LEYLAND HUNDRED 



HESKETH-WITH- 

 BECCONSALL 



appear to have been the Stopfords ' and Gradwells 

 or Gradells.2 The estate of the latter on Barbies 

 Moor became the property of Alexander Kershaw of 

 Heskin, by whose representative it descended to 

 L. Hargrave, and was sold.^ Humphrey Marsh 

 died in 1628 holding a messuage and land in Ulnes 

 Walton of Lord Molyneux ; his heir was a brother, 

 Evan Marsh, and the family appear to have retained 

 or increased the estate.'' 



Under the Commonwealth the estates of James 

 Rutter '' and William and Elizabeth Gradell were 

 sequestered or sold." In 1 7 1 7, as ' Papists,' Chris- 

 topher Gradell,' Robert and Hugh Jump and 

 Thomas Langtree registered estates.* In 1787 the 

 chief landowners were William Farington and John 

 Marsh, and in 1798 the same, with Thomas Gardner 

 and Edmund N. Kershaw added.' 



The Hospitallers had an estate in Ulnes Walton.'" 



HESKETH-WITH-BECCONSALL 



Eskehagh, 1259; Eschayt, 1285; Heschath, 

 1288 ; Heskeyth, 1293 ; Heskayth, 1298, 1323 ; 

 Heskeyt, 1301 ; Heskath, 1347; Hesketh, 1410. 

 Local pronunciation, Heskett. 



Bekaneshow, 1208; Bekanoshow, 121 2; Bekanesho, 

 1246 ; Bekanishou, 1300 ; Becansaw, 141 3 ; Bec- 

 consall, xvi cent. 



This township was, like Tarleton, separated from 

 Croston by Act of Parliament in 182 1, and con- 

 stituted an independent parish. ^^ In early times 

 Becconsall appears to have been the important part of 

 the township, Hesketh being subordinate ; but about 



1 71 8 Bishop Gastrell gave Hesketh Bank as an alias 

 of Becconsall. The parish lies on the west bank of 

 the Douglas estuary, the Ribble forming the northern 

 boundary. In ancient times almost the only habit- 

 able part must have been the elevated patch in the 

 south-east corner, a continuation of the Tarleton 

 ridge, Becconsall being at the southern end of this 

 patch and Hesketh at the north-west. The northern 

 half of the land has in the main been reclaimed from 

 the Ribble since 1834, chiefly through the operations 

 of the Ribble Navigation Company.^^ The area is 

 4,736 acres.^^ In 1901 there was a population of 901. 



* A William Alansondied before 1578 

 holding lands, and leaving as heirs his two 

 daughters Ellen and another (Margaret) 

 wife of James Stopford ; Court R. In 

 1562 a division was sought of four mes- 

 suages and 26 acres of land held by Sir 

 Peter Legh, Robert Barton on one side and 

 James Stopford, Margaret his wife and 

 Ellen Alanson on the other ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 212, m. 9. A settlement 

 by Ellen daughter and heir of William 

 Stopford was made in 1569 ; Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 31, m. 24. James Stop- 

 ford, Margaret his wife and William his 

 illegitimate son had made a similar settle- 

 ment in 1563 ; ibid. bdle. 25, m. 203. The 

 same parties made a further settlement in 

 1587 ; ibid. bdle. 49, m. 138. 



William Stopford died in 161 7 holding 

 a messuage and land in Ulnes Walton 

 and other lands, &c., in Preston, Leyland, 

 Croston, Longton, &c. ; Lancs^ Inq. p.m, 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 72. The 

 premises in Ulnes Walton were held of Sir 

 Richard Molyneux and William Faring- 

 ton in free socage. William Stopford son 

 and heir of the deceased was twenty-three 

 years of age. 



' John Charnock (of Farington) died 

 in 1574 holding a messuage and lands in 

 Ulnes Walton occupied by the wife of 

 Thomas Gradell and Christopher Gradell 

 her son ; they had been purchased of Sir 

 Anthony Browne, but the tenure is not 

 stated J Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m, xii, no, 

 35. His heir was his brother William's 

 son Thomas Charnock, over thirty years 

 of age, and this Thomas in the following 

 year made a settlement or partition of his 

 estate in Fulwood, Aughton and Ulnes 

 Walton, the plaintiffs in the fine being 

 William Charnock, William Gradell and 

 Roger Charnock ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of 

 F, bdle. 37, m. 191. John Charnock had 

 in 1571 bequeathed his tenement in Ulnes 

 Walton to his nephew William Gradell 

 eon of Christopher ; Piccope, Willi (Chet. 

