AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



LYTHAM 



established a cell or priory. 10 After the Dissolution 

 Lytham was sold by the Crown in 1554 to Sir 

 Thomas Holcroft," and in 1 606 it was acquired by 

 Cuthbert Clifton of Westby." It became the chief 

 residence of its new lords, whose descent has been 

 traced in the account of Clifton in Kirkham. The 

 lord of the manor, who is practically the sole land- 

 owner, is Mr. John Talbot Clifton, who resides at 

 Lytham Hall. 

 The hall stands in a park of over 600 acres on the 



north-west of the town half a mile immediately to 

 the north of the parish church. It is a fine classic 

 building of two stories and an attic, begun in 175 1 

 from the designs of Carr of York but not completed 

 till 1 764." The principal front faces east and has a 

 pediment supported by Ionic columns the height of 

 the upper floors. 



The Priors of Lytham (or of Durham) had various 

 disputes with their neighbours as to boundaries and 

 common rights," and in 1292 were summoned to 



Lytham Hall 



From deeds preserved at Durham it 

 seems that Evesham Abbey had had a 

 grange at Lytham; Lytham D. 12, 2a, 

 4 ae, Ebor. &c. 



10 See the account of the religious 

 houses in V.C.H. Lanes, ii, 107—10. 



21 Pat 2 Mary, pt. ii, the church and 

 hall formerly belonging to Durham. The 

 Prior of Durham had in 1539 granted a 

 lease of the manor to Thomas Dannett 

 for eighty years at a rental of ^48 1 gs. 6d., 

 and this seems to have been confirmed by 

 the Crown in 1549, with a reduction of 

 the rent due ; D. at Lytham. Dannett 

 was to pay 31. 4<£ to the king for wreck, 

 waifs and strays, and 40J. to the Earl of 

 Derby as steward's fee. 



Sir Thomas Holcroft died in July 

 1558 holding the manor of Ly ham of 

 the Crown by knight's service. His son 

 Thomas was a year old ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Inq. p.m. x, no. 13. 



In 1586 Thomas Holcroft had a dispute 

 with William Clifton as to waste called 

 Westmoss; Ducatus Lane. (Rec. Com.), 

 Hi, 173, 187. 



" Cuthbert Clifton (afterwards made a 

 knight) came of age in 1603, and pur- 

 chased Lytham in 1606 from Sir Richard 

 Molyneui and Frances his wife ; Pal. of 

 Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 70, no. 60 ; Piccope 

 MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 50. How the 

 vendors obtained the manor has not been 

 ascertained. In the year of purchase 



Cuthbert Clifton made a settlement of the 

 manor, rectory of the church, view of 

 frankpledge, free warren and fishery, lands, 

 &c. ; PaL of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 70, 

 no. 40. In 1609 Gilbert Sythworth 

 had a rent of £24 out of the manor 

 from Cuthbert Clifton and Anne his 

 wife; ibid. bdle. 76, no. 34. In 161 2 

 the manor appears among the other 

 Clifton properties, and continues to do so 

 in later settlements, &c. ; ibid. bdle. 80, 

 no. 24 ; 156, m. 247, &c. 



The tenure of the manor was declared 

 to be by knight's service in 1634 ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Inq. p.m. zxvii, no. 43. 



23 E. B. Chancellor, liwi of British 

 Architects, 251. There is a view of it in 

 Twycross, Mansions of Engl, and Wales 

 (Lanes, ii, 33). 



24 In 1272 a declaration of the bounds 

 between Kelgrimoles and Layton was 

 made by Ranulf de Dacre, the sheriff, 

 and other arbitrators. The old cross on 

 Cross How was the starting-point ; from 

 it the boundary line went west to the 

 sea, and east to another cross set up by 

 the arbitrators on the road from Lytham 

 to Layton, and thence through the middle 

 of the great moss between Marton and 

 Lytham on the north side of Miggylund 

 as far as Swinebridge Brook ; but Kel- 

 grimoles and the Northhows were to be 

 common for both Layton and Lytham ; 

 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 14. 



215 



In 1 291 the Priors of Durham and 

 Lytham, Alan a monk at Lytham and 

 Robert de Milium chaplain there had to 

 answer Robert de Holland and Margery 

 his wife as to land alleged to be in 

 Westby, the defence being that it was in 

 Lytham $ Assize R. 407, m. 3. Next 

 year a similar dispute between the Prior 

 of Durham and William de Clifton resulted 

 in a division ; Assize R. 408, m. 25. 

 There was a further dispute in 1350; 

 De Banco R. 360, m. 23. Pasture land 

 in Holmecarr was in 1347 declared to be 

 in Lytham, not in Kellamergh as claimed 

 by Adam and John de Sharpies ; Assize 

 R. 1435, m. 15. 



In July 1 351 the Prior of Durham 

 proved his right to 100 acres of moor and 

 marsh against Robert de Beetham, Eleanor 

 his wife, Thomas son of Gilbert de Single- 

 ton, Gilbert his son and Isabel his wife, 

 Richard son of Richard Banastre and 

 others ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 1, 

 m. 4. The prior was in 1356 defendant 

 to a claim put forward by William Boteler 

 of Warrington and Sir John Boteler ; 

 ibid. 5, m. 12. 



In 1530 the Botelcrs asserted their 

 boundary claims in a violent manner, 

 throwing down an ancient boundary cross, 

 another cross and the image of St. Cuth- 

 bert, and threatening the priory itself, 

 being held in check only by two monks 

 who brought the sacrament out, for the 



