WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



descendants till 1 7 1 7, when it was sold, with other 



Derby manors, to Isaac Greene,' and has descended 



like Childwall to the marquis 



of Salisbury, the present lord 



of the manor.' Courts are 



held. 



A body of commissioners for 

 the management of the lands 

 formerly waste has long been 

 in existence.' 



The sites of four ancient 

 mills are known : A water-mill 

 by the castle, below the church ; 

 a horse-mill at the castle ; a 

 windmill in Mill Lane ; and 

 Ackers Mill, in the eastern 

 corner of the township.* 



Croxteth Hall, formerly 

 called Barret's Hall, the chief 

 seat of the earl of Sefton, is 



situated in this township on the borders of Croxteth 

 Park, from which it takes its name. The Molyneux 



Gascoyne-Ckcil, 

 Marquess of Salisbury. 

 Barry of ten argent and 

 aaure ; over all six escut- 

 cheons^ three^ fwo, and one, 

 sable, each charged 'with a 

 lion rampant of thejirst^ a 

 crescent for difference. 



WALTON 



family acquired it in Henry VFs reign, when Sir 

 Richard Molyneux was steward of the manor,'* and 

 about 1540 was one of the chief residences of the 

 Molyneux family.^ The deeds at Croxteth show 

 various acquisitions of land in West Derby, beginning 

 in 1545/ 



The oldest part of the existing building is the 

 western half of the south wing, now much hidden 

 by kitchens built in front of it in 1874. ^^ ^^ ^^ 

 brick with stone dressings and mullioned windows, 

 and has two bays projecting southward. Its date 

 is c. 1 575-1600, the details being plain, and it 

 is probable that the house of which it is the only 

 surviving portion was neither large nor elaborate. 

 The south front may originally have had a third pro- 

 jecting bay to the west, destroyed by the building of 

 the west wing, and perhaps a courtyard on the north, 

 but of this there is no trace. 



The west wing is the finest part of the building 

 and was added, as dates upon it show, between 1702, 

 and 1714. It has a raised terrace on the west, and 

 contains a fine set of lofty panelled rooms opening 



1 By Indenture dated 24 Oct. 1717, 

 between John, Lord Ashbumham, and 

 Lady Henrietta Maria his wife — daughter 

 and heir of William, earl of Derby, and 

 sister and heir of Lady Elizabeth Stanley, 

 deceased, the other daughter and co-heir — 

 and others, of the first part ; Francis 

 Brace and others, of the second part ; and 

 Jonathan Case, of the Red Hazels, 

 Huyton, of the third part ; the manors, 

 &c. of West Derby, Wavertree, and 

 Everton, and all messuages, lands, &c. 

 ■within the said manors belonging to 

 Lady Ashbumham, including two wind- 

 mills called Ackers Mill in West Derby, 

 and Wavertree Mill, were sold to Jonathan 

 Case, who, as appears from another deed, 

 was acting as the trustee for Isaac Greene j 

 Hatfield Papers, room i, 672-5 and 672- 

 10. The price named Is ^^3,611 51. 3^. 

 The second deed is enrolled in King's 

 Bench, Easter Term, 12 Geo. I. 

 3 See the account of Childwall. 

 * By an agreement of i Dec. 1718, a 

 partition of the commons was made by 

 the lord of the manor and the owners of 

 lands in Everton and West Derby, with 

 special reference to the Breck j part was 

 to be devoted to the general benefit of 

 the township, chapel, school, and relief of 

 the poor. 



A further agreement was made on 

 12 Mar. 1723, between Isaac Greene as 

 lord of the manor, and the surviving com- 

 missioners, part of the Breck, north of 

 the highway from Rake Lane to New- 

 sham Land, having been sold to Everton 

 for ;^2O0. Liberty was given to Isaac 

 Greene to enclose an acre of largest 

 measure on the borders of West Derby 

 and Liverpool ; eight acres of waste in 

 Low Hill and Cheetham's Brow ; also 

 pits and ponds at Club Moor, leaving 

 enough water for cattle. The curates of 

 West Derby were to have the messuage, 

 &c. lately constructed at the expense of 

 the township near Blackmoor Moss, at a 

 rent of dd. 



