AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



GARSTANG 



secular priest. Their estates consisted of annuities 

 out of the manor.' 6 



Owing to a division in the Congregational church 

 at Garstang a Particular Baptist church was established 

 at Nateby, the chapel being opened in 1839. 36 



From early in the 1 7th century there were mis- 

 sionary priests' stations at Bowers House " and 

 Nateby Hall. 38 



GARSTANG 



Cherestanc, Dom. Bk. ; Geresteng, Grestem, 

 1204; Gayrestan, 1236; Gayerstang, 1246; Gayr- 

 stang, 1274; Gayrestang, 1292. 



This township, which gives its name to the parish, 1 

 extends for about 2 miles along the western bank of 

 the Wyre, but its breadth seldom exceeds half a mile, 

 and the area measures but 502^ acres. 2 The little 

 town of Garstang lies along the main road from 

 Preston to the north, which here crosses the Wyre 

 by a two-arched stone bridge. 3 At the south end of 

 the town is the modern church, and at the north 

 end is a station on the single-line railway which 

 branches from the London and North- Western main 

 line to go to Pilling and Knott End. 4 Various roads 

 lead to Cockerham, Pilling and Churchtown. The 

 Preston and Kendal Canal comes into the township 

 by an aqueduct over the Wyre and crosses into 

 Nateby. 



The surface is generally even, between 50 ft. and 

 70 ft. above sea level for the most part, but at the 

 north end attaining 100 ft. The population in 

 1901 was 808. 



The relative importance of the place has greatly 

 declined since the opening of the railway route to 

 the North. There are no manufactures, and the 

 land is entirely in pasture. The township is now 

 governed by a parish council. Gas is supplied by a 



private company formed in 1880 6 and water by the 

 Fylde Water Board. 



William Lancaster issued a farthing token in 1663. 6 



In 1 690 Ogilby described Garstang as ' a good 

 thoroughfare, with a market for corn, cattle, &c, on 

 Thursdays.' Pococke in 1750 thought it 'a very 

 poor town ' ; he ' saw to the east the smoke of some 

 iron-smelting houses, which are erected there on 

 account of the great plenty there is of wood.' 7 



The market cross, restored in 1897, stands in the 

 main street. Near it were formerly the well and 

 pump and the fish-stones. The old stocks are pre- 

 served in the town hall. 8 



As already explained, Garstang usually 

 MANOR denoted the lordship of Nether Wyres- 

 dale, but a smaller subordinate manor 

 was created in 1246 in the present township of 

 GARSTANG by one of William de Lancaster's 

 death-bed gifts — that of 4 oxgangs of land, which he 

 granted with his heart to Cockersand Abbey. 9 This 

 manor, after the Suppression, was given by Philip 

 and Mary to the Savoy Hospital 10 ; it afterwards 

 reverted to the Crown, and was let on lease, 11 but was 

 in 1750 sold to the lessee, the Hon. Edward 

 Walpole, under a special Act of Parliament." Through 

 his daughter the lordship has descended to Mr. 

 Bertram William Arnold Keppel of Lexham, Norfolk. 13 

 Courts baron have been held down to the present 

 time. 



In 1 3 10 the canons of Cockersand obtained a 

 royal charter for a market every Thursday at their 

 manor of Garstang and a yearly fair on 28-9 June." 

 The right fell into abeyance, and Leland's statement 

 that ' some said ' it was a market town shows that 

 markets had ceased to be held long before the Reforma- 

 tion. In 1597 Elizabeth granted the inhabitants a 

 weekly market and two yearly fairs * for the relief of 



35 Estcourt and Payne, op. cit. 121, 

 148, 150: 



36 Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. i, 203 ; 

 Fishwick, op. cit. 124. 



37 Ibid. 252. 



38 Gillow, op. cit. iv, 241. 



1 Perhaps it would be more correct to 

 say that it takes its name from the parish. 



2 488 acres, including 13 of inland 

 water; Census Rep. 1 90 1. A small de- 

 tached part of Cabus was added in 1887 

 by Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 20097. At the 

 same time some adjustments were made 

 with Bamacre township. 



3 The first Earl of Derby left ,£20 

 towards the building of a bridge here ; 

 V.C.H. Lanes, iii, 160, n. 6. 



4 This railway was opened in 1870 as 

 far as Pilling, and completed to Knott 

 End in 1908. 



