A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



held at Easter and Michaelmas.*' They continued to 

 be held regularly until 1856, but only two have been 

 held since, in 1877 and 1888. Some court rolls are 

 extant for the end of the 1 6th and beginning of the 

 17th centuries ; the regular series begins in 1722." 



Worsley Hall is a large house built in 1840—6 by 

 Lord Francis Egerton as above stated, Edward Blore 

 being the architect. It stands on high ground looking 

 southward over Chat Moss, and is a spacious stone 

 building of florid Gothic style, with a skyline which 

 from the lower ground is very imposing. It replaces 

 Brick Hall, which was pulled down in 1845. 



Worsley Old Hall, which was abandoned as the 

 residence of the lord of the manor when the 1 8th- 

 century house was built, yet stands in the park to 

 the north of the modern mansion. It is a pic- 

 turesque low two-storied building, partly of wood 

 and plaster, and partly of brick, but has been so 

 much altered that it has now little or no architec- 

 tural interest. It makes a very charming picture, 

 however, with its level lawns, ivy-covered walls, 

 and contrast of colour in black and white work, red- 

 brick chimneys, and grey-slated roofs. The house was 

 originally built round three sides of a quadrangle, the 

 fourth, facing north, being open ; but the courtyard has 

 now been almost entirely built over, and the interior of 

 the building so much altered that little or nothing of 

 the original disposition of the plan remains. There is 

 nothing to indicate the date of the building, but it 

 would not appear to be older than the 17th century. 

 Parts of an older structure, however, are possibly in- 

 corporated in it, some of the roof-beams and principals 

 in the south and south-east parts of the house appear- 

 ing to be of earlier date. The cellars under the cen- 

 tral portion of the house, however, are vaulted in brick, 

 and are certainly not earlier than the 17th century. 

 The principal front faces south, and is of timber and 

 plaster, with gables at the ends, and two brick chimney 

 stacks breaking the long line of the outside wall and 

 roof. The timber work is of simple construction, being 

 composed almost entirely of uprights and diagonal 

 bracings, two quatrefoils near the garden entrance 

 being the only enrichments. The timber construction 

 is continued round the gable at the east side. The 

 hall is said to have been moated, but no signs of a 

 moat now remain. The three sides of the original 

 courtyard are set at slightly different angles. In 

 modern times a corridor was set along the side of the 

 courtyard, connecting the two ends of the old wings, 

 but this has disappeared in subsequent alterations. 

 The courtyard was first encroached on at the east side 

 by the erection of a wide entrance-hall, the principal 



entrance to the house being on the north side. The 

 quadrangle was by this means reduced to a space of 

 about 34 ft. square, and this was almost entirely 

 covered in 1905 by the erection of a billiard-room. 

 The north entrance front of the house is entirely 

 modern ; it carries out the picturesque half-timber 

 character of the garden front, but the black and white 

 work is chiefly paint and plaster. About the middle 

 of the last century (after 1855) a new west wing 

 was added alongside the old one, with a timber gable 

 at each end. This was originally of one story, but 

 was afterwards raised. Further alterations took place 

 in 1 89 1, when the morning-room in the east wing 

 was extended and a new bay added on three sides 

 of the house, and in 1906 a further addition was 

 made by the erection of a small north-west wing. 

 There was formerly a bell turret over the west wing, 

 but this has disappeared. 



For a long time before the new Hall was built, 

 Worsley Old Hall was divided into tenements, and it 

 was not till the Hon. Algernon Egerton came to live 

 there in 1855 and the house was entirely renovated, 

 that it was again used as a residence. At the end of the 

 1 8th century when the Duke of Bridgewater was con- 

 structing his canal, James Brindley, the engineer, lived 

 for some time at Worsley Old Hall, where the duke 

 often consulted with him. The hall is now the resi- 

 dence of Viscount Brackley. 



The carved oak panels which were brought from 

 Hulme Hall, Manchester, at the time of its demoli- 

 tion, to Worsley Old Hall, have been removed to the 

 new mansion and are now in Lady EUesmere's sitting- 

 room. They consist of a series of spirited grotesques, 

 allegorical subjects, and ornamental devices, and are 

 apparently 1 6th-century work." 



The formation of the estate or manor oi BOOTHS 

 in 1323 has been narrated.*^ Robertson of Henry 

 de Worsley, the original grantee, was succeeded by 

 his son William," and the latter by Robert de Worsley 

 his son," who died 28 March 1 402, seised of 'the 

 manor of Booths,' which was held of the king as Duke 

 of Lancaster in socage and by the yearly rent of is. ; 

 it was worth 20 marks. His son and heir Arthur 

 was then of full age." As already stated, the father 

 had planned the reunion of the whole manor through 

 the marriage of Arthur with Elizabeth daughter and 

 heiress of Sir Geoffrey de Worsley, but was balked 

 by the success of the Masseys in proving her ille- 

 gitimate. 



Arthur Worsley was stated to have been an idiot 

 from his birth. He was entrusted to the guardian- 

 ship of John Booth of Barton, who in 1414 was 



" Baines, Lanes, (cd. 1836), iii, 145. 



*^ Information of Mr. Strachan Holme, 

 In 1877 the bounds were perambulated. 

 The officers of the manor used to be the 

 moss reeves, moor drivers, burley men, 

 afFcerers, constables, and pinfold Iceepers. 



^^ They arc engraved in Baines, Hist, of 

 Lanes, (ist ed.), iii, 144. 



^^ Final Cone, i, 193 ; also EUesmere 

 D. no. 147, 162, quoted above. 



" In 1350 Agnes widow of Robert de 

 Worsley claimed her dower in twenty-one 

 messuages and various lands in Worsley 

 and Heaton Norris. William son of 

 Robert, in defending, denied Agnes's mar- 

 riage, but she averred that it took place 

 on the Wednesday after 29 Aug. 1 346, at 

 the door of St. Mary's Church, Deane ; 



De Banco R. 363, m. 78 d. William son 

 of Robert de Worsley occurs again in 

 '353 ; Assize R. 435, m. 9 d. William 

 de Worsley had licence for his oratory in 

 1360, 1362, and 1366 ; Lich. Epis. Reg. 

 V, fol.4,8, 15. 



^8 Robert de Worsley and Isabel his 

 wife in 1376 claimed dower in certain 

 lands in Blackrod ; Isabel was the widow 

 of John de Worthington ; De Banco R. 

 462, m. 235. Robert had licence for his 

 oratory in the manor of Booths in 1378 ; 

 Lich. Epis. Reg. v, fol. 31*. In 1401 

 Robert son of William de Worsley had a 

 release from the Masseys of all claim to 

 Booths and Stanistreet 5 EUesmere D. 

 (Black Bk.). Robert de Worsley was 

 knight of the shire in 1386 and 1391 ; 



382 



Pink and Beaven, Pari. Repre. of Lanes. 

 43-4. He complained that in order to 

 ruin him the Masseys and others had 

 accused him of treason in 1387, so that 

 he had been imprisoned for some time in 

 the Tower ; Pari. R. iii, 445. 



M Towneley MS. DD, no. 1448 ; 

 an inquisition taken at Manchester on 

 3 Oct. 1402. The writ had been issued 

 6 Aug. 1402 ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxiii, 

 App. 2, where the date seems to be 1401. 

 In the inquiry as to the sanity of Arthur 

 de Worsley, however, Robert's death is 

 said to have happened on Easter Sunday, 

 1403 ; and it is recorded that he held the 

 Rakes in Heaton Norris, in addition to 

 'certain lands and tenements called the 

 Booths ' in Worsley. 



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