A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



established in 1624, gives a similar indication for the 

 1 7th century. 3 



Kirkham, like most of the Fylde country, was hostile 

 to the Reformation, and between 1629 and 1633 the 

 following squires and yeomen compounded for the 

 two-thirds of their estates legally liable to sequestra- 

 tion 4 : John Barrow of Weeton, 4 a year ; Sir 

 Cuthbert Clifton of Westby, 160 ; Gervase Clifton 

 of the same, 5 ; George Crook of Kirkham, 2 ; 

 Ralph Eccleston of Singleton, 4 ; John Gaunt, 

 senior and junior, of the same, 4 and $ ; George 

 Grayson of Clifton, 2 ; Thomas Hesketh of Mains 

 (described as of Poulton), 15 ; William Horskar of 

 Clifton, 2 ; Thomas Kirkham of Warton, 2 ; 

 Thomas Pattison of Great Singleton, 4. ; Thomas 

 Threlfall of Clifton, 2 ; Thomas Westby of Mow- 

 breck (described as of Burn), 100 ; and Edward 

 Worthington of Weeton, . 6 It is not surprising, 

 therefore, that on the outbreak of the Civil War the 

 king's side found zealous supporters, 6 the Fylde proving 

 a valuable recruiting ground. There was little fight- 

 ing, if any, in the parish, 7 for the men were drawn 

 away to other places, where they proved themselves 

 good pillagers, according to the parliamentary his- 

 torian, 8 who was, however, candid enough to record 

 a plundering expedition by the troops of his own 

 side. 9 



After the Restoration the district settled down to 

 a quiet agricultural life again, the Revolution and the 

 Jacobite insurrections producing little apparent effect 

 in Kirkham 10 ; but one story of injustice has been 

 told, that of Robert Blackburne of Thistleton. He 

 was charged with having been implicated in a con- 

 spiracy to assassinate William III in 1695, and 

 though he was never brought to trial, there being 

 apparently no evidence against him, he was kept a 

 close prisoner in Newgate for fifty years. 11 Although 

 for a century there have been cotton and other 

 manufactures at the town of Kirkham, the parish as 



a whole has remained agricultural, as the following 

 figures will show lla : 



Kirkham . . 



Bryning-with-Kellamergh . 

 Clifton-with-Salwick . . 

 Eccleston (Little) - with- 



Larbreck 



Freckleton . . . 

 Greenhalgh-with-Thistleton 

 Hambleton . . . 

 Medlar-with-Wesham . 

 Newton-with-Scales . . 

 Ribby-with-Wrea . . 

 Singleton 

 Treales, Roseacre and 



Wharles 



Warton . . 



Weeton-with-Preese 

 Westby- with-Plumpton 



Arable 

 land 

 ac. 



34 

 34 

 745* 



Woodi 

 Per- and 



manent planta- 

 grass tions. 

 ac. ac. 



587 22 



904! 3* 



2,289! I0 3 



7i 



7,232^ 21,868! 617 



These figures are for Kirkham proper. 



The church of ST. MICHAEL 

 CHURCH stands at the north-east end of the town 

 and consists of a chancel 3 5 ft. by 2 8 ft. 

 with south aisle and north organ chamber, 13 nave 

 86 ft. by 59 ft., and west tower and spire 12 ft. 3 in. 

 square, all these measurements being internal. The 

 building is entirely modern, the nave dating only 

 from 1822, the tower and spire from 1844, and the 

 chancel from 1853. The former church 14 was prac- 

 tically a rebuilding of the early i6th century, and 

 consisted of a chancel, nave with north and south 

 aisles under one roof, and west tower about 60 ft. 



