A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



show by what right they claimed wreck of the sea at 

 Lytham." Later they are found paying the Earl of 

 Lancaster y. \d. a year for this right." In 1498 a 

 number of other claims were called in question, in- 

 cluding free warren." Estholme Carr was at one 

 time held by the Bradkirk family.™ There are but 

 few traces of other freeholders." 



Several accounts of the furniture and stock of the 

 priory have been preserved. 30 The house itself seems 

 to have been deserted by the monks before the 

 Dissolution ; they returned to Durham. 



In addition to the lord of the manor several yeomen 

 and others registered estates as ' Papists 'in 171 7." 



The church of ST. CUTHBERT 

 CHURCH stands at the west end of the town and 

 is a modern building in red brick erected 

 in 1834. on tne si'eof an older edifice built in 1770, 

 which in kstur : had replaced one of still ejrlier date. 

 This earlier church was built of cobbles and was very 

 low, with a ' steeple,' a porch, and a ' pulpit against 

 the south wall.' A description of the building as it 

 was in 1764 has been preserved in a brief of that 

 date, 3 ' in which it is stated to be a 'very ancient 

 structure standing upon the sea-coast and so much 

 decayed in every part that the parishioners cannot 

 assemble therein for the worship of God without 

 manifest danger to their lives, the walls being so 

 bulged out, in some places near three feet from the 

 perpendicular, that the parishioners have laid out 

 considerable sums of money from rime to time in re- 

 pairing and endeavouring to support the said church, 

 yet the same is by length of time become so ruinous 

 and decayed that it cannot any longer be kept up, 

 but the same with the steeple must be taken down 



and rebuilt.' The building was ar. t !i-r!,- taken 

 down™ and a new chur :h ercaed, which in plan was a 

 simple rectangle under a gabled roof with a ' whitened ' 

 west tower containing one bell." The interior of ihe 

 building, which is described as being 'extremely 

 simple, light, and elegant ' " and ' preserved in the 

 neatest possible order,' was 'fitted up with thick 

 narrow oak frames ornamented with elbows or scrolls 

 and having two rows in the middle and one at 

 each side.' M The walls were above a yard in thick- 

 ness, the main door having a small porch, and to t.'.c 

 east and west were the remains of thick walls,, as if 

 they might have been the ruins of some former and 

 larger edifice." The parish maintained the we<t 

 end, which was 'about half of it,' and Thomai 

 Clifton the east end. 58 This second church was 

 pulled down in 1834, being found too small to meet 

 the requirements of the growing number of visitors in 

 the season, and the first stone of the present building 

 was laid in March and the church opened in the 

 same year. It consists of chancel with north vestry 

 and organ chamber, clearstoricd nave with north and 

 south aisles and west tower. The chancel, which 

 was originally small, was extended in 1 872, and the 

 north aisle was widened in 1S82, being increased to 

 double its width and covered with a separate gahled 

 roof. The style is Gothic with embattled walls to 

 nave and tower, the roofs being covered with stone 

 slates, and though architecturally of little merit is 

 perhaps superior to much Gothic work of the period, 

 the brickwork showing nothing of the hardness of 

 line so common in stone churches of the early part of 

 the last century. A new vestry on the north side of 

 the old one was erected in 1 909 in memory of Bishop 



honour of which they desisted. They 

 were ordered not to interfere in the Hawes, 

 but might use their common in K:l»ri- 

 mosie as before ; Ducky Plead. (Rec 

 Soc Lanes, and Ches.), i, 206-10. A 

 renewal of the dispute has caused some 

 further information as to the priory lands 

 to be recorded. The Priory of Lytham 

 stood at the end of the church ; the 

 Kilgrimoles churchyard had been (so it 

 was said) ' worn into the sea.' One 

 Cursed mere was near the priory ; another 

 was in the m^ss. The name was given 

 because many beasts had be-n drowned 

 therein. The decision was in the prior' s 

 favour ; ibid, ii, 9-19. 



*> P.j.: J; s> • If'i-r. (Rec. Com.), ;86. 

 The king recovered this rjrr, and in 

 1 ;o ; transferred it to his brother Edmund ; 

 Cj.. Ckart. R. \i^~ 1 ;oo, p. +f>i. 



K $xrvt\ of I t+P Ch-t. Soc), 44. 



i: P»l. of Lane \V: :« Triton. 20 Aug. 

 it Hen. VII ; the claims were view of 

 fraukp '.ciire, with waifs and strays, as ;ize 

 of bread, v. rock of sea, sok, Jik, team, 

 cvo. ; freedom from common services and 

 amercement*, pontace. A.:. ; also ree 

 warren in the demesne lands in Lytham. 



