A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



living in 1357-9," but dead in 1362, when his 

 widow Alice claimed dower against his son Law- 

 rence.'^ Lawrence XowelP' in 1364 granted this 

 manor to Sir Richard de Greenacres in exchange for 

 a moiety of Read,'' which became the seat of the 

 Nowells. 



Sir Richard left a son Rxhard,'^ whose heirs were 

 two sisters or daughters Joan and Agnes. The 

 former married Henry Woriley,20 who died in I ++3, 

 holding by the law of England his wife's inheritance 

 in Great Mearley by the thirty-secondth part of a 

 knight's fee and \od. rent.''^ His elder son Robert 

 having died in 14.38, the 

 whole inheritance passed to 

 Richard Worsley, son of 

 Henry's younger son John, 

 who was twenty-two years of 

 age.22 Their part of the 

 estate seems to have been 

 chiefly in Downham and 

 Twiston, where the later 

 descents will be found. Agnes 

 Greenacres married William 

 Radcliffe of Todmorden,^^ 

 and the estate, later called the 

 manor, descended in that 

 family, being said to be held 

 of the king as of his duchy 

 by knight's service and a rent.''' In 1701 Roger 

 Mainwaring, who had married Elizabeth, the only 

 child of Joshua Radcliffe of Todmorden, sold the 



Radcliffe of Tod- 

 morden. Argent a 

 bend engrailed lable, a 

 JUur de lis gules for 

 difference. 



manor of Great Mearley to John Harrison." After 

 the death of John's son Allan ^^ it was sold for the 

 benefit of his creditors by order of the Court of 

 Chancery in 1758 to Piers Starkie of Huntroyde,^' 

 and has since descended in that family. No m.mor 

 seems now to be claimed. 



Mearley Hall stands on the lower slope of Pendle 

 Hill, about the middle of the township, but is a 

 modern farm-house of no interest. The old hall 

 was pulled down about 1886, and only the tall gate 

 piers with ball ornaments and the high fence wall now 

 remain. An account of the building ^^ as it then 

 stood, written in 1883, describes the ground plan as 

 nearly complete ' with central portions and two 

 projecting wings.' Part of the house had been 

 restored and over the door was a stone with the 

 arms of Radcliffe of Todmorden. The eastern wing, 

 described as the most interesting part of the house, 

 was then partly roofless and in ruins. A winding 

 staircase which led from the large south-east room on 

 the ground floor had been completely wrecked, and 

 the oak panels of the wainscot lay broken among the 

 ddbris. The masonry, however, was still compact 

 and firm. The chief architectural features of the 

 house, which seems to have belonged to the i6th 

 century and faced north, were its gables, chimneys, 

 and long projecting stone gargoyles. 



The younger Roger Nowell in 1296 obtained, as 

 above stated, a part of Great Mearley from his 

 father ^^ ; this he gave in 1305 to Richard de Morley 

 and Elizabeth his wife.^^ Richard was killed at 



^* Richard appears in 1357 ; Dep. 

 Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. 336. 



" De Banco R. 411, m. 54 ; the estates 

 were in Great Mearley, Harwood, Church, 

 Worston, Rishton and Tottleworth. 



*' In 1364 a jury found that Lawrence 

 Nowell had free chase in his manor of 

 Mearley ; Kuerden MSS. ii, fol. 260. 



Lawrence (son of Richard) Nowell and 

 JCatherine his wife are named in 1353 i 

 Assize R. 435, m. 11. Lawrence son of 

 Richard Nowell in 135 1 made a grant 

 to Roger son of Adam son of Stephen 

 del Rodes ; Dunkcnhalgh D. His wife 

 Katherine was a daughter and co-heir of 

 John del Clough of Read ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Assize R. 3, m. 6. 



^^ Final Cone, ii, 169. A number of 

 deeds about the exchange have been pre- 

 served by Towneley ; Add. MS. 3Z104, 

 fol. 156 ; DD, no. 593, &c. The trans- 

 actions lasted until 1368. Lawrence's 

 relationship to Richard is not stated in 

 these deeds. John son of Lawrence 

 Nowell in 1378—9 released all actions 

 against Sir Richard de Greenacres ; ibid, 

 no. 60S. 



^' In 1377 Sir Richard had two sons 

 John and Richard ; ibid, no. 592. His 

 wife was Joan daughter of John del Clough, 

 and she afterwards married Roger de 

 Edelston, who was *of Mearley ' in 

 1385-6; CaL Pat. 1385-9, pp. 3i»55- 



** Henry son of John Worsley occurs 

 in 141 S ; Final Cone, iii, 74. 



