WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



and an allowance of 6s. 8</. to the bishop, 3/. ^d. 

 to the archdeacon of Chester, and 6s. id. to the 

 poor.' 



In 1488 the prior of Erdbury leased the par- 

 sonage of Leigh — that is, the Kirk Hall, with the 

 glebe lands, rents, tithes, and profits — to Gilbert 

 Urmston, esq., John Urmston his son and heir, 

 Mr. Gilbert Urmston, clerk, William Urmston, 

 vicar of the church of Leigh, and Roger Urmston, 

 for a term of forty years, paying yearly to the prior 

 ^20, to the vicar of Leigh £l2, to the parish priest 

 for his wages 50J., and certain sums for the redemp- 

 tion of certain plate and a cross of gold which had 

 been laid in gage.' 



Twenty years later William Urmston gave his 

 estate in this lease to John Urmston, the son and heir 

 of his brother John Urmston.' In 1 5 1 5, or fourteen 

 years before its expiration, the lease was renewed for 

 a further term of years to John Urmston and John 

 Astley, chaplain.* The gross rental was stated to be 

 about ^43 in 1531.' 



At the dissolution the rectory, tithes, glebe land 

 and advowson of the vicarage were granted to Charles 

 Brandon, duke of Suffolk,* who subsequently obtained 

 licence to alienate,' and in 1 545 sold the rectory and 

 tithes for X^oo to Robert Trapps, citizen and gold- 

 smith of London.' In 1557 Thomas Leyland of 

 Morleys, esq., and John Urmston of Westleigh, gent., 

 presented to the vicarage fro hac vice probably as 

 purchasers of the next presentation. In 1561 Francis 

 Trapps, gent., conveyed by fine to Sir Thomas 

 Gerard, knt., the rectory of Westleigh, that is, the 



LEIGH 



moated Kirk Hall, the glebe lands, all tithes of grain 

 and hay, and the advowson of the vicarage, in con- 

 sideration of an annuity of ^^40 a year.' Gerard 

 appears to have immediately sold one half of the 

 tithes to Richard Urmston for £\zo}^ In 1573 

 Richard Urmston appears to have established his title 

 to the rectory and tithes." In 1609 Edward, earl of 

 Hertford, obtained a grant of the advowson," but 

 notwithstanding a caveat entered by his successor in 

 16 19 against Richard Urmston's presentation," the 

 earl's claim was set aside. In 1636 the then vicar 

 preferred a petition to the king complaining of the 

 poverty of the living. A subsequent inquiry held by 

 the diocesan elicited the fact that the vicar received 

 but £1% IS. \d. yearly, out of which he had to pay 

 ;^5 10/., whilst the total value of the propriate 

 rectory was ^^632 per annum.'* In 1645 the rectory 

 impropriate was sequestered from Richard Urmston, 

 ' Papist,' for his delinquency, £50 being paid out of 

 the issues to the vicarage of Leigh and ^40 for the 

 maintenance of the minister of the then lately-erected 

 chapel of Chowbent in Atherton." In 1650 the 

 Parliamentary Commission returned the value of the 

 vicarage at £\6 \\s. 'id., the parsonage house and 

 demesne with leased lands it £gj lis., the tithes of 

 the parish at ^^173 5 J., and the small tithes at 

 £i^. 5/.'° After the Restoration the advowson and 

 tithes were restored to the heirs general of Richard 

 Urmston, but in 1715 fell into the hands of the 

 commissioners for forfeited estates," by whom three- 

 fourths were granted to Sir More Molyneux, knt., who 

 in 1750 conveyed the rectory to John Probyn, esq.,'* 



^ This alms was to be distributed to 

 the poor of Leigh on the anniversary of 

 Lord Lovel, who is said to have conferred 

 the rectory upon the priory. Valor Eccl. 

 (Rec. Com.), iii, 56. 



^ Duchy of Lane. Plead, xxviii, U- 2, 

 zk ; Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches. xxxv, 

 75-82. 



8 Kucrden MSS. (ColL of Arms), ii, 

 1894. 



■* Mins. Accts. Warw. 29-30 Hen. 

 VIII, n. 117. In or before 153+ John 

 Atherton of Atherton had a demise from 

 John Urmston, during the term of his 

 lease, of tithe of corn, pigs and geese, 

 renovant in Atherton for ^^8 yearly rent. 

 Duchy of Lane. Plead. 2 Edw. VI, Iii, 

 U. I ; Stanning, ^eg. of Leigh, xvi ; 

 Rec. Soc. i, 57. 



* Duchy of Lane. Plead. 2 Edw. VI, 

 Iii, U. I. 



In 1535 the rectory of Leigh was 

 valued at ,^38 \os. a year net. The 

 vicar received ,^9 as his pension from 

 Erdbury; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 220. 



« 19 Dec. 1538; Pat. R. 30 Hen. VIII, 

 iv, m. I. 



7 Lanes, and Cbes. Rec. (Rec. Soc. viii), 

 ii, 387. 



'15 Feb. 1544-5 i Close R. 37 Hen. 

 vm, ii, n. 37. 



