LEYLAND HUNDRED 



CROSTON 



only project a little over 2 ft. in front of the middle 

 part of the building, or less than half the distance of 

 the porch, but the general grouping of the front, 

 which is 52 ft. in length, is very good, the recessed 

 middle portions, which are rather narrow, not being 

 in too deep a shadow. The house is simply roofed 

 with a central ridge and plain gable at each end. 

 The ridge of the small gable to the porch is of the 

 same height as that of the main roof, giving room for 

 a five-light window to the attic above the eaves, and 

 the projection of the wings being so small the roof is 

 continued down over them, the line of the eaves only 

 being broken. There are ten windows on the 

 principal front, four on the ground floor, five on the 

 first, and one in the attic, with hood moulds, all of 

 four lights except those over the porch, which have 

 five. Between the upper and lower windows are 

 four vertical ch.ises 4J in. wide cut in the brickwork 

 and now filled in with plaster or cement, the object 

 of which is said to have been a partial evasion of the 

 window tax, the upper and lower windows thus 

 connected counting .as one. An inscription in raised 

 letters on the stone head of the doorway reads : 

 'Thomas Stones of London haberdasher and Andrewe 

 Stones of Amsterdam merchant hath builded this howse 

 of their owne charges and giveath the same unto 

 their brother John Stones:' Ano Domni 16 1 3. Laus.' 

 The inscription is curiously divided towards the end 

 by the head of the doorway breaking into it. The 

 plan of the house falls naturally into three parts. In 

 the middle is a room 1 5 ft. 6 in. by 1 6 ft. entered from 

 the porch by the original oak nail-studded door, with 

 what has been a very good fireplace with deeply 

 recessed cupboards in the thickness of the wall at 

 each side. On the east are a small room and a 

 passage leading to what is now a farm kitchen, a 

 large room 19 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft. 10 in. occupying the 

 whole of the wing, and on the west side is a smaller 

 room about 1 1 ft. square, behind which is the stair- 

 case contained within four walls, with a small central 



open well and square newels. The first floor follows 

 the plan of the ground story, the middle room only 

 being bigger by the .addition of the recessed window 

 over the porch at its south-east corner, with a light 

 on each return.' The interior has no features of 

 architectural interest. The walls of the upper rooms 

 are stated to have been formerly panelled in oak, but 

 the panelling is said to have been removed to Bank 

 Hall about 1832.' At the back of the house are two 

 good brick chimney stacks with diagonal shafts. 



The pedestal of the village cross still exists, and 

 there is another in Sarah Lane.' 



In 1666 ninety-nine hearths contributed to the 

 tax ; Bank Hall was the largest house, having twelve 

 hearths, John Sharpies had eight and John ClifFe 

 five.' 



Bretherton has a parish council. 



BRETHERTON, assessed as two 

 MANORS plough-lands, was a member of the fee 

 of Penwortham,'' and appears to have 

 been given by the Bussels to Richard le Boteler of 

 Araounderness, who made grants to Cockersand 

 Abbey ' and Lytham Priory,' and possibly a further 

 grant to Richardsonof Roger, lord of Woodplumpton, 

 whose heirs are found to have held Bretherton by 

 knights' service.' These mesne lordships, however, 

 soon disappeared from view,'" and the immediate 

 owners of the land were considered the lords of the 

 manor. Thus in 1242 Richard Banastre, Walter de 

 Hoole, Richard de Thorp, William de Brexes, Thomas 

 de Gerstan and Simon del Pool were stated to hold 

 the twelfth part of a knight's fee in Bretherton 

 of the heir of the Earl of Lincoln, as lord of 

 Penwortham." 



The six tenements here indicated were in time 

 consolidated into two, each described as a moiety of 

 the manor and held by diiferent branches of the 

 Banastre family. One moiety belonged to the 

 Banastres of Bank, whose descent will be traced more 

 fully, and the other to Sir Thomas Banastre, K.G.,'^ 



^ John Stones wa3 the donor of the 

 font to Hoole Church in 1633. 



