A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



dcRcnJcJ with the other Farington estates'; 

 the latter was in 1562 sold to Edward Earl of 

 Derby,- whose successor, William, in conjunction 

 with Edward Stanley, in 1597 sold it to Sir Richard 

 Molyneux,' and it descended like Sefton ■* until 

 1729, when it was sold,' and has disappeared from 

 view.^ 



There are a number of court rolls at Worden, 



beginning in 1 503. The manor-house seems to 

 have been at Littlewood.' 



The Sutton family,' claiming by descent from 

 one of the Waltons, long had an estate here, 

 which descended to Gorsuch of Scirisbrick. The 

 Faringtons' and other neighbouring landowners 

 had estates in this township, as appears by the 

 inquisitions. About 1600 the principal residents'" 



* No * manor' was claimed for William 

 Farington of Worden in 1610, when his 

 messuages and lands there were stated to 

 be held of the king by the hundredth part 

 of a knight's fee; Lanes. Inj. p.m, (Rec. 

 See. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 18 1-4. The 

 manor is named in settlements of the 

 Farington estates In 1684 and later; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdlc. 213, m. 30; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 503, m. 4 d. {1 7 1 5] ; 

 557, m. 8 (1742). 



Thomas Farington in 1616 sought a 

 partition of forty messuages, l\\o water- 

 mills, &C., held together by him and Sir 

 Richard Molyncux j Pal. of Lane. Pica 

 R. 317, m. 41. 



' Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 24, 

 m. 78. The deforciants of the moiety of the 

 manors of Ulncs Walton and Kcllanirrph 

 were Sir Thomas Gerard and Elizabeth 

 his wife. 



^ I'ti'h bdle. 58, m. 320 ; half the manor 

 of L'lnes Walton, thirty messuages, two 

 mills, dovecote, &c. From a later (ine it 

 appears that the estate was not finally 

 disposed of in 1600; ibid. bdle. 62, 

 m. 141. 



* A fourth part of the manor was held 

 by Sir Richard Molyncux in 1608 ; ibid. 

 b<!ic. " ;, m. 27. The other fourth part 

 seems It>r a time to have been held by 

 Ashton of Croston, as will be seen in a 

 later note. In 1623 the * manor ' was 

 found to have been held by Sir Richard 

 Molyncux, by tenure unknown ; Lanes. 

 In-j. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 iii, ',S4, 391. In a settlement of 1614 

 it is called the moiety of the mapnr, but 

 the *tyle varies ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F. bd!r. 86, m. 19; 104, m. 18; 201, 

 m. 4. 



* It was among the manors, Ac, sold 

 under the provisions of a Private Act, 

 2 Geo. II, cap. 9. 



^ The deforciants in a fine respecting 

 it in 1803 were Samuel Fleetwood and 

 wile, Margaret Warren widow, Nancy 

 I-' .\es widow, John Gosnell and wife, 

 Samuel W.irri:^, Thomas Wiatt and wife, 

 William Wainwright and wife, and Tr}-- 

 phosa Jnlinson, spinster ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Lent A«lc<, 43 Geo. III. In iS-o 

 this mo:cty nt the manor was said to be 

 vested * in Longworth's heirs'; Baines, 

 Lares, ii, 1 19, 



' Henry VI in 1444 demised to Sir 

 Bcrtin Entwisic ' the site of the manor 

 called Littlewood * for twenty years at a 

 rent of £zo, but it appeared that Sir 

 Wiiiam Ashton claimed under a previous 

 lease ; Early Chan. Proc bdlc. 14, 

 no. 10. 



The free tenants in 1505, according to 

 the court rolls, were 'Thomas Earl of 

 Derby, Sir Peter Legh, William Moly- 

 ncux, Thomas Hesketh, John Barton, 

 Henry Farington, esquires, Christopher 

 Leyland, Roger Farington, Gilbert Sutton, 

 George Dandv, chantry priest, Robert 

 Smith and John Clayton the younger ; 

 each held lands, ifec, by knights' service 

 and suit of court. 



In 1504 the cucklng stool was out of 



repair. The manor-house of Littlewood 

 was ruinous in 1 505 ; the court was held 

 at Littlewood in 1534. In 1578 it was 

 ordered that the underwood on the banks 

 of the Lostock (ash, willow, ' uler,' &c.) 

 must be cut down and the banks made 

 right, so that the river should be three 

 yards wide. A sapling of ash was to be 

 planted yearly by each tenant for every 

 6s. iJ. of his rent. 



Littlewood was claimed by Alice 

 Dowager Countess of Derby (widow of 

 Ferdinando fifth Earl) in 1595 ; Ducafus 

 Lane, in, 323,352. Later it appears that 

 Littlewood and Leighouses pertained to 

 the purchase made by Sir Richard Moly- 

 ncux ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 386. But in 1622 the 

 reversion of a moiety of the capital 

 messuage called Littlewood, with various 

 lands in Ulncs Walton, was the right of 

 Thomas Ashton of Croston ; ibid, iii, 330. 

 It was held of the king in chief by 

 knights' service, but was in the possession 

 of Alice Dowager Countess of Derby as 

 pnn of her dower. The next Thomas 

 Ashton held three messuages, Ac, in 

 Lines Walton ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xxix, no, 6. 



