BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLIiY 



In I 3 u Alan dc Catterall was recorded as holding 

 one plough-land in Little Mitten by the eighth part 

 of a icnight's fee and lod. rent^^ ; at his death, in or 

 before 1322, he was found to hold a capital messuage, 

 &c., by the twelfth part of a fee and zs. rent," and 

 in the same year his widow Loretta was said to hold 

 the plough-land by the eighth part of a fee.'^ Alan 

 de Catterall and Lora his wife in 13 15-16 acquired 

 an oxgang of land in Little Mitton from Alice daughter 

 of Margery de Mitton," but the most noteworthy 

 incident of their time was a dispute with the Abbot 

 of Whalley as to the tenure of Whalley Field 1* ; this 

 contest was continued or renewed as late as 1338 

 between the abbot and Lora as ividow.^^ There is 

 little to show the connexion between the Catterall 

 family 1^ and this manor," but their successors the 

 Shireburnes were described as ' of Little Mitton,' i' 

 and probab'y made it their chief residence. 



Little Mitton was, like Catterall, purchased about 

 1665 by Alexander Holt, of the Gristlehurst family, 

 and descended to the Beaumonts of Whitley Beau- 

 mont, in Yorkshire." About 1 840 it was purchased 

 by John Aspinall of Standen, and Col. Ralph John 

 Aspinall is the present lord of the manor. 



Little Mitton Hall stands on an elevated site close 

 to the left bank of the Ribble, half a mile above its 

 junction with the Hodder. The situation is one of 

 much beauty, the view from the house westward 

 across the stream being extremely picturesque, but of 

 this no advantage was taken by the original builders, 

 who erected the building facing eastward, overlooking 

 what was then marshland. The house belongs to the 

 end of the 15 th or beginning of the l6th century, 

 and follows the H-type of plan of that period with 

 a central great hall and north and south projecting 

 wings. The interior of the great hall preserves most 

 of its original characteristic features, but the rest of the 

 house has been so much rebuilt and modernized as 

 to have lost almost all its antiquarian or architectural 



interest. At the beginning of the last century the 

 upper part of the walls was of timber,^" but this has 

 entirely disappeared. A great portion of the house 

 was rebuilt about 1 844, after its purchase by John 

 Aspinall, and extensive additions were made, in- 

 cluding a new wing on the north-west Thirty years 

 later, soon after 1874, further alterations and addi- 

 tions were made by the tenant, who rearranged the 

 rooms in the south wing, through which a passage 

 was formed to a conservatory, and beyond this again 

 a new detached two-story wing containing a billiard- 

 room was erected. The north wing was lengthened 

 on its east side by the addition of a large bay window, 

 the great hall was restored, the recently erected north- 

 west wing was enlarged and a story added, and a 

 terrace with stone balustrade and steps was formed on 

 the west side commanding the view down the valley. 



The house is of two stories with attics in the 

 end gables, the walls being mostly covered with yellow 

 rough-cast, some portions, however, including the 

 gables of the south wing, being faced with coursed 

 rubble. The mullioned windows, with two excep- 

 tions, are all new, and the roofs are covered with 

 green slates. Externally the building is without archi- 

 tectural interest, but the back elevation, with its gables, 

 central chimney stack and terrace balustrade, is pictu- 

 resque by reason of its situation when seen from the 

 low ground by the river, though somewhat spoiled by 

 the modern three-story north-west wing which dwarfs 

 it on that side. 



The great hall, including the screens, is 40 ft. long 

 by 23 ft. 6 in. wide, and has an open timbered roof 

 1 8 ft. high to the wall plate. The arrangement is 

 similar to that which formerly obtained at Samlesbury, 

 the south end being occupied by a square recess for the 

 dais with a doorway on either side and the north end 

 by the screens. In the south-east corner is a square 

 bay and the fireplace is in the middle of the west 

 wall. The roof has been considerably restored, but 



^° Lanes, Inq. and Extents, ii, 13. 



" Ibid. 141. 



" Ibid. 134. 



" Dods. MSS. xci, fol. 159. 