* Gregson, op. cit. 23. The details of 

 this tax are: Kirkham i 71. IK/., 

 Bryning^i ijs.j^d., Clifton i iZs.g^d., 

 Eccleston^i ij.Si/.jFreckleton^z izs.zd., 

 Greenhalgh^z is,$d.,Medla.Ti ijs.j^d., 

 Newton ^i 151. lid., Ribby i 7^.4^., 

 Treales i us., Warton 2 is. o|^., 

 Weeton i 141. zf^., Westby i is. 8d., 

 Singleton 2 is. of^., Hambleton 

 1 71. ii^d. Thus for each 100 con- 

 tributed by the hundred Kirkham proper 

 had to raise 25 171. e,d. In addition 

 Goosnargh paid 3 195. ioJ., Newsham 

 7. iif< and Whittingham 2 75. 6\d. 



* Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xxiv, 

 173, &c. 



4 In addition John Gaunt of Singleton 

 paid i as composition for arrears and 

 Edward Hankinson of Clifton (appa- 

 rently a conformist) paid 2 for his 

 grandmother's arrears. 



Occasional notices of the recusants and 

 their 'Sunday shillings' occur in the 

 town's books ; Fishwick, Kirkham, 97, 

 102, 107. 



6 In addition to the local squires the 

 Earl of Derby had great estates in the 

 parish. On the other side Major Edward 

 Robinson of Euxton lived at Newton- 

 with-Scales, and was an active officer ; 

 other Parliamentary officers were William 

 Pateson of Ribby, Richard Wilding of 

 Kirkham, Richard Smith and George 

 Carter of Hambleton ; while members of 



the Presbyterian Classis of 1646 were 

 Edward Downs of Wesham and Richard 

 Wilkins of Kirkham. 



7 In Aug. 1644 the royal troops mus- 

 tered on Freckleton Marsh, thence cross- 

 ing the Ribble. They levied contribu- 

 tions of corn, cattle, &c., from the people 

 of the district ; 'glad was the country so 

 to be free of them, though most were 

 glad at their coming.' The leaders, Lord 

 Molyneux and others, had their provi- 

 sions from Mowbreck Hall. Sir John 

 Meldrum moved his troops at Penwor- 

 tham and Preston to attack them, but 

 they were delayed, and so arrived too 

 late. 'For more expedition command 

 was given that horsemen should take 

 behind them musketeers, who rid up 

 speedily to Proud Bridge in Freckletoii, 

 where some remained. And coming up 

 within musket shot of them killed one 

 or two and the rest fled ; but it being 

 marsh ground and many pools and holes, 

 nor very passable for strangers, there was 

 not pursuit of them, so that all got over 

 safely and marched up to the Meols ' ; 

 War in Lanes. (Chet. Soc.), 56-8. 



8 Ibid. 53. 



9 Ibid. 38 ; 'they thought all the Fylde 

 country were their enemies.' This was 

 in 1643. In 1648 a 'thievish regiment' 

 from Durham was quartered at Kirkham 

 by Cromwell ; ibid. 67. 



10 No estates in Kirkham proper seem 



144 



to have been confiscated for treason in 

 1717, though some in Goosnargh were. 



11 Lana. and Ches. Antiq. Notes, i, 

 4550. The imprisonment was by 

 special Acts of Parliament, 10 & n 

 Will. Ill, cap. 13, renewed at the 

 beginning of the reigns of Anne, George I 

 and George II. 



lla Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



13 The church seems to be the St 

 Michael's named in Godfrey the Sheriff's 

 charter of 1093 ; Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 

 270. The invocation also appears from 

 the Clifton case in 1337 ; Fishwick, 

 op. cit. 35. 



13 The organ is now at the west end 

 of the south aisle, and the original organ- 

 chamber is used as a choir vestry. The 

 clergy vestry occupies the east end of the 

 south aisle. 



14 A view of the old church forms the 

 frontispiece of Fishwick's Hist, of Kirk- 

 ham (Chet. Soc.) ; a description is given 

 ibid. 41-3. An ordinance as to the forms 

 in 1606-7 will be found ibid. 95. 



The Clifton chapel (Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 39) was perhaps at the end of the 

 south aisle ; it was about 1630 con- 

 sidered to be the most recently built 

 part of the church. At that time a 

 'great flag stone which as is thought had 

 been an altar stone ' was lying near the 

 east wall, being used to make mortar 

 upon. 



