A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



whose descendants continued to hold it down to the 

 1 7th century/ when the land seems to have been sold 



Baguley of Baguley. 

 Or three lozenges azure. 



L z G B of Baguley. 

 Azure tTvo bars argent^ 

 onjer all a bend gules. 



to a number of different owners, the manor ceasing to 

 exist. 



The township has left scarcely any trace in the 

 records.* 



The principal owners in 1787 were Edward 

 Greaves of Culcheth in Newton and John Carill- 

 Worsley of Piatt, but together they contributed only 

 a sixth part of the land tax.' In 1844 there were 

 forty-nine landowners, the chief being Samuel Grim- 

 shaw, owning a tenth.* 



In connexion with the Established Church, St. 

 Peter's was built in i860 near the centre of the 

 township ; ' the patronage is vested in five trustees. 

 Two new districts, St. Andrew's and St. Mark's, have 

 been defined, but churches have not been built ; the 

 patronage is vested in the Crown and the Bishop of 

 Manchester alternately. 



The Wesleyans long had a place of worship.'" 

 The Primitive Methodists, United Free Methodists, 

 and the Congregationalists have churches. 



A convent of Poor Clares stands in Alma Park in 

 the south-west corner ; the chapel of St. Mary of the 

 Angels and St. Clare was opened in 1853." 



A school was built in 1754, but the scheme appears 

 to have failed." 



BURNAGE 



Bronadge, Bronage, (Copies of) 1 320 survey. 



Burnage is a rural township of 666 acres,' separating 

 Withington from Heaton Norris. It contains the 

 hamlets of Green End and Lady Barn.' The popula- 

 tion in 1901 was 1,892. 



The Manchester and Cheadle road passes through 

 it from north to south, and there are cross roads. 

 The village lies near the centre ; Green End is 

 further south, and Lane End and Catterick Hall 

 border upon Didsbury. The district is partly resi- 

 dential and partly agricultural. 



Burnage was customarily included in Didsbury 

 chapelry, but this was contested in 18 14, an expensive 

 lawsuit being necessary to establish the right of the 

 chapelry.' The township was included in the Withing- 

 ton local board district in 1877.* 



There was never any manor of BUR- 

 MJNOR NJGE, which was a border district be- 

 tween the lordships of Withington and 

 Heaton Norris, pertaining, it would seem, rather to 

 the latter than to the former,' as the 356 acres of 

 common pasture land it contained * were described 

 under Heaton in the survey of 1320. While Thomas 

 Grelley was a minor Sir John de Byron and Sir John 

 de Longford had inclosed for themselves 100 acres 

 and turned it into arable ; and after that. Sir John de 

 Byron and Dame Joan de Longford had inclosed yet 



that William de Legh was under age in 



1359- 



John Savage and Margery his wife in 

 1359 claimed twenty messuages, &c., in 

 Withington against William son of Sir 

 John de Legh ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 

 7, m. 4d. 



5 William de Legh of Baguley, who 

 died in Dec. 1435, held ten messuages, 

 200 acres of land, 40 acres of meadow, 

 and 4 acres of waste in Levenshulme in 

 Withington of Nicholas son and heir of 

 Sir Ralph de Longford, by homage, fealty, 

 escuage, and a rent of 41. ; it was recorded 

 that Thomas de Legh, father of William, 

 had done his homage for the lands, &c., 

 to Sir Nicholas de Longford, father of 

 Sir Ralph. The estate was worth 20 

 marks a year ; Edmund, the son and heir 

 of William, was one year old ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1482. 



Sir John Legh, son of Edmund, in 

 1505 settled a tenement in Levenshulme 

 on his illegitimate son John for life ; 

 Ormerod, Ches. i, 552. 



In 1 566 Edward Legh made a settlement 

 of the manor of Levenshulme and thirty 

 messuages, lands, &c., there and in With- 

 ington ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 28, 

 m. 263. Ten years later he appears to 

 have made a settlement or mortgage of a 

 portion of the estate ; ibid. bdle. 38, m. 

