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50citty,
M.DCCC.XLIII.
Cijetijani
ESTABLISHED
FOR THE PUBLICATION OF
IIISTORICAL AND LITERARY REMAINs
CONNECTED WITH THE PALATINE COUNTIES OF
LAN CASTER AND CHESTER,
Counci/ſor Zhe year 1875-76.
{}regiticut.
JAMES CROSSLEY, Esq., F.S.A.
Ötte=}}reşttent.
TIIE IREV. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Hon. Canon of Manchester, Vicar of
Milnrow, and Rural Dean.
(Cduncil.
WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq.
THE VERY REv. BENJAMIN MORGAN COWIE, B.D., F.S.A., Dean of Manchester.
TIIE WORSHIPFUL RICHARD COPLEY CHRISTIE, M.A., Chancellor of the Diocese
of Manchester.
THE REV. THOMAS CORSER, M.A., F.S.A., Rector of Stand.
LIEUT.-COLONEL FISHWICK, F.S.A.
THOMAS JONES, Esq., B.A., F.S.A.
WILLIAM LANGTON, ESQ.
COLONEL EGERTON LEIGH, M.P.
The REv. JOHN HOWARD MARSDEN, B.D., F.R.G.S., late Disney Professor.
THE REv. JAMES RAINE, M.A., Canon of York, Fellow of Durham University.
(Urcăſăturer.
ARTHUR II. HEYWOOD, Esq.
%ulturărn ºecretary.
R. HENRY WOOD, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.G.S.,
Mem. Corr. Soc. Antiq. de Normandie.
1. That the Society shall be limited to three hundred and fifty members. e
2. That the Society shall consist of members being subscribers of one pound annually, such subscrip-
tion to be paid in advance, on or before the day of general meeting in each year. The first general meeting
to be held on the 23rd day of March, 1843, and the general meetiig in each year afterwards on the 1st day
of March, unless it should fall on a Sunday, when some other day is to be named by the Council.
3. That the affairs of the Society be conducted by a Council, consisting of a permanent President and
Vice-President, and twelve other members, including a Treasurer and Secretary, all of whom shall be
elected, the first two at the general meeting next after a vacancy shall occur, and the twelve other
members at the general meeting annually.
4. That the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Society be audited annually, by three
auditors, to be elected at the general meeting; and that any member who shall be one year in arrear of
his subscription, shall no longer be considered as belonging to the Society.
5. That every member not in arrear of his annual subscription, be entitled to a copy of each of the
works published by the Society. g tº a º
6. That twenty copies of each work shall be allowed to the editor of the same, in addition to the
one to which he may be entitled as a member.
Applications and communications to be addressed to the I’RESIDENT, Cavendish Place, 4!!
Saints, Manchester, or to the HoNORARY SECRETARY Penrhos IIowse, Rugby.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE CHETHAM S00LETY.
WOL Airst year (1843–4).
I. Travels in Holland, the United Provinces, England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1634–1635. By Sir
William Brereton, Bart. Edited by Edward HAwkins, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.L.S. pp. viii, 206.
II. Tracts relating to Military Proceedings in Lancashire during the Great Civil War. Edited and
Illustrated from Contemporary Documents by GEORGE ORMEROD, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S.,
author of “The History of Cheshire.” pp. xxxii, 372.
III. Chester's Triumph in Honor of her Prince, as it was performed upon St. George's Day 1610, in
the foresaid Citie. Reprinted from the original edition of 1610, with an Introduction and Notes.
Edited by the Rev. THOMAS CoRSER, M.A. pp. xviii, 36.
Second year (1844–5).
IV. The Life of Adam Martindale, written by himself, and now first printed from the original manu-
script in the British Museum. Edited by the Rev. RICHARD PARKINSON, B.D., Canon of Manchester.
pp. xvi, 246.
V. Lancashire Memorials of the Rebellion, 1715. By SAMUEL HIBBERT-WARE, M.D., F.R.S.E., &c.
pp. x, 56, and xxviii, 292.
VI. Potts's Discovery of Witches in the county of Lancaster. Reprinted from the original edition of
1613; with an Introduction and Notes by JAMES CROSSLEY, Esq. pp. lxxx, 184, 52.
7%ird year (1845–6).
VII. Iter Lancastrense, a Poem written A.D. 1636, by the Rev. Richard James. Edited by the Rev.
THOMAS CORSER, M.A. pp. cxii, 86. Folding Pedigree.
VIII. Notitia Cestriensis, or Historical Notices of the Diocese of Chester, by Bishop Gastrell. Cheshire.
Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A. Vol. I. pp. xvi, 396. Plate.
IX. The Norris Papers. Edited by THOMAS HEYwooD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. xxxiv, 190.
Pourth year (1846–7).
X. The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey. Edited by W. A. HULTON, Esq. Vol. I.
pp. xl, 338. Plate. -
XI. The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey. Vol. II. pp. 339–636.
XII. The Moore Rental. Edited by THOMAS HEYwooD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. lxx, 158.
Fifth year (1847–8).
XIII. The Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John Worthington. Edited by JAs. CROSSLEY, Esq. Vol. I.
pp. viii, 398. &
XIV. The Journal of Nicholas Asshetom. Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINEs M.A., F.S.A. pp. xxx, 164.
XV. The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge, very frutefull for all Christen People to rede.
Edited by EDWARD HAWKINS, Esq. pp. xxviii, 10, 242.
Sixth year (1848–9).
XVI. The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey. Vol. III. pp. xli-liv, 637–936.
XVII. Warrington in 1465. Edited by WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. pp. lxxviii, 152.
XVIII. The Diary of the Rev. Henry Newcome, from September 30, 1661, to September 29, 1663.
Edited by THOMAS HEYWooD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. xl, 242.
Puč/ications of Żhe Cheſ/ame Society.
3
VOL. Seventh year (1849–50).
XIX. Notitia Cestriensis. Vol. II. Part I. Lancashire, Part 1. pp. iv, 160, xxviii.
** The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey. Vol. IV. (Conclusion), pp. lv.-lxiii, 937–
1314.
XXI. Notitia Cestriensis. Vol. II. Part II. Lancashire, Part II. pp. lxxvii, 161—352. Plate.
- A::g///, year (1850–1).
XXII. Notitia Cestriensis. Vol. II. Part III. Lancashire, Part III. (Conclusion). pp. 353–621.
XXIII. A Golden Mirrour; conteininge certaine pithie and figurative visions prognosticating good
fortune to England, &c. By Richard Robinson of Alton. Reprinted from the only known copy of
the original edition of 1589 in the British Museum, with an Introduction and Notes by the Rev.
THOMAS Consek, M.A., F.S.A. pp. xxii, 10, 96.
XXIV. Chetham Miscellanies. Vol. I. Edited by WILLIAM LANGTON, Esq.; containing
p;" connected with the affairs of Milton and his Family. Edited by J. F. MARSH, Esq. pp. 46.
até.
Epistolary Reliques of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquaries, 1653–73. Communicated by GEORGE
ORMEROD, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., and F.G.S. pp. 16. º
Calendars of the Names of Families which entered their several Pedigrees in the successive
Heraldic Visitations of the County Palatine of Lancaster. Communicated by GEORGE ORMEROD,
D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., and F.G.S. pp. 26. *
A Fragment, illustrative of Sir Wm. Dugdale's Visitation of Lancashire. From MSS. in the
possession of the Rev. F. R. RAINEs, M.A., F.S.A.
pp. 8.
Autobiographical Tracts of Dr. John Dee, Warden of the College of Manchester. Edited by
JAMES CROSSLEY, Esq. pp. iv, 84.
4
Wisitation temp. Hen. yfiſh. The Abbaye of Whawley (for insertion in Whalley Coucher Book).
AWinth year (1851–2).
XXV. Cardinal Allen's Defence of Sir William Stanley’s Surrender of Deventer. Edited by THOMAs
HEYWOOD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. c, 38.
XXVI. The Autobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A. Edited by R.D. PARKINSON, D.D., F.S.A. Vol. I.
pp. xxv, 184.
XXVII. The Autobiography of Henry Newcome, M.A. Vol. II. (Conclusion). pp. 185–390
7 eyeſ/, wear (1852–3).
XXVIII. The Jacobite Trials at Manchester in 1694. Edited by WILLIAM BEAMoNT, Esq. pp. xc, 132.
XXIX. The Stanley Papers, Part I. The Earls of Derby and the Verse Writers and Poets of the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries. By THOMAS HIEywooD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. 64.
XXX. Documents relating to the Priory of Penwortham, and other Possessions in Lancashire of the
Abbey of Evesham. Edited by W. A HULTON, Esq. pp. lxxviii, 136.
A/even//, wear (1853–4).
XXXI. The Stanley Papers, Part II. The Derby Household Books, comprising an account of the
Household Regulations and Expenses of Edward and Henry, third and fourth Earls of Derby ;
together with a Diary, containing the names of the guests who visited the latter Earl at his houses
in Lancashire : by William Farrington, Esq., the Comptroller. Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINEs,
M.A., F.S.A. pp. xcviii, 247. Five Plates.
XXXII. The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom. Edited by RICHARD PARKINSON,
D.D., F.S.A. Vol. I. Part I. pp. x, 320. Portrait.
XXXIII. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories from the Ecclesiastical Court, Chester.
The First Portion. Edited by the Rev. G. J. Piccope, M.A. pp. vi., 196.
4. Publications of the Chetham Society.
7
WOL. Twelfth year (1854–5).
XXXIV. The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom. Vol. I. Part II. pp. 321-639.
XXXV. The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall. Edited by JOHN
HARLAND, Esq., F.S.A. Part I. pp. 232. Frontispiece.
XXXVI. The Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John Worthington. Vol. II. Part I. pp. 248.
Thirteenth year (1855–6).
XXXVII. Chetham Miscellanies. Vol. II. Edited by WILLIAM LANGTON, Esq. : containing
The Rights and Jurisdiction of the County Palatine of Chester, the Earls Palatine, the Chamber-
lain, and other Officers. Edited by Joseph BROOKS YATEs, F.A.S., G.S., and P.S. pp. 37.
The Scottish Field. (A Poem on the Battle of Flodden.) Edited by JoHN ROBSON, Esq. pp. xv, 28.
Examynatyons towcheynge Cokeye More, Temp. Hen. VIII. in a dispute between the Lords of the
Manors of Middleton and Radclyffe. Communicated by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A. pp. 30.
A History of the Ancient Chapel of Denton, in Manchester Parish. By the Rev. JoHN BOOKER,
M.A., F.S.A. pp. viii, 148. Three Plates.
A Letter from John Bradshawe of Gray’s Inn to Sir Peter Legh of Lyme. Edited by WILLIAM
LANGTON, Esq. pp. 8. -
Facsimile of a #. of Richard Bussel to Church of Evesham (for insertion in vol. xxx).
XXXVIII. Bibliographical Notices of the Church Libraries of Turton and Gorton, bequeathed by
Humphrey Chetham. Edited by GILBERT J. FRENCH, Esq. pp. 199. Illustrated Title.
