A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Whallev Abbey. 

 Gules three ivhalei hauri- 

 ant, from the mouth of 

 each the head of a crozier 

 Usuant or. 



oxgang of land in Wheelton of Edmund Fitton by a 



rent of id. yearly.' In 1284 he had obtained a 



charter of free uarren in his 



demesne lands of Wheelton 



upon Gunolfsmoors.^ In 



I 3 2 I Richard de Hoghton 



and Sibyl his wife required 



John Fitton as mesne lord to 



acquit them of the service 



demanded for Withnell and 



Wheelton by the Earl of 



Lancaster.' 



The place occurs very 

 rarely in the records, and no 

 family of importance appears 

 to have resided within it.* 

 The tenant of the Whalley 

 Abbey land about 1538 was 

 Thomas Haydock.^ A messuage called the Ford 

 was in 1566 held by Hugh Swansey of Whittle of 

 Thomas Hoghton by a rent of \zd.,^ and later by 

 John and Oliver Pearson." Other landowners 

 occurring in the inquisitions are Browne* and 

 Chorley.' The Andertons of Lostock '" and Liveseys 

 of Livesey also had land there about 1600.'' 



The estate of John Whittle the elder was con- 

 fiscated under the Commonwealth.'^ William Black- 

 lidge, yeoman, and James Critchley, linen-weaver, as 

 ' Papists,' registered small estates in 1717.'' In 1783 

 the chief contributors to the land tax were John 

 Wilcock, widow Blacklidge and Edward Simpson, 

 who together paid over a third of the tax.'* 



The Free Church of England has a school-chapel, 

 St. Paul's, in Wheelton village ; it was built in 1871, 

 as the result of a dispute between the vicar of Heapey 

 and a portion of his congregation. 



A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1842. 



HEAPEY 



Hepay, 1260. 



This township has an area of 1,464 acres" and in 

 1 90 1 there was a population of 543. The surface is 

 hilly, rising at the eastern edge to over 1,000 ft. 

 above sea level. In the valleys are brooks and 

 reservoirs. The hamlet of Heapey is in the north- 

 west corner. 



Through this hamlet goes the road from Chorley 

 to Blackburn, and from it branches off a road 

 leading south-east to Heapey station, on the Chorley 

 and Cherry Tree branch of the Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire and London and North Western joint 

 railway. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes 

 through the north-west corner. The Thirlmere 

 aqueduct also passes through. 



The soil is mixed, with subsoil stone ; grass is the 

 chief crop. There are bleaching works. 



The township is governed by a parish council. 



Ancient earthworks are known near Heapey, and 

 Roman coins have been found there.'^ 



The hearth tax return of 1666 shows that the 

 houses were all small, only two having as many as 

 three hearths chargeable. The total number was 

 thirty-four." 



In the 1 2th century HEAPEY was 

 M/^NOR a portion of Gunolfsmoors," and on the 

 partition among the co-heirs of William 

 son of Alan became part of the share of Richard de 

 Ollerton, husband of the eldest daughter." As a 

 township it was long joined with the adjoining 

 Wheelton.-" As a manor it was divided, part des- 

 cending, like Ollerton in Withnell, in the family of 

 Hoghton, being merged in their holding,^' and part 

 being granted by Richard de Ollerton to Orm or 

 Ranulf de Heapey. ^^ This part, which seems to b" 



their service was for 9 oxgangs of land. 

 There is nothing to show how John de 

 Clayton obtained this mesne lordship. 



' Land, Inq. and Extents {Rec. Soc, 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 273. Henry de 

 Lea probably held in right of his wife, for 

 their son William afterwards gave to his 

 brother {or half-brother) Henry de Lea 

 all his land in Wheelton in Gunolfsmoors, 

 being his mother's marriage portion \ 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 400. 



