A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



having been appoint j J rector of Whalley, claimed 

 A.tham as a chapel appurtenant to his church, and 

 succeeded in establishing his right. *' The matter 

 was again called into question alter Whalley had been 

 given to the monks of Stanlaw, but the jurj- decided 

 that Altham was only a chapel of ease.*^ This 

 continued to be its status for some centuries, the 

 vicar of Whalley nominating the chaplains or curates. 

 The church of ST. JAMES, formerly known as 

 St. Mary's,^' stands on low ground in a rural situation 

 close to the left bank of the Calder at the extreme 

 north-east of the township. It consists of chancel 

 25 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in., clearstoried nave 4.3 ft. 6 in. 

 by I 5 ft. 6 in., :vith north and south aisles 7 ft. 6 in. 

 wide, south porch, and west tower I o ft. 6 in. by 

 12 ft. 6 in., all these measurements being internal. 

 There is also a small vestry on the north side of the 

 tower. Though the foundation is an ancient one 

 the present structure has so little ancient work that 

 nothing cin be said of the development of the plan. 

 What appears to be a late 12th-century tympanum, 

 however, is built into the lower part of the south 

 aisle wall under one of the windows, but this is the 

 only fragment now remaining of the original church. 



Pi.A\ OF Altham Church 



It is a semicircular-shaped stone 4 ft. 2 in. in 

 diameter and 2 ft. high, covered with star diaper 

 pattern. Under another window on the same side 

 is an incised grave slab with plain Calvary cross, and 



there are other somewhat similar slabs used as lintels 

 to the south door and to the east window of the 

 north aisle. These probably belong to a later church 

 which was pulled down about the end of the 15th or 

 the early years of the i6th century to make way for 

 the present building. To this structure also probably 

 belonged the east window of the north aisle, which it 

 different in character from all the others, but whether 

 the church occupied the same space as at present 

 can only le conjectured. The rebuilding at the 

 beginning of the 1 6th century comprised the whole 

 of the nave and probably the chancel, though the 

 date of this is not certain, as no record of it has been 

 kept. At the beginning of the 19th century the 

 chancel was described as ' long since dilapidated and 

 visible only by the foundations,' °' but during the 

 incumbency of the Rev. William Wood the old 

 walls were pulled down and a new chancel built, 

 a belfry or turret was added and a gallery erected at 

 the west end. This work, however, seems to have 

 been badly done,'*' as in 1848 the building was in a 

 dilapidated state, a portion of the belfry had fallen 

 away, and the porch was in a ruinous condition ; 

 the interior of the building was covered with white- 

 wash. The restoration begun 

 soon afterwards comprised the 

 rebuilding of the chancel, the 

 addition of a west tower and the 

 thorough overhauling of the nave 

 and aisles, the ceiling and gallery 

 being pulled down, and the old 

 seating and three-decker pulpit 

 removed. The work was brought 

 to a conclusion in September 

 1859, when the building assumed 

 its present aspect. Only the nave 

 and aisles of the church, there- 

 fore, are ancient and dating from 

 the I 6th century. 



The walling is of rough local 

 greystone in long and narrow 

 pieces, and the roofs, which have 

 overhanging eaves, are covered 

 with stone slates. The work is 

 generally of a plain description and all the old 

 windows, with the exception of the one already 

 mentioned, are of three round-headed lights under a 

 square head with external hood mould. 



" fThalUy Couch. (Chet. Soc), i, 298- 

 301. The Prior of St. Fridcswide'^, 

 Oxford, as deputy of the Dean of War- 

 wick, to whom the pope had referred the 

 investigation, gave sentence in favour 

 of Peter de Chester against Henry de 

 Clayton. The date of the last document 

 is given wrongly. The gift to Henry de 

 Altham was perhaps regarded as a per- 

 sonal one, so that the *vicarage' died 

 with him, 



" Ibid. 301. William de Altham, the 

 plaintiff in 1296, said that Henry de 

 Altham was presented in the time of 

 Richard I (i.e. before 11 99) by Hugh son 

 of Leofwine, a statement differing from 

 that in the document relied oil for the 

 text and from the charters cited from the 

 Coucher. It must refer to an incumbency 

 before that of Robert de Whalley ; see 

 Clayton below. William also stated that 

 Henry de Clayton was presented by his 

 great-grandfather Richard de Altham in 

 the time of Henry HI, was instituted and 



at length died * rector,* the vacancy in 

 1296 being due to his death. The 

 vacancy must have been a lengthy one, 

 for Henry de Clayton died about 1265. 

 William further asserted that Altham was 

 no chapel but a church, with rights of 

 baptism and burial. Various pleadings 

 will be found in De Banco R. 109, m. 59 ; 

 118, m. 2d.; 124, m. 52; 127, m. 

 86 d. 



Simon de Altham brother of William 

 afterwards released all title in the chapel ; 

 fVhalhy Couch, i, 295. 



The endowment pertaining to the 

 chapel is given in detail in a document 

 (c. 1420) printed ibid. 305-6. It men- 

 tions a messuage on the east side of the 

 chapel, with the chaplain's house. 



There is a confirmation of Altham and 

 other chapels to the abbey in 1 344 in 

 B.M. Add". Chart. 1060. 



®* Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 271. Bv his 

 will, dated 1427, Henry Rishton gave 

 directions that the money of St. Mary at 



414 



Altham was to be placed in the care of 

 his son Richard ; he also ordered fire 

 candles, called 'le gaud,' to be placed 

 before her image in the church of Altham 

 and one of wax before the high croBS 

 there; Dunkenhalgh D. In Aug. 1471 

 (? 1461) Richard Rishton delivered to 

 Henry Grimshaw the goods of Sl Mary 

 of Altham belonging to the town of 

 Clayton, i.e. 241. i\d. in good money; 

 also 1 31. loJ. in the approving of Robin 

 Duibury since 1454, also a cow with 

 her provenance in the approving ol Chris- 

 topher Dubworth ; 'to keep contionally 

 in his hands the said goods as for a stocic 

 and to approve with the grace of God all 

 the remnant thereof to the use of oar 

 said Lady' ; Add. MS. 32108, no. J73. 



» Whitaker, ff'hallry (ed. 3), 404. 



" In 1 848 the whole of the exterior 

 was whitewashed, and the new portions 

 were described as * very unseemly, being 

 badly constructed and out of harmony witb 

 the rest of the building. . . . The new 



