A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



no evidence that the quadrangular plan ever obtained, 

 although the house is said to have formerly been larger 

 than at present. The west or central wing contained 

 the hall, and the kitchen and offices appear to have 

 been to the north; but, the house being now divided 

 into several dwellings and parts used for other purposes, 

 the original distinctions and arrangements are lost. 

 The timber construction of the west and north wings 

 is, however, still visible on the outside at the back, the 

 oak posts showing in the walls, and in the interior the 

 old roof of the hall can be seen in the upper rooms of 

 the west wing. The hall would be about 36 ft. long 

 by 23ft. wide, but is now divided into two rooms, 

 one of which, belonging to a cottage, retains its tall 

 I yth-century stone-mullioned six-light window ; but 

 the other, being the dining-room of a residence which 

 occupies the whole of the south portion of the house, 

 has been modernized. In 1626 Stubley Hall was 

 described as 'an ancient mansion with stables, barns, 

 dovecotes, and water-mill,' " but whether the present 

 stone and brick fronts were then in existence does not 

 appear. The whole of the west front, including the 

 gable ends of the north and south wings, is faced in 

 stone, and all the roofs have stone slates. The north 

 wing being wider than the south has a loftier and 

 wider gable, which retains, along with the north end 

 of the hall, its original six-light mullioned windows, 

 some of which still keep their thick leaded diamond 

 quarries. The whole of the south end of the front 

 has been modernized, new windows having been in- 

 serted, and the place of the former great double tran- 

 somed window to the hall, which went up to the eaves, 

 is taken by two smaller windows necessitated by the 

 introduction of a floor in the hall. The gables are 

 plain without coping. The rest of the exterior is 

 faced with hand-made 2 J in. bricks which have gone 

 a good colour, the walling at the back being a filling 

 in between the oak posts of the old principals. The 

 north wing has two fine stone chimneys set in the 

 inner angles of two further projecting short wings 

 on that side, one of the chimneys being no doubt that 

 to the kitchen, but in the present altered condition of 

 the building the original arrangement cannot easily be 

 traced. At the back (east side) the north wing pro- 

 jects 37 ft., and the south wing only 30 ft., besides 

 being lower and narrower, but a later addition has 

 been recently built against it on the north side, 

 increasing its width. The south side of the south 

 wing is built of brick on a stone base, but the evidence 

 of the walling suggests that the whole of this end of 

 the building has been reconstructed and may formerly 

 have been much larger. There was originally a domes- 

 tic chapel in Stubley Hall, and this is likely to have 

 been situated at the east end of the south wing, though 

 its position is now lost. Writing at the end of the 

 1 8th century the Rev. T. D. Whitaker stated that the 



house then contained ' much carving in wood, par- 

 ticularly a rich and beautiful screen betwixt the hali 

 and parlour, with a number of crests, cyphers, and 

 cognizances belonging to the Holts and other neigh- 

 bouring families.' These, however, have now all dis- 

 appeared, and the interior of the building has little 

 architectural interest. In the will of Robert Holt, 

 who died in 1561, is an inventory of goods at Sf.ubley 

 Hall in which the following rooms and places are 

 mentioned : 



The great chamber. 



My lord's chamber. 



The Chappel chamber. 



The inner chamber. 



The new parlour. 



The closet. 



The hall. 



The inner parlour. 



The old parlour. 



S r Myghell's chamber. 



The chamber without. 



* Syling timber ' is also twice referred to. 



Robert Holt, at the outbreak of the Civil War, 

 under the influence of the Earl of Derby, joined the 

 king's forces, and appears to have served in North 

 Wales ; in 1 64.5 he surrendered, took the National 

 Covenant and Negative Oath, and compounded, his- 

 fine being 1,150." A pedigree was recorded in 

 1664." Robert died in 1673, leaving a younger son 

 James to succeed him,* 6 and James died in 17 12, 

 when his four daughters became co-heirs. They were : 

 Frances wife of James Winstanley ; Elizabeth wife of 

 William Cavendish ; Isabella wife of Delaval Button 

 and afterwards of Sir William Parsons ; and Mary 

 wife of Samuel Chetham of Turton. The last-named 

 purchased the portions of the other three sisters, as 

 well as the widow's jointure, and thus acquired the/ 

 whole estate. He improved Castleton Hall, which' 

 became the most important house in the parish, and 

 died in 1744 without issue, having made his brother 

 Humphrey his heir. j 



By the dispositions of Humphrey Chetham, wh 

 died also without issue in 1749, ^ e Castleton estate) 

 were to go to cousins Edward Chetham of Nut\ 

 hurst, and James Chetham of Smedley, both of whom ; 

 died unmarried with remainder to James Winstan- 1 

 ley, eldest son of the above-mentioned James and ' 

 Frances. They thus came into the possession of the 

 Winstanleys, but have been sold. About 1850 

 Castleton Hall was purchased by James Schofield of 

 Heybrook.* 8 



Part of HA WORTH, now spelt Howarth, was 

 given to Stanlaw Abbey.* 7 The place gave a sur- 

 name to its possessors ; * 8 the last of the family was Dr. 

 Radcliffe Howarth, who died in 1768. The estate 



22 Survey of 1626, quoted in Fishwick' s 

 Rochdale. 



38 Roy. Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 257. A will of Robert 

 Holt's, made In 1654, is among the Clowes 

 D. 25. 



24 Dugdale, Visit. 151. 



25 James Holt in 1 677 made a settlement 

 of his manors of Naden and Chesham and 

 lands in Hundersfield, &c. ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 198, m. 92. 



26 The later descents have been taken 

 from Fishwick, Rochdale, where a full 

 account maybe seen (pp. 427-9, 308-10). 



For the Chethams of Turton and Castle- 

 ton see E. Axon's Chetham Gen. (Chet. 

 Soc. new ser.), 53-4, 63. Among the 

 Clowes D. is a copy of Humphrey 

 Chetham' s will. 



27 Two oxgangs in Haworth were part 

 of the grant by Henry de Wardle re- 

 corded in a previous note ; see Whalley 

 Coucher, i, 157-8. The abbey also 

 received land called Cho in Wardle from 

 Award son of Swain de Wardle, and 

 Swain son of Ailsi de Salesbury confirmed 

 this grant by his freeman Award ; ibid. 

 i, 159-60. 



224. 



28 See Fishwick, op. 011.413-22, where 

 there is a pedigree. Abstracts of the 

 Haworth or Howorth D. are transcribed 

 in Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xi, 2-112. 

 A share in the two oxgangs in Haworth 

 was granted to the monks of Stanlaw, a 

 rent of 2s. being payable to the chief 

 lord; ff 'bailey Coucber, i, 156. Many 

 members of the family are named in the 

 charters in the same work. The foul life 

 of Thomas Haworth, who died about 

 1460, led to the censures of the Church 

 and to doubts about the succession, but a 

 son Edmund acquired the estate. Thomas 



