A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1093 granted the church of St. Mary at Walton to the 

 monks of Shrewsbury, on the day of its dedication ; ' 

 this was confirmed by Henry I some thirty years 

 later.' The right remained with the monaster)- 

 until 1470, being then purchased by Thomas 

 Molyneux of Sefton,' and descended with this manor 

 until 1747, when Sir William Heathcote purchased 

 it.* It was again sold in 1 8 10 to John Leigh, of 

 Sandhills in Kirkdale, whose descendant, Mr. J. C. 

 Gerard Leigh, a minor, is the patron.* 



The vicarage was ordained in 1326, when Edward 

 II confirmed the grant of the church to the abbey.* 

 The rector}' was not appropriated, and both rector and 

 vicar continued to be appointed down to 1 890, when 

 the vicarage was suppressed, its revenues supplementing 

 those of the newly founded bishopric of Liverpool' 



Count Roger of Poitou gave the demesne tithes 

 of Walton to the abbey of St. Martin of Seez ; " a 

 composition was afterwards made between Stephen 

 de Walton and the prior of Lancaster.' In I 29 1 the 

 revenue of the church was estimated at ;{^44.'° Fifty 



The following is a list of the rectors : — 



Institution Name 



years later the ninth of sheaves, wool, &c., was valued 

 at 54 marks, being /8 less ; but the borough ot 

 Liverpool was separately taxed." In 1535 the gross 

 income was estimated at ^77 5'- ^^- '' various pay- 

 ments, including a pension of 20/. to the abbot ol 

 Shrewsbury, reduced this to £6g i6s. lod. ; the 

 vicarage was valued at £6 i 3/. 4<*'. 



The Commonwealth surveyors of 1650 recom- 

 mended the subdivision of the parish, leaving the 

 townships of Walton, Bootle, and Kirkdale to the old 

 church. There was a parsonage house worth 

 r± 2s. 4a'. a year ; the tithes of the township they 

 valued at ^65 I zs. \d. The vicarage house, with its 

 yard, orchard and garden, was worth 30/." 



Bishop Gastrell about 1720 found the rectory 

 worth X40oayear, and the vicarage ^ 1 0°; Liverpool 

 had then been cut off from the parish." The gross 

 value of the rectory is now stated as Xi'4°° '■> '* ^ 1=""8^ 

 part of the glebe has been covered with dwelling houses. 



The rectory was divided by an Act of Parliament 

 passed in 1843.'* 



oc. 1 192 



c. 1206 



Stephen" .... 

 Robert de Walton '" . 

 William, son of Robert '° 



Presented by 

 King John . . . 



Cause of Vacancy 



1 Farrcr, Lana. Fife R. p. 269. The 

 words of the charter might imply that a 

 new dedication had been madej more prob- 

 ably they refer to the anniversary festival. 

 The gift was made for the benefactor, his 

 wife, and their little son Achard, whom he 

 had made a monk at Shrewsbury. 



^Ibid. p. 2-1. There was a further 

 confirmation in 1141-2 by Ranulf Ger 

 nons, earl of Chester, and by Henry II in 

 1 ii;5 ; ibid. 2:'7, 284. 



In 127;^, in a plea of next presentation 

 to the church, then vacant, Nicholas de la 

 Hose granted to the abbot his presentation 

 for that turn ; Assize R. 1341, m. 26 d. 

 Probably Nicholas, who had newly received 

 the manor, thought that the advowson of 

 the church belonged to it. In 1292-3 the 

 abbot was called upon by the king to show 

 his right to the advowson, King John 

 having presented in time of peace (Wjc. 

 de quo fVarr. p. 605). Later still, in 

 l3(:o, the church being vacant, John of 

 Gaunt, on behalf nf the king, claimed the 

 presentation (De Banc. R. 562, m. 155). 



' On I June,- 1470, the abbot and 

 convent granted to John Dutton and other 

 trustees the advowson of Walton church, 

 /"So being paid by Thomas Molyneux in 

 part payment. It being alleged that 

 Lord Stanley had a similar bargain 

 as to the advowson, it was expressly 

 declared that neither he nor any other man 

 had any promise or covenant about it, 

 * except such motions as the said Thomas 

 Lord Stanley had with our predecessor 

 that last deceased ; all which motions and 

 covenants, if any were made by our said 

 predecessor, were by his death void ' 

 (Croxteth D. Bb, ii, 2-4). 



A vacancy occurring in 14"! the abbot 

 of Shrewsbury proved his right to the pa- 

 tronage .igainst the bishop of Lichfield and 

 Roger W'llton (Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 38, 

 m. 20 •, Croxteth D. Bb, ii, 6). John Moly- 

 neux having been presented by the abbot, 

 the Stanleys put forward their claim, and 

 in 1472 the arbitrators awarded that 

 James Stanley, clerk, should resign his 

 claim to the rectory, and allow John 

 Moh-neux to enjoy it peaceably (Ibid. 