'Feet of F. bdle. 23, m. ill ; the 

 rent was afterwards paid to the Bradshaws 

 of Pennington. Rec. Soc. xi, 27 ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Feet of F. 8 Chas. I. 



1° Baines, Hist, of Lanes, (ed. 1836), iii, 

 591. 



'^ Mem. R. 1 5 Eliz. 9 (Jones, Index, ii, 

 s.t. Leigh). 



"13 April, 1609, Pat. R. 7 Jas. I, xx. 



" Bp. Gastrell, Notitia (Chet. Soc. xxi), 

 .83. 



" Star Chamb. Cert. Baines, Hist, of 

 Lanes, [ei. 1836), iii, 591. The glebe lands 

 around the Kirk Hall were valued at 



£iJ9, tenements leased, worth at rack 

 j^i55, tithe corn of Pennington, West- 

 leigh, half of Bedford, which had been 

 sold to Richard Urmston by Sir Thos. 

 Gerard, worth ^^loo, a water corn -mill 

 and a horse-mill £16, coal pits in the 

 glebe £2.0, formerly ,^40 — these are 

 referred to in a suit in 1534 [Lanes, and 

 Ches. Antiq. Soe. vii, 36) — small tithes, 

 Easter roll and surplice fees ;^30. Also 

 tithes sold by Mr. Urmston or his pre- 

 decessors, viz. tithes of Atherton sold to 

 John Atherton, esq., who pays ^8 yearly, 

 but worth £t,o ; tithe of three quarters 

 of Tyldesley sold to Mr. Shevington, who 

 pays ;^lo yearly, but worth ^^30 ; tithe 

 of another part of Tyldesley sold tp 

 Mr. Anderton, who pays £x, but worth 

 j^io; half the tithe of Astley sold to 

 Mr. Tyldesley of Morleys, who pays 

 jf5 6j. id. but worth j^i6 ; the other 

 half sold to Thomas Mort, gent., under a 

 reserved rent of ,f 5 6s. id., since sold to 

 Mr. Mort, but worth ,^14 ; tithe of 

 Shakerley for which Mr. Shakerley pays 

 yearly to Mr. Shevington £■!., but worth 

 £% ; tithe of the remaining half of Bed- 

 ford sold to Richard Urmston of Kinknall, 

 who pays ^^4 15s. ^.d., but worth ^24. 

 Total of reserved rents ^^37 8s. id., but 

 worth at rack ^132. Total value of the 

 rectory £6^^. The vicar receives from 

 Mr. Urmston £1$ 131. 4</.; the vicarage 

 house and 7 or 8 acres of land are valued 

 at £1.0, part of the surplice fees, valued 

 at £z, the rent of a cottage 81. Total 

 j^28 II. ^.d., out of which he pays to an 

 assistant ^^4 and for lays and taxes 

 £1 10s. There remains clear ^^23 per 

 annum. 



15 Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. Soc), i, 

 9-10, &c. 



16 Common-wealth Ch. Surni. (Rec. Soc.), 

 55-9. In 1649 the vicar was receiving 

 a pension of ^15 131. 4</., payable out 



of the profits of the rectory, and the further 

 sum of j^50 granted by the commissioners 

 in 1645. Ibid. 80. 



17 A fourth part of the tithes had fallen 

 to the share of Anne Mossock by a deed 

 of partition of the Urmston estates made 

 in 1661, viz. the great tithes of West- 

 leigh, the small tithes of Bedford and the 

 lower end of Atherton, and the fourth 

 part of all rents out of Atherton, Bedford, 

 Tyldesley, and Shakerley, and the fourth 

 part of the advowson of the church. 

 This was by her conveyed to Sir Wil- 

 liam Gerard of Brynn, bart., Thomas 

 Eccleston of Eccleston, esq., and Thomas 

 Culcheth of Culchcth, esq., in 1681 for 

 pious uses; Forfeited Estate Papers, 37, 

 37M, J. 8. In 1715 the whole of the 

 tithes held by the heirs of Richard 

 Urmston fell into the hands of the com- 

 missioners for forfeited estates, but under 

 the advice of Thomas Starkie 'a good 

 Papist lawyer of Preston,' Mrs. Mary- 

 Culcheth, the widow of Thomas Culcheth,, 

 became informer, being allowed in that 

 capacity under the penal laws to take one- 

 fourth of property forfeited to the crown. 

 Afterwards she obtained a lease from the- 

 crown of the whole tithe at a low rent, the- 

 lease being made by a Mr. Chadwick. 

 Subsequently the heir-at-law of Richard 

 Shuttleworth, ' a spendthrift and an apos- 

 tate,' filed a bill in Chancery against 

 Mrs. Culcheth and Mr. Chadwick for 

 recovery of the tithes, suing in forma 

 pauperis, but after causing great trouble 

 and expense he failed in his attempt ; 

 Foley, Ree. S.J. v, 337. Particulars of 

 the value of the fourth part of the tithes 

 in 1 71 6 and the share of the payments 

 thereout to the crown and others will be 

 found in Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Notes, i,. 

 158-9. 



18 Pal. of Lane. Feet of F. bdle. 345, 

 m. 85. 



53 



