A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



NORTH MEOLS 



Otegrimele,Otringemcle, Dom. Bk. ; Xorthmclcs, 

 I 232 ; Nordmele, 1237. 



The land in this most northern township in the 

 hundred is very flat, so much so that it is protected 

 from the inroads of the waters of the Ribble estuary 

 by high embankments, and the force of the tide is 

 broken by piles driven at high-water mark along the 

 muddy shore. Within the shelter of these banks the 

 marshy land has been reclaimed and turned to good 

 account ; the soil, a rich peat mixed with sand, proves 

 verv fertile. Thus a large area of country is occupied 

 by market gardens and fields, where crops of clover, 

 hay, potatoes, com, &c. flourish. The fields are 

 divided by ditches which serve the double purpose of 

 division and drainage, whilst low hawthorn hedges 

 form the divisions in the more sheltered portions of 

 the township. A wide and deep sluice and several 

 large drains carrying off the water from the district 

 about the site of Martin Mere empty themselves into 

 the sea ; constant pumping and draining operations 

 are necessary to prevent this portion reverting to its 

 original state of inundation. There are but few 

 plantations to break the monotony of the level surface 

 of the countrj', and these are strictly preserved as 

 cover for game. 



The area is 8,467 acres.' The population in 

 1 90 1 was 49,908, of whom 1,825 belonged to the 

 part of the township outside Southport. Half the 

 area of the township has by degrees been included 

 within the borough. The remainder, known by the 

 old name, is governed by a parish council ; it contains 

 the hamlet of Banks. 



In 1066 five thegns held OTEGRI- 

 MJ.\'OR MELE ' for five manors, the whole being 

 assessed as half a hide, or three plough- 

 l.inJs ; the value was 10/. It formed part of the 

 privileged three-hide area, and from the second men- 

 tion of the place in Domesday Book it appears that it 

 was the head of a district.' 



In Stephen's reign it was a member of the barony 

 of Penwortham, held by the Bussels.' Richard 

 Bussel gave three oxgangs of land to St. Werburgh's 

 Abbey at Chester ; and Richard's brother and suc- 

 cessor, Albert, confirmed the gift.^ It continued to 



form part of the demesne of the barons until John, 

 count of Mortain, held the honour of Lancaster 

 (1189-94), when Hugh Bussel gave it to Richard 

 son of Ughtred, lord of Broughton and Little Single- 

 ton, master Serjeant of Amoundcrness. The superior 

 lordship passed in 1204, with the rest of the 

 barony, to Roger de Lacy, constable of Chester." In 

 1243 the tenure was described as the fourth part of a 

 knight's fee;' but in 1323 it was recorded that 

 ' Thomas late earl of Lancaster and Alesia his wife (as 

 of her right) held the manor of North Meols by 

 homage, the service of 34J. Sd. yearly, and the fourth 

 part and the sixteenth part of a knight's fee.' ' The 

 superior lordship continued to be held by the earls 

 and dukes of Lancaster. 



The grant to St. Werburgh's appears to have been 

 surrendered or repurchased, for in 1 3 1 1 Thom.is de 

 Sutton held the three oxgangs." The grant of the 

 manor to Richard de Singleton '" was likewise transi- 

 tory. Alan his son succeeded in 121 1, but it seems 

 as if the grant had lapsed with the transfer of the 

 baronv in 1204 from the Bussels to the Lacys, for 

 another lord of the manor soon appears in the person 

 of Robert de Cowdray. In 1232 Alan claimed the 

 land from Cowdray, but probably made a com- 

 promise with the new lord, as the latter alone is 

 recognized in the inquest of 1243." Yet in the 

 latter part of Edward I's reign (between 1294 and 

 1303) the monks of Sawley deemed it advisable to 

 have from Thomas son of Sir Alan de Singleton a 

 release of any claim upon their lands in North 

 Meols.'» 



The new lord, Robert de Cowdray, or Russel, was 

 in the service of John and Henry III." The grant 

 to him was made between 1213 and 1222 by John dc 

 Lacy," and the grantee subsequently obtained from 

 the king leave to have a market on Wednesdays, and 

 a fair on the eve and day of St. Cuthbert at his 

 manor of North Meols." He died in I222,'"and 

 within two years this leave was withdrawn, as it was 

 found that the new market would be to the injury ot 

 others in the neighbourhood." 



