LEYLAND HUNDRED 



PENWORTHAM 



much of it ; at Tarleton it is strong ; at Hesketh 

 Bank it is predominant. In fact, all along the coast 

 from Southport to Longton the Dissenters have a 

 strong hold ; the Established Church is " nowhere," 

 taking the entire range ; and as for Roman Catholics, 

 why you can't find a single church or chapel of theirs 

 in any part of it.' ' 



An old survey-plan of Penwortham, Hutton and 

 Howick is preserved at the Record Office, London.^ 



The church of ST. MART THE 

 CHURCH VIRGIN^ is situated on elevated ground 

 commanding an extensive view of the 

 Ribble valley, slightly to the south of the Castle Hill, 

 from which it is separated by a deep fosse,^ and about 

 300 yds. to the northTcast of the site of the priory.' 

 The building, which stands at a considerable distance 

 from the road, is approached from the south by a fine 

 avenue of trees, and consists of chancel 30 ft. 6 in. 

 by 1 7 ft. 9 in., nave 60 ft. 6 in. by 2 5 ft., with north 

 and south aisles 14 ft. wide, south porch and west 

 tower 1 2 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements 

 being internal. Only the chancel and tower, how- 

 ever, are old, the nave having been rebuilt in 1855-6, 

 at which date also the chancel roof was restored, the 

 tower arch opened out, and a west gallery removed.'' 

 Little or nothing can be said as to the development 

 of the plan, but there was probably a building in the 

 14th century covering approximately the present 

 area, with the exception of the west tower, of which 

 the chancel is a portion. The windows on the north 

 and south sides of the chancel are of this period, and 

 though the walls themselves appear to have been 

 rebuilt, either wholly or in part, at a much later date, 

 there is no reason to suppose that the present chancel 

 is not substantially that of the 14th-century church. 

 The tower is of 15th-century date, to which period 

 or later the destroyed nave seems to have belonged. 

 The church was repaired in 1 8 12, when a north 

 gallery was erected and ' the higher part of the body 

 of the church was fronted and castellated in the latest 

 style of Gothic architecture.' ^ 



The chancel roof is of framed spars and at the 

 time of the restoration was covered with blue slates. 

 The walls appear to have been originally built of 

 gritstone, but have been a good deal patched with red 

 sandstone, the whole of the middle part of the east wall 

 from some 4 ft. above the ground being so constructed. 

 The east window is of three lights, the jambs, head 

 and muUions being new, but the tracery is apparently 



original, though later in date, probably early 16th- 

 century work. On the south side are two pointed 

 14th-century windows of two trefoiled lights with a 

 quatrefoil in the head, and between them two 

 buttresses and a priest's door, the jambs and head of 

 which have the wave moulding. Above the door is a 

 stone with the date 1653 and the initials of John 

 Fleetwood and Anne (Farington) his wife. This 

 date probably indicates the year in which the chancel 

 walls were rebuilt or repaired, the inscribed stone 

 and the walling on each side of it being of red sand- 

 stone. There is also some brick patching under the 

 eaves, and the bottoms of the buttresses have been 

 renewed. At the east end of the north side is a 

 similar 14th-century window, but the other north 

 window of the chancel is of a nondescript character, 

 apparently made up of fragments from two later 

 windows in another part of the church. There are 

 two buttresses on the north side of the chancel similar 

 to those on the south, and diagonal buttresses at the 

 angles. Internally the chancel walls are of bare 

 stone, and the floor, together with that of the nave 

 and aisles, was tiled in 1884. The chancel arch is 

 modern.* 



The nave is of four bays and has a clearstory of five 

 two-light windows on each side. On the east wall of 

 the tower are the lines of two former roofs, the lower 

 one of steep pitch coming down below the springing 

 of the tower arch and apparently indicating the 

 original roof of the church. The other, of flatter 

 pitch, would appear to be that of I 81 2. There is a 

 gallery at the west end. The tower arch is of two 

 chamfered orders, the inner one dying into the wall 

 at the springing. The arch is open to the nave, 

 but is filled in under the gallery by a modern wood 

 screen. 



The tower was restored in 1884. Its stages are 

 unmarked externally by any string course except 

 below the west window. There is a projecting vice 

 in the south-east corner, and the top terminates in 

 an embattled parapet with angle pinnacles. The 

 belfry windows are of two lights with cinquefoiled 

 heads and tracery under a pointed arch with hood 

 mould. The west window is of three cinquefoiled 

 lights with tracery and hood mould, and above is a 

 niche with canopied head. The buttresses are of six 

 stages, placed diagonally, and terminating below the 

 level of the belfry windows. The west door is 

 pointed with continuous moulded jambs and head and 



' Hewitson, Our Country Churches, 

 270. 



^ Land, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 24. 



^ Various early charters show the dedi- 

 cation. Thus Robert son of Geoffrey 

 about 1205 released to God and St. Mary 

 3 oxgangs of land and a croft for- 

 merly belongins to Wolfwin in Penwor- 

 tham ; Kuerden fol. MS. (Chet. Lib.), 

 p. 54. Robert Bussel, perhaps the same 

 benefactor, gave for the health of his soul 

 a rent of 6d. from his lands at Longton 

 for the light of St. Mary of Penwortham j 

 ibid. Geoffrey Bussel son of Robert gave 

 to God and the church of B. Mary of 

 Penwortham the service of John son of 

 William for land in Leyland ; ibid. 

 Robert son of Sibyl de Longton granted 

 part of his lands in pure alms to God 

 and the church of St. Mary of Penwor- 

 tham i ibid. p. 236. Ellis de Hutton, 



with the consent of Robert his heir, gave 

 to God and the church of the holy 

 Mother of God of Penwortham certain 

 parts of his demesne at Hutton for the 

 sustenance of Evesham monastery ; ibid. 

 p. 172. The same Ellis made other gifts 

 of land to the church; ibid. p. 171. 



In I 548 it was found that a rent of 4^, 

 was applicable to the finding of a light in 

 the church ; Raines, Chantries (Chet. 

 Soc), 253. 



* y.C.H. Lanes, ii, 533, where a plan 

 and description of the Castle Hill are 

 given. 



* * Slightly inclining from the direct 

 view to the front of the priory, the parish 

 church and castle of Penwortham stood 

 prominently forward on the very verge of 

 the bank. Looking eastward up the 

 valley the ground was thickly clothed in 

 wood. . . . The leading features of this 

 charming scene have been preserved to 



S2, 



the present day. The approach to the 

 parish church still remains rarely equalled ' ; 

 Chet, Soc. PwW. XXX {1853), p. XXXV. The 

 view has been in some measure spoiled in 

 late years by the construction of Preston 

 Docks. 



■^ There is an illustration of the church, 

 dated 1855, in Hardv/lck's Hht. of Preston 

 (1857), which shows the old nave to 

 have had two tiers of three-light windows 

 and a south porch. The old building was 

 described by Canon Raines as a* small 

 gloomy structure ' ; C/iet. Soc. Publ, xxii, 

 387. In order to light the north gallery 

 and the body of the church it was resolved 

 in 1 8 1 2 to raise the principal roof and also 

 the north and south walls and to make 

 therein four handsome windows. 



' Baines, Lanes. (1836). 



^ Before 1856 there was no chancel 

 arch, but a beam 8 ft. from the ground 

 bearing the royal arms. 



