A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



There is 1 clock ' on the west side and it also has a 

 face on the inside to the nave.' There is no stair- 

 case in the tower, the upper floor being reached 

 only by a ladder. The roof was newly leaded in 

 1884. 



The font is octagonal, at the west end of the aisle, 

 and is probably of late 15th or early 16th-century 

 date, its sides being panelled and can-ed with the 

 emblems of the Passion and the Stanley badge 

 (eagle's claw) and legs of Man. Preserved in the 

 chancel is a circular block of stone now in two pieces, 

 1 8 in. in diameter and 1 3 in. deep, ornamented 

 with the cable moulding and with a small hole 

 through the centre, which may be part of an ancient 

 font. 



On the south side of the chancel is a late 15th- 

 century altar tomb, the sides divided into three 

 panels with trefoiled heads, on which is a small brass 

 representing a priest in cassock, surplice and cope. 

 The only part of the marginal inscription remaining is 

 ' . . . alls anno,' and whom the figure represents is not 

 known.' 



A number of carved panels from the old 1 7th- 

 century oak se.ts have been preserved and are intro- 

 duced into the modern seating, with the coats of 

 arms, crests and initials of the families of \\ right- 

 ington, M.iwJc^ley, Ripl yc, Rector Pickering and 

 others, two of which bear the dates 163+ and 1638. 

 A carved inscription from the churchwardens' pew 

 d.itcj 1693, with the names of the u.irdcns, lias 

 also been preserved. 



No ancient glass remains with the exception of two 

 diamond quarries now in the vestry which have the 

 Stanley badge (eagle's claw). Bel •^ the altar is an 

 inscribed stone to the memory of ' Richarde Radclyffc 

 -.■ hoe was a paynefull oc profitable teacher att Hcikin 

 jchole xi yeirs.' He died in 1623. The stone w.is 

 probably placed in its present position at one of the 

 re^inrations. 



The chancel contains mural monuments to Anne 

 Rigbye of Harrock (d. 1716) ; Thom.is Crisp of 

 Parbold (d. IJS^), M.P. for Ilcestcr, Somerset, 

 •during one of the P.irliaments of the l.te reign '; and 

 to three former rccturs, John Douglas (d. 1766), 

 Thomas \\'hitchead (d. 181 2), and \^'illi.im Yates 

 (d. 1S51). In the south aisle are tablets to Edmund 

 Newman Kurshaw of Heskin Hall (d. iSio)and to 

 the Rev. Rigbyc Rigbye of Harrock Hall (d. 1S27). 

 On the north wall of the nave is a small brass 

 to the memory of William Dicconson 'sometime 

 stcwarde over that most honorable houscholde of the 

 highe and mightie Princes Anne Duches of Somerset, 

 1604,' and on the e.ist wall north and south of the 

 chancel arch are marble tablets to Meliora wife of 

 William Dicconson of Wrightington (d. 1794) and 

 Mary Dicconson of Wrightington (d. 1746). There 



is also a monument on the north wall of the nave 

 erected in 1845 to members of the Hawkshead 

 family which came to Eccleston parish in 1737. 



There is a ring of six bells, four* cast by Abraham 

 Rudhall in 1727, the fifth dated l8oz with the 



name of Wm. Breres, churchwarden and initials 



The sixth bell was given in 1888 in memory of 

 William Hawkshead Talbot by his widow and is by 

 Taylor of Loughborough. 



The plate consists of a chalice and paten of 1633, 

 the chalice inscribed ' This Cupe and cover Douth 

 beelonge to the Parish Church of Kckclston in 

 Lankicshire,' with the maker's mark I-B ; a chalice of 

 1661, inscribed 'This Cupp and Cover' Belongs to 

 the Parish Church of Eccleston in Lancashire,' with 

 maker's mark, PP within a heart; a large 17th- 

 century paten, made at Norwich, with a maker's 

 mark which occurs elsewhere in 1 66 1, and engraved 

 with the arms of Ward; a flagon of 1779-80, 

 ' The Gift of Eleanor Rigbye the daughter of 

 Nicholas Rigbye Esqre of Harrock To the Parish 

 Church of Eccleston i78o,'\vith the maker's mark 

 HB; and an almsdish of I 781 'The Gift of Eleanor 

 Rigbye of Harrock 1781,' with the same mark. 



