LEYLAND HUNDRED 



LEYLAND 



church 

 before 

 Henry 



vicar or other minister to read the morning prayers 

 of the church service and to read a lecture or sermon 

 in the parish church every Friday morning. The 

 income, about jf 27, is still paid to the vicar.' 

 An .altar of St. Nicholas existed in the 

 for a long time," and there was also an .iltar 

 the rood.^ At the former in 1524. Sir 

 Farington endowed a chantry for ' an able and well- 

 disposed priest daily to say and do massci . . . and 

 other divine service daily to say ani do there for 

 ever.' The chantry priest w.as .also to be ready to 

 assist in his surplice at matins, mass and other service 

 ' daily done with note ' in the church among the 

 other priests and clerks. The founder gave certain 

 church ornaments and plate for use at the altar, but 

 still regarded them as his private property.' The 

 priest had also ' to keep one free grammar school 

 in the church.' ^ The endowment consisted of a 

 number of tenements in Leyland, Cuerden, Ulnes 

 Walton and other adjacent townships, and amounted 

 to £^ is. 9</. at the suppression.* The first priest 

 seems to have been Thurstan Helde or William 

 Walton, but in 1535 Thurstan Taylor was doing 



service,' and he remained until 1547, 'celebrating 

 and keeping school according to his foundation.' * 



The chantry school was threatened with destruc- 

 tion by the confiscation of the endowment at the 

 Reformation, but £'^ 6s. St/, a year was granted by 

 Queen Elizabeth for the revival of it, and other 

 endowments were added.' It is now closed. 



An official inquiry as to the charities 

 CHJRITJES of the parish w.as m.ide in 1899.'" 

 The endowments for education pro- 

 duce nearly ;{[500 a year, and over ^^50 is devoted 

 to church purposes. 



For Leyland township ^^20 for the poor is available 

 from the Balshaw school endowment." More im- 

 portant are the almshouses founded by William 

 Farington in 1661," and by John Osbaldeston in 

 1665,'^ with revenues of j^8o and ^^ 194 respectively; 

 there are also a bread charity " and a dole for poor 

 widows." A number of ancient gifts have either 

 been lost or merged in those mentioned."' 



For Euxton the gifts of Richard Hodson and others 

 produce nearly^^i 5 a year, distributed in linen orcalico, 

 bread, or money gifts." Euxton is also entitled to 



^ End, Char. Rep. (Leyland), 1900, p. 



*^- . 



^ Raines, Chantnesy 183 ; quoting the 



will of Sir William Farington, 1501. 

 The altar stood in n chapel known as 

 St. Nicholas* chapel or Farington chapel 5 

 ibid. 1 86. 



^ Richard Kuerden, in 1529, be- 

 queathed 3J, 4^, for the rood priest to say 

 mass for his soul ; Add. MS. 32109, fol. 



95*. 



^ Chantries^ 1 85-6, The names of 

 those to be prayed for are given. The 

 nomination of the chaplain was to rest 

 with Sir Henry and his heirs or trustees, 

 but if they did not appoint the Abbot of 

 Evesham was to do so. A solemn obit 

 was to be kept between Easier and Pente- 

 cost, as many priests and clerks to be 

 assembled as possible, each receiving an 

 alms of I2(^., while the parish clerk was 

 to have 4</. for ringing the bells, 



5 Ibid. 183. 



^ Ibid. 186-90. There was no plate. 



^ Valor EccL (Rec. Com.), ^^ 232, 



^ Raines, op. cit. 182-4. 



^ Gastrell, Nothia ii, 381 ; Loc. Glean, 

 Lanes, and CAes. ii, 108. The chantry 

 commissioners of 1548 recommended that 

 the school should be continued, and 

 ordered that £2 ^7^' ^°^' should be paid 

 to the old chantry priest * until further or 

 other order or direction ' should be given. 

 The payment from the Duchy revenues 

 still continues; it amounts to £1 iSs, 

 or Sj 1 Si. a year ; End. Char, Rep, 

 (Leyland), 27. 



^^'The report, printed in 1900, includes 

 a copy of that of 1826. The details in 

 the text and notes are derived from it. 



" Richard Balshaw died in 181 1, but 

 had founded the charity school at Golden 

 Hill In Leyland in 1782, The residue of 

 the income, after the school charges had 

 been met, was to * industrious, aged and 

 infirm ' among the poor, who might be 

 'the greatest and real objects of charity.' 

 An additional gift was made by Ellen 

 Fisher in 1829. The Income amounts to 

 nearly ;^400 a year, and is distributed 

 under a scheme of the Charity Commis- 

 sioners made in 1896-7, by which the 

 governors of the school may distribute not 

 more than ^^20 a year among the poor of 

 the township of Leyland. 



