A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The pl.itc consists of .i chalice, p.itcn and flagon' 

 of 17.;S with the maker's mark c b; a paten of 

 1 71 6, inscribed 'The gift of Eliz. Farington of 

 Worden, widow, Aug. 7, 1716' ; two almsdishcs of 

 1770, ' The gift of Samuel Crook of Lcyland, gentle- 

 man, 1773'; and a two-handled cup of 1801 

 inscribed, ' A gift to Lcyland Church by Mary Lang, 

 third wife to Robert Lang of Lc\land Lane, 1805.' 

 There is also a silver bread box given by the Rev. 

 Le/land Baldwin in 1903. 



The registers of baptisms and burials begin in 

 1653, those of marriages in 1655. The first volume 

 (1653 to 1 7 10) has been printed,' with a few earlier 

 transcripts from 1622 to 1641. 



The churchyard, which is almost entirely sur- 

 rounded by fine lime trees, lies chiefly on the south 

 and cast of the church, the chief entrance being at 

 the north-west corner under a stone gateway by a 

 flight of tteps from the road, which passes close to the 

 building on the north side. It contains a number of 

 sepulchral slabs, most of them with incised crosses, 

 and on the south side of the church is a curious stone 

 with the rudely-cut figure of a man, to the memory of 

 one William Walker, 'bachelor of Musicke and 

 Clarke of the Parish,' rtho died in 1588. Above 

 the figure is the motto ' Musica mentis mcdicina 

 maestae,' and below ' Nulla dies sine linca.' I'.ajt of 

 the chancel are two I7lh-century stones with long 

 Latin inscriptions' now much worn, marking the 

 place of burial of Robert Charnock (d. 1670), and 

 of Roger Chainock (d. 1632) and A>nn his wife 

 (d. 165 9), the second stone bearing the Charnock arms. 

 The churchyard has been considerably extended on the 

 south side in recent years by the addition of ground 

 given by the Rev. Leyland Baldwin. 



The church of Lcyland was given 

 JDFOfrSON to Evesham Abbey by Warine Bussel, 

 baron of Penwortham, and the gift 

 was enlarged by Richard Bussel, his son, in the first 

 half of the 12th century.* Two oxgangs of land 

 were given later.' The grant was of little benefit 

 to the monks, as they received only 2 marks from 



the churLh," and in June 1350 they procured the 

 king's licence for the appropriation of the rectory. 

 Pope John XXII also granted their reque t, ordering 

 the Bishop of Lichfield at the ne:;t vacancy in the 

 icctory to allow the abbot possesion, and to ordain 

 a vicarage.- At the beginning of 1332 the bishop 

 accordingly annexed the church of Leyland to the 

 abbey, decreeing that the vicar to be appointed 

 should have for his residence half of the rectory house 

 and I oxgang of land in the vill, tithe free ; and 

 should also receive the tithes of wool, hay, &c., of the 

 whole parish, altarage dues, Peter pence, and obla- 

 tions. The vicar, however, was to pay synodah, 

 procurations, and Peter pence, and 4CJ. to the abbot 

 and convent, who were responsible for all charges not 

 expressly mentioned." From this time the abbot 

 and convent of Evesham presented vicars. After the 

 suppression the advowson of the vicarage was, with 

 other Evesham properties, in IS43 granted by the 

 Crown to John Fleetwood of Penwortham." In 

 1748 the advowson was purchased by Thomas Bald- 

 win, the vicar, from the executors of Henry Fleet- 

 wood," and has since descended in his family, the 

 present patron being Colonel Robert Baldwin. 



The value of the church was in 1 291 estimated to 

 be j^io yearly." The same sum was the value of the 

 ninth cf sheaves, wool, &c., in 1341.''' The estimated 

 value of the rectory in 1535 was £^$ is., which 

 formed part of the revenues of the abbey's cell of 

 Penwortham " ; while that of the vicarage was £\ I 

 net." By 1650 the revenues of the rectory had been 

 divided among several lay owners, and the vicar's 

 endowment consisted of his house, lands, &c., worth 

 about £6 a year, and the small tithes, estimated at 

 about £i\}^ The confiscated estate of Leyland Hall 

 was in 1690 given to the vicar," and this considerably 

 augmented his income, which amounted to ;floo a 

 year about I 720." The present income is given as 



Leyland gave a name to a rural deanery embracing 

 the parishes within the hundred.'" The dean's court, at 

 least in recent times, was held in Chorley Church." 



1 There was formerly another flagon, 

 but it is now at St. Ambrose's. 