XXXIX. The Farington Papers. Edited by Miss FFARINGTON. pp. xvi, 179. Five plates of Signatures.
Arourteenth year (1856–7).
xh, The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom. Vol. II. Part I. pp. 326 and two
moleaves.
xy; The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall. I’art II. pp. 233–472.
ortrait.
XLII. A History of the Ancient Chapels of I)idsbury and Chorlton, in Manchester Parish, including
Sketches of the Townships of Didsbury, Withington, Burnage, Heaton Norris, Reddish, Levenshulme,
and Chorlton-cum-Hardy: together with Notices of the more Ancient Local Families, and Particulars
relating to the Descent of their Estates. By the Rev. JoHN BOOKER, M.A., F.S.A. pp. viii, 337.
Seven Illustrations.
- Fifteenth year (1857–8).
xº; The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall. Part III. pp. x,
473–776.
XLIV. The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom. Vol. II. Part II. pp. 327–654.
Byrom Pedigrees, pp. 41 and three folding sheets; Indea, pp. v.
XLV. Miscellanies: being a selection from the Poems and Correspondence of the Rev. Thos. Wilson,
B.D., % º; With Memoirs of his Life. By the Rev. CANON RAINES, M.A., F.S.A. pp. xc,
230. Two Plates.
Sixteenth year (1858–9).
XLVI. The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall. Part IV. (Con-
clusion). pp. 777-1171.
XLVII. A History of the Ancient Chapel of Birch, in Manchester Parish, including a Sketch of the
Township of Rusholme : together with Notices of the more Ancient Local Families, and Particulars
}.}. the Descent of their Estates. By the Rev. JoHN BookER, M.A., F.S.A. pp. viii, 255.
#"O2.7° Plates.
XLVIII. A Catalogue of the Collection of Tracts for and against Popery (published in or about the reign
of James II.) in the Manchester Library founded by Humphrey Chetham; in which is incorporated,
with large Additions and Bibliographical Notes, the whole of Peck’s List of the Tracts in that
Controversy, with his References. Edited by TIIoMAs Jon Es, Esq. B.A. Part I. pp. xii, 256.
Pub/ications of the Cheſham Society. 5
WOL. Severzſeemſ/ wear (1859–60).
XLIX. The Lancashire Lieutenancy under the Tudors and Stuarts. The Civil and Military Govern-
ment of the County, as illustrated by a series of Royal and other Letters; Orders of the Privy Council,
the Lord Lieutenant, and other Authorities, &c., &c. Chiefly derived from the Shuttleworth MSS.
at Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire. Edited by JoHN HARLAND, Esq., F.S.A. Part I. pp. cxx, 96.
Seven Plates.
L. The Lancashire Lieutenancy under the Tudors and Stuarts. T’art II. (Conclusion). pp. 97–333.
LI. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories from the Ecclesiastical Court, Chester. The Second
I’ortion. pp. vi., 283. -
Fighteenth year (1860–1).
LII. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica: or, A Bibliographical and Descriptive Catalogue of a portion of a Col-
lection of Early English Poetry, with occasional Extracts and Remarks Biographical and Critical.
By the Rev. THOMAS CORSER, M.A., F.S.A., Rural Dean; Rector of Stand, Lancashire; and Vicar
of Norton, Northamptonshire. Part I. pp. xi, 208.
LIII. Mamecestre: being Chapters from the early recorded History of the Barony, the Lordship or
Manor, the Will Borough or Town, of Manchester. Edited by JoHN HARLAND, Esq., F.S.A. Vol. I.
pp. 207. Frontispiece.
LIV. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories from the Ecclesiastical Court, Chester. The Third
Portion. (Conclusion.J. pp. v., 272.
AWineſeemſ/ wear (1861–2).
LV. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica. Part II. pp. vi., 209–456.
LVI. Mamecestre. Vol. II. pp. 209—431.
LVII. Chetham Miscellanies. Vol. III. Edited by WILLIAM LANGTON, Esq. : containing
On the South Lancashire Dialect, with Biographical Notices of John Collier, the author of Time
Bobbin. By THos. HEY wooD, Esq. pp. 84,
Rentale de Cokersand; being the Bursar’s Rent Roll of the Abbey of Cokersand, in the County
Palatine of Lancaster, for the year 1501. Printed from the Original. Edited by the Rev. F. R.
IRAINES, M.A., F.S.A. pp. xviii, 46.
The Names of all the Gentlemen of the best callinge wººin the countye of Lancastre, whereof choyse
ys to be made of a c'ten number to lend vnto her Maº moneye vpon privie scals in Janvarye 1588.
From a manuscript in the possession of the Rev. F. R. TAINES, M.A., F.S.A. º
Some Instruction given by William Booth Esquire to his stewards John Carington and William
Rowcrofte, upon the purchase of Warrington by Sir George Booth Baronet and William Booth his
son, A.D. MDCXVIII. Communicated by WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. pp. 8.
Letter from Sir John Seton, Manchester ye 25 M’ch, 1643. Edited by THOMAS HEYwood, Esq.,
F.S.A. . 15.
The Něs of eight hundred inhabitants of Manchester who took the oath of allegiance to Charles
II. in April, 1679. Communicated by Joli N HARLAND, F.S.A. pp. 8.
The Pole Booke of Manchester, May yº 22° 1690. Edited by WILLIAM LANGTON, Esq. pp. 43.
Map and folding Table.
Twenfiefſ, wear (1862–3).
LVIII. Mamecestre. Vol. III. (Conclusion.) pp. x1, 433–627.
LIX. A History of the Chantries within the County Palatine of Lancaster: being the Reports of the
Royal Commissioners of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Mary. Edited by the Rev. F. R.
RAINEs, M.A., F.S.A. Vol. I. pp. xxxix, 168.
LX. A History of the Chantries within the County Palatine of Lancaster, &c. Vol. II. (Conclusion).
pp. 16.9—3.23.
6 Publications of the Cheſham Society.
WOL, - Twenty-first year (1863–4).
General Index to the Remains Historical and Literary published by the Chetham Society, vols. I-XXX.
pp. viii, 168.
LXI. I. Abbott’s Journal. II. An Account of the Tryalls &c. in Manchester in 1694. Edited by the
Rt. Rev. ALEXANDER Goss, D.D. pp. xix, 32; xxi, 42; 5.
LXII. Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire. Edited by WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. pp. xxxiv, 164
Two Plates.
Twenty-second year (1864–5).
LXIII. A Volume of Court Leet Records of the Manor of Manchester in the Sixteenth Century.
Compiled and edited by JoHN HARLAND, F.S.A. pp. xix, 208. Frontispiece.
LXIV. A. Catalogue of the Collection of Tracts for and against Popery. Part II. To which are added
an Index to the Tracts in both editions of Gibson’s Preservative, and a reprint of Dodd's Certamen,
Utriusque Ecclesiae. Edited by THOMAS Jon ES, Esq. B.A. pp. x, 269, 17.
LXV. Continuation of the Court Leet Records of the Manor of Manchester, A.D. 1586–1602. By John
HARLAND, Esq. pp. viii, i2S. ,
Twenty-third year (1865–6).
LXVI. The Stanley Papers. Part III. Private Devotions and Miscellanies of James seventh earl of
Derby, K.G., with a Prefatory Memoir and Appendix of Documents. Edited by the Rev. CANoN
RAINEs, M.A., F.S.A. Vol. 1. pp. i-cc.viii. Four Plates.
LXVII. The Stanley Papers. Part III. Vol. 2. pp. ccix-cc.cxcv. Four Plates.
LXVIII. Collectanea relating to Manchester and its Neighbourhood, at various periods. Compiled,
arranged and edited by JOHN HARLAND, F.S.A. Vol. I. pp. viii, 258.
7 wenty-fourth year (1866–7).
LXIX. The Admission Register of the Manchester School, with some Notices of the more distinguished
Scholars. Edited by the Rev. JEREMIAH FINCH SMITH, M.A., Rector of Aldridge, Staffordshire,
and Rural Dean. Vol. I., from A.D. 1730 to A.D. 1775. pp. viii, 253.
LXX. The Stanley Papers. Part III. Vol. 3. (Conclusion.) pp. 112 and 65. Frontispiece.
LXXI. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica. Part III. pp. x, 282.
7 wenty-fifth year (1867–8).
LXXII. Collectamea relating to Manchester and its Neighbourhood. Vol. II. pp. viii, 252.
LXXIII. The Admission Register of the Manchester School, with some Notices of the more dis-
tinguished Scholars. Vol. II, from A.D. 1776 to A.D. 1807. pp. v., 302.
LXXIV. Three Lancashire Documents of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, namely: I. The
Great De Lacy Inquisition, Feb. 16, 1311. II. Survey of 1320–1346. III. Custom Roll and Rental
of the Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, 1421. Edited by John HARLAND, Esq., F.S.A. pp. xiii, 140.
Twenty-sixth year (1868-9).
LXXV. Lancashire Funeral Certificates. Edited by THOMAS WILLIAM KING, Esq., F.S.A., York
. Herald. With additions by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Vice-President of the Chetham
Society. pp. viii, 102.
LXXVI. Observations and Instructions divine and morall. In Verse. By Robert Heywood of Hey-
wood, Lancashire. Edited by JAMES CROSSLEY, Esq., F.S.A. pp. xxiv, 108.
LXXVII. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica. Part IV. pp. vi., 260.
Puč/ications of the Cheſham Society. - 7
WOL. 7 wenty-seven//, year (1869–70).
LXXVIII. Tracts written in the Controversy respecting the Legitimacy of Amicia, daughter of
Hugh Cyveliok, earl of Chester. A.D. 1673–1679. By sir Peter Leycester, bart., and sir Thomas
Mainwaring, bart. Reprinted from the Collection at Peover. Edited, with an Introduction, by
WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. Part I. pp. xcv, 94. Portrait of Sir Peter Leycester.
LXXIX. Tracts written in the Controversy respecting the Legitimacy of Amicia. Part II. pp. 95–322.
Portrait of sir Thamas Mainwaring.
LXXX. Tracts written in the Controversy respecting the Legitimacy of Anicia. Part III. (Conclusion.)
pp. 323–550. With frontispiece of Stall at Peover.
7 wenty-eigh//, year (1870-1).
LXXXI. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1567, by William
Flower, Esq., Norroy king of arms. Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Vicar of
Milnrow, and IIon. Canon of Manchester. pp. xvi, 141.
LXXXII. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1613, by Richard St.
George, Esq., Norroy king of arms. Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Vicar of Miln-
row, Hon. Canon of Manchester, and Rural Dean. pp. xx, 142.
LXXXIII. Chetham Miscellanies, Vol. IV., containing:
Some Account of General Robert Venables, of Antrobus and Wincham, Cheshire ; with an engrav-
ing from his Portrait at Wincham, together with the Autobiographical Memoranda or Diary of his
Widow, Elizabeth Venables. From the original MS. in the possession of LEE P. Townshend, Esq.
pp. iv, 2S. Pedigree 1. Portrait of General IRobert Venables.
A Forme of Confession grounded vpon the Ancient Catholique and Apostolique Faith. Made and
composed by the honorable ladie The Lady Bridget Egerton. A.D. 1636. From the original MS. in
º possession of SIR PHILIP DE MALPAS GREY EGERTON, Bart., M.P. pp. vi, 23. Pedigrees 2.
