AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



KIRKHAM 



tioned, which stand detached from the main building. 

 Towards the north end of these facing the garden are 

 the initials, roughly worked in the brickwork, of 

 Thomas and Margaret Hesketh and the date 1686. 

 The building on which the initials occur is now a 

 stable, but the upper part is usually known as the 

 4 chapel,' though no signs of its having been used as 

 such are now visible. It is described as being ' deso- 

 late' in 184.5, when 'the picture of the Virgin and 

 Child had fallen from the altar and the altar rails 

 were in decay.' 35a The outside staircase which for- 

 merly led to the ' chapel,' which is now a hayloft, has 

 long been removed. In the north-west corner of the 

 garden is a brick pavilion measuring I 3 ft. 6 in. by 

 1 1 ft. internally, with pointed slated roof, now in a 

 state of dilapidation. The lay out in front of the 

 house must have been originally very effective, and 

 even yet in its decay and semi-wildness is not without 

 beauty. On the north side, between the house and 

 the river, is an octagonal brick pigeon-house with 

 pointed roof. 



SINGLETON GRANGE, or Newbigging, was 

 considered to lie in Little Singleton probably because, 

 being the estate of Cockersand Abbey, 36 it was inde- 

 pendent of Great Singleton Manor. In 1 384 inquiry 

 was made as to the tenure of part of the land held 

 by the abbot, it being alleged that John Count of 

 Mortain had granted a messuage and 12 acres to 

 John Joy and his heirs to find a man with a horse 

 to be ferryman on the water of Wyre which alms 

 had been withdrawn. 363 



The Grange was after the Suppression sold to 

 William Eccleston of Great Eccleston, 37 and seems to 

 have been alienated subsequently in small parcels. 



Hugh Hornby died in 1638 holding a messuage in 

 Singleton Grange and leaving a son and heir John, 

 aged forty. 38 William Leigh, clerk, who was rector 

 of Standish, died at Preston in 1639 holding a capital 

 messuage called Grange House in Singleton Grange, 

 with various cottages and land in the township. 

 Theophilus, his son and heir, was forty years of age. 39 

 His grandson Charles Leigh, M.D., said to have 

 been born at Singleton in 1662, was author of the 

 Natura/ History of Lancashire published in 1 700 40 ; 

 he practised as a physician in Manchester, where he 

 was living in lyo^.. 41 A pedigree of the family was 

 recorded in 1664." Richard Burgh of Larbreck also 

 had land at the Grange in 1 6 3 p. 43 Cuthbert Harrison, 

 minister of Singleton during the Commonwealth and 

 founder of the Nonconformist chapel at Elswick, had 

 an estate at Bankfield, which has continued in his 

 family. 44 The present owner is Mr. Charles Edward 

 Dyson Harrison Atkinson. 



Several 'Papists' registered estates in 1717." 



The earliest record of St. Mary's 

 CHURCH Chapel at Singleton occurs in 1358, 

 when Henry Duke of Lancaster granted 

 the custody of it to John de East Witton, hermit. 46 

 It remained in use 47 till the Reformation, but in 

 1547 a stipend of 49^. a year was paid to a priest to 

 celebrate in the chapel. 48 It appears that there was 

 a curate as late as 1578, but he was conspicuous for 

 neglect of his duties and bad morals. 49 Afterwards 

 the building ceased to be used, and was with the 

 appurtenances sold by the Crown in 1618 to Sir 

 James Auchterlony. 50 During the Commonwealth 

 period a new chapel was built, and the people re- 

 quested a minister and endowment. 41 It seems 



M Trans. Hist. Soc. Lanes, and Ches. v, 

 159. 



36 King John in 1216 gave two plough- 

 lands (with their appurtenances) of his 

 demesne in Newbigging by Singleton, 

 from which i6s. used to be received ; but 

 the canons of Cockersand were to pay zoj. 

 yearly ; Cockersand Chartul. i, 40. The 

 grant was twice confirmed by Henry III ; 

 ibid. 43 ; Originalia R. 40 Hen. Ill, 

 m. ii. From an entry in the Pipe Roll 

 of 121315 it seems that the canons had 

 already been in possession at a rent of 

 2 a year ; Farrer, op. cit. 252. 



The name Singleton Grange was used 

 in 1297, at which time the abbot paid the 

 2os. yearly ; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 289. 



In 1 346 the abbot's tenement in New- 

 bigging was called five plough-lands. He 

 paid 2Oi. yearly; Survey of 1346 (Chet. 