"In 1 3 13 Alan de Catterall com- 

 plained that the abbot had seized certain 

 of his cattle at ' Whallejr Field ' in Little 

 Mitton. The abbot replied that he seized 

 them in Whalley, they having come into 

 his laud ; De Banco R. 198, m. 93. At 

 the same time Roesia de Whalley com- 

 plained that Alan had seized her cattle 

 in 'Whalley Field,' Alan replying that 

 this field was partly in Whalley and partly 

 in Little Mitton and he took the cattle 

 in his part ; ibid. m. 199. The suit was 

 continued later as to whether 24 acres of 

 land belonged to the church of Whalley or 

 was a lay fee ; ibid. 207, m. 307. 



^* Ibid. 316, m. 372. 



" Their descent is given in the account 

 of Catterall in Garstang. 



" Richard de Catterall in 1352 prose- 

 cuted various persons for breaking his 

 inclosures at Little Mitton ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Assize R. i, m. viij. In 1355 and 

 1361 he was recorded as holding the 

 twelfth part of a knight's fee in Little 

 Mitton J Feudal Aids, iii, 87 ; Inq. p.m. 

 35 Edw. Ill (ist nos.), no. 122. Adam 

 de Catterall in 1397 held the manor of 

 Little Mitton of the Duke of Lancaster 

 by rendering ijd. for castle ward ; Lanes. 

 Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 66. Richard 

 Catterall held the twelfth part of a fee in 



1445-6 ; Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, 

 bdle. 2, no. 20. 



Ralph son and heir of Richard Catterall 

 in 148 1 granted a lease of Little Mitton 

 to Henry and John Henthorn ; Towneley 

 MS. DD, no. 36. Richard Catterall, 

 apparently the father,died in 1487 holding 

 the manor of Little Mitton, with mes- 

 suages and lands there, of the king as of 

 his duchy by knight's service ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Inq. p.m. ii, no. 12. Ralph Cat- 

 terall died in 1 5 15 holding in Little 

 Mitton by the twelfth part of a knight's 

 fee and lod. rent, but his son John Cat- 

 terall in 1517 held by the twenty-fourth 

 part of a knight's fee and lod.; ibid, iv, 

 no. 62, 4. Thomas Catterall, the last of 

 the male line, died in 1579 holding the 

 manor of Little Mitton of the queen as 

 of her duchy by the twenty-fourth part of 

 a knight's fee ; ibid, xiv, no. 4. It had 

 been given to Robert Shireburne in 1561, 

 together with Catterall. His wife Doro- 

 thy, one of Thomas Catterall's daughters 

 and co-heirs, died in 1620 as Dorothy 

 Whipp, widow. The manor of Little 

 Mitton was then stated to be held by the 

 thirtieth part of a knight's fee; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Rec. Soc Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 230. 

 Her son Thomas in 1636 was found to 

 have held the whole estate in Mitton and 

 Catterall by the fortieth part of a knight's 

 fee ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xxix, 

 no. 43. 



Ralph Catterall (d. 151 5) has a memo- 



rial brass in Whalley Church ; Whitaker, 

 Whalley, ii, 9. 



^3 Mise. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 217 ; Dugdale, Visit. (Chet. Soc), 267. 

 The Subsidy Roll of 1626 records Thomas 

 and Robert Shireburne and iive other 

 convicted recusants at Little Mitton, 

 Thomas Walmsley was the other land- 

 owner named j Lay Subs. Lanes, bdle. 

 131, no. 317. 



Some Little Mitton deeds (1653, &c.) 

 are in Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 316. 



^^ See the pedigree in Whitaker, op. 

 cit. ii, 24. 'The following is the out- 

 line : — Alexander Holt -s. Robert, d.v.p. 

 -s. Alexander -s. William, d. 1737 -da. 

 Elizabeth, d. 1791, marr. Richard Beau- 

 mont -son Richard Henry, d. 18 10 -bro. 

 John, d. 1 83 1, who was succeeded by 

 Richard Henry (d. 1857) son of John's 

 illegitimate son Dr. Charles Richard 

 Beaumont, who died in 181 3. 



The following fines are recorded :— 

 1686: William Daniel v. Robert Holt, 

 the manors of Little Mitton and Cat- 

 terall, &c.; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 

 216, m. 27. 1710 ; Thomas Winckley 

 V. Alexander, Edward and William Holt, 

 the same ; ibid. bdle. 264, m. 83. 1760 : 

 Thomas Beaumont v. Richard Beaumont 

 and Elizabeth his wife, the manor of 

 Little Mitton, &c ; ibid. bdle. 342, 

 m. 51. 



»» Whitaker, Whalley (ed. 3, 181 8), 

 256. 



389 



