A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



GOG 



ToRBOCK. Or^an eagle s 

 leg erased at the thigh 

 gules, on a chief indented 

 azure three plates. 



as a reward for his share in securing the verdict of the 

 jury in the great contest for the family estates waged 

 between Henry and Sir 

 William Carles.* Later it de- 

 scended like Wrightington.* 



The Hospitallers had land 

 in the township.' 



But little appears as to the 

 earlier residents in the place.* 

 James Halsall had the hall of 

 Welch Whittle in the time of 

 Henry VIIL* The Hogh- 

 tons of Park Hall had land in 

 the township.® Ownership 

 in the soil became very much 

 subdivided ; in 1798 the 

 principal contributors to the 



land tax were Peter Mawdesley, John Whalley, 

 Robert Hervey and William Dicconson, together 

 paying less than a third of the sum levied.' 



CHARNOCK RICHARD 



Schernoc, 1288; Chernok Richard, Chernoke, 

 1292. 



This township is bounded on the east and north 

 by the Yarrow ; Clancutt Brook on the south divides 

 it from Coppull. The surface reaches heights of 

 250 ft. or more in several places near the centre, 

 descending somewhat rapidly to the Yarrow, There 



his claim of a messuage and land in Welch 

 Whittle against Ellen de Torbock and 

 John Page ; Assize R. 424, m. i d. 



The daughters of Sir Richard de Tor- 

 bock in 1337 claimed it against Sir 

 Thomas de Lathom ; Assize R. 14.24., 

 m. II d. In 1339 Margaret and her hus- 

 band Henry Russell claimed dower in the 

 manor of Welch Whittle against Adam 

 dc Wctenhale, rector of Woodchurch, and 

 against Emma daughter of Geoffrey de 

 Byron j De Banco R. 318, m. 151. The 

 manor was included in a settlement of 

 the Torbock possessions in 1354. j Final 

 Conc.Uy 139. See the account of Tarbock. 



* The grants are in Kuerden fol. MS. 

 p. 140 ; and in his vol. ii, fol. 266 Henry 

 de Torbock for life demised all the 

 messuages, lands and tenements inherited 

 from his father in Welch Whittle, 

 Wrightington and Coppull to Geoffrey 

 de Wrightington * for his good service,' 

 Geoffrey paying also a sum of money. 



Sir William Carles released all actions 

 to Geoffrey de Wrightington in 1368 ; 

 and John Carles in 1390-1, recognizing 

 that Geoffrey was in possession of the 

 manor of Welch Whittle and lands, re- 

 linquished all his claim. 



Sir Henry de Torbock in 1414 released 

 all his claim to the manor to Robert son 

 of Geoffrey de Wrightington. 



^ It is mentioned in Wrightington and 

 Dicconson settlements. 



Thomas Wrightington died in 1544 

 holding the manor of Welch Whittle, 

 twelve messuages, a water-mill, &c., in 

 the same township of the Earl of Derby, 

 Lord Mounteagle, and Sir Richard Shire- 

 bume in socage by a rent of ys. lod. ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. vii, no. 26. 

 The manor is named in a settlement by 

 John Wrightington in 1574 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F, bdle. 36, m. 3. Also in 

 one by Edward Dicconson and Mary his 

 wife in 1723 ; ibid. bdle. 291, m. 126. 



Some Wrightington pleas respecting 



are several hamlets : Charnock in the south, Chamock 

 Green and Bolton Green to the north, and Dob 

 Brow to the east. The area is 1,945^ acres,' and 

 the population in 1901 numbered 682.* 



The principal road is that from Wigan to Preston, 

 which goes north through the middle of the town- 

 ship and has various cross roads, one leading from 

 the village to Chorley. The London and North 

 Western Company's railway from Wigan to Preston 

 crosses the township on the eastern side. 



In 1666 the only house of any size was that of 

 John Hoghton, with twelve hearths ; the township 

 had eighty-seven hearths chargeable with the tax.'" 



The soil is a dark loam with subsoil of clay ; the 

 land is chiefly in pasture. 



The township is governed by a parish council. 



