BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLEY 



The present lord of the manor is the seventh Earl 

 of Abingdon, in right of his first wife Caroline 

 Louisa, eldest daughter and co-heir of Charles Towne- 

 ley. No courts are held. 



BIRTIVISLE^^ was assessed separately as half a 

 plough-land, and held in socage of the lord of Clitheroe 

 by a rent of 4/. Robert de Lacy, who died in 1 193, 

 granted it to Kudo de Lungvilers at that rent, the 

 forest and wild beasts therein being reserved to the 

 grantor.21 In 1209 Reyner son of Ralph claimed 

 the 4 oxgangs of land in Birtwisle against Eudo, who 

 allowed him 3 oxgangs on the east side at a rent of 

 6s., reserving to himself the oxgang on the west ; 

 20 acres formerly held by Thomas son of Gospatrick 

 were allowed to Eudo, who gave Reyner an equal 

 amount of land in his western oxgang.^' Before the 

 end of the i 3th century the manor was acquired by 

 John de Lacy of Cromwellbottom,^!* whose des- 

 cendant Henry in 1356 sold it to Gilbert de la 

 Legh.2' Gilbert, as above related, inherited the prin- 

 cipal manor of Hapton, and from that time Hapton 

 and Birtwisle were held together.^^ Ultimately the 

 latter was lost sight of.^' 



The family of Birtwisle probably descended from 

 the Reyner of 1209. In 1253-4 J°h" son of Reyner 

 son of Ralph called upon John son of Eudo de 

 Lungvilers to observe the conditions of the fine of 

 1 209.'" John de Birtwisle, possibly the same, claimed 

 land in Birtwisle against Henry de Lacy Earl of 

 Lincoln, whose defence was that Birtwisle was neither 

 town nor borough, but only a hamlet in Hapton, 

 which the plaintiff could not gainsay.^^ It is not 

 possible to trace the various branches clearly. One 



part of the estate was sold to John de Towneley in 

 1394 by Nicholas de Kighley and Joan his wife, she 

 being a daughter of Adam son of Gilbert de Bir- 

 twisle.'^ Adam de Birtwisle had in 1353 claimed an 

 oxgang of land in Hapton against Henry son of 

 John de Lacy.'' In 1397-8 the feoffees regranted 

 to John de Towneley various manors, &c., including 

 that part of the manor of 

 Birtwisle which had belonged 

 to Adam de Birtwisle and 

 that part which had belonged 

 to Henry de Lacy.'* Nicholas 

 Towneley and Richard Bir- 

 twisle were landowners in 

 Hapton in I 524.'^ 



Reyner de Birtwisle gave 

 to the church of Whalley 3 

 acres in Birtwisle on the east 

 side of the culture called Old 

 Tunstead and another half 

 acre.'^ 



Another family of Birtwisle 

 is more closely connected with 



Huncoat. John Birtwisle of Huncoat died in 161 7 

 holding a messuage in Hapton of Richard Towneley 

 in socage by a rent of 3/." 



SHUTTLEWORTH,^^ another ancient portion of 

 Hapton described as a manor, gave a surname to a 

 family still seated in the neighbourhood. Henry de 

 Shuttleworth died before 1325 holding lands in 

 Shuttleworth of John son and heir of Edmund Talbot 

 by a rent of 4/. and six barbed arrows. John his 

 son and heir was twenty-two years of age.'^ Another 



Birtwisle of Hun- 

 coat. Sable a chcveron 

 ermine between three 

 lueaieU passant argent. 



Library, while many are owned by W. 

 Farrer and other private persons. It is 

 believed that some still belong to the 

 representatives of the Towneley family. 

 See Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, App. 408-10. 

 ^ Bridestwisel, 1209 ; Briddestwysil, 

 1258 ; Bridhistuwisil, 1292. 



s-" Kuerden fol. MS. p. 230. In 1258 



Birtwisle rendered 41. a year to Edmund 



de Lacy J Lanes, Inq. and Extents, i, 217. 



^ Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 



Ches.), i, 30. 



^ The evidence is scanty, but the fol- 

 lowing grants are known : Adam de Buck- 

 den and Maud de Arches his wife granted 

 to John de Lacy the service which William 

 de Arches ought to do for the land he held 

 of them in Hapton ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Misc. cxxx, fol. 20 d. Alan de Pennington 

 son and heir of Thomas g^ve to the same 

 John all the land he inherited in Birtwisle 

 after the death of his father and mother 

 (Agnes), which land had been demised to 

 Peter de Chester for his life, A rent of 

 id. was to be paid ; Kuerden fol. MS. 

 p. 233. 



Henry de Lacy of Cromwellbottom in 

 1 31 1 held the hamlet of Birtwisle of the 

 lord of Clitheroe as half a plough-land by a 

 rent of 45. and suit of court ; Lanes. Inq. 

 and Extents, ii, 10. 



