A HISIORV OF LANCASHIRE 



PABtEii of Alkln- 

 cotts. f'ert J chivrmi 

 At.'uf.'i three itags' 



he^Js ijhosheJ :r. 



compiiiiticTi fiT declining > mghthood." It "i^ 

 after.'. ..rJs acnuired by the Parkers of l!rau-.-holnic, 

 and occupied bv Ro; crt Parker 

 (d. 171+), a younger son of 

 Thomas I'ar^-r, and his de- 

 scendant 1. Pari.Lr was there 

 in 1 ^01. ' It is now the 

 property of Colonel John 

 William Robinson Parker. 



JLKISCOTES, standing 

 on high ground in a park-like 

 incl'ji-re to the west of Colne, 

 13 an interesting house of three 

 stories, built of dressed grit- 

 stone apparently in the latter 

 half of the l6th century, but 

 Lor.siJerably altered in the 

 18th, and adied to in !ater 



times. The principal fror.t, which faces south, is about 

 64. ft. in length, and is distinguished by a central pro- 

 jecting porch I arricd up the full height of the building 

 and by live picturesque and equally ^paced stone gables 

 surmounted by finials. The upper p.irt of the build- 

 ing retains all its l-.lizabethan charaacr^stics, the 

 original four-litht mullioned windovvs with the two 

 centre lights raised, the stepped hood moulds and the 

 boldly projecting gart;oylc^ being still ir. position in 

 the gable , but the I'r.pnt of the house appc.lr^ to have 

 been wholly refaccd below in the l>th center;., 

 when all the mullioned -.MnJows ucrc apparently 

 removed, the pr^cnt plain tall sash windows inserted 

 and the ; rch rcmodL-llcd in the classic fashion of the 

 time. The windows retain their thick wood bars, 

 and the cti'cc: of the whole, though exceedingly plain 

 and unrelieved by string course or moulding except 

 in the top f. r. and the porch, is nevertheless or,e of 

 dignit\- and some picturesqueness. The end walls, 

 which are of rough stone, show the old built-up 

 windows but liter sash windc>\\s have been inserted 

 also. The rouK are covered v. ith stone slates. The 

 north-ca-t wing is also of three stories and of the 

 same date and charai tcr as the main building, to 



which it is connected by a lower two story structure, 

 the upper part of which appears to have been rebuilt 

 at the same time the changes i.-ok place in the front. 

 On the ground floor the old mullioned and tran^omed 

 w'nJoAs remain, and a stone in the upper part of the 

 wall has the initi.ils t^A (Parker) and the date 171c. 

 which probably gives the _\car when the house Has 

 remodelled. .-\ west wing was added in the early 

 part of the 19th century and has many of the cha- 

 racteristics of the revived Gothic of the period, though 

 that portion which is seen from the south carrie. out 

 the desii;n of the front in all its details. The inter, or 

 has been wholly modernized and is without intcrc t 

 e.xcept for a good collection of Elizabethan oak 

 furniture removed hither from Browsholme." On 

 the lawn is a quaint 1 7th-century octagonal sun- 

 dial which bears the names of 'Christopher 1 rue- 

 man, generosus,' and John Dixon on the shalt, and a 

 date which is difficult to decipher.'" 



HOLT HOUSE was .ilso a Parker estate, and in 

 154^ Lawrence Parker made a settlement of various 

 messuages in Coinc, with rcmaindrr, to his son Henry 

 and grandson Lawrence." Henry Parker in 1^51 

 sold the same to Ralph Greenacrc.'" There liillowed 

 considerable disputing,'^ but the Parkers appear to 

 have regained Holt House, Henry Parker, wlio died 

 in 1 1) r 7, holding it of the king as duke in socage ; his 

 heir was his gr.indson .Mexander (son of Henry) 

 Parker, aged sixteen.'" Hob Stones was in 1513 held 

 by the family of H.irgrcaves, John Hargreaves in that 

 year succeeding his father Richard.''' Soon afterwards 

 it ^^a- acquired by the Parkers of Alkiiicoles."^ 



HEIR'S HOUSE was no doubt the land, 

 mcailo'. , buildings, &c., in Alkincotes which were 

 granted to Richard de Marsden, clerk, by Richard 

 son of Adam Ic Hayr in 1 3 1 2, together with the 

 re crsion of the dower of his mother Agnes.'"" 

 The new pos essor in 1 3 14 gave them to Robert 

 his son,'^* and in 1318 Robert son of Richard de 

 Marsden summoned Richard de Marsden to warrant 

 a messuage in Colne to him.'"'' The estate descended 

 in this family till the 17th centur)-,"" when Edward 



« U; . (Rcc. Snc. Lanes, and Chr 



.\ 



2 1 " 



' Wli t.i;<rr, W^j.'Vi, I, :^4., :^o. 

