A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



with Sir Ralph de Radcliffe touching part of a field 

 called Rodenhey, adjoining the road leading from 

 Smithills.* 4 



From the rental of 1473 it appears that the rent 

 of 3/. ^d. was contributed by three occupiers 

 Richard Sharpies, l8</. ; Robert Sharpies, lod. ; and 

 Richard Holland of Denton, \od. K The Holland 

 manor therefore was rather more than a fourth part. 

 It continued to descend with the Denton estates, 26 

 and the Earl of Wilton is now reputed to be lord of 

 the manor. 



Lord Fauconberg in 1723 sold, among other lord- 

 ships, the manor of Sharpies, which probably repre- 

 sented the estate descending to him from the Bartons 

 of Smithills, who had held the FOLDS. 27 



The Bradshaws of Bradshaw also had a holding in 

 Sharpies, 28 and some other owners' names are met 

 with.* 9 One Lawrence Longworth, of Sharpies, was 

 in 1443 bound to array a man-at-arms and three able 

 archers for the king's service. 30 



The land tax returns of 1796 show that Wright, 

 Lord Grey de Wilton, and Lawson were the chief 

 landowners. 31 The Wright estate has recently been 

 purchased by the Bolton Corporation for waterworks 

 purposes at a cost of ^ioo,ooo. 31a 



In connexion with the Church of England St. 



Peter's, Belmont, was built in 1850, and had a separate 

 district assigned to it in 1 86 1. 32 It has a tower and 

 spire, with peal of six bells. 



The Congregationalists began services in or before 

 1821 ; the present church at Belmont was opened in 

 1898." 



The Roman Catholic church of the Holy Infant 

 and St. Anthony, at Astley Bridge, was opened in 

 1877." 



LITTLE LEVER 



Lefre, 1212 ; Lethre, 1221 ; Leuere, 1278 ; 

 Leuir, 1282 ; Leuer, 1291 ; Leyver, 1550. 



This township is bounded on three of its five sides 

 by the Irwell, the Croal, and Blackshaw Brook, but 

 a small portion projects north of the last-named brook. 

 The village occupies the centre of the area and spreads 

 itself along the roads leading east to Radcliffe, west to 

 Farn worth, and north-west to Bolton. On the 

 southern border is the hamlet of Nob End, and on 

 the eastern that of Stopes. The area is 807 acres. 1 

 The Bolton and Manchester Canal passes along by 

 the south-west boundary and after descending by six 

 locks crosses the Irwell by an aqueduct ; near this 

 the branch canal parts off towards Bury. The popu- 

 lation in 1901 was 5,119. 



For a settlement in 1368 referring to 

 lands in Harwood see Final Cone, ii, 

 174. 



In 1330 Thurstan de Holland com- 

 plained that certain persons had cut down 

 his trees and done other damage on his 

 lands in Harwood and Little Bolton ; De 

 Banco R. 283, m. 181 d. 



Harl. MS. 2112, fol. 145^/181^, 

 146/182. One of the series of deeds 

 is among Lord Wilton's muniments. It 

 is a grant by Thurstan de Holland to Sir 

 Ralph de Radcliffe of the fourth part of a 

 field called Rapeden Hey ; the bounds 

 began at the bridge leading to Smithills, 

 went to the Foulescoles, across the town- 

 field of Paradise, and by hedges and ditches 

 to the water of Rapeden, descending this 

 to the water of Egburden, then ascending 

 the water of Rapeden as far as the said 

 bridge in Bolton. 



In 1560 there was a suit as to Raphe- 

 den Hey in Bolton between Hamlet Rad- 

 cliffe on the one part and Robert Barton 

 and Alexander Ward on the other ; Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rec. Com.), ii, 231. 



Raveden Clough divides Smithills from 

 Sharpies. 



2S Mamecestre, iii, 479. 



The estate of Robert Sharpies seems 

 afterwards to have been divided into three 

 equal parts. Edmund Haworth died at 

 Rochdale in 1598 holding two messuages, 

 &c., in the hamlet of Sharpies in Har- 

 wood of Nicholas Mosley in socage by a 

 rent of 3 J</. ; Randle his son and heir was 

 fourteen years of age ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 53. Randle Haworth 

 died at Sharpies in 1621 seised of a similar 

 estate, leaving James his son and heir, an 

 infant two years old ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Rec. Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 296. Another 

 third part was held by James Birch, who 

 also died in 1621, by the same rent of 

 3j</. ; his son and heir Richard was 

 thirteen years of age ; ibid, iii, 295. The 

 remaining third was held by Lamuel Open- 

 shaw, who died in 1606 holding two mes- 

 suages, lands, &c., in Sharpies in Harwood 

 by the same rent ; James Openshaw, the 

 son and heir, was forty-five years old ; ibid. 



i, iiz. Lamuel had succeeded in 1597 ; 

 Manch. Ct. Leet Rec. ii, 121. 