'•* The Prior of Durham in 15:7 

 granted all his waste of Estho :-ne Carr in 

 l.viham to John de Bradkirk and Alice 

 his wire, with remainder to John their 

 son tor his '.; e only. A rent of 4J. was 

 to be paid for each acre newly approved j 

 c>>rti growing on the land wa? to '.-^ -r^-.-. : 

 it the Lytham milt, and suit of co art was 

 t - be performed as .-.one bv other tenants 

 of Lv:ham and Esth imc ; Lytham D. at 

 Durum. 4 and t, J a. 4 a '. t'bor. 



From pleading* of 1 : 1 it appeared 

 that John de Bradkirk had had a charter 



for Estholme Carr from the Prior of 

 Durham, and by his wie Al;ce had three 

 s as, John, Edmund and Adam ; the last, 

 as heir of his brothers, surrendered to the 

 prior; Assize R. 141 S» m * 39- 1° lne 

 lUtui domui for 1 ;a 5 a sum of £7 1 11. %J. 

 was put down for this plea ; 5 marks 

 were given to Adam de P.radkirk. 



In 12+6 the Prior of Durham demised 

 for life 24 acre) in the marsh of Edric- 

 holme to John Sauener of Lytham and 

 Adam son of Rozer the Priest for 8j. 

 rent ; 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 7. 



B Richard Carcue.l in i ^72 claimed a 

 tenement in Lvtham by descent against 

 Ri .hard Salthouse, whose title was derived 

 from Thomas Holcroft ; Ducatui Lane. 

 iii, 4. 



Ribert Clark died in 1599 holding, 

 besides other property, a messuage, &c^ in 

 N--.-t:*« in Lvtham, but the tenure was 

 not recorded ; Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. 

 xvil, no. 44. Small plats were held by 

 Thomas Jcliice and Thomas B>mber of 

 Lavton ; in those cases also no tenure 

 was given. John Walsh of Layton in 

 1 6;+ held 3 acres in Lytham of the king 

 bv the three-hun-re :ih part of a knight's 

 fee ; Towneley MS. CS,i? (Chet. Lib.), 

 1311. 



The profit! of the portion of the estate 

 of William Harris of Lytham sreue'terea' 

 for recusal! cv were in 1607 granted by 

 the Crown to Sir Richard Coningsby ; 

 Cj.'. 5. P. D:m. loot-' :, p. 5S5. James 

 Eeesiev, a recusant, had two-thirds of his 

 estate sequestered by the Commonwealth 

 authorities before 1653 ; Cat. C;*--. J:- 

 Cf*. iv, ; 1 -4. 



' H I'll corn in the rnn^ and 

 £ticu";- from the d.me-ne ."".- tile tithe 



:i6 



amounted to 18 qrs., in need 10 qrs. ; 

 [other corn J 2 qrs., in need i qr. z bushels ; 

 barley 24 qrs. ; beans and peas 18 qrs., 

 which were considered enough for tcoti 

 and for the food of the house \ oats 

 200 qrs., also sufficient. 



The stock of oxen for the ploughs was 

 24 ; cowl 22, with 2 bulls ; younger 

 cnttle, 36 ; sheep and ewes, 78 ; lambs, 

 36 ; pigs, Ac, 14, with 2 boars. 



Money in hand and due was considered 

 enough for the creditors. 



In later yr irs much more detailed 

 statements were compiled ; sec those 

 printed in Hist, of t.\iham (Chet. Soc.), 

 73-93, from the Durham records. 



The site of the priory with the lands 

 attached was valued at £% 81. in 1535 ; 

 the rents, &c, in Lytham amounted to 

 £22 in., in Estholme £3 7». f Med- 

 holme £7 is. 8 7., Pillhou*es and Bank- 

 houses 1 2i. 1 \d^ other lands 42J. ; in all 

 £43 %u yd. ; Valor EccL (Rec Com.), 



?, 395. 



31 Estc-.urt and Payne, En?l. Cath 

 S'.'tiurr.rt, 94, 106, 147. Thr;r rames 

 were Wil hrn Snape, Jamei and John 

 Harrison, Robert Bennett, Henry Fletcher, 

 Ellen Smrh and Roger Charnley. 



83 Quoted by Fiihwick,//nr. of 'Ljtksn , 



37- 



13 A* far as is known neither p ia nor 

 sketch has been preferred ; ibid. 3$. 



u There is an illwt ration from a water- 

 clcur drawing, ibid. %?• 



*• CapL Latham, Dnnlton flit-.ry / 

 Ljthc^ in W..kt.e, op. cit. 41. 



m Thoraber, Hist, of B.'mm^\ *4 : - 



* Ibid. 



»Terrer of 17-5, quoted by Fnh- 

 w!.k, op. cit. 45. 



