AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



high with embattled parapet and angle pinnacles. 16 

 The chancel was the width of the nave and south 

 aisle and was under two roofs, and the nave was lit by- 

 dormer windows. The east end of the north aisle 

 was the private chapel of the Westbys, and before its 

 demolition there were galleries at the east and west 

 ends and on the north side. 16 



The present wide, aisleless nave, which is in the 

 Gothic style of the second decade of the last century, 

 with tall single-light windows, is built on the old 

 foundations. Its north-east corner is still known as 

 the Westby chapel and retains the old square 18th- 

 century pews, and there are galleries on the north, 

 south and west sides. The chancel is in 14th- 

 century style with a good five-light east window with 

 reticulated tracery, and the tower is a rather florid 

 example of modern 15th-century work built of Long- 

 ridge stone, with a crocketed spire 150 ft. in height. 

 The church was repaired and reseated in 1877, and 

 the interior underwent a partial restoration in 1 909. 

 A few relics of the former building remain. Built 

 on the inside of the west wall of the tower is a stone 

 with the arms of Clifton, which was formerly in one 

 of the tower buttresses, and a stone coffin and the 

 plain octagonal bowl of a font, probably of 16th- 

 century date, are preserved under the tower. There 

 is a very good 1 8th-century brass chandelier suspended 

 by an elaborate wrought-iron rod ; and on the south 

 wall of the nave is a monument of good Renaissance 

 design to Thomas Clifton, son of Sir Thomas Clifton 

 of Lytham Hall, who died in 1688. In the floor of 

 the chancel are stones in memory of two former 

 vicars, Richard Clegg (d. 1720) and Charles Buck 

 (d. 1771). 



There is a ring of eight bells 17 cast by C. & G. Mears 

 in 1 846. 



The plate ls is all modern, and consists of a set of 

 two chalices, two patens and a flagon of 1845, pre- 

 sented by Charles and Elizabeth Birley in 1853. 



KIRKHAM 



The registers of baptisms and burials begin in 

 1540 and those of marriages in 1539, but the first 

 volume, 1540 to 1628, is a copy made in the latter 

 year. 19 



The earliest dated gravestone in the churchyard is 

 of 1653. On the south side is a sundial on a fluted 

 stone shaft, the name ' Noblett ' alone being decipher- 

 able on the plate. 



The church of Kirkham was no 

 JDFOWSON doubt one of the three in Amounder- 

 ness mentioned in Domesday Book. 

 Together with its priests it was in 1093 given by 

 Geoffrey the sheriff of Count Roger of Poitou to 

 Shrewsbury Abbey, 20 but in the following year by 

 Count Roger himself to St. Martin 21 of Sees. It was 

 about 1 140 restored to Shrewsbury, 22 but in 1 196 

 obtained by Theobald Walter, he agreeing to pay 

 the abbey 1 2 marks a year. 23 The Crown usually 

 presented to the benefice, 24 and in 1279 the advowson 

 was acquired by the king from Theobald Boteler, 24 " 

 and was soon afterwards given to the Cistercian Abbey 

 of Vale Royal, near Northwich. 25 After the Sup- 

 pression in 1538 it was given to Christ Church, 

 Oxford, 26 which continues to hold the rectory, pre- 

 senting the vicars. 



The vicarage seems to have been ordained when 

 the church was given to Vale Royal 27 ; by a further 

 ordination in 1357 the abbot and convent were 

 allowed to present one of their own monastery to the 

 benefice, they paying him 40 marks a year, and he 

 being responsible for the maintenance of the parson- 

 age-house and the care of souls. 28 



As early as 1220 the church, or perhaps two- 

 thirds of it, was valued at 80 marks a year. 29 In 1 29 1 

 the rectory was taxed at £160 and the vicarage at 

 £23 6s. %d., w but on account of the destructive 

 raid of the Scots in 1322 these amounts were reduced 

 to £53 6s. Sd. and £6 13/. ^.d. respectively. 31 The 

 Priors of Pcnwortham and Lancaster had shares of 



ls Cuthbert Clifton in 1512 left 

 1 £6 131. \d. towards building of the 

 steeple.' 



lb Whitaker, writing about 1822, says : 

 'The present church is well repaired and 

 handsome . . . there is not, however, a 

 relic of anything sufficiently old or curious 

 about the place to detain a topographer ' ; 

 Richmondskire, ii, 436. 



