A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



later it appears that a pension of 24 marks was due 

 from the vicarage to the monastery.^^ 



In 1 29 1 the annual value was estimated as 

 ^£26 13/. 4^/.," while in 1341 the ninth of the corn, 

 wool, &c. was valued at 50 marks/" 



The first dispute as to the patronage seems to have 

 occurred in 1307, when John de Langton claimed it 

 in right of his wife Alice, heiress of the lords of Maker- 

 field. The priors of Nostell, however, were able to 

 show a clear title, and the claim was defeated." 

 About fifty years later the patronage was acquired by 

 the Duke of Lancaster.^* In 1381 the king was 



patron,*' and the Crown retained the right until 

 Henry VI granted it to Sir John de Stanley, reserving 

 to the prior an annual pension of 1 00/.^^ From this 

 time it has descended with the main portion of the 

 Stanley properties, the Earl of Derby being patron. 



In 1534 the net value was returned as j^i 02 9/. 8^.,^* 

 but in 1650 the income was estimated at overj£'66o,^^ 

 and Bishop Gastrell reckoned it at about ;^8oo after 

 the curates had been paid.*^ At the beginning of last 

 century, before the division of the endowment, the 

 benefice was considered the richest in the kingdom,^® 

 and its gross value is still put at ^^ 1,600.^^ 



The following have been rectors : — 



Instituted Name Presented by 



GO. 1 1 9 1 , . . Hugh ^ 



oc. 1 2 1 2 . . . Richard '* 



oc. 1 2 3 2 , . . Robert ** 



c. 1250 ... N^^ 



— — ... Alexander de Tamworth ^ . , . Priory of Nostell . 



— — ... Augustine de Darington^'' ... „ . . 

 oc. 1287 . . . John de Mosley^*^ „ . . 



8 Feb. 1306-7. John de Hamburgh '^ „ . . 



— — 1325 . . John de Chisenhale *® Bishop of Lichfield 



Cause of Vacancy 



d of J. de Bamburgh 



^8 Lich. Epis, Reg. ii, 125^. 



19 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 249. 



2« Inq. Non. (Rec. Com.), 40. The 

 separate townships stood thus i^Ashton, 

 jTS 6j. ^d. ; Haydock, 31s. %d. ; Newton, 

 j^4 3^. ^d, ; Golborne, ^^3 is. %d. ; Low- 

 ton and Kenyon, £^ ; Middleton and 

 Houghton, £\ ; Culcheth, ^5 i6i. %d. ; 

 Croft and Southworth, ^2 6s. %d. ; Win- 

 wick and Hulme, ^^3. 



^1 De Banco R. 162, m. 4. The canons 

 had presented on the three preceding 

 vacancies, viz., Alexander de Tamworth, 

 Augustine de Darington in the time of 

 Henry III, and John de Mosley. These 

 were probably all that had been appointed 

 since the termination of the old arrange- 

 ment. 



Again in 1325, on the death of John 

 de Bamburgh, the Prior of Nostell had to 

 defend his right, the Bishop of Lichfield 

 claiming on the ground that the prior 

 having presented an unfit person (Roger 

 de Atherton, Canon of Nostell) the right 

 had devolved on himself as ordinary, and 

 he had conferred the vicarage on one John 

 de Chisenhale. The prior vindicated his 

 right, but the bishop's presentee retained 

 possession ; De Banco R. 258, m. 4 d. 



In 1 349 it was agreed that a canon of 

 Nostell should thenceforward be appointed 

 to the vicarage; Cal. Pat. 1348-50, p. 423. 



22 In 1360, and later, the king and 

 John of Gaunt claimed the advowson, 

 the church being then vacant ; De Banco 

 R. 404, m. 3 ; 406, m. 252 j 409, m. 18 d. 



All charters relating to Winwick have 

 been omitted from the Nostell chartulary. 



23 See the appointments in 1384 and 

 later years. One of those nominated was 

 a Boteler, as if the claim of Sir William 

 Boteler had been recognized in some way. 



At this time, however, the prior of 

 Nostell sold to Robert de Morton an an- 

 nuity of 8 marks for ^^240, which sum 

 the prior was to employ in procuring the 

 appropriation of Winwick ; he misspent 

 the money and involved the house in a 

 debt of 1,200 marks; Beamont, IVinivicky 

 12, quoting Batty, Nostell Priory, 20. 



2^ Close, 12 Hen, VI, m. 13 d. which 

 records a grant (undated) of the advowson 

 made by John, Prior of Nostell, to Sir John 



de Stanley, Sir Thomas de Stanley, and 

 Henry de Byrom. It will be seen that 

 Sir John de Stanley was patron earlier, 

 having presented Thomas Bourgchier at 

 the beginning of 1433. The Bishop of 

 Lichfield had presented, by lapse, ten years 

 before ; and as the rector then appointed 

 was a Stanley, it is probable that this 

 family had already acquired the patronage, 

 or the promise of it. In 151 S the Prior 

 of Nosteil claimed the looj. rent and ^^30 

 arrears from the executors of Bishop Stan- 

 ley ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 123, m. 9. 



