A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Little can be said of the remains of the monastic 

 buildings. They were on the south of the church, 

 but did not, as it seems, join it except as regards the 

 western range of the claustral buildings. Part of the 

 west wall of this range is standing, enough to show 

 that it was of two stories with a row of narrow 

 windows on the west side. In the deed of grant to 

 John Holcroft in 1 546 a chamber at the west end of 

 the church is mentioned, which may be that on the 

 south face of the tower, the roof corbels of which 

 still remain. 



Sir John de Dalton and his accomplices, after 

 carrying off Margery de la Beche in 1347, took 

 refuge for a time in Dame Maud de Holland's manor 

 at Upholland, which was then vacant ; but fled north 

 on the arrival of the king's writ for his arrest.^' 



Among the landowners in the township may be 

 named Hesketh," Orrell," Standish," Crosse," and 

 Fairclough." In 1600 the only freeholder recorded 

 was Robert Smallshaw." In 1628 William Whalley, 

 Roger Brownlow, and Richard Smallshaw, as land- 

 owners, contributed to the subsidy.** A family 



named Holme were also settled here. Hugh Holme 

 of Upholland House in 1732 married Anne daughter 

 of Thomas Bankes of Winstanley, and her descend- 

 ants ultimately succeeded to the manors and lands of 

 the Bankes family.*" Pimbo was held of the Earl 

 of Derby." Though the Recusant Roll of 1 64 1 con- 

 tains but few names of residents here ■" the Ven. John ; 

 Thewlis, a priest, executed for religion at Lancaster ! 

 in 1 61 7, was a native of this township."' ' 



The earliest record of a church of } 

 CHURCH any kind is that concerning Sir Robert i 

 de Holland's endowment of his chapel ■ 

 in 1307.*' This was succeeded by the priory church, 

 which, after the destruction of the monastery, was 

 preserved for the use of the people, as a chapel of 

 ease to Wigan.'° It appears to have been well fitted, 

 but the church goods were seized by the Crown, as 

 part of the priory," and in 1552 it was but poorly 

 furnished." 



The church of ST. THOMJS THE MARTYR 

 stands at the south-east end of the village on sloping 

 ground, the churchyard, which lies on the north and 



'8 Chan. Inq. p.m. 21 Edw. Ill, no. 63. 



*' The Heskeths of RufFord held various 

 properties in this and neighbouring town- 

 ships ; see Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. t, 

 no. 16. In 1555 Richard Hey acquired 

 a messuage and lands from Sir Thomas 

 Hesketh and Alice his wife ; this property 

 seems to have been secured in 1578 by 

 Robert Hey from James, the bastard son 

 of Richard ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdles. 16, m. 137 ; 40, m. 167. See also 

 Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), iii, 145. 



*" The families of this name make 

 frequent appearances. Henry Orrell was 

 a defendant in a suit respecting Dean 

 riddings in 1516 ; Ducatus^ i, 127. Wil- 

 liam Orrell and Thomas his son were 

 deforciants in 1561 and 1562 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdles. 23, m. 193 ; 24, 

 m. 256. Lewis Orrell and Ellen his wife 

 in 1566 ; ibid. bdle. 28, m. 102. 



*^ George Standlsh of Sutton held land 

 in Upholland of the Earl of Derby by the 

 100th part of a knight's fee ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. ix, no. 3 (6 Edw. VI). 

 William Standish, the grandson and heir 

 of George, had secured to him in 1561 

 the reversion of a tenement of Robert 

 son of Thomas Topping j Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 23, m. 153. William 

 Standish and Margaret his wife made a 

 settlement in 1573; ibid. bdle. 35, m. 

 56. John, William's son and heir-ap- 

 parent, was joined with them in 1597 ; 

 ibid. bdle. 58, m. 26. 



^2 Roger Crosse of the Liverpool family, 

 in the time of Henry VIII, had copyhold 

 lands in Upholland of the Earl of Derby 

 at a rent of lys. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. vi, no. 18 ; also x, no. 20. See 

 Crosse D. Trans. Hist. Soc. no. 165. 



^3 Oliver Fairclough purchased lands 

 from James Worsley and Beatrice his 

 wife in 1584; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 46, m. 10. Arthur Fairelough oc- 

 curs in 1613 ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. 

 Soc), i, 276. 



Thomas Winstanley, clerk, and Thomas 

 Fairclough were in 1588 defendants in a 

 suit regarding Dean Mill in Upholland 

 and Orrell ; Ducatus (Ree. Com.), iii, 

 199. 



Dr. James Fairelough, 1636, and his 

 son James were benefactors; Notitia Cestr. 

 ii, 260. 



** Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 



i, 241. William and Robert Smallshaw 

 occur in fines of Elizabeth's reign ; Pal, 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 26, m. 55, &c. 

 The name takes various forms, e.g. 

