WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



ORMSKIRK 



carried by iron columns, with a plain octagonal font 

 beneath it. 



The chapel forms the north-east angle of a group 

 of buildings, a row of almshouses adjoining it on the 

 west, and a vestry and school building on the south- 

 east. It is to be noted that the centre of the east 

 window is g in. to the south of the centre line of the 

 chapel, the error being probably one of setting-out 

 only, but there may have been some reason for it, 

 such as to provide extra space for the niche holding 

 the statue of the patron saint, which would be set up 

 onithe north side of the window. 



A chantry was founded in the new chapel at 

 Lathom, to which a hospital was attached, by Thomas 

 second earl of Derby in 1500.' In 1509 it was 

 formally sanctioned by the bishop of Lichfield, the 

 chapel to be consecrated by Huan, bishop of Sodor.^ 

 In 1548 the priest, John Moody, was fulfilling his 

 duties according to the founder's wishes, and as the 

 chapel was three miles from the parish church of 

 Ormskirk he had licence to minister sacraments and 

 sacramentals there for the benefit of the neighbour- 

 hood.^ 



The foundation, so far as concerned the almshouse, 

 either escaped destruction in 1 547—8 or was soon 

 refounded. In 16 14 it was described as a 'small 

 chapel to Ormskirk,' served by ' a curate with a 

 small pension.' * The minister has usually been styled 

 the Almoner. In 1650 the almsmen sent to the 

 Parliamentary Commissioners a protest against the 

 confiscation of their endowment, although it was 

 derived from lands of the earl of Derby.' 



In October, 1686, an inquiry was held at Wigan 

 as to the earl of Derby's right to dismiss the master 

 or almoner ; William Norris, clerk, who had been 

 frequently absent from duty and otherwise neglectful, 

 claiming a freehold. The earl's right appears to have 

 been upheld.' 



In 1827 the Charity Commissioners found that 

 thirteen poor persons by ancient custom received 

 j^3 6s. yearly apiece ; six of these pensioners lived in 

 the almonry. The chapel attached was a domestic 

 chapel, but was attended by residents in the neigh- 

 bourhood who had permission to do so. The 

 minister was nominated by the owner of Lathom 

 House ; the bishop of the diocese had no juris- 

 diction.' 



A settlement of the endowment was made in 1845, 

 when a rent-charge of ^^145, issuing from a messuage 

 called Pennington in Upholland, was granted. There 

 are thirteen pensioners, each receiving £^ 6s. a year ; 

 the chapel clerk has ^^3, and the chaplain or almoner 

 the rest. The chapel is used for ordinary services as 

 well as a domestic chapel.' 



The church of St. John the Baptist stands at 

 Burscough Bridge, but is situated on the Lathom side 

 of the township boundary. It was begun in 1827 

 and opened in 1832, the cost being defrayed partly 

 by a parliamentary grant.' The district chapelry was 

 constituted in 1847.'° St. James's, Lathom, was built 

 in 1850 by the earl of Derby; a district chapelry 

 was assigned to it ten years later." Christ Church, 

 Newburgh, was built in 1857, and a new parish was 

 formed in 1871."' 



There are Wesleyan chapels at Hoscar Moss and 

 Moss Lane, but the Independent chapel formerly at 

 Ashbrow, Newburgh, has disappeared. 



Burscough Hall, now belonging to St. John's Roman 

 Catholic church, is said to have taken its name from 

 the Burscough family." The house, in the seventeenth 

 century the property of the Longs," recusants, was in 

 1667 granted to Peter Lathom of Bispham, founder of 

 the now very important Lathom charity, who early in 

 1700 leased it for 999 years at a rent of ^10 to John 

 Heyes.'" This was in trust for the mission. About this 

 time Thomas Gorsuch, eldest son of James Gorsuch, of 



1 Raines, Chantries (Chet. Soc), 1 06 ; 

 the priest was to celebrate there 

 for the souls of the earl and his 

 ancestors, and eight old men were to 

 be bedemen to pray for the same ; he 

 was to pay each of the bedemen zd. a 

 day for sustenance, and have the balance 

 of the revenues. The foundation is men- 

 tioned in the accounts of 1523-4. above 

 quoted. 



2 Ibid, (quoting Lich. Epis. Reg. xiii- 

 xiv, 95). The prior of Burscough had 

 signified his assent. 



