A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Blundell ' and Stonor. It was sold by Mr. Chr.rlcs 

 Joseph Stonor in 1897 to Meisrs. Richard Bond, 

 George T. Bro.vn and Augustine Bond for ^"4 5,000. 

 Two years iaier the hall and 237 acres of l.'.nd were 

 sold to the Liverpool Corporation for the protection 

 of the Rivington wa'.er supply and the remainder 

 was divided between the purchasers the manorial 

 rights being included in the share of Mr. Richard 

 Bond. No courts are held.^ 



Of the origin of LJDTHALGH or LadyhaU, the 

 CunlifFe portion of the manor, nothing is known.' 

 About 1400 a moiety of the vill of Anderton together 

 with CunlifFe in Billington and Wilpshire and other 

 lands came into the possession of Adam de Lever of 

 Great Lever in right of his wife M.irgaret sister of 

 Roger de CunlifFe.'' It was sold in 1629, together 

 with Great Lever, to Bishop Bridgeman,* whose son 

 Sir Orlando in 1663 sold it to Francis Anderton of 

 Lostock.^ The moieties %vere thus reunited in the 

 one lordship. 



The Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph, on 

 the border of Adlingtcn, was built in 1863-6.' 



WORTHINGTON 



Wurthington, 1220; Worthinton, 1242; Worth- 

 ington, 1290 ; Werthinton, 1302. The 'g' seems 

 to be inserted or omitted indifferently. 



This triangul.ir township, lying between the Bucl ow 

 and Bradley Brooks, has an area of 659 acres." The 

 surface ri>cs to about 280 ft. near the north-west 

 corner. The Buckow Brook fails into the Douglas, 

 which at this point has been formed into reservoirs 



for the Wigan Corporation Water Works. The 

 population numbered 258 in igoi. 



The principal road is that from Wigan to Chorky. 

 The London and North Western Company's line from 

 Wigan to Preston passes through the western corner of 

 the township ; there are some colliery railway lines. 



The soil is clay and gravel, with subsoil of sand 

 and gravel ; wheat and oats are grown, and some of 

 the land is in pasturage. 



In 1666 there were in the township only twenty- 

 three hearths charged to the hearth tax. The largest 

 house, Mr. Worthington's, had four hearths.' 



In 1 21 2 it was found that irORTH- 

 MANOR INGTON and Coppull were held of the 

 lord of Manchester by the service of hall 

 a knight's fee, Thomas de Worthington being the 

 immediate tenant.^" Suit to the court of Manchester 

 was required, the lord of Worthington being one of 

 the judges " ; the grith-serjeant also could demand 

 puture, the township being in the upper bailiwick of 

 the barony.'- The connexion with Manchester con- 

 tinued to be recognized, at least nominally, down to 

 the 1 7th century." 



Thomas de Worthington's tenure was ' of ancient 

 time' in 12 12, but, though the family continued to 

 hold the manor until the end of the 17th 

 century, little is known of their history. Thomas, 

 called son of Robert de Worthington, gave a part of 

 his land to Cockcrsand Abbey.'* In 1227 Robert 

 Grelley agreed with Thomas de Worthington as to 

 the suit due to the court of Manchester.'" Thomas's 

 son William de Worthington held the half-fee in 

 1242,'" and as late as Aj ril 1282." Soon afterwards 



' Henry BluDdeLl was almost soU land- 

 owner in 1783 ; Land tax return at Preston. 



' Inform-Ttion of Mr. Bond. 



^ Robert de Cundccliffe or CunlifFe, 

 as already stated, is mentioned as a former 

 tenant in 1320; Mameccitre^ ii, 290. 

 In the preceding year the guardian of the 

 land and heir of Thomas de Anderton 

 claimed to be guardiim also of the heir 

 of Robert de CunlifTc as tenant by 

 knight's service ; De Ilanco R. 2^1, m. 

 121. The Cunlitfc moiety was in later 

 times said to be held of the Andertons in 

 socage ; Add. MS. 32103, no. 2lg. 



^ In the Lever Chartuiary (quoted 

 above) are a number of deds relating to 

 the Cunliffes and the r successor^. Robert 

 de Cunlirfc gave to Robert his son and 

 Alice his wife daughter of Stephen dc 

 Hammerton lands in Wilpshire, Sec \ no. 

 102. Robert de Anderton wasa witness. 

 Richard son of Robert de CunlifFe agreed 

 with Robert son of Adam de Cunlirfc as 

 to lands formcrl\ held by the latttr in 

 Anderton ; a rent of 2 marks was pay- 

 able to Margen- dc Cunlitfc, no. 104.. 