(tte.
A Kalender conteyning the Names of all such Gent. and others as upon her Maty’s Pryvye Seales
have paid there Money to the handes of Sir Hugh Cholmondley Knyghte Collect of Her Hyghnes
Loane within the Countie of Chester, together wºº the severall Somes and Daies of Receipt. A.D. 1597.
From the original MS. in the possession of R. H. WooD, Esq., F.S.A. pp. iv, 4.
History of Warrington Friary. Edited by WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. pp. vii, 76. Indea; 4.
Four Plates, being Effigies and Arms, Tombstones, and Fragments.
Twenty-min//, year (1871-2).
LXXXIV. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1664–5, by Sir Wil-
liam Dugdale, Knight, Norroy king of arms. Edited by the Rev. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Vicar
of Milnrow, Hon. Canon of Manchester, and Rural Dean. Part I. pp. xiv, 104.
LXXXV. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1664–5, by Sir Wil-
liam Dugdale, Knight. Part II. pp. 105–224.
LXXXVI. Annals of the Lords of Warrington for the first five centuries after the conquest. With
historical notices of the place and neighbourhood. Edited by WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq. Part I.
pp. xxvi, 262. Three Plates.
7%ir/ie//, year (1872–3).
LXXXVII. Annals of the Lords of Warrington for the first five centuries after the conquest. Part II.
(Conclusion.) pp. 26.3—523. Indea: 11. Three Plates.
LXXXVIII. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, made in the year 1664–5, by Sir Wil-
liam Dugdale, Knight. Part III. (Conclusion.) pp. 225–344. Indea; 17.
LXXXIX. The Dr. Farmer Chetham MS., being a commonplace-book in the Chetham Library, temp.
Elizabeth, James I. and Charles I., consisting of verse and prose, mostly hitherto unpublished.
Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by the Rev. ALEXANDER B. GROSART. Part I. pp. xvi, 120,
Frontispiece in Photo-lithography.
8 Publications of the Chetham Society.
WOL, Thirty-first year (1873–4).
XC. The Dr. Farmer Chetham M.S., being a commonplace-book in the Chetham Library, temp.
Elizabeth, James I. and Charles I. Part II. (Conclusion. J pp. 121–225.
XCI. Collectanea Anglo-Poetica. Part V. pp. xi, 250.
XCII. The History of the parish of Kirkham, in the county of Lancaster. By IIENRY FISHwick
F.R.H.S. pp. vii, 208; Appendia, 3 ; Indea: 18. Frontispiece.
Thirty-second year (1874–5).
XCIII. The Admission Register of the Manchester School, with some Notices of the more distinguished
Scholars, from A.D. 1807 to A.D. 1830. Vol. III. Part I, pp. vi., 176. Three Plates.
XCIV. The Admission Register of the Manchester School, with some Notices of the more distinguished
Scholars, from A.D. 1807 to A.D. 1830. Vol. III. Part II. pp. 177–348. Indea; 19. Two Plates.
XCV. Abstracts of Inquisitions post Mortem, made by Christopher Towneley and Roger Dodsworth.
Extracted from Manuscripts at Towneley. Edited by WILLIAM LANGTON. pp. viii, 160; Indea: 16.
Thirty-third year (1875–6).
XCVI. Chetham Miscellanies, Vol. V. Edited by the Rev. CANON RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Vice-
President of the Society, containing :
A Description of the State, Civil and Ecclesiastical, of the County of Lancaster, about the year 1590,
by some of the Clergy of the Diocese of Chester. From the original MS. in the Bodleian. pp. xv, 48.
A Visitation of the Diocese of Chester, by John, Archbishop of York, held in the Chapter House of
the Collegiate and Parish Church of Manchester, 1590, with the Archbishop’s Correspondence with
the Clergy. From the MS. in the Bodleian. pp. 22. Plate.
Letters on the Claims of the College of Arms in Lancashire, in the time of James the First ; by
Leonard Smethley and Randle Holme, Deputy Heralds. pp. xx, 38.
The * Rolls of Whalley in the years 1552 and 1553. From the originals at Stonyhurst.
ſpp. W, lö.
XCVII. Contributions towards a History of the Ancient Parish of Prestbury, in Cheshire. By FRANK
RENAUD, M.D. pp. viii, 238; Index 6. Fowrteen Plates.
Charles Simms and Co., Printers, Maſtchester.
REMAINS
HISTORICAL & LITERARY
- (~ a yº /
connecTED witH THE PALATINE counties of g
LAN CASTER AND CHESTER.
PUBLISHED BY
THE CHETHAM SOCIETY.
VOL. XCVII.
PRINTED FOR THE CHETHAM SOCIETY.
M.DCCC.LXXVI.
COUNCIL FOR 1875–76.
JAMES CROSSLEY, Esq., F.S.A., PRESIDENT.
REV. F. R. RAINES, M.A., F.S.A., Hon. CANoN of MANCHESTER,
VICE-PRESIDENT.
WILLIAM BEAMONT, Esq.
THE VERY REV, BENJAMIN MORGAN COWIE, B.D., F.S.A.,
IDEAN of MANCHESTER.
THE WORSHIPFUL RICHARD COPLEY CHRISTIE, M.A.,
CHANCELLOR of THE DIOCESE OF MANCHESTER.
REV. THOMAS CORSER, M.A., F.S.A.
LIEUT.-COLONEL FISHWICK, F.S.A.
THOMAS JONES, Esq., B.A., F.S.A.
WILLIAM LANGTON, ESQ.
COLONEL EGERTON LEIGH, M.P.
REV. JOHN HOWARD MARSDEN, B.D., F.R.G.S.,
LATE DISNEY PROFESSOR.
REV. JAMES RAINE, M.A., CANoN of York.
ARTHUR H. HEYWOOD, ESQ., TREASURER.
R. HENRY WOOD, Esq., F.S.A., Hon. SECRETARy.


CONTRIBUTIONS
TOWARDS A
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT
PARISH OF PRESTBURY,
IN CHESHIRE.
BY
FRANK RE N A UD, M. D.
PRINTED FOR THE CHETHAM SOCIETY.
M.DCCC.LXXVI.
PRINT ED BY CHARLEs E. SIMMs,
MANCHESTER.

CO N T E N T S.
PREFACE - - - ms - ses - * - -
PRESTBURY PARISH GENERALLY - tº- - º - -
PRESTBURY VILLAGE, CHURCH, MONUMENTS, WARDENs' Ac-
COUNTS, &c. - - - - - - - - -
BUTLEY AND BONISHALL, AND PIGOT OF BUTLEY AND OF
BONISHALL - - t- - º - * - *
2O.
66.
STONE CROSSES AND OTHER STONE MEMORIALS WITHIN THE
PARISH - - - *- - * - * - *
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON - - - -
WOODFORD HALL - tº- - - - * - -
LEGH OF LYME - - - - sºs - * - --
LEGH OF RIDGE - *- *- - - - * - -
WINCLE GRANGE
-
-
-
-
º
*
-:
-
-
MACCLESFIELD - - * - tº- - * - *
ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD es - -- - -
ARMORIAL SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH CHURCH TOWER - *
7 I.
77.
I2 2.
I 23.
I 54.
I57.
16I.
I85.
229.
I L L U S T R AT I O N S.
Page.
25.
3O.
32.
61.
7 I.
8o.
146.
I56.
16o.
I65.
Map of Prestbury Parish.
Norman Doorway, Prestbury Church.
Alabaster Monuments of Jasper Worth and his wife Alice, daugh-
ter of Sir Philip Draycot; and of Robert and Matilda Downes;
and of Robert Downes and Emma (Booth) his wife.
Alabaster Monuments of Reginald Legh, and of Edward Warren.
Form of Affidavit for Burial in Woollen.
Stone Crosses in Prestbury Parish.
Seals of Queen Isabella, Corona of Adlington, and Legh of Lyme;
and Armorial Devices on the Tombs of Savage, and Lady Mary
Egerton, in Macclesfield and Astbury Churches.
Armorial Shields on and around the Tomb of Sir Richard Brereton
of Tatton and Worsley, and Dorothy (Egerton of Ridley) his
wife, in Eccles Church.
Pardon Brass of Roger and Elizabeth Legh of Ridge, in Mac-
clesfield Church.
Wincle Grange.
Armorial Shields on the Tower of St. Michael's Church, Maccles-
field. -
Heraldic Shields on Gawsworth Church Tower.
Pedigree of Oulton, Yardswick, Wrenbury, &c., explanatory of
Two Quartered Shields of Arms in Wilmslow Church.
Family Alliances of the children of Sir Lawrence Fitton of Gaws-
worth, and of his grand-daughter, heraldically displayed on
Gawsworth Church Tower.
229.
235.
236.
ER RATA.
Page 20, for Newton township read Butley township.
,, 31, , , adjuton read adjutor.
,, 31, , , posticon read porticon.
,, 62, , , struck of read struck off.
PR E FA C E .
N undertaking to write the following book for publi-
cation amongst the Transactions of the CHETHAM
SOCIETY, I have endeavoured to add something to the
antiquarian, topographical, and genealogical information
concerning the ancient Parish of Prestbury, in Cheshire,
without needlessly repeating the recorded facts and obser-
vations of preceding historians, of whom Dr. Ormerod is
pre-eminently the chief.
Furthermore, it has seemed to me best to make a
selection from the materials at my disposal, rather than
attempt to crowd too many details into the compass of a
small volume; the more especially so as some districts,
and some families, have already received a more ample
and a more reliable historical treatment than others.
Nearly all the present materials were collected, in inter-
vals of leisure, between the years 1853 and 1858. At
this time some detached papers were read before “the
Rosicrucian Brotherhood,” and afterwards printed anony-
mously in the Manchester Guardian newspaper, amongst
the published proceedings of that select and short-lived,
but very pleasant antiquarian Society.
vi PREFACE.
As the ancient and royal forest of Macclesfield once
embraced half the area of Prestbury parish, and rivalled,
if it did not surpass, in importance the manorial and
ecclesiastical sub-divisions during the feudal times, I
have spared no pains to collect together—even at the
risk of some repetition—such scattered details as yet
remain concerning its former government, boundaries,
courts, and officers; and, in order that this part of the
present volume may be made more readable and inte-
resting, I have prefixed to it a very brief summary of
laws by which royal forests generally were governed in
the Saxon, Norman, and feudal periods.
As the mother church of Prestbury was intimately
connected with the parent monastery of St. Werburg at
Chester, and used to exercise undisputed ecclesiastical
jurisdiction over the thirty-five townships into which the
parish was then divided, its history supplies a running
commentary on many of the events that have happened
in the district for the space of seven centuries, or more.
