LEYLAND HUNDRED 



PENWORTHAM 



Pennington of Mlincas- 

 tcr. Or Jii'e Jtisi.'s in 

 fesse azure. 



tributed for lands in Howick with Farington : Sir 

 Henry Farington, John Cheshire, William Woodcock 

 and Thomas Aynscough.' 

 In 1564 the names were 

 Peter Farington and John 

 Charnock.- John Cheshire 

 and William Foster were free- 

 holders in 1600,' and in 

 1628 a number of landowners 

 contributed to the subsidy for 

 Farington and Howick.'* In 

 an agreement as to an in- 

 closure of the commons in 

 1713a fourth part was allotted 

 to Henry Fleetwood of Pen- 

 wortham as lord of the manor, 

 and the remainder to him and 



other freeholders, of whom tlie most considerable 

 were Sir William Pennington of Muncaster and 

 Richard Crook of Abram.^ James Barton and James 

 Massey were the largest holders in 1783, and James 

 Barton, Rhodes and Barlow, and Edward PedJer in 

 1798.^ 



The Anglican church of St. Paul was built in 

 1839 ; a separate district was assigned to it in 1843.^ 

 The vicar of Penwortham is patron. There is a 

 Primitive Methodist church. 



HOWICK 



Hocwik, 1202 ; Hoghwyk, I 279; Howyke, 1284.; 

 Houghwick (xvi cent.). 



This wedge-shaped township has an area of 754 

 acres,* of which about a third lies on the southern 

 shore of the Ribble, below the 25-ft. level. The 

 inland part, about 60 to 80 ft. above sea level, is 



flat and featureless. The population in 1901 num- 

 bered loi. 



The road from Penwortham to Ormskirk crosses 

 the middle of the township, and from it a road 

 leads north-west to the village or hamlet, situate on 

 the higher land overlooking the Ribble. The West 

 Lancashire Railway crosses the extreme south-east 

 corner. 



There were only eighteen hearths taxed in 1 666 ; 

 the largest house had four." 



The pedestal of an ancient cross is still to be seen 

 by the roadside.'" 



The soil is mixed, «ith clay subsoil. The land 

 is chiefly in pasture. 



The manor of HOIf'ICK was part of 

 MJNOR the lands held by Roger of Poitou, and 

 before 11 00 he gave it to Evesliam 

 Abbey" ; thus it was the earliest gift to the abbey in 

 Lancashire. V'cr)- soon afterwards Abbot Maurice 

 agreed with the four brothers who occupied the land 

 — Wolfgeat, Swein, Ralph and Liulph — as to their 

 claim, he paying zSs. as compensation and giving 

 Liulph a portion of the land for the rent of 100 ^ood 

 salmon yearly.'- The abbots seem to have regarded 

 Howick as part of Farington,''' the whole being at 

 one time considered a single township.'* The manor 

 has descended in the same way as Farington to 

 Mr, Lawrence Rawstorne."" 



The immediate holder in the 12 th century 

 appears to have been known by the local name, and 

 soon after 1200 the manor was divided. Adam son 

 of Mary and Denise his wife in 1202 claimed a 

 plough-land in Howick as their inheritance, and 

 Richard de Howick, then tenant, gave them a moiety 

 to hold independently of him by performing the 

 service due to the Abbot of Evesham as chief lord.'" 



of the abbey of Evesham by a rent of 71. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no. 49. 

 This estate descended to Elinor Slade in 

 1 61 3, whose heir was a cousin Thomas 

 Holland of Clifton ; Lana. Inj. p.m. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 285. 

 Lands in Leyland and Farington occur 

 again in a Holland settlement in 1637; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 128, no. 19. 

 See also Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 2787- 



Lands in Farington were held ;n 1383 

 by Sir Thomas Banastre of Bretherton, 

 and these descended like Balderston lo 

 the Earls of Derby ; Lana. Inq. p.m. 

 (Chet. Soc), i, 14, 15 ; ". 63 i Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. iv, no. 13 ; v, no. 68. 



