AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



GARSTANG 



GREENHALGH, 2 oxgangs of land, was in 1347 

 held of the lord of Wyresdale by William Banastre 

 by knight's service. 57 This land afterwards came 

 into the possession of the first Earl of Derby, who 

 in 1 490 obtained the king's licence to fortify his 

 manor-house there and to inclose a park. 58 Camden 

 states that the earl was ' in fear of certain outlawed 

 gentlemen of this shire, whose possessions King 

 Henry VII had freely given unto him ; for many 

 an assault they gave him and other whiles in hostile 

 manner made inroads into his lands, until the moderate 

 carriage of the good and worthy man, and process of 

 time, pacified these quarrels.' 69 The castle then 

 erected became famous in the Civil War, as already 

 stated, and after being destroyed the ruin remained 

 in the hands of the earls till about i865, 60 when it 

 was sold to Lord Ken lis, afterwards (1870) Earl of 

 Bective. 61 As above stated, it is now the property 

 of Mr. Rushton. 



The ruins of the castle 68 stand on a slight emi- 

 nence half a mile or more to the east of Garstang, 

 and consist of the remains of a single tower 24 ft. 

 square externally, constructed of rubble sandstone 

 masonry, with angle quoins, the walls of which are 

 5 ft. thick. Whitaker, writing about 1822, states 

 that the building had been ' a rectangle nearly 

 approaching a square, with a tower at each angle 

 standing diagonally to each adjoining wall. The 

 interval between the two towers was 14 yds. on one 

 side and 1 6 yds. on the other.' a The elevation on 

 which the castle stands is said to have been originally 

 surrounded by a marshy swamp, the only natural 

 connexion with firm land being on the north-east 

 side, but the wet land has long been drained. 64 It 

 would, however, add to the defensive position of the 

 building, and was probably a contributing factor to 

 the choice of site, helping, in addition, to supply 



the moat, traces of which are still visible. Apparently 

 nothing has been done to preserve the castle since 

 the siege of 1645, the action of time and weather, 

 supplemented by the local practice of using the ruins 

 as a stone quarry, having reduced it to its present 

 condition. 



The portion still standing is one of the western 

 towers, the highest part of the walling of which, on 

 the north-east and north-west sides, is about 25 ft. 

 to 30 ft. in height. It shows internally marks of a 

 wooden floor 10 ft. above the ground, and there was 

 probably another floor above this ; but the upper 

 part of the walls is entirely gone and the building is 

 open on the south side, the walls being only about 

 5 ft. above the ground. In the east angle is a 

 passage-way 3 ft. 6 in. wide, which formerly led to 

 the main building, and opposite in the west wall are 

 three embrasures, one in the centre and one set 

 diagonally at each angle, that on the west facing 

 directly towards Garstang and commanding the bridge 

 or ford across the Wyre. The interior of the tower, 

 which measures 14 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft., is now strewn 

 over with broken masonry, large portions of walling 

 having fallen within the last forty years, 65 " 6 and the 

 lower parts of the external angles and masonry 

 bordering the window openings are broken away. 

 On the north-east side are garderobes, and in the 

 portion of the south-west wall which still remains 

 part of an embrasure like that on the north-west. 

 The top of the knoll occupied by the ruins forms a 

 square of about 35 yds., the excavation of which 

 would probably disclose the foundations of the 

 castle. 



The Pleasington family or families frequently occur 

 in the parish. 67 One of them was in the i6th and 

 1 7th centuries seated at DIMPLES, 68 and recorded 

 a pedigree in i6l3- 69 They were recusants and 



In 1496 Roger Brockholes died holding 

 messuages and land in Garstang of the 

 king as of his duchy by knight's service ; 

 and Byrewath, part at least of this tene- 

 ment, was in the occupation of Robert 

 Ambrose ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 

 no. 73, 77. The place was leased to 

 Thurstan Tyldesley in 1541 ; Add. MS. 

 32105, fol. 208/1. 



