plan has been a good deal altered. There is some 

 jgood oak panelling in two of the lower rooms of the 

 south house, but it has been patched with pitchpine, 

 and painted and varnished. A lower room in the 

 north house is also panelled in oak, similarly patched, 

 but painted white. The hall is now divided, but 

 there is an interesting staircase in the south house 

 the balusters of which take the form of Tuscan, Ionic, 

 and Corinthian columns, repeating in threes, with a 

 thicker Corinthian column as newel. The handrail 

 is modern. The other house has a good Jacobean 

 staircase with twisted balusters, square newels, and 

 original wide handrail. 



The chief interest now attaching to the interior of 

 Shaw Hall, however, lies in two pieces of tapestry in 

 one of the upper rooms representing scenes from the 

 life of Alexander, and a painting on the cove of the 

 hall ceiling representing the wife of Darius kneeling 

 before Alexander, together with a smaller allegorical 

 circular painting on the ceiling of what is now the 

 entrance porch to the north house. The paintings 

 and tapestry are part of the original furniture of the 

 house, and are said to be coeval with the building. 



There was formerly a good deal of lyth-century 

 heraldic glass in the windows, but most of this was 

 taken out when the present sashes were inserted. It 

 is still preserved, however, in the house, and though 

 much broken and mutilated could easily be put to- 

 gether again and replaced. 



Some fragments are still in position in the staircase 

 window in the south house, the two upper lights of 



which contain two shields, one bearing the royal 

 arms of the Stuart sovereigns, encircled by a garter, 

 and the other being a quartered shield of the arms of 

 Trafford with the crest of a man and flail. In the 

 lower lights is a quarry with floral ornamentation and 

 the words * Asshawe de Shawe,' and another with a 

 shield of Asshawe with five quarterings. The house 

 is said formerly to have had a moat, but this had 

 partially disappeared in 1 847 nu and is now planted 

 over. 



There is a stained-glass window in the church 

 commemorating Arthur William Whitnal, 'lord of 

 the manor of Flixton,' who died in 1890. 



No courts have been held for a long period. As 

 in other townships within the barony the constable 

 of Flixton was in the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries sum- 

 moned to attend the Court Leet at Manchester, but 

 no attention was paid to the summons. 111 



The Booths of Barton also held land in Flixton. 1 " 

 The surname Flixton occurs, but was not used by a 

 local family. 118 



Flixton House was formerly the residence of Ralph 

 Wright, who died in 183 1. 114 His estate, partly in- 

 herited and partly purchased, he endeavoured to make 

 more compact and secluded by the closing and divert- 

 ing of footpaths. This roused great opposition in the 

 neighbourhood, ?.nd after several years of expensive 

 litigation the attempt was defeated. 114 



The land tax return of 1787 shows that the land 

 was then much divided ; the largest contributor was 

 William Allen, who paid about a sixteenth. 116 



The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at 

 Flixton. 



URMSTON 



Wermeston, 1 1 94 ; Urmeston, 1212; Urmestone, 

 1302. 



This township, measuring about a mile from north 

 to south and a mile and a half across, has an area of 

 993 acres. 1 The land slopes gently from north to 

 south, where the Mersey forms the boundary. The 

 village lies in the centre of the township. The popu- 

 lation in 1901 numbered 6,594.* 



From the village a road leads east to Stretford and 

 Manchester ; to the west two roads diverge, one to 

 Irlam, the other to the village of Flixton. The 

 Cheshire Lines Railway from Manchester to Liverpool 

 crosses the township, with a station at Urmston, 

 opened in 1873. 



* Tim Bobbin,' the Lancashire dialect writer, whose 

 true name was John Collier, is said to have been born 

 here, but is more closely associated with Milnrow in 

 Rochdale. 1 



.also messuages, chief rents, tithes, &c., in 

 Flixton 5 the yearly value was ,500, sub- 

 ject to a deduction of 48 21. out of the 



. tithes. 



In 1768 the manor of Shaw, with mes- 



suages, malthouse, dovecotes, lands, and 

 appurtenances was sold by Lucy Latus, 



: spinster, to John Salmon ; Pal. of Lane. 



. Feet of F. bdle. 380, m. 47. 



lu9 Information of Messrs. Taylor, 

 Kirkman & Co., Manchester, solicitors 



-of Mr. Ridehalgh. It was in 1836 the 

 property of Miss Warburton ; Baines, 



.Lanes, (nt ed.). See also R. Lawson, loc. 



ck. 



110 Raines, notes to Gastrell's Notitia. 



111 Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. iv, 148, &c. 

 The latest instance is in 1733 (vii, 25). 



iia The tenure is not stated ; see the 

 inquisitions of John Booth of Barton, 

 Katherine Booth, and John Molyneux ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, 8 ; xiv, 13; 

 xvii, 24. Margery Barton in 1581 

 claimed lands in Flixton against Ralph 

 Barton and others } Ducatus Lane. (Rec. 

 Com.), iii, 91, 107. 



Jane widow of Richard Eltorhead 

 claimed dower in Shaw, Hulton, and Tyl- 

 desley in 1591 ; ibid, iii, 500. 



118 Agnes widow of German de Flixton 

 was a plaintiff in 1246 ; Assize R. 404, 

 m. 7. The Valentines seem occasionally 



50 



to have been known as 'de Flixton,' but 

 this use did not continue. 



114 The mural tablet in the church states 

 that his life was one of ' unwearied exer- 

 tion and usefulness and devoted attach- 

 ment to his church, his king, and his 

 country.' The Wright mausoleum is the 

 most conspicuous object in the churchyard. 

 See also Langton, Flixton, 20, for this 

 family. 



115 A. Prentice, Recollections of Manch. 

 290-3; the cases lasted from 182410 1827. 



116 Returns at Preston. 



1 992, including 10 of inland water ; 

 Census Rep. 1901. 



2 Pop. Ret. Diet. Nat. Eiog. 



