LEYLAND HUNDRED 



the kitchen, in which there is a large fireplace opening 

 nearly 1 1 ft. wide. A low brick porch has been added 

 to the outer door on the west side. The parlour 

 in the east wing and the room above were originally 

 wainscoted in oak, but owing to decay this has been 

 replaced by pitch pine and painted. The interior of 

 the house is of no particular interest, but the original 

 oak doors with fleur de lis hinges have been retained, 

 and the porch door is the old oak one with iron ring 

 handle. The upper part of the porch is of brick, 

 but has apparently been rebuilt in comparatively 

 modern times, the bricks not being the original 17th- 

 century 2^-in. ones as used in the west wing. The 

 exterior timber work is of very plain character, con- 

 sisting almost entirely of uprights and crosspieces with a 

 cove at the first-floor level and diagonal pieces in the 

 east gable. There is a good projecting brick chimney 

 of two square shafts with zigzag filling between at the 

 east end. On a spout head near the porch is the 



date 1667 with the initials and the crest of the 

 ' T E 



Wilsons (a demi-wolf), the crest being repeated four 

 times on the bands of the spout below. It was pro- 

 bably about this time, or a little later, that the 

 picturesque approach to the house from the road was 

 laid down. This consists of a rising footwalk about 

 7 ft. wide between stone walls entered by a wicket 

 from the roadway and proceeding for a short distance 

 parallel with the house and then turning at right 

 angles, with a rise of three steps towards a gateway 

 in the stone wall inclosing the front garden imme- 

 diately opposite the porch. Over the gateway is a 

 stone with the same initials as on the spout head and 

 the date 1 67 1 , but the stone is loose and may not be in 



ECCLESTON 



its original position. There are two more rises, each 

 of three steps, one at the gateway and the other 

 within the garden at a dist.ince of about 3 5 ft. from 

 the house, the whole forming a very charming 

 feature. In the hall are preserved two ancient breast- 

 plates, a helmet and some 1 8th-century oak furniture. 

 A short distance to the east of South Tunley is 

 Tunley Farm, a two-story stone-built house with 

 central hall and projecting gabled end wings. It is 

 built above the level of the road, from which it is 

 approached by a flight of six steps leading to a gate- 

 way flanked by two graceful gate-piers with ball tops. 



Over the porch are the initials r- m- and the date 

 1675. The building retains its old stone-flagged 

 roof, but the original mullioned windows have been 

 removed. 1 



Landowners contributing to the subsidy of 1 542-3 

 in Wrightington with Tunley were Thomas Wright- 

 ington, Nicholas Rigby, Richard Banastre (two), 

 and Robert Stopford.^ In 1564 those in Wright- 

 ington with Parbold were Richard Lathom, Nicholas 

 Rigby, Robert Stopford and John Wilson.^ 



Among other landowners recorded in the in- 

 quisitions are Sutton,^ Chisnall,' Fleetwood,', 

 Lancaster,' Lassells,* Sankey,^ Hawett,!" Jarman " 

 and Finch.i^ In addition the freeholders of 1600 

 included Richard Porter, James Pemberton, Gilbert 

 Rigby, Hugh Wrennall and Thomas Eccleston.^^ 

 Several estates were sequestered by the Parliament in 

 the Civil War for recusancy and delinquency ,1^ and 

 in 17 17 six 'Papists' registered their estates.^^ 



From the land tax returns of 1786 it appears that 

 the township was still divided into east side and west 



^ See Trans, Hist, Soc, Lanes, and Ches, 

 (new sen), rv, 210. 



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



8 Ibid. bdle. 131, no. 210. 



•• Ellen de Torbock in 1283 (? 11 Edw. 

 //, Ambrose de Wrightington being a 

 witness) granted to Thomas son of 

 William de Sutton a piece of the waste 

 near the mill of Welch Whittle called 

 the Bank hey ; it was bounded on one 

 side by the Almsland ; Agecroft D. no. 

 353> 354" T\ie same Thomas also 

 acquired in 1326 the right of William 

 son of William Bimmcson in lands in 

 Whittle and Wrightington belonging 

 to the grandfather, * Bimmeson ' being 

 otherwise William the Parson's son ; 

 ibid. no. 355. In 1340 he acquired land 

 from Robert son of Warine de Heskin, 

 the bounds touching Rowley syke and 

 Little Shaw; ibid. no. 356. In 1366 

 the feoffee delivered lands in Whittle, 

 Coppull and Wrightington to Thomas 

 son of William de Sutton, Richard, 

 Thomas and Robert, sons of Thomas, 

 and others ; ibid. no. 357. The lands 

 descended to Sutton of Gorsuch in Scaris- 

 brick ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. v, no. 