Walter dc Byrewath in 1292 claimed a 

 tenement in Garstang against John de 

 Rigmaiden, but was nan-suited ; Assize 

 R. 408, m. 37 d. 



Particulars as to the later descent of 

 Byrewath will be found in Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 235-6. The capital messuage called 

 Byrewath was in 1582 demised by Sir 

 Gilbert Gerard to Edward Horsfall and 

 Ellen his wife for forty years ; Towneley 

 MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), G 49. Byre- 

 wath was sold in 1784 by William Fitz- 

 herbert Brockholes to the Jackson family ; 

 Mr. Jonathan Jackson of Brooklands, 

 Garstang, was the owner in 1879. He 

 also had Dimples, Howath and Stirzacre, 

 but these (except Dimples House) were 

 sold in 1902 and later ; information of 

 Mr. F. Jackson. 



57 Inq. p.m. 20 Edw. Ill (2nd nos.), 

 no. 63. 



Towneley MS. CC (Chet. Lib.), 

 no. 580 ; free warren was allowed. 

 Nothing is known of an earlier castle in 

 the neighbourhood, but in 1343 a robbery 

 was reported at Castelhow near Garstang ; 

 Assize R. 430, m. 14. 



The Derby rental of 1522 records 

 761. 8</. as received from various tenants 



of land in Greenhalgh, Barnacre and 

 Ellel, 'which lately belonged to Nicholas 

 Rigmaiden.' The same rental shows 405. 

 received from Howath, but claimed by the 

 farmer as his fee as parker of Greenhalgh. 

 In 1556 the Earl of Derby granted to 

 Sir Richard Shireburne the custody of 

 Greenhalgh Castle and park, profits, &c., 

 as Thurstan Tyldesley had held the same ; 

 Shireburne Abstract Bk. at Leagram. 



59 Brit. (ed. Gibson), 753. 



60 The castle is named in fines and 

 recoveries of the Derby estates down to 

 1776 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 623, m. la. 



It was probably confiscated under the 

 Commonwealth, being in 1656 in posses- 

 sion of Gilbert Mabbott and Martha his 

 wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 158, 

 m. 51. Mabbott purchased several parts 

 of the estates of James Earl of Derby in 

 the neighbourhood ; Royalist Comp. Papers, 

 ii, 237-8. The castle had been regained 

 by the Earl of Derby in 1667 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 179, m. 28 (William 

 Fyfe v. Charles Earl of Derby and Dorothy 

 Helen his wife). 



61 Hewitson, North-ward, 55. 



68 The site is described in F.C.H. Lanes. 

 ii, 550. 



63 Richmondshire, ii, 456, where an 

 illustration is given. 



64 Palatine Note-bk. iv, 130. 



K - 6 Mr. A. Hewitson, op. cit. 55, 

 describes the state of the castle as he 

 found it on three successive \isits, in 

 1871, 1898 and 1900. Nearly the whole 

 of the south-eastern side of the tower 

 and about two-thirds of the wall on ih 



319 



south-western side disappeared between 

 1871 and 1898. 



67 See the accounts of Nateby, &c. ; 

 Final Cone, ii, no; iii, 29. John de 

 Pleasington had a tenement in Garstang 

 in 1354; Def>. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 

 332. John son of Richard son of Robert 

 de Pleasington was a minor in 1355 ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 5, m. 27. 



88 An account of the family, with 

 pedigree, will be found in Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 2303. William Pleasington of 

 Dimples was living in 1475 ; Dunken- 

 halgh D. The Pleasingtons named in 

 the will of Thomas Rigmaiden (1521) 

 are supposed to have been of Dimples ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 215-16. 



Robert son of William Pleasington 

 inherited Dimples from his father and 

 was in possession before 1592 ; ibid. 231. 

 Robert was a freeholder in 1600 ; Misc. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.),i, 232. Two- 

 thirds of his estate was sequestered for 

 recusancy in 1607 ; Cal. 5. P. Dom. 

 1603-10, p. 383. He was living in 

 1613 (pedigree), when his son William 

 was thirty-eight years old. William 

 Pleasington died in 1621 holding the 

 capital messuage called Dimples in the 

 manor of Nether Wyresdale and town- 

 ship of Garstang of Gilbert Lord Gerard 

 by the hundredth part of a knight's fee. 

 He had lands in Catterall, Eccleston, 

 Goosnargh and Whittingham. The heir 

 was his son Robert, twenty-two years of 

 age ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ii, 240. 



69 visit. (Chet. Soc.), 75. 