'1 DD, no. 1473 ; this refers to Great 

 Mearley only, Joan is here called one of 

 the daughters and heirs of Sir Richard 

 Greenacres. 



^'^ Ibid. no. 1475 ; this refers to Twiston 

 and Downham. Richard Worsley died 

 in 1463 holding a third part of the manor 

 of Great Mearley of the king as Earl of 

 Lincoln by knight's service and 6d. rent ; 

 Lanes. Irj. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 75, "^S. 



^ The statement of descent is that 

 given by Dodsworth from a declaration 

 by Richard Radcliffe in answer to a writ 

 of Quo Warranto concerning his free chase 

 in Great Mearley ; Pal. of Lane. Writs 

 Proton. 13 Hen. VII. The pedigree runs 

 thus : Sir Richard Greenacres -s. Richard 

 -dau. Agnes, mar. William Radcliffe — s. 

 William -s. Richard, 1498 ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlix, fol. 109^. 



William Radcliffe in 1434 gave a rent 

 of 40J. a year from his manor of Mearley 

 to his son William ; Add. MS. 32104, 

 no. 724. The Radcliffe feoffees in 1438 

 gave to William Radcliffe the younger of 

 Todmorden and Agnes his wife all the 

 lands in Twicton and Mearley ; ibid, 

 fol. I76i», no. 740. William Radcliffe in 

 1451 made a feoffment of all hit share of 

 the manor of Great Mearley -, ibid. no. 723. 



In the same year Richard Worsley of 

 Mearley and William Radcliffe of the same, 

 seised of the manor of Great Mearley, 

 agreed as to closes called Oxhey, the 

 Vyners, &c. ; ibid, no, 658 (fol. 153^). 

 The heirs of Worsley in 1494 released 

 to Richard Radcliffe all their right in 

 Great Mearley j ibid. no. 747. 



A petition is extant from William Rad- 

 cliffe the younger and his cousin Worsley 

 of the parish of CUtheroc addressed to 

 the Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal of 

 England, and complaining of an assault 

 upon them by Thomas son of Sir Thomas 

 Radcliffe and a number of armed men. 

 It seems that Thomas was killed ; Towne- 

 ley MS. RR, no. 90. This must be dated 

 1426, when the Bishop of Winchester 

 (Beaufort) was cardinal and chancellor. 



In 1499 Richard Radcliffe and Charles 

 his son and heir granted Butterley in 

 Great Mearley to John Radcliffe, a son 

 of Richard, for ninety-nine years j ibid. 

 no. 52. An arbitration as to this lease 

 was made in 1540 ; DD, no. 636. But- 



terley was an approvement made in the 

 time of Edward III \ ibid. no. 614. 



^* For the descent sec the account of 

 Todmorden. Richard Radcliffe died in 

 1502 holding twenty-two messuages, &c., 

 in Great and Little Mearley of the king 

 as duke by the fourteenth part of a 

 knight's fee ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 iil, no. 94« His son Charles in 1536 

 held by knight's service and xid. rent; 

 ibid, viii, no. 35. His grandson CharlcA 

 in 1590 held by the fortieth part of a 

 knight's fee and %d. rent ; ibid, xv, no. 24 j 

 see also xvii, no, 45. Charles Radcliffe 

 had in 1572 assigned the Great Oxhey 

 and three wheatficlds in Great Mearley 

 to the use of his son Henry ; Add. MS. 

 32104, no. 661 ; see also Pal. of Lane. 

 Feet of F. bdle. 34, m. 7 ; 57, m. 43. 



2*Whitakcr, Whalley, ii, 111. The 

 following arc references to later recoveries 

 and finest Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 451, 

 m. 2 (Elizabeth Radcliffe, 1690) ; 461, 

 *"• 7 (1695) ; 473> m. 8 (1701). This 

 last refers to the manors of Great Mearley 

 and Pendleton, the deforciants to the fine 

 being Roger Mainwaring the younger, 

 Elizabeth his wife, Savill Radcliffe and 

 Mary his wife ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. 

 bdle. 246, m. 119. 



There were serious family disputes 

 in 1680-5 j ^"^- -^55. Com. Rep. xi, 

 App. ii, 244. 



'• Allan Harrison was vouchee in a 

 recovery of the manor in 1738 j Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 546, m. 3. 



^ Abstract of title 



^ Tram. Burnley Lit. and Scienf. Cluh, 

 iii, 125. 



^ Final Cone, i, 181. Four messuages, 

 half the mill, Sec Roger the younger 

 had claimed them the year before ; De 

 Banco R. 110, m. 222 d. 



•** Final Cone, i, 206. The remainders 

 were to heirs by Elisabeth and to Simon 



376 



