A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



of York 1452 to 1464, secured in 1460 the appro- 

 priation of Beetham rectory to the new chantry or 

 college of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, for 

 which the Jesus Chapel was built on the north side 

 of the chancel. A house of residence adjoined for 

 the use of the chaplains.^ At the time of the 

 Suppression the clear revenue was jf 20 is. id., out 

 of which the two chaplains or ' fellows ' received 

 each 10 marks, the 'conduct' or assistant priest had 

 7 marks, and 20s. was given in alms. The incum- 

 bents were bound to celebrate mass daily in the 

 chapel and ' maintain the choir ' at divine service, 

 and all three, ' by the occasion of the large circuit of 

 the said parish and the vicar thereof not [being] able 

 to minister to all the same ' were ' enforced often and 

 many times to minister sacraments to the parishioners.' " 

 Jesus Chapel was acquired by the Traffords, and Trinity 

 Chapel by the lords of Worsley, as representatives of 

 the founders." 



There was an ancient schoolhouse in the church- 



yard.** The schoolmaster of Eccles formerly claimed 

 a small sum from each newly-married couple ; if re- 

 fiised, the boys took the bride's garter. The custom 

 having become a nuisance, the churchwardens abolished 

 it, levying ^d. or 6d. at each marriage, to be paid to 

 the schoolmaster of Eccles.*' 



A place in the churchyard was known as Scots' 

 Hole, the tradition being that a number of rebeb had 

 been buried there after execution.** 



Near the church is a spring called the Lady's 

 well.**" 



The ancient charities of Eccles 

 CHARITIES were but small.** There was in 

 1828 a Poor's stock of about £60 ; 

 and James Bradshaw of Croft's Bank had in 1800 

 left a rent-charge of £\z a year for education in that 

 hamlet, while a school had been founded at Roe 

 Green in Worsley as early as 1710.°* The more 

 recent charitable endowments are chiefly educational 

 or ecclesiastical." 



appropriation was consequently nullified. 

 Paul II in 1466 confirmed the appropria- 

 tions of Slaidburn and Beetham to the 

 respective chantries ; and both chantries 

 benefited under the will of Archbishop 

 Booth ; Test. Ebor. (Surtees Soc), ii, 266. 



^' Chant. 134-8 ; from Lich. Epis. Reg. 

 X, fol. 95-105. The royal licence was 

 granted i Dec. 1460. The statutes were 

 similar to those of St. Katherine's chantry. 

 The chapel in 1548 seems to have been 

 suitably furnished, though there was only 

 one chalice ; the mansion-house had a 

 garden, croft, and orchard adjoining ; a 

 rent of 3^. 4^. was paid for it to the vicar 

 of Eccles ; Chant. 138, 139. 



The following names of cantarists occur : 

 On 5 June 1460 John Badsworth and 

 Thomas Shipton, priests, were appointed 

 to the new foundation ; Lich. Epis. Reg. 

 xii, fol. 98. In 1466, Badsworth having 

 resigned, Peter Halstead succeeded ; ibid, 

 fol. 102A. Halstead died two years after- 

 wards, and was followed by James Bruche ; 

 ibid. fol. 104. In 1474 Charles Prestwich 

 was appointed, on the resignation of Bruche ; 

 ibid. fol. 109. These refer to 'the first 

 chaplaincy.' In 1475 Ralph Derwynd 

 was promoted from St. Katherine's to be 

 second chaplain at the Jesus chantry in 

 place of John Worthington, resigned ; 

 ibid. fol. 109*. Edmund Beswick fol- 

 lowed, and in 1497, on his resigning, 

 William Cramp succeeded ; ibid, xiii, fol. 

 230^. In July 1534, Thurstan Cocker 

 having died, George Bowker succeeded 

 him ; ibid, xiii-xiv, fol. 34. A year or 

 so later Thomas and George Bowker 

 were the fellows or chaplains ; Valor Eccl. 

 V, 227. George Bowker resigned in 1539, 

 and was followed by Roger Okell ; Lich. 

 Epis. Reg. xiii-xiv, fol. 37^. 



Okell was celebrating at the Suppres- 

 sion, being then aged fifty-two. His fellow- 

 priest was George Wirrall, aged forty-six, 

 who had paid firstfrults in 1538 on appoint- 

 ment to succeed Thomas Bowker,deceased; 

 Lanes, and Chei.Rec.(Kec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), ii, 408 ; Church Papers at Chest. 

 Richard Hyde, a scholar of Cambridge.aged 

 twenty- two, was their assistant ; Chant. 131, 

 137. Roger Okell was buried at Middleton, 

 5 Nov. 1565 ; Ch. Gds. 21. In 1556-7 

 Roger Okell and George Wirrall, clerks, 

 complained that Thomas Fleetwood had 

 disturbed them in possession of a mansion- 

 house by Eccles Church ; Ducatus Lane, 

 (Rec. Com.), i, 287. 



s-i Chant, loc. cit. 



8' A grant of Trinity Chantry was 

 made in 1583 ; Pat. 25 Eliz, pt, 1, 

 Gilbert Sherington held the lands in 

 1567 ; Ducatus Lane, ii, 354* 



8* Notitia Cestr. ii,'53. For the history 

 of the school see End. Char. Rep. 



