SALFORD HUNDRED 



BOLTON-LE-MOORS 



Pilkington. Many repairs have been carried out, 

 however, in recent times, and the building underwent 

 a thorough restoration about twenty-five years ago. 78 

 The building externally has little architectural interest, 

 the work being of the plainest description, with no 

 plinth to the walls, and all the windows have cham- 

 fered jambs and mullions and plain heads without 

 hood-moulds. The chancel has a window of five 

 pointed lights with a transom at the east end under a 

 segmental head, and a three-light square-headed win- 

 dow on the north and south with round-headed 

 lights. The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders 

 dying out at the springing. 



The nave has three square-headed windows of 

 three-lights on each side, the lights on the south being 

 round-headed, while those on the north are square. 

 Between the second and third windows from the east 

 on each side is a doorway, and there is a door at the 

 west end ; there is no west window. The roof is 

 divided into five bays by four original oak beams 

 which have recently been exposed by the removal of 

 a plaster ceiling. The roof of the chancel being lower 

 than that of the nave there is a small window over 

 the chancel arch. 



An oak screen divides the chancel from the nave, 

 but only a small portion is original. It appears to be 

 of 15th-century date, and may have belonged to the 

 former chapel. The screen has four openings with 

 traceried heads on each side of the centre space, 

 buttressed posts and embattled top. The pulpit, 

 which is of oak and semi-octagonal and plain, stands 

 on a stem against the north-east wall of the nave. It 

 is probably of 16th-century date, and is a very good 

 specimen of the \vork of the period, each side having 

 two linen-pattern panels, and with an embattled and 

 carved cornice. There is a good 18th-century 

 chandelier. The rest of the fittings are modern, the 

 old square oak pews having been taken out some years 

 ago and modern benches substituted. The organ is 

 at the west end above the entrance. Over the north 

 door is a copy of a curious genealogical painting relating 

 to the Pilkington family, 79 and there are brasses to 



John and George Shawe of Anglezarke (died 1627 

 and 1650). 



To the west of the church stands a small stone 

 building measuring 13 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft. 6 in. outside, 

 called the bell-house. It is supposed to have been 

 built originally to receive the great bell purchased in 

 1542 from the church at Wigan, which is said to have 

 weighed ' 1080 poundes.' ^ The structure has been 

 re-roofed and is now used for storage purposes. The 

 Wigan bell has disappeared, and there is now one 

 modern bell in the west gable turret. The oldest 

 gravestone is dated 1616, and there are some with 

 very good raised lettering. 



The plate consists of a silver chalice of 1799, a 

 large plated paten with inscription : ' The Rev. John 

 Fisher, minister, William Latham, chapel warden 

 1788,' and a plated flagon, probably of the same date. 



The original registers begin in 1730, but there are 

 copies (made in 1834 'from a register book much 

 decayed ' ) of all the entries of baptisms and burials 

 from 1702 down to 1730. The marriage registers 

 begin in 1745. 



The stone ends of the stocks are still in position in 

 the parsonage garden, the ground having been taken 

 in from the village green. 



A chapel of ease was built at 

 4DVOWSON Rivington some time before the 

 Reformation, 81 and was rebuilt or 

 restored by Richard Pilkington about i^o; 83 this 

 was probably claimed or purchased by him, and, as 

 above stated, was considered his property in 1 5 5 i . 8S 

 In 1566, however, it was made parochial. 84 The 

 Pilkingtons early became Protestant, and service 

 appears to have been maintained in the chapel. 85 By 

 1650 some small endowment had been secured, 86 and 

 in 1718 the income was 28.^ The net annual 

 value now is 340. The incumbents are elected by 

 the inhabitants. The following is a list : 



oc. 1620 Robert Worthington M 

 oc. 1635 Edmund Shaw 89 

 oc. 1 64 1 Robert Dewhurst M 



7 8 Croston, Historic Sites of Lanes, and 

 Ches. (1883), 146. 



' 9 The original picture, which measures 

 53 in. by 35 in., was considerably damaged 

 by fire in 1834. A careful copy had been 

 made, however, in 1821, and from it the 

 copy now in Rivington Church was made 

 in 1835. The remains of the original 

 painting are now in the possession of Col. 

 John Pilkington of Wavertree. See Ap- 

 pendix to Fergusson Irvine's Rivington, 

 where a full account of the picture, sup- 

 plied by Col. Pilkington, is given. It 

 was originally placed in the Grammar 

 School, but subsequently removed to the 

 church. 



80 Irvine, op. cit. 64. Mention is made 

 of the building in the Inq. p.m. of Robert 

 Lever, 1621, where it is called 'domus 

 campanarii.' 



81 The ' chapel croft ' is named in a 

 deed by Margaret Pilkington and her son 

 Robert in 1476 ; Towneley MS. GG, no. 

 1726. This croft is also named in 1478, 

 and was apparently part of the Hospital- 

 lers' land ; Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 105. In a petition of 1628 it was 

 asserted that the people of Rivington, 

 Anglezarke, Hempshaw, and Folds built 

 a chapel ' upon a little toft and quillet of 

 land ' where divine service was celebrated 



'for many years of antiquity;' Raines, 

 Chant. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 261. On the 

 division of the waste in 1536 an allot- 

 ment was made to 'the use of a priest 

 at Rivington chapel for evermore;' 

 Towneley MS. GG, no. 1993. 



83 His building of it is asserted on the 

 family picture. In the petition referred 

 to in the last note it is stated that Richard 

 Pilkington induced Bishop Bird to con- 

 secrate the chapel on ii Oct, 1541, the 

 fee being 5. Queen Elizabeth, in sanc- 

 tioning the foundation of the grammar 

 school, also ordained that the chapel 

 should continue in use, and that baptisms, 

 marriages, and burials should be per- 

 formed there, the election of a ' discreet, 

 learned and fit chaplain or minister' 

 being left to the inhabitants. 



The priest in charge in 1541-2 was 

 William Bradley ; Clergy List (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 13. 



The chapel seems to have been well 

 provided with ' ornaments," judging from 

 the list of those remaining in 1552 ; -the 

 books were ' a mass book, an English 

 Bible, and a manual.' It seems to 

 have been considered parochial, and is 

 called a church ; Ch. Gds. (Chet. Soc.), 



37,38. 



For a description of the church m 



293 



1869 see Glynne, Lanes. Churches (Chet. 

 Soc.), 96. 



83 See his inquisition cited above. 



84 See a preceding note. 



85 Henry Croston's name as curate 

 appears in the Visitation List of 1563, 

 but it is crossed through, so that he left 

 about that time. There is no name 

 entered in the list of 1565. The un- 

 named curate in 1590 was 'no preacher* 

 (S.P. Dom. Eliz. xxxi, 47), but about 

 1610 Rivington was reported to be 'well 

 supplied with ministry ' ; Hist. MSS. 

 Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 1 1. 



86 Robert Lever and Thomas Breres 

 had each endowed it with 2 a year, and 

 ' several well-disposed persons ' subscribed 

 ^36 towards the endowment ; Common- 

 wealth Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 34-6. 



8 ? Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 19 ; at that time the chapelry com- 

 prised Rivington and Anglezarke. 



88 Tebay, Stat. of Rivington School, 

 77 ; quoted in Irvine, Rivington, 65. 

 In the latter work there is a full ac- 

 count of the church and curates, &c., 

 pp. 53-89. 



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

 i, 112. 



90 Irvine, Rivington, 46. 