The whole of CHARNOCK 

 MANORS RICHARD was within the barony of 

 Pen wortham, and was by Wari ne 

 Bussell given with other manors to Randle son of 

 Roger de Marsey," and it was therefore held in later 

 times * of the lords of Leylandshire.* A moiety 

 was, with Shevington and Welch Whittle, granted 

 before 1242 as the fourth part of a knight's fee, 

 held in the year named by the heir of Robert 

 Banastre." The Charnock part of this estate was 

 soon afterwards given by William Banastre to Henry 

 de Lea"; while the moiety not included in it was 

 held by a family which assumed the local surname 

 and in return gave it the distinguishing epithet of 



Welch Whittle are named in the Ducatus 

 Lane. (Rcc. Com.), i, 12;;, &c., in the 

 reigns of Henry VII and VIH. John 

 son of Thomas Wrightington in 1543 

 leased the Blackfields, Holms and Carr- 

 ditch crofts to Thomas Johnson son of 

 John Nicholson of Chamock ; Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, W 29, no. 3. 



^ Henr)' son of Benedict about 1270 

 gave an acre in Whittle lying between 

 Black Hate Brook and Cold Hill to the 

 hospital of Jerusalem ; a rent of 6d, was 

 to be paid ; Agecroft D. 352. The 

 estate is named among the Hospitallers' 

 lands in 1292 ; Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. 

 Com.), 375. The rental compiled about 

 1540 shows th.Tt Thomas Wrightington 

 held a messuage at a rent of \id. and 

 Thomas Gorsuch another, paying x%d. ; 

 Kuerden MSS. v, fol. 84. 



* William de Sutton in 1312-13 re- 

 leased to Ellen de Torbock the mill and 

 pool of Whittle ; Kuerden MSS. iii, 

 W 26i. Thomas de Sutton contributed 

 to the subsidy of 1332; ExcK hay 

 Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 53. 

 These may have been ancestors of the 

 Sultons, afterwards of Gorsuch in Scans- 

 brick, and then of the Gorsuch family. 

 Gilbert Sutton, who died about 1517, 

 held land of the Hospitallers by a rent of 

 izd. ; Duchy of Lane Inq. p.m. v, 

 no. 6j (Lanes. Tenures MS.). James 

 Gorsuch in 1601 made a settlement of 

 his manor and lands, including some in 

 Welch Whittle, Coppull, &c. ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 63, no. 94. See 

 also Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxix, 

 no. 58. There is a description of the Gor- 

 such tenement, which lay near Whittle 

 Moss, in S. P. Dom. Interreg, G. 58 A, 

 foL 5-^^ j ^^ lease to the occupier 

 excepted * all timber trees of oak or ash, 

 all mines, quarries, and pits of coal, 

 cannel, stone, slate, or any metal.* 



The Pierpoints occur also in Sheving- 

 ton, Thomas dc Pierpoint in 1 380-1 



204 



demised a cnpitnl messunge and land 

 called the Wynhalgh, in Welch Whittle, 

 to Geoffrey Almery of Wrightington for 

 a term ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 266b, 

 no. i;, 



* In Pal. of Lane. Sessional P<Tper8, 

 temp. Henry VIII, is a list of the lands of 

 James Halsall at his death, beginning 

 with the hall of Welch Whittle, with 

 lands there, and in Shevington, Coppull, 

 &c. This was the result of a partition 

 in 1455-6 between John and Thomas 

 Halsall ; Kuerden MSS. iii, W 28, no. 7. 



James Halsall's lands were forfeited for 

 felonies and murders ; Thomas Wright- 

 ington managed to obtain possession, but 

 the sheriff afterwards took them ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Plead. Hen. VII, ii, W 19. 



^ Sec the account of Charnock Richard, 

 and Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdles. 43, 

 m. 136 ; 44, m. 219. 



' Land tax returns at Preston. 



' 1,946, including 14 of inland water ; 

 Census Rep. 1901. 



' Including Bolton Green and Charnock 

 Green. 



'" Subs. R, Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 



" Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 29. 



'^ Ibid. 150. See also the account of 

 Shevington. 



" A number of charters relating to 

 this part of Charnock are in Kuerden 

 MSS. iii, C4. 



William Banastre gave to Henry son 

 of John de Lea all his land in Charnock, 

 with homages, reliefs, mills, fisheries, and 

 all other things ; Henry, who paid 44 

 marks, was to render to the chief lord a 

 rent of 51. at the Feast of St. Martin and 

 perform the service due to the court of 

 Penwortham ; ibid. no. 9. The date is 

 probably about 1250 to 1260. Afterwards 

 William Banastre released to Robert de 

 Ferrers what he had in the vill of Char- 

 nock, that is to say, what Henry de Lea 

 held of William 1 gift ; ibid. no. i. 



