WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WIGAN 



Whalley,'" Humphrey Winstanley, and John Worth- 

 ington. The landowners who contributed to the 

 subsidy of 1628 were Roger Downes, for Worsley's 

 lands ; Richard Molyneux, and the heirs of Richard 

 Pemberton." Several ' delinquents ' compounded for 

 their estates under the rule of the Commonwealth." 

 The following ' papists ' registered estates here in 

 1 71 7 : Barbara and Margaret Green, George Uns- 

 worth, and William Winstanley." The land tax 

 returns of 1787 show the chief owners to have been 

 the Duke of Bridgewater, the heirs of T. Barton, 

 Mrs. Percival, W. B. Molyneux, and John Markland. 



During the last century a number of places of wor- 

 ship have been erected in Pemberton. In connexion 

 with the Established Church St. John's was 

 consecrated in 1832 as a chapel of ease to the parish 

 church ; a burial ground was attached to it. The 

 rector of Wigan is the patron." The church of St. 

 Matthew, Highfield, built in 1894, serves as a chapel 

 of ease. St Mark's, Newtown, was built in 1891. 

 The patronage is vested in trustees. There is a 

 licensed chapel at Worsley Mesnes. 



The Methodist denominations are well represented, 

 the Wesleyan, Primitive, Independent, and United 

 Free Methodists having places ofworship. There are 

 also Free Gospel and Congregational chapels. 



The Roman Catholic church of St. Cuthbert 

 dates from 1872 ; it was enlarged in 1887." 



A schoolhouse was built at Goose Green by Thomas 

 Molyneux ; but no endowment was provided." 



BILLINGE 



Bulling, 1 2 1 2 and commonly in ziv cent. ; Billinge, 

 1284 ; BoUynge, 1292 ; BuUynth, 1292. 



This township, which originally included Winstan- 

 ley, has long been divided into two halves regarded as 

 separate townships and known as Chapel End and 

 Higher End. They form the south-west corner of 

 the parish. 



The position of Chapel End township — the eastern 

 one — is bleak and open, and the country bare ex- 

 cept in the south, where there are more trees and 

 green fields about the neighbourhood of Carr Mill 

 Dam, a fairly large sheet of water. In the middle of 

 this lake the boundaries of three townships meet. In the 

 north there are sandstone quarries on the highest 

 point of the hill. There are fields where potatoes, 

 wheat, and oats are grown, besides pastures nearer the 

 base of the hillside. The soil is sandy, over a sub- 

 stratum of gravel and sandstone rock. The chapel 

 lies near the centre of the boundary between Chapel 

 End and Winstanley on the north. The village, 



with its long straggling street and stone houses, spreads 

 from it along the road from Wigan to St. Helens, 

 which is the principal thoroughfare. About the 

 middle of the township it is crossed by another road 

 which runs eastward from the chapel to Ashton 

 in Makerfield. The south-western boundary is formed 

 by Black Brook, near which lies Birchley ; and the 

 south-eastern by the Goyt, its affluent, on which 

 is Chadwick Green. Two detached portions of Win- 

 stanley lie on this side. The surface rises from 

 the two streams, a height of nearly 600 ft. being 

 attained at the northern border. Here stands Billinge 

 Beacon,' from which fine views can be obtained. The 

 area of Chapel End is 1,161 acres,' and the population 

 in 1901 numbered 2,068. 



Billinge Higher End, on the north-west side of 

 the former township, has an area of 1,571 acres.^ 

 The population in 1 901 numbered 1,600.* Near 

 the centre, by Brownlow, a height of 560 ft. is 

 attained, the surface falling away somewhat quickly 

 to the south-west boundary, which is formed 

 by Black Brook, and also to the west and north. This 

 ridge of high ground, known as Billinge Hill, is visible 

 for miles around. There are extensive quarries of sand- 

 stone and a gritstone used for making mill-stones. 

 In the north of the district there are one or two 

 unimportant coal-mines. In this part the hill is not 

 entirely bare in spite of its exposed situation, for there 

 are plantations of small pine trees and some larger 

 deciduous trees. The west side of the township is 

 occupied by cultivated fields where wheat, oats, and 

 potatoes are grown in a rich sandy soil. On the west 

 lies Billinge Hall ; to the north are Bispham Hall, 

 Gautley, and the Great Moss. On the east a brook 

 divides the township from Winstanley ; Longshaw lies 

 here, with the village adjacent, on the road from 

 Billinge chapel to Upholland. The main roads are 

 macadamized ; others set with square blocks of native 

 sandstone ; they are protected by walls in the upper 

 parts and hedges in the lower parts of the township. 



A local board for Billinge was formed in 1872,' the 

 district including both the townships and also part of 

 Winstanley. This was succeeded in 1 894 by an urban 

 district council of twelve members. 



The present townships of BILLINGE 

 MANOR (Higher End and Chapel End) and WIN- 

 STJNLET were originally but one manor, 

 rated as half a plough-land, and probably forming one 

 of the berewicks of Newton before the Conquest, just 

 as they constituted members of the Newton barony 

 after it.* The inquest of 1 2 1 2 shows that this ex- 

 tensive manor had long been divided into three por- 

 tions, almost equal. The lord was Adam de Billinge, 



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

 and Ches.), i, 80. 



Robert Walthew of Pemberton was 

 charged with delinquency by the Parlia- 

 ment in 1650, and his estate was in 

 ganger of sequestration ; Cal. of Com. for 

 ^Compounding, iii, 2333. In 1667 he built 

 the school at Upholland ; his daughter and 

 heir Elizabeth married Ralph Markland 

 of the Meadows ; Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. 

 ii, 259, 260, with a reference to Nichol, 

 Lit. Anec, iv, 657. 



'* John Whalley of Pemberton, yeoman, 

 *ed in 1587, holding lands of the queen 

 in Orrell and Pemberton by a rent of 

 2<. ^d. ; Thomas his son and heir was 

 twenty-eight years of age ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 36. A later 



John Whalley died in April 1630, holding 

 lands in Orrell and Pemberton of the 

 king ; James his brother and heir was 

 forty years of age ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xxvii, no, 37. James Whalley is 

 named in Dugdale^s Visitation (Chet. Soc), 

 319 ; he appears in the recusant roll of 

 1641 ; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xiv, 

 Z40. 



» Norris D. (B.M.). 



1*3 In addition to those mentioned al- 

 ready, sec Cal. Com. for Compounding, iii, 

 2014, 2394; Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. 

 Soe. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 257. 



*8 Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Non- 

 jurors, III, 124, 152. 



" Bridgeman, op. eit. (Chet. Soc), 782. 

 A district was assigned in 1838 (Land. 



83 



Gaz, 3 Apr,) ; the inclusion of part of 

 Orrell led to disputes, as the ratepayers 

 here were for a time called on to pay 

 church rates both to the new church and 

 to Upholland. 



^^ Liverpool Cath. Annual^ 1901. 



^6 Gastrell, Notitia (Chet. Soc), ii, 251. 



^ It was erected as a sea mark, about 

 1780 ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1836), iii, 565. 



"^ 1163, including 9 of inland water, 

 according to the census of 1901. 



8 1573, including 3 of inland water; 

 census of 1901. 



* Including King's Moss, &c. 



^ Lond. Gax. 17 Dec. 1872. 



^ y.C.H, Land, i, 286. See Laacs* Inq^ 

 p.m, (Chet. Soc), i, 138; ii, 99; ibid, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 105. 



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