A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



surname of Elswick** had shares. William de Elswick 

 gave his lands to the Singletons in return for 

 maintenance.* 8 



Whalley M and Cockersand " Abbeys and the Priory 

 of St. John of Jerusalem had lands in Elswick," 

 represented later probably by the estates of Fleet- 

 wood,* 7 followed by Hulton,* 8 Eccleston w and Shire- 

 burne. 10 Other of the neighbouring landowners also 

 had lands in this township. 



An apportionment of the pasture was made in 

 1305, when Thomas Travers, Dame Joan Banastre, 

 Walter de Goosnargh and Roger son of Adam de 

 Elswick were lords. By it the holder of an oxgang 

 of land was allowed to send four oxen, four cows, 

 four young beasts, two horses or mares, ten sheep, 

 and four geese with one gander at the close time. 

 There was also a horse-mill in the township, and for 

 its maintenance five horses or mares might be sent 

 to the common pasture." 



Apart from the Leckonby family the sequestrations 

 by the Commonwealth authorities do not seem to have 

 affected this township. In 1717 several 'Papists' 

 registered estates. 1 * 



During the Commonwealth period the inhabitants 

 built a chapel on the waste or Leys, and had an 

 allowance of 50 a year from the Committee of 

 Plundered Ministers." After the Restoration this 

 stipend would cease, and it is said that the Prayer 

 Book services were occasionally used in it S4 ; but the 

 vicars of St. Michael's, perhaps themselves indifferent 

 or finding no support from the people and land- 

 owners, do not seem to have made any serious attempt 

 to gain it. It was therefore used as a school until 

 the brief indulgence of 1672, when it was licensed for 

 Congregationalists. 35 From before the Revolution M 

 it has been regularly used by this denomination, and 

 from it many other churches have sprung. It was 

 rebuilt in 1753, and succeeded by the present church 

 in 1873-4. 



WOODPLUMPTON 



Plunton, Dom. Bk. ; Plumpton, 1256; Wode- 

 plumpton, 1336. 



The prefix Wood distinguishes this township from 

 Field Plumpton, Great and Little, in Kirkham. The 



w Amabil daughter of Adam de Brad- 

 kirk, as widow, granted to Robert son of 

 Hugh de Elswick the oxgang of land 

 which Richard the Dispenser had when 

 he took his way to the Holy Land, at 2s. 

 rent, and this was confirmed by her 

 brother Adam de Bradkirk and her son 

 Richard de Sowerby ; Whalley Couch, ii, 

 460-2. To a grant by the same Robert 

 son of Hugh de Elswick the following 

 were witnesses : Adam son of Hugh de 

 Elswick, Stephen his brother, Adam son 

 of John de Elswick "and Alexander de 

 Elswick, clerk ; ibid. 456. Richard son 

 of Adam de Elswick confirmed a grant by 

 Robert his uncle ; ibid. 458. William 

 de Elswick released lands to his brother 

 Robert ; ibid. 463. Alexander de Els- 

 wick, clerk, granted land in Sowerby to 

 his son Richard ; Kuerden MSS. iv, S 3. 

 William son of Alexander the clerk in 

 1292 called upon Adam son of Henry de 

 Elswick to fulfil an agreement made in 

 1280 that William's son and daughter 

 should respectively marry Adam's daughter 

 and son, but the decision was adverse ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 93 d. 



Robert son of Alexander de Elswick 

 obtained half an oxgang of land in 1298 

 from Adam son of Ulf and Agnes his 

 wife ; Final Cone, i, 184. 



Some other early tenants occur. In 

 1 304 Cecily widow of Alan de Warlowes 

 (Wharles) claimed dower in a tenement 

 (including I oxgang of land) in Elswick 

 against John de Fulborne and Joan his 

 wife, and William Banastre was summoned 

 to warrant ; De Banco R. 151, m. 5 d. ; 

 1 54, m. 28 d. Cecily, called widow of 

 Alan de Faisacre, gave all her right in 

 Elswick to William Banastre ; Dods. 

 MSS. cxlix, fol. 5*. 



William son of Ellen de Haighton was 

 in 1 326 found to have held, in conjunction 

 with Alice his wife, 4^ acres of arable 

 land in Elswick of the king in chief as of 

 the honour of Lancaster, by knight's 

 service and a rent of $d. to the castle ; 

 Chan. Inq. p.m. 19 Edw. II, no. 51. 



Richard Southworth of Gressingham 

 and Alice his wife had lands in 1413 ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 72. The tenure of John 

 Southworth's lands in 1484 was not 

 known ; Lanes. Inj. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), 

 ii, 113. 



