SALFORD HUNDRED 



ECCLES 



Commonwealth surveyors in 1650 found the tithes 

 of Eccles to be worth about £170; they had been 

 sequestered by the authorities for the ' delinquency ' 

 of the impropriator, who had been accustomed to pay 

 j£ J 8 a year to the vicar. They recommended that 

 Ellenbrook Chapel should have a parish assigned to it, 



that a new church should be built at Irlam, and that 

 some re-arrangement of the other boundaries should 

 be made.'"'' With the growth of Manchester the value 

 of the glebe increased, and the income of the vicarage, 

 which in 17 18 was under X4^>" ^^^ '^°^ become 

 ^70°.'' 



oc. 

 oc. 

 oc. 

 oc. 



The following is a list of the vicars : — 



Instituted Name Patron 



1277 . . . Roger'' 



1284 . . . John" — 



1294. . . . William the Parker *' 



1 3 10-15 . . Simon" 



25 July 1320. . Adam de Blackburn " Abbot of Whalley . 



31 Oct. 1349. . John de Mulnegate " „ 



10 June 1372 . Robert de Monton ** „ 



oc. 1383 . . . John de Craunton " 



oc. 1402 . . . John de York" 



John de Moreland 



8 Feb. 1412-13. Richard Ewood " 



S Nov. 1456 . Robert La we*' Abbot of Whalley . 



l2Apl. 1471. . Christopher Whitehead '° . ... „ 



1474. . Thomas Wright " Bishop of Lichfield 



8 Mar. 1504-5. Thomas Holgate " Abbot of Whalley . 



oc. 1534-54 . . Thomas Crane" 



20 Tune iccq 1 ■ Edward Pendleton, B. Gram.^ . . The Crown . . . 



Cause of Vacancy 



d. A. de Blackburn 

 d. J. de Mulnegate 



res. J. de Moreland 

 d. R. Ewood 

 res. R. Lawe 



d. T. Wright 



res. T. Crane 



^** Comttion'w,Ch, Suri;.(Rec. Sec. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), 1 3. 



A terrier of 1663 is printed in Eccles 

 Cb, Notes, 4.9 ; it gives details of the lands 

 held by the yicar, the vicarage house and 

 outbuildings, and the cottages built upon 

 the land. The same volume contains, 

 among other interesting records, a case and 

 opinion concerning certain fir trees in the 

 churchyard which the vicar had cut down 

 and sold (ibid. 35) ; an account of the 

 pews in the church in 1595 (24) ; and 

 the galleries erected in 1717 and 1769- 



71 (59)- 



W Notilia Cestr. ii, 46. The glebe land, 

 14 acres, let for ;^2i, and surplice fees 

 amounted to ^6. Warden Wroe of Man- 

 chester had stated the value as ;^8o In 

 1706. ' In the terrier of 1705 it is stated 

 that the vicar has no tithes, nor are there 

 any estates in the parish tithe free ; neither 

 has the vicar mortuaries, oblations, obven- 

 tions, or herbage. He has liberty of a little 

 common called the Warth, lying at the 

 river aide of the Irwell, and a property in 

 the waste with the other charterers, to- 

 gether with the herbage of the churchyard.' 



Therewere six wardens and six assistants; 

 two wardens were nominated by the Duke 

 of Bridgewatcr, two by Mr. TrafFord, one 

 by the vicar, and one was appointed alter- 

 nately for Clifton and Pendlebury, the 

 outgoing warden nominating. 



88 Maitch. Dioc. Cal. 



" He attested a number of the local 

 charters, including three of the year 1277; 

 Whalley Couch, iii, 906, 910, 913. As 

 this was the date of the ordination of the 

 vicarage, it may be assumed that Roger 

 was the first vicar. Among the tenants 

 when John de Barton sold his manors to 

 Robert Grelley were 'Roger de Eccles, 

 chaplain, William de Eccles, clerk ' ; so 

 that Roger may have been the officiating 

 priest before becoming vicar ; De TrafFord 

 D. no. 202. 



*o Whalley Couch, iii, 912. 



" Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 120. 



■" He attested a Worsley charter ; El- 



lesmere D. no. 237. Also a Sharpies 

 one, 1315-16; Harl. MS. 21 iz, fol. 145/ 

 181. 



•" Lich. Epis. Reg. i, fol. 87. The 

 benefice had been vacant a fortnight, the 

 previous incumbent (not named) 'having 

 obtained a similar one,' i.e. probably one 

 requiring residence in person. 



