SALFORD HUNDRED 



ROCHDALE 



BUTTERWORTH of Bel- 

 field. Argent a lion 

 couchant azure between 

 four coronets gules. 



BELFIELD, held in part of the Hospitallers, 18 gave 

 its name to the family owning it ; but little is known 

 of them, 19 a branch of the Butterworths having pos- 

 session from the i6th century 

 onwards. Robert Butterworth 

 died in December 1557 hold- 

 ing Belfield Hall with various 

 messuages and lands in Butter- 

 worth, partly of the Belfields 

 and partly of others ; also mes- 

 suages and lands in Castleton, 

 Hundersfield, and Oldham.* 

 Edward, his next of kin and 

 heir, being a nephew, succeeded, 

 and died in 1 5 yo,when Alexan- 

 der, his son and heir, was about 

 six years of age." Alexander 

 died in 1623, leaving a son 

 Edward," who in 1626 held Belfield Hall and 240 

 acres of land, as well as lands elsewhere.* 3 Edward 

 Butterworth was a Presbyterian, and became a mem- 

 ber of the Bury classison its formation in 1646 ; 14 a 

 younger brother, Alexander, joined the king's forces, 

 and compounded for his estate in 1650." Another 

 brother, Jonathan, left a son Alexander/ 6 who in 1665 

 succeeded his uncles Edward and Alexander in the 

 estate, and died in 1728, having parted with it 

 to his steward, Richard Townley, a Rochdale 

 mercer. 27 The new owner, who was high sheriff in 

 I752,* 8 was followed by his son and grandson ; but 

 Belfield was in 1851 sold to Robert Nuttall of Kemp- 

 say, whose grandson, Captain Clement R. N. Beswicke- 

 Royds, of Pike House, Littleborough, still owns it. 



BELFIELD HALL is a quadrangular building stand- 

 ing on an elevated site. The principal front, which 

 was rebuilt in brick in 1752, faces south. On the 

 west side the ground falls abruptly towards a small 

 stream called the Stannybrook, and the position of 

 the hall, as seen from the south-west, is very striking. 

 The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway passes close to 



it on the north. The hall is now nearly wholly dis- 

 mantled, and is fast falling into decay. Two por- 

 tions of the building at the north-east corner, and 

 on the west side of the quadrangle are occupied as 

 cottages, and these are the only parts of the old house 

 at present in a state of repair, the outer walls having 

 been largely rebuilt, and modern windows inserted. 

 The rest of the house, including the 18th-century 

 south wing, is little better than a ruin. The doors 

 are open for anyone to enter, the windows are 

 smashed, the floors broken, and the roofs do not keep 

 out the rain. The whole presents a picture of deso- 

 lation, all the more to be regretted because a little 

 timely repair would have preserved the building for 

 many years to come. Less than twenty years ago the 

 house presented an ordered appearance, which is now 

 difficult to recall. 



The building is of stone and of two stories. The 

 walls are constructed with thin rough coursed stones 

 with long quoins on the angles, and the roofs are 

 ' covered ' with grey stone slates. The entrance to 

 the quadrangle is through a gateway 8 ft. wide on 

 the east side. From this, under the archway, doors 

 open to rooms on either side ; that on the south is 

 said to have been the Justices' Room, or Court 

 House, and over the door were formerly the arms 

 of Butterworth. To the north was a large room 

 with a fireplace on the west side, opening to the 

 principal room of the north wing. This was lit 

 on the south side by a long stone-mullioned bay 

 window of no less than sixteen lights. The kitchens 

 were probably on the west side. The 18th-century 

 south wing seems to have taken the place of an older 

 wing. A sundial plate formerly at Belfield I8a bears the 

 date 1619, and it is possible that the Hall as now 

 existing is of much the same period. The west side 

 has been much altered in more recent times, and 

 may even have been entirely rebuilt before the 

 coming of the Townleys in 1728. The quadrangle 

 measures about 46 ft. across from east to west, and 



MSS. xxi, 51. The hall afterwards 

 became the property of William Greaves, 

 who rebuilt it in 1697 ; later of the Town- 

 leys of Belfield, and then of Mr. E. A. N. 

 Royds ; see Fishwick, op. cit. 382. 



" Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. 'Robert 

 Butterworth, for Belfield, 6d.' This is not 

 named in the Inq. p.m. 



"Alexander de Belfield in 1288 sold 

 land in Ogden to Sir John de Byron and 

 Joan his wife ; Byron Chartul. no. 7/48. 

 Adam de Belfield was a witness in 1344 ; 

 ibid.no. 15/187. Henry de Belfield occurs 

 frequently in the Scholefield D. about 

 1300, together with his brothers Nicholas 

 and Adam. Some other scattered notices 

 will be found in Fishwick, op. cit. 339- 

 42. 



In 1310 Henry de Butterworth obtained 

 from Alexander de Belfield two messuages 

 and lands in Butterworth ; Final Cone, ii, 3. 

 Ralph de Belfield in 1415 alleged that 

 Sir John de Ashton and others had dis- 

 seised him of messuages, lands, and rents 

 in Butterworth ; Coram Rege R. East. 

 3 Hen. V, m. 73. This may, however, 

 refer to the Belfields of Clegg. 



80 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 14. 

 The tenures were various. Part of the 

 estate of Butterworth was held of Sir John 

 Byron in socage by a rent of zs. 3 \d. ; an- 

 other part of Cuthbert Scholefield, by a rent 

 of \$d. ; another of the heirs of Ralph Bel- 



field, by a rent of i id. ; another of Thomas 

 Belfield, by a rent of zs. ; others of Sir 

 Henry Savile and Robert Holt of Stubley, 

 by a rent of jd. ; another of the said 

 Robert Holt, by a rent of \\d. A mes- 

 suage, &c., in Castleton was held of Arthur 

 Ashton and Berlin Scholefield by a rent of 

 3<f. Six messuages, a water-mill, &c., in 

 Hundersfield were held of Sir Henry Savile 

 by a rent of zid., and of Robert Holt by a 

 rent of 6d. A messuage in Oldham was 

 held jointly of Sir John Byron,Thomas Bel- 

 field, and Cuthbert Scholefield. Deceased 

 had made a settlement in 1 547, providing 

 for his wife Joan. The heir was Edward 

 Butterworth, forty-four years of age. 



21 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 2, 

 14. Edward's will is recited as well as a 

 recovery of 1568 ; to Jane his wife and 

 daughter of Richard Holt he left Belfield 

 Hall, but a third part only if she married 

 again. Several changes appear in the 

 tenures : The Little Quicks in Butter- 

 worth was held of the queen as of her 

 manor of Rochdale in socage by zd. rent ; 

 other land in Butterworth of Elizabeth 

 Belfield, William Ashton, and Anne his 

 wife, in right of Elizabeth and Anne, daugh- 

 ters and heirs of Ralph Belfield, by a rent 

 of I zd. ; the rent payable to Thomas Bel- 

 field is given as dd. only ; Robert Savile 

 and Charles Holt of Stubley have taken the 

 place of the lords in 1557 ; Charles Holt 



215 



instead of Sir John Byron had the rent of 

 zs. 3 \d. for the Kaleyards (Callyardes) 5 

 Henry Scholefield is named instead of Ber- 

 lin ; and Robert Barton held the messuage, 

 &c., in Oldham. The lands in Hunders- 

 field were those known as the Starring and 

 the Hades. 



28 Lanes. Ing. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iii, 378. There are several fresh 

 variations in the tenures. A pedigree was 

 recorded in 1613 ; Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 12. 



28 Survey in Raines, xxi, 34 ; he held 

 1 by grant of his great-uncle Robert But- 

 terworth.' 



34 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), i, 227. 



84 He took part in the defence of La- 

 thom House at its second siege in 1645. 

 His only property was a nag, besides wear- 

 ing apparel worth 20 ; Royalist Com- 

 position Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 264-6. 



26 See the pedigree recorded in 1665 ; 

 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 65, when 

 Alexander, the heir, was twenty-four years 

 of age. He was sherifF in 1675 ; P.R.O. 

 List, 73. 



a ? The later part of the story is taken 

 from Fishwick's Rochdale, 344-7, where a 

 pedigree of the Butterworths will be 

 found. 



"8 P.R.O. List, 74. 



283 Now in possession of Lt.-Col. Fish- 

 wick, The Heights, Rochdale. 



