LEYLAND HUNDRED 



HESKETH-WITH- 

 BECCONSALL 



possession of a lordship in the place from which his 

 surname was derived. It has since descended with 

 RufFord. 



The Banastre of Bank moiety i descended in the 

 same way as the other estates of the family ^ until 

 about a hundred }ears later.-' 



The only other local family requiring notice is 

 that of Thornton. The landowners contributing to 

 the subsidy of 154.2-3 were Adam and Elizabeth 

 Beconsaw, Richard and Hugh Thornton.^ Richard 

 Thornton died in July 1555 holding two messuages 

 and 40 acres in Becconsall and Hesketh of Sir Thomas 

 Hesketh and Henry Banastre of Bank in socage by a 

 rent of 2s. a year to the former and l<)\d. to the 

 latter. Hugh, his son and heir, was forty-four years 

 of age.' 



Salt-making about 1560 led to disputes between 

 the lords of the manor and their tenants." 



Two recusants compounded in 1628.' William 

 Hodkinson of Hesketh Bank paid ^^lo on refusing 

 knighthood in 1631.^ Under the Commonwealth 

 Willia-m Jump and John his son, holding a house and 



land at Hesketh Bank on lease, had it sequestered aa 

 recusants, and Henry Banastre of Bank, the owner, 

 in 1653 petitioned for a removal of the sequestration, 

 the tenants being dead.' 



The hearths taxed in 1666 numbered twenty-three, 

 but the only house of any size was that of the 

 Hcskcths (John Molyneux) with six hearths."' This 

 was Becconsall Hall, which stood to the north-west of 

 the existing chapel. The old building has disappeared 

 and a modern farm-house stands on the site ; there 

 is still preserved, however, a stone with the inscrip- 

 tion, ' John and Lucy Molyneux built this house. 

 Anno 1667,' and the initials 'T.H.' The date is 

 now very much worn and the second ' 6 ' indeci- 

 pherable. 



James Lumpton, Robert Banister and William 

 Jump of Hesketh Bank registered estates as ' Papists ' 

 in 1717.'! 



The chapel of BECCONSJLL was 



CHURCH erected in 1764. and stands on slightly 



rising ground on the left bank of the 



Dougl.is near a bend of the river, which flows past 



Hesketh, Becconsall and Much Hoole ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 16, m. 

 173. In a later deed this is called the 

 'manor' of Becconsall; Towneley MS. 

 C 8 13, B 309. A pleading of 1551 

 shows that George son of Adam Becon- 

 saw had died without issue, so that 

 Dorothy became heir of the manor and 

 the whole estate, but a certain Richard 

 Beconsaw claimed as heir male. It also 

 shows that Joan wife of Anthony Browne 

 was Dorothy's mother and guardian. See 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Edw. VI, xxviii, 

 B 14. Another pleading shows that Joan 

 was daughter and heir of William son 

 and heir-apparent of Sir Henry Faring- 

 ton; ibid. Hen. VIII, B 18. From 

 Ulnes Walton court rolls at Worden it 

 appears that Joan wife of Sir Anthony 

 Browne died before 1578, and that 

 Dorothy wife of Edmund Huddleston 

 was her daughter and heir. See the 

 account of Farington. 



In 1561 Sir Thomas Hesketh pur- 

 chased the manor of Hesketh and Bec- 

 consall and various lands from Edmund 

 Huddleston and Dorothy his wife ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 23, m. 189. 

 His title was thus secured, and in the 

 inquisition after his death (1588) it is 

 recorded that he held the moiety of the 

 manor of Hesketh and Becconsall of the 

 queen as of the lately dissolved house of 

 St. John of Jerusalem in England j 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 56. In 

 that after his son Robert's death in 1620 

 the ' manor' of Hesketh-eum-Bceeonsall 

 is recorded, but the service is not men- 

 tioned ; Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Ree. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 351, 356. 



By the will of Sir Thomas Hesketh 

 the hall and demesne lands of Becconsall 

 were given to his third son Richard ; 

 Add. MS. 32104, no. 1. Richard after- 

 wards suffered as a traitor, but in 1628 

 one Nicholas Hesketh, a convicted recu- 

 sant, was the only landowner in the 

 township contributing to the subsidy ; 

 Misc, (Rcc. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 

 165. 



