BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



BLACKBURN 



open at the end.'* There Is a good external stone 

 chimney at the west end and the north side facing the 

 river has a wide gable to the east. Some of the 

 windows in the east front to the road are modernized, 

 but the house remains substantially as when erected, 

 and its grey stone ivy-covered walls and stone slated 

 roofs and gables make a very charming picture. 



SHOU'LET. SchoUey, xiii cent. 



Henry son of Master Adam de Blackburn acquired 

 lands in Mellor adjoining Showley, as described in 

 the account of that township, and he also held the 

 mesne manor of Showley, probably by his father's 

 gift. His son John received pardon in 1313 for 

 complicity in the murder of Peter de Gaveston, as an 

 adherent of Earl Thomas, and dying young left issue 

 by Agnes his wife, Henry, Adam and Robert.''''' 

 Henry spent part of his life in Ireland and gave his 

 lands to his brother Adam, who was the largest 

 contributor in this township to the subsidy granted 

 in 1332.'^ Early in 1349 Henry de Clayton of 

 Dutton took action against Robert de Clitheroe and 

 Adam de Blackburn on account of a weir which they 

 had made in the Ribble in connexion with their 

 water-mill, whereby his way through the river was 

 rendered impassable, and also claiming a share of 

 inclosures and improvements made in Clayton. In 

 consideration, however, of a yearly rent of 1 3/. \d. 

 secured to him he withdrew all proceedings.'^ 

 Later in the year Adam died and his widow 

 Edayne, or Idonea, and her second husband Robert 

 de CunlifFe, obtained a grant from Adam de 

 Hoghton, chivaler, of the wardship and marriage 

 of her son Robert de Blackburn, in respect of the 

 tenure by her late husband of the manor of 

 Pleasington and this mesne manor of Sir Adam, as 

 mesne tenant in the former case by knight's service. 

 Robert the son had a grant in 1356 from Robert 

 de Clitheroe of a plot of waste in Clayton, was 

 described as of Showley in 1366 and 1372, and 

 was probably the last of his line to hold this 

 estate. 1^ 



The following step is uncertain, and when Showley 

 next comes into view it forms part of the estate held 

 by Thomas RadclifFe, kt., at his death on 22 November 

 1440. Richard Radcliffe, aged twenty-eight at his 

 father's death,'* gave puture to the sheriff at Showley 

 in or about 1460 and died possessed of this estate in 

 1 477. His grandson Richard settled lands in ' Sholley,' 

 and in Mellor and Little Harwood, ' hamlets of 

 Sholley,' upon Alice daughter of Thomas Gerard, kt., 

 when he married her in or before 1482.'' After the 



PT 



loia 



Walmslev of show- 

 ley. Gules an a chief 

 ermine ttoo hurts. 



death of William Radcliffe great-grandson of Richard 

 in 1 56 1 the manor passed with his other estates to 

 Gilbert Gerard, then esq., and his wife Anne, half- 

 sister of William Radcliffe, in accordance with a grant 

 made by Radcliffe a few months before his death.-" 

 Gilbert Gerard, kt., sold the manor in 1602 to John 

 Lister, gent., who immediately 

 conveyed it to Richard 

 Walmsley (brother of Thomas 

 Walmsley of Dunkenhalgh, 

 kt.), who died in 1609 des- 

 cribed as of Showley, gentle- 

 man.^' 



The manor descended 

 through successive members 

 of this family without break, 

 save for a temporary forfeiture 

 suffered by Thomas Walmsley, 

 in 1 7 1 5 , to Thomas George 

 Walmsley, the seventh in 



direct descent from Richard Walmsley, who sold the 

 estate in 1870 to Mr. James Eden.^^ 



SHOWLEr HALL stands in a high situation 

 between two small ravines in the south side of the 

 Ribble, but is an uninteresting two-story farm-house 

 with stuccoed front and stone slated roof. It is said to 

 have been originally built round three sides of a quad- 

 rangle, but all but the central block at the south end 

 had been demolished before 1877 and this portion had 

 been largely rebuilt by Mr. Eden in 1870.^' The 

 doorway is flanked by Ionic columns with entablature 

 and segmental pediment over, and one of the windows 

 preserves its stone muUions, but otherwise the external 

 appearance of the house is entirely modern. One of 

 the rooms has some oak panelling apparently of 1 8th- 

 century date, and this together with the doorway 

 suggests a reconstruction of the old house at that 

 period. There are modern extensions at the back. 

