A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



the tenants claimed that they had by custom a bull, a 

 boar, and a stallion, found by the priory, and they 

 desired its continuance. They had ' followed scythe 

 and sickle ' with their cattle in the pastures until 

 Candlemas, and in return they had given a hen for 

 every cow, and calf calved.' 



The lands of John Fletcher of Burscough were con- 

 fiscated by the Parliament and sold in 1652 ; this 



-•■^A- 



Burscough Priory Church : Northern Piers of 

 THE Crossing 



seems to have been for recusancy only.' In 1717 

 estates in the township were registered by William 

 Bradshaw, Richard Cropper, George Culcheth, and 

 Edward Tristram of Ince Blundell, as ' Papists." 



John Houghton in 1733 left j^io for building a 

 public school on the brow near the pinfold, and ;^ioo 

 as endowment.' 



The reference in Domesday to MJRTIS' shows 

 that before 1066 one-half of it had been united to 

 Harleton;' the other half is not mentioned, but it 

 had probably been merged in Lathom. It is this 

 latter portion which was bestowed by Robert de 

 Lathom upon the newly-founded priory of Burscough 

 in II 89,' and which apparently is the ' plough-land ' 

 referred to in the survey of i 2 i 2 as thus granted.' It 

 appears, however, that the same Robert de Lathom 

 had already granted land here to his nephew {nej>os) 

 Henry, from whom it descended 

 to Henry de RadcIifFe. The 

 latter exchanged it for lands 

 in Oswaldtwisle held by his 

 brother Matthew," whose son 

 Richard about 1240 resigned 

 Martin to the prior and canons 

 of Burscough.'" After its ac- 

 quisition by the canons, this 

 half of the original Martin be- 

 came part of Burscough ; yet 

 as late as 1366 the whole is 

 called Burscough-with-Martin." 

 Agreements were made in the 

 latter part of the thirteenth 

 century as to the boundaries between Burscough and 

 Martin on the one side and Scarisbrick and Harleton 

 on the other. These were supplemented by others a 

 century later." Martin Grange was retained by the 

 canons among their demesne properties, and the earl 

 of Derby had rented it of the king's commissioners 

 in 1538." Others of their lands there had been 

 leased out just in the same way as those in Burscough 

 described above.'* 



In 1 6 1 2 Martin Hall or Grange was granted to John 

 Breres of Martin, who appears to have sold it to the 

 Wrightingtons of Wrightington, under whom he 

 became tenant." It descended with the Wrightington 

 estates until recently, when it was sold to the earl of 

 Derby. 



In 1694 an Act was passed for ratifying and con- 

 firming an indenture of lease of Martin Mere, made 

 by the earl of Derby to Thomas Fleetwood.'" 



There is a Wesleyan chapel at Burscough. 



Wrightington or 

 Wrightington. Sah/r^ 

 a chevron argent hefween 

 three cross crossletsjitchh 



' The series extends from 28 Hen. VIII 

 (from which the above quotation is made) 

 to 4.2 Eliz. ; Duchy of Lane. Ct. R. bdle 

 79, nn. 1059 to 1073. Ct. R. from 1639 

 onwards are at Knowslcy. 



* Index of RoyalistSy 42 ; CaL Com. Jor 

 Comf). iv, 2924. 



* Eng, Catb. Nonjurors, 127, III, 126. 



* End. Char. Rep. Ormskirk, 1899, 

 PP- 9. 57. 58. 



* Merretun, Dom. Bk.; Mereton, 1205; 

 Mertona, xiii century; Merton, 1303, 

 1398 ; Marton, 14.94. 



' V.C.H. Lanes, i, 284A. 



' He gave 'the whole viU of Martin 

 with all its appurtenances in wood and 

 plain, in meadows and feeding grounds, 

 together with Tarlscough and all other 

 casements' ; Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 350. 



8 Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), t6. 



' Matthew de Martin paid J mark to 

 the scutage in 1205-6 ; Farrer, Lanes. 

 Pipe R. 205. His heir offered 20 marks 

 for his relief in 1210-11 ; ibid. 242. 



" Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. L612 and 

 L613. The grant was made as an alms, 

 and included the suit and sequel of two 

 men — Swain son of Dunning and Peter. 



About the same time a family holding 



lands here had assumed the name of the 

 place. Thus Henry, son of Hugh de 

 Merton, gave to Stephen his son and heir 

 for his homage and service half the land 

 he held in Martin from the priory for the 

 rent of J lb. pepper, J lb. cummin, and 

 31/. The Oatcroft, ' Migge halch,' and 

 the Ploi riding are mentioned. Duchy 

 of Lane. Cart. Misc. i, fol. 19. 



^^ Exch. Lay Subs. 1 332 (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 115 ; there is a long 

 list of the inhabitants. For a dispute 

 concerning land here in 1349, Challes -v. 

 Pettit, see De Banc. R. 358, m. 6^d. ; 

 360, m. ^zd. 



" Scarisbrick D. (Trans. Hist. Soc. New 

 Ser. xii, and xiii), nn. 17, 44, 129, 133 ; 

 also Duchy of Lane. Anct. D. L592 ; 

 Burscough Reg. fol. 28. The first, made 

 about 1260 between Prior Nicholas and 

 the lords of Scarisbrick and Harleton, 

 traced the boundary from the corner of the 

 ditch of Simon Tope, along the ditch in a 

 straight line to Blakebank below Bere- 

 waldishal (or -hul) and to Cundlache 

 Bridge, thence to Deepdale Head and to 

 Longshow Head, then to Hondelache, and 

 so to the starting point. The second was 

 made in 1303 between Prior Richard and 

 the lords of the same manors. It was 



260 



agreed that Thoraldstub in Malle Lane 

 should be the boundary between Ormskirk 

 and Harleton ; from this the bounds 

 were traced to the corner of the field of 

 Simon Tope, at which the last agreement 

 had started. From Deepdale, where it 

 ended, the boundaries were fixed to 

 Martin Pool and on to the great lake, so 

 that the plot of waste between Blake- 

 lache and Martin Pool was divided between 

 the parties, certain common rights being 

 allowed. The later arbitrations of 1395 

 and 1398 fixed the boundaries and pas- 

 ture rights more definitely. 



1' Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. bdle. 

 136, n. 2198. Disputes concerning it 

 have already been related. 



1' Ibid. 



^^ Pat. R. 10 Jas. I, pt. ii, m. i. ; 

 Commonivealth Cb. Sur-v. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, 

 and Ches.), 90, 91. James Starkey 

 was there in 1682 ; Preston Guild R. 

 (Rec, Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 195. Martin 

 Hall and the demesne, worth j^8o a year, 

 occur in the Lanes. Forfeited Estates 

 Papers, 2L. 



" 6 and 7 Will. Ill, c. 15. This was 

 in connexion with the draining of the 

 mere, for which see Farrer, North Meols, 

 119 et seq. 



