A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



and he and his successors in title presented to Chip- 

 ping. 19 Soon after the foundation of the see of Chester 

 by Henry VIII this rectory was in 1546-7 given to 

 the bishop by the king in exchange for certain lands, 20 

 and from about that time the bishop enjoyed the 

 profits of the rectory, 21 appointing a vicar. After the 

 establishment of the see of Manchester the patronage 

 was transferred from Chester, and the Bishop of Man- 

 chester now collates. The income of the rectory goes 

 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. 



At the end of the I3th century the benefice was 

 valued at 10 I p. \d. a year, 22 but forty years later, 

 after the invasion, of the Scots, at only $. In 

 1341 this was still the estimate, Chipping being 



responsible for 50*. and Thornley for the other 

 5O/. 24 ; but by 1535 the estimated value had risen to 

 2$ is. 8</. 25 The tithes in 1650 were valued at 

 85 5-f. a year, and there were other profits bringing 

 the total value to over 126 'before the wars,' of 

 which I o went to the vicar ; the officiating 

 minister in 1650 had 60 out of the whole. 26 

 After the restoration of episcopacy the minister's 

 stipend would be reduced to its old amount, but 

 in 1720 his income was certified as 36 13*. \d. ; 

 the vicar had also the use of the mansion or 

 parsonage-house. 27 Grants from Queen Anne's 

 Bounty were obtained in 1768 and later. 28 The 

 value of the vicarage is now stated as 285. 



The following have been rectors and vicars : 



RECTORS 

 Name Patron 



Robert 29 



Peter the Physician 30 The King . . 



William Lawrence 31 . 



Ralph de Aldburne 3a 



Roger 33 



Instituted 



c. 1230 . . 

 29 Nov. 1240 

 5 Nov. 1241 

 oc. 1279 



Cause of Vacancy 



res. P. the Physician 



1 6 Mar. 1326-7 Robert de Langton Queen Isabel ; . 



oc. 1348-58 Gilbert de Marsden 34 



15 Mar. 1368-9 Thomas le Wise 38 Duke of Lancaster . 



oc. 1391 . John Exton 36 



II June 1393 . William Whitewell , Duke of Lancaster . 



I July 1394 . Robert Marshford . .. 



Robert Gowe 



Dec. 1399 . John Maryden 37 The King . . . 



17 July 1421 . John Caton 38 ' ... 



28 Jan. 1441-2 . Lawrence Caton 39 . . . 



d. Roger 



res. W. Whitewell 



res. Rt. Gowe 



res. John Caton 



19 In 1361 it was found that Henry 

 Duke of Lancaster had held the advow- 

 son ; Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 480, quoting 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. Ill, no. 122. 



* Pat. 38 Hen. VIII, pt. v, quoted in 

 Ormerod'g Ches. (ed. Helsby), i, 97. 



81 The bishop appears as rector in the 

 visitation list of 1554. He came into 

 possession on the death of the last rector 

 in that year. 



n Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 307. 

 This 'old taxation' was made in 1292. 



35 Ibid. 327 ; the date in the heading 

 is 1334. 



* 4 Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 38. The 

 reason given for the reduction, in addition 

 to the havoc caused by the Scots, was 

 that in the ' new taxation ' the value of 

 the glebe and certain tithes, oblations and 

 altarage dues had not been reckoned. 



K Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 262. 

 The mansion-house and glebe were worth 

 Si. a year, the tithe of grain 13, other 

 tithes ,3 10.5., Easter offerings, &c., 



8 3*- W- 



86 Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 169, 196, where are 

 given particulars of a lease made by the 

 Bishop of Chester in 1598 at the rent 

 of 25 is. 8</. There were 'a fair 

 parsonage house and about 5 acres of 

 glebe (great measure), with liberty to get 

 turbary, all which is valued to be worth 

 7 per annum.' Of the rent named 

 ,^10 was paid to the vicar, to whom 

 in 1647 the Committee of Plundered 

 Ministers ordered 50 a year more to 

 be paid out of the profits of the rectory, 

 it being sequestered from Christopher 

 Harris, 'a Papist in arms,' who enjoyed 

 the lease in right of his wife. 



