A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Harrington. 

 frttty argent. 



Sable 



The Hospitallen had a fair estate from an early 

 time,' and Cockersand Abbey also had land,' which 

 was held of the canons by the 

 Woodward family.' In the 

 17 th century, however, the 

 Woodwards are stated to have 

 held of the lords of Leyland- 

 shire.' Burscough Priory 

 long held an estate there ' ; 

 their tenants at the Dissolu- 

 tion were James Standish of 

 Arley and Lawrence Bimson.' 



From the subdivisions de- 

 scribed it is not surprising to 

 find that a 'manor of Shev- 

 ington ' has been claimed by 



several landowners ' — Standish of Standish, Chis- 

 nall, Hesketh and Dicconson of Wrightington. The 

 Ashhursts of Dalton also held 

 lands in the township.' Sir 

 George Stanley made pur- 

 chases in 1562-4.' The 

 Langtree'" and Legh of 

 Lyme " families were land- 

 owners. 



The landowners contribut- 

 ing to the subsidy of 1542-3 

 were Nicholas Worthington 

 and Alexander Cattcrall " ; 

 Peter Cattcrall is n.imeJ in 

 I 564." The freeholders re- 

 corded in 1 600 were Alexander 

 Woodward, Roger Bimson and Nicholas Worthing 



Catterall of Crook. 

 .■Izure three maiclei ar- 

 gent. 



ton." Edward Prescott of Shevington had his 

 leasehold estate sequestered by the Parliament for 

 ' delinquency ' during the Civil War." The principal 

 landowners in 1798 were Edward Standish, William 

 Dicconson, Edward Holt and Sir Thomas Hesketh." 



CROOK HALL, the former seat of the Catterall 

 family, stands on low ground on the north bank of 

 the River Douglas about 2 miles below Wigan, and 

 at the extreme south-eastern end of the township. 

 The canal now passes between the house and the 

 river, and the surroundings are desolate and sordid 

 owing to the working of collieries in the immediate 

 neighbourhood. The ground close to the house on 

 the south and east sides often lies for long periods 

 under water, and the building itself, which is let as 

 cottages, has suffered much from decay and damp. 

 On the north and west an ugly colliery village has 

 sprung up. The house is a good specimen of the 

 two-story half-timber building of the early 17th 

 century with central hall and projecting gabled end 

 wings. The principal front faces north, and is about 

 68 ft. in length, the lower part of the wall to the 

 height of the first floor being built with 2 in. bricks 

 on a low stone base, above which it is of timber 

 with uprights and diagonal bracings. The roofs are 

 covered with stone slates. 



The end gables have lost their barge-boards and 

 have been renewed in deal, but the greater part of the 

 timber work is original though much dilapidated. 

 In the recess formed by the projection of the west 

 wing is a porch, 9 ft. wide, carried up the full height 

 of the building with gable over, and there is another 

 smaller dormer gable in the roof, forming together a 



Shevington in 1377 ; Sundiih D. (Mrs. 

 Tempest'B abstract), no. 94. 



Sir Nicholas dc Harrington in 1399- 

 14.00 granted Hugh de Standish the ward- 

 ship of the land in Shevington which had 

 belonged to Robert dc Worthington and 

 Eva (?) his wife ; also the marriage of their 

 heir ; Kucrden MSS. vi, fol. 97, no. 96. 



Nicholas Worthington held six mes- 

 suages, lands. Sec, in Shevington, Langtree 

 and Appley in 1557 ; Pal. of Lane. Feet 

 of F, bdle. I-, m. 5. Elizabeth, widow of 

 a preceding Nicholas, was in 1565 charged 

 with waste of the property she held in 

 dower of the inheritance of Nicholas 

 son of Alexander Worthington ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 204, m. I 3 ; z 1 8, m. 1 3 d. 



A pedigree is printed in the Chetham 

 Society's edition of Dugdalc's t'int, 

 p. 343 i see also Piccope MS. Pedigrees 

 (Chet. Lib.), ii, 3 1 6. Nicholas Worthing- 

 ton left a daughter and heir Margaret, 

 who married (l) Edward Chisnall of 

 Chisnall and (2) William Hoghton of 

 Park Hall ; Dugdale, J'isit. 78. 



A settlement of the * manor ' of 

 Shevington was in 16 ;4 made by Edward 

 Chisnall and Margaret his wife j Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 122, no. 20. 



' Shevington occurs in the list of 

 estates in 1292 ; Plac. de Quo Pfarr. 