^' Kuerden fol. MS. p. 230 ; Towneley 

 MS. C 8, 13, L 152. The date is errone- 

 ously given by Whitaker. Joan widow of 

 Henry de Lacy of Cromwellbottom in 

 1^61 gave her dower lands in Birtwisle to 

 Gilbert de la Legh at 251. rent ; ibid. 

 L 150. John son of Thomas de Lacy had 

 land in Birtwisle in 1363 ; ibid. Li5i. 

 In 1369 Gilbert de la Legh and Alice his 

 wife had various lands in Birtwisle settled 

 on them together with the reversion of the 



dower of Joan widow of Henry de Lacy ; 

 ibid. B 257, 264. 



^ The tenure in socage (by a rent of 

 41.) Is recorded in the Towneley Inquisi- 

 tions : e.g. Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), 

 i, I 54 ; IIj 164. Lassland in Birtwisle is 

 named in 1401 ; ibid, i, 160. In 

 1474 Richard Towneley granted to his 

 brothers Lawrence and Nicholas (for life) 

 lands called Welsell In Hapton and Nut- 

 shaw in Birtwisle ; C 8, 1 3, T 83, 85. 



^ It is named in recoveries, &c., as 

 late as 1760 ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 495, 

 m. 5 ; 592, m. 57. 



^^ Curia Reg. R. 154, m. 17. 



^^ Assize R. 408 (1292), m. 59. 



^'^ Gilbert de Birtwisle and Adam his 

 son attested a charter in 1323 j C 8, 13, 

 H 240. Gilbert son of Gilbert de Bir- 

 twisle in 1331 gave to Adam his brother 

 for forty years certain lands in the hamlet 

 of Birtwisle In the vIU of Hapton which 

 had belonged to Henry son of Adam son 

 of Ralph de Birtwisle ; ibid. B 267. Adam 

 de Birtwisle in 1354 settled certain lands 

 with remainders to Nicholas son of 

 Sir Richard de Kighley and Joan his wife, 

 the daughter of Adam, and to Richard de 

 Towneley ; ibid. B 260, R 63. From 

 other deeds it appears that John and 

 Nicholas sons of Adam de Birtwisle had 

 lands In 1340 and 1355; ibid. B 268, 

 262, 269, H 255. There was a dispute 

 in the latter year between Nicholas de 

 Kighley and Joan his wife and Nicholas 

 son of Adam, the latter claiming under a 

 grant from his father prior to that to the 

 Kighleys ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 4, 

 m. 17 d. See also Dep. Keeper's Rep. 

 xxxii, App. 332, 334. 



Adam de Birtwisle was living in 1352; 

 Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 2, m. i. In 



509 



1390 formal testimony was given that 

 Richard de Shuttleworth had affirmed 

 before his death that Nicholas de Bir- 

 twisle was not his son, doubts having been 

 expressed as to the paternity of the said 

 Nicholas ; Add. MS. 32108, fol. 305. 



Nicholas de Kighley gave lands in 

 Birtwisle to Gilbert de la Legh and Alice 

 his wife in 1379-80 ; C 8, 13, K 11. As 

 stated In the text Nicholas and Joan his 

 wife sold to John de Towneley in 1394, 

 and the sale was confirmed by Gilbert, 

 John and William sons of Nicholas ; 

 ibid. K 9, 10. There was In 1395 a fine 

 to conclude the sale, in which the estate 

 was called the manor of Birtwisle, except 

 the land, &c., called Glbland del Hall, 

 i.e Gilbert del Hall's land ; Final Cone. 

 Hi, 45. 



^^ Assize R. 435, m. 6 d. 



8^ Towneley MS. C 8, 13, R60. In 

 1444-5 J"h^ 3°^ of Richard Towneley 

 granted to his father and others lands in 

 Birtwisle which he had had with Isabel 

 daughter of Nicholas Boteler ; Ibid. T 71. 



■^° Lay Subs. Lanes, bdlc. 130, no, 82. 

 Oliver Birtwisle is named In 1543 ; ibid. 

 no. 125. 



^'6 Whalley Couch. (Chet. Soc), i, 321. 



^^ Lanes, Inq. p.m. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), H, loi. 



^'^ Sutliswrthe, 1293 5 Shuttellesworth, 



1323- 



^^ Lanes. Inq. and Extents^ W, 220. John 

 had paid relief for lands in Simonstone in 

 1324; ibid. 186. There were 16 acres 

 of arable land worth ^d. each, 4 acres of 

 meadow also worth 4^/., and 24 acres of 

 waste, 2t/. each. 



A Henry de Shuttleworth attested a 

 Hapton deed in 1304; Huntroyde D, 

 H 8. Henry de Shuttleworth and John 



