A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



also," with other of the neighbouring families." 

 Elizabeth Kighley and Ralph Haselhurst were the 

 landowners contributing to the subsidy in Mary's 

 reign ; " Edward Bankes was the only freeholder re- 

 corded in 1600." The Pierpoint family occur in 

 Golborne and the neighbourhood from an early 

 time." Henry Pierpoint died in or before 1642 

 holding land here ; " and another of the same name 

 in 1654 petitioned the Parliamentary Commissioners 

 for the discharge of the two-thirds of his inheritance 

 sequestered in 1643 for the recusancy of his father 

 Richard, deceased ; he himself was ' conformable.' " 



The Inclosure Award for Golborne Heath, with 

 plan, is preserved at the County Council Offices, 

 Preston. 



For the Established Church St. Thomas's was built 

 in 1850 ; the benefice is a rectory, in the patronage 

 of the Earl of Derby. 



The Primitive Methodists have a chapel. The 

 Baptists began a meeting in 1894. 



The Congregationalists have a church originating 

 in occasional visits from preachers in 1821 onwards ; 



a chapel, still existing in part, was built in 1830, re- 

 placed by the present one in i860." The Welsh 

 Congregationalists also had a place of worship. 



For Roman Catholic worship " the church of AH 

 Saints was erected in 1863." 



LOWTON 



Laitton (FLauton), 1201 ; Lauton, 1202. 



Lowton is situated in flat uninteresting country, 

 covered for the most part with bricks and mortar, for 

 the very scattered town of Lowton spreads itself in 

 every direction, leaving spaces only for pastures be- 

 tween the streets or groups of dwellings. Lowton is 

 a residential suburban retreat, easily reached by elec- 

 tric car from the industrial town of Leigh. Such a 

 description is enough to indicate that what natural 

 features once existed have long ago been superseded. 

 In the extreme south a little patch of unreclaimed 

 ground, known as Highfield Moss, represents the last 

 relic of undisturbed nature. The Pebble Beds of the 



" Robert Banastre, lord of Makerfield, 

 in the latter part of the 13th century 

 granted to Richard de Halghton or 

 Houghton and Robert his son land, the 

 bounds of which began in the north by 

 Meurickys Ford and passed by Herniys 

 Croft to the brook ; also another plat hy 

 the land of Elias son of Robert, the rent 

 to be 31. 4|i. ; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), 

 xxinriii, 395. 



Robert de Halghton afterwards gave 

 them to his brother Elias, who was to 

 pay a rent of 12^. for one portion and 

 of 26</. for the other to the lord of New- 

 ton 5 ibid. The latter of these was given 

 by Elcock son of Richard de Halghton 

 to his son Roger, and this Roger in 1333 

 sold the whole to Gilbert de Haydock 5 

 ibid. 395,397. Roger afterwards claimed 

 land from William son of Cecily de 

 Haydock, and Robert son of William ; 

 De Banco R. 292, m. 28 d. This may 

 have been a continuation of Roger's suit 

 in 1315 against Maud and Cecily, daugh- 

 ters of his brother Richard ; De Banco R, 

 212, m. 34Z. 



Richard de Halghton and Hawise his 

 wife did not prosecute the suit they 

 brought against Thurstan de Holland in 

 1276 ; Assize R. 40;, m. 1. 



Matthew de Haydock, father of Gil- 

 bert, had in 1296 purchased land in Gol- 

 borne from Elias son of Thurstan de 

 Holland and others ; Raines, loc. cit. 395, 

 397. Elias son of Thurstan had been 

 enfeoffed by Thomas Clynkard, whose 

 ton John afterwards tried to recover, but 

 failed ; Assize R. 408, m. 23 d. and 

 Raines, loc. cit. 395, where are given the 

 grants by Thomas Clinkard and the re- 

 lease by his widow Mabel. William son 

 of William Clinkard of Golborne occurs 

 in 1356; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 5, 

 m. 4d. 



The Feodary in Dods. MSS. cxxxi, fol. 

 34^, has some entries partly explained by 

 the foregoing : Roger son of Robert holds 

 [in Lightshaw] a messuage and land by 

 the service of tSJ. ; Roger de Snythull a 

 messuage and land by 6ti. ; Elias son of 

 Richard a messuage and land by zyd, 

 (22J.). 



Another son of Richard de Halghton, 

 named William, had land in Golborne — 

 an oxgang and a half. Being very ill, and 

 wishing to benefit his nephew Roger son 



of William son of Hugh de Haydock, he 

 granted him the tenement, putting him in 

 seisin by delivering to Roger the door of 

 the house by the hasp. William died 

 next day, and his niece Eva, daughter of 

 his brother Henry, claimed in 1294, but 

 was defeated ; Assize R. 1299, m. 16 d. 



