A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Scarishrick, was tenant. It has been used continually 

 for religious purposes since that time.' The first 

 priest known to have resided here with any regularity 

 was James Gorsuch.' In 1759 ^^^ chapel in the house 

 was improved at a cost of ;^So. The present chapel 

 and presbytery, near the old hall, were built about 

 1 8 19 by William Coghlan, son of the publisher, he 

 himself giving about a third of the total cost, j^i,5zo. 

 The church has since been altered and improved.' 

 There is a cemetery attached, consecrated in 1 890. 



BURSCOUGH 



Burgastud, c. 1 1 90 ; Burgche stude, Boureghe stide, 

 Burrestude, Burgaschou, Borchestuoe, early xiii cent. ; 

 Burcho, Burscho, Burschou, Borescou, later xiii cent. ; 

 Buresco, 1235 ; Burschehou, 1241 ; Burschou, 1303 ; 

 Burschogh, 1324; Burscogh, 1327. Sometimes the 

 first letters are transposed, as Bruscow for Burscow. 



This township extends northward from Ormskirk 

 about 4^ miles. The northern half is, properly speak- 

 ing, the demesne of Martin or Marton ; but this name 

 has long since fallen into disuse, though Martin Hall 

 and Martin Mere preserve it. Bordering on the mere 

 is the hamlet of Tarlscough. The area is 4,960 

 acres.* The population in 1901 was 2,752. The 

 highest ground lies on the south, where Greetby Hill 

 (177 ft.) stands at the meeting point of the three 

 townships of Lathom, Ormskirk, and Burscough. The 

 main road through the township is the Liverpool and 

 Preston road, running north-westward ; there are 

 numerous cross roads. The Leeds and Liverpool 

 Canal passes through the township from east to west, 

 and at the point where the highway crosses it a village 

 has grown up, called Burscough Bridge, but as the road 

 is here the boundary between this township and 

 Lathom, the village lies partly in both. The railway 

 from Liverpool to Preston runs parallel to the main 

 road and to the east of it, with a station at Burscough 

 Bridge ; at this point also there is a junction with the 

 railway from Southport to Wigan, which crosses the 

 township to the north of the canal and has a station 

 called New Lane. Burscough village lies to the south 

 of the above. 



In Burscough the sites of several ancient crosses are 

 known. Manor House Cross stood between Lathom 

 and Martin ; Burscough Priory Cross was to the 

 south, and Pippin Street Cross to the north of the 



priory ; Bathwood Cross nc.ir the boundary of Bur- 

 scough and Lathom. The pedestal of the second of 

 these remains.' 



For local government purposes Burscough is joined 

 with Lathom. 



In common with adjacent districts the surface is 

 very flat, whilst the country is portioned out into both 

 pasture and arable fields, where the principal crops 

 raised are potatoes, wheat, and oats. The northern 

 part embraces a portion of land originally covered by 

 the waters of Martin Mere. An effective system ot 

 drainage and constant pumping operations keep the 

 ground from becoming once more inundated. The 

 soil consists of peat, in places, and sand, whilst the clay 

 in parts of the district is used in the manufacture of 

 bricks and tiles ; the tall chimneys of several brick- 

 works being prominent features of a landscape but 

 barely clad with timber. The geological formation 

 consists of the upper mottled sandstone of the bunter 

 series of the new red sandstone, with a small over- 

 lying patch of lower keuper sandstone immediately 

 around Martin Hall. 



There are steam flour mills here. Formerly there 

 was cotton spinning. 



The earliest mention oi BURSCOUGH 

 MANORS is in the foundation charter of the 

 priory granted by the lord of Lathom 

 in or about 1189.° At that time some clear- 

 ing of the woodland had probably commenced 

 by the course of Eller Brook where it was crossed 

 by the road from Alton in Lathom to Hurleton ; 

 and the canons, fixing their residence to the north- 

 west of the ford at this point, would continue 

 the improvement of the land.' During the tenure ot 

 the place by the canons its history was uneventful. 

