A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



century vane. In the top stage on the north, west, 

 and south sides are three-light windows. Over the 

 west door is an ornamental panel with the date 1665, 

 and the arms of Beswick 70 inscribed RECTOR CAROLUS 

 BESWICKE. The north side has a two-light square- 

 headed window on the second stage, immediately 

 above which is a stone inscribed EDWARD RATCLIFFE 

 1665, and on the south side of the tower is a stone 

 bearing the name of Sir Ralph Assheton with the same 

 date. The clock-dials on the north and west sides 

 dated 1786 were replaced in 1908. The putlog 

 holes are a very conspicuous feature. 



The fittings are all modern, but at the west end 

 are two oak seats incorporating portions of the 17th- 

 century pulpit and reading desk. That on the south 

 of the tower arch has five inlaid panels : (i) the 

 date 1606 with the Assheton molet below, (2) the 

 initials s. R. A. with the Assheton crest (a boar's head 



L. s. 

 erased), (3) the Assheton molet with the letters p. 



R. w. 

 (probably denoting Leonard Shaw and Robert Walk- 



den, rectors during the 17th-century alterations), (4) 

 the initials 1. 1. with a molet between, and (5) the 



letters ' ' probably the initials of churchwardens. 

 On the back of the seat on the north side are the 



initials 



R. 

 C. B. 



RADCLIFFE CHURCH : FROM THE WEST 



and the date 1665, denoting Charles 



Beswick, rector, and the inscription, which probably 

 ran along the upper part of the desk (now in two 

 lines), ' All my words that I speak unto thee, receive 

 into thine heart with thine ears. Ezekiel III Chap. 

 10 verse . . .' The font, which is early modern 

 Gothic, has a canopy (dated 1858) raised by a chain 

 pulley and cannon-ball weight. There is no ancient 

 glass, but Baines, writing in 1833, notices in one of 

 the north windows the arms of Radcliffe and the head 

 of a queen. Another window on the north side had 

 the head of a king, and one of the east windows had 

 a boar's head in a shield, and in a window to the 

 west was a painting of St. John the Evangelist with a 

 chalice in his right hand and a palm in his left. 71 

 All this glass has now disappeared. 



Under the altar is an alabaster slab, now very 

 much defaced, said to be that of James Radcliffe the 

 builder of Radcliffe Tower, but probably that of the 

 founder's grandson, the first of the line of Radcliffe 

 of Langley. 7 * The figures of a knight and lady 

 with the heads of their children below can still 

 be traced, and two shields in the upper part, but 

 the inscription is illegible. The slab had been 

 lost when Baines wrote in 1833, but was recovered 

 in the restorations of 1870-3. One of the shields 

 has the arms of Radcliffe, and the other is defaced, 

 but is said to have had those of Langley. 73 



There are eight bells ; six of these are by Rud- 

 hall, but were recast in 1 86 1, and two more added. 

 There is a tradition that they came from Middleton. 

 The plate consists of a chalice and flagon of 

 1754, with the maker's mark T.W. ; and a Bir- 

 mingham paten of 1 898 and'cruet of 1 906. There 

 is also a chalice similar in design to the first made 

 by Oliver and Botsford of Manchester, and two 

 silver-plated patens the gift of Anne Bealey, 1868. 

 The registers begin in 1559." The tithe maps 

 are kept in the vestry. 



The church existed in the 1 2th 

 ADVOWSON century, and is first mentioned in 

 1 202, when William de Radcliffe, 

 lord of the manor, secured from Roger de Middle- 

 ton an acknowledgement of his right to present. 75 

 From this time the advowson appears to have 

 descended with the manor. The only dispute 

 recorded took place in 1514, when the feoffees of 

 John Radcliffe were hindered in their right, prob- 

 ably because the wardship of the heir had been 

 granted to Queen Katherine. 76 



The income being very small the benefice was 

 omitted in the taxation of 1291, but fifty years 

 later the value of the ninth of the sheaves, wool, 

 &c., was returned as 33*. 4^." In 1534 the gross 

 value was found to be 2 1 ^i. 4^., of which 2/. was 



7* Gules three bezants, a fesse in chief 

 or. 



7 1 A drawing of this is given in Baines, 

 op. cit. (1836), iii, 8 ; (ed. 1889) ii, 429. 



73 See note in Baines, Lanes. (1889), ii, 

 429. 



" 8 There is an illustration of the slab in 

 Baines, Lanes. (1836), iii, 9; (1889) ii, 



429. Dr. Whitaker gave what he could 

 decipher of the inscription as ' Orate pr. 

 aia. Jacobi de RadclifF ... qu ... 

 p'pietur Deus.' 



74 For extracts see W. Nicholls, Hist. 

 and Trad, of Radcltff?, 92-106. 



7 s Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 10. An assize of 'last presen- 



64 



tation ' had been summoned, so that it 

 would appear at least one rector had been 

 appointed. On the other hand, as the 

 parish and manor boundaries coincide, it 

 is unlikely that the former is older than 

 the latter. 



7 6 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 117, m. 7. 



77 Inq. Non. (Rec. Com.), 39. 



