A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



In this little-uied chapel Bartholomew \\ almsley 

 of Dunkcnhalgh about 1680 held his m.inor courts 

 from time to time, and after the accession of James II 

 he became bold enough in 1687 to seize the building 

 as an appurtenance of his manor and fit it up for 

 Roman Catholic worship, and it is said that it was 

 used for mass for a short time. The vicar of Black- 

 burn, having failed to procure a friendlv settlement, 

 appealed to the Court of Chancery in 168S, and 

 having a clear case recovered possession at once.^'* 

 He was warned hy the incident to serve the chapel 

 more efficiently, and in I 7 1 7 the chapel was served 

 every other Sunday ,1^^ the curate of Great Hcrwood 

 being usually in charge. At that time the certified 

 income was £y 6s. id. In i 749 and later augmenta- 

 tions were obtained from Queen Anne's Bounty in 

 response to local subscriptions, and in 1823 the 

 income was about j^ioj.^^^ It is now ^^274.*'' 



The township was made into the ecclesiastical parish 

 of Langho in 1842.^' The church of St. Leonard, 

 built of local and Stourton stone, was consecrated in 

 1880 ; the old St. Leonard's is now a chapel of ease 

 to it. The living is a vicarage, with the ancient 

 incumbency annexed, in the gift of the vicar of Black- 

 burn. The registers commence in 1725. There is 

 a mission room near Whalley Mill. 



The church papers at Chester diocesan registry 

 begin in 1720, when lohn Smith was licensed to 

 Great H.irivood and Langho. Four years later a 

 separate minister was assigned to Langho, and the list 

 of incumbents from that time is as foll().\^ : — 



1724 William Knowles, B.A. (Sidney-Sussex Coll., 



Camb.) 

 1 746 Christopher Whitwell "9 

 1750 Robert Smith, B.A. 

 1754 Joseph Thomson 

 1756 Thomas Elleray 

 c. 1773 Barton Shuttleworth, B.A.'^o 



1794 William Barton, B.A. (Sidney-Sussex Coll., 



Camb.) 

 1803 James Barnes 

 1803 George Wearing 

 1 8 14 Thomas Henry Backhouse, B.,A. (Pembroke 



Coll., Camb.) 

 1822 John Rushton '^i 

 1828 Robert NowellWhitaker,M.A.i-- (St. John's 



Coll., Camb.) 



1840 Charles Arnold Chew, M..-\. 



1841 Thomas Dent 

 1845 Jonathan Beilby 



1845 John Fayrer Coates, B.A. (St. Cath. Coll., 



Camb.) 

 1859 Dudley Hart, M.A. (T.C.D.) 

 1868 Matthew Hedley, M.A. (Pembroke Coll., 



Camb.) 

 1895 Frederick George ChevassQt, M.A. 



(T.C.D.) 

 I go I John Fleming French 



.\ hermitage by the rocks on the eastern side of 

 Billington is named in a charter of 1308.^*^ 



In 1672 licence was granted for the use of a new- 

 built house on Langho Green for Congrcgationalist 

 worship. '-^ 



A Baptist chapel called Ebenezer was erected in 

 1879 ; it is affiliated to Sabden. 



The Roman Catholic chapel of St. Mary, near 

 Dinckley Bridge, opened in 1S36, is served from 

 Stonyimrst College.'-' 



A number of gifts for the poor of 

 CHARITIES the township were made from 1671 

 to 1684, and land at Dinckley Moor 

 gate was purchased in 1715. The farm was sold in 

 1 890 and the money invested in India stock, pro- 

 ducing j^2i 12/. ^J. a year. This is distributed on 

 2 1 December, chiefly in gifts of flannel, clothing, 

 &c., but partly in money doles. 



WILPSHIRE 



Wlipschyre, 1246; Wlipshire, xiii-xiv cent.; 

 Wylpshire, 1396. 



The township was anciently united with Dinckle) 

 to form one viU, but has been reckoned a separate 

 township for over two centuries. The land rises 

 from 240 ft. above the ordnance datum at the 

 northern corner where the township boundary meets 

 those of Billington and Salesbury to the summit of 

 Wilpshire .Moor 770 ft. above mean sea level. A 

 spur of this hill extends towards the south-west and 

 slopes down steeply to Showley Brook, the boundary 

 against Ramsgreave. In the south-eastern half of the 

 township the subsoil consists of the Millstone Grit, 

 in the north-western half of the Yoredale Rocks ; the 

 soil is of clay. The land consists of meadow and 

 pasture with bent grass and heath on Wilpshire Moor.' 

 The area is 1,002 acres, and the population in 1901 

 numbered 594 persons.^ 



The main road from Blackburn to Clitheroe 

 passes through the township, and to this is due the 

 erection here of many good residences belonging to 

 people engaged in business in Blackburn. The 

 Bolton, BLickburn and Hellifield line of the Lanca- 

 shire and Yorkshire Railway Company also intersects 

 the township with a station called Wilpshire in the 

 southern and residential district. There are no manu- 

 factories, the population other than the residential 

 part of it being engaged in agriculture. The links of 

 the Wilpshire and District Golf Club occupy the 

 south-western spur of Wilpshire Moor. 



The township is governed by a parish council and 

 was included in the district chapelry of St. Peter, 

 Salesbury, in 1872 ' ; the village is distant about half 

 a mile from the church. The Blackburn Orphanage, 

 erected in 1 89 1 and enlarged in 1896, will 

 now accommodate sixty-five children. 



^^■* The documents are printed \>y 

 Abram. 



'15 Gastrell, Notitia CeUr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, 287. There was no chapelwarden. 



"' Abram, op. cit. "^ Manch. Dioc. Dir. 



"3 Lo'J. Gaz. 20 Sept. 1842. 



^^^ He had been acting curate for some 

 fears. 



*** Cerate of Littleborough, where he 

 lived, 1770—93 ; Fishwick, Rochdale, 199. 



12' Afterwards Archdeacon of Man- 

 chester and vicar of Blackburn. 



^'^ Afterwards vicar of Whalley. 



™ frtallej Couch. 986. 



12< Cal, S. P. D',m. 1672, p. 679. 



125 For the convicted recusants c. 1670 

 see Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc.}, v, 150-1. 

 In 1717 it was reported that 'several 

 uf the inhabitants are said to go to mass 

 at Sir Nicholas Shireburne'* at Stony- 



334 



hurst ' ; N'jnna Ceitr. ii, 288. There were 

 69 'Papists' in the chapelry in 1767 ; 

 Tram, Hist. i;c. (new Bcr,), xriii, 

 216. 



* The agricultural returns give arable 

 land i^ acres, permanent grass 822 acres, 

 woodlands 4 acres. 



^ New survey 1,014 acres, of which 

 I is inland water ; dnsus Rep. 1901. 



' Lond. Gaz. 20 Sept. i^^+i. 