2 This is the room in which it is 

 commonly asserted that Horrocks made 

 his observation of the transit of Venus, 

 24 Nov. 1639. No sufficient authority, 

 however, has yet been brought forward 

 for accepting definitely the statement that 

 Horrocks was living at Carr House at 

 the time, though it is quite possible that 

 he did reside there as the guest or lodger 

 of Mr. Stones. 



3 J. E. Bailey in Palatine Note Bk, 

 vol. ii (Dec. 1882). 



* Lanes, and Ches. Antij. Soc. xvii, 1 2. 

 ' Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 



* Lanes. Inj, and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 36, 



' Richard le Boteler (Pincerna) of 

 Bretherton granted the canons 16 acres 

 of his demesne there in Siverthesargh, 

 with exit for the man who should settle 

 upon the land ; Coekersand Chartul. (Chet. 

 Soc), ii, 471. The date is about 1200. 



* As lord of Bretherton he gave to 

 God and St. Cuthbert a ' land ' between 

 Arapul and Hortepul in alms ; one side 

 extended to the water and the other 

 to waingate and the halfland to which 

 Carrbutts extended ; Durham Cath. D. 

 2.2.4. Ebor. no. 48. Adam Banastre and 

 Adam his son were witnesses. 



' Quenilda widow of Roger Gernet 



and one of the heirs of Richard son of 

 Roger held in 1252 one plough-land in 

 Bretherton in chief of the Earl of Lincoln, 

 but 'received nothing therefrom except 

 wardship and relief ; Lanes. Inq, and 

 Extents, i, 1 90. Two years ' later Ralph 

 de Beetham, one of the heirs of Quenilda, 

 held a plough-land (probably the same) by 

 knights* service, * but another has been 

 enfeoffed therein and pays nothing ' ; 

 ibid. 195, 202. It is stated that here 

 nine plough-lands made a knight's fee. 

 In 1288 the viU of Bretherton paid 

 zs. 3j(f. to William de Ferrers, who was 

 lord of Leylandshire ; ibid. 271. 



^ It will be seen below that Sir 

 Nicholas le Boteler claimed wardship in 

 1358, and that as late as 1555 Bank was 

 said to be held of the heirs of Richard le 

 Boteler. 



" Ibid. 149. 



Some of the tenants (or their rela- 

 tives) named m the text occur elsewhere. 

 Walter de Hoole gave three selions in 

 Bretherton to Lytham Priory ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, B 15. He was also a benefactor 

 to Cockersand Abbey, giving a ' land ' and 

 a half in Siverthesargh, a selion extend- 

 ing to the Asland (Douglas), another 

 between the high road and Ladpool, three 

 in Wetfield, &c. ; Coekersand Chartul. ii, 

 477, 483. Richard de Brexes gave a 

 half selion stretching from the highway 



103 



to Elremurcarr in Bretherton field, and 

 another selion (in the same field) per- 

 taining to his oxgang of land in Thorp ; 

 ibid. 477. Maud wife (widow) of Simon 

 de Poole was also a benefactor ; ibid. 

 475. 484- 



It may be added that in 135; the 

 tenants were : Thomas Banastre of the 

 Bank, Thomas son of Sir Adam Banastre, 

 John de Thorp, Ralph Bickersteth and 

 William son of William Banastre ; Feud. 

 Aids, iii, 86. 



1^ This branch of the family appears to 

 have descended from Adam Banastre, 

 who had sons Richard (named in the 

 text) and Thomas, the descent being thus 

 given by Dodsworth (MSS, cxlix, fol. 45) : 

 Adam -s. Thomas -s. Thomas -s. 

 William -s. (Sir) Adam -s. (Sir) Thomas, 

 IC.G. 



The first step has to be proved. Mar- 

 gery daughter of Henry son of Sweyn 

 gave to Thomas Banastre land in Brether- 

 ton held in part from Adam Banastre and 

 in part from the Knights of St. John, in 

 exchange for lands in Scarisbrick which 

 Thomas held of the Abbot of Cockersand ; 

 ibid. Richard son of Richard de Thorp 

 in 1293 granted Thomas son of Thomas 

 Banastre lands in Bretherton and Thorp \ 

 ibid. fol. 37^. Maud widow of Thomas 

 le Boteler gave to Thomas son of Thomas 

 Banastre land in HiUcroft in Bretherton 



