A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Shireburne. Argent 

 a lijfi rampant guarJant 



in pre t decay. There had been no deer there for 



many jears.'^ The park was demised to farm for 



eighty years to Sir Richard 



Shireburne," and by Elizabeth 



the fee simple was in 1563 



granted to Robert Lord 



Dudley, afterwards Earl of 



Leicester,'^ from whom it was 



at once purchased by Sir 



Richard.'* It descended in 



the same way as Stonyhurst to 



Thomas Weld, who died in 



1810. It then passed to his 



younger son George Weld," 



whose son John died in 



i888.'» It is now the estate '""■ 



of his daughter Miss Matilda 



Weld. The Lawnd, as the house was called, 



was formerly used as a dower house by the Shire- 



burnes. Courts have been held since the time of 



Elizabeth." 



Leagram Hall stands on the site of the Old Park 

 Lodge which was an H-shaped building of timber 

 and plaster. This house was considerably altered in 

 the 1 6th century, when the wing facing east was 

 rebuilt. The remainder of the house survived till it 

 was rebuilt about 1775. The west wing was made 

 the domestic chapel, traces of which still remain, 

 though the present Gothic chapel was built by 

 John Weld about 1856 in his father's lifetime. The 

 existing ea t front was erected in 1822 by George 

 Weld."^ 



The family of Hoghton of Pendleton, an illegiti- 

 mate branch of that of Hoghton, were seated at 

 Leagram in the I 5th century." 



Of LITTLE BOWL^ND there is practically 

 nothing to be related. The principal families 

 living there were the Parkers of Greystoneley " 

 and Lickhurst " ; the Swinglehursts and Harrises 

 of Fairoak." Christopher Harris of this family" 

 took the king's side in the Civil War, and as a 

 ' recusant and delinquent ' his estate was seques- 

 tered '^ and then sold by the Parliament." Hugh 

 Dobson of Leagram compounded for his estate in 

 .654." 



Robert Holden and Janet Duckworth, widow, 

 both of Leagram, registered estates as * Papists * in 

 I 717." Among the papers of forfeited estates of the 

 same time is a rental of Leagram." 



In 1787 the chief landowners were Thomas Weld, 

 the Duke of Montagu and Mrs. Clince Parker 

 Harding.^^ 



The chapel at Leagram Hall, now domestic, 

 represents the centre of a Roman Catholic mission for 

 the district which can be traced back to the 17th 

 century.*^ St. Mary's Church, Chipping, has now 

 its position. 



The Chipping charities of John 

 CHARITIES Brabin were partially applicable to 

 this township also, but the scheme 

 of 1878 did not specially recognize the claim." 

 From the benefactions of Richard Shireburne of 

 Stonyhurst and Sir Nicholas his son £6 a year is 

 given to the poor, distributed by the overseer of 



'^ T. C. Smith, Chipping, 192-3. The 

 park, contained within the pale 488 acres 

 of all sorts of land, viz. three parcels of 

 arable called Over Lawnd, Acornhurst 

 and New Fall, 47 acres in all ; Lower 

 Lawnde, 25 acres, underwood and barren ; 

 Park Green, 28 acres, meadow ; Over 

 End, 83 acres, half heath and half moss ; 

 Lower End, 103 acres, containing Lea- 

 gram Carr, *a very deep and wet carr,' 

 overgrown with alder, holly, hazel and 

 thorn ; Hodds Moss and Park Moss, 85 

 and 98 acres of * great and barren' moss- 

 land. Such underwood as there was, 

 consisting of alder, &c., was fit only for 



* tinsel * and fircbote for the farmers there. 



'* Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxiii, 

 136 d. The grant, dated 2 Mar. 1555-6, 

 is printed by T. C. Smith, op. cit. 193. 

 It included houses called the Lodge 

 and Windhills in Bowland, with ward- 

 ships, marriage dues, &c., at a rent of 

 ^26 19J. 6d. 



^^ Pat. 5 Eliz. pt. iv, the park of Lea- 

 gram, with the messuage called Wind- 

 hills, in Bowland, in the tenure of Sir 

 Richard Shireburne. The grant included 



* liberties of park and forest, warrens, 

 mines,' &c., also court leet and court 

 baron, homages, tolls, and all other here- 

 ditaments. 