It it not clear that the increase in the 



vicar's stipend was maintained ; Plund. 

 Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 ii, 288. 



27 Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 401. The vicar's stipend was made 

 up of 10, the old allowance from the 

 bishop, and 21 131. 4<f. from the lessee ; 

 surplice fees amounted to ^5. 



23 For particulars see T. C. Smith, 

 Chipping, 63, &c. ; lands were bought in 

 Dutton and Whittingham. Terriers of 

 both rectory and vicarage are printed ibid. 



29 Parson of Chippingdale ; Lane. Ch. 

 (Chet. Soc.), i, 165. 



80 Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 239. The 

 king presented in right of the heir of 

 John de Lacy, his ward. 



31 Ibid. 265. 'William the clerk of 

 Chipping ' attested a grant to Sawley ; 

 Harl. MS. 112, fol. 72^. Also another 

 in Dilworth ; Add. MS. 32106, fol. 3 1 1. 

 These may be earlier than 1241. 



** In 1 27980 Cecily widow of William 

 de la Sale claimed dower in certain 

 messuages and lands in Chipping against 

 Ralph the parson and other people of the 

 place ; De Banco R. 28, m. 64 d. ; 36, 

 m. 45 d. In 1281 Pope Martin IV 

 notified to the Archbishop of York that 

 he had taken under his protection Ralph 

 de Aldburne, priest, who had taken the 

 cross and intended to go to the assistance 

 of the Holy Land. In the margin of the 

 register Ralph is described as ' former 

 rector of Chipping ' ; Wick-wane's Reg. 

 (Surtees Soc.), izi. 



Adam son of Thurstan the chaplain in 

 1292 claimed a tenement in Chipping 

 held by Simon de Beforton, but was non- 

 suited ; Assize R. 408, m. 42. There is 

 nothing to show Thurstan's position. 



88 This and some later names are from 



2 4 



Torre's list of rectors ; Archdeaconry of 

 Richmond, 1825. 



84 Gilbert was the son of Richard de 

 Merclesden or Marsden. He occurs as 

 plaintiff or defendant from 1348 onwards ; 

 De Banco R. 354, m. 399 ; 360, m. 37 ; 

 Sec. He was in 1350 charged with the 

 abduction of William son and heir of 

 John de Marsden ; ibid. 363, m. 78 d. 



85 The date of presentation is from 

 Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 387. 

 Thomas le Wise, rector of Chipping, is 

 mentioned in a pleading of 1 3 7 3 ; De Banco 

 R. 452, m. 113. Also in a fine of 1375 j 

 Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 ii, 188-9. Again in the following year 

 he was charged with detaining a box con- 

 taining charters ; De Banco R. 462, m. 136. 



36 He had a dispensation from illegiti- 

 macy, enabling him to be ordained and hold 

 a benefice, and this was extended by Boni- 

 face IX in 1391 to enable hi m to hold three 

 benefices, &c. ; Cal. Papal Letters, iv, 387. 



37 Raines MSS. xxii, 395. The king 

 presented as Duke of Lancaster. It may 

 be noted that a Robert Gowe, king's clerk, 

 was in 1399 presented to the rectory of 

 Wigston and in the following year to a 

 canonry at Windsor; Cal. Pi.t. 1399- 

 1401, pp. 154, 356. Torre gives his 

 successor's name as Marmyon. 



38 Raines MSS. xxii, 397. 



89 Ibid. 409. The feoffees of King 

 Henry (as Duke of Lancaster) presented. 

 John Caton resigned Chipping for the 

 vicarage of Longford (dio. Lichfield), which 

 Lawrence Caton vacated. 



Two 'chaplains' occur in the 1 5th cen- 

 tury, viz. Thomas Mawdesley in 1427 

 and Richard Smethes in 1447 ; Cal. Pat. 

 1422-9, p. 365 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 10, m. 42. 