6 Act 43 & 44 Vict. cap. 61. 



6 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. v, 77. 



7 Ogilby, Bk. of Roads ; Travels through 

 Engl. (Camd. Soc), i, 13. 



8 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xx, 197. 

 Remains of two other crosses are known ; 

 the cross itself in one case is at Bowgrave 5 

 ibid. 201. 



9 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 165 ; it was then 

 worth 2 marks yearly. The brief charter 

 is in Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc), i, 

 281. This may be a confirmation or 

 extension of a previous grant of 4 oxgangs 

 of land (ibid. 280), the bounds of which 

 are given— from Belanspot Ford to Kiner- 

 syke and thence to Tilversheimholme 

 Ford beyond the Moss. 



Its history under the rule of the canons 

 appears to have been unmarked by note- 

 worthy incidents. An oxgang of land was 

 in dispute in 1246 ; Assize R. 404, m. 6. 

 Names of tenants, with their rents, from 

 145 1 to 1538 will be found in the printed 

 Chartulary, iii, 1272-5. In 1538 the 

 abbots and canons leased their manor 

 and other estates in the district to John 

 Rigmaiden for ninety-nine years at a rent 

 of £10 81. ; Fishwick, Garstang (Chet. 

 Soc), 14. 



10 Pat. 4 & 5 Phil, and Mary, pt. xv. 

 The advowson of the parish church was 

 included. The master of the hospital 

 gave a lease to Henry Saville, its term of 

 ninety-nine years to begin on the expiry 

 of the Rigmaiden lease. This prospective 

 lease was acquired by John Rigmaiden 

 and passed by the sale of the Wedacre 

 estate to Lord Gerard ; Fishwick, op. 

 cit. 15. 



Thus in 1667 William Spencer and his 

 wife Elizabeth were involved in disputes 

 with Lord Gerard, with Thomas Green 

 as to messuages held on lease, and with 

 Hugh Barton and others as to the customs 

 and tenant rights of the manor as observed 

 by the abbey of Cockersand and the 

 masters and chaplains of the Savoy Hos- 

 pital ; Exch. Dep. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and 

 Ches.), 45. There was a fine respecting 

 the manor of Garstang, &c, in 1689 

 between Elizabeth Spencer, widow, and 

 William Spencer and Mary his wife ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 224, m. 63. 



11 After the expiration of the leases 

 named above the Crown in 1742 let the 



311 



manor to William Hall, who transferred 

 to the Hon. Edward Walpole, and he in 

 1 75 1 obtained a fresh lease for thirty-one 

 years ; Fishwick, op. cit. 16-17 i ^^ 

 25 Geo. II, pt. iii. 



12 23 Geo. II, cap. 7, private. The 

 Act was passed for the benefit of the 

 town and district, it being represented 

 that the lessee, having only a short lease, 

 was discouraged from any attempt to 

 improve it ; Fishwick, loc. cit. 



13 Edward Walpole was second son of 

 Sir Robert, the great statesman, created 

 Earl of Orford in 1742. Edward was 

 Chief Secretary for Ireland, created K.B. 

 in 1753 (Collins, Peerage, v, 49) and 

 died unmarried in 1784. His natural 

 daughter Louisa, who received Garstang, 

 was the wife of Dr. Frederick Keppel 

 (son of the second Earl of Albemarle), 

 Bishop of Exeter 1762-77 -s. Frederick 

 of Lexham, d. 1830 -s. Frederick Wal- 

 pole, d. 1858 -bro. (Col.) Edward George 

 Walpole, d. 1859 -bro. (Rev.) William 

 Arnold Walpole, d. 1888 -s. (Col.) 

 William Henry Augustus, d. 1889 -e. 

 Bertram W. A. Keppel, b. 1876 ; Burke, 

 Peerage under Albemarle ; Diet. Nat. 

 Biog. lix, 20$. 



The estate was offered for sale in 1867. 



14 Chart. R. 4 Edw. II, m. 22, no. 59 ; 

 Cat. Chart. R. 1300-26, p. 138. 



On the fair day, 29 June 1369, there 

 came to the fair John de Derby, canon 

 and warden of Cockerham, John de 

 Chacoumbe and various men of Cocker- 

 ham, with force and arms, to seek a 

 certain Thomas and maltreat him, and 



