A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



modern w.th wood frames and brick heads, and there 



TTe'han ''°"; ^1"°™ -i" 'he rest of 'the house 

 The hall window is of six lights with hood mould 

 over, and the other windows 

 are of four and two lights, the 

 lower one at the north end 

 being placed out of the centre. 

 The old windows have all 

 round chamfered mullions and 

 hood moulds. The bricks are 

 2 J in. thick and have weathered 

 a warm dark red, and the 

 greater part of the front being 

 covered with ivy the colour 

 effect is very good. The win- 

 dows are glazed ^vlth square 

 quarries and the porch has a 

 four-centred arched doorway 

 with hood mould and old oak 

 nail-studded door. 



The Hospitallers had land in Clayton in 1292.' 

 The names of few of the ancient freeholders of 

 Clayton are known. Robert Werden or Warden in 

 1580 held a messu.ige in Clayton of Sir Edmund 

 Huddleston and Dorothy his wife ' ; and a few other 

 names occur.' Under the Commonwealth the estates 

 of Matthew Martin * and John Critchlow of Clayton 

 were sequestered.' Henry Harrison, Thomas Hogh- 

 ton, and several Woodcocks in 1 7 1 7 registered estates 

 as 'P.ipists.'° In 1788 the chief landowner w.is 

 Wilbraham Bootle, contributing nearly a third of the 

 land tax.' 



There was formerly a Methodist chapel, built in 

 1830.' 



The Roman Catholic church of St. Bede, Clayton 

 Green, opened in 1822, is an offshoot of Brownedge. 

 It is served by the Benedictines.' 



Bootle of Lathom. 

 Gules on a che-veron en- 

 graded between three 

 combs argent as many 

 crosses formyfilchy oj the 

 Jield. 



Wythull, 1242 

 Wode, 1304. 



WHITTLE-LE- WOODS 



Whythill (or Whithull) in the 



The northern h.-iir of this hilly township is '"^'-"^'^^ 



by the Lostock, here flowing from cast '» ""'/'"'■' 



then north. In the angle thus formed lies the v ilia ^, 



with the hamlet of Rip Row to the north. ne 



ground here rises to over 400 ft. above sea lev-el. 



The larger part of Whittle south of the Lostock has 



Shaw Hill on the western side, the ground rising to 



360 ft., and other hills on the eastern side, attaining 



460 ft. at the boundary of Chorley. The area is 



t.35 5 acres,'" and in 190 1 the population was 



2,333- 



The principal road is that from Chorley to Preston, 

 which goes north, by Rotherham Top and Waterhouse 

 Green, through the village. From this point other 

 roads branch off to Heapey in the east," Brindle in 

 the north-east, and Leyland in the west. The Leeds 

 and Liverpool Canal winds through the eastern part 

 of the township, a part or branch of it (the Lancaster 

 Canal) going north-west through Rip Row. 



The soil is sand, and the land is chiefly in pasture. 

 Cotton is manufactured and calico printing carried on. 

 There are excellent quarries, from which millstones 

 are obtained. There is also a large brewery, and an 

 alkaline spring discovered in 1845 is utilized for 

 brewing. The springs and the scenery attract m.iny 

 picnic parties in the summer- 

 time. At the end of the 

 1 7th-century a lead mine was 

 worked on Sir Richard 

 Standish's land."^ 



In 1666 there were sixty 

 hearths to be taxed in Whittle- 

 le-Woods. The largest house 

 was Crook Hall with nine 

 hearths ; Swansey House had 

 five.i^ 



The township is governed 

 by a parish council. 



A hoard of Roman coins 



was found in 1837.' 

 of ancient crosses 

 Gorse Hall." 



BoTELER of Raw- 

 clifre. Azure a che'vcron 

 betiveen three co-veriJ 

 c lifts or. 



' Pedestals 

 remain at Dolphin Hill and 



> Viae, de Quo JVarr. (Rec. Com.), 375. 