 Genl. i, 58). .\s a James Stanley was 



presented at the next vacancy, there was 

 probably some compromise. 



* The Molyneuxes not being entitled to 

 present, owing to their religion, usually 

 sold the next presentations. On 29 Sep- 

 tember, 1675, Caryll Viscount Molyneux 

 and William his son and heir granted the 

 next presentation to Silvester Richmond 

 (Croxteth D, Bb, ii, 7-9). The Moly- 

 neuxes farmed considerable portions of 

 the Walton tithes, e.g. in 1639 they had 

 a lease of Sandfield Barn, West Derby 

 (Ibid. Bb, iii, 7). 



Deeds relating to the sale to Sir William 

 Heathcote are enrolled in the Com. Pleas ; 

 Trin. and Mich. 21 Geo. II, R. 76, m. 

 \%d. ; R. 82, m. 49 ; R. 83, m. 51. 



* Raines' notes in Gastrell, Notitia 

 Ccstr. (Chct. Soc), ii, 222. 



John Leigh was a well-known lawyer 

 of Liverpool ; he was born at Applcton 

 in Widnes in 1752, and died in 1823 ; 

 inscription in Walton church. Two 

 of his sons were rectors, and another 

 rector was a grandson. His eldest son, 

 John Shaw Leigh, settled at Luton, and 

 died in 1871 ; his son, John Gerard 

 Leigh, died four years later, having 

 granted the advowson to his wife, after- 

 wards Madame de Falbe. She died in 

 1899, and Captain Henry Gerard Leigh 

 succeeded, but died in the following year. 

 John Leigh married a sister of Dr. James 

 (son of Richard) Gerard, who was for a 

 time the owner of Rainhill manor-house. 

 From information kindly furnished by the 

 Rev. Canon Leigh, lately rector. 



' Gastrell, Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.}, 

 ii, 223-4. By this the rector nominated 

 the vicar, and the latter appointed the 

 curates of the several chapels ; but by 

 1720 these curates were appointed by the 

 rectors. In 171 5 the proportion of duty 

 to be performed by the rector and vicar 

 was settled. There was a second ordination 

 of the vicarage in the fifteenth century 

 (Lich. Epis. Reg. x, fol. 51). 



^ By an Act supplementing the Liver- 

 pool Bishopric Act the vicar's income is 

 paid to the Ecclcs. Com. who give a pro- 

 portion of the combined rector's and vicar's 

 incomes to the bishop. 



6 



8 Lanes. Pipe R. p. 290. This grant had 

 a confirmation from Richard I ; p. 299. 



3 Lane. Church (Chet. Soc), i, 112; 

 made between 1188 and 1198, as the 

 name of Hugh, bishop of Lichfield, proves. 

 There had been an earlier dispute, when 

 the demesne tithes of Walton had been 

 resigned to Shrewsbury in an arbitration 

 by Bernard, bishop of St. David's (i.aB«. 

 Pipe R. p. 276). 



" Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), p. 249. 



" Nonarum Inq. (Rec. Com.), p. 41. 

 The separate values were — West Derby, 

 jfi2 111. 6d.; Walton, ^^6 121. $d. ; 

 Kirkby, £6 izs. 5;/.; Formby with 

 Raven Meols and Ainsdale, £1 151. ^d. ; 

 Everton, £z lis. %d. ; Kirkdale, 

 j^3 6s. id. ; Bootle with Linacre. 

 ,^1 loj. The glebe of the church was 

 worth z6s. gd. and small tithes and ob- 

 lations pertaining to the altarage ^4. 



^^ ralor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 221. 

 The lands, &c. brought in 361. lod. and 

 the tithes ^75 81. %d. The principal 

 charge was the fee of Thomas Mossock 

 the bailiff, ^f 5. The vicar had the obla- 

 tions and small tithes. There is an 

 'extent' of the benefice made in 1561, 

 printed in Ch. Gds. (Chet. Soc), p. 95 n. 



*' CommoniueaUh Ch. Sur-v. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), p. 81. 



^■' Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 221. A 

 paper at Croxteth of somewhat later date 

 estimates the parsonage house and 36 

 acres of glebe as worth ^^loo a year, and 

 the tithes ,^828. The curates of West 

 Derby, Formby, and Kirkby were paid 

 jf2o 1 6s., ,^20, and £20 respectively. 



'* Li-verpool Dioc. Cal. 



'' By this private act (6 and 7 Vict. cap. 

 16) West Derby became an independent 

 rectory. 



'' Lane. Ch. i. 112; also fVhalley Coucher 

 (Chet. Soc), i, 40. 



" Lanes. Pipe R. 354 ; Croxteth D. X. 



iv, 2. 



•' William and Henry de Walton occur 

 in a list of clergy about this time ; Lane. 

 Church, i, 120. It is known that a 

 William, son of Robert, one of the king's 

 clerks, was presented to Walton by King 

 John; Plac. de quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 605. 