William Russel was Robert's nephew {nepoi) and 

 heir. In 1232 he was in Normandy in the service of 

 Ranulf Blundeville, earl of Chester." He is called 

 William de Cowdray in the survey of 1243.'° 



' The Census Report of 190 1 gives 

 I o,+4;, including 4; of inland water ; ot 

 this 5,144 was within Southport. There 

 arc also 399 acres of tidal water, and 

 1 2,-25 acres of foreshore. 



■^ Odda son of Grim was an ancestor of 

 a certain Mark of Melts ,* L^ndnamabok, 



' '' '"• 



^ I'.CH. Land, i, p. 2S4.-'. 



■> Lara. Inq. and ExUnti (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 32. 



* St. Werburgh's Chartul. fol. 141. A 

 century later John, constable of Ches- 

 ter, gave an oxgang in North Meols to 

 Die.ilacres Abbey ; Dieul. Chartul. 

 fol. 17. 



^ Roger gave to Sawley .\bhey an acre 

 at Ratho for a saltpit, with rights of pas- 

 ture and turbary j Sawley Chartul. (Harl. 

 MS. 112). 



"i Jnq. and Extents^ 149. 



8 Duchy of Lane. Rentals and Surrey-, 

 n. 379, m. 8. 



"^ Duchy of Lane. Knights' Fees, bdic. 

 I, n. 3. 



^^ This charter gave 'a!. North McoU," 

 the annual service being a mark of silver. 



Richard paid for the grant by a present of 

 five marks and a hunting boot ; Dods. 

 MSS, cxlii, fol. 231. It was immediately 

 confirmed, as *a reasonable gift,' by Count 

 John; ibid. fol. 231/). 



** Inq. and Extents^ l.s.c. In 1282 

 Thomas de Clayton and Cecily his wife 

 and others claimed three messuages and 

 20 oxgangs in North McoIs against Alan 

 de Singleton ; De Banc. R. 47, m. loi. 



1'^ Sawley Chartul. fol. 72*. 



^ Farrer, North Meoh^ 9. 



^"* The charter gives * the whole town * 

 of Meols, with the vill and appurtenances, 

 except the fishery and the free tenants 

 and their holdings j the service to be the 

 eighth part of a knight's fee ; Dods. MSS. 

 cxlii, fol. 23 8i. 



" Fine R. 4 Hen. III. m. 8. 



i« Close R. 7 Hen. Ill, m. 28 his. 

 Robert granted an oxgang of land in North 

 Meols to Dieulacres Abbey ; it was con- 

 firmed by his brother Henry, but in some 

 way alienated ; Palmer MS. (Chet. 

 Lib.), A. xiii-xv. 



1? Close R. 8 Hen. Ill, m. 12. Robert 

 had given a palfrey for this grant, and it 



230 



was ordered to be returned to his heir on 

 the rescission. 1** Close R. 43, m. 6. 



" Inq. and Extents, l.s.c. An oxgang of 

 land in Barton in Halsall was in 1246 

 held by William Russel and Amabel his 

 wife ; Assize R. 404, m. 5 d, 



A charter of this period (1222-40) 

 may imply that there was some other 

 claimant to the manor, for by it Henry 

 de Cowdray gave to William Russel, for 

 his homage, all his land in North Meols, 

 a pair of white gloves being payable 

 yearly ; ICuerden's fol. MS. 72. 



Several of William de Cowdray's char- 

 ters have been preserved. By one he 

 granted to John de Lea a messuage and 

 land extending from the new dyke to 

 Threleholmes, for a yearly rent of a pair 

 of white gloves payable at the feast of 

 St. Cuthbert in autumn ; Add. MS. 3 2 1 06, 

 n. 61. Another gave to Sawley Abbey 

 an acre called Frere Meadow in the town- 

 fields, witll various easements ; the mea- 

 dow by Otterpool is mentioned ; while a 

 third granted to the same house his salt- 

 pit at Crossens and land there with suffi- 

 cient sand and turbary, and directed his 



