AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



of 1768, and though the priest in charge managed to 

 escape across the Ribble he died soon afterwards 

 from alarm and horror. 212 Shortly afterwards another 

 was built on the site, but was closed when St. 

 Wilfrid's was opened in 1793 and it became a ware- 

 house. However, in 1 8 1 5 it was restored to divine 

 worship as a chapel of ease, its present status, and 

 served till 1856, when the present St. Mary's was 

 built on its site. 213 It stands back from the street, 

 being approached from Friargate through an arch- 

 way. St. Wilfrid's, built, as stated, in 1793, was 

 rebuilt in i879, 214 St. Ignatius' followed in i836, 215 

 and St. Walburge's, with its tall spire, one of the 

 landmarks of Preston, in i852. 216 These churches, 

 with St. Mary's, are served by Jesuit Fathers. The 

 secular clergy have St. Augustine's I838-4O, 217 

 St. Joseph's 1 86 2-74 218 and the English Martyrs' 

 1 863-88. 219 The Sisters of Charity manage St. 

 Joseph's Institutions, founded in 1872 by Mrs. 

 Holland. The teaching orders of the Sisters of the 

 Holy Child Jesus and the Faithful Companions of 

 Jesus have convents. 220 A society formed in 1731, 

 but of earlier origin, exists for the relief of the poor 

 and charity towards the dead ; it is called the ' First 

 Catholic Charitable Society.' 



RIBBLETON 



Ribleton, 1200 ; Ribbleton, 1202 ; Ribbelton, 

 1226; Ribilton, 1251 ; Rybelton, 1292. 



This township has an area of 757 acres, including 

 the 1 08 acres of Ribbleton Moor. As the hamlet of 

 Brockholes in the adjoining township had rights in 

 the moor, this was formerly regarded as a semi-inde- 

 pendent district, and its L-shaped form divided 

 Ribbleton proper into three distinct parts north- 

 east (in which is Ribbleton Hall), north-west (Scales), 

 and south (in which is Farington Hall). A large 

 part was taken into the borough of Preston in 1880 

 and has been incorporated with that township since 

 1894,' so that the present township of Ribbleton, 



PRESTON 



the eastern part of the historical township, has an 

 area of only 305 acres. The population of the 

 reduced township in 1901 numbered 66. 2 



The surface is elevated but comparatively level ; 

 on the south it descends very sharply to a plot of 

 low-lying ground in a bend of the Ribble. The 

 principal roads are those from Preston to Blackburn 

 on the south side and from Preston to Longridge on 

 the north. The railway between the last-named 

 places crosses the north-west corner. Preston 

 cemetery, formed in 1855, lies on the west side of 

 the township on the Blackburn road. There are 

 also some pleasure-grounds opened in 1885 ; they 

 are now called Farington Park. This side is be- 

 coming residential, being served by the electric 

 tramways. 



The Royal Cross Training School for Deaf and 

 Dumb Children, opened in 1894, stands on the 

 Blackburn road. 3 



There was formerly a cross on the moor and 

 another in Ribbleton Lane on the Preston boundary. 4 

 The story of the manor of RIBBLE- 

 M4NOR TON is obscure. Before the Conquest it 

 seems to have been part of the great 

 lordship of Preston held by Earl Tostig, and is not 

 separately named in Domesday Book. 5 In later times 

 its assessment was one plough-land, and it was held 

 in thegnage, by a rent of 8/. Henry de Ribbleton 

 died possessed of it in or before 1201, leaving a son, 

 who was a leper, and a daughter. Henry son of Alan 

 de Holland of Downholland purchased the wardship 

 and marriage of the daughter, 6 and by 1212 Ribbleton 

 had become incorporated with the Holland manors 

 and had been granted out to Roger de Leicester 

 for an annual service of Ss. and four arrows. 7 

 Roger in turn in 1202 gave it to Henry de Fish- 

 wick and Maud his wife, a rent of los. being payable, 

 but the agreement was varied in 1224.8 The mesne 

 lordship of the Hollands was not long recognized. 9 



In 1324 Roger de Elston held the vill by the rent 

 of 8/. and doing suit to the county and wapentake. 10 



passed by the name of the " New Build- 

 ing " ' ; ibid, v, 395. In 1750 the priest 

 in charge had a stipend of ^40 and 520 

 ' customers ' ; the numbers of those con- 

 firmed and of Easter communicants were 

 274 and 940 in 1784 and 488 and 1,302 

 in 1793 ; ibid, v, 321-5. 