 Soc.), 52. For rentals, see Chartul. iii, 

 1264-5. 



86a Pal. of Lane. Docquet R. i (8 Reg.). 



37 Pat. 35 Hen. VIII, pt. ix. The 

 grant included Medlar also. The amount 

 paid was ^244. 



William Eccleston and his son became 

 involved in various disputes as to the 

 fishery and the marsh ; Ducatus Lane. 

 (Rec. Com.), i, 180 ; ii, 254 ; iii, 19. 



Thomas Eccleston died in 1592 holding 

 ten messuages, &c., in Great Singleton, 

 commonly called Singleton Grange. The 

 tenure was not stated ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 38. 



88 Ibid, xxx, no. 91. His tenement was 

 held of the king as of his manor of East 

 Greenwich in socage. 



39 Ibid. no. 34. The tenure is not stated. 

 A settlement had been made in 1623. 



40 Diet. Nat. Biog. ; Loc. Glean. Lanes. 



and Ches. i, 68 ; Fish wick, Kirkham, 

 1878. A portrait is prefixed to his 

 Natural History. He had no issue, and the 

 estate seems to have been divided and sold. 



41 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xxii, 

 1 8 6-8. 



43 Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc.), 183; 

 Leigh of Singleton Grange. 



43 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 

 100. The tenement in Singleton Grange 

 and Great Singleton was stated to be held 

 of the king by the fiftieth part of a 

 knight's fee. 



44 Fishwick, op. cit. 189, with pedigree. 

 The estate is said to be the same as that 

 of Hugh Hornby above ; Haines, Lanes. 

 (ed. 1870), ii, 495. There are family 

 monuments in the church. 



45 Est court and Payne, op. cit. 125, 133, 

 137, 147, 149. The names were Ellen 

 Bickerstaffe, James Buller, Elizabeth 

 widow of William Hull, Richard son of 

 Edward Hull, and Thomas Knott. The 

 Bullers were of some standing there ; 

 Ducatus Lane, iii, 183, &c. George Buller 

 of Singleton in 1622 had land in Lea; 

 Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), iii, 317. 



48 Dtp. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 345. 



47 In 1440 a licence was granted to 

 celebrate in the chapel at Singleton for one 

 year ; in 1452 a similar licence for three 

 years was granted, and an indulgence of 

 forty days for the chapel was afterwards 

 added ; Raines, Lanes. Chantries (Chet. 

 Soc.), 216. The chaplain was probably 

 maintained by subscription of the inhabi- 

 tants, but the 491. later paid to a stipen- 

 diary indicates that the D ukes of Lancaster, 

 as lords of the manor, had made a small 

 allowance. 



187 



48 Ibid. A lease, apparently of the 

 chapel property, made to Sir Richard 

 Hoghton (26 Feb. 15467), contained a 

 provision that he should pay 491. to the 

 priest, who at that time was Richard 

 Godson, thirty-eight years of age. This 

 name does not appear among those of the 

 Kirkham clergy in 1548. The chapel 

 had no plate, but possessed 'ornaments' 

 worth zs. 4< and a small bell, which were 

 taken by the king; ibid. 267, 275, 277. 

 The above-named lease caused disputing 

 in 1561 ; Fishwick, op. cit. 45. 



49 Raines, op. cit. 266, note; 'he 

 hath lately kept an ale-house and a 

 naughty woman in it.' His name is not 

 given. 



50 Pat. 1 6 Jas. I, pt. xiii ; the chapel 

 was ' ruinous.' The chapel house and 

 chapel yard were included, as also the 

 stipend due to the chaplain and a windmill 

 with suit of the demesne tenants, which 

 seems to have been the endowment. The 

 grantee, aged twenty-five, one of the king's 

 carvers, was in 1 604 to marry Dorothy, 

 widow of Sir John North, aged thirty-six. 

 Foster, Marriage Licences. 



The old chapel was still existing in 

 1650, having been held on lease by Ralph 

 Eccleston, a recusant, and purchased by 

 Robert Holt of London ; Cal. Com. for 

 Comp. iv, 2549. 



51 Common-w. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 155. The chapel 

 was 'newly erected ' in 1650, but it is not 

 stated who built it. There was then no 

 minister, but Cuthbert Harrison officiated 

 1651-4, 50 having been given out of 

 Thomas Clifton's sequestered estates ; 

 Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 98, 139. 