Architecturally, Prestbury parish church cannot vie with
many Cheshire churches in stateliness; but it possesses
the peculiar characteristic of exhibiting every style of
ecclesiastical detail from the Norman to the post-reforma-
tion period. The churches of Macclesfield and Gaws-
worth are more than ordinarily rich in monumental and
heraldic art; but, as their interior embellishments have
been described in the Harleian MSS. and in other local
histories, I have not thought it necessary to include them,
and have contented myself with the more humble task of
PREFACE. vii
describing and delineating the armorial shields with which
their towers are enriched, and which have remained un-
noticed hitherto. An explanation of these armorial shields
—many of which are fast going to decay—supplies alike
a proximate date to the building of the respective churches,
and furnishes a convenient medium for introducing the
names, Offices, and localities of former benefactors and
patrons, the majority of whom are either extinct or have
ceased to exercise their former influence within the parish;
for here, as elsewhere, many families of importance, and
some of historic influence, have passed away through the
vicissitudes of time and circumstance, whilst a few yet
remain as mesne lords of the soil, whose ancestors were
men of worship and renown as early as the days of the
Plantagenet kings.
Of the families of Stafford, Savage, Brereton, Fitton,
Sutton, and Downes, little remains save the shadow of
their former greatness; whilst the forest moorlands con-
tinue to be represented by the noble house of Stanley;
and the townships of Poynton, Capesthorne, Adlington,
and Lyme Hanley, by worthy Scions of an ancient stock.
Like all others who have been similarly occupied, it
becomes alike my duty and pleasure to acknowledge, with
many thanks, the aid I have received from numerous
friends, and the help I have had from the perusal of un-
published manuscripts. From CHARLES R. B. LEGH, Esq.,
of Adlington, and the late THOMAS LEGH, Esq., of Lyme,
I have received many aids. My thanks are also due to
W. BROMLEy-DAVENPORT, Esq., for a perusal of the
viii PREFACE.
“robber roll” preserved amongst the archives at Capes-
thorne. To the Rev. Canon RAINEs I offer acknowledg-
ments for access to some of his M.S. collections. To
RICHARD WOOD, Esq., I am grateful for the unreserved
use of his Cheshire M.S., compiled in the early part of
the 17th century, from which, inter alia, I have extracted
several short transcripts of deeds relating to local family
histories. To J. C. ANTROBUS, Esq., of Eaton, I am
indebted for a copy of the transfer of Macclesfield manor
house from the Staffords to the Stanleys. The Rev. Canon
WILSON, the present vicar of Prestbury, has supplied me
with many parochial details; whilst to his predecessor, the
Rev. W. PEARSON, I owe the arrangement of the wardens'
accounts, &c., preserved at Prestbury. I have had the
advantage of comparing my pedigree of the early Leghs
of Lyme with one that had been separately and indepen-
dently drawn out by W. BEAMONT, Esq., of Warrington,
and of finding that they exactly corresponded; and my best
thanks are due to Mr. BEAMONT for making me familiar
with several details in the family history of the Leghs of
Lyme of a later date. As it would be impossible to
complete even a small volume like the present one with-
out making frequent reference to Dr. Ormerod's History
of Cheshire, so it would be as ungracious as culpable
were I to omit my acknowledgments to this author for
all the information that is to be gleaned from out his
well-stored volumes.
FRANK RENAUD, M.D.
Manchester,
Mozember 17th, 1875.
Wiiſaboar (ſough
J%22%, &es.4% .


THE
ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY,
I N C H E S H I R. E.
OF PRESTBURY PARISH GENERALLY.
HE parish of Prestbury in Cheshire, is of considerable
extent, being fourteen miles long, and ten miles broad.
It is situated in the hundred of Macclesfield ; and at the present
time includes thirty-three townships, viz.: Prestbury, Butley,
Mottram-St.-Andrew, Tytherington, Upton, Fallibrome, Mac-
clesfield, Hurdsfield, Woodford, Adlington, Poynton, Worth,
Newton, Bollington, Lyme Hanley, Pott-Shrigley, Ranow,
Kettleshulme, Taxall, Macclesfield Forest, Sutton, Wincle,
Wildboarclough, Bosley, North Rode, Marton, Siddington,
Henbury, Birtles, Chelford, Capesthorne, Old Withington, and
Lower Withington. Alderley and Gawsworth townships once
formed integral parts of Prestbury parish.
The accompanying map, reduced by the Rev. Canon Wilson
from the larger one used by the Poor-Law Guardians in 1858, will
give a better geographical idea of the parish than any description.
In the Domesday Survey, mention is made of twelve town-
ships only, viz.: Adlington, Butley, Mottram, Macclesfield,
Gawsworth, Henbury, Chelford, Capesthorne, Siddington, Marton,
North Rode, and Bosley.
When the survey was made, seven of the above-named town-
ships were in the possession of Hugh Lupus, two were held by
Bigot, one by Hugh de Mara, and two by Saxon free men.
The annexed account of Prestbury parish, tabulated from state-
ments furnished by the Domesday Survey, will show the occupa-
tion, extent, taxation, relative value, and general condition of
the twelve townships much better than a lengthy description :
B
2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
In this table the extent and quality of the land in Capesthorne
and Henbury are omitted ; but, in the remaining ten townships
it amounts to 5 I carucates, or 5, IOO acres.
The taxable land in the twelve townships amounted to 1,500
acres, or I 5 hides. The value of Adlington, Butley, Macclesfield,
and Siddington, came to 47s. Before the devastation caused by
the conquest of England, the value of these lands amounted to
nearly 21/, Adlington had the largest proportion of taxable
land for its area ; and next to Adlington, Mottram. The wood
is not computed in the three townships of Henbury, Capesthorne,
and Chelford; but the sum total for the nine remaining townships
is 20,000 yards and 20 perches in length, by I2,500 in width, or
more than I I miles of length, and 7 of breadth. Eight town-
ships out of the twelve are declared waste. The steady increase
of meadow land in Butley is accounted for by the fact that Hugh
Lupus had given it to his son Robert before the time of the
completion of the survey. About one half of Prestbury Parish was
included within the precincts of the royal forest of Macclesfield.
No mention of Prestbury, by name, is made in the survey, but at
the time of the completion of this invaluable work, many vills
which were waste and desolate were omitted; and many churches
also, which had been destroyed by the Normans. The most
reasonable conjecture is that Prestbury township was included in
that of Butley, and partially so in Mottram-Andrew.
The population of Prestbury Parish, in 1811, when Corry
wrote the History of Macclesfield, amounted to 36,423 persons,
of whom 22,OOO and more were males, and I4,OOO and more
females. 24,OOO persons were engaged in agricultural pursuits,
and 1,500 in manufactures and trades. There were 1,346 in-
habited houses in the parish, exclusive of Macclesfield, in which
latter there were 3,864. I,500 families in the whole parish were
engaged in agricultural pursuits, 244 only of whom resided in
Macclesfield. 3,763 families were employed in trade and manu-
factures, nearly 2,500 of whom dwelt in Macclesfield.
The census of I85 I gave the following information regarding
An account of Prestàury Parish, tabulated from Statements furnished by the Domesday Survey.
Name of Occupants at Former Extent of How much Value in time Value at time Wood
T hi e of Edward the ſe d
ownship. time of survey. Occupants. land. taxed. Confessor. of survey. (in yards).
* * * º tº gº ºf * & 6000 long, | Lord's mill. Third penny of hundred be-
Macclesfield . Hugh Lupus. Saxon Earl Edwin. Io Carucates. 2 Hides. A8. 2O Shillings. 4OOO wide. longed to this manor, which had 7 hays.
* & s ºf * * 2OOO long, Was formerly waste; but now has 21 acres of
Adlington ... Do. Do. Do. 4% Hides. A8. 20 Shillings. ... j. meadow, 7, hays, and 4 eyries for hawks.
g e - “I s 2OOO long,
Gawsworth ... Do. Bernulf. 6 Carucates. | I Hide. 2O Shillings. Waste. 2OOO wide. Had two hays.
Chelford ...... Do. Brun. 2 Carucates. | }. Hide. Waste. Waste. ......
Henbury ...... Do. 1 ...... . ...... # Hide. Waste. Waste. ......
Capesthorne. Do. ...... . ...... 4 Hide. Waste. Waste. ......
Uluric, and after- Uluric Ooo lon In time of Edward the Confessor there were
Butley ......... wards Robert, son and 5 Carucates. | I Hide. 30 Shillings. 2 Shillings. ; OOO wi# 2% acres of meadow; in Uluric's time 7 acres;
of Hugh Lupus. Hundin. and in Robert's time I2 acres, also a hay.
Mottram ...... º (; 4 Carucates. I?, Hide. ...... Waste. : .# Had two hays, and an eyrie of hawks.
Bosley......... Hugh de Mara. Godric. 4 Carucates. | }. Hide. 20 Shillings. Waste. 2000 long,
500 wide.
Marton Hugh Lupus Do I Carucate I Rod Waste Waste 20 perches
e = e tº gº º g puS. gº ſº (virgate). g e in length.
* * * * * * o g tº ~ * : * tº ºf g & IOOO long,
Siddington ... Bigot. Brun. 7 Carucates. | I]. Hide. 20 Shillings. 5 Shillings. 500 .# te
Rode ......... Do. Bernulf. 2 Carucates. | }. Hide. 8 Shillings. Waste. IOOO .#
(North Rode) 500 wide.

OF PRESTBURY PARISH GENERALLY. 3
Prestbury Parish: The area comprised 63,125 statute acres, on
which 59,265 persons dwelt, being rather less than one to the
acre. The census of 187 I gave 64, IOO inhabitants, viz.: 28,650
for the rural districts, and 35,450 for the borough of Macclesfield.
The following table shows what was the number of acres, and
the numerical strength of the population in each township, in the
year 1851. If the townships of Macclesfield, Hurdsfield, Sutton,
and Bollington are withdrawn, the population of the remaining
townships is found to be as one person to four acres of land. In
the four town districts, it averages five persons to each acre of
land:—
Township. - Acres. Population.
Prestbury.................. .................... 62O 373
Poynton ....................................... 2,490 I, 247
Worth .......................................... 450 885
Woodford .................................... I,499 43O
Newton ....................................... 500 I 22
Adlington .................................... 3,350 I, IO4
Butley .......................................... I,500 709
Mottram-St.-Andrew........................ I,600 408
Fallibrome .................................... 24 I 28
Upton .......................................... 447 III
Tytherington .......................... ...... 993 374
Hurdsfield .................................... 86O 4,OI6
Bollington .................................... 1, 184 4,655
Pott-Shrigley ................................. I, 7 I9 467
Lyme Hanley................................. 3,92O 264
Kettleshulme ............ .................... I,2O7 352
Rainow ....................................... 5,750 1,605
Macclesfield Forest ........................ 4,OOO 269
Macclesfield ...... . ....................... 2, I IO 29,648
Sutton .......................................... 4,460 7, 525
Wildboarclough ..................... . . . . . . . . . . 4,980 447
Wincle.......................................... I,980 336
Bosley .......................................... 3, 18O 568
North Rode.................................... I, 52O 227
Marton.......................................... I,947 3I3
Siddington .................................... 2, I4. I 459
Henbury ....................................... I,4OO 464
Birtles .......................................... 46O 65
Capesthorne ................................. 748 138
Chelford ....................................... 29O 263
Lower Withington........................... 2,265 57o
Old Withington .............................. I,840 189
4 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
CHURCHES, AND CHAPELS OF EASE, IN PRESTBURY
PARISH.
In 1291, when the taxation of Pope Nicholas was made,
Prestbury parish church was the only Ecclesiastical building
named, and was valued at 26!. I3s. 4d.
