A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



would have to be employed for mass and other rites,^* 

 the clerks themselves no doubt taking their share in 

 those services for which holy orders were not necessary. 



That ' the clerks of Eccles church ' were a regularly 

 established body is shown by the grant of rights of 

 common in the manor of Barton made by Gilbert de 

 Notton and Edith his wife.'" ' G. and H., W. and 

 T., clerks of Eccles,' as holding the rectory, sanctioned 

 the opening of a chapel at Worsley before 1233." 

 The initials no doubt stand for Geoffrey de Byron, 

 Hugh, William, and Thomas. Hugh and Thomas 

 must therefore have divided the fourth part of the 

 rectory between them. The former was son of Ellis 

 de Worsley, and was probably married, as his daughter 

 Ellen inherited his property,^^ Thomas seems to have 

 been the only priest, and unmarried. He may be 

 identified with the * Master T. de Eccles ' who attested 

 a grant by Gilbert de Notton and Edith his wife.^' 



The prohibition of hereditary succession to bene- 

 fices and the requirement that those who held a bene- 

 fice which a priest should serve must within a limited 

 time be advanced to the priesthood put an end to the 

 customary arrangements at Eccles. In 1234 Gilbert 

 de Barton granted to his lord, John de Lacy, Earl of 

 Lincoln, the advowson of the church of Eccles," and 

 Lacy at once conferred it upon Stanlaw Abbey.^^ 



Some of the clerks who held the rectory seem to have 

 been induced to resign, or were perhaps otherwise pro- 

 vided for ; " episcopal and papal ratifications were 

 obtained,^^ and a vicarage duly ordained.*® 



From this time until the suppression of Whalley, 

 the rectory remained in the possession of the monks. 

 In 1 29 1 the revenues were taxed aSj^20 a year," and 

 in 1 341 the ninth of the sheaves, &c., was found to 

 be j^i5 yj.*" In 1534 the gross value was returned 

 as j^57 zs.^^ but about 1540, after the rectory had 

 come into the king's hands, the net revenue from the 

 glebe and tithe was found to be ^^104.'^ A division 

 now was made ; the tithes and other revenues of the 

 rectory were leased out and afterwards sold,'^ but the 

 advowson was retained by the Crown and presentations 

 are now made by the Lord Chancellor. An indepen- 

 dent vicarage was created in the chapelry of Deane, 

 thus increasing the royal patronage. 



The vicarage of Eccles was formally constituted in 

 1277 ; a competent dwelling-house was ordered to be 

 provided, the land occupied by the de facto vicar was 

 secured, and a pension of 16 marks assigned to him 

 from the revenues of the church.^* This pension con- 

 tinued to be paid by the monks of Whalley,^ and then 

 by the Crown, but on the sale of the rectory it was 

 increased to j^i6 13J. \d., which is still paid.*® The 



grant to John was in pure alms, and sub- 

 ject to an annual rent of a pound of in- 

 cense, payable to the church of Eccles ; 

 Whalley Couch, i, 43. 



Geoffrey de Byron aho was married. 



^' David and Thomas, * chaplains ' of 

 Eccles, are mentioned in grants before 

 1 220 ; ibid. 4.7. Thomas was probably the 

 • cierk ' who had a portion of the rectory, 

 David, the priest of Eccles, attested a 

 Lever charter ; Add. MS. 32103, no 207. 



20 Whalley Couch, i, 47. 



^^ Lord EUesmere's D. no. 129. 



^2 Ibid. no. 232-33. 



M Whalley Couch, i, 47. 



^ Ibid. 63. The grant included all 

 the liberties, &c., belonging to the advow- 

 son of the church in woods, meadows, 

 roads, waters, &c. ; also 10 acres in Bar- 

 ton adjoining Hennesden, between the 

 'great street* and moss by the boundaries 

 of Pendlebury. It excluded Gilbert de 

 Barton's hey of Bolesnape and allowed his 

 right to make fisheries, mills, &c., as he 

 might find it convenient. The considera- 

 tion for this grant was an acquittance of a 

 bond for 250 marks due to Aaron the Jew 

 of York. Gilbert had previously granted 

 or confirmed his grandfather's gift of free 

 common to the clerks of Eccles and their 

 men ; ibid. 45, 



"* Ibid. 36. The witnesses are the same 

 as those to Gilbert de Barton's charter, 

 Roger de Notton being one. The grants 

 mention the chapels of Eccles, perhaps 

 those at Deane and EUenbrook. 



26 The release by Thomas the chaplain 

 to William the Clerk has been recorded 

 above. Hugh the Clerk of Eccles, * of his 

 own free will,' resigned his * portion * in 

 the church of Eccles and its chapels in 

 Apr. 1235, in full chapter at Warrington ; 

 ibid. 48. Hugh was no doubt the * H. 

 tunc persona de Eccles' of another deed ; 

 ibid. 42. After this it would appear that 

 only William the Clerk remained. 



^7 John de Lacy having intimated that 

 he had given the advowson of Eccles and 

 certain lands there to Stanlaw, Bishop 

 Alexander de Stavenby in Dec. 1234 rati- 

 fied the grant ; the prior and convent of 



Coventry and the chapter of Lichfield 

 gave their consent in 1237 ; ibid. 37-9. 



