BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



BLACKBURN 



and funerals." The old tower stood in the church- 

 yard till 1870.'' 



The present building consists of a short chancel 

 with north and south vestries, nave with north and 

 south aisles and west tower with north and south 

 porches having stairways to the galleries.*" The 

 tower has a pierced parapet with angle pinnacles and 

 the walls of both nave and aisles are embattled. 

 The nave consists of six bays, the easternmost of which 

 is now used as part of the chancel, the original chancel 

 being little more than a recessed portion of the nave 

 flanked by nine shafts receding towards the east 

 window and carrying a similarly constructed pointed 

 arch of nine orders. There are side galleries and 

 the organ is in a separate gallery at the west end. 

 In 1 8 3 1 , the roof being destroyed by fire, a recon- 

 struction was necessary. The church was renovated 

 and reseated in 1875, and a further renovation took 

 place in 1905. 



In the west porch, under the tower, are eight 

 oak quire stalls from the old church with carved 

 misericordes. Two of these have good leaf patterns, 

 and the others represent an ape hunt, the fox preach- 

 ing to geese, the temptation of Adam and Eve and 

 the emblems of three of the evangelists — SS. Matthew, 

 Mark and Luke.*' In the galleries are preserved a 

 number of old oak benches with shaped ends. 



There is a ring of ten bells, six by Abel Rudhall 

 of Gloucester, cast in 1737 from a former ring of 

 five," and four by Mears & Co., 1852. The tenor 

 bell, being cracked, was recast in 1 747. The curfew 

 bell used to be rung at 8 p.m.^ 



The church plate consists of a chalice of 1630, 

 with the inscription 'Ex dono Thome Smithe 1630'; 

 another chalice, inscribed ' Ex dono Ed. Gellibrand. 

 Dat in u3 Eclie Blackborne. Ano Dni. 1645'; a 



(Edwardi'j 

 cylindrical cup, inscribed 'Ex dono -^ et ^Bolton 



i Roberti ) 

 Dat: Eclis : Blackburne. Ano. DBI 1653'; a 

 breadholder of 1685-6, inscribed on foot ' 1686. 

 Ad usum Eccl. de Blackburn in Com. Lancastriae. 

 Ex dono Thurstani Maudsley de Ousbough' ; another 



chalice without inscription but ornamented all over 

 the bowl with arabesque chasing ; a flagon of 1764-5, 

 inscribed ' God knows who gave this ' ; a breadholder 

 of 1 807, and a modern Gothic chalice. There are 

 also two small plated patens. 



The registers begin connectedly in 1600, but there 

 are a few detached entries for the year 1568. There 

 is a gap between 1637 and 165 i, but from this date 

 onward the entries are continuous to the present time. 

 In 1066 the church of Blackburn 

 JOrOfVSON had an endowment of z oxgangs 

 of land." The lords of the manor, 

 according to the tradition of Whalley, recorded at the 

 beginning of the 14th century, then held the rectory 

 also, this descending by hereditary right ; these rectors 

 would have to nominate priests to serve the church."' 

 About 1 1 70 more accurate testimony begins, but it 

 is far from satisfactory. At that time Henry de Lacy, 

 lord of Clitheroe, held the patronage of Blackburn 

 Church, and granted the church in its integrity, viz. 

 with the chapel of Walton and all rights and liberties, 

 to Henry the clerk of Blackburn."' This was pro- 

 bably an innovation, though in what manner does not 

 appear, for the new rector judged it necessary to 

 obtain confirmation not only from the Bishop of 

 Lichfield," but also from the Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury."* In spite of the declaration as to the ' integ- 

 rity ' of the grant, Henry de Blackburn may have had 

 but a mediety of the church, for Robert de Lacy, who 

 died in 1 193, granted to his clerk Adam de Blackburn 

 that mediety of the church which Richard, his prede- 

 cessor {antecessor), had held together with the benefice 

 in the church of Whalley which belonged to Black- 

 burn."' The ' benefice ' refers to a fourth part of the 

 revenues of the rectory of Whalley, which had been 

 conferred on Blackburn. 



The church thus appears to have been held in 

 medieties froni far back in the 12th century. In one 

 place three rectors are named — Henry, Roger and 

 Adam — but that is perhaps a mistake of copying.™ 

 The matter is involved in much confusion, owing to 

 the similarity of names in undated charters, but the 

 probability is that Henry was succeeded in his mediety 



*' Burnett, Blackburn Parish Church, 44. 