23 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 220. 

 The gross total was made up thus : Rents, 

 j^44 %s. 4.d. ; great tithes, ^58 16s. %d. ; 

 small tithes, oblations, and Easter roll, 

 j^i5— in all ^118 4J. Gowther Legh 

 (the steward) and the bailiiT had each a 

 fee of j^5 ; the same amount was paid to 

 Nostell Priory ; and 15s. 4^. was paid to 

 the Archdeacon of Chester. *A good 

 benefice' is Leland's note on Winwick ; 

 Itin. vii, 47. 



2fi Commonivealth Ck. Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 46. The parsonage 

 house and glebe lands were worth ^^i 60 a 

 year ; three water corn-mills, ^^30 ; rents 

 of tenants, ^28 ; tithes, ;^445 is. — all of 

 which the rector then had to his own use. 



27 Not. Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 260-4 J 

 the tenants of the glebe renewed with 

 every new rector, and once in twenty-one 

 years if he continued so long; what was 

 paid by the tenants upon each renewal 

 amounted to about ^^ 1,000, but the rector 

 was not obliged to renew. There were 

 four churchwardens and four assistants, 

 serving for the four quarters they lived in. 



^ Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 

 340. In 1835 its value was said to be 

 j^7,ooo a year, of which ^^3,000 was from 

 tithes ; Baines, Lana. (ist ed.), ili, 623. 

 The Winwick Church Acts authorizing 

 the division are 4 & 5 Vic. cap. 9 (pri- 

 vate), and 8 & 9 Vic. cap. 9 (private). 



29 Li'verpool Dioc. Cal. 



80 WhalUy Coucher (Chet. Soc), i, 40. 



8^ Lanes. Itf^. and Ext. i, 72. 



83 Lich. Epis. Reg. Stavenby,v, fol. 6ii; 

 rector named as then living in the ordi- 

 nance concerning a vicarage at Winwick, 

 Robert is mentioned also in a suit in 



126 



1277 as having made a grant of land ; De 

 Banco R. 19, m. 54 d. In 1271 Robert 

 son of the rector of Winwick, and Amaria 

 and Juliana his sisters accused Henry de 

 Sefton of taking their goods and chattels ; 

 Cur. Reg. R. 204, m. 1 1 d. He was a 

 son of Robert the rector ; see Beamont, 

 PVinwickf 16. William son of Robert the 

 rector also occurs ; Towneley MS. HH, 

 no. 1699, 



83 'N. rector of Winwick' attested a 

 deed made about 1250; Dods. MSS. liii, 

 foL I J 6. 



8* De Banco R. 162, m. 4, 



85 Ibid. ; appointed in the time of 

 Henry III, and vicar for thirty years. He 

 appears as plaintiff in the early years of 

 Edward I down to 1279, and is some- 

 times called Augustine de Winwick ; De 

 Banco R. 18, m. 15 ; 23, m. 21. 



8S De Banco R. 162, m. 4 ; his death 

 was the occasion of a dispute as to the 

 patronage early in 1307. He was vicar 

 as early as 1287 and in 1292 ; Harl. MS. 

 21 12, fol. 158^-194^; Assize R. 408, 

 m. 58 d. 



In a plea of 1352 it was asserted that 

 * John de Warnefield, vicar of the church 

 of Winwick,' granted the lands in dispute 

 in the time of Edward II ; Duchy of 

 Lane Assize R. 2, m. 6 (Mich.). Bea- 

 mont, however, states that his name 

 occurs in 1292 {JVinivick^ 17) ; in which 

 case he must be identical either with 

 John de Mosley, who died a short time 

 before the accession of Edward II, or 

 with John de Bamburgh. 



8? Lich. Epis. Reg. Langton, i, fol. 

 10b ; he was ordered to reside in the 

 parish. Nothing further is known of him 

 except that he was defendant in a case in 

 1307 ; De Banco R. 164, m, 324. 



88 For the circumstances of his pre- 

 sentation see a preceding note. He gave 

 a bond to the prior of Nostell for ;^3i6 ; 

 Nostell Reg. fol. 23 (B.M. Cott. Vesp. E. 

 xix). He occurs as vicar in 1332 as 

 defendant in a suit concerning land in 

 Culcheth : De Banco R. 290, m. 3 ; and 

 Final Cone. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), 

 ii, 86, and in later cases, e.g. Coram 

 Rege R. 297, m. 6 d. (where he is called 

 ' parson '). 



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