A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



had continued is unknown, but it was stopped by 

 the action of Innocent III in directing due observ- 

 ance of a canon of the Lateran Council of I I 39.^' 

 Roger, the last of these deans, lived in continence 

 and was ordained priest ; wishing to please his kins- 

 man, John de Lacy, lord of Clitheroe, he resigned his 

 whole right in rectory and advowson to him, retain- 

 ing the pastoral charge and a share of the revenue 

 under the name of a vicarage. ■•' John de Lacy then 

 in 1235 presented his clerk, Peter de Chester, to the 

 rectory.^3 This was no doubt done to record the 

 title. In 1249, ^fter Roger's death, Peter, who 

 was provost of Beverley and had other benefices, re- 

 united the vicarage with the rectory, thus enjoying the 

 whole revenue." 



Henry de Lacy in 1284 gave the advowson of the 

 church to the monks of Stanlaw," and after Peter de 

 Chester's death in 1294 the rectory was appropriated 



to them,^' and they removed from their old house to 

 Whalley, founding the great abbey which came to an 

 abrupt end through the Pilgrimage of Grace in 

 1536.^" The monks of Pontcfract about 1300 put 

 forward a claim to the church of Whalley on the 

 ground of a donation to them by Hugh de la Val 

 about I 121, a donation which was not confirmed 

 by the Lacys when they regained possession.''* In 

 1 29 1 the value of the rectory was ^^66 13/. 4</./' 

 and in 1341 the value of the ninth of sheaves, ^^'c, 

 was j^68 7/. \odJ^ In 1535 the rectory iv.i3 valued 

 at j^9i 6s. Sd. a year.'' It remained in the hands 

 of the Crown after the Suppression," until in i 547 

 it was granted by exchange to the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury.*' From that time it was held by the 

 archbishops until 1799, when it was sold to the 

 farmers of the rectory, the advowson of the vicarage 

 being reserved.''' In 1 846 the advowson also was 



Thomas, John and Gregory ; fVhalley 

 Couch, i, 286, 296. Several sont arc 

 named — Robert, a 'clerk,' was rector of 

 Rochdale and Altham in his father's 

 lifetime and perhaps died before him ; 

 ibid. 277, 296 ; iii, 729. Geoffrey the 

 younger, who succeeded as Dean of 

 Whalley and was also 'vicar' of Roch- 

 dale ; ibid. 746. Henry de Whalley ; 

 ibid, i, 296; Fountains Reg. fol. 231^. 

 Again, Geoffrey the Dean of Whalley 

 and William his son occur in a pleading 

 of 1199; Cur. Reg. R. i-, m. id., 5 d. 

 Possibly Richard, pensioner of Walton- 

 le-Dale in 1228, was another; Couchir, 

 i, 83. 



Though the two Geoffreys are not 

 clearly distinguished, and though only 

 one Geoffrey is named as Dean, and 

 that in King John's time, in a pleading 

 of 1338 [PVhalUy Couch, i, 291) it is 

 certain as well from the Status as from 

 the history of Rochdale Church that the 

 younger Geoffrey succeeded his father 

 as Dean of Whalley, and was living 

 about 1220; IVkalley Couch, i, 141, 143, 

 168. He is not styled * clerk,* and was 

 possibly a layman like his father. He 

 had several children, e.g. Richard ; ibid. 

 153. According to the ^-tjrus hit suc- 

 cessor Roger the Dean was his son. 

 There is no reason to doubt this, so 

 that Henry the brother of Roger the 

 Dean of Whalley [Couch, iv, 1071) 

 would be the younger Geoffrey's son 

 also, and may very well be the Henry 

 Gedleng who held T' >wneley in 1 242. 

 See the account of that manor. It is 

 diflScult to distinguish accurately between 

 the children of the two Geoffreys. 



*' Cal. Papal Letter Zy i, 23 (1205). 



The Whalley tradition in the Status 

 makes it the Lateran Council of 121 5, 

 and the abuse was certainly corrected 

 about that time ; see e.g. the cases of 

 Eccles, Scandish and Blackburn. 



^ This is the record in the Status ; else- 

 where his parentage is not directly stated. 

 Roger, styled Dean of Whalley, about 

 1 24 1 made an agreement with the Abbot 

 of Stanlaw regarding the * benefice' in 

 the church of Whalley pertaining to a 

 medlety of Blackburn rectory. He owned 

 that it was the eighth part of the tithes 

 and other church revenues of Whalley, 

 Clitheroe and Downham ; H^ Hal ley Couch, 

 i, 92. In another document he is called 

 * rector,' not vicar, of Whalley ; ibii. 320. 



*^ A Peter de Chester, clerk, occurs in 

 a charter of Roger de Lacy's time, before 

 121 1 i ibid, 13. Peter also called him- 



self Peter de Lacy, and was a bastard, 

 but his father's name is not given ; ibid. 

 94, 281 ; Lanes. Inq. p.":, ii, 21. 



The presentation to Whalley was made 

 by John de Lacy, who stated that Peter 

 would receive 60 marks a year from the 

 church, under the name of pension, while 

 Roger dc Whalley would have all the rest 

 of the revenue^ under the name of 

 vicarage J fVhalley Couch, i, 189, 292. 

 Peter dc Chester was rector in 1241 ; 

 ibid. 300. Also in 1246, when the v.ilue 

 of the rectory was said to be 140 marks ; 

 Assize R. 404, m. 2od. He was plaintiff 

 V. Richard dc Whalley in 125 1 j Cur. 

 Reg. B. 145, m. 17. In 1273-5 ^^ ^^s 

 defendant; Dc Banco R. 5, m. io9d. ; 

 7, m. 38 d. 