 Some families in the neighbourhood acquired lands in 

 it, and one or more took the local name ; thus Richard 

 son of John de Burscough sued Robert de Lathom in 

 1292 concerning a tenement here, but was non-suited.' 

 The prior of Burscough appears as plaintiff or de- 

 fendant in suits from time to time, sometimes as land- 

 owner, at others as trustee, but there are no points of 

 interest." 



After the dissolution in 1536 the manor remained 

 for ten years or more in the king's hands, and the 

 accounts which have been preserved throw some light 

 on its value and previous management, and likewise 

 record the tenants' names." The first grant by the 



1 Eng. Catb. Non-jurorSf «o8. 

 ^ Several times mentioned in N. Blun- 

 dcll's Diary^ from 17 12 to 1726. 



* The above particulars are from the 

 Li'verpool Catb, Ann. 1892, where the suc- 

 cession of the priests in charge is given ; 

 it was made a rectory in 1856. 



* 4,965, including eighteen of inland 

 water; Census of 1901. 



^ H. Taylor in Lanes, and Cb^s. Antiq, 

 Soc. xix, 150—3. 



An old cottage is described in Addy's 

 Evolution oj^ the Houie^ p. 48. 



' The charter is printed in Farrer, 

 -Lanes. Pipe R. 349, from the Burscough 

 Reg. fol. I, 56. See also Inq. and 

 Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 16. 

 An account of the priory will be found in 

 V.C.H. Lanes, ii, * Religious Houses.' 



' Some of the charters may be 

 quoted : — Emma, daughter of Siward, son 

 of Swain, had land between the highway 

 of Wirples moss and the brook, adjoining 

 land of Henry her brother, which her son, 

 Robert de Burscough, gave to the canons 



in exchange for land in the town of 

 Walton Lees (in Dalton) ; she gave the 

 holme by the land of Richard the Smith, 

 together with the water-course, for the 

 site of a mill. Burscough Reg. fol. 9, %b, 

 23*. Benedict the prior confirmed to 

 Henry his man, son of Swain, land 

 which Henry had bought from Sir Robert 

 de Lathom in the underwood of Bur- 

 scough, lying between Burnards Castle and 

 other land purchased from Sir Robert ; 

 ibid. 26. Henry, son of Swain de Bur- 

 scough (or de Hurleton), gave the canons 

 land called Moorcroft on the south side of 

 the Burnelds gate for the health of the soul 

 of King John and for the soul of Richard, 

 late lord of Lathom ; ibid. 9/.. He also 

 gave three large and good acres of land 

 bounded by ditches and four crosses, these 

 limits being respectively near the Smith 

 oak, the Forked oak, the Sty oak, and the 

 Meangate close of Ormsdyke ; ibid. 9*. 



8 Assize R. 408, m. 541/. See also the 

 account of Burscough Hall in Lathom. 



' Executors of the will of Nicholas de 



258 



Wigan V. the Prior and others ; De Banc. 

 R. 21, m. 18. Ralph de Hengham -v. the 

 Prior and others, plea of debt ; De Banc. 

 R. i53,m.435 </. toR. 164, m.252. The 

 Prior V. Gilbert the goldsmith and Chris- 

 tiana his wife ; De Banc. R. 273, m. 104 ; 

 a Preston case. John de Lancaster -v. the 

 Prior, withholding bonds ; De Banc. R. 

 276, m. 144 to R. 282, m. 39. And 

 similar cases. 



In 1442 Thomas and Henry Bccon- 

 saw of Burscough were charged with 

 stealing forty bream, the prior's property, 

 worth 20J. ; Pal. of Lane. Plea R. 4, 

 m. 16. 



1" The priory rental of 1512 continued 

 in use, the necessary corrections being 

 made from time to time, though another 

 was compiled in 1524. Duchy of Lane. 

 Rentals, bdle. 4, b. 7 ; bdle. 5, n. 16. 

 The former begins with a list of over 

 sixty tenancies at will — Thomas Such, 

 231. zd. &c. ; and mentions Debdale, 

 Dam head, Bild acre, Bradshaw ees, 

 Dowc acre, Mere hey, and Batel 



