A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



present ashlar front with large sash windows was 

 added, and many alterations made in the interior. 

 The original 17th-century house had three gables on 

 each front facing north and south, the roofs running 

 through from front to back, and these still show on 

 the north side, where the elevation is not much 

 changed. The old roofs, which are covered with 

 stone slates, still remain behind the high 1 8th-century 

 parapet on the principal front. The north side pre- 

 serves also many of the original I jth-century mullioned 

 and transomed windows and a large projecting chim- 

 ney, though the east gable has been replaced and 

 other changes have taken place. Over one of the later 

 windows is the date 1704, probably the year when 

 the alterations were carried out and the new front 

 added. The refacing of the front elevation, which is 

 65 ft. in length, appears to have been done at two 

 different times, the centre portion and east end being 

 recased first and the west gable at a later date, the 



wall above the roof, is very ugly. The windows 

 retain their original wood bars. Internally the house 

 preserves traces of its 17th-century plan, though 

 most of the arrangements and fittings belong to the 

 18th-century remodelling. The light oak panelling 

 of the dining-room is exceedingly good, and of simple 

 and dignified detail. The staircase, which has carved 

 oak balusters and square newels, and the breakfast-room 

 fireplace are also good examples of 1 8th-century work. 

 In the kitchen is a wide open fireplace under a low 

 arch, and another fireplace, the great chimney of 

 which is such a noticeable feature of the north eleva- 

 tion, seems to have originally belonged to the entrance 

 hall, which occupies the middle portion of the ground 

 floor. The windows on each side of the front door 

 contain modern heraldic glass, and the large staircase 

 window is also filled with heraldic and pictorial glass 

 illustrating the history of the families connected with 

 the house. The principal rooms on the first floor 



PIKE HOUSE, LITTLEEOROUGH 



stonework being plainer and the windows less in 

 height. The three upper middle windows have thin 

 pilaster strips on either side, breaking round the string- 

 course above, and the door is flanked by columns and 

 has a panel with a blank shield and cornice above, but 

 apart from this the elevation is quite plain and with- 

 out architectural distinction. The height of the 

 parapet, determined by the gables behind, is excessive, 

 and viewed from the ends, where it shows as a screen 



open from a corridor running the whole length of 

 the building, and there is a low single-story addition 

 at the west end. Originally the road ran much 

 nearer the east end of the building, and two stone 

 piers in front of the house mark the entrance to a 

 former flower garden. , 



SHORE was anciently in part a possession of the 

 Hospitallers ; it gave a name to some of the tenants. 56 

 The house now called Handle Hall was the home of the 



* 6 Thomas de Wardle and Alexander 

 del Dene were tenants of the Hospitallers 

 in Hundersfield in 1329 ; De Banco 

 R. 279, m. i8od. About 1540 James 

 Bamford held the Hospitallers' part of 

 Shore, paying 6d. rent ; Kuerden MSS. v, 

 fol. 84. 



Henry Bamford made a settlement of 

 liis lands in 1581 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bdle. 43, m. 50. He died in 1597, 

 holding messuages, &c., in Shore and 

 Deanrod of Sir John Byron by rents of 



ijd. and 21. 2</. respectively ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 77. 



In 1626 Thomas son of Thomas White- 

 head held the Hospitallers' land ; it was 

 stated that the successive owners had been 

 Ely, Stannering, Shore, and Henry Bam- 

 ford ; Surv. ut sup. no. 



Andrew son of Patrick de Hundersfiela 

 claimed a rent of 6d. against Alexander 

 son of Nicholas de la Shore in 1295 ; 

 Assize R. 1306, m. 15 d. Ellis de Stan- 

 riggs in 1306 claimed land in Hundersfield 



228 



against Roger del Shore ; De Banco R. 161, 

 m. 420 d. Ralph Shore died in Oct. 

 1 560, holding the capital messuage called 

 Shore, other messuages in Hundersfield 

 called Littleborough, High Lee,Lenchcarr, 

 and Middlewood, and some other lands, 

 leaving a son and heir Thomas, thirteen 

 years of age, and married to Margery 

 daughter of Thomas Hill. A fourth part 

 of Shore was held of Robert Savile by a 

 rent of 2J. ; all the rest of the estate was 

 held of the queen, a rent of \$d. being 