 (Rec. Com.), 7,-'$. About 1540 the 

 tenants were : Ralph Standish for Clay- 

 butts, paying ji. ; Sir Robert Hesketh 

 and Thomas Standish for the messuages 

 of Rigby and Catterall, 12;/. ; Thomas 

 Standish for Park Brook, 6d. ; Kuerden 

 MSS. V, foL 83*. 



The Hospitallers' lands were in 1546 

 granted to LaNvrence Rawstome j Pat- 

 ;- Hen. \'nT, pt. v; Ducaius Lane. 

 (Rec. Com.), i, 259. 



' Cockertand Chartut. (Chet. Soc), ii. 



516, 517. Roger son of Henry gave 

 lands the bounds of which began at 

 Dodith Oak, marked with a cross, and 

 went by Sporewirt sykc to the cross on 

 the boundary of the Hospitallers' land, 

 and then along the top of Flathe Hill. 



'Ibid, iii, 1260, iz6l. John Wood- 

 ward held it at a rent of 63. in 1451 and 

 1461, Ralph Woodward in 1501 and 

 H igh Woodward in 1537. 



' Alexander Woodward in 1556 made 

 a Bcttiement of his lands in Shevington 

 and Lathom ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 1 6, m. I ; ;. He died in 1 6 1 3 hold- 

 ing messuages and lands in Shevington 

 and Lathom, those in the former place 

 being held of Richard Shireburne and 

 Edward Rigby, as of their lordship of 

 Leylandshire, by a rent of ild, Ralph, 

 the son and heir, was over fifty years of 

 age ; Land. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Chcs.), i, 261. Ralph Woodward 

 died ten years afterwards holding the 

 same estate and leaving as heir his son 

 Alexander, of fiill age ; ibid, iii, 347. 



Alexander took the king's part in the 

 Civil War, and was present at the siege 

 of Manchester. He made peace with the 

 Parliament by taking the National Cove- 

 nant and paying a fine of ^44 ; Cal. 

 Czm.Jfir Comp. ii, 121 1. 



A pedigree was recorded in 1665 j 

 Dugdale, FmV. (Chet. Soc), 336. 



' Richard son of Sprateling de Sheving- 

 ton gave land adjoining the Cockersand 

 lands to God and B. Nicholas of Bur- 

 scough ; Flaithel and Blakefield are named 

 in the deed, while in the margin the 

 transcriber has written ' land of William 

 Bimson.' Land granted by a second 

 charter of the same benefactor and by a 

 charter of Hugh son of Adam de Shevington 

 was later held by Robert son of Edmund 



202 



de Standish, ancestor of the Standishes of 

 Arley, See Burscough Reg. fol. 48*. 



A settlement by William Bimson and 

 Alice his wife in 1423-4 is in Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, E 4, no, 26 ; his children were 

 Alexander, William, John, Joan, Kathe- 

 rine, Maud and Beatrice, and he had a 

 brother Thomas, 



In 1601 John Wrightington demised 

 land in Shevington occupied by Roger 

 Bimson to John Bimson and Frances his 

 wife ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 267. See 

 also Ducatui Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 307 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 20, m. 57. 



* In 1536 James Standish was paying 

 a rent of 31. for the late priory's land called 

 Maycrarth or Swinehurst, and Lawrence 

 Bimson paid %d. ; Duchy of Lane. Rentals 

 and Surv. bdle. 4, no. 6*2, 6b. 



^ Examples will be found in preceding 

 notes. 



'' Lands in Shevington were included 

 in a purchase made by William Ashhurst 

 in 1 6 1 1 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 305, m. 6. 

 They are named in Ashhurst fines of 

 1630 and 1706; ibid. Feet of F. bdle. 

 115, no. 3 ; 256, m. 3. 



^ John Bold acquired lands in Sheving- 

 ton in 1558 from Sir Thomas Hesketh, 

 and sold them to Sir George Stanley in 

 1562, and Sir George in 1564 pur- 

 chased a water-mill, &c., from Richard 

 Gillibrand and Katherine his wife ; ibid, 

 bdles. 20, m. log ; 24, m. 275 ; 26, m. 30. 



'» See Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 128, m. 8. 



*^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xv, no. 

 38 ; the tenure is not described. 



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



" Ibid. bdle. 131, no. 210. 



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

 i, 244, 245. 



'^ Cal. Com. for Comp. v, 3212. 



" Land tax returns at Preston. 