^ Ibid. 107-9. "^^^ rental, derived 

 from various scattered holdings in Cop- 

 pull, Heath Charnock, Culcheth, Melling, 

 &c., amounted to £\6 19s. yd. The 

 furniture of the chapel is described. The 

 valuation of 1534 was only ,^4 65. 8^/. 5 

 Ralph Webster was then chantry priest ; 

 Valor Ecd. (Rec. Com.), v, 223. 



■• Kenyan MSS. 13. Thomas Wilson, 

 afterwards (1698) bishop of Man, was at 

 one time in charge. 



* The rents at that time amounted to 

 about j^25 a year, and there were six or 

 seven acres of land belonging to the alms- 

 house. The tradition was that the 

 original foundation had been at Uphol- 

 land, and was due to the Lovels ; and 

 that after the Lovel manors were granted 

 to the earls of Derby the almshouse was 

 removed to Lathom. No evidence of 

 this was produced, but it was proved that 

 for at least thirty years the bailiff of 

 Holland had paid ,^25 a year to the 

 almshouse, in which there were ten alms- 

 men governed by a minister called the 



Master, and having a woman servant to 

 wait on them. The alms appear to have 

 been the Holland dole formerly distri- 

 buted at Upholland Priory previous to the 

 dissolution of the religious houses. See 

 V.C.h. Lanes, ii, * Religious Houses ' ; 

 Duchy of Lane. Rentals, bdle. 5, n. 12. 

 Some small addition had been made to 

 the endowment. See Royalist Comp. P. ii, 

 143-7. ^^ 1646 an order had been 

 made for ^^50 a year to be paid to the 

 minister at Lathom out of Lord Derby's 

 sequestrated tithes ; Plund. Mins. Aects. 

 i, 30. See also Commonivealth Church 

 Survey (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 91. 

 Mr. Henry Hill, ' an orthodox and godly 

 painful minister,* was in charge. 



^ There were then ten almsmen in 

 charge of a master or governor ; the lands 

 consisted of two and a half acres adjacent 

 to the almshouse and six acres in Horscar 

 Meadow and Lathom ; the ,^25 was still 

 paid from Upholland, and certain lands at 

 Christleton and Littleton, near Chester, 

 also belonged to the place, the total in- 

 come being ^^46 95. 4^. The earls of 

 Derby had at their own pleasure appointed 

 or removed the almsmen and also the 

 master ; End. Char. Rep. 1899 (Ormskirk), 

 63 ; Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 201. 



^ End. Char. Rep. 1899 (Ormskirk), 17 

 (from the report of 1828). Full details 

 are given. ^ Ibid. p. 64. 



9 Baines' Lanes, (ist ed.) iv, 258. 



" Lond. Gass. 3 Aug. 1847. The vicar 

 of Ormskirk is patron. 



^^ Lond. Gaz. 10 Mar. i860. The 

 vicar of Ormskirk is patron. 



"^^ Lond. Gaa. i6 May, 1871. The 

 earl of Derby is patron. 



^3 In Towneley MS. OO are some 

 deeds relating to the Burscoughs, who 

 had lands in Westhead and elsewhere in 

 Lathom. Richard de Burscough and 

 Katherine his wife in 1371 were re- 

 feoffed by their trustees, and in 1393 

 Richard, son of Richard de Burscough, 

 and Ellen his wife, daughter of Roger de 

 Bispham, were similarly endowed, nn. 

 1262, 1255. The next deeds relate to 

 settlements made by Thomas de Bur- 

 scough in 14§8 and later, from which it 

 appears that his wife was named Alice, 

 and his children were Gilbert, Margaret, 

 Maud, Joan, and Katherine; n. 1249, &c. 

 In Feb. 1461-2, Gilbert son of Thomas 

 Burscough received from his feoffees his 

 lands in Lathom and Burscough ; ibid. n. 

 1806. Gilbert Burscough and Eleanor 

 his wife had lands In Lathom in 1540 ; 

 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 12, m. 25. 

 For Gilbert's will see IVi/ls (Chet. Soc. 

 New Ser.), i, 203. 



^■* Henry Long, son of Elizeus Long 

 and Alice Ashton, entered the English 

 College at Rome in 1659; in reply to 

 the usual inquiries he stated that ' his 

 parents were of the middle class, had 

 been always Catholic, and had suffered 

 much for their religion. He had two 

 brothers and one sister ; he was never a 

 heretic, and made his humanity studies in 

 England ' ; Foley, Rec. SJ. vi, 399. 



15 Gillow, BibL Diet, of Eng. Catholics, 

 iv, 324; Char. Rep, of 1828, xv, 129 

 (Croston parish). 



33 