There was a local Lee or Legh family 

 mentioned in a preceding note. William 

 de Lea in 1250 gave an oxgang of land 

 in Wheelton for ten years at a rent of 51. 

 to Henry son of John de Lea (Legh) ; 

 ibid. no. 389. Adam Goulding son of 

 Alexander de Wheelton gave to the same 

 Henry son of John half an oxgang of 

 land, a rent of e^^d. being payable to 

 Hugh son of the said Alexander ; ibid, 

 no. 569. 



- Charter R. 77 (12 Edw. I), m. 2, 

 no. 8. 



^ De Banc. R. 237, m. 91 d. 



^ In 1359 Ellen widow of Richard de 

 Hogh claimed dower in Wheelton against 

 Cecily daughter of John de Darwen, and 

 next year Alice daughter of Richard was 

 plaintiff^ Duchy of Lane, Assize R. 7, 

 m. 3d.; 8, m. 14. 



'" JVhalley Couchcr, iv, 1233 ; he had 

 T house, 20 acres of arable land, &c., 

 with meadow called Brandstock, and paid 

 a rent of jTz. Nicholas and William 

 Haydock had other lands Icnown as Rigby 

 land, paying fjd. each. 



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

 See also the account of Whittle. 



Robert the son of Hugh Swansey in 

 1572 sold the messuage, &c., in Wheelton 

 to John Clayton, Edward son and heir- 

 apparent of Robert joining in the sale ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 

 26. 



A Thomas Clayton died in 1591 hold- 

 ing a tenement in Wheelton of Richard 

 Hoghton ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, 

 no. 3. 



Two years later Benjamin Clayton sold 

 a messuage, &c., in Wheelton to John 

 Pearson ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 55. m. 187. 



^ John Pearson, * yeoman,* probably 

 the purchaser named in the preceding 

 note, died in 1627 holding the Ford 

 (Furth), with lands, of Sir Richard 

 Hoghton as of his manor of Wheelton ; 

 his son and heir was Oliver, over sixty 

 years of age ; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 

 (Chet. Lib.}, p. 968. 



Oliver Pearson, * gentleman,' died in 

 1638 holding the same and leaving a son 

 John, thirty years old ; ibid. p. 964. 



^ See the account of Withnell. 



^ William Chorley of Chorley died in 

 1586 holding a messuage, &c., in Wheel- 

 ton of Thomas Hoghton by a rent of 4^. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 58. 



^^ Christopher Aiiderton in 1580 pur- 

 chased two messuages, &c., in Wheelton 

 from John Parr and Ellen his wife ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 113. In 

 •597 John Hulton or Hilton purchased 



50 



the same from James Anderton of 

 Lostock ; ibid. bdle. 58, m. 39. 



^' Ducatm Lane, iii, 130 ; Lanes, and 

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

 ii, 258. James Livesey of Livesey had 

 land there in 1602 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 64, no. 96 ; 65, no. 78. 



'* Index of Royalists (Index Soc.), 44 d. ; 

 Cal. Com. for Comp, iv, 3095. John 

 Whittle the son was allowed to compound 

 for the estate. 



A John Whittle in 1580 procured 

 messuages, &c., in Wheelton and Whittle 

 from Richard Whittle ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 42, m. 75. 



" Estcourt and Payne, Engl, Oath, 

 Non-jurorSf 1 30. 



'^ Land tax returns at Preston, 



'^ 1466 acres, including 31 of inland 

 water; Census Rep. 1 90 1, 



'^ Watkin, Rom. Lams. 223-4, 234. 



'7 Subs. R. 250, no. 9. 



" See the account of Hoghton. 



19 fThalley Coucher (Chet, Soc), iii, 830, 



'" For example in 1332 ; Exch. Lay 

 Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches,), 47, 

 Again in 1628 ; Misc. (Rec, Soc, Lanes, 

 and Ches.), i, 171, 



'^ See the inquisitions of Sir Alexander 

 Hoghton, 1498, and later ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, no. 66, &c. The 

 Hoghton part of Heapey does not seem 

 to have been considered an independent 

 manor. 



'^ Richard de Ollerton granted Orm de 

 Heapey a booth in Gunolfsmoors, and 

 later Richard released to Ranulf de 