'* The date is from GastrelTs Notitia 

 (ii, 383), where it is stated that the founder 

 endowed his six almshouses with £6 a 

 year and new gowns every third year. In 

 1 S28 there was an inscription * Will. 

 Farington, Worden, 1607,* on the build- 

 ing. No deeds were then known to exist, 

 but William Farington, of Shaw Hall, kept 

 the buildings in repair, gave each of the 

 almswomen i6j. 8^/. ayear and a stuff gown 

 every third year. Each also had a cart- 

 load of turf for fuel, but paid 25. 4^/. for it, 

 A new building was erected in 1849, and 

 about 1861 the Misses Farington built 

 houses for five more almspeople, and a pay- 

 ment is made annually from the Worden 

 estate. The inmates are selected by the 

 trustees of the estate and the vicar of St. 

 James's, Leyland ; they are all women, 

 and must be resident in Leyland and 

 members of the Church of England. Each 

 receives 31. a week for maintenance, 



^^ He left ;^500 to be invested in land 

 for the maintenance of the poor of the 

 township, the money to be paid after the 

 death of his wife. The first purchase 

 seems to have been made in 1691, and 

 almshouses for six occupants were after- 

 wards built. The Rev. Thomas Armet- 

 riding, vicar, and his widow Margaret 

 afterwards augmented the endowment by 

 gifts of j^ioo and ^^60 ; and John Beatson 

 by his will of 1792 gave ;^"200 for the 

 inmates, the income to be divided equally 

 each Good Friday among the six poor 

 women. Mary Farington in iSii also 

 left ;^ioo for the almshouses. 



New houses were built in 1870, and in 

 1887 four additional houses were built 

 and endowed by Mrs. Agnes Ryley, who 

 gave j^2,ooo for the purpose. The whole 

 property Is administered by the Osbaldes- 

 ton trustees. The six almswomen of the 

 older foundation receive 45. each a week, 

 and the four of the later each 3s. 6d. 

 There is also given for a bread charity 

 £1 I %s,, eighteen penny loaves being 

 given in the church weekly. 



^^ See the preceding note. It Is sup- 

 posed to be the result of a gift of ^52 

 made by Mrs. Margaret Armetriding for 

 the purpose in 1728 ; wheaten loaves, iJ, 

 each, were to be distributed to such poor 

 people of the township of Leyland as 

 should most frequently attend divine 



service and sermon at the parish church, 

 by twelve each Sabbath. 



'^ Alice Rowlinson by will (proved 

 1858) left her personal estate, &c., for 

 William Fairclough for life, and then for 

 poor widows residing in Leyland town- 

 ship. The income, ^^16 ys,, is divided 

 among about seventy-five widows In doles 

 of 4^. each. 



^■^ A sum of lof. annually was paid by 

 the Faringtons of Worden down to 1894 ; 

 it is now considered merged in the general 

 charge for the benefit of the almshouses. 

 Nothing lb now known of the gifts of 

 ^^26 in 1728 by Christopher Preston, and 

 ;^io in 1744 by Henry Oakenshaw ; in 

 1828 it was supposed that the vicars of 

 Leyland had charge of the capital, and up 

 to 1824 bread to the value of 36^, a year 

 had been distributed ; 10s. 6d. was given 

 yearly from 1825 to 1891 ; but this has 

 now been discontinued. 



^' Richard Hodson, a yeoman and linen 

 weaver, left ;^40, the interest (at the rate 

 of 5 per cent.) to be given in linen cloth 

 to the poor. The money was invested In 

 a cottage and land In Dunkirk Lane, 

 Leyland, which now produce ^^lo a year 

 rent. Of this income about ^j is laid 

 out in calico for the poor. 



John Beatson (see Leyland above) gave 

 j^ioo to the minister and chapel-warden 

 of Euxton for bread to be distributed each 

 Sunday among such of the poor ' as should 

 regularly and invariably attend divine ser- 

 vice.' The income is now j^3 195.4^/., 

 and seven loaves are distributed each 

 Sunday after service. 



Thurstan Pincock In 1716 left a charge 

 of 40J. yearly on his part of a close called 

 Highfield, los. being payable to the curate 

 of Euxton Chapel, 'so long as the said 

 chapel should continue under the episcopal 

 government,' and 201. for the poor. The 

 charge continues in force, and the latter 

 moiety is distributed by the vicar of 

 Euxton in nioney or in tickets for coals 

 or grocery. 



Richard Hoghton in 1686 gave charges 

 of £\ 10s. and j^i a year for cloth for the 

 poor of Euxton and of Charnock Richard 

 in Standlsh. In 1826 the owner of certain 

 land stated that it had been customary for 

 him and his predecessors in title to dis- 

 tribute 45 J, to 55i. a year among the poor 