Marton, Siddington, and Poynton chapels of ease were built
during the decorated period of Gothic architecture; and the
churches of Macclesfield, Gawsworth, and Alderley, in the best
periods of Perpendicular Gothic architecture. Disley, Bosley, and
Pott-Shrigley churches were built in the later periods of Perpen-
dicular Gothic architecture. Of the chapels of Newton, Poynton,
and Adlington it is less easy to speak, as the originals have long
since gone to decay. These, together with Wincle church, were
in existence when Sir P. Leicester's history was published in
1669. At this time there were domestic chapels in the halls of
Lyme, Sutton, and Handforth. -
When Bishop Gastrell made a visitation of his diocese in 1707,
there were twelve churches and chapels of ease in the thirty town-
ships comprising Prestbury parish. Newton chapel was in ruins.
Neither Wincle, Poynton, Capesthorne, Adlington, nor Chapel-
in-the-Forest, had settled maintenances. The endowments of
the remaining seven churches and chapels of ease amounted
collectively to 256/ 6s. I Id. -
There were only seven schools in the parish, viz.: Maccles-
field grammar School, with a royal charter; Prestbury school,
with the interest of IOO!, to teach ten poor children; Chelford,
with the interest of 2/. Ios. for the teaching of one poor child;
Marton, with the interest of 12/. for teaching three poor children;
Pott, with an endowment of 6/ annually; Poynton, with no cer-
tain Sum; and Siddington, with an annual endowment of 8/.
Bishop Gastrell passes over in silence the three domestic
chapels of Lyme, Sutton, and Handforth. He notes the fact
that the churches of Alderley and Gawsworth once formed
integral parts of Prestbury parish, and adds that Gawsworth was
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. 5
independent in 1500. The following extracts from St. Werburg's
Chartulary, made by Mr. Croston, seem to show that both Gaws-
worth and Taxall churches were partially independent of the
mother church more than a century sooner: -
“In the year 1382 the abbot and monks ceded to John Caxton,
the then parson of Gawsworth, the privilege of burying his
parishioners, on paying to them a moiety of the dues within ten
days after each burial; and a proviso was added that any parish-
ioner of Gawsworth might be buried at Prestbury, without any
claim on the part of the rector of Gawsworth.
“In 1377 the abbot and monks ceded to the rector of Taxall,
John Shalcross, the right to bury his parishioners, and to receive
mortuaries and other oblations, claimed as the immemorial right
of the parish of Prestbury.”
Alderley parish now consists of the townships of Nether
Alderley, Over Alderley, and Great Warford, and contains more
than 5,000 acres of land in all. An acknowledgment of 2s. yearly
was made to the rector or vicar when Alderley ceased to be an
integral part of Prestbury parish. The registers begin in 1629.
Bishop Gastrell's notes of church visitations made in 1707 and
later, and published in the Chetham Society's transactions, are
very valuable as showing the number of churches, endowments,
Schools, &c., in the diocese of Chester, at the beginning of the
eighteenth century; and as no history of Prestbury parish can
be complete without a knowledge of these details, I make no
hesitation in transcribing them, together with the careful and
valuable notes made by the Rev. Canon Raines, in 1834. To
these will be added such further information as will bring the
ecclesiastical and educational state of the parish down to the
present time.
PRESTBURY.
In 1707, “Prestbury church was valued at 140l per annum,
derived from glebe land and great tithes of four townships.
The school was erected in 1707. The patronage formerly
6 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
belonged to John, baron of Montalt of Hawarden, in right of
his manor of Poynton, which he had with Ellen his wife, widow
of Robert de Stokeport. It was appropriated by the bishop of
Coventry in the time of King John or Henry III., reserving ten
marks to the vicar. Rectory and patronage of the vicarage
given, after the dissolution of the monastery, to the dean and
chapter of Chester by charter. Patron, Mr. Legh, of Adlington.”
1834. “Church dedicated to Saint Peter; value 450/. per
annum. Registers begin in 152O, but are imperfect till I72O.
From 22nd Elizabeth the manor and advowson have passed with
the Adlington estate.”
ADLINGTON.
1717. “Certified that nothing certain belongs to it. It is
mentioned as a chapel of ease by Sir P. Leicester, but now is
claimed to be domestic by Mr. Legh. Wardens were sworn in
1675, 1674, 1673, and 1672. The curate was suspended in 1672.”
In the account of the family of Legh of Adlington, mention
has been made of the license granted to Robert Legh to keep
a chaplain to say mass, &c., in the reign of Henry VI. The
Rev. S. L. Wilson, the present vicar of Prestbury, says that there
has been a private chaplain at Adlington ever since 1447, who
officiated at the chantry on the manor, which was destroyed in
I 565–66. There is a hiatus till 1670, when the chaplain is styled
“curate.” The baptisms at Adlington chapel are registered in
the Prestbury books, beginning in a separate column in 1757,
and ending in 1812. Marriages were solemnized in 1727.
Though the chapel now forms an integral part of Adlington
hall, it was separate till the time of Mr. Charles Legh, and used
to stand in the “chapel field.” It was a small structure con-
sisting of nave and chancel, having a bell turret over the western
entrance. A representation of it is preserved in a picture in
Adlington hall. Two schools have lately been built in Adlington
township, viz., St. Stephens, at Whitley Green, in 1857, and St.
John's, at Wood Lanes, in 1859.
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE, 7
BOSLEY.
1707. “Parochial chapel distant six miles from the mother
church. Certified 3/. I 8s. Id.” -
I834. “Patron saint unknown. Value I IOl. Registers begin
in 1728.”
Bosley chapelry has an area of 3,500 acres, and had 588
inhabitants in 1852. The church was rebuilt in 1777, and con-
sisted of a low embattled stone tower, and brick nave. A
chancel was added in 1834, and in 1839 the Schools were built
by subscription at a cost of 400. The parsonage was built in
1853 at a cost of Io98/. The vicar of Prestbury is patron of the
living.
The original church of Bosley was a structure dating back to
the 14th or I5th century. Dugdale, in Church Notes, gives a
fragmentary inscription in stained glass dated I450. The body
of the church was half timbered. There are four bells in the
tower, of different dates. One, cast by Abraham Rudhall in
1663, is inscribed “Glory to God in the highest;” another, cast
in 1756, is inscribed “Prosperity to the Church of England;”
and another, “Peace and good neighbourhood.”
In 1669, when the Uniformity Act was in operation, Sir
Jeoffrey Shakerly pulled Mr. John Garside out of the pulpit
because he would not read the Book of Sports, and had him
conveyed to Chester and imprisoned.
Amongst the benefactions is one by the Rev. H. Thornley, in
I764, for providing a Bible to a poor person who could read, in
the townships of Bosley, North Rode, Pott-Shrigley, Wildboar-
clough, and Wincle, in Prestbury parish, and Rushton Spencer,
in Staffordshire. The registers for burials begin in 1684; those
for baptisms in 1728; and for marriages in 1729.
Bosley is the only township in Prestbury parish which was
vested in the crown independently of the local earldom. It
belonged to Hugh de Mara, and passed in 1327 to Isabel, mother
of Edward III, and continued vested in the Crown for 124 years.
8 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
After Henry VI, the manor passed to the Stanleys, and in 152O
was held by Lord Monteagle, from whose son it passed to the
Fittons of Gawsworth, in 1540, and is now vested in their suc-
cessors, the Earls of Harrington.
CAPESTON (CAPESTHORNE).
1723. “Certified that nothing belongs to it. This is a new
chappell lately built by John Ward, Esq., who has given all the
tithes of this township towards its augmentation. Augmented
by governors of Queen Ann's bounty in 1722. Augmented
again in 1723 with 200l., which Mr. Ward gave out of Mrs.
Barton's money.”
1834. “Dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Value 76/. Registers
begin in 1722.” -
Marriages solemnized in 1727 (S. L. Wilson). This is a
domestic chapel.
CHELFORD-CUM-WITHINGTON.
1707. “Certified 12/. 9s. I Id, paid by the dean and chapter
of Chester. Made parochial in 1674. In 1267 Robert Pigot
gave this village (Chelford), with the lordship and rent of Astall
and Withington, to the Abbey of St. Werburg, provided they
found a chaplain to say mass in this chappell three days a week,
and the other four days at St. Nicholas altar in Prestbury church,
where his predecessors are buried. The chappelry consists of
three hamlets, which make up a numerous congregation. Aug-
mented in 1720, towards which Mr. William Stanley and Mr.
Brooke gave 200l. The surplice fees go to the vicar of Prestbury.
No school endowed.” |
1834. “Patron saint unknown. Value 135/. Registers begin
in 1679. The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of Thomas
Dixon, Esq., of Astle.”
Thomas Smallwood left interest of 2s. Ios. for educating a
poor child. In 1754 a school was built for the townships of
Chelford, Astle, and Lower Withington. The Charity Commis-
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. 9
sioners reported in 1848 that there was “a school in Chelford
upon a charitable foundation in which from fifteen to twenty
children are educated.”
CHAPEL-IN-THE-FOREST.
1707. “This chapel is not consecrated. Certified that there
is no certain maintenance for a minister, only some small allow-
ance from Lord Derby and the inhabitants of the township,
when anybody preaches there.”
1834. “Patron saint unknown. Value 60l. a year. Registers
begin in 1759. No marriage register.”
Chapel-in-the-Forest and Wildboarclough are now conjoined,
the same minister doing duty at both. There yet remains a
Stone altar in the chapel which speaks of its pre-reformation
existence.
MACCLESFIELD.
1716. “Certified 5ol, paid formerly by the Crown, out of
revenues arising within the county. The grant of 5ol, per year
was made by James I. in the 3rd year of his reign, during
pleasure. Confirmed by new grants till corporation was dis-
solved about I72O. Macclesfield was made a body corporate in
the 37th Elizabeth. Families at least 2,000 in town and pre-
cincts, in 1705.
“Macclesfield is a parochial chapelry, and has the following
townships, viz.: Macclesfield, Chapel-le-Forest, Wildboarclough,
Pot-Shrigley, Ranow, Hurdsfield, Sutton-c.-Winkle, Kettlesholm,
and Downes. -
“Macclesfield has a free grammar school, erected and endowed
by Edward VI., anno. reg. 6th. The upper master has 5ol, per
annum certain, and IOl. more at the discretion of the governors.
The lands given by King Edward were part of the possessions
of the college of St. John, Chester.”
1834. “Macclesfield parochial chapel, dedicated to St. Michael.
Value 2 I4!. Registers begin in 1572. The church was founded
C
IC) THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
by Eleanor, queen of Edward I., about the year 1278, and was
decreed by the king to be subject to the mother church of Prest-
bury, which it still continues to be.”
Christ's Church is a perpetual curacy attached to St. Michael's,
built by Christopher Wroe in 1775, and endowed by rent with
Iool, and 4ol. from Queen Anne's bounty, and further, by will of
Christopher Wroe, grandson of the founder, with 6,OOOl. The
registers are kept at St. Michael's. A school is attached to St.
Michael's, and to Christ church, the latter having been built in
1841 and endowed with 3ol. for the education of twenty children,
and 5l. for books.
These two are ecclesiastical and educational establishments
belonging to Macclesfield township proper; but within the
borough boundary there are four others, viz., St. Paul's, St.