" U^halley C.uch. i, 293. In 1294 

 Peter was provost of Beverley and rector 

 of Rudby and Whalley ; Cal. Pat. 1292- 

 1301, p. 121. He had had several other 

 benefices, &c., but was in 1292 ordered 

 by the pope to resign all but the three 

 named. He was then no more than sub- 

 deacon, but was one of the king's clerks ; 

 CaL Papal Lmeri^ i, 293, 494, 549. 



^i Madox, Forrruh'r\ 261; PVhalley 

 Couch, i, 189 ; the abbey was to be 

 translated from Stanlaw to Whalley. 

 The date is 1 Jan. 1283^4. Licence to 

 alienate had been obtained from the king 

 on the preceding Christmas Eve ; ibid. 

 186 ; Cal. Pat. 1281-92, p. 109. 



** The various documents are printed 

 in the Whalley Cjuch. i, 195. The sanc- 

 tion of Nicholas IV had been obtained in 

 1289; the appropriation was to take 

 place after the death of the then rector, 

 and a perpetual vicar, nominated by the 

 monks, was to be appointed and to have 

 a suitable share of the revenue. The 

 Bishop of Lichfield accordingly allowed 

 the appropriation in 1295, Henry de Lacy 

 and the king concurring later in the year. 

 There are references to the matter in 

 Cal. Papal Letters, i, 499, 501, 572, 



The monks of Pontcfract alleged that 

 various bargains were made with Henry 

 de Lacy, so that when at last the monks 

 of Stanlaw obtained possession of the 

 church a great crowd of people assem- 

 bled, crying out, * Woe to you Simoniacs ! '; 

 Whitaker, op. cit. i, 77. 



Henry de Lacy released his claim to 

 the advowson in 1298 ; Final Cone, i, 

 185. 



*^ V.C.H. Lanes, ii, 231. 



*- U'h. taker, fFhalleyy i, 77 ; Pontefract 

 Chartul. (Yorks. Arch. Soc), i, 102 ; 

 ii, 535. The priory released its claim to 



Whalley in 1357 ; Duchy of Lane. Assize 

 R. 4, m. 14 d. A later judgement was 

 recorded for the abbot ; ibid. m. 3. 



<•' Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 249. 

 In 1296 a careful inquiry was made, so 

 that the bishop might know what pro- 

 vision to order for the vicar. The gross 

 value was found to be almost j^2i i, but 

 provision had to be made for an Increased 

 number of monks, this being one of the 

 conditions imposed at the appropriation, 

 as well as for the due service of church 

 and chapels ; fi^halley Couch. I, 202-6. 



so /«^. A^OHflrwm (Rec. Com.), 38. The 

 following are the amounts for each of 

 the then existing townships, omitting the 

 names of those whose fleeceft and lambs 

 are specially named : Burnley, ^3 51. bd.\ 

 Briercliffe and Extwistle, £\ \ys. \od. ; 

 Cliviger, £z i^s. 4^/. ; Worsthorne, 

 ^i 8j. lod. ; Marsden, ^^3 6j. %d. ; 

 Foulridge, ^z 181. %d. \ B-irnside-with- 

 Fcrnyside, ^^i 6j. %d. \ Emmott, 14J. \d.\ 

 Colne, j^3 6j. %d. and lu. lod. extra ; 

 Clitheroe, £j \ Great Mearley, j^i 15*. ; 

 Little Mearley, los. and 31. <)d. extra ; 

 Little Pendleton ana Hulcroft, 171.; 

 Great Pendleton and Standcn, ^z u. 41/. 

 and 4J. extra ; Worston, £z ; Chatburn, 

 £1 6j. ^d. ; Downham, ,^3 ds. %d, and 

 %s. gd, extra j Twiston, ^i j Altham, 

 £1 151. jd. \ Clayton, £i 11. 6d. 5 Ac- 

 crington, £1 6s. ^d. and 51. extra ; 

 Huncoat, £t ^s. ; Oswaldtwistle, ^i 41. j 

 Church, 14J. ; Hasllngden, ^^i 6s. %d. 

 and I2J. 6i/. extra J Whalley, i 2j. j Wis- 

 well, jTi 155. 7^.; Read, ^^i 6s. %d. :, 

 Simonstone, £\ 51. yd. ; Padlham, 

 £z 19J. ; Hapten, £z \js. 91/.; Little 

 Mitton and Henthorn, £1 %s. gd. 

 Three men had also to answer for the 

 fifteenth part of their goods, 8j. id. in all, 



" f^alor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 229. 



s^ In 1538 the Crown granted a lease 

 of the rectory (advowsons excepted) for 

 twenty-one years to Sir William Picker- 

 ing at a rentof /237 13J. ^d.\ L. and P. 

 Hen. VIII, xiii (1), g, 1519 (28). The 

 sub-lease and later the leases were ob- 

 tained by the Assheton family j Whitaker, 

 op. cit. i, 211. 



*3 PaL 1 Edw. VI, pt. ii ; the chapels 

 and the advowson of the vicarage were 

 included. 



" Whitaker, loc. cit.; the lessees then 

 became the owners. An Act was passed 

 In 1799 confirming the partition of the 

 rectory of Whalley between the represen- 

 tatives of Pcnn Assheton Curjon and 

 Thomas Lord Ribblcsdale. See also Com. 

 Pleas RecoT, R. Hil. 40 Geo. ni,in. 86. 



356 



