A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



his son Nicholas, aged twenty-four,'' who has been 

 mentioned already as husband of Isabel Woodrofte.'' 

 For a time he adhered to the Roman Church, but about 

 1630 conformed to that established by law,^^ and so 

 became qualified to act as sheriff in 1631-2.^' He 

 died in 164.5, "'hen his daughter M.'.rgnrct, who 

 married John Ingleby ^ and left the above-named 

 daughter Isabel wife of Richard Shireburne,'' became 

 heir to her mother's estate, Rojle and Greenfield 

 having been bequeathed to Nicholas son of his brother 

 Robert.'^ Robert Townley was living, aged seventy, 

 in 1665, when a pedigree was recorded,^' and the 

 estate descended in his line.** Edmund Townley, 

 his great-great-grandson, died in I 796, and Royle then 

 went to the representative of his niece Anne wife of 

 Robert Parker of Extwistle, viz. Robert Townley 

 Parker of Cuerden and Astley in Chorley, whose 

 descendant, Mr. R. A. Tatton, is the present owner. 



ROTLE HALL stands about 1 J miles to the north 

 of Burnley on a site, originally defensive, at the 

 junction of the Calder and Pendle Water, the Calder 

 flowing northward past the house on the west side 

 and Pendle Water westward on the north. The 

 house stands high above the Calder, the ground falling 

 steeply on the west side, and advantage has been 

 made of the situation in the laying out of the gardens 

 on the so.;th side to form a double tcrricc with 

 flights of steps and gr.iss banks. The building thus 

 appears to gre.it advantage from the garden proper, 

 which is entered from the lower level of the adjoining 

 fields on the east side. 



The olde^t p.irt of the house is of I jth-ccntur}' 

 date, but this is said to be a rebuilding of an older 

 dwelling, parts of which may have been incorporated 

 with it. The principal front, which faces south, is 

 90 ft. in length and has three equal and flush gables, 

 the western one of which, however, is modern. So 

 many alter.itions and repairs have been made during 

 the l.i^t century that it is r.ither difficult to determine 

 exactly the appearance of the original 17th-century 

 houic, there having apparently been buildings to the 

 west of the present central gable entirely different in 

 ch.ir.icter from the modern addition, which is more or 

 less of a sham, reproducing as it does in every particular 

 the detail of the earlier work on the south elevation, 

 but in no way representing the actual building behind, 

 the width ol which is nearly 4 ft. less than that of the 

 front wall and gable. Part of the older I Jth-century 



building, however, remains at the back of the mo.lirn 

 west wing, and a drawing of the front of the build- 

 ing made c. 1835 by the Rev. S. J. Allen'" shows 

 two narrower gables to the west of the present central 

 one, forming a rather more picturesque front with four 

 gables diflisring in size. The house is stone built, of 

 two stories, with attics in the gables and mullioncd 

 windows, the upper ones having the two middle lights 

 raised and a stepped hood mould over. All the 

 windows on the ground floor, however, are new and 

 have been lengthened by bringing the sills to the 

 floor level. The roofs are covered with stone slates 

 and the gables have ball terminations ; the middle one 

 contains a clock. The old stone walling is in irre- 

 gularly squared courses with angle quoins, but in 

 the later work, which dates from about the middle of 

 the 19th century, it is of rcgularl}- squared sandstone 

 blocks. There is a sm.all stone porch to the west of 

 the present middle gable, but the modern entrance is 

 now in the east end. On one of the spout heads on 

 the front ele\ation is the date I 77 1 with the initials 

 T. T., probably indicating some alterations to the 

 house in that year. The back is more irregular and 

 picturesque in appearance with an old two-story 

 wing over 90 ft. in length running northward. The 

 interior has been almost wholly modernized, but in 

 the attics are several oak roof principals with moulded 

 !>races. On the lawn, to the south-w est, is an octagonal 

 17th-century stone sundial shaft ; the plate is missing, 



Brunshaw was in 1311 held with Towneley."" 

 Hollins, in its south-east corner near the Brun, formerly 

 the property of the Holden and Hamcrton families, 

 is now the residence of Lady O'Hagan, the Townelcy 

 heiress. 



