A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The churchyard lies chiefly on the south and ca,t 

 sides of the building, the entrance from the village 

 being on the north-west corner. There are no 

 inscribed stones of ancient date. To the east where 

 the churchward is open to the rectory grounds and 

 adjoining fields the view is one of much rural beauty. 

 The rectory house, a i jth-centur^- building with 

 three gables to the front and stone slated roofs, was in 

 the main erected by the Pilkingtons, but was re- 

 fronted and the entrance rearranged by the Masters, 

 probably soon after 1755. Their coat of arms is over 

 the door. The front is now stuccoed and the gables 

 hidden behind a high parapet which follows their 

 rake in curved lines at the ends. On a stone in an 

 outbuilding at the back of the house are the initials of 

 the Rev. James Pilkington, B.D., and the date 1663, 

 which is probably the jear of the erection of the rectory. 

 The church of Croston was 

 JDFOlf'SON granted by Count Roger of Poitou 

 to the abbey of St. Martin at Sees,' 

 and the Prior and convent of Lancaster accordingly 

 presented the rectors, receiving an annual pension of 

 6 marks from the church.' During the wars with 

 France in the time of Edward III and later the 

 kings, as was usual, usurped the patronage as belonging 

 to an 'alien priory,' and, though the frequent 

 changes of rectors at that time show how insecure the 

 title was considered, the Priors of Lancaster scem at 

 length to have acquiesced,' and the advowson was 

 granted by Henry V to his new monastery of Syon.' 

 The church was appropriated also, and a vicarage was 

 ordained.* The Abbess of Syon presented down to 

 the suppression of the monasteries, after which time 



the course of events is not clear." In 1551 the 

 'advoM-son of the vicarage,' including, it would seem, 

 the rectorial tithes, &c., was granted by the Crown to 

 Sir Thomas Darcy, to be held by the service of one 

 knight's fee and the rent of £z^ 12/. 6|//.' From 

 1594 the incumbency has usually been styled the 

 ' rectory and vicarage,' and a rent was payable to the 

 Crown.' This rent was sold in the time of Charles II, 

 and about 1790 was due to the representatives 

 of the Hon. Mrs. Dashwood." 



In 1661 a grant of the advowson of the vicarage 

 was made to the Bishop of Chester and his successors," 

 but must for some reason have been invalid, as the 

 patronage has remained in private hands," and has 

 since about 1753 been held 

 by the M.ister family, several 

 of whom have been rectors." 

 The present patron is the 

 Rev. A. Master-Whitaker. 



In 1 291 the income of 

 the rector was estimated as 

 ^3 3 6s. Srf'.," the benefice 

 being the most valuable in 

 Leyland Deanery. Fifty years 

 later the ninth of sheaves, 

 &c., was estimated at 10 

 marks less, the revenues per- 

 taining to the altarage of the 

 church being now excluded." 



The gross value of the rectory was in 1 534 estimated 

 at £()^ 10s. 6J., of which ^^53 6;. id. was paid to 

 Syon." The Commonwealth surveyors in 1650 

 estimated the revenues as nearly ;^300 a year, after 



Master. Azure a 

 fciie embattled betiveeu 

 three griffins' heads 

 erased or* 



' F.irrcr, Lanes. Pipe R. 190. The 

 demesne tithes of Croston were included. 

 The charter was several times confirmed ; 

 ibid. 296, 298. 



About I 240 Sir John de la Mare, lord 

 of Croston, released to the monks any 

 claim he might have had to the advow- 

 son ; Lane. C/i. (Chct. Soc), i, 24. 



"Ibid, i, 113, 11;. In 1318 the 

 Prior of Lancaster established his right to 

 the pension, which William de Lancaster, 

 then rector of Croston, had for some years 

 withheld ; ibid, ii, 502 j De Banco R. 

 225, m. 150. 



^ See the list of rectors. 



* The confirmation by Martin V, 

 dated 1418, is printed in Aio«. -'l"g/. vi, 

 543, and a charter by Edw. IV in 1461 

 in Pari. R. \, 555; Cal. Pal. 146 1 -7, 

 p. 14,-. 



' The Bishop of Lichfield in 1420 

 ordained the vicarage, of which the Abbess 

 and convent of Syoo at Isleworth were 

 patrons. The value of the rectory being 

 estimated at 130 marks, it was ordered 

 that the vicar should pay the convent So 

 marks and keep the other 50, and any 

 additional revenue, paying all ecclesiasti- 

 cal burdens and loj. a year to the poor. 

 See Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, ^53 ; Lich. Epis. Reg. ix, fol. 129. 