 I 5. Shortly afterwards Margaret Vaudrey, 

 claiming by conveyance from Edward Legh, 

 had a dispute with the lessees of William 

 RadclifFe concerning lands in Levenshulme 5 

 there were some later suits ; Ducatus Lane, 

 (Rec. Com.), iii, 60, 86, 170, 230 (1577 

 to 1 5 88). She was probably the Margaret 

 daughter of Robert Vawdrey whose ' dis- 



honest and unclean living' was censured 

 by her father in his will ; Piccope, Wills 

 (Chet. Soc), ii, 84. 



Richard Legh, son and heir of Gerard 

 Legh of Baguley, and others in 1604 

 granted a lease of lands to Thomas Holme 

 of Heaton Norris ; note by Mr. E. Axon 

 (quoting T. Holme's will). 



The manor and lands were in 1619 in 

 possession of John Gobart (of Coventry) 

 and Lucy his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle 95, no. 39. They left three 

 daughters and co-heirs — Frances wife of 

 Sir Thomas Barrington ; Anne wife of 

 Thomas Legh of Adlington ; and Lucy wife 

 of Calcot Chambrie ; Visit. offVarlv.{^-&r\. 

 Soc), 293 ; Earwaker, East Ches. ii, 252. 



^ Levenshulme is named as a dependency 

 of Withington in 1322 5 Mamecestre (Chet. 

 Soc), ii, 374. 



In 1 36 1 Richard son of William de 

 Radcliffe did not prosecute a claim against 

 Sir John de Hyde of Norbury regarding 

 tenements in Levenshulme, Haughton, 

 and Lightshaw ; Assize R. 441, m. i d. 5. 

 Sir John de Hyde appears to have been 

 the son of Isabel sister and co-heir of 

 John de Baguley (who died in 1356) ; see 

 Ormerod, Ches. iii, 810. 



7 Records at Preston. The Greaves 

 family here as elsewhere succeeded to the 

 estate of the GiUiams, who were at first 

 described as of Levenshulme ; Booker, 

 Didsbury, 232. 



8 Ibid. 233. The incumbent of Gorton 

 Chapel had 26 acres, purchased in 1734 

 by a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty 

 augmented by subscription. This land 

 had in 1620 been conveyed by Richard 

 Legh of Baguley and Henry, his son and 



310 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



heir, to Joha Thorpe of Levenshulme ; 

 from his grandson it passed to Obadiah 

 Hulme of Reddish, whose son Samuel sold 

 it in 1734 ; ibid. 231, 232, An abstract 

 of the deeds is printed in Higson's Gorton 

 Hilt. Recorder, 86, 87. 



^A site was given in 1853 by C. C, 

 Worsley of Piatt ; a school built on it 

 was used for divine service ; Booker, op. 

 cit. 234.. A district was assigned to the 

 church in 1861 ; Lond. Gaz. 28 June, 



10 Booker, op. cit. 235. The old chapel 

 and graveyard were closed in 1866. 



^^ The chief benefactor was Mr, Grim- 

 shaw of Buxton ; Booker, op. cit, 235. 



12 Ibid. 



^ 686 acres, including one of inland 

 water ; Census Rep. 190 1. 



^ Lady Barn is named in the will of 

 Sir Nicholas Mosley in 16125 Booker, 

 Didsbury (Chet. Soc), 134. 



8 Ibid. 175-6. 



* 39 & 40 Vict. cap. 161, 



^ The ancient boundary between Heaton 

 Norris and Withington was Saltergate, 

 supposed to be the present road south 

 through Burnage, but the line of the road 

 had been changed before 13205 Mame- 

 cestre (Chet, Soc), ii, 275. The tithes 

 were formerly gathered with those of 

 Withington ; Booker, Didsbury, 175. For 

 the complicated boundary of the town- 

 ship of Burnage in recent times see 

 Mr. H. T. Crofton's essays in the Man- 

 chester Literary Club's Manch, Quarterly 

 for 1887, and in Trans. Manch, Geog. Soc. 

 for 1893 ; maps are given. 



^ It may be noted that 356 Cheshire 

 acres is somewhat larger than the present 

 area of the township. 