 In 1399 the lands of Robert son of Adam 

 were settled on Roger de CunlifFe with 

 remainder to his sister M irgaret, and 

 various charges were made in favour of 

 Adam de Lever and others ; no. 105-9. 



Adam de Lever and Mjrgaret his wife 

 in 1409 made a feotFinent of the moiety 

 of the vill of Anderton and lands in 

 Billington, A:c., lately belonging to Roger 

 de CuHiifFe ; no. 112. Peter son of 

 Richard Talbot in 1 + 17-1S released to 

 Adam de Lever all his claim to the 

 moiety of the manor of Anderton ; no. 

 113. In 14;+, however, Peter Talbot 

 and Elkn his wife daimeJ two pa^ls of 

 a moict'" of the manor of Anderton 

 ag.iinst Ajim de Lc\ er and Margaret his 



wife. The pedigree put in asserted that 

 one Robert de CunlifFe gave it to his son 

 Robert and Margery his wife in the time 

 of Edward III ; tVom the younger Robert 

 it descended to his son Adam, whose son 

 and heir Robert dying without i^sue it 

 went to Roger brother of Adam, whose 

 daughter and heir was Ellen wife of Peter 

 Talbot. Sec Coram Rcgc R. Mieh, 33 

 H..-. VI, m. 2S. 



The name Lajyhalgh it applied to the 

 Anderton manor in some later deeds 

 (1435, &c) in the Lever Chartul., no. 

 120, 156, ice 



Ralph Ashton of Great Lever, to 

 whom the Lever estates descended, in 

 1^31 leaseJ to Thomas son of John 

 Rivington and Clcmcncc his wife the 

 Moorheys in Anderton ; ibid. no. 199; 

 anu sec I'u.jtu^ Lane. (Rec. Com.), i, 232. 

 Ladyhaigh was, like the rest ' f the estate, 

 in dispute between the Ashtons and 

 Levers, and in 1478 the arbitrators 

 assigned it to Roger Lever, the petitioner, 

 for life only ; Lever ChartuU no. 227 ; 

 Ducatut Lane, i, 118. 



Rilph Ashton of Great Lever in 1587 

 held his messuages and lands in Anderton 

 of William Anderton in socage by a 

 rent of 2j. or a sparrow hawk ; Duchy of 

 Lane Inq. p.m. xiv, no. 90. 



5 PaL of Lane Feet of F. bdle. 115, 

 no. 39. 



^ In 1663 Sir Orlando Bridgeman and 

 John his son and heir gave to feoffees 

 the capital messuage called Ladyhaigh in 

 Anderton in trust for Francis Anderton 

 of Lostock, to whom a sale was made, 

 and in 1673 Orlando son of Sir Orlando 

 sold Ladyhaigh to the same Francis ; 

 Anderton needs (Mrs. Tempest's 

 abstracts). 



' L'.vcrpryJ CatA, .-Inrtual. 



222 



' 658, including 20 of inland water ; 

 Census Rep. 1901. 



^ Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 



'^^ Lanes. Inq, and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54 j Withington has 

 here been miswritten for Worthington, as 

 in other cases, and Wrightington also is 

 sometimes confused with it. 



The lord of Worthington paid 31. id. 

 sake fee and 51. castle ward ; Mameeestre 

 (Chet. Soc), ii, 288 ; iii, 479. 



The half-fee also included a portion of 

 Hcaton-under-Horwich In the parish of 

 Dcane ; this was held by the Hcaton 

 family as the tenth part of a fee. 



" Mameeestre, ii, 286. '* Ibid. 374. 



'^ The constables of Worthington were 

 formally summoned to attend the court 

 leet in 1658 and later; Manek. Cl. Leel 

 Rec. iv, 235, &c. 



" Cockersa.-.d Chartul. (Chet Soc), ii, 

 512-13. The bounds in one grant started 

 from the Harestone and went round by 

 Grecnlachc, near Hungtrcroft, Blake- 

 lache, the highway to the bridge over the 

 brook from Langtree, and along the 

 Langtrce boundary to the street. Thomas 

 de Salghall and Roger his son afterwards 

 released land to the canons in Worthing- 

 ton and Langtree. 



The other grant conferred the land 

 called Trepcroft on the canons. 



Thomas lord of Worthington confirmed 

 the grant of Perburn in Coppull to Bur- 

 scough Priory ; Burscough Reg. foL 47*. 



" Final Cone. (Rec. Soc Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 47. 



"^ Lanes. ln:j. and Extents, i, 154. 



William son of Thomas de Worthing- 

 ton also confirmed the grant of Perburn ; 

 Burscough Reg. loc cit. 



" Inj. and Extents, i, 248. William de 

 Worth gton was oefendant in a Blain- 