In 1753 new commissioners were ap- 

 pointed. Mary Greene, as daughter and 

 co-heir of Isaac, was lady of the manor, 

 and was to enjoy the enclosures made 

 under the last agreement ; and the com- 

 missioners were to have the commons or 

 wastes in West Derby on or near Low 

 Hill, Breck, Club Moor, Blackmoor Moss, 

 Page Moss, and Gill Moss ; also land 



near Smeatham (Smithdown) Lane lately 

 (and wrongly) enclosed by John Smarley, 

 deceased. Notice of further enclosures 

 was to be posted up at the Exchange in 

 Liverpool, and on the south door of the 

 chapel at West Derby, as also notices of 

 the meetings of the trustees, which might 

 also be announced in the chapel, at least 

 fifteen days before. On the death of a 

 trustee the survivors, or a majority of 

 them, were to appoint a successor from 

 among the freeholders or copyholders of 

 j^20 per annum. No fine or foregift was 

 to be paid for leases, but the best yearly 

 rent obtainable was to be charged ; parcels 

 of the waste might be sold to copyholders 

 or freeholders having lands adjoining, but 

 a ground-rent was to be reserved in such 

 cases. The profits were to be applied to 

 the payment of lays and taxes or other- 

 wise for the public benefit. The above 

 details are taken from a pamphlet printed 

 in Liverpool in 1859, S'^ing the deeds 

 constituting the West Derby Waste 

 Lands Commissioners. 



A new scheme was made in 1874. A 

 detailed description of the lands will be 

 found in the End. Char. Rep. (Fazakerley, 

 &c.) of 1904, pp. 30-40. 



^ See Trans. Hist, Soc. (new ser.), xii, 

 59-64. 



* The grants to John Barret for life by 

 Henry, duke of Lancaster in 1359 will be 

 found in Dep. Keeper* s Rep. xxxi, App, 

 32 ; confirmed by the king, Cal. Rot, 

 Pat. lyob. The sameestate was in 1375 

 granted to John le Boteler for life ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Misc. Books, xlii, ill. From an 

 abstract of title at Croxteth : 'It appears 

 by the rolls of Derby court of 6 Henry VI 

 that John Barret, who formerly held 

 Barret's Hall and forty acres of land, was 

 dead ; and the master-foresters having 

 since held them and paid no fine, there- 

 fore Thomas Lathom came and offered 

 forty shillings fine to be admitted.* (It 

 seems likely that he was in trust for 

 Sir Richard Molyneux.) '39 Henry VI, 

 Thomas, son of Sir Richard Molyneux, 

 knight, was admitted to Barret's Hall and 

 other lands his late father's, to hold to 

 him and the heirs male of his body 5 re- 

 mainder to the heirs male of Sir Richard 

 Molyneux, his grandfather.' 



The adjacent township of Croxteth 

 Park was afterwards acquired from the 

 crown. 



15 



^ See the accounts of Croxteth Park 

 and Sefton. 



7 In this year Sir William Molyneux 

 acquired from Thomas Gorsuch of Scaris- 

 brick a close called Townrowhey ; Crox- 

 teth D. Cc. i, 2, 3. These lands had 

 been purchased by William Gorsuch from 

 Richard Kekewich, whose son John in 

 1520 released all his right to the pur- 

 chaser ; ibid. Cc. i, ib. In the fol- 

 lowing year Richard, son and heir of 

 John Kekewich of Lathom enfeoffed 

 Robert Wolfall and William Norris of 

 his lands in West Derby, called Kekewich 

 Fields, lying by Home Lake ; ibid. Cc. 

 ii, 4. 



The Kekewich family appear early in 

 the township. Gilbert de Kekewich in 

 1298 held the land which had been John 

 Gernet's ; Inq. and Extents, 285. It was 

 his son Richard apparently who in 1333 

 had a messuage and thirty acres here 

 from Gilbert de Kekewich and Ellen his 

 wife ; Final Cone, ii, 91 5 see also i, 208. 



In a claim by Richard Kekewich 

 against Andrew Norris in 1612, respect- 

 ing a tenement in West Derby, the plaintiff 

 adduced his pedigree thus : John de Keke- 

 wick -s John (to whom the land had been 

 granted in the time of Richard II.) -s. 

 Richard -s. Edmund -s. John — s. Richard 

 — s. John-s, Edward -s. Richard (plain- 

 tiff) ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 307, m. 

 23 i/. For the first three generations 

 see Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc), i, 10, 1 1. 



Sir Richard Molyneux in 1562 pur- 

 chased from Henry Acres of Chilvers; 

 Coton a capital messuage known as^. 

 Ackers' hall and various lands lately held; 

 by Henry Fletcher, William Litherlandj„ 

 and Richard Acres ; the price was ^^240 ;. 

 ibid. Cc. i, 4. Caryll Lord Molyneux in 

 1674 bought a messuage in the Woodside 

 from Robert Williamson ; ibid. Cc. i, 24^ 

 Stc Lanes. Inq. p. m, (Rec. Soc. Lanes., 

 and Ches.), iii, 390. 



The lands between West Derby church 

 and Croxteth Hall were acquired at 

 various times. Queen Elizabeth in 1598- 

 leased for twenty-one years to Sir RichardI 

 Molyneux a windmill and horse-mlllj, 

 twenty acres of meadow in Earl's meadow, 

 and the herbage of the castle ditch, con- 

 taining three acres, called Mere Meadow ; 

 the consideration being j^i6 paid and a 

 rent of ^^4 41. ; the lease was renewed by 

 James I in 161 3, at a reduced rent of 