^6 Smith, op. cit. 194. Sir Richard 

 paid j^i,6i8 lOf. At his death in 1594 

 he was stated to hold a capital messuage in 

 Leagram and Windhills of the queen in 

 chief by the fortieth part of a knight's 

 fee ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvi, no. 3. 

 Anne Shireburne of Leagram in 1630 

 compounded for the two-thirds of her 

 estates liable to sequestration for her 

 recusancy by an annual payment of '^^24. 



^^ He died in 1866. For pedigree see 

 Smith, op. cit. 196; Burke, Landed 

 Gentry, 



'"^ He wai a zealous antiqunry and 

 compiled an account of the district. 



'* This and some other particulars arc 

 due to Miss Weld. 



'^ Hcwitson, Our Country Churches 

 and Chapels, 545. 



** Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), ii, 44; 

 Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 6, m. 27 (Miles 

 son of Richard Hoghton of Leagram, 

 1444). Richard Hoghton of Leagram, 

 son of Sir Henry Hoghton, in 1447 

 granted lands In Ribchester and Hother- 

 sall to Richard Townelcy of Towneley ; 

 Townelcy MS. C 8, 13 (Chet. Lib.), 

 H 335. See the account of Little 

 Pendleton. 



*^ The vaccary of Greystoneley was in 

 I i47 granted to the Parkers by the 

 Crown ; Smith, op. cit, 197, where is 

 given an account of the family down to 

 T771. 



The estate of Thomas Parker was 

 confiscated by the Parliament and sold in 

 1652 ; Index of Royalists (Index Soc), 

 44 ; Cal. Com. for Comp. v, 3205 (a 

 messuage, &c., in Castle in Clitheroc). 



In 171 7 Edward Parker of Bowland, as 

 a* Papist,' registered his freehold estate 

 called Higher Greystone ; Estcourt and 

 Payne, Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 151. 



^^ Agnes widow of John Parker of 

 *Lekehurst' and William Parker of the 

 same were defendants in 1445 ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Plea R. 8, m. 9. 



Some account of the family will be 

 found in Smith, op. cit. 198-200. Other 

 families noticed in the same work are 

 Rauthmell of Lees and Wardsley ; Bleas- 

 dale, Haythomthwaite and Howson of 

 Dinkley Green j Marsden of the Pale, 

 Crombleholme of Loudmytholmc and 

 Townley of Leagram. 



^ Ibid. 238-242, with pedigree. 



Adam, Nicholas and William Swinhil- 



380 



hurst appear in the above-cited accounts 

 of Leagram Park, 1422-50 j Whltakcr, 

 Whalley, i, 347—8. 



*^ He married Mary daughter and heir 

 of Robert Singlehurst. He was described 

 as * of Torrisholme.* 



^f* Royalist Comp. Papers (Rcc. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), iii, 151-64. He was 

 farmer of the rectory of Chipping in his 

 wife's right. His special * delinquency ' 

 is not recorded. 



From the pedigree referred to it appears 

 that Dorothy granddaughter and heir of 

 Christopher married John Parkinson, and 

 their daughter and heir Elizabeth married 

 Robert Parker of Harden, whose de- 

 scendants continued at Fair Oak, 



^* Index of Royalists, 42. 



^ Royalist Comp. Papers, ii, 254. 

 Leagram Is described as *in the parish of 

 Chipping.* 



-* Estcourt and Payne, op. cit. 97, 106. 



^* Lanes, and Ches, Rec. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 171. 



^ Land tax returns at Preston. 



^' An informer in 1716 stated : * The 

 mother of Sir Nicholas Shireburne of 

 Stonyhurst gave an estate near Chipping 

 of £(iO per annum to Charles Panket 

 [Penketh], a popish priest, to go at his 

 death in a succession for ever to popish 

 priests for their maintenance and support, 

 the said Charles Panket now living in the 

 bouse called Chipping Lane [Lawn], to 

 which the estate so given him as afore- 

 said belongs ' J Payne, Engl. Cath. Rec. 



For the succession of missionary priests 

 see Smith, op. cit. 154-8, 194. 



'^ An inquiry into the charities was 

 held in 1901 -, the report (1902) contains 

 a reprint of that of 1826. For Brabin'i 

 almshouses and school see the account of 

 Chipping. 