 Soc), ii, 209. 



William Gradell died in 1608 holding 

 a messuage and lands in Ulnes Walton 

 and Croston of the king (as duke) by 

 knights' service ; Lanes, Inq, p.m, (Rec, 



Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), I, 92. Alice his 

 widow survived him, and his heir was his 

 son Christopher, seventeen years of age. 



Christopher Gradell died in 1630 hold- 

 ing much the same estate of the king by 

 the two-hundredth part of a knight's fee. 

 His son and heir William was thirteen 

 years old, and his wife Elizabeth survived 

 him J Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxv, no. 

 10, The recusant roll of 1628 contains 

 the names of Christopher and Elizabeth 

 Gradell and two other members of the 

 family ; Muc, (Rec, Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 175. 



The family were zealous Roman Catho- 

 lics, and * suffered every form of persecu- 

 tion rather than abjure their faith. They 

 appear annually on the recusant rolls from 

 their commencement under Elizabeth to 

 the reign of James II. . . . They sup- 

 plied the church with several virtuous 

 and learned priests during the days of 

 persecution and throughout the whole of 

 that period maintained a chaplain at their 

 house at Barbies Moor. The mansion 

 has long since disappeared. . . . A corner 

 of the garden had originally been used as 

 a burial ground ' ; Gillow, Bibl. Diet. 

 Engl, Cath., ii, 547. He states that 

 the family became extinct In the male 

 line by the death of the Rev. Christopher 

 (•on of Christopher) Gradell in 1758, 

 after serving as the priest at Sheffield for 

 twenty-two years. His two brothers had 

 died unmarried, and the heirs were his 

 three half-sisters, married to O'Nell, 

 Taylor of Standlsh and Orrell of Black- 

 brook. 



The religion of the family and the 

 presence of a resident chaplain explain 

 the 'tradition' mentioned by Balnes, 

 that the house had been *a monkish 

 cell.' For the crosses there see Lanes, 

 and Ches, Antiq, Soc. xvli, 14. A long 

 account of the family, by the late Mgr. 

 R. Gradwell, appeared in the Preston 

 Guardian in 1884. 



3 Balnes, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 119. 



* Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxx, no. 49. 



5 Sequestered for recusancy ; Cal. Com, 

 for Comp. iv, 2683. 



® Sequestered for the recusancy of 



III 



Elizabeth Gradell and the popery and de- 

 linquency of William Gradell her son ; 

 Royalist Comp. Papers (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), ill, 90. William Gradell's 

 estate was afterwards declared forfeit and 

 sold ; Lidex of Royalists (Index Soc), 42. 



^ He was the son of the above-named 

 William, and his sons William, Chris- 

 topher and Richard are named ; Estcourt 

 and Payne, Engl, Cath. Non-jurors, 131. 

 The son Christopher, as above stated, was 

 the last of the line ; he went to Douay 

 in 1728. The will of Christopher Gradell, 

 the father, and a deed (1735) by William 

 Gradell are abstracted In Piccope MSS. 

 (Chet. Lib.), ill, pp. 216, 336, from deeds 

 enrolled at Preston. 



^ Estcourt and Payne, op. cit. 130, 



^ Land tax returns at Preston. 



^^ It is mentioned in 1292 ; Plae. de 

 Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 375. Some 

 of the tenants have been named In pre- 

 ceding notes. The others about 1540 

 were : Edward Earl of Derby, paying 

 i2i/. ; Sir Robert Hesketh, in Berle, 

 ^d. ; and some chaplains, probably for 

 chantry lands, paying izd. and 6d. ; 

 Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 83*. William 

 DIcconson In 1604 held part of what had 

 been the Hospitallers' lands by a rent of 

 4^/. ; Lanes. Inq, p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), I, 19. 



*i Act I & 2 Geo. IV, cap. 103. 



*2 It is stated that 40 acres were In- 

 closed In 1834, 700 in 1861, and 1,100 

 in 1881-2, Sir Thomas Hesketh being 

 the purchaser ; Lanes. Dir, In the 

 Charities Report of 1898 it Is stated that 

 out of 435 acres Inclosed before 1870 

 under the General Inclosure Acts an 

 allotment of 2 acres was made to the 

 churchwardens and overseers, and 

 another of 5 acres for the labouring 

 poor, charged with a rent of ^10 a year 

 to the lord of the manor. The former 

 plot Is now used as a recreation ground, 

 and the latter is divided into allotment 

 gardens. 



'* Including 2,761^ of tidal water, 

 according to the ordnance map of 1848. 

 The Census Rep. of 1901 gives the area 