 67. They were held (in 151 8) of 

 Thomas Wrightington by a rent of 12^. 

 and descended like Gorsuch, being se- 

 questered by the Parliament : S.P. Dom. 

 Interreg. G 58A, fol. 526. 



^ The Chisnalls occur as early as 

 1292 ; Assize R. 408, m. 30, 41, &c. 

 John Chisnall del Holt and his wife 

 Maud in 1385 had a messuage and lands ; 

 Final Cone, iii, 25. The land of John 

 Chisnall in 1528 was held of John 

 Butler by a rent of 6d. ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. vi, no. 66, 



^ Thomas Fleetwood of Rossall, Sec, 

 who died in 1576; the tenure is not 

 stated ; ibid, xii, no. 2. 



^ A messuage, &c., was in 1632 held 

 by Richard Lancaster of Edward Wright- 

 ington ; ibid, xxvii, no. 27. 



^ Richard Lassells, who died in 1640, 

 held a messuage, &c., of Richard Lathom, 

 as of his manor of Wrightington, and 

 left a son and heir Richard, aged twenty- 

 four ; ibid, xxx, no. 39. 



^ Roger Sankey of Ormskirk died in 

 1613 holding a messuage and lands in 

 Wrightington (in the occupation of 

 Richard Wrennall) of William Ashhurst 

 and Roger Kirkby by rents of 6s, zd. and 

 15. respectively ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec, 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 276. Richard 

 the son and heir was then forty years of 

 age ; he died in 1634 holding the same 

 tenement of the lords of the manor by a 

 rent of ys. zd, ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p.m. xxviii, no. 2. The heir was a 

 granddaughter Clara Sankey (daughter 

 of Richard the younger), born in 1632. 

 There are some Sankey deeds in the 

 Liverpool Free Library. 



^** William Hawett held lands in New- 

 burgh, Parbold and Wrightington, the 

 last-nanaed being held of Richard Lathom. 

 William the son and heir was twenty-two 

 years of age; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 

 (Chet. Lib.), pp. 511-12. From the in- 

 quisition last cited it appears that Mary 

 daughter of Richard Sankey the elder 

 married Thomas Hawett. 



^^ Richard 'German' in 1575 pur- 

 chased a messuage, &c., in Wrightington 

 from Thomas Langtree and Anne his 

 wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 37, 

 m. 74. Robert * Jarman' died In 1619 



177 



holding a similar estate of William Earl 

 of Derby by a rent of %d, and leaving a 

 son Richard, aged thirty ; Lanes. Inq, 

 p,m. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 



134. 



^2 The surname occurs early. In 1374. 

 William Finch confirmed William de 

 Croft and his heirs in a tenement in 

 Wrightington and Parbold ; Towneley 

 MS. RR, no. 996. Robert Finch * of 

 the Hill ' was a feoffee of Nicholas Rigby 

 in 1508 ; ibid. OO, no. 1316. The 

 Ven. John Finch may have belonged to 

 this family. Margaret and ICatherlnc 

 Finch, widows, were recusants in 1628. 

 Arthur Finch died in 161 9 at Parbold 

 holding lands in Wrightington, part of 

 which had been purchased from William 

 Ashhurst and Henry his son and heir, 

 and another part had belonged to Cocker- 

 sand Abbey. Lawrence the son and heir 

 was over fifty ; Lanes, Inq. p.m. ii, 179. 



^* Mhc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 244-5. 



Richard Porter had lands in 1564 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 26, m. 

 142. 



''* Two-thirds of the tenement of 

 Thomas Ecclestonwas sequestered forhia 

 recusancy in 1643 ; he died in 1654, and 

 his son Henry, being ' conformable,' 

 prayed for restitution ; Royalist Comp. 

 Papers, ii, 277. John Halliwell had had 

 two-thirds of his estate sequestered for 

 the same reason; ibid, iii, 251, The 

 Nelson case has been recorded above. 



1* In addition to Dicconson and Nelson 

 were William Halliwell, gent., George 

 Bannister, William Mawdesley and Seth 

 Woodcock ; Engl. Cath, Non-jurors, 109, 

 1 10, 125, 129. 



23 



