SALFORD HUNDRED 



been sold to the Corporation of Salford on a ground 

 rent, and a further part of the land to the Prestwich 

 District Council. 45 



The manor of Prestwich i.e. a mesne lordship be- 

 tween the Earl of Lancaster and the local family 

 seems to have been granted to Sir Robert de Holland 

 early in the I4th century, but the claim to it failed. 46 



The other daughters of Sir Robert Langley also had 

 lands in Prestwich, on a division of the estate. Thus 

 William Dauntesey of Agecroft held 1 6 acres as appur- 

 tenant to his manor-house. 47 James Ashton, of Chad- 

 derton, in right of his wife Dorothy had a much larger 

 estate. 48 Part of it was the Polefield estate, since 

 divided into three portions, one of which Polefield 

 Hall and lands is now owned by the Earl of Wilton. 49 



Poppythorn is an ancient part of the glebe land. 50 



Sedgeley was, in 1788, purchased from T. W. Coke 

 by Thomas Philips, a Manchester merchant. His son 

 George was created a baronet in 1826. The house, 

 called Sedgeley Hall, was from 1848 to 1854 the 

 residence of Dr. Prince Lee, the first bishop of Man- 

 chester. The estate has been utilized for building 

 purposes. 51 



Rooden was, in the I4th century, owned by the 

 Hollands." It has been included in the Heaton Park 

 estate, purchased by the Corporation of Manchester." 



Henry de Traffbrd of Prestwich occurs in 1348 



PRESTWICH WITH 

 OLDHAM 



and later years. 54 No landowners were assessed to the 

 subsidy in 1541, but in 1622 Edward Holland, Robert 

 Leigh, and Richard Tonge contributed. 45 The land 

 tax returns of 1787 show the effect of the Coke sale ; 

 the largest contributor was James Chapman, who paid 

 about a ninth of the sum collected. 66 



Sir John Prestwich, some of whose antiquarian col- 

 lections are in the Chetham Library, claimed to repre- 

 sent the old Prestwich family ; he died in Dublin, 

 I 5 August 1 796." He had no territorial connexion 

 with the township. 



The parish church has already been described. 

 St. Margaret's, Holyrood, was opened in 1851 and 

 consecrated the following year ; it has had several 

 additions. A separate district was assigned to it in 

 1 885." St. Hilda's, a chapel of ease at Rooden Lane, 

 was consecrated in 1904, but services had been con- 

 ducted there for some years previously. 



Wesleyan Methodism was introduced as early as 

 1805, a cottage in Rooden Lane being used for Sunday 

 meetings. A small chapel was built in 1820, which 

 was replaced by the existing building in 1865.** In 

 Prestwich village services began in 1812, but the 

 Rooden Lane chapel accommodated this congregation 

 also for a time. In 1830 a new start was made; a 

 school -chapel was built in 1835, anc ^ a chapel in the 

 main street followed in 1840. The present church 



45 Nicholls, op. cit. 34, 39 ; and Burke, 

 Commoners, iii, 669. 



46 Maud, widow of Sir Robert de Hol- 

 land, in 1 346 claimed dower in the manor 

 of Prestwich against Richard de Radcliffe; 

 the defence was that Robert was never in 

 seisin, and no more is heard of the claim ; 

 De Banco R. 347, m. 158 ; 350, m. 250. 



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

 and Ches.), iii, 349. Among the Age- 

 croft deeds are leases of land in Prest- 

 wich to Hopwood and to Astley in the 

 1 8th century. 



48 Ibid, i, 225. In 1587 James Ashton 

 and Dorothy his wife granted to William 

 Dauntesey an annuity of 10 from lands 

 in Prestwich called Over Fleams, Lower 

 Fleams, Showebrode, and the Rodes ; ibid. 

 229. 



49 W. Nicholls, Prestwich, 37, 38 ; the 

 other portions are known as Polefield 

 House and Pippintree (or Polefield). 

 The pole from which it took its name was 

 used for signals, standing on the highest 

 ground in the parish ; ibid. 93. 



40 In the early years of Elizabeth's 

 reign William Langley, then rector, being 

 seised of a messuage and lands called 

 * Popethorne,' demised to Robert Holt of 

 Prestwich a messuage lately built there 

 and called the New Chamber, together 

 with 4 acres of land and meadow and 

 housing for his corn, hay, turves, and 

 cattle. The rector afterwards refused to 

 carry out the agreement, and Robert Holt 

 appealed to the Chancellor, Sir Ambrose 

 Carr ; Duchy of Lane. Plead, cxi, H. nj 

 see also Nicholls, Prestwich, 31. 



It was the residence of a family named 

 Wilson, one of whom was summoned to 

 attend the Visitation of 1664 ; Dugdale, 

 Visit. (Chet. Soc.), v. A pedigree is 

 given in Booker, Prestwicb, 216. 



