A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Clerk Hill, which was formerly in the east window 

 of the 1 805 building and was the gift of Mr. George 

 Petre," is now preserved in one of the lower south 

 windows of the nave. 



There is a ring of six bells by W. Blews & Sons, 

 Birmingham, 1876.** 



The silver communion plate consists of two chalices, 

 a breadholder and a flagon of I 84 1 and a paten of 1 904. 



The registers of baptisms and burials begin in 1 63 3, 

 and those of marriages in 1654. 



The old stipend of £^ " was before the Civil War 

 augmented to ;^I0,*' and about 1650 the Committee 

 of Plundered Ministers ordered ^^50 a year to be paid 

 to the minister out of tithes sequestered from Thomas 

 Clifton, a ' Papist delinquent.' " This would cease 

 at the Restoration, and in 1 7 1 7 the certified income 

 was only £1 2 lys. 8a'." Soon afterwards an augmen- 

 tation was secured from Nathaniel Curzon,*^ who thus 

 obtained the patronage, and Queen Anne's Bounty ; 

 additional endowments were given, and the net 

 annual value is now £610." The Hulme Trustees 

 acquired the advowson about 1837. Before the 

 Reformation, though there was no endowed chantrj-, 

 there seem to have been two priests to serve the 

 chapelry, the names appearing in the visitation lists 

 of 1548 and 1554 ; but in the lists of 1562 and 

 later only one name is given." Afterwards it is 

 probable that Church was served in conjunction with 

 some other chapel in the district, for in 1 71 7 the 

 curate of Altham read service and preached a sermon 

 once a fortnight.'" The following are the more 

 recent curates and rectors " : — 

 1720 Edward Cort " 

 1726 Robert Mitton, B.A.* 

 1739 Christopher Hall '" 

 1763 Thomas Arm itstead " 

 I 8 14 John Swainson " 

 1824 Richard Noble " 



I 840 Joseph Birchall, M.A." (Brasenose Coll., Oxf ) 

 1879 Thomas Farmer Collins, M.A.'' (Brasenose 

 Coll., Oxf) 



1891 Joseph Glasson Denison, M.A." (Brasenose 



Coll., Oxf) 

 1903 Arthur John Morris, M.A. " (Brasenose Coll., 

 Oxf) 



Some Nonconformists were known in the chapelry 

 in 1 71 7, but they died out. The present Baptist 

 church was built in 1870 ; a chapel had existed 

 about 1850." 



An official inquiry was made into 

 CHARITIES the charities in 1899, and the report 

 issued in 1900 affords the following 

 details : — 



Ellen Darwen, widow, in 1776 left money for a 

 bread charity for Rishton and Church Kirk. About 

 1826 the sum of ^^60, a moiet)-, seems to have been 

 given to the churchwardens of the latter place to 

 continue the charity. The money, with other suras 

 intended for the endowment of an organ, was in- 

 vested in cottages, £'i being reserved from the rents 

 as interest on the Darwen capital. The money is 

 laid out in 4-lb. loaves, which are distributed after 

 morning service on the first Sunday of each month 

 among poor persons of all denominations ; attendance 

 at the service is not required. 



Benjamin Walmcsley in 1852 left £100 to found 

 a similar charity at Oswaldtwistle ; bread was to be 

 given every alternate Sunday after morning service to 

 old women members of the congregation. The fund 

 produces £■} a year. For the aged poor of the same 

 township George Walmesley in 1891 left j([3,ooo, 

 now producing j^8l 14/. yearly; this is given 

 quarterly in groceries, clothing, &c., to the value of 

 5/. each gift, to poor persons over sixty years of age 

 resident in Oswaldtwistle for at least five years. 



OSWALDTWISTLE 



Oswaldtuisil, Oswaldtwisil, 1 2 4.1. There are 

 unimportant variants as Osewaldewysel, 1275; 

 Osewaldestw)'sel, 1292, Oswaldtwistle is recent. 



Ducworth, I 241. 



*' It is said to have come from Dunkcn- 

 halgh. 



*»Thc Dutch bell dated 1537 now at 

 Whallcy was at one time at Church 

 Kirk. 



