BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLEY 



officiated ; they asked for a continuance of the pension 

 and the appointment of a curate, to be nominated by- 

 three justices of the peace dwelling near the chapel. 

 The queen allowed this.^^* Richard Kippax, being 

 thus nominated in 1690, declared that he accepted 

 the curacy in right of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 

 and was licensed with the consent of the vicar of 

 Whalley.^^^ Afterwards the advowson descended with 

 Royle to the family of Parker of Cuerden,^^^ until in 

 1890, the rector being then patron, It was transferred 

 to the Bishop of Manchester by an Act of Parliament, 

 which also ordained that in future the rector should 

 be a suffragan or assistant bishop in the diocese, with 

 the title of Bishop of Burnley.^^^ The income of 

 the benefice had risen to about j£4,ooo a year ; half 

 of this was to be assigned to the new rector-bishop 

 and the rest to other benefices formed out of the old 

 chapelry. This Act took effect in 1901, on the 

 resignation of the then rector. Canon Arthur Townley 

 Parker, the author of the scheme. 



There were two chantries endowed in the chapel. 

 The Towneley chantry at St. Mary*s altar, in the 

 north aisle, was occupied by Peter Adlington in 1547, 

 but he celebrated mass only three days a week there ; 

 his stipend was £i\. 14/. jd., derived from lands in 

 Ribchester, Blackburn, &c.^^^ The other chantry. 



with a stipend of ^£4 13J. 4^. from lands in HasHng- 

 den and Burnley, had been founded by the inhabit- 

 ants, and in 1547 Gilbert Fairbank, known as the 

 gild priest, was celebrating mass and other divine 

 service according to his foundation. ^^^ This chantry 

 was at St. Peter^s altar. ^^^ These chantries had ' no 

 plate.' 1*1 There were also altars of St. Anthony in 

 the south aisle, and the rood.^^^ The former of these 

 was also known as the Stansfield chantry, having pro- 

 bably been founded by the lords of Worsthorne. In 

 1368 the abbey of Kirkstall gave their lands In 

 Extwistle to feoffees, who founded a chantry at Burnley 

 for the soul of Peter de Tattersall, but the king's 

 licence was not obtained.-^^^ 



The confiscated * ornaments ' of the chapel at 

 Burnley in 1 552 were valued at the comparatively 

 large sum of 33^.-'^* For the service of the chapelry 

 there were six priests in 1548,^'^^ as appears by the 

 visitation lists, and the same number in 1554 ; but 

 only two remained in 1562, of whom one, the 

 above-named Gilbert Fairbank, was decrepit, and 

 died soon afterwards.^^^ From 1563 onwards there 

 was only one minister for Burnley till the 19th 

 century. -^^^ 



The following is a list of incumbents ^^^ : — 

 oc. 1375 Robert de Bolton 



^^** Raines iu Gastrell's iVbrtfta, loc. cit. 

 The inhabitant* on their part agreed to 

 make the stipend up to 20 marks. In 

 1683 the increment necessary was appor- 

 tioned thus: Burnley, ^1 izs. 5^/. j 

 Habergham Eaves, £z 4^. -^d, ; Cliviger, 

 j^2 41. 4^.; BrierclifFe, ^z i6j. g^. — 

 j^8 17*, <)d, in all ; Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 

 166. ^35 Gastrell, loc. cit. 



^^^ Thomas Townley was tenant in a 

 recovery of the advowson in 173 1 ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Plea R. 532, m. 5 d. There was 

 another recovery in 1787 ; ibid, 646, 

 m. 5. 



*8^ Act 53 & 54 Vict. cap. 123. 



i^s Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc), 147- 

 50. The chantry goes back to 1372-3, 

 when Thomas de la Legh granted the 

 third part of the manor of Towneley to 

 his nephew Gilbert on condition that he 

 found a chaplain to sing for the souls of 

 Thomas, &c. ; Whitaker, Wkalley, ii, 160. 

 See also the account of Habergham Eaves. 



The chaplain, Nicholas Parker, being 

 dead, the Abbot of Whalley in 1 48 1 asked 

 Sir Richard Towneley to give it to John 

 Green, a brother of the abbey ; ibid. 163. 



Sir Richard's son John, about 1500, 

 endowed or re-endowed the chantry of 

 St. Mary, as appears by an inscription 

 thereon ; ibid. 160. John Ingham was 

 to be the priest ; Add. MS. 30145, fol. 83. 



Peter Adlington was cantarist in 1535, 

 when the income was given as ^^3 6s. %d. ; 

 Valor EccL (Rec. Com.), v, 230. He 

 died about Christmas 1546, when Hugh 

 Watmough was nominated to succeed 

 him. John Ingham had preceded Adling- 

 ton ; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Chei.), iii, 3. John Aspden also claimed 

 it ; ibid. 103-6. 



A chantry and chantry lands at Burnley 

 were sold by the Crown in 1589; Pat. 