 ^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 

 71, He also held land in Coppull and 

 Leyland. His son and heir William was 

 eleven years old in 1584, when the 

 inquisition was taken, and appears in the 

 1600 list of freeholders ; Misc. (Rec. 

 See. Lanes, and Ches,), i, 244. 



The Werden family was of old standing. 

 Richard de Bosco son of Robert de 

 Clayton granted land to Robert son of 

 William de Werden m marriage with 

 Richard's daughter Marger)' ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, C 25. 



In 145 1 the Cockersand lands in the 

 township were held by Henry Werden, 

 but Thomas Farington was the holder in 

 1501 ; Cockersand Chartul. iii, 1260-1. 



2 Of these the principal seem to have 

 been the owners of the adjoining Crook 

 estate ; see Whittle. Their land in 

 Clayton was perhaps that previously held 

 by Gilbert Swiney, who contributed to 

 the subsidy in 1327 and 1332 ; Lay Subs. 

 R. 130, no. 5 J Exch. Lay Subs. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 44. In 1338 William 

 de Crook claimed two messuages, &c., 

 in Clayton against Gilbert de Swiney 

 and Richard his son ; Assize R. 1425, 

 m. 4 ; 1435, m. 48. See also De Banco 

 R. 434, m. 18S. 



Adam del Crook contributed to the 

 subsidy in 1327 ; Lay Subs. R. 1 30, no. 5. 

 In 1506 William Crook's lands there were 

 held of John Clayton by a rent of 6d.\ 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no, 32. 

 In 1 591, however, Thomas Clayton's were 

 said to be held of the lord of Clayton by 

 services unknown ; ibid, xv, no. 3. In 

 later inquisitions of the owners of Crook 

 the tenements in Clayton were found to be 

 held of James Anderton ; e.g. Lanes, Jnq. 

 p.m. (Ree. Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), i, 23. 

 In the time of Richard II William 

 Brereworth the elder and Kathenne his 

 wife held a moiety of certain messuages 

 and land in Clayton, which was to descend 

 to Ralph son of Roger Banastre ; Final 

 Cone, iii, 51. A John de Brereworth 

 was also named, and may have been the 

 ancestor of James Brereworth who in 1^56 

 sold three messuages, 30 acres of land, &c,, 

 to Hugh Anderton ; PaL of Lane. Feet 

 of F, bdle, 16, m. 86, 



Ralph Banastre in 15 18 held lands in 

 Clayton of John Clayton by a rent of 6d. 

 and left a son and heir Francis, aged 

 about eleven ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 V, no. 29. Henry Banastre of Bank in 

 1 641 held land of James Anderton ; ibid, 

 xxix, no, 15. 



Hugh Swansey in 1566 held lands of 



32 



the heir of John Clayton by a rent of 6d. j 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq, p.m. xi, no. 29. 



^ Two-thirds of his estate were se- 

 questered for recusancy only. He seems 

 to have died in 1649; Royalist Comf>. 

 Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), iv, 

 120. 



* His offence also was * recusancy 

 only * ; ibid, ii, 42. 



** Esteourt and Payne ; Efigl- Cath, 

 Non-jurors, 131, 1 5 1, 137. 



'' Land tax returns at Preston. 

 Thomas Townley Parker contributed 

 nearly a tenth, and Mr. Anderton, John 

 CowJDan and Christopher Crook were 

 •double assessed ' for religion, 



® Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 145. 

 ^ Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xiii, 161, 

 It is affiliated to St. Gregory's, Downside, 

 >o 1,357 acres, including 19 of inland 

 water; Census Rep. 1901. 



" The road to Heapey is called in part 

 Town Lane ; a map of 1774 shows that 

 the Town field lay on the north side of 

 it. Somewhat to the south is Lucas 

 Green. 



"=> Gibson, Ca-valier's Kote-Bk., 300. 



^^ Subs. R. 250, no. 9, 



'3 Watkin, Rom. Laucs. 235. 



'* Lanes, and Ches. flntj^. Hoc. xvli 2- 