^' Abram, op. cit. 306. 



^ The internal dimensions are : chancel 

 lift, long, nave 103 ft. by 28 ft., aisles 

 19ft. wide, tower 15 ft. square. The 

 height of the tower to parapet is 86 ft. and 

 to the top of pinnacles 112 ft.; ibid. 308. 



®^ The stalls were restored in 1906, 

 but the carvings were not interfered with. 

 They are described at length in Burnett, 

 op. cit. 212. 



"^ There were five bells after 1690. 

 Originally there was a ring of six with 

 Latin inscription (given in Abram, op. cit. 

 308). The inscriptions on the existing 

 six older bells are : (i) 'When we ring 

 we merrily sing ' ; (2) ' Peace and good 

 neighbourhood ' ; (3) ' May the Church 

 of England ever flourish ' ; (4) ' We were 

 all cast at Gloucester by Abel Rudhall, 

 •737') (5) 'The Rev. John Holme, 

 vicar' ; (6, tenor) 'Thomas Martin, John 

 Cross, Henry Drewitt, Robert Whitacre, 

 churchwardens, 1747.' These bells re- 

 mained in the old tower till 1832. Of 

 the later bells the fourth is a memorial 

 with the inscription : 'John Turner Hop- 

 wood, Esq., Barrister-at-law, Rockliffe 

 House, Blackburn, March 2nd, 1849.' 



«' N. and Q. (ser. 4), vi, 525. 



" r.C.H. Lanes, i, 2864. 



^^ fVhalley Couch, i, 187-8. An old 

 list gives Adam as rector, then John his 

 son, then the Henry of the text, without 

 parentage named ; Whitaker, Whalley, ti, 

 310. 



^ Whalley Couch, i, 75. Henry de 

 Lacy (d. 1 1 77) also included 'a certain 

 benefice in the church of Whalley ' which 

 his predecessors had granted to Blackburn 

 Church, and which John, a previous 

 rector, had had. Charles, Abbot of Stan- 

 law, gave Uctred, clerk of Whalley, the 

 plot of land in Whalley belonging to the 

 church of Blackburn ; that, namely, which 

 Henry de Blackburn had held before the 

 abbey of Stanlaw had acquired a mediety 

 of the said church ; Kuerden MSS. iii, 

 W20. 



The above-named John may have been 

 the John, clerk of Blackburn, tenant of 

 land in Bolton in Bowland, which he 

 granted to Adam son of Henry de Black- 

 burn ; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet, Soc), ii, 

 528. 



It will be noticed that Henry de Black- 

 burn wa8 a * clerk,' and therefore capable 

 of holding an ecclesiastical benefice. It 

 appears that he was or had been married, 

 for Gilbert and Adam sons of Henry the 



239 



rector of Blackburn attested deeds to 

 which Henry himself was a witness ; 

 Pf^halley Couch. 296, 1069. Adam 

 seems to have succeeded his father with- 

 out difficulty, so that his legitimacy may 

 be presumed. Gilbert is supposed to be 

 the ancestor of the Rishton family. 



67 Ibid, i, 78. Gamaliel and Gilbert 

 are here named as predecessors in the 

 rectory. 



^** Ibid, i, 79. Archbishop Richard 

 followed St. Thomas in 1174, so that the 

 date of the grant to Henry lies between 

 1 174 and 1 177. 



69 Ibid. 76. Adam de Blackburn 

 attested an ecclesiastical charter in 11 93; 

 Roper, Lane. Ch, (Chet. Soc), i, in. His 

 antecessor was probably the Richard clerk 

 of Blackburn who with Orm Dean of 

 Whalley attested an early Sawley charter, 

 circa 1 146 j Towneley MS. * Fountains, 

 Whalley, Sawley ' (in possession of 

 W. Farrer), p. 684. Henry de Black- 

 burn might have divided his rectory soon 

 after receiving it, but, if the suggested 

 identification be correct, its date shows 

 that Richard's tenure was earlier than 

 that of Henry de Blackburn. Hence the 

 partition of the rectory was earlier, 



''0 Dods. MSS. cxlix, fol. 6b. 