 31 Eliz. pt. xi. 



*^3 Raines, op. cit. 150-z. The 

 chantry seems to have been founded in 

 1523 ; Add. MS. 32104, no. 459. Gil- 

 bert Fairbank was the priest there in 

 1535, when his stipend was said to be 

 £2 only ; Valor EccL ut sup. 



The landa of this chantry were after- 



wards (1552) assigned to the support oi 

 the grammar school j Whitaker, op. cit. 

 ii, 163. 



At an inquiry as to * concealed lands ' 

 in 1561 it was stated that Fairbank was 

 still in possession of the endowment, but 

 did no service for it ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Special Com, no, 33, 



1^0 Lanes, and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 87. For ministers' 

 accounts see jbid. ii, 315. Inquiries 

 were made as to the lands of St. Peter's 

 chantry in 1569 and later 5 Duchy of 

 Lane. Special Com. 186, 207, 



^^^ The cantariats must have celebrated 

 with the plate belonging to the chapel. 



^^^ Whitaker, op. cit. li, 162-3; ^^^ 



* rood priest ' is named in a deed of 

 1544-5, in reference, it appears, to land 

 formerly given for his support by John 

 Ingham, chaplain. William Piccope in 

 1521 bequeathed his lands, in case he 

 died without issue, to the ' use and be- 

 hoof of a priest to sing and say mass and 

 other divine service in the kirk of Burn- 

 ley for ever,' for his soul and the souls of 

 his parents; Towneley MS. C 8, 13 

 (Chet. Lib.), P 59. From references 

 given (Whitaker, op cit. ii, 164) it appears 

 that Stephen Smith and Richard Hitchen 

 were the priests serving them. Stephen 

 Smith was chaplain of Rossendale in 

 1531 ; Act Bk. of Whalley (Chet. Soc), 

 138. Richard *Higen' was In 1541 

 said to be paid out of the alms of the 

 parishioners ; Clergy List (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 18. Both names 

 occur in the visitation list of 1548, but 

 Hitchen is marked * decrepit ' and then 



* dead,' by the bishop's officials. Smith 

 was at Rochdale in 1554. See also 

 Duchy Plead, iii, 126. 



In a settlement of land in 1519 the 

 ultimate remainder was * to the use and 

 profit of the service in the rood-loft of 

 Burnley Church for ever ' ; Farrer, 

 Clitheroe Ct. R. ii, 148. 



i« Q.R. Memo. R. 160; Lanes. Inq. 

 p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 32. 



^^^ Raines, Chantries, zyy, 275. The 

 vestments and plate were taken away by 



451 



the king's commissioners in 1553, appa- 

 rently to the great indignation of the 

 people, who as soon as Mary came to 

 the throne made complaint of the spolia- 

 tion ; Duchy Plead, (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), iii, 158, The vestments in- 

 cluded some described as * fine ' ; the 

 plate mentioned was a chalice and two 

 patens, and there were * three high solemn 

 and fine bells, a sanctus bell, one hand 

 bell (and) three other little bells ' j 

 Augm, Off, Misc. Bks. clxx,^m. 3. 



145 Three chantry priests have been 

 named : Fairbank, Smith and Hitchen. 

 The other priests were Robert Ingham, 

 John Aspden and Hugh Watmough. The 

 first was in 1541 said to be paid by John 

 Towneley, and perhaps served Towneley 

 Hall ; the second was the curate, paid 

 by the vicar of Whalley ; the third had 

 been a chantry priest, as above. 



'^^ Particulars as to various chantry 

 priests were given at an inquiry into the 

 lands in 1571. Thomas Burgess was 

 stated to have died in 1554, Stephen 

 Smith in 1562, and Gilbert Fairbank in 

 1567. Hugh Watmough was living; 

 Duchy of Lane. Special Com. 202. 



^"•^ Visitation lists at Chester. Even 

 in the Commonwealth time there was 

 only one minister in the chapelry. 



^^^ Whitaker (op. cit. ii, 169) gives 

 the following earlier names, but it is in 

 most cases impossible to say whether 

 they were the chaplains of Burnley or 

 merely chantry priests or others living in 

 the district : c. 1200, Henry the clerk of 

 Burnley (Kuerden fol. MS. 250) ; John 

 the clerk of Burnley ; 1300, Walter the 

 chaplain of Burnley; 1358, Richard de 

 Burnley, chaplain ; 1359, William Moton 

 and John son of Adam son of Walter, 

 chaplain ; 1369, Ellis de Habergham, 

 chaplain; 1520, John Folds, chaplain. 

 The last-named caused a cross to be 

 erected in the churchyard ; ibid. 170, 



In 1423-4 occurs an item of ^d., the 

 rent of Walter the chaplain of Burnley 

 for the eighth part of an acre of waste 

 there, on which a house was to be built ; 

 Receivers' Accts. bdle. 89, roll 1631. 