Peter's, St. George's, and St. James's, the three latter being in
Sutton township.
St. Paul's church, built under Sir Robert Peel's Act, has
a government endowment, and is alternately in the gift of the
crown and the bishop of the diocese. An assistant curate is
paid by the Pastoral Aid Society. The school, built in 1854,
has a government grant.
St. Peter's church and schools were built in 1847, and conse-
crated in 1851. Government endowment under Sir Robert Peel's
Act, with usual alternating gift. Registers commence in 1847.
School with government grant. Parsonage recently built.
St. George's, Sutton, built originally as a dissenting chapel in
1822, and was purchased for a church in 1828 and consecrated
in 1834, at which time the registers commence. Endowed with
6ol, per annum, which, together with pew rents, made the annual
income 27Ol., which has since been augmented to 3ool, by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Pastoral Aid Society pays
I3Ol. per annum for a curate. There is a parsonage house, also
a school built in 1835. There is a school in High-street called
National, and another for infants built in 1845.
St. James's chapel, Sutton, is proprietary, and was built in
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. I I
1839. There is a register for burials and baptisms commencing
in 1840. It is licensed only, and there is no endowment.
Schools built by private subscription in 1841. The parsonage
was built in 1840, and the chancel added in 1871. The popula-
tion of Hurdsfield was 4,OOO, in a circuit of nine miles.
Hurdsfield church, dedicated to the Trinity, was built in 1837,
and consecrated in 1839. The patronage rests with Miss Hind-
man's trustees. Registers begin in 1840. Endowment, 48l. IOs.
per year, with surplice fees; together, 7.Ol. Parsonage built in
1853; Schools in 1841. A curate and scripture reader, paid by
the Pastoral Aid Society. There are no charities.
MARTON.
1707. “A parochial chapel, certified 6/, 19s. Od. No settled
minister, but the inhabitants provide as they can. One township,
with part of Lower Withington.”
1834. “Dedicated to Saint James, value 48/.; registers begin
in 1563. Sir John Davenport granted by deed dated 1390 four
messuages, and 60 acres of land, in the vill of Merton, to main-
tain a fit priest, celebrating Mass in the Chapel of Merton, for
the souls of himself, his parents, successors, and all faithful people
deceased, for ever.”
Marton church was restored in 1871, and had a porch added.
The tower beams and supports were all strengthened. Enough
details of decorated architecture remain to warrant the conclusion
that Marton chapelry existed before 1390, when the decorated
style had given place to the perpendicular. Two mutilated
figures of nuns, wearing the chin cloth, are still preserved in
stained glass ; and several encaustic tiles, with geometric tracery,
have been found beneath the floor. On one the sword and keys
are Stamped, as if the original structure had been dedicated to
another patron saint than the present.
Marton is one of the few remaining ecclesiastical buildings of
the black and white style of raddle and daub, once so common
in Cheshire. It has a low tower and wooden steeple. Within
I 2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
there is an Elizabethan pulpit. A stumped cross, a venerable
yew tree, and two mutilated stone effigies, are the most notice-
able objects in the churchyard. The effigies are of the fourteenth
century period, as the pointed basinets, pointed shoes, and chain
armour depending from the basinets show. The heads rest on
the more ponderous helmets, which are surmounted with the
Davenport crest of felon's head and neck encircled with a cord.
They probably refer to Sir John and Sir Vivian Davenport, and
doubtless once had honourable places within the church.
The names recurring most often in the Marton registers are,
Davenport, Gallimore, Henshawe, Pott, Fernihough, Lowndes,
Lockett, and Lowe. At the end of 1702, “So far exhibited to
the Queen's surveyors.” (1 Anne.) In 1609, “God gives leave
to doe well.” Entries of Davenports occur from Davenport,
Marton, Wheeltrough, North Rode, Henshawe, the Green, the
Fields, Withington, and Henbury, justifying the old Cheshire
proverb, that “there were as many Leghs as fleas, and as many
Davenports as dogs' tails.” The Davenports of North Rode are
mentioned from I592 to 1641.
NEWTON.
I707. “Entirely ruined. In 1672 a warden was sworn in for
this chapel.”
1834. “In the post mortem inquisition of Humfrey Newton
of Pownall, 28 Henry VIII., it appears that he held in demesne
as of fee the manor and vill of Newton, with the water mill,
fulling mill, and chapel therein, from Robert Hyde, Esq., of
Norbury, as of that manor, in socage, by the tender of one pair
of gloves. The chapel was probably considered domestic, and
an appurtenant of the manor.” -
In I584, 2 Edward VI, it was certified that Newton had two
bells, but no chalice.
A school was built on the edge of Newton by Mr. C. Legh, in
I874, calculated for 200 children.
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. I 3
POTT.
1707, “A parochial chapel within the chappellry of Maccles-
field, certified 22/. Ios. This chappell was formerly endowed by
the family of Downes of Shrigley with lands which would now
have been worth 200l. per annum, but they were taken away
and given to the crown, vide will of Geoffrey Downes, 7 Henry
VII, who founded this chapel, then called Downes Chapel in
Pott Shrigley. Inscription in the chapel, “Orate pro bene valen-
cia Galfrid Downes qui istam Capellam fieri fecit.' Augmented
in 1719, 2007. The inhabitants of this chappelry pay to the
repairs both of Prestbury church and Macclesfield chappell. A
free school endowed with 6/ per year.”
1834. “Patron saint unknown. Value I4Ol. Registers begin
in 1813. They were previously entered at Prestbury. Pott was
a chantry chapel, the endowments of which were seized by the
crown, and two priests ejected, who, in 1566, were living upon
miserable stipends.”
Pott-Shrigley church is dedicated to Saint Christopher, as one
of the bells indicates. In 1857 it had nave, side aisles, chancel,
tower, and porch. The chancel is the best part, with low-crowned
perpendicular windows and bold mouldings. Roof square-pan-
neled, embossed with Tudor flowers. Doorway leading up to
rood loft yet open, but no rood screen. Entire church of mode-
rate proportions. Three or four years since, the nave gable and
sides of choir had battlemented tops, which were pulled down
during recent repairs, and replaced with triangular copings. No
coats of arms on tower. Two shields of arms in stained glass in
east window, one of them showing the three lions passant gard-
ant of England, the other argent, a lion rampant gules. Both
shields are borne by angels. There are only three mural tablets,
all of the present century, erected to members of the Downes
family. In the belfry there are three bells, inscribed as follows:
On first bell, in old English characters, “Campana melodie nomen
Magdalene gerit,” also a shield bearing a cross with divided stem,
I4. THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
and on each side the letters X. & C., also a lozenge with a cross
flory and a masonic mark.
The middle bell is inscribed,
“All men that heare my mournfull sound
Repent before you lie in ground, 1607.”
Underneath the name, “An Douns,” also a square within which
is a cross on a calvary, the sun and moon on each side of the
upper part, and on each side of the lower part the letters
H. & O.
The third bell is inscribed, “Sancte Xtophore ora pro nobis.”
It has also the same crosses as are on the first bell, and some
masonic marks.
A rude mortuary cross stands in the churchyard, quite devoid
of ornamentation ; and around the enclosure yew trees used to
grow.
POYNTON.
1707. “A parochial chapel. No certain endowment. There
was anciently a pension paid out of the tithes. Now voluntary
contribution of I Il. There are two deeds relative to the finding
of a curate to officiate in this chappell, the first dated 1312, the
second I5OO. A chapel yard, but no burying in it. In 1703 a
school built, but no endowment.”
1834. “Dedicated to St. Mary. Value 34/. Registers begin
in 1723. The present chapel of Poynton was rebuilt by Sir
George Warren, who died in 1701. The original foundation was
probably 1312, when the abbot of Chester granted to Nicholas
de Eaton, and Joan his wife, that he would find a chaplain in the
chapel of Poynton for ever, for the benefit of them and the rest
of the inhabitants of Poynton (Ormerod). In the year 15oo,
John Veysey, vicar-general of John, Bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield, sequestrated the tithes of Poynton belonging to the
abbot of Chester, because the abbot had not found a chaplain
according to agreement.”
CHURCHES AND CHAPEI,S OF EASE. I 5
Since this time, and during the incumbency of the Rev.
Robert Litler, Poynton chapel has been rebuilt in the early
English style of architecture. The previous building was of a
very debased style. It was consecrated in 1789, and dedicated
to St. George. The still more ancient chapel of Poynton, dedi-
cated to St. Mary, stood on a different site, and consisted of
nave, aisles, and chancel. It stood near to the “Towers,” which
is the site of the former hall, destroyed by fire; and was within
the park grounds. Sir George Warren, with the bishop's con-
sent, caused it to be pulled down, after which he built the chapel
Consecrated in 1789, out of materials previously used in the con-
struction of a farmhouse. The bell was swung in an oak tree
adjoining, till Lord Bulkeley, who married Sir George's only
daughter, added a small tower and spire, and so found a home
for the bell. There were great yew trees all round the old
churchyard. (Test. Rev. R. Litler.)
The document mentioned by Canon Raines is as follows:–
“August 15, 1741. Whereas in the lordship of Poynton, in the
county of Chester, is situate an ancient parochial chapel,-it
hath been a chapel time out of mind, 5 Edward II., in the year
of our Lord I312, in which year Sir Nicholas d'Eton lord of
Poynton brought an assize darrein against the abbot of St.
Werburge, Chester, for the advowson of this chapel in this cause,
the abbot got a verdict, by a deed dated the same year he bound
himself and successors to find a chaplain at Poynton for ever,
for the benefit of Sir Nicholas d’Eton, and his heirs, and tenants,
the abbot neglecting to find a chaplain in the year 1500, the
archdeacon sequestrated the tythes, and in the sequestration it
was called a parochial chapel “Capella de Poynton jura parochialia
habentem,’ and in another deed of Edward IV.'s time it is called
‘Ecclesiam Beatae Mariae de Poynton,’ and mentions the high
altar there, and there hath been all along probably from the first
foundation, a chapel warden yearly chosen and sworn, but how,
or by whom this chapel was anciently repaired, and ornaments
and other necessaries found, do not now appear, for it hath been
I6 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
vacant beyond the memory of any man now living till about the
year 1699, during which vacancy the said chapel standing near
the manor house of Poynton, the lords of the manor and their
ancestors (as supposed) did such repairs to it as they thought
fit to prevent its falling into decay. But soon after the said
chapel was supplied with a curate; and in or about the year
1716, John Warren, Esq., then lord of the manor of Poynton
aforesaid being satisfied by the registers of the chancellor's and
archdeacon's writs, he was not obliged to repair it at his own
charge, and thereupon saving to himself and his heirs the nomi-
nation of a minister, the lordships of Poynton and Worth have
since repaired the said chapel and chancel, and found ornaments,
utensils, and necessaries, the said John Warren and his heirs
only paying his own or their proportionate parts, with the in-
habitants of Poynton and Worth who claim to have seats in the
said chapel. And whereas the said chancel this present year
has been new built at the charge of the lordships of Poynton and
Worth,” &c. (The remainder of the clause apportions the seats
on the north side of the chancel to certain parties in Poynton,
and on the south side to those in Worth.)