'■* Record Soc. tif Lanes, and Chti. xxi, 

 1890. Edited by the Rev. Walter Stuart 

 White, M.A. It appears (p. 2^) that the 

 'old register book' (1538-97) was in 

 existence in 1653. 



^ The inscriptions are given in Lanes, 

 and Chcs. Aniiij. Nous, ii, 6-8. 



■• Pcninoylham Prhry (Chet. Soc), i, ^. 

 In a charter of Albert Bussel's the gift of 

 his father Warine is thus described : ' In 

 the church of Lcyland 3.'. and two thirds 

 of the tithe of the demesne ' ; and that of 

 his brother Richard as ' the whole church 

 of Leyland with all its appurtenances'; 

 ibid. 5, 6, 40. 



* The 2 oxgangs were given to Eve- 

 sham by Letticc wife of Albert from her 

 demesne in Leyland, and confirmed by 

 him J ibid. 6. It will be seen that half 

 of the land was afterwards assigned to the 

 vicarage. Ambrye Meadows, by the 

 River Lostock, belong to the vicars of 

 Leyland. Other land in Leyland was ac- 

 quired by the abbey in 1336 ; ibid. 31-?. 



« Ibid. !. About 1330 the rector paid 

 the abbey a pension of 30J. \d. ; ibid. 44. 



^ IbiJ. 41 ; Cal. Fat. 1327-30, p. 535. 



« Pentvorlliam Priory, 42-5. The abbot 

 and convent had complained that 28 



manors and 3 churches had been violently 

 taken from them by various kings of 

 England and magnates of the realm with- 

 out any fault of the monks, while their 

 charges for almsgiving, hospitality and 

 other good works were very heavy, and 

 fre^li burdens were now imposed upon 

 them, the wickedness of the world in- 

 creasing daily. Hence they desired the 

 church of Leyland, already in their patron- 

 age, to be appropriated to the abbey. The 

 pope's bull was dated at Avignon, 9 Jan. 

 1330—1. Sec also Cal. Papal Letters, W, 



349- 



'■* Pentvort/tam Pricrj^j^y-g ; LIch. Epif. 

 Reg. iii, fol. 28i. In 1350 the abbot had 

 licence to farm the rectory for three years ; 

 ibid, ii, fol. 12^". The 40J. paid hy the 

 vicar to the abbot was probably passed on 

 to the Bishop of Lichfield in accordance 

 with a grant {Pcnivortham Priory, 45), 



'" Pat. 3+ Hen. VIII, pt. viii. 



In 1541 a claim to the (advov. <;nn of 

 the) vicarage was made by Adam Becon- 

 saw J Pal. of Lane Sessional J'apcrs, 33 

 Hen. VIII, bdle. 5, no. loi. 



*^ Farrer, North Aieih, 60, 



•" Pope Nich. Tax, (Rec, Com.), 249. 



" Itfj. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 39. The 

 townshipscontributed thus; Leyland, 50J.; 

 Euxton, 50J, ; Cuerdcn, Clayton, Whittle- 



le-Woods, Wilhnell-with-Roddlesworth, 

 Wheelton-with-Heapcy and Hoghton, 

 each i6j. id, 



'< Falor Ecd. (Rec. Com.), v, 233. The 

 rents of the glebe lands amounted to 

 21J. (>d,, the tithe of corn, &c., to 

 ^47 01. 6d, 



'^ Ibid, v, 232. The rent of the mante 

 was 6s, %d., the tithes of hay, wool, &c., 

 with oblations, ^^13 61. id. Out of this 

 ^2 was paid to the Prior of Penwortham 

 and 1 3 J. \d, to the Archdeacon of Chester. 



"' CommotiwealtA Church Survey (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 101-4, 



•' Sec the account of the Charnock 

 family. 



'■> Notitia Cestr, ii, 379, Small tithes, 

 Easter dues and fees, about £60 ; Lcy- 

 land Hall about £4^0. At that time each 

 of the 'quarters' of the parish had a 

 churchwarden ; for Leyland thevicar chose 

 one out of three nominated by that quar- 

 ter, while the other quarters chose their 

 own warden, '^ Aianch, Dioc, Dir, 



'" Gilbert Whitestanes was dean in 

 1449 ; Towneley MS. RR, no. 1020. In 

 1535 William Knight, Archdeacon of 

 Chester, held this deanery. The revenues 

 amounted to £6 151. 4^,; /'a/or Ecel. 

 (Rec. Com.), V, 231, 



" Haines, Lanes, (ed. 183')), iii, 421. 