212 Gillow, Bibl. Diet. o/Engl. Cath. ii, 

 146 ; Foley, op. cit. viii, 719. 



218 Hewitson, op. cit. 501-2. The 

 chapel, a small plain building, has been 

 lined with marble. 



214 Ibid. 503-6. Joseph Dunn, S.J. 

 (vere Earpe), was priest in charge from 

 1776 till his death in 1827, and won a 

 high position in the town. The House 

 of Recovery and the gasworks were due 

 to him ; Gillow, op. cit. ii, 143-7. 



215 Hewitson, op. cit. 507. It was the 

 first church in Preston which had a spire. 

 The school for boys was opened in a 

 buililing erected as a ' hall of science ' by 

 local Secularists. 



216 Ibid. 508. The dedication was due 

 to a remarkable cure attributed to the use 

 of St. Walburge's oil ; N. and Q. (Ser. i), 

 x, 1 86. The church stands, it is believed, 

 on or near the site of the old Hospital of 

 St. Mary Magdalene. 



317 Hewitson, op. cit. 508. St. Augus- 

 tine of Canterbury is the patron ; see 

 Gillow, op. cit. ii, 481-3. 



218 Hewitson. op. cit. 515. A school- 

 chapel served from 1862 till i8'-4. 



219 Ibid. 513. The ' Martyrs ' named 

 are St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. 

 Alban. A school-chapel was opened in 

 1865 and the church in 1867, but this 

 was not completed till 1888. 



220 The last-named community occupy 

 Lark Hill, formerly the residence of 

 Samuel Horrocks, cotton spinner, M.P. 

 for Preston 1804-26. The English 

 Benedictine nuns of Ghent, driven from 

 their house by the Revolution in 1792, 

 resided in Chapel Street till 1812, when 

 they removed to Staffordshire. 



1 Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31607. 



2 The Census Report gives as part of 

 Preston an area of 645 acres (including 

 9 of inland water), with a population of 

 936 in 1901. This refers principally to 

 the part of Ribbleton now in the borough. 



8 The founder was Mary Cross, the late 

 Archdeacon Rawstorne contributing. It 

 depends partly on voluntary contributions. 



4 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xx, 172. 



* V.C.H. Lanes, i, 288*. 



8 Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 132. Henry 

 (de Holland) gave 10 marks for the ward- 

 ship, undertaking to provide all neces- 

 saries for the brother and reasonable 

 dower for the mother. The daughter's 

 name is not known. 



105 



Robert de Preston and Richard his 

 brother had offered 1001. for the grant, 

 and promised i6s. instead of the old 8*. 

 service for the plough-land in Ribbleton ; 

 Rot. de Oblatii (Rec. Com.), 115, 123. 



7 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 49. Roger de Leices- 

 ter was seneschal of Amounderness under 

 TheobaldWalter; Farrer, op. cit. 143, 169. 



8 Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 21 ; .an assize of mort d'ancestor 

 had been summoned between them, but 

 the descent of the parties is not recorded. 

 Roger de Leicester had a wife Alice ; 

 ibid, i, 43. In 1224 Maud, described as 

 'daughter of Henry,' complained that 

 Roger son of Roger de Leicester had not 

 kept the agreement made by his father, 

 and she received 3 oxgangs of land for a 

 rent of 2$., Roger to warrant her ; oa 

 the other hand she renounced all claim 

 to the rest of the plough-land ; ibid, i, 45. 



9 Henry de Holland paid the thegnage 

 rent of 8*. in 1226 ; Lanes. Inq. and 

 Extents, i, 140. In 1297 the vill paid 

 8i. to the earl, the tenants not being 

 named ; ibid, i, 289. 



10 Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 39. Some 

 grants to Roger de Elston are recited in 

 a later note ; his estate seems to have 

 been acquired by a number of separate 

 purchases. 



14 