 The private chapel stood to the north of the hall, 

 but has long been destroyed. About thirty years ago, 

 whilst the foundations were being removed, some 

 ancient coins were found. 



Francis Petre, Roman Catholic Bishop of Amoria 

 and vicar apostolic of the Northern District of England, 

 resided here for many years before his death in 1775. 

 His tomb is at Stydd Chapel, near Ribchester.-* 



In 1350 Robert son of Adam de Clitheroe, Ralph 

 de Clayton and Robert de Bolton were freeholders in 

 this township. ^^ 



No persons were assessed upon land to the subsidy 

 of 1523 in ' Clayton-cum-Sholey.' ^^ 



de Clitheroe, Sibyl his wife, Cecily relict 

 of Adam de Clitheroe, John son of Henry 

 de Balschagh and Richard de Esthalle ' 

 the Bote ' disseised Katherine relict of 

 Adam de Hudleston of the third part of 

 the manor of Holme. Verdict — Kathe- 

 rine ^takes nothing ; Curia Reg. R. (Rex) 

 297, m, 128 d. 



^^ It is so shown in a sketch by the 

 Rev. S. J. Allen made about 1835, now 

 in the possession of Mr. Henry Taylor. 

 At that time there was apparently a low 

 building on the east side of the gateway 

 in front of the house. 



"a Cal. Pat. 1313-17, p. 25 ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 2040-5 ; HH, no. 1741-3. 



1= Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2 (i), 

 m. I ; Exch. hay Subs. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), 84. 



M Towneley MS. DD, no. 2138. 



1' Ibid. 1103; Dods. MSS. cxlii, 

 fol. 71 ; Coram Reg. R. 423, m. 32 d. ; 

 Add. MS. 32107, no. 381. 



^^ Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m.; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 1492. He held two mes- 

 suages, 190 acres of land and pasture of 

 Richard Hoghton, kt., in socage (for zs. 

 rent). 



^^ Lanes. Inq, p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 

 103 ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. iii, 75. 



2" Ibid, xi, 7. 



" Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 64, 

 no. 211 ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xx, 

 24 (Rec. Soc. iii, 147). Mr. Walmsley 

 settled the capital messuage in Showley 

 and lands belonging to it, containing too 

 acres * of the large measure there used,* 

 upon his son Richard and Ellen daughter 

 of Willi. im Gerard of Radborne in Brindle, 

 gent., at their marriage in i6o8. 



259 



^^ A full account of the family of 

 Walmsley of Showley is in Abram, Black- 

 hurriy 458-60. 



23 Ibid. 4.60. 



2^Whitaker, IV/ialley (ed. 1876), ii, 

 466. Francis son of John first Lord 

 Petre was born in 1690, and educated at 

 Douay College. He succeeded to the 

 charge of the Northern District as vicar 

 apostolic on the death of Dr. Dicconson, 

 whose coadjutor he had been consecrated 

 by the title of Bishop of Amoria in 1750. 



2s Rentals and Surv. 377. 



2^ Subs. R. Lanes, bdle. 130, no. 82. 

 On goods Thomas Walmsley was assessed 

 on j^4, Richard Hawkeshey on ^3 and 

 John Mores on £z. In 1543 Thomas 

 Walmsley on ;^15, Robert Mygeley on 

 £6y Ellis Hesmondhalgh, Thomas Hawke- 

 shaw, Robert Greenhylles and John 