The registers begin in 1603. The first volume 

 (1603-94) has been printed by the Lancashire Parish 

 Register Society." 



The churchwardens' accounts begin in 171 2. The 

 first volume, which ends in 1800, contains many 

 entries of great interest referring to the 18th-century 

 restoration, and there are frequent p.ayments for fox- 

 heads, magpies, jays and hedgehogs. 



The church)3rd is of irregular shape, and lay 

 formerly principally on the north and south sides, the 

 wall on the west side being only about 1 6 ft. from 

 the tower. It was approached from the south by a 

 field path ' from the vill.ige green, which is still used, 

 but since its extension westward in I 89 1-2 to the high 

 road and the erection of a lych-gale the principal 

 appro.ich to the church is now from that side. The 

 plan of I 7 1 6 shows a cross or sundial with stepped base 

 about I 2 ft. from the south aisle wall nearly opposite 

 the priest's door, lut this has now disappeared. There 

 is, however, a slab with incised calvary cross and 

 sword on the south side of the building, and at the 

 east end a 16th-century slab 9 in. thick with two 

 incised figures and marginal inscription to the memory 

 of William Stopford (d. 1584). The inscription is 

 nearly illegible, and the slab was re-uscd and re- 

 lettered in 181Z. 



A moiety of the church was in 



JDFO^SON 1094 granted by Roger of Poitou to 



the abbey of St. Martin of Sies," 



and the other moiety was about 1 240 given to 



Lancaster Priory,' so that in times of peace the Priors 



' The present clock was 

 iSgS, replacing an older one. 



'In I "2; an item m the church- 

 wardens* accounts reads ' making a new 

 fingerboard for within the church.' 



' The brass, which is z it. long, is 

 illustrated in Thornely's M:-.-um^ntal 

 Brasici of Lanes, and Chcs. 



57- 



* They have the following 

 t,-o» ; (i) 'Prosperity to this parish, 1-2-.' 

 (2) 'Prosperity to the Church of Engian-i, 

 1-2-.' (;) 'Ab. Rudhall cast us all 

 1,-27, recHst 1-37.' (+) 'I to the church 



given 



(> 



ng inscrip- 



the living call and to the grave do 

 summon all, 1727.' 



^ The paten is misfling. 



^ VoL XV, 1903. Transcribed by 

 Jcj'ah Arro v. smith. 



' There are pa;, ments in 1733 for a 

 new paved * cawsey ' in the church fields. 



^Lanc, Ch. (Chct. Sec), i, ii. It 

 was confirmed about 1 190 hy John Co int 

 of Mortain J ibid. 13. Thou;:h it ia 

 called a * church* at this time, it is later 

 spoken of as a * chapel,' and in 1317 the 

 rector of Croston endeavoured to estab- 

 lish his right to it, as a chapel dc- 



158 



pending on his church ; hia claim wai 

 decisively rejected ; ibid, ii, 441. 



' Ibid, i, 22 ; Warine de Walton of 

 Ulnes Walton released all his right in 

 Eccleston Church to Sees and Lancaster. 

 A little later Roger Gcrnet released hit 

 claim also ; ibid. 28. They were the 

 lords of the moieties of the manor. 

 The!c charters probably followed the 

 prior's recovery of the presentation to 

 the moiety of the ' chapel ' of Eccleston 

 against Roger Gernet and Warine de 

 Walton in 1237; Close, +9 (21 Hen. 

 Ill), m. i. 



