BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



RIBCHESTER 



RIBCHESTER 



Ribelcastre, Dom. Bk. ; Ribbecestre, 1202 ; Ribbel- 

 cestre, 1227 ; Rybchestre, 1292. The forms Rib- 

 and Ribbel- occur together till about 1360, when the 

 former prevailed. 



The little town takes its name from the Roman 

 station founded by the Ribble. The township has 

 an area of 2,21 1£ acres, 1 and in 1901 there was a 

 population of 1,237. The general slope of the 

 surface is down from north to south, the greatest 

 height on the side of Longridge Fell being nearly 

 900 ft. above the ordnance datum. Boyce's Brook 

 flows south-east through the township to join the 

 Ribble. 



Roads branch out from the town eastward to 

 reach the bridge across the river about a mile away, 

 northward to join the road from Longridge to 

 Mitton, near the hamlet of Knowl Green, and north- 

 westward to join the same road nearer Longridge. 

 Buckley is central. 



Few relics of the Roman occupation remain in 

 the town. In the main street, forming a portico to 

 the ' White Bull Inn,' are four columns with debased 

 capitals, said to have been taken out of the river. 

 They rudely resemble the Roman Doric in appear- 

 ance and are 6 ft. 7 in. high ; their dressing also 

 admits the possibility of their Roman origin. In 

 the rectory grounds are three Roman vases, said to 

 have been dug up in the churchyard, and there is a 

 fourth at Lower Alston Farm. At the rectory there 

 is preserved also a Roman altar, without inscription 

 and focus, which was found in 1888 built into a 

 cottage wall. la 



There are some 17th-century houses remaining, 

 one with an interesting stone door-head dated 3680, 

 and in the main street is a block of two houses of 

 some architectural merit, the lead rain-water heads 

 of which are dated 1745. The building, which is 



of brick, with moulded stone architraves to the 

 windows and a stone cornice, is well proportioned 

 and simple in design. 



Three fairs used to be held in Ribchester, but 

 have been discontinued. 2 



The stocks were used as late as 1829. 3 



There was till recently some hand-loom weaving. 

 There are two small weaving-mills and two bobbin- 

 works. 



The Preston Union Workhouse is situated here. 



In 1066 RIBCHESTER, assessed as 

 MANOR two plough-lands, was a member of the 

 Preston fee held by Earl Tostig 4 ; it then 

 probably included Dutton also. After the Conquest 

 it was given to Roger of Poitou, 6 and later is found, 

 together with Dilworth and Dutton, as a member of 

 the honor of Clitheroe. 6 Through the Lacys the 

 manor descended to the Earls and Dukes of Lan- 

 caster, and thus to the Crown. 



Robert de Lacy gave a moiety of Ribchester to 

 Robert son of Henry in or before 1 1 93- 7 John Con- 

 stable of Chester early in the I 3 th century granted to 

 Walter Moton a moiety of the vill of Ribchester with all 

 its wood and the mill, just as the grantor's father and 

 brother had held it, two gloves or \d. being payable 

 at Michaelmas. 8 About the same time Alan de 

 Windle granted all his land of Ribchester and of 

 Dilworth to Walter Moton in free marriage with 

 Amabel his daughter, 9 and John de Lacy gave Walter 

 all the farm, aid and service which had been due 

 from Alan de Windle for the same rent as for the 

 above-named moiety. 10 Thenceforward the whole 

 manor was held by the Moton family. 



Walter Moton was a benefactor to Stanlaw Abbey 11 

 and also to the hospital at Stidd. 12 He died in or 

 before 1 246, when his widow Amabel, who had 

 married Robert de Ribchester, was suing his son 

 William Moton in respect of her dower. 13 This son 

 also was a benefactor of Stanlaw, 14 and gave land to 



1 2,224 acres, including 21 of inland 

 water ; Census Rep. 1 90 1 . 



la J. Garstang, Roman Ribchester, 5. 

 (Report of Ribch. Excavations, 1898.) 



2 T. C. Smith, Ribchester, 71. 



3 Ibid. 72. In 1599 the people of 

 Ribchester were lined 3*. \d. because there 

 was no cuck-stool ; Clitheroe Ct. R. 