51 Nicholls, Prestwich, 34, 94-7 ; it is 

 related that Sydney Smith frequently 

 visited Sir George Philips at Sedgeley, 

 preaching at the parish church. Lawrence 

 Fort, calico printer, of Blackburn, the 

 next owner, is said to have committed 

 suicide in one of the rooms of Sedgeley 



Hall in 1837, and 'curious lights are 

 sometimes observed in the window of 

 that room.' The house was ruined by a 

 fire in 1902. 



58 The following deeds of the year 

 1341 in Lord Wilton's possession show 

 something of the origin of the Holland 

 estate : 



Grant by John de Prestwich the 

 younger to Thurstan de Holland of a 

 piece of land called Broadclough (Brade- 

 clache) in Prestwich, as inclosed by hedges 

 and ditches in the time of its former 

 owner, the grantor's grandfather, John 

 son of Adam de Prestwich, a rent of 31. 4</. 

 to be paid. 



Release by Richard de Radc iffc to 

 Thurstan son of Sir William de Holland 

 of land in Prestwich. 



Release by John de Prestwich the 

 younger of all his right in his grand- 

 father's land called Rodoun, granted to 

 Thurstan by Richard de Radcliffe. 



Grant of a rent-charge of 31. 4^. on 

 Rodoun by Thurstan de Holland to John 

 de Prestwich. 



This John de Prestwich appears to be a 

 descendant of the ' son and heir ' of Adam 

 in 1297. Ralph, son of John son of 

 John de Prestwich, occurs in 1353 ; 

 Assize R. 43$, m. 18 d. ; he and his wife 

 Ellen claimed lands at Walton on the 

 Hill ; ibid. m. 33. 



Thurstan de Holland acquired further 

 lands in Prestwich in 1 360, the vendors 

 being William de Blakelow and Margery 

 his wife ; William de Beswick and Cecily 

 his wife, and Alice widow of Henry the 

 Falconer; Final Cone, ii, 165. 



By an arbitration made in 1520 

 between Robert Langley of Agecroft and 

 Richard Holland of Denton, it was de- 

 cided that the former should enjoy all the 

 messuages, lands, &c., which he or his 

 ancestors had built and inclosed on the 

 waste of Prestwich, and might also ap- 

 prove 4 acres of the moor adjoining the 

 Fohcastle, but no more. The Hollands 

 and their tenants of Heaton Hall, the 

 ground called Rooden, and tenements near 



79 



Heaton Gate lying on the north and south 

 side of Terrebrook, were to enjoy com- 

 mon of pasture on the wastes in Prest- 

 wich, and to drive their cattle to the high 

 moor of Prestwich to common there. 

 Robert Langley was to take down the 

 gate he had erected in Rooden Lane end ; 

 Agecroft D. 100. 



53 Nicholls, Prestwich, 93. 



54 Assize R. 1444, m. 4 ; he was son of 

 Alan. In 1356 Gilbert de Urmston com- 

 plained that Henry de Traffbrd of Prest- 

 wich, Richard and Nicholas his brothers, 

 and John de Traffbrd, bastard, had assaulted 

 him at Wigan, so that his life was despaired 

 of; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 5, m. 8. 



85 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 143, 155. Thomas Leigh of Alkring- 

 ton and {Catherine his wife made a set- 

 tlement of their estate, including lands in 

 Prestwich, in 1571 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 33, m. 184. Christopher 

 Tonge made a settlement respecting his 

 twelve messuages and lands in Prestwich 

 in 1585 ; ibid. bdle. 47, m. 17. 



In 1586 Geoffrey Hardman acquired 

 lands in Denton, Heaton, and Prestwich 

 from Robert Holt ; ibid. bdle. 48, m. 227. 

 Thomas Hardman contributed to the sub- 

 sidy in 1622 for 'goods' ; Misc. ut sup. 

 Hardman's Green and Hardman's Fold 

 exist in the northern part of the town- 

 ship. Adjacent is Kirkhams, commem- 

 orating Thomas Kirkham, who built the 

 house in 1733 ; he was buried in the 

 church in 1788 ; Booker, Prestwich, 38. 



56 Returns at Preston. 



*' Pal. Note Bk. ii, 249. For his as- 

 sumption of the Prestwich baronetcy see 

 G.E.C. Complete Baronetage, ii, 222. 



58 Holyrood is a fancy name, derived 

 from Rooden Lane. For the church and 

 a strange story as to the laying of the 

 foundation stone see Nicholls, Prestwich^ 

 142-4. 



59 Nicholls, Prestwich, 121. The rec- 

 tor (Lyon) was asked to interfere to stop 

 the meetings, but said, ' Let them do 

 good amongst us if they can,' and sub- 

 scribed to the school. 



