A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



nppcr floor in the roof lit on the west side by a series 

 oftbur dormer gables. Over the door is a stone "ith 

 the initials of Thomas Hesketh and the date 1662. 

 The front is completely covered ^\ith ivy, but at the 

 haL'r:, facing the yard, the original I 7th-centur>' brick- 

 work is seen, and the elevation, broken by two 

 staircase toi\cr3 and the chimney of the entrance hall, 

 is exceedingly picturesque. The small 2 in. bricks 

 have weathered a charming colour and are relieved 

 by stone quoins, while the original stone mullioned 

 windows are retained in the tower. The old stair- 

 caee between the entrance hall and the kitchen is 

 itself of no particular interest and was superseded by 

 the modern one built in 1821 in the new part of 

 the house. Each staircase is marked externally by 

 an embattled tower, but the modern stairs stop at 

 the first floor, the tower merely screening a lantern 

 light.' The great chimney is carried up also in the 

 form of a higher embattled tower in conjunction 

 with that of the older staircase, the whole forming 

 what must be considered one of the most pleasing 

 examples of brick architecture in this part of the 

 county. 



The house was abandoned as a residence about 1 798. 

 After that date it was ' for a time occupied by a tenant 

 farmer, and the banqueting hall used as a village 

 school,'' until it \vas repaired and refitted in 1X21 

 for the reception of the eldest son of Sir Thomas 

 Dalrymple Hesketh, who lived there till his succession 

 to the estates in iS^i. 



The new hall is a plain two-story brick building 

 painted \\hite with classic colonnade, erected in the 

 I Sth century, some time before I 763,' but very much 

 enlarged in 1798-9 by the addition on the north side 

 of what is now the main part of the house, with 

 classic portico and large entrance hall. Some of the 

 spout heads bear the initials of Sir Thomas Dalr\ mple 

 Hesketh and the date 181 1, and one is dated 1822. 

 Architecturally the building is without interest. 



The landowners in 1628 were Thomas Hesketh, 

 Sir Richard Hoghton, Robert and Cuthbert Hesketh.' 

 The estates of Richard Salvage of RufFord were con- 

 fiscated and sold by the Parliament in 1652.' 



The church of Sr. MJR}' is situated 

 CHURCH on the east side of the village and is a 

 modern building of red brick and stone 

 erected in 1 >^6<) in the Gothic style of the day, 

 replacing an older chapel built in 1736,' then 

 demolished. Of the original and still earlier chapel 

 which is known to have existed in the l.).th century 

 no traces remain, with the exception, perhaps, of two 

 moulded capitals, now on either side of the porch, 

 which may have been the responds of a later chancel 



arch built in the 1 6th century, and the monumental 

 fragments hereafter mentioned. The form and 

 appearance of the first building and the position of 

 the chancel — apparently a private mortuary chapel — 

 made by Sir Thomas Hesketh in i 58^; are unknown.'' 

 The 18th-century chapel was a plain parallelogram 

 with two tiers of windows and west door, with an 

 octagonal bell-turret on a square base over the west 

 gable. 



The present building consists of a chancel 29 ft. 

 by 19 ft. 6 in., with north chapel 13 ft. 6 in. by 

 10 ft., and south vcstr)' and organ chamber ; nave 

 60 ft. by 23 ft., with north and south aisles 8 ft. 6 in. 

 wide, west porch and tower with short stone spire at 

 the west end of the north aisle. The chapel north 

 of the chancel is called the Hesketh chapel and 

 contains a recumbent marble figure of Sir Thomas 

 Hesketh (d. 1S72). The Hesketh vault is below 

 the chancel. 