^ The king is named as rector in the 

 1548 visitation list. 



' Pat. 5 Edw. VI, pt. iv. 



® See the accounts of the rectors for 

 the variations in style. The prc-Reforma- 

 tion vicars had received all the dues, 

 paying a pension only, and this system 

 may have continued afterwards. In the 

 detailed description in 1650 James Hyett 

 w,is called * rector and incumbent,' and he 

 had received the tithes, a lease by him of 



the tithe corn of Blspham and Mjwdcslcy 

 made about 1638 being mentioned ; yet 

 the benefice is called a vicarage ; Com- 

 nionzi.-. Ch, Surv. (Rec. Soc Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 108, 109. 



^ A pension of ^^53 6s. Sd. was in 

 1670 paid to the Crown by William Hyett 

 for the rectory of Croston \ Pat. 22 

 Chas. II, pt. ii. This, as will be noticed, 

 was the old rent p.iyable to Syon Abbey 5 

 but before 1670 it had been reduced by 

 one-seventh paid by Hoole, as appears by 

 a note below. 



" Information of Rev. W. G. Procter. 

 Richard Dashwood was vouchee in a 

 recovery of the * rectory of Croston * in 

 1821 ; Pal. of Lane Assi/ic, Lent, 2 

 Geo. IV. 



" Pat. 13 Cha'. II, pt. xvi ; to Brian 

 Walton, Bishop of Chester. The bishop's 

 petition for the vicarage is printed in 

 Manch. Guardian A', and Q. no. 1 169, 

 The rent payable to the Crown was 

 stated to be £4.^ 141, 6d. 



^'^ Rector James Pilkington is said to 

 have purchased the advowson about 1680 

 in the name of his father, William Pil- 

 kington, and others ; Local Glean. Lanes, 

 and Ches. ii, 282, In a fine of 1665 re- 

 specting the rectory of Croston and the 

 advowson of the vicarage the deforciant 

 was Henry Hudlestone and the plaintiffs 

 were Sir Thomas Foster and Anthony 

 Knightbridge ; PaL of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdlc. 175, m. 34. The deforciants in 

 later fines were Dr. Charles Layfield 

 (Mar. 1712) and John Layfield and 

 Benjamin Culme, clerk (Mar. 1724); 

 ibid, bdles. 268, m. 31 ; 291, m. 57. An 

 indenture of 1706 respecting the advow- 

 son is enrolled in the Com. Pleas Trin. 

 1707, R. 8. 



86 



^•^ Streynsham Master, clerk, and Mar- 

 garet his wife were in possession of the 

 advowson in 1753 ; Pal. of Lane Plea 

 R. 576, m. 13 d. 



Canon Raines states : * In the year 

 1755 the patronage became vested in 

 Legh Master, esq., M.P., whose son the 

 Rev. Robert Master, D.D., was afterwards 

 rector, and whose grandson Streynsham 

 Master, D.D., is the present (1851) rector. 

 Dr. Master sold the advowsons to Le 

 Gendrc Nicholas Starkie of Huntroyd, 

 esq., who in the year 1821 again con- 

 veyed them by sale to George Smith, 

 esq., M.P., brother of Lord Carrington ' 5 

 Notitia Cestr. ii, 354. The sales named 

 were perhaps family arrangements. 



For pedigree see Burke's Landed Gentry 

 — Master of Barrow Green House. 



" Pope Nidi. Tax. (Rec Com.), 

 249. 



** /rty. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 39. 

 The townships were valued as follows : 

 Croston and Ulnes Walton, each 441. 6d.; 

 Bretherton, 4J marks ; Mawdesley, 

 £6 2j. 3,/, ; Bispham, £1 ; also (now 

 separated) Chorley,^3 1 is. ij. ; RulFord, 

 28j. lid.; Tarleton, 351. ^d. ; Beccon- 

 sall, 221. 3^. ; Great Hoole, £2 ; Little 

 Hoole, 24J. 6d. 



" ralor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 2 3 • . The 

 glebe land brought in £<^ 71. lod., tithes 

 ^72 9J. 4</., Easter roll, Ac, ;f 16 131. 4</. 

 It will be noticed that the convent of Syon 

 received 80 marks, as ordered a century 

 before. The loj. was still paid to the 

 poor. The net value was £1% 51. 10./. 

 The vicar agreed to pay ^4 a year to 

 the (acting) parish priest and 4 marks to 

 tlie curate of Chorlcy, thus reducing hii 

 Uxable income to ^31 m. 6,/. See 

 note 9, p. 88. 