* Adam Banastre in 1208 held half a 

 plough-land (i.e. half the manor), and 

 granted a moiety of it to Sibyl and 

 Amiria, daughters of William, to hold by 

 a rent of zs. 6d. William son of Henry 

 held part of the same half-plough-land, 



but the sisters' moiety was to be quite 

 distinct from his part ; Fina! Cone. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 32, 



Adam Banastre confirmed to William 

 son of Henry dc Hesketh part of his land 

 in the vill of Becconsall and Hesketh, 

 with common of pasture and other 

 liberties, at a rent of izd. r, Towneley 

 MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), B 314. John 

 de Hesketh was a witness. Richard 

 Banastre in 1 246 claimed 4 acres in 

 Becconsall from William son of Henry 

 and William son of John de Beconsaw, 

 but failed ; Assize R. 404, m. 3 d. 



William son of Henry de Eskehagh 

 occurs in 1258-9; Orig. R. 43 Hen. 

 Ill, m. 6. Adam de Hesketh paid 2i. to 

 the subsidy of 1332, and eight other 

 tenants each paid is. 5 Exch. Lay Subs. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 42. 



Thomas son of Adam Banastre in 

 1279 claimed 2 oxgangs of land and 

 45. (}d. rent In Becconsall and Hesketh 

 from Adam son of Richard Banastre ; 

 De Banco R. 29, m. 27 d. John son of 

 Adam Banastre in 1304 claimed a moiety 

 of the manor, &c., against Richard son 

 of Adam Banastre J ibid. 152, m. 215 d. 



^ In 1526 the estate is described 

 merely as four messuages, &c., in Bec- 

 consall and Hesketh ; but in 1555 as the 

 moiety of the manor, together with the 

 advowson of the chapel, held of the queen 

 as of the late priory of St. John in socage 

 by the rent of c^s. ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. vi, no. 34 ; x, no. 37. 



Henry Banastre in 1597 purchased a 

 messuage, &c., in Hesketh and Beccon- 

 sall from Ralph Rose, Elizabeth his wife, 

 William Lcatherbarrow and Elizabeth his 

 wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 58, 

 m. 181. 



^ Six messuages, &c., the advowson of 

 the chapel and a free fishery in the waters 

 of Ribble and Asland in Becconsall and 

 Hesketh were held by Henry Banastre, 

 who died in 1641, by the old rent of 51. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxix, no. 15. 



It is possible that this moiety also was 

 acquired by the Heskeths of Rufford, as 

 nothing further is recorded of it. 



^ Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 130, no. 126. 



* Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x, no. 

 42. Hugh Thornton sold one messuage 

 in 1559 to John Clayton, and settled the 

 remainder of his estate in Hesketh, Bee- 



113 



consall and MaghuU upon his son John 

 in ihe following year ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F. bdle. 21, m. 105 ; 22, m. 70. 

 Henry Banastre claimed messuages, &c., 

 against Hugh Thornton and others in 

 1 561, and in 1562 and later John Thorn- 

 ton was plaintiff against John Clayton ; 

 Ducatus Lane, ii, 238, 234, 304. 



The residence was a * capital messuage ' 

 known as Thornton's House. John 

 Thornton mortgaged or sold the estate, 

 and his son Thomas attempted to recover 

 It In 1580 ; Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. 

 cxiv, T 5. Thomas Thornton died In 

 1 61 5 holding three messuages, &c., in 

 Becconsall and Hesketh of Robert Hes- 

 keth and Henry Banastre ; John, his son 

 and heir, was twenty-one years of age 

 (perhaps in 1629, the date of the inquisi- 

 tion) ; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. 

 Lib.), p. 1 185. 



® Robert Cowdrey, tenant of Sir 

 Thomas Hesketh, complained In 1 56 1 

 that having made a little cabin on the 

 sand by the Asland * to well salt In the 

 same,' he had been assaulted and his salt- 

 cote destroyed. He stated that the lords 

 of the town had agreed that their tenants 

 having land adjoining the salt water 

 should take the sands for salt-making ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. Eliz. xlviil, C 6. 



On the other side Henry Banastre In 

 1565 complained that whereas he and 

 Sir Thomas Hesketh were lords of the 

 manor of Hesketh and Becconsall, and 

 so were seised of a moiety of the sands as 

 part of the waste (not divided), one of 

 his tenants had been disturbed In his salt- 

 making, after gathering 'a stack of salt 

 sand containing 500 cart loads to the 

 value of ;^5 ' ; ibid. Ixii, B i. 



An agreement as to the various dis- 

 putes between Hesketh and Banastre was 

 made In 1573 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 

 233, m. 9. 



^ Nicholas Hesketh compounded for 

 the sequestered two-thirds of his estate, 

 but no sum is named, William Jump 

 was to pay £t, 6s. %d. a year. See Trans. 

 Hist, Soc. (new ser.), xxiv, 177, 179, 



^ Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 223. 



^ Cal. Com, for Camp, iv, 3097. 



^^ Subs. R. 250, no. 9 (hearth tax). 



** Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath, 

 Non-jurorsj 107, 109. 



15 