One bell was seized by the Crown in 

 15+7 ; Raines, Chantries (Chct. Soc), 275. 



^9 hilt, MSS. Com. Ref,. xiv, App. iv, 

 10. 



^^ Bishop Gastrell states that the ad- 

 ditional £(> was given by Archbishop 

 Juxon in 1663, but this is an error, as 

 j^io was paid in 1650. 



*^ Commoniv, Ch. Surv, (Rec, Soc 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 167. An order for 

 jTjo additional was made in 1648 ; Whit- 

 aker, op. cit, i, 24.2. In the following 

 year the ^50 named in the text was 

 ordered, and the order was renewed in 

 165+5 Plund. Mint. Accts. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 79, 1+0. Though 

 there was at first some difficulty in obtain- 

 ing payment a receipt for ^^25 was given 

 by the minister in 1652 ; ibid. 244. 



62 Gastrell, Notieia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), 

 ii, 322 ; the archbishop paid ;^io out of 

 Whalley rectory, a small close of land 

 was worth i6j., Easter roll ioj., and sur- 

 plice fees 3 I J. 8(/. There were four wardens. 



^^ Ibid. 323 ; he gave ;^200 in 1722. 



^* Manch. Dioc. Dir. 



^* Visitation lists at Chester Dice. Reg. 



Thomas Booth was the chaplain in 1 541 ; 

 Clergy List (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 18. His name is recorded in the lists of 

 1548 and 15^4, but in the latter mortuut 

 is written against it, so that he died before 

 1562. George Bromley, who subscribed 

 to the queen's ecclesiastical supremacy in 

 1563 {Chei. Sheaf [Ser, 3], i, 34-5), was 

 curate in 1562, but his name is crossed 

 out in the 1563 list, and in 1565 Edmund 

 Norham was curate. 



In 1591 and 1605 Gilbert Holden was 

 curate j Visit. Returns ; note by Mr. Ear- 

 waker. Soon afterwards it was reported, 



* The stipendiary minister is now gone' j 

 Hist, MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, lO. 

 Holden, however, was still curate In 1621. 

 Mr. Walkden was * lecturer* at Church 

 in 1622 } Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), i, 68. 



William Ingham of Church was a mem- 

 ber of the Presbyterian Classis in 1646. 

 He was afterwards of Goosnargh. 



James Rigby, M.A., occurs 1648—54. 



In 1671 John Kippax of Hasllngden 

 served Church also, apparently following 

 a Roger Brereley ; in 1677 John Barlow 

 succeeded him, and in 1690 John Taylor 

 was licensed to serve Church and Altham ; 

 Visit. Returns. John Barlow, curate, was 



* conformable ' in 1689 j Hist. MSS, Com. 

 Rep. xiv, App. iv, 229. 



404 



*^ Gastrell, op. cit, ii, 323. 



**' The benefice was declared a rectory 

 in 1866 ; Land. Gaz. 18 Dec. The eccle- 

 siastical parish was then formed. 



^^ The church papers at Chester Dice, 

 Reg. begin at this point. Cort was 

 nominated by the vicar of Whalley, the 

 curacy being vacant by the removal of 

 Edward Rishton. Letters of administra- 

 tion were granted for Cort's estate in 

 1727. 



^^ Nominated by Nathaniel Curz-on. 

 He resigned. 



^^ Nominated by Sir N. Curzon. 



'^ Nominated by Assheton Curzon on 

 the death of C. Hall. Mr. Armitstcad 

 was born at Studfold, Horton, in 1757 

 and was vicar of Mitton 1771-1814. He 

 served Church by curate-^. 



^^ Nominated by R, W. Penn Curzon ; 

 he had been in charge for about a year. 



'^ Nominated by Earl Howe on the 

 death of J. Swainson. 



''* Nominated by the Hulme Trustees 

 on the death of R. Noble. Mr. Birchail 

 published volumes of sermons, &c 



'^ Previously vicar of New Bilton ; 

 rector of Eppcrstone 1891. 



'* Rector ot Heaton Norrls 1888-91. 



'^ Rector of Selham 1899, vicar of 

 Christ Church, Colne, 1900. 



'* Manncx, Dir, 