Henr)- de Lacy granted a messuage and an oxgang 

 of land \n Burnley, formerly held by Mlcliacl dc 

 PiLcip, to John dc Burnley, clerk, at a rent of -jiS''' 

 ■Adam son of John de Hurnlcy in 1302 granted the 

 same, including the reversion of his mother's dower, 

 Vj Oliver de Stansfield,"' but this \\.is probably in 

 trust, for Adam son of the Clerk was tenant in 131 I 

 at the rent named,'" and his three daughters Alice, 

 Ellen and Matilda in 1342-4 granted their estate 

 to Whalley Abbey.''' The rental of 1537 shows that 

 the abbey's lands at Burnley were occupied by a 

 number of tenants at will.'" 



The inquisitions record holdings in Burnley by 

 Tattersall,'' Grimshaw of Clayton '^ and Towneley of 



" Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. x\ii, no. l ;. 

 By his will, pro\cd i 59S, he gave Green- 

 field to his yoan.:er son Bernard for lile, 

 unless the el icr son Nicholas would pay 

 him an annuity of ,^13 6j. %ti. His 

 daughters Anne and Blanche were also pro- 

 vided lor. The inventory included books 

 2CXJ. and a clock 261. %d. The inventory 

 of the gcoi5 of his widow, Katherine 

 Townley of Clifton, is dated 1629. 



^' The marririge took place at Burnley 

 4 Feb. 1606-7 i Reg. A pedigree (quoted 

 above) was recorded in 161;. 



*^ TrjKi. His:. S:c. (new ser.), xxiv, 179. 



^'Shirebume -Abstract Bk. Patent 

 dated S Nov. 7 Cha?. I. In 1631 Nicho- 

 las paid £1 5 as composition for declining 

 knighthood ; M.a. (Rec Sec. Lanes, and 

 Chei.^, i, 217. 



*° The daughter's marriage was dis- 

 tasteful to her fat;. er, perhaps on religious 

 grounds, and he di;;nherited her ; \Vh!ta- 

 ker, rp. Cit. ii, 17S n. 



" There were two daughters, but 



Katherine Ingicby died unmarried in 

 1649 ; Burnley Reg. 



^^ If'uls (Chet. Sec. new set.), ii, 225. 



" Dugdale, lliit. (Chet. Soc), 312. 

 In 1669 articles of agreement between 

 Isabel (widow of Nicholas) Townley and 

 Nicholas son of Robert brother of the 

 said N.cholas Townley were drawn up ; 

 ShirebLrne Abstract Bk. 



^ See the peilgree inWhitaker, op. cit. 

 ii, 17S. The follcving is an outline : 

 Robert Townley, d. 1666 -s. Nichoia"!, 

 d. 1682 -8. Nicholas, d. 1699 -8. Thomas, 

 d. 1737 -8. Thomas (whose daughter was 

 Anne Parker), d. 1770 -bro. Edmund, d. 

 1796. The Rev. Edmund Townley (d. 

 1729\ younger son of the first Nicholas, 

 was a benefactor of the church at Burnley. 



"' In the possession of Mr. Henry 

 Taylor, F.S.A. 



" Ljia. Inj. f.v:. (Rec. Soc. Lanes. 

 and Ches. ), ii, 7. 



« Ifl.aUrr C-.uch. (Chet. Soc), i, 32-. 



«' To'.\nc!.y .MS. DD, no. 9SS. 



*'^ Lanes, fnq. and Extents^ '', 7- 



«" WhalUy Couch, i, 325, 32S.9. 



"Ibid, iv, 1 22 1. In 1468 Ralph 

 Abbot of Whalley granted to John Towne- 

 ley a lease of three little garths lying by 

 the bridge at Burnley and the west end 

 of the church, between the water and 

 the north side of the churchyard ; Towne- 

 ley MS. C 8, 13, W 134. This plat of 

 land was sold by the Crown in 1606; 

 Pat. 4 Jas. I, pt. ixiv. Robert Smith, 

 the principal abbey tenant in Burnley, 

 was plaintitf in the time of Henry VIII ; 

 Ducatus Lane, i, 1 97, 



^' Richard Tattcrsall of Briercliff'e In 

 1523 held lands in Burnley, but the 

 tenure was unknown ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. vi, no. 3 8, 79. For the Taiiew^- 

 salls of Ridge End see the account o) 

 Briercliffe. The estate at Ridge Ena 

 was sold to Clayton of Carr in 171 9. 



•'The Grimshaws of Clayton had 

 lands in Burnley (ibid, viii, no. 16). 

 During the Civil War warning was jiven 



4+6 