The building having no pretensions to antiquity is 

 itself uninteresting and architecturally it has little of 

 the appearance of a village church. It contains, 

 however, an alabaster slab and other fragments 

 belonging to the first church and some fittings 

 from the i8th-centur)- structure. The slab is to 

 the memory of 'I'homas Hesketh (d. 1458) and 

 Margaret his wife and is 6 ft. long by 3 ft. wide and 

 6 in. thick. It was until lately in the floor of the 

 nave lying north and south, in four pieces, but was 

 removed to the Hesketh chapel in 1907. It has 

 incised on it the figure of a man in armour with his 

 lady and underneath the figures of eleven children, 

 together with the coat of arms of Hesketh. The 

 inscription runs round the slab, ' Domine miserere 

 animabus Thome Hesketh et Margerie | uxoris ejus 

 qui quidem Thomas | obijt xvilj die mensis Decembris 

 a" d"' mcccclviij : a litera dominicali.' At the 

 bottom are the names of eleven children — Robert, 

 William, Margery, Thomas, John, Hugh, William, 

 Geoffrey, Richard, Henry and Nicholas. 



In 1 90S two brasses, one with the figure of a 

 knight, 18 in. high, and the other with an inscription 

 to the memory of Sir Robert Hesketh (d. 1541) and 

 Dame Grace his wife (d. 1543), were found in the 

 new hall and were placed in the church.' 



In the Hesketh chapel is preserved an alabaster 

 dog, lately brought from the Old Hall, no doubt 

 belonging to a former monument in the original 

 structure. At the east end of the wall of the 

 south aisle, low down under a window, is an alabaster 

 panel, i ft. 9 in. square, with moulded border, 

 containing a shield of arms of twelve quarters," with 

 helm, crest (garb) and mantling, a good piece of 



' The cxtcrn.il brickwork of this tower 

 indicates that it is modem like the stair- 

 case, though the design is similar to that 

 further north. It may, however, possibly 

 be an old staircase tower gritted and re- 

 faced. 



^ Trans. Hjsf. 5oj. (new ser.), xxiil, 

 icz. 



^ An estate plan of this date shows 

 the new hall then existing with gardens 

 laid out on the north-west side. 



* M:^c. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Chcs.), 

 i, i6y In the same year Susan Hesketh 

 compounded for the two-thirds of her 

 estate sequestered for recusancy for j^3 a 

 year. 



* Iniiex of Royalists (Index Soc), 41. 

 ' A brief was issued for a collection. 



' Dodsworth, writing in 1620, men- 

 tions the 16th-century chancel, over the 

 door of which was tlien the inscription 

 * T.H.K. (Thomas Hesketh, knight) mayd 

 this chanccle in the yere of our Lord God 

 mdlxxxviii. In which yere he dyed ' ; 

 Trans. Hist, Soc. (new ser.), xxiii, 109. 



- Dodsworth in 1620 records the 

 monument to Thomas Hesketh as * a 

 fair monument of alabaster with the por- 

 traitures of a man in armour and his 

 wief.' He also notices the inscription to 

 Sir Robert Hesketh and a brass of Robert 

 Hesketh and his wife. The figure re- 

 covered in 1908 is probably that of Sir 

 Robert, but the lady is still missing. The 

 inscription on the brass reads : * Here 

 lyeth under S' Robert Hesketh knight and 



126 



dame Grace his wlfFe y« which sayd Robert 

 dyed the viii day of fJebruary in the ycare 

 of our lord God mdxxxix and the fore 

 sayd Grace dyed the xxviii of Mjv in tl-.c 

 yeare of our lord mdxliil.' Dodsworth 

 also notices four other monuments, all of 

 which ha\e disappeared : (l) a man in 

 armour and his wife, in brass, (2) a monu- 

 ment to Richard Hesketh, (;;) the por- 

 traiture of a cross-legged knight (broken) 

 on the south wall, and (4) a * comely 

 monument of Sir Thomas Hesketh, knt., 

 in the quyer *. 



" The seventh and ninth quarters are 

 hard to decipher. Somerset Herald (1908) 

 thus gives the twcUc pieces : i. Hes- 

 ketli. I. Hesketh ancient. 3. Stafford. 

 4. Stafford ancient or Totlcworlh. 