 Smoshay. 



Thomas Chisnall acquired lands in Up- 

 holland in 1549 and 1559 ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdles. 13, m. 73 ; 21, m. 90. 

 They appear to have descended to Ed- 

 ward Chisnall or Chisenhale, 1635 ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxviii, no. 8. 



45 Norris D. (B.M.). Henry Whalley, 

 as a landowner, contributed to a subsidy 

 in Mary's reign ; Mascy of Rixton D. 

 A later Henry Whalley died 31 July 

 1627 holding lands in Euxton, Tockholes, 

 and Upholland ; the last of William, Earl 

 of Derby. His son and heir William 

 was aged thirty and more ; Townelcy 

 MS. C. 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 1288. 



^^ The surname Holme occurs early ; 

 in 1352 the executors of the will of John 

 de Holme of Holland are named ; Assize 

 R. 432, m. I d. Gilbert Scott of Wigan 

 married Elizabeth Holme of Upholland 

 before 1620 ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Ree. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 238. There is a 

 pedigree in Burke, Commoners^ iv, 216. 

 See the account of Winstanley and A. E. P. 

 Gray, Woodcock Fed. 13, 14. 



*^ Thomas Molyneux held the marled 

 earth and Russell's cliffs in Pimbo. His 

 widow Cecily, in or before 1598, married 

 Thomas Worden, and various suits fol- 

 lowed ; Ducatus (Ree. Com.), iii, 380, 

 &e. 



4' Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xiv, 239. 

 Bishop Gastrell recorded no ' papists ' in 

 1717, but there were 216 in 1767 ; this, 

 however, is for the whole chapelry ; 

 ibid, xviii, 215. 



4sa Bishop Challoncr, Missionary Priests, 

 ii, n. 155, relates his story from an 

 account published at Douay in 1617. 

 There is another contemporary account 

 in verse printed, together with extracts 

 from a poem by Thewlis himselt^ in 

 Pollen, Acts of Martyrs, ig^-2oy. John 

 Thewlis was educated at Rheims and the 

 English College, Rome ; he entered the 

 latter in 1590, and was sent to England 

 as a priest two years later ; Foley, Rec. 

 Soe. Jesus, v\, 181, 117. He was for some 

 time imprisoned at Wisbech for religion ; 

 afterwards he laboured in Lancashire and 

 was arrested by order of William, Earl of 



94 



Derby, and condemned to death for his 

 priesthood. He escaped from Lancaster 

 Castle by the aid of a fellow-prisoner for 

 religion, Roger Wrennall, a weaver ; they 

 were captured and executed together, 18 

 Mar. 1616-17. It was with great re- 

 luctance that the authorities carried out 

 the execution ; the priest was at the last 

 moment begged to save his life by taking 

 the oath of allegiance, but to his challenge 

 — * Write me out a form of oath which 

 contains nothing but civil allegiance and 

 I will take it' — there could be but one 

 reply, that the Parliamentary form was 

 binding, and this impossible for him. One 

 of his quarters was exposed at Wigan. 



The name is an uncommon one, but it 

 appears that the family was connected with 

 the Asshetons of Lever. A Christopher 

 Thewlis, alias Ashton, was at the English 

 College, and sent to England as a priest in 

 1585 ; Foley, op. cit. vi, 137. 



^^ Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 322, quoted 

 above. 



5^ Eridgeman, Wigan Cb. 744. 



*^ The inventory of the goods of the 

 priory of Upholland in 1536 is in Duchy 

 of Lane. Misc. 11, no. 47. The plate 

 was valued at ,^28 3 J. <)d. ; some of the 

 pieces were in pledge to Geoffrey Shering- 

 ton of Wigan and others. The crosses, 

 vestments, and other church ornaments 

 were worth nearly £iz ; the bells, ,^8 ; 

 the lead (3 'foulders' weight), ,^10 ; and 

 the books, 6j. %d. These last included 

 four old mass-books, ' whereof two in 

 paper printed and two in parchment 

 written.* Then follows an account of 

 the furniture in the hall, parlour, great- 

 chamber with adjoining chapel, rooms, 

 kitchen, outhouses, dorter, &c. ; horses, 

 cattle, &e. ; carts and other gear, corn 

 and oats. The chambers of two monks 

 — John Codling and John Ainsdale— had 

 furniture valued at loj. zd. and 91. %d. 

 respectively ; the former monk had a 

 feather-bed and bolster ; the latter — per- 

 haps the viear of Childwall of that name 

 — had a mattress and bolster. 



The high altar had a tabernacle gilded, 

 and the altars adjacent had alabaster taber- 

 nacles. There were twenty-one great and 

 small images of wood and stone, and 

 'twelve fair windows glazed with divers 

 and many pictures.' 



^2 Ch. Gds. 1552 (Chet. Soc.), 75, 



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