A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



was the case about 1612.' An improvement after- 

 wards took place, and under the Commonwealth a 

 serious attempt was made here, as in other places, to 

 minister to the religious needs of the people in the 

 sense of those in authority, so that in 1650 the 

 surveyors found 'a godly minister,' Mr. Norcott, 

 supplying the cure.' After the Restoration the older 

 order probably returned. Bishop Gastrell, about 

 1720, found that the curate's stipend was £\t, 2/. id., 

 which included £\ 5 from the inhabitants, and that in 

 1 7 1 9 leave had been given to build an aisle on each 

 side of the chapel. There was a resident curate, for 

 the 'house and ground' is mentioned,' and about 

 this time the township built a house called the 

 'Parsonage' for the curate.* A new service of 

 communion plate was provided in 1760.' In 1793 

 it appears that ' Sacrament Day ' came five times a 



year. 



The ancient structure ' was pulled down after the 

 building of the new church, 1853-6. It seems to 

 have undergone much rebuilding in the eighteenth 

 century, but at its destruction part of an ancient gable 

 was discovered in the west wall, so that something at 

 least of the old work remained till the last. The 

 chief records of its later history are to be found in 

 the earliest West Derby Vestry Book, begun in 1744. 

 In 1745 the stone pillars under the steeple and the 

 steeple itself were taken down and rebuilt, and in 

 1747 the chapel was 'uniformed down on both sides 

 to the west end of the steeple.' 



In 1786 the chancel and other ruinous parts were 

 taken down and rebuilt and the chapel enlarged. 



Other records state that the chapel was repaired in 

 1680 and rebuilt in 1792. 



\'iews taken shortly before its destruction show a 

 building with two east gables and windows of gothic 

 style in them, a large south aisle with two tiers of 

 classical windows, the upper tier to light a galler)-, 

 and at the west end of the church a small bell 

 turret and flagstaff. The new church was designed 

 by Sir G. G. Scott, and is a very good specimen of 

 his work, cruciform, with a pinnacled central tower.' 



The following have been curates * and rectors : 

 oc. 1592 Thomas Wainwright ' 

 oc. 1609 Edward Dowell '° 

 oc. 1648 William Norcott " 



oc. 1662 

 1676 

 1688 



oc. 1723 



1733 

 1756 



1765 

 1796 

 1798 



c. 1840 



1846 

 1889 



Joshua Ambrose " 



Thomas Hall " 



William Atherton " 



John Worthington " 



Edward Davies, B.A." 



Thomas Mallory, LL.B. (Tnn. Coll. 



Camb.) 

 Henry Tatlock 

 Thomas Myddelton 

 Richard Blacow, M.A." 

 William Moriarty, M.A. 

 John Stewart, M.A. (St. John's Coll. 



Camb.) 

 Percy Stewart, M.A. (Trin. Coll. Camb.) 



A mission room has been opened at Club Moor. 

 The church of the Good Shepherd in Carr Lane 

 was consecrated as a chapel of ease in 1903. 



The Established Church has now fifteen other places 

 of worship in the township. St. Mary's, Edge Hill, 

 was erected in 1 8 1 3 ; a small burial ground surrounds 

 it. The incumbents are presented by trustees." 



St. Jude's, Hardwick Street, was built by subscrip- 

 tion in 1 83 1." St. Anne's, Stanley, built at the same 

 time, was entirely rebuilt in 1890 by Mr. Fenwick 

 Harrison as a memorial of his father.'" At Knotty 

 Ash St. John the Evangelist's was built in 1835." 

 St. Stephen the Martyr's, Crown Street, was built in 

 1 85 1. In consequence of the opening of the 

 railway tunnel from Lime Street to Edge Hill 

 it was taken down and rebuilt in 1882 on an adjacent 

 site just within the boundary of Liverpool." The 

 incumbents of these four churches are presented by 

 the rectors of West Derby." 