Nicholas son of Robert Mythop in 

 1413 released to Robert Taylor all right 

 in lands in Elswick and Great Eccleston 

 held of him by Robert ; Dep. Keeper's 

 Rep. xxxvii, App. 174. 



38 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, ii, 138-9. 

 William had granted three messuages, a 

 horse-mill and 2 oxgangs of land to 

 Thomas de Singleton and Joan his wife, 

 who in return bound themselves to pro- 

 vide him with sustenance like that of the 

 free men in their household, a cloak at 

 Christmas, and 4*. 6d. for shoes at 

 Michaelmas. The inheritance having in 

 1322 descended to Adam Banastre, a 

 minor, William found himself deprived 

 of his sustenance. Order was thereupon 

 made that it should be restored to him. 



* 4 Robert (son of Hugh) de Elswick 

 granted to Stanlaw Abbey half an oxgang 

 of land (excepting that part already given 

 to Cockersand) ; the monks were to pay 

 izd. a year to Adam de Bradkirk, he 

 paying the same to the heirs of Whitting- 

 ham ; Whalley Couch, ii, 457. The gift 

 was confirmed by others interested (ibid. 

 463-4), and a toft was added ; ibid. 454-5. 



The lands of the abbey were described 

 about 1400 as eight 'lands' in the Page 

 Croft (next land of John Southworth), a 

 broadland on the Tunstead, a headland 

 in the Wadfurlong that shot upon the 

 Tunstead (next land of John Coppull), 

 land shooting into the Trathorne (next 

 Henry Marshall's land), and a toft called 

 the Granger yard ; ibid. 465. 



25 Warine de Whittingham gave an 

 acre ; Richard son of Roger de Freckleton 

 gave a messuage, &c. ; and Robert son of 

 Hugh de Elswick gave land for a barn ; 

 QockersandChartul. (Chet. Soc.), i, 187-8. 

 Among the field-names arc a selion 

 called Cock and Hen, Turmurfurlong and 

 Smerebrook. 



For the tenants 1451-1537 see ibid, iii, 

 12669. John Southworth and his heirs 

 were among them. 



26 Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 375. 

 87 The grant to Thomas Fleetwood in 



Elswick was said to be of lands formerly 

 of Whalley Abbey ; Pat. 2 Mary. Els- 

 wick is named in the inquisition after his 

 death, along with Great Layton, and was 

 to go to his younger son William ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. xii, no. 2. 



284 



* 8 William Fleetwood old to John 

 Hulton and John Hodgson in 1596 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 59, m. 

 320. 



John Hulton of Darley* died in 1606 

 holding lands in Elswick of the king by 

 knight's service ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. 

 Soc.), i, 68. Richard Hodgson of Layton 

 died in 1630 holding land there of the 

 king ; Towneley MS. C 8, 13, p. 514. 



33 The tenure is not recorded, but the 

 land in Elswick was probably acquired 

 with Singleton Grange. 



30 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxvi, 

 no. 4. 



31 Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 34. There 

 were 16 oxgangs of land in the vill, 

 each containing 24 acres of land and 

 meadow. 



32 Elizabeth Hoole, John Turner, 

 William Smith and John Clarkson ; 

 Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non- 

 jurors, 105, 125, 134-5. 



33 Commoniv. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches), 148. No minister had 

 then (1650) been approved. The order 

 for ^50 a year (out of Lord Derby's 

 estates) was made in Dec. 1649, and 

 about a year later William Bell, a ' godly 

 and orthodox divine,' was ' settled minis- 

 ter ' there ; Plund. Mini. Acets. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 83, 89, 103, 235. 



84 ' Divine service was performed in 

 this chapel in the memory of several now 

 [1722] living,' was the vicar of St. 

 Michael's statement ; Gastrell, Notitia 

 Ctstr. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 452. 



35 Nightingale, Lanes. None onf. i, 83-92, 

 where a full account may be read ; a view 

 of the present church is given. Cuthbert 

 Harrison, curate of Singleton till 1662, 

 is said to have been minister at Elswick 

 in 1672. 



36 From ' King James's Toleration,' 

 according to the vicar of St. Michael's. 

 In 1689 Elswick Chapel was certified 

 ' for John Parr and his congregation ' ; 

 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 231. 

 The first minister recorded by Mr. Night- 

 ingale is Jonathan Nightingale, 17035. 

 There is supposed to have been a lapse 

 into Arianism about 1760. The registers 

 are at Somerset House. 



The chapel of 1753 is described in 

 Hewitson'i Our Country Churches, 41 5-18. 