 There i^ u monii'iicit in Coinc Church 

 to Edwird Tarkcr of Alkinco'.c*, who 

 died there m 1865. 



-•^ Tram. Burnley /.;.'. tinj Skif '. 

 C. , ii, lU. 



** It is aj- trc:itly 16-" . 



'" r.i'. 01 Lane. Feet of F. bdie. 1;, 

 m. I PI. 



"Mbid. bdle. 14, m. 160. The Holt 

 House csfatc is rt-lcrred to in Far7(.r, 

 Clllhtrot Ct. R. 1, ;2:, 37S, 44 S. 



^^ D:.:.i:us Liinc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 242, 

 :6;, 52S ; 111, i;2, 244, 5^2, ,ii, 2-5. 

 In one comfl.i;r.t Thomas .M. champ, 

 citizen and goid^niith of London, in i 56- 

 5:ated that Henn- Parker of Holt House 

 had held certain iVceh-iid lands there and 

 copyhold lands in Alkincotes and sold 

 tliera to Rai-h Greenacre, who sold to 

 pia'ntirr", but Thomas Lister and others had 

 e-pcilcd him from possession. In reply 

 it was said that the freehold land had 

 been granted by Henry son of Lawrence 

 Parker in 1 541 to John and Robert 

 Hargreaves for H:nr\-s L:c, with re- 

 mainder to his son Lwrer.ce Parker, 

 wlio, by surrender of the grantees, ob- 

 tained fossession, and in 1562 gave to 



Lister and others. The copylinld lands 

 had also been given 1 them. Henry 

 Parker, still li-. i-^g, acknowledged l!ic 

 sale to Grccoacrc, and said he was tenant 

 at will ; Duchy of Lane. P.ei'J. Eliz. 

 Ixviii, M 1. There w^s a fine in 1587 

 concerning a messuage, &c., in Alkin- 

 cotes and Coliif., between Henrj" P.Trlo.r, 

 plaintiff, and Lawrence Parlor, defen- 

 dant ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 49, 

 m. 22. 



In 1573 the third part of two mes- 

 suages. Arc, was purchased by Willism 

 Hawkesworth from Thomas Lister ; ibid, 

 bdle. ;;, m. 6. This appears to have 

 been part of the Holt House estate \ 

 Ductus Lane. M, 80, 8;, 132. 



*^ Lanes. Ifjj. p.m. I Rec. Soc. Lanes. 

 and Ches.), ii, 78—9. Henry Parker 

 also owned land in Foulridge. In the 

 Colne Registers he is described as * of 

 E"igc.' Alexander P rker of Holt House 

 occurs in the registers 1638—48. 



" Farrer, Chtheroe Ct. R. 1, 253. 



" Ibid. 407, 432. 



''Add. MS. 321C4, no. 585. Richard 

 de Alkincotes was a witness. 



^ Ib.i. no. 39-. James son ot Geoffrey 

 de Walton gave to Richard de Marsden, 

 clerk, in 1315 the land which Adam son 

 ol Peter dc Alkincotes had by grant of 



^26 



Adam Ic Hayr in Alkincotes; ibid, no, 

 386. ^" Dc Banco R. 221, ni. 281. 



''^ In 13+0 Richnrd dc M;irsden gave 

 to his Bon Robert land called Klakcy, the 

 bounds beginning at Wanlcss Brook and 

 going round Brown Hill to Hnllholmc 

 Bank and so back to the Wanlcss ; Add. 

 MS. 32104, no. 394. Ellen dc Alkin- 

 cotes widow of William dc Marsden in 

 I ^47 gr;intfri to her son Robert de 

 Mar'^din all the land she had by the gift 

 of John her father in Hathcrholt, 12(/, 

 rent to be paid ; Ibid, no, 393. 



William de Marsden of Swindcn and 

 William dc Marsden the elder testified In 

 1388 that Gilbert son of Robert dc 

 Marsden had undertaken to pay tlicm 

 lOOi. yearly during his life ; ibid. no. 396. 

 A few years l-Tter, in i 395, Gill crt son of 

 Robert dc Marsden released all right in 

 his hereditary' lands to his son Nicholas ; 

 ibid. no. 390. In 1417 Nicholas son 

 and heir of Gilbert dc Marsden was re- 

 feoffcd by John son and heir of Henry de 

 Shuttlcworih of Hacking, in all his lands 

 in Colne and Mnr Hrn j ibid, no. 387. 

 In 1453 ^"-'"^■3' Marsden bequeathed 

 all his lands to James son of Robert 

 Marsden ; ibid. no. 392. Jimcs Marsden 

 died about 1 509, when his v,; i'.w M.trgarct 

 is named j Farrer, op. <.Lt. i, 246. 