87 Pal. Note-Bk. i, 91 ; Local Glean. 

 Lanes, and Ches. ii, 170, 175. 



88 Loe. Glean, ii, 26, 35. 



88* Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xxii, 105. 



8' A fund of j^37 was reported to 



Bishop Gastrell about 1720 ; Notitia Cestr. 



"' 53- 



^^ The details may be seen in the report 

 of 1826, reprinted in the Eccles Endowed 

 Char. Rep. 1 904. 



In the more recent report the township 

 of Pendleton, as being in the borough of 

 Salford, is not included, but it had no 

 special charities in 1826. 



The principal benefactors of the poor's 

 fund were Dr. Richard Sherlock, Hannah 

 Leigh (for Barton, Eccles, and Worsley 

 Lower End), and Edmund Goolden, ,^10 

 each in or before 1689. Thomas Smith, 

 schoolmaster, left ,^20 to Eccles School. 

 The capital seems to have been used for 

 the erection of a gallery in the church, 

 the wardens paying interest, which in 

 1826 was distributed among the poor. 

 The gallery was made free in 1862, but 

 no repayment of the poor's fund was 

 made, so that it has been lost. 



James Bradshaw's lands were at Davy- 

 hulme— the Croft, Little and Great Wheat- 

 field, Carr Hill, Digpool, and Higher and 

 Lower Red Racket. Of the whole charge 

 jTy loj. was for education ; ^3 lOi. for 

 bread, linen, &c., for the poor, and ^\ to 

 the curate of Eccles Church for preaching 

 two sermons on the second Sunday in 

 June on texts specified. The gift was 

 enlarged by the donor, who died in 1806, 

 and the income was ;^43 a year in 1826. 

 The income of the Bradshaw charity is 

 now about j^5 5, and is administered under 

 a scheme made by the Charity Commis- 

 sioners in 1895, part being given to the 

 sick and poor and part to education. 



The Roe Green School was founded 

 by the will of Thomas Collier, who gave 

 a rent-charge of £^ on lands at West- 

 houghton, called the Ashes, owned in 

 1826 by William Hulton of Over Hul- 

 ton. The rent-charge is still paid, the in- 

 fant schoolmistress at Roe Green National 

 School being the beneficiary. 



The poor benefited under the bequests 

 of Dame Dorothy Legh, who in 1638-9 



362 



left ;^5oo, invested la the purchase of 

 Common Head in Tyldesley, a fourth 

 part of the income going to the poor of 

 Worsley. In 1826 the overaeers had 

 ^11 3,1. 4</. to distribute on this account. 

 The income of the trust estate has since 

 then largely increased, and the Worsley 

 share amounts to ^^55 to ;^6o a year ; it 

 is distributed in doles of 65. each. 



®^ John Greaves of Irlam Hall in 1847 

 left £1^000 for the poor of Barton, Eccles. 

 Irlam, and Cadishead, also of Pendlebury 

 and Pendleton, and for Church of England 

 Sunday schools. Only £60^ was actually 

 received from the estate, but was allowed 

 to accumulate until 1882, when the 

 total fund was ^1,166. The income is 

 j^28 I2S, 4^/., and is managed by the 

 vicars of churches named by the Charity 

 Commissioners in 1882. 



On the death of the Hon. Algernon 

 Egerton in 1891 a memorial fund of 

 j^i,ioo was raised for scholarships and 

 prizes ; the borough of Eccles and town- 

 ship of Worsley share in the benefits. 



James Anderson, who died in 1884, 

 gave £700 for widows of the village of 

 Worsley, The income is distributed in 

 doles of 91. to 125. to widows in the ham- 

 lets called Alder Forest, Roe Green, and 

 Mesne Lea. William Samuel Forester of 

 Roe Green left ^f 100 chiefly for the poor of 

 Worsley. Thomas Farnworth of Booths- 

 town left a rent-charge of £1 loj, for the 

 school fees of poor children of the place. 

 The income, now ^^i 51., is given in 

 prizes to the children of the Church of 

 England School at Boothstown. 



The Very Rev. G. H. Bowers, Dean of 

 Manchester, who died in 1872, left £$0 

 for the poor of Swinton ; the income is 

 £z. John Higham of Swinton left ;£'34o 

 Manchester Corporation Stock on a simi- 

 lar trust ; the income, j^io 41., is dis- 

 tributed with the last fund, John Doming 

 of Swinton left ^^1,500 to trustees, in- 

 structing them to give ^80 a year to the 

 poor until the fund should be exhausted. 



Catherine Dauntesey Foxton of Age- 

 eroft left ^^6,000 towards providing a dis- 

 pensary in Pendlebury, but the bequest 

 lapsed, as It was thought no dispensary 

 was needed. The money is stated to have 

 been applied in founding scholarships at 

 Owens College. 



The following charities also are noticed 

 in the report : — Eccles Church school, 

 with Edward Tootal's endowment ; Mon- 

 ton Presbyterian (Unitarian) Church and 



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