A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The Dulcc of Devonshire was almost ;ule landowner 

 in 1798.' 



In 17+2 twenty-four tenements on lease for three 

 lives contained 410 acres, worth j(^4lo ; thirty-two 

 tenements on lease for two lives contained 409 acres, 

 worth ;f45 5 ; fifteen tenements on lease for one life 

 contained 239 acres, worth £^(>o ; twenty-one 

 tenements on lease for twenty-one years contained 

 148 acres, worth £,'^■11 ; six tenements containing 

 57 acres were held at will, worth [fiz ; twenty-two 

 cottages held at will were worth X'9- "^^^ '°'-*' 

 area was given as 1,267 acres (of 8 yards to the rod), 

 worth j^i,420 per annum. - 



The church of ST. 7. /,V£S ^ consists 

 CHURCH of chancel with north chapel and vestr)', 

 nave, south porch, and wtn tower. 

 Only the tower and chapel, however, are old, being 

 of I jth-century date, and the latter has been so much 

 restored in recent years as to deprive it of nearly all 

 its archaeological interest. The nave of the old 

 church was pulled down and the present one built in 

 1 8 1 7. Baines ■* states that the north and south walls 

 of the chancel were rebuilt long before this date, but 

 he may refer to the rebuilding of the i 5 th century. 

 The present chancel dates from 1 869-70, when the 

 church \\i% thoroughly restored, its south wall, which 

 formerly stood 4 ft. back, being brouglit into line 

 with that of the nave. Little remains, therefore, 

 to show the disposition of the original plan, though 

 the length of the building was presumably the same 

 as at present. 



The chancel is 26 ft. by 23 ft. with a five-light 

 pointed east window, and two windows of two lights 

 and a priest's door in the south side. The north side 

 has a modern arcade of two pointed arches opening to 

 the chapel, which is the same length as the chancel 

 and 20 ft. in width. Internally the chapel has little 

 antiquarian interest, having been entirely renovated, 

 but externally the old stone walling remains, the top 

 of the gable alone being new. The east window is 

 of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred arch 

 with moulded jambs and head, but without hood 

 mould, and on the north side is a square-headed 

 three-light window of similar detail. The roof is 

 modern. There ^vas another similar square-headed 

 window on the north side, but the modern vestry 

 effectually hides or has destroyed all the other 

 ancient features on this sidi. The diagonal buttress 

 at the north-east corner is part of the original 

 structure bonding into the walling, but a wider buttress 

 on the north side, now in the angle of the vestr}', is 

 a later addition. The chancel and chapel are under 

 two separate gabled roofs of different height, but both 

 butting at the west end against the wide gable of the 

 nave. The roofs are covered with blue slates and 

 have overhanging eaves. 



The nave is 43 ft. square, and originally had 

 galleries all round. The east and west galleries were 

 taken down in 1869—70, but those on the north and 



south stood till 1887. The galleries probably gave 

 some sense of proportion to the church which it now 

 lacks, the nave, which is without aiilcs and under 

 one wide gabled roof, being a cheerless specimen of 

 the worst period of churchwarden Gothic' Later 

 stone pointed arches of two orders separate it at the 

 east end from the chancel and chapel. The roof is 

 divided into four bays by three plain wood principals, 

 and the windows are pointed of three lights uith the 

 muUions crossing in the heads. At the west end, 

 north of the tower, is a three-light square-headed 

 window copied from that on the north of the chapel. 

 A porch has been added in front of the south door. 



The tower, which is at the south-west corner of 

 the n.ave, presumably in a line with the ancient 

 chancel, is g ft. 6 in. square inside, and is built of 

 gritstone. It has a projecting vice in the south-east 

 corner, but its stages are unmarked externally by 

 any string-course, and the top finishes with an em- 

 battled parapet with angle and intermediate pinnacles. 

 The west door has a four-centred arch and hollow 

 chamfered jambs and head, and above is a pointed 

 window of three cinquefoiled lights with hood mould 

 terminating in shields. The mullions and tracery 

 arc new. The belfry windows are of two cinquefoiled 

 lights with tracery over under a pointed labelled 

 head. There is a clock on the west side, made by 

 Thomas Kirkhall of Bolton-le-Moors, 1637. On 

 the north and south sides, below the belfry, is a 

 small square-headed window, and on the west side 

 above the clock a small niche with the canopy cut 

 away. The west buttresses arc diagonal and of five 

 stages, and there is a square buttress at the north- 

 east angle now incorporated with the nave wall. 

 The tower arch is of two chamfered orders dying 

 into square jambs at the springing, and is filled 

 with a modern glazed screen, the bells being rung 

 from the floor of the church. 



The fittings are mostly modern, but some of the 

 old oak seating has been used up as wainscot along 

 the lower part of the nave walls. There are some 

 fragments of 1 6th and early 17th-century glass placed 

 in front of the north window of the chapel, including 

 two shields * of arms. 



The first shield has a strap-work border, and in 

 place of crest a basket of fruit. Between the shields 

 is a round piece of glass on which is a plough, 

 the groundwork being made up of fragments of a 

 Resurrection window, showing figures rising from 

 tombs. There is also an inscription on the glass to 

 Thomas Brown, one of her Majesty's Yeomen of the 

 Guard.' Under the tower is a board with the 

 royal arms of George III, and in the nave there is 

 a good brass chandelier dated 1792, now unfortu- 

 nately painted blue and gold. 



The font now in use is a modern Gothic one, 

 octagonal in shape, but the church contains three 

 other fonts, and there is a fifth in the rectory garden. 

 Of those in the church the oldest is a circular stone one 



William Hcatley was a great benefactor 

 to Roman Catholic churches and charities, 

 and left a large part of his fortune to his 

 confessor, apparently on trust. The will 

 caused much disturbance, and further 

 disputes arose over a seat in St. Joseph's 

 Church. Mr. Eastwood, failing in his 

 claims, became a Protestant, and sold the 

 estate and everything belonging to it. 

 * Land tax return at Preston. He 



paid ^46 out of ,f54 rai;o i. James 

 Heatlcy paid £2 loj. 



2 MS. compiled by Mr. Pc;;:e, in 

 possession of W. Farrer. The tenants' 

 names are given. 



^ The earlier invocation seems to have 

 been St. Helen. The ' parish church of 

 St. Helen of Brindle ' is mentioned in the 

 will of Sir Thomas Gerard, 1522. Sec 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no, 52. 



78 



* Baines, Lanci. (ed. 1836), iii, 498. 



' It resembles that of Leyland, which 

 was built about the same time and proba- 

 bly by the same ' architect." 



^ (i) Azure a double-headed eagle dis- 

 played or ; (2) Argent, on a bend sable 

 three covered cups of the first (for 

 Riiton). 



' He died 1606 ; tee entry in 

 register. 