4 V.C.H. Lanes, i, 288*. 



5 Ibid. 



6 There is no record of the gift of 

 Ribchester and Dilworth as there is of 

 Dutton. It is doubtful whether the fine 

 of 1 187 recording the acquisition of the 

 vill of Ribbec' refers to Ribchester or not ; 

 Final Cone. (Rec Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 1 ; ii, 185. If it does, it shows that 

 Robert de Lacy purchased it from William 

 son of Rosselin or else confirmed it to 

 him. 



7 Ibid, ii, 185, quoting an abstract 

 found at Pontefract in 1325 ; Duchy of 

 Lane. Misc. exxx, fol. 20 d. The moiety 

 was to be held in thegnage by a rent of 

 ys. The advowson of the church and 

 'the forest of buck and doe, wild boar 

 and sow ' were reserved. One Robert 

 son of Henry was lord of Lathom about 

 that time. 



In 1202 Alan de Windle and Agnes 

 his wife made grants of portions of Rib- 

 chester ; Final Cone, i, 13, 21. The 

 plaintiffs in these fines — Henry son of 

 Bernard and John son of Robert — claimed 

 by inheritance. Agnes may have been 



the daughter of the Robert son of Henry 

 named in the text. 



8 Kuerden fol. MS. (Chet. Lib.), 77. 

 John de Lacy became constable of 

 Chester in 121 1 and Earl of Lincoln in 

 1232 ; he died in 1240. It is not clear 

 whether this is the other moiety of Rib- 

 chester or a new and more complete 

 grant of the same moiety. 



9 Dods. MSS. liii, fol. 17. The sur- 

 name is spelt in many ways — Mutun, 

 Motoun, &c. ; sometimes a de is pre- 

 fixed. It may be derived from Mitton, 

 though this spelling rarely occurs. 



10 Ibid. fol. 23. There was among the 

 Stonyhurst deeds a grant by John de 

 Lacy to Walter Mutton of the manor of 

 Ribchester and Dilworth for the same 

 service as Alan de Windhull and his 

 predecessors had rendered — viz. a pair of 

 gloves or \d. ; Shireburne Abstract Bk. 

 at Leagram. In accordance with these 

 charters it was found in 1258 that Rib- 

 chester rendered 25. and one pair of gloves 

 (or 4<£) to Edmund de Lacy ; Lanes. Inq. 

 and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 217. 



Walter Moton in 121 9 acquired an 

 oxgang of land in Ribchester from Sieg- 

 rith, Wynniva and Maud, daughters of 

 Godwin ; Final Cane, i, 40. 



11 He gave the monks Hulliley (or 

 Hilliley), from the Stonyway on the east 

 to Godrichley Croft on the west, and from 

 a syke on the south to an oak cross- 



45 



marked on the north, also 3 acres of 

 wood. He desired their prayers espe- 

 cially for the soul of that venerable man 

 his lord Roger de Lacy ; Whalley Couch. 

 (Chet. Soc), iii, 868. He also gave 

 them the mill with its rights, reserving 

 multure of his own house, desiring that 

 he might be buried at Stanlaw ; ibid. 869. 

 Amabel daughter of Alan de Windle and 

 widow of Walter Moton confirmed the 

 gifts, and her second husband released 

 any right he might have in the same ; 

 ibid. 870-2. 



To Roger de Hurst he gave part of 

 his land in Ribchester in Turnley, the 

 bounds commencing at a stone house, 

 and including (in part) Chester Brook ; 

 Add. MS. 32106, no. 493 (fol. 330). 



12 His gift of land in Godrichley in 

 Ribchester to the hospital of St. Saviour 

 at Stidd is mentioned in a charter in 

 Towneley's MS. DD, no. 889. He also 

 gave land in Shipenley, adjoining Turnley 

 at one point, confirmed by his son 

 William ; Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 687. 



13 Assize R. 404, m. 3 d. She and 

 her husband also claimed certain land 

 and a moiety of the mill against the 

 Abbot of Stanlaw ; ibid, m, 2 d. This 

 suit affords an approximate date for their 

 charters already quoted. 



14 Whalley Couch, iii, 872-4. William 

 son of Walter Moton confirmed his 

 father's gifts and added land between 

 Lauediley Clough and Godrich Clough, 