Alexander IV gave several confirma- 

 tions in 1255 ^"^^ later years. 



^ The pope, in sanctioning the appro- 

 priation of the rectory, after the death or 

 cession of the rector then in possession, 

 had in 1258 ordered that a perpetual chap- 

 lain should be appointed to serve the church, 

 with a fitting allowance for his support ; 

 ibid. 167 ; but in an earlier bull (Aug. 

 1255) he speaks of the Bishop of Lichfield 

 having asigned to the * vicar ' a due revenue; 

 ibid. 170. In 1277 Bishop Roger de 

 Meulan ordained vicarages in Blackburn, 

 Rochdale, and Eccles ; ibid. 85. 



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

 There was then in addition a pension of 

 ^2 1 3J. 4.d. payable to the Prior of Lan- 

 caster, probably as a composition for the 

 demesne tithes of Salford arising within 

 the parish, which had been granted by 

 Count Roger in 1094 ; Farrer, Lanes. 

 Pipe R. 290. 



^^ Inq. Non. (Rec. Com.), 39. Of the 

 total Barton gave i8j. 8(/., Worsley 70J. jd.^ 

 Clifton loj. It/,, Pendlebury lu., Pen- 

 dleton with Bolton by Eccles 21J. 8(/., 

 Heaton with Halliwell and Horwich 

 131. 4</., Hulton I2J. Westhoughton 

 41J. %d.y Rumworth, %s. Thus the town- 

 ships afterwards forming the parish of 

 Deane were charged with 7 55. only. There 

 is a deficit of looi. ; perhaps Barton should 

 be iiSi. %d, 



8^ Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 229. 

 The glebe lands gave £6 ; tithes of grain, 

 &c., ^30 ; tithes of wool, &c., ^y ; obla- 

 tions, Easter roll and small dues, ,^14 is, 



^2 Whalley Couch, iv, 1247 ; the par- 

 sonage of Eccles proper brought ^5041.1^/.; 

 Deane, ^^63 i-^s. j^. The pension of the 

 vicar of Eccles had to be paid out of 

 this. 



^ In 1610 the rectory (i.e. the tithes 

 and other revenues) was sold by the Crown 

 to Francis Morris and Francis Phillips, 

 *the well-known traffickers in Church 

 spoils,' they sold to Downes and Mosley, 

 who before 1613 sold to James Anderton 

 of Lostock ; see Lanes. Inf. p.m. (Rec. 



358 



Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), ii, 27. In this 

 family it descended until 1723, when Sir 

 Lawrence Anderton sold to Francis Col- 

 stone. In 1765 Mary Comyn, widow, his 

 sole devisee, sold it for ^^5,000 to Richard 

 Edensor of Congleton and John Cooke of 

 Salford, subject to the annual payment of 

 j^i6 ip. 4^. to the vicar of Eccles, and 

 to another small payment for wine for 

 the Easter sacrament. The Edensor share 

 passed to the Heathcotes of Longton Hall 

 in Staffs, and the Cooke share to Susanna 

 Dorothea Cooke of Pendleton, who died 

 in 1848 ; Raines, in Gastrell's Notitia 

 Cestr. (Chet, Soc), ii, 47. In 1864 the 

 impropriators were J. E. Heathcote and 

 Susanna wife of Frederick Phillips of 

 Manchester \ the stipend of the vicar of 

 Eccles, formerly paid out of the tithes, was 

 then paid from a sum invested in consols, 

 and a small tithe rent-charge ; the surplus 

 was allowed to accumulate for the repairs 

 of the chancel; J. Harland (*Cnix') in 

 Eccles Cb. Notes, 22. For the Heathcote 

 family see the pedigree of Edwards-Hcath- 

 cote in Burke, Landed Gentry. 



The story that the tithes of Eccles were 

 won by Anderton from the Duke of Suffx>lk 

 by a bet over a cockfight is obviously 

 erroneous ; Eccles Ch. Notes, 22. 



A lease of the rectory for twenty-one 

 years was granted to Sir Thomas Hol- 

 croft in 1545 ; Chest. Consist. Ct. Sir 

 Gilbert and Sir Thomas Gerard held it 

 about 1590 ; Ducatus Lane, iii, 256, 312, 

 and a lease was granted to Anderton in 

 1602 ; Pat. 44 Eliz. pt. 3. For the sale 

 to Morris and Phillips, see Pat. 7 Jas. I, 

 pt. 2 ; and 9 Jas. I, pt. 22. For the sale 

 (1723) to Colstone see Eceles Ch. Notes, 

 58 ; also Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle, 

 289, m. 93, where the plaintiff's name is 

 given as Francis Loggin. 



M Whalley Couch, i, 85. 



85 Valor Ecel. v, 227, 234. Out of his 

 16 marks the vicar of Eccles had to pay 

 the curate (later the vicar) of Deane £^ a 

 year. 



8« Information of the Rev. F. D. Cre- 

 mer, vicar. 



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