“Also at the said vestry meeting it was agreed that there shall
be assessed, collected, and paid, through the lordships of Poynton
and Worth, the sum of 40l. payable to the present chapel warden
for the service of the present year, for workmen's wages, &c.,
and every particular person inhabiting, or holding lands within
the said chapelry to pay the several sums as shall be annexed to
their several names for the uses aforesaid.”
The baptismal registers began in 1723, and yet continue. The
register for marriages began also in 1723 and ended in 1753,
during the curacy of Mr. Thompson. The register for burials
began in 1840. The earliest school was built in 1703, for the
building of which Mr. Warren gave the timber, and Mr. Boulton
IO,OOO bricks. The remaining charge was borne by the town-
ship. A school for girls and infants was built in 1816, and a
boys' School was built by Lord Vernon in 1839. Lady Vernon
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. 17
built a new school for girls in 1850. None of them are endowed.
The endowment of Poynton chapelry at the present time is,
glebe 75/. Ios., and 200l. from Queen Anne's bounty.
SIDDINGTON.
17II. “Certified 22. Ios. No burial place, though there be
a chappelyard enclosed. Ann. I 72 I license granted to bury in
the chappellyard, but not in the chappell, and to baptize children,
and church women, &c., the names of persons baptized and
buried to be transmitted to the mother church. Anno 3rd
Edward VI. Vicar of Prestbury lets all his corn tithes in
Sydynton, belonging to him and successors in right of the said
vicarage and church in Sydynton, to Edward Fitton. Here is a
School adjoining to the chappell with 8/. per year endowment.”
I834. “Dedicated to All Saints. Value IO6l. Registers begin
in 172 I. The oak screen within the chapel was formerly painted
and gilded.”
Siddington chapel is of the black and white style of archi-
tecture, consisting of nave, choir, vestry, and a bell turret, which
is quadrangular in shape, half timbered, and fixed at the west
end of the nave. No part of the exterior of the chapel is older
than the late Tudor period ; but the screen separating the nave
from the chancel is of good decorated workmanship, and takes
the date back to the earliest part of the fourteenth century. A
school was built and endowed by Davies Davenport, Esq., of
Capesthorne.
WINCLE.
1717. “Wincle, in the chappellry of Macclesfield, no mainten-
ance, but the inhabitants pay what they please for preaching
Once a fortnight, when there is any, but there has been none for
half a year past. Erected temp. Charles I. No pulpit, no com-
munion table, no font, but the curate has baptized there, but not
administered the sacrament. A chappellyard, and burying in it.
Augmented 1722 with 200l. by contribution of the inhabitants.
Six miles from Prestbury, four from Macclesfield.”
ID
I8 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
1834. “Patron saint unknown. Value 1 16!. Registers begin
in 1630, but are defective in the early years. The chapel is now
regularly used, and has an incumbent. It has been rebuilt, and
contains some fragments of ancient painted glass.”
The schools were built by Mrs. Daintry of North Rode, as a
memorial of her husband, the late Mr. Thomas Daintry. On the
30th September, 1672 (the indulgence year) a licence was granted
for building a Presbyterian chapel at Wincle. (Lancashire and
Cheshire Licences preserved in Record office. Communicated
by Mr. J. C. Bailey of Stretford.)
SALTERSFORD, OR JENKIN'S CHAPEL.
This is a small and plain chapel, furnished with a diminutive
west tower, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Two in-
scribed stones, let into the west wall, give the history of the
foundation. “St. John Bapt Free Chapel was erected June 24,
1733, at John Slack's expense. In 39 made Sacred for Worship
of Almighty God.” t **
The former chapel, built by Jenkin, is only known by a bell
dated 1724, which was transferred from it to Ranow church,
where it yet hangs.
The registers begin in 1794 and end in 1812. They are
entered in the parish book. After 1812 they are private.
Kettleshulme is now joined to Saltersford, and the two are
known as “Kettleshulme-cum-Saltersford.” The schools and
parsonage were built at Kettleshulme, the one in 1864, and the
other in 1865, by the vicar of Prestbury, aided by government
grant and by private subscriptions.
NORTH RODE.
The church of North Rode, dedicated to St. Michael, was built
in 1845, by Thomas Daintry, Esq., and his brother the Rev.
John Daintry. It was consecrated the following year, and en-
dowed with 50l. a year, a sum which has since been augmented.
The patronage is vested in the family of Daintry of North Rode.
CHURCHES AND CHAPELS OF EASE. I9
The schools were subsequently built by the Rev. John Daintry,
and endowed with 20/, a year for a master. The population was
277 at the above dates; and the area of the township is 1,520
Statute acres.
The church is a handsome building of stone, consisting of
tower, nave and aisles, and chancel. It is of the Early English
style of architecture.
HENBURY.
Henbury is a vicarage, under the patronage of the bishop of
Chester for the time being. The church was completed in 1845,
and dedicated to St. Thomas. It was built under the “Bishops'
Act,” which allowed persons to build and endow churches without
the consent of the patron or incumbent of the mother church,
when the distance was more than three miles from the parish
church. The style is early English. Out of 262 sittings, 202
are free. The endowment is 16ol, a year. Henbury township,
Broken Cross, Long Moss, and Sandy Lane, are included in the
parish. There are two schools connected with St. Thomas's
church, one for Henbury, and the other for Broken Cross.
BOLLINGTON, AND BOLLINGTON CROSS.
Bollington church was built in 1834, and dedicated to St. John.
It consists of nave, aisles, and tower, all of stone, and of indiffe-
rent design. The value of the living is 3OOl. A parsonage, and
schools for adults and infants, are attached.
At Bollington Cross there is a licensed school-room for service
on Sundays, and for baptisms. During the week it is used for
educational purposes. The curate is paid by the Pastoral Aid
Society.
RAINOW.
There was a chapel at Rainow consecrated in 1783. The
present church was built in 1842, and dedicated to the Holy
Trinity. Value Iool. The schools were built in 1846.
2O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
PRESTBURY VILLAGE.
Prestbury is situated about three miles north-west of Maccles.
field. It is built partly in the township of Prestbury, and partly
in that of Butley. The river Jordan, or, as it is usually desig-
nated, the Bollin, divides these two townships. The village Con-
sists of one principal street, and of a small side street called
Pearl-street, in the Butley half. Prestbury hall stands at the
top of the main street, and was a quaint, picturesque house, very
much resembling a French chateau, till recently modernised.
Dr. Hope was born here, who obtained a world-wide reputation
for his work on disease of the heart, and for being one of the
earliest professors of medicine at University College, London.
The church stands on the left side. Formerly the river was
crossed by a ford, and the road afterwards passed by Pearl-
street; but when the present more modern way was constructed,
a bridge of two arches, with massive centre pier and breakwater,
was built. Being found insecure, it was taken down in 1855
and replaced by the present bridge, which rests on piles and
spans the stream with one arch. The river, though only a small
one during dry weather, is liable to sudden rises during rains,
and the swollen waters from the hills then do considerable
damage to the low-lying meadows through which the waters
flow. Within a few years it was celebrated for the number and
richness of its trout; but now, owing to the dyeworks at Maccles-
field, and other causes, the fish are all destroyed.
A small day school stands at the upper end of Prestbury
village, which was built in 1720 and endowed with IOOl. by Ann
Whittaker, the interest of which went towards the promotion of
a master, who was to teach ten of the poorest children in Prest-
bury township, from the primer to the Bible. In 1751 a master's
house was added. In 1875 Mr. Legh of Adlington built another
school on a plan similar to that which he had lately completed
in Newton township, for 200 children.
Almost opposite the Lichgate there is a black and white
PRESTBURY WILLAGE. 2 I
dwelling, traditionally said to have been the vicarage in the
Caroline period. From the balcony of this house it is reported
that the vicar used to address his congregation when the church
was closed against him and occupied by the Commonwealth
party. The house has all the characteristic features common to
I7th century architecture. It is two-storied, and very quaint in
design. Several houses in the village are of the same period,
and One, now used as an inn and known as the Black Moor's
Head (crest of Stapleton of Upton), is of late Tudor date.
Butley hall, the ancient seat of the Pigots, stands on the
Butley half of the village. It has been much modernised. After
the departure of the Pigots in the 18th century, it was newly
fronted by a member of the Downes family, whose crest may yet
be seen on Some of the water spouts, together with the date of
alterations, viz., I777. The first mention I have found of
Downes in connection with Butley hall is that of Sarah, wife of
William Watts of Butleigh, who was sister of Edward Downes of
Shrigley. Edward Downes had a son who died at Butley. The
son of this latter, who was born at Butley in 1778, was mortally
wounded in action at Sea, as appears by his monument in
Shrigley church. Afterwards, Butley hall and some lands adja-
cent were conveyed by Mrs. Rowlls Legh of Adlington to the
Rev. J. R. Browne, vicar of Prestbury, for his life. On his
demise, the property passed to the Broughtons by the marriage
of Elizabeth Hester Legh (daughter of Rowlls Legh, Esq.) with
Thomas Delves Broughton of Ham Common. In 1861 the hall
and lands adjacent became the property of Mr. W. C. Brockle-
hurst, M.P. for Macclesfield, by purchase from the representatives
of the Broughtons.
The Saxon name “Preost-burgh” sufficiently denotes the
antiquity of the village. In the neighbourhood, evidences of urn
burial and incremation are to be found. About fifty years since
(as pointed out by Dr. Ormerod) a collection of cairns was dis-
covered at Butley Sands, about half-a-mile away from Prestbury,
by workmen in search of gravel. An account of the discovery is
22 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
given in the Manchester Volunteer for 1808. At a yard's depth
a stratum of stones was found, which proved to be an assemblage
of tumuli, lows, barrows, or cairns. The general position of the
cairns seemed to have been nearly circular, and the particular
form of each, judging of all from the figure of one, that of an
obtuse cone. Around the circumference of the area occupied by
these tumuli were placed, at certain intervals, large boundary
stones, weighing a hundredweight or more. Exactly in the
centre was an excavation filled with stones. The whole of the
uppermost stones of which this, but no other, tumulus was
composed, exhibited every mark of having undergone the most
intense fire, some of them being shining black, and others as if
covered with soot. The stones underneath were, most of them,
covered with a thin pellicle or film resembling a coat of bright
iron-coloured paint, approaching to mahogany colour, and
amongst them were some fragments of bones. Near the circum-
ference of the tumulus an urn was found, covered with a large
stone, and surrounded with three large boulders. Its contents
consisted wholly of ashes; and by its side was a collection of
bones. The urn, composed of clay and sand, was capacious
enough to hold about two quarts of water, but got broken in a
hasty attempt at removal. Small bits of copper, encrusted over
with verdigris, were found lying by the urn. A fragment of the
urn was saved from the general wreck, and shows the usual
straight-line ornamentation, and the side handles. The bar-
row or barrows just described do not seem to have differed
materially from those since found at Lyme Park, Birtles, and
Alderley and Clulow. None of the stones now remain ; they
were broken up for repairing the highway.
Of the early institutions of Prestbury it is not easy to write.
When Sir William Dugdale made his visitation in 1699, he
copied the following epitaph from the churchyard:
“Those goods I had whilst I did live
Unto four Monks I freely give,
To eate and drinke and make good cheere,
And say my obit once a year.”