In 1330 Richard son of Henry de 

 Worsley granted to Adam de Blackburn, 

 perpetual vicar of Eccles, all his lands in 

 Swinton ; and exactly two years later 

 Adam transferred them to the monks of 

 Whalley ; the same witnesses attested 

 both grants ; Whalley Couch, iii, 932, 934. 



+* Lich. Epis. Reg. ii, fol. 125 ; the 

 new vicar was a priest. He died on 

 Tuesday after Ascension Day, 1372. 



*^ Ibid, iv, fol. 86 ; a priest. Monton 

 was vicar in 1381, acting as Sir Geoffrey 

 de Worsley's proxy in the divorce pro- 

 ceedings of that year ; Ellesmere D. no. 

 268 ; Dep. Keeper^s Rep. xxxvi, App. 

 540. 



*^ Named in Towneley MS. DD, no. 

 1499. He was vicar also in 1390. See 

 Crosse D. no, 112, for John de Craun- 

 ton (or Crouton), rector of * Werinton ' in 

 1409 ; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), vi, 

 293, 294. 



*! Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, App. 9 ; 

 he is named as vicar in 1408 ; Final 

 Cone, iii, 68. 



In 1405 John de Crouton, rector of 

 Cadington, executor of John de Crockton, 

 vicar of Eccles, and co-executor of Adam 

 de Crouton, released to Nicholas de York, 

 Abbot of Whalley, all actions ; Add. MS. 

 32108, no. 522. Unless there is some 

 error in the dates or names the succession 

 must have been John de Crouton, John 

 de Crockton, John de York, John de 

 Moreland. 



* Lich. Epis. Reg. vii, fol. I02i ; he 

 was a chaplain and his name is here spelt 

 Euwode. He had a brother Geoffrey, to 

 whom lands were given in Heap, near 

 Bury, in 1419-20 ; see also Dep. Keeper's 

 Rep. xxxiii, App. 13, 31. 



359 



^9 Lich. Epis. Reg. xi, fol. 41 ; a chap- 

 lain. Robert Lawe was a feoffee of Otti- 

 well Worsley In, 1465 ; Ellesmere D. 

 no. 35. 



*•* Lich, Epis. Reg, xli, fol. 105 ; a 

 chaplain. 



*^ Ibid. 108. The abbot and convent 

 of Whalley had presented one John Bol- 

 lyng to the vicarage, but upon e: amina- 

 tion he was found to be 'unfit and un- 

 able,' and the bishop thereupon collated 

 Thomas Wright. This vicar is named as 

 trustee in 1481 ; Raines MSS. (Chet. 

 Lib.) xiv, 86. 



^2 Lich. Epis. Reg. xill-xiv, fol. 53^; 

 a chaplain. The entries in the Act Eks. 

 at Chester Dioc. Reg. begin here. Holgate 

 was one of the trustees of Thomas Hyde 

 ofUrmston in 1517; Harl. MS. aiiz, 

 fol. 161. 



53 Valor Eccl (Rec, Com.), v, 227 ; he 

 was also present at the visitation in 1554. 

 He is called Craven In the suit by the 

 vicar of Deane in 1544 regarding the 

 stipend formerly paid to Deane by the 

 vicar of Eccles ; Duchy Plead* (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 197. As Thomas 

 Craven he was a witness to the will of 

 Dorothy Booth in 1553 ; PIccope, JVilh 

 (Chet. Soc), iii, 57. The will of Tho- 

 mas Craven of Eccles, bastard son of the 

 vicar, was proved at Chester In 1591 ; 

 Cb. Gds. (Chet. Soc), 22. 



From this time see Baines' Lanes, (ed. 

 Croston), HI, 255, &c, for lives of the 

 vicars. 



^* For an account of Pendleton's life 

 see Felloivs ofManch, Coll, (Chet. Soc), i, 

 51-4. He was a nephew of Dr, Henry 

 Pendleton, one of Bonner's chaplains, 

 with whom (as in Dkt. Nat, Siog.) he has 

 sometimes been confused, and was himself 

 educated at Brasenose Coll. Oxford. An 

 Edward Pendleton, perhaps a relative, 

 was one of the Manchester priests in 

 1542 ; Clergy List (Rec. Soc Lanes, and 

 Ches.), II. Edward Pendleton was school- 

 master and chantry priest In the collegiate 

 church there in 1548; K^incSj Chantries 



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