St. John's the Divine in Fairfield was built in 

 1852; the Hyndman trustees are patrons." St. An- 

 drew's, Edge Lane, was licensed as a chapel of ease in 

 1904. 



In Mill Lane, West Derby, St. James's Church 

 was built in 1846 and enlarged in 1879 ; the repre- 

 sentatives of the late Mrs. Mary Thornton are 

 patrons. St. Catherine's, Edge Hill, was erected in 

 1863. St. Nathaniel's, Windsor, obscurely situated 

 in the midst of a poor and crowded district, was 

 built in 1869. It was burnt down in 1904 and 

 rebuilt." The beautiful church of St. John the Bap- 



» Ktnyon MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com.), 

 p. 13. The Visitation record for 1 60 1 

 at Chester shows that * Abbott, reader 

 there,' was unlicensed, and the vicar of 

 Walton did not read the service nor preach 

 once a quarter 5 the chapel was out of 

 repair, and there was no pulpit. 



* CommOTfd.'taltb Ch. Sur-v. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), p. 83 ; they recom- 

 mended that it should be made a parish 

 church, and that a second church should 

 be erected in or near Prescot Lane, the 

 people there being two miles distant from 

 any church or chapel. A stipend of 

 j^io 6j. %d. is mentioned as payable to 

 the minister out of the manor ; Royalist 

 Comp, P. (Rec, Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 ii. 164. 



» Gastrell, Nontia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), 

 li, 226. The contribution of the duchy, 

 ,^3 61. %d^ as granted by Henry VII, was 

 still paid. 



^ See a former note. 



* Vestry Book. 



* Having been made a parish church in 

 1844 by a private Act of Parliament. 

 The advowson of the newly created rectory 



was sold to Alderman John Stewart of 

 Liverpool. The present patron is Mr, 

 Arthur J. Stewart. 



7 An account of the old and new build- 

 ings, with views, is given in the Liverpool 

 Dioc. Gaz. Sept. 1903. 



8 ' Sir William Forster, clerk, of Derby,' 

 was witness in a dispute in 1570, and 

 aged 52 ; it is not known whether he was 

 in charge of the chapel. 



^ Tram. Hist, Soc. (New Ser.), x, 19Z ; 

 he was also there in 1598. 



'"Visit, list. Also in 1622; Misc. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i. 65. 



" He signed the Harmonious Consent of 

 164.8 as minister of this chapel. 



1^ He became vicar of Childwall in 

 1664. At the bishop's visitation in 1665 

 Christopher Fisher, ' pretended curate ' at 

 West Derby, was presented. 



^ Became vicar of Eccles. 



" Also curate of Liverpool. 



^ Administration of his estate was 

 granted in 1732. 



'* From this time the licences to the 

 curacy are to be found in the Act Books at 

 Chester. The stipend was ^^20 i6j. 



18 



'7 He is described as perpetual curate. 

 He was also minister of St. Mark's, 

 Liverpool. * 



^ One of the incumbents, the Rev. 

 Frederick Barker, became bishop of Sydney 

 1854 to 1884. 



1^ It was made a chapelry in 1876, 

 and afterwards endowed with ;^200 a 

 year. Lond. Gaz. 27 Oct. 1876 ; 2 Aug. 

 1878. 



^ There is a small burial ground. 



21 It has a burial ground attached. There 

 is a fine lychgate made of oak taken from 

 the old house called Boulton's. 



^ A district was assigned in 1852, and 

 twelve years later an endowment of ^132 

 granted ; Lond. Gax. 26 March, 1852 ; 

 12 July, 1864. For the removal, see ibid. 

 16 March, 1883. 



^ For St. Stephen's, the vicars of St. 

 Jude's and St. Mary's, Edge Hill, share 

 the patronage with the rector. 



*• For district see Lond. Gax. 24 March, 

 1854. 



^ See Lond. Gax. i Aug, 1871, for dis- 

 trict assigned. Canon Richard Hobson, the 

 first vicar (1869-1901), deserves mention. 