In 1 564 Randle Haworth of Whitworth 

 stated that one John Heyward of Roch- 

 dale held a messuage and lands in Sharpies, 

 and left a daughter and heir, the mother 

 of Randle ; but certain deeds having come 

 into the hands of Margery Sharpies of 

 Bolton and Thomas her son, they had 

 expelled him from his possession ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Plea. Eliz. lix, H. 23. 



In 1 594 Lamuel Openshaw claimed the 

 further Ashlands in Sharpies and Har- 

 wood against Richard Birch and others ; 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 341. 



26 Edward Holland of Denton in 1570 

 held an estate in Sharpies and Harwood 

 of Lord La Warre in socage by a rent of 

 6d. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiii, no. 20. 

 The tenement is again mentioned in 1631; 

 ibid, xxvii, no. 42. See also Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 146. 



87 The Barton tenement in Sharpies is 

 mentioned in their inquisitions as held of 

 the lords of Manchester. Afterwards they 

 acquired the Folds, perhaps by purchase 

 from the heirs of Radcliffe of Radcliffe 

 (see a former note), for in 1580 Robert 

 Barton of Smithills was found to have 

 held some messuages, lands, &c., in Folds 

 of Sir William West in socage, by the 

 rent of id. yearly ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xiv, no. 24. See also Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 211. 



Lord Fauconberg's manor of Sharpies 

 was registered as a ' papist's ' estate in 

 1717 ; Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 113. It 

 was sold six years later ; Piccope MSS. 

 (Chet. Lib.), iii, fol. 220, from Roll 8 of 

 George I at Preston. 



28 Simon de Bradshagh occurs in 1292, 

 when Richard de Urmston and Syreda his 

 wife claimed a messuage, &c., of which 

 Adam de Westleigh, the grandfather of 

 Syreda, had died seised. The defendant 

 Simon said the tenement was given to him 

 in free marriage with Amarica or Ameria 

 his wife ; Assize R. 408, m. 32, 77 d. 



In the inquisitions of the Bradshaws of 

 Bradshaw in the time of Edward VI and 

 Elizabeth the lands in Sharpies were stated 



262 



to be held of the Earl of Derby in socage 

 by a rent of 2d. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. ix, no. 31 ; xiii, no. 39. 



29 Another Radcliffe family had an 

 estate in Sharpies in the i6th and I7th 

 centuries. Robert Radcliffe in 1589 made 

 a settlement of two messuages and lands ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 51, m. 125. 

 From him a James Radcliffe appears to 

 have acquired eight messuages, &c., in 

 Radcliffe and Sharpies in 1595 ; ibid, 

 bdle. 57, m. 23. James died 20 July 

 1633, holding a messuage, &c., of Edward 

 Mosley as of his manor of Manchester ; 

 Robert his son and heir, was over fifty 

 years of age; Towneley MS. C. 8, 13, 

 (Chet. Lib.), fol. 999. 



Alexander Stones in 1571 acquired a 

 toft, &c., from Richard Birch the younger; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 33, m. 7. 



Ralph Assheton of Great Lever, who 

 died in 1616, held a messuage and land in 

 Sharpies in socage ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 288, 

 290. 



Lawrence Haslum at his death on 

 6 Aug. 1630, also held a messuage and 

 lands there of Edward Mosley ; Law- 

 rence, his son and heir, was three years 

 of age ; Towneley MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. 

 Lib.), fol. 533. 



80 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. x, App. ir, 

 227. 



81 Returns at Preston ; Wright's lands- 

 paid two-fifths of the whole. 



81a Information of Mr. S. Partington. 



82 Land. Gaz. 6 Aug. 1861. 



88 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), iii, 90. A 

 Methodist chapel also is stated to have 

 been built in Sharpies in 1821. For a 

 full account of Congregationalism in Bel- 

 mont, see Nightingale, Lanes. Noncon- 

 formity, iii, 78-81. A second chapel, 

 called Bethel, was erected in 1840, mainly 

 by the efforts of the workmen of the 

 village. 



84 It was served from St. Mary's, 

 Bolton, till 1882; Kelly, Engl. Catholic 

 Missions, 59. 



1 The 1901 Census Report gives 8c& 

 acres, including 37 of inland water. 