Sir Richard Molyneux (1569) and his 

 successors held lands in Farington as part 

 of the Hospitallers' estate in Euxton ; 

 ibid, xiii, no. 35, &c. In 1649 it was 

 found that a parcel of land and the moiety 

 of a corn-mill were demised to William 

 Farington of Worden ; RoyalUt Comp. 

 i'<7/ieri(Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 287. 



Thomas Hesketh of Rufford in 1523 

 held land in Farington, but the tenure 

 was not known ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. V, no. 16. Henry Sherdley's land 

 (1563) was held of John Fleetwood by a 

 rent of i8j. ; ibid, xiii, no. 27. The 

 •enure of the messuages and land of 

 Henry Banastre of Bank (1641) was 

 unknown ; ibid, xxix, no. i;. 



William de Aykescogh of Farington in 

 1356 granted lands to his son John; 

 Thomas de Ayscough was in possession 

 in 1 410; while Robert de Ayscough 

 made a feoffment in 1450 in favour of 



his bastard sons Thomas and Robert ; 

 Piccope MSS. xiv, 54, 55, 58. Thomas 

 Ayscough and Alice his wife sold a 

 messuage, &c., in Farington in 1564 to 

 John Fleetwood ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 26, m. 46. 



' Subs. R. 130, no. 126. 



^ Ibid. 131, no. 210. 



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



', 245- 



■• Ibid, i, 169 ; William Pennington, 

 Richard Sherdley, Anne Orrell, George 

 Hesketh, — Burrowes, also (together) 

 Edward Smith, George Rigby, Augustine 

 Wildbore and Robert Taylor. 



For the Sherdleys see Ducatus Lane. 

 iii, 178, 228, &c. Richard Sherdley's 

 messuage in Farington (1639) was found 

 to be held of John Fleetwood of Pen- 

 wortham ; Towneley MS. C8, 13 (Chet. 

 Lib.), p. 1091. 



A parcel of the open moss ground or 

 uninclosed waste (12 acres) was in 16;; 

 conveyed to Richard Orrell by John 

 Fleetwood of Penwortham, Joseph Pen- 

 nington of Muncaster, James Anderton of 

 Clayton, Henry Banastre of the Bank, 

 William Holland of Clifton, Richard 

 Gardner of Leyland, Robert Farington of 

 Farington, James Sherdley and Richard 

 Cheshire of Farington ; Deed in possession 

 of W. Farrer. 



s Ibid. 



' Land tax returns at Preston. 



T Land. Gaz. 8 Nov. 1843. 



* 74; acres ; Census Rep. 1901. There 

 are also 7 acres of tidal water and 3 of 

 foreshore. 



65 



^ Subs. R. 250, no. 9. 



"• Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xvll, 8. 



^' E'vesham Chron. (Rolls Sen), 75 5 

 * this we hold of the king.' Later it is 

 said that Penwortham and Howick were 

 granted to the abbey in the time of Abbot 

 Walter, 1077-86; ibid. 97. 



Ranulf Earl of Chester, in confirming 

 the possessions of Evesham, expressly 

 allowed the abbot to have his court in 

 Howick as the earl had his in Penwor- 

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

 p. 74.. 



^- Penivortkam Priory (Chet. Soc), 8, 

 Maurice was abbot from 1096 to 1122. 



'-* Howick and Farington were given 

 out to farm by Adam, abbot from 11 60 to 

 1191 ; E'vesham Chron. (Rolls Ser.), loi. 



The Abbot of Evesham in 1366 and 

 again in 1378 claimed a fishery in the 

 Ribble at Howick; De Banco R. 425, 

 m. 542 d, ; Dep, Keeper* t Rep, xxxit, App. 



35°- 



In 1382 it was alleged that the abbot 

 had acquired 15 acres in Howick without 

 the royal licence ; Q.R. Memo. R. 159. 



^■^ See, e.g., Exch. Lay Subs. 1332 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 43 — - 

 Howick with Farington. The latter 

 place soon became the principal ; thus in 

 1346 Howick was called a hamlet, and in 

 1373 described as * in the vill of Faring- 

 ton' ; Towneley MS. DD, no. 273, 339, 

 347. In 1420 it was called a *vill'; 

 ibid. no. 344. 



^■'' See the account of Farington, 



'^^ Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 16. The grant comprised 2 