A court roll of 1673 preserved at 

 Croxtelh gives the lords of the manor as 

 Caryll Lord Molyncux and George Far- 

 ington. The following were suitors : 

 Richard Leigh, Sir Rowland Belnsyse, 

 Lawrence Seymour, Richard Ashton, 

 Roger Ashton, William Gradell, Nicholas 

 Fazakerlcy, Scth Bushell, clerk, George 

 Carter, Humphrey Marsh and Thomas 

 Wigans. The cleansing of the ditches 

 was the chief business. 



In 1-09 a Mrs. Floyd owned Little- 

 wood ; Croston Ch. Bks. (Rev. W. G. 

 Procter). 



^ William and Thomas de Sutton had 

 a tenement in 1284 ; Assize R. 1268, ni. 

 1;. The former was non-suited in a 

 claim against Master Adam de Walton in 

 1292 ; Assize R. 408, m. 23. Avice 

 widow of William de Sutton claimed 

 dower in a messuage and 6 oxgangs of 

 land against Adam de Walton in 1307; 

 De Banco R. 162, m. 190. From a fur- 

 ther statement it appears that William 

 son of Thomas de Sutton had granted the 

 estate to Master Adam de Walton, and 

 had died leaving a ton and heir Thomas 

 under age; ibid. 164, m. 172d. Adam 

 de Walton in 1308 called to warrant him 

 John de Chisnall guardian of Thomas 

 son and heir of William de Sutton ; ibid. 

 l~o, m. 131, In a pleading of 1333 

 Thomas states that his great-grandfather 

 Robert de Sutton married Agnes daughter 

 of Dolphin de Walton ; ibid. 296, m. 

 237 d. See also ibid. 284, m. 93; 290, 

 m. 203 d. 



WiUiam son of Thomas de Sutton had 

 a messuage and land in Ulncs Walton as 

 early as 1350; Final Cone, ii, 76. There 

 were remainders to Robert and Thomas, 

 brothers of William. 



William de Sutton in 1347 complained 

 that Henry son of Robert son of Thomas 



IIO 



de Ulncs Walton, Mabel his wife, John 

 del Dam, 'leech,' and others had broken 

 his houses, &c. ; De Banco R. 353, m. 

 I57d. It may be noted that William 

 (Infant) son of Henry son of Robert de 

 Ulnes Walton was plaintiff respecting 

 two messuages, &c., at Michaelmas 

 1352; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, 

 m. I. 



Some further account of the Sutton 

 family will be found under Scarisbrick in 

 Ormskirk. 



Gilbert Sutton was in 1518 found to 

 have held his lands here of the Knights 

 of St. John by a rent of ^e^. ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no. (ty. About 1540 

 Thomas Gorsuch was holding the land 

 (in Dodfield) by the same rent ; Kuerden 

 MSS. V, fol. 83A. James Gorsuch in 1580 

 sold a toft, &c., to James and William 

 Stopford ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 42, m. 20. 



An Ayscow or Askuc family occurs 

 about 1330-50. In 1331 Joan widow of 

 John de la Legh did not prosecuteher claim 

 against Roger de Aykyskowe ; Assize R. 

 1404, ni. 18. In 1347 it appears that 

 Roger son of Roger de Aykescogh had by 

 his wife Christiana left two daughters, 

 Alice and Maud, who had a messuage and 

 land ; Assize R. 1435, m. 51 d. 



^ Margery widow of Richard son of 

 Nicholas de Goldburn in 1343-7 claimed 

 two messuages, &c., in Ulncs Walton 

 against John son of William de Farington 

 and William Doddeson of Eccleston, but 

 failed; De Banco R. 336, m. 409 d. ; 

 Assize R. 1435, m. 48. John son of 

 Nicholas de Goldburn occurs in a fine of 

 1333 ; Final Cone, ii, 90. 



Richard son of John Collinson (? Gold- 

 burn) at Pentecost, 1352, claimed a 

 messuage and land against Alice daughter 

 of John de Farington, Alice widow of 

 William del Rowe and Joan widow of 

 John de Farington ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 2, m. 8 d, 



William Farington died in 1502 hold- 

 ing land, &c., in Ulnes Walton of the 

 Prior of St. John of Jerusalem by a rent 

 of 3^. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 

 no. 67. Sir Henry Farington in 1540 

 held land in Dodfield ; Kuerden MSS. 

 loc. sup. cit. 



Roger (son of Robert) Farington of 

 Ulnes Walton died in 16 13 holding land 

 of the king in socage; his son and heir 

 William was thirteen years of age ; Lanes. 

 In'], p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 

 244. 



Thomas Hesketh of RufTord in 1523 

 held 2 acres in Ulnes Walton, but the 

 tenure was unknown ; Duchy of Lane, 

 Inq. p.m. V, no. 16 ; vii, no. 14. 



James Anderton of Clayton died in 

 1630 holding a messuage and land in 

 Ulncs Walton, but the tenure is not 

 stated ; ibid, xxvii, no. 56. 



'" James Stopford and William Gradell 

 are named in that year ; Misc. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 244. William 

 Stopford contributed to the lubsid^r in 

 1628 ; ibid, ii, 166. 