2* Margery widow of Robert de Kink- 

 nall claimed dower in Lowton and Gol- 

 borne in 1277 against Ellas de Golborne 

 and various others ; the estate was two 

 oxgangs, &c. ; De Banco R. 20, m. 1 5 d., 

 26, 26 d. Later she claimed against 

 Robert de Holland and others, the estate 

 being now called three oxgangs and five 

 oxgangs; ibid. R. 21, m. 44 d. 51 d. 

 Robert de Holland called Henry de Sefton 

 to warrant him, probably as bailiiF of 

 Malcerfield ; ibid. R. 23, m. 51. 



In 1350 a dispute between members of 

 the Clayton family shows that John de 

 Clayton and his wife Agnes held a mes- 

 suage and lands in Golborne. He gave 

 them to his son John, and on the latter's 

 death without issue his three sisters be- 

 came tenants — Agnes wife of John son 

 of Simon Alotson ; Alice widow of Robert 

 Wilkeson, and Ellen. The elder John 

 married a second wife Cecily and had a 

 son Richard, who made a successful claim 

 to the estate ; Assize R. 1444, m. 6 d. 



Anthony Green, who had lands also in 

 Turton, purchased cottages and land in 

 1562 from Thomas Houghton; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 24, m, 57 ; also 

 bdle. 31, m. 91. This was no doubt the 

 origin of the estate of Ralph Green of 

 Turton, held of the heirs of Richard 

 Fleetwood in 161 1 ; Lanes. Inq* p.m, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 193. 



The Crosses of Liverpool held lands of 

 the lord of Newton by a rent of 3^. %d. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 18 ; see 

 also Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 57, m, 



X20. 



Nicholas Huyton of Blackrod died in 

 1527 holding a tenement in Golborne of 

 Thomas Langton by a rent of 6s. -^^d. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vi, no. 53. 



^^ Mascy of Rixton D. Ralph Hasel- 

 hurst was one of the free tenants of 

 Richard Langton in 1502, paying a rent 

 of 2s. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 



lOI. 



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

 i, 241. 



150 



Henry Bankes and James his son had 

 lands in Golborne and Charnock Richard 

 in 1548 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 13, m. 130. Other fines relate to the 

 estate of Henry Bankes and Katherine 

 his wife between 1562 and 1570 ; ibid, 

 bdle. 24, m. 37, &c. 



^ See e.g. the account of Ince in 

 Makerfield. In the Legh deeds in Raines 

 MSS. xxxviii the family is often men- 

 tioned, chiefly in Newton, where Richard 

 le Perpont had a grant of land about the 

 end of the 13th century; loc. cit. 117. He 

 occurs as witness in 1316; ibid. 129. Con- 

 temporary with him was William son of 

 Robert le Perpount of Newton ; Add. 

 MS. 32106, no. 1550. 



John son of Richard le Pierpoint fol- 

 lows in the time of Edward IH ; Raines, 

 loc. cit. 14s ; and Simon le Pierpoint in 

 that of Henry VI ; ibid. 167, 169, 401. 

 In Jan. 1430-1 Clemency daughter of 

 Simon le Pierpoint was contracted to 

 marry Thomas son and heir of William 

 de Houghton in Winwick ; Towneley 

 MS. HH, no. 1565. 



An account of the family in Lanes, and 

 Ches. Hist, and Gen. Notes, iii, 15, 20, 36, 

 gives the succession of the Golborne Pier- 

 points from 1550 to 1700, when their 

 estate was sold to John Johnson of West- 

 houghton, whose son John in 1710 sold 

 it to Peter Legh of Lyme. The descent 

 seems to have been — Richard, Heniy 

 the elder, Henry the younger, Richard, 

 Henry, Richard. 



^ Duchy of Lane Inq. p.m. xxix, no. 

 47. This would be the ' Henry the 

 younger ' of the last note ; Richard his son 

 and heir was of full age. Richard Pier- 

 point, Elizabeth his wife, Henry Pierpoint 

 and Anne his wife, were among the re- 

 cusants in 1641 ; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new 

 ser.), xiv, 245. 



^ Cal. of Com. fir Compounding, v, 

 3201, 



^ Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconfirmity, iv, 

 61-7. 



27 The Ven. James Bell, priest, was 

 early in 1584 'condemned according to 

 the statute for saying mass in Golborne 

 upon St. John's Day in Christmas bst ' ; 

 Foley, Rec. S.J. ii, 136, quoting S.P. 

 Dom. Eliz. clxvii, 40. He suffered at 

 Lancaster in April. 



^ Liverpool Cath, Ann. 1901. 



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