17 The old bells were sold. In 1571 

 ' the great bell had been taken down and 

 a new one put up ' ; Fishwick, op. cit. 90. 

 A second bell is named in 161 3 (ibid. 

 95) and a clock was set up in 16 12. 



18 The plate in 1601 consisted of ' two 

 old platters ' and a ' communion cup with 

 cowl of silver ' ; Fishwick, op. cit. 94. 

 The books in the church at that time 

 included a 'prayer-book for the corona- 

 tion ' and two copies of Foxe's Acts and 

 Monument-. 



In 1641 the church was broken into 

 and 'the green covering for the com- 

 munion table and all the other clothes in 

 the [iron] chest stolen ' ; ibid. 102. 



19 In Fishwick, op. cit. (89-115), may 

 be seen extracts of the records of the 

 thirty sworn men who governed the 

 parish. 



50 Farrer, Lanes. Pips R. 270. Various 

 confirmations were given later. 



81 Ibid. 290. 



22 Ibid. 276-83. In spite of this res- 

 toration the church of Kirkham was 

 included in a confirmation to the priory 



of Lancaster by John when Count of 

 Mortain, 1189-93 ; ibid. 298. See also 

 the account of the religious houses, V.C.H. 

 Lanes, ii, 167. 



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

 Ches.), i, 2. Theobald Walter had 

 already in 1 1 94 had a suit with Adam 

 the Dean of Kirkham and Richard the 

 Clerk respecting the advowson ; Curia 

 Regis R. 2, m. 1 7 d. 



In 1347 the Abbot of Shrewsbury 

 alleged that the Abbot of Vale Royal was 

 withholding the rent of 12 marks due to 

 him from Kirkham. The defendant 

 pleaded a release from the plaintiff dated 

 30 May 1341, which was accordingly 

 allowed ; Coram Rege R. 348, m. 41. 

 See also Fishwick, op. cit. 32. 



21 The right of the heirs of Theobald 

 Walter was acknowledged from time to 

 time by the Crown, e.g. Lanes. Inq. and 

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

 120 ; Cal. Pat. 1232-47, p. 17;. 



243 In 1270-1 Theobald le Boteler, who 

 was the great-grandson of Theobald 

 Walter, claimed the advowson of Kirk- 

 ham against the king, asserting that if 

 the kings had presented they had done so 

 on account of the minority of the heirs 

 at the time ; Curia Regis R. 201, m. 19; 

 204, m. 20. In 1277 Edward I, on a 

 fresh vacancy, claimed the advowson 

 against Theobald le Boteler, and also 

 against Edmund the king's brother, as 

 'ord of the honour; De Banco R. 21, 



J 45 



m. 16 d., 95. Two years later Theobald 

 acknowledged the king's right ; Final 

 Cone, i, 157. See also Cal. Close, 1272-9, 

 p. 546. 



25 The advowson of the church, with 

 the chapels, was first granted on 5 Dec. 

 1280, and was confirmed in 1287; Chart. 

 R. 74 (9 Edw. I), m. 11, no. 88 ; 81 

 (15 Edw. I), m. 3, no. 8 ; Fishwick, 

 op. cit. 211. A further confirmation of 

 the abbey's possessions was granted in 

 1299, and in this it is stated that at the 

 king's request Honorius IV and Nicho- 

 las IV had appropriated the church to 

 the monastery; Ormerod, Cfos. ii, 168-70; 

 Dugdale, Mon. v, 709—11. In the abbey 

 chartulary the grant from Pope Honorius 

 is ascribed to the good will of Otes 

 Grandison ; ibid, v, 706. The date is 

 given as 1286 in Fishwick, op. cit. 30. 



26 The grant of the manor, rectory, 

 &c., of Kirkham and the chapel of 

 Goosnargh was made in 1546 ; Pat. 

 38 Hen. VIII. 



27 The vicarage is named in the taxa- 

 tion of Pope Nicholas, 1292. 



28 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 484, 

 citing the registers of the archbishop's 

 court. In 1378 the fruits of the church 

 were sequestered because it was found the 

 40 marks were not being paid by the 

 abbey ; Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), xxii, 

 389. 29 Lanes. Inq. and Extents, i, 120. 



30 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 307. 

 81 Ibid. 307, 337- 



19 