PRESTBURY VILLAGE. 23
The vicar and his colleague would represent two of these monks;
and the chantry priest of Tytherington chapel, and possibly a
like “bede man” for Adlington chantry chapel, would complete
the list.
In the Wołitia Cestriensis, Bishop Gastrell says, speaking of
Prestbury, “here was anciently a priory, the foundations of which
have oft been discovered. Certain grounds bear the name of
Abbot's Hay, and Abbot's Hay-bank.”
About a quarter of a mile away from the village, and situate
on an elevated bank, nigh to the river, is a farm known as the
“Spittal-house Farm,” and lands adjoining known still as
“Abbot's Hay.” This is probably the site of the grange, which
had got to be erroneously called a priory, attached to which was
an hospital for the relief of the needy. The present “Spittal-
house” farm is a building of moderate antiquity. The occupant
in 1853, at that time eighty years old, remembered when a boy
to have heard of a previous half-timbered house on the same site.
Of the earliest Saxon church no record whatever remains.
Like more pretentious structures at this early period, it would
be built of raddle and daub, and hence be liable to quick decay,
and open to the inroads of fire.
After the Norman conquest, another church rose out of the
ruins of its predecessor, to be quickly replaced by a more impos-
ing building in stone, of which the existing Norman doorway,
built into the school in the churchyard, is the only relic. Anti-
quaries and ecclesiologists have till recently accounted this
Norman doorway a specimen of Saxon church architecture, and
have hence been induced to accord a character and importance
to it beyond its deserts.
The localities from which grants towards the rebuilding and
endowment of St. Werburg's monastery at Chester were drawn
afford the best evidence of the value of particular properties in
the IIth and early parts of the 12th centuries, as waste, or but
partially-cultivated districts, would form gifts of an equivocal, or
even ungrateful nature. Reference to the deeds of grant, con-
nected with this subject, shew how liberally, and generally over
24 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
the county, these offerings were made; yet Hugh Lupus, who
caused the decaying monastery at Chester to be rebuilt, con-
tributed only one carucate (IOO acres) of land out of Prestbury
parish, and this came out of Macclesfield township. His son
and successor, who was drowned in I I IQ–2O, when only twenty-
five years old, made further grants to St. Werburg's monastery;
but no mention is made of any township or place in Prestbury
parish.
Hugh Kyvelioc, the fifth Norman earl of Chester, first makes
mention of the Saxon church of Prestbury, in the following
words: “Hugh, earl of Chester, to the constable, sensechal,
justiciary, barons, viscounts, baillies, and all his men, as well
clerical as lay, French and English, as well present as future,
health. Know that I have given to God and St. Werburg the
church of Prestbury, with all belonging to it, &c., &c. God and
all saints being witness.” This deed of gift relates to the second
Saxon church of Prestbury.
Randle Blundeville, the sixth Norman earl of Chester, con-
firmed all his father's acts. He succeeded in I 181, and died in
1232; and in his time the Norman oratory of Prestbury was
built, as I now proceed to show.
When Randle Holme, the Chester antiquary, made his church
notes, which now form part of the Harleian MSS., he reported
the oratory at Prestbury ruinous, and, better still, made a rude
pen and ink sketch of it. This sketch, drawn in 1592, is of the
greatest value, as it supplies information concerning the structure
which it would be otherwise impossible to obtain. This sketch
may be seen in Dr. Ormerod's Cheshire. The tympanum is seen
in position apparently enriched with the persons of the Trinity,
the central figure enclosed in a vesica. Then seven figures are
drawn on the corbel table, and above them is a three-lighted
window. The sketch shows that the oratory consisted of a nave,
separated from an apsed choir by a round-headed arch, and that
two small round-headed windows let light into the nave on each
side, and a like number lighted the choir.
All that remains of the oratory at the present day is the
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PRESTBURY WILLAGE. 25
doorway and the figured corbel table. When the original
building was going utterly to decay, Sir Wm. Meredith of
Henbury re-set the doorway, and built it into the present
schoolhouse, A.D. 1747. A glance at the subjoined sketch will
sufficiently indicate the style of doorway, without any description.
The seven figures on the corbel table are a good deal defaced
through lapse of time and atmospheric influence. They have
been variously deciphered ; and, indeed, the semi-ruinous state in
which they now are, supplies an apology for some latitude of
Construction. If rightly read, they give the date of the building
and the name of the patron saint. Independently of this
particular value attaching to them, they are worthy of note
as being Somewhat unusual additions to Norman doorways,
whether simple or elaborate in design. No. 1, on the left, is the
figure of a man who leans on a battle axe, a good deal worn.
No. 2 represents a king, crowned, who holds a triply-bipinnate
wand or sceptre in his right hand, and a ball or globe in his left.
No. 3 is a much-worn figure, seated, and having in front an animal
resembling a dog, with the forefoot raised and the tail curled
between the hind legs and over the back. No. 4 is the central
figure, from the head of which a triple nimbus or glory issues.
In the right hand a staff surmounted with a cross potence is
grasped; and in the left an opened book is held. No. 5: This
figure is more defaced than the rest, and resembles a bird.
No. 6 bears a large key in the right hand. No. 7 is the figure
of a man who leans on a staff.
The interpretation of the figures seems to be as follows: The
centre figure represents God the Father holding the law in his
left hand, typified by an opened book, and the Gospel in the
right hand, as foreshadowed by the cross; conjointly justice and
mercy are pourtrayed. The figure to the right, with the animal
(the Norman method of drawing a lamb), seems to stand for
Christ, the Lamb of God, seated at the right hand of the Father.
The figure to the left, having a resemblance to a bird, typifies
the Holy Ghost, in form of a dove. Collectively these three
E
26 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
figures stand for the Trinity. St. Peter, with the key, is shown
in the sixth figure. To this saint the church was dedicated, as
is its successor at the present day. Figure two represents the
monarch who reigned when the oratory was built. A right
understanding of this figure gives the key to the solution of the
chronological difficulty. Richard Coeur de Leon was the first
English monarch who carried a globe adorned with a budded
Sceptre, surmounted with a plain cross. The great seals shew
that William the Conqueror held in his left hand a globe
surmounted with cross stalked, either plain or potence. In
William Rufus's seal the cross is botonné. Henry I., Stephen,
and Henry II. bore a cross patée, on the top of which a dove is
perched. As, therefore, none of the Norman kings of England
bore a budded sceptre before Richard I., the plain inference
follows that this monarch is pourtrayed on the corbel table, a
fact which brings the date of the oratory within the years I 190
and I 199; or, in other words, the period included between the
coronation and death of Richard. The warrior with battle axe,
and priest with staff, at the two ends of the corbel table, repre-
sent the military and ecclesiastical government of the county
palatine. Conjointly, the seven figures may be interpreted as
follows: “In the name of the Blessed Trinity, this church,
dedicated to St. Peter, was built by the abbot and monks of
St. Werburg, in the reign of Richard I., when Randle Blunde-
ville was earl of Chester.”
A careful inspection of Randle Holme's sketch shows that the
west window is a round-headed triplet, and not a triple lancet;
that it is one of a few well-known instances of the kind, when
the Norman architecture was being replaced by the Early
English. The window is therefore in harmony with the budded
sceptre of the king ; and both point to the conclusion that this
little church, which has been the subject of so many conflicting
opinions, was erected towards the end of the twelfth century,
and that Hugh Kyvelioc's grant to the monastery at Chester
related to the Saxon predecessor of the oratory.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 27
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY, FROM NOTES
TAKEN IN 1853.
Up to the latter half of the 15th century, no written records
exist to tell when the present church was built, but the archi-
tectural features furnish moderately correct data. The church
of Prestbury is more remarkable for the variety of styles of
which it is compounded, than for any one strikingly grand
feature. Every style of Gothic architecture is represented, from
the Early English down to Elizabethan and Jacobean debase-
ments, and even forward to the latter end of last century. The
ground plan consists of west tower and porch, nave, side aisles,
and chancel, with vestry to north side of chancel. The tower
and porch are Late Perpendicular in style. They date back to
the latter half the 15th century, and were built by Reginald
Legh, who died in 1482. The arms of Davenport are carved
above the tower window, and a shield, bearing a pair of shears
half opened, stands out on the south side of the tower below the
battlements. The belfry holds eight bells, on one of which is
the following: “These eight bells were cast in the first year of
the reign of King George the Fourth, A.D. 1820. Richard
Legh, Esq., patron. Revd. John Browne, vicar.” Then follow
the names of the wardens, and lastly, “J. Mears of London,
fecit.” A smaller bell, uninscribed, is suspended above the peal
of eight. It is the “sanctus bell,” and used formerly to hang in
the little belfry at the east end of the nave. In 1548 the com-
missioners appointed to prevent the alienation of church property
reported that the church of Prestbury had three bells. The
churchwardens' accounts in 1588 show that there were then four
bells, and that, in this same year, two out of the four were re-cast
at the expense of the parish. The same accounts show that in
I6O2 there were four bells in the tower, and “one small little
bell hanging on the church end.” Before the present eight bells
were cast there used to be six, but none were inscribed.
The nave is separated from the aisles by five columns and
28 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
arches on either side. The arches on the north side rest on
single columns, round and octagonal alternately ; on the South
side the columns are clustered, and have the undercut abacus of
Early English architecture. The capitals on the north side are
ornamented with nail heads and scallops, and they have an
undercut abacus. Collectively they point to a transition period
of architecture, when the Norman was giving place to the Early
English at an early period of the 13th century. Abbot Hugh
Grylle issued a license for the appropriation of the church and
ordination of the vicarage in 1208–26; and the architecture of
the nave of Prestbury church shows that the present structure is
referred to. Granting this, it follows that the Norman oratory
became too limited for the wants of the parish within the brief
space of twenty years.
A clerestory of debased Perpendicular architecture, with
Square-headed windows, surmounts the nave, built apparently at
the same time as the tower, and capped with a pointed roof, as
the tower weathering shows. In 1675 the roof had to be
renewed at a cost of 65/, as the wardens' accounts show, and it
was lowered at this time. In 1719 the open beams were
obscured by the imposition of a flat ceiling, on which the
apostles and tribes were painted, at a cost of 32/.
An Early English font, consisting of four clustered shafts
ornamented with heads, and supporting a round top, stands near
the west entrance.”
Of the north aisle, as it originally stood, nothing is now known
save that it was taken down in 1741, and replaced by the present
unsightly structure, which is out of all size and character with
the rest of the church. The south aisle yet retains distinctive
features of decorated architecture, though it has undergone many
alterations for the worse. e
The South doorway within the porch, and two windows, are
good specimens of decorated work. The chantry chapel of the
* This has been restored by the Rev. S. L. Wilson.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTIBURY. 29
Tytherington's stands at the eastern end of this aisle, dedicated
to St. Nicholas. A piscina, altar stone, portions of parclose, and
a full length figure of St. Nicholas in stained glass, is all that
remains. The date of this chantry is sometime between 13 Io
and I32O. The Worths succeeded the Tytheringtons. Robert
de Worth married the heiress of Hugh de Tytherington in 1343.
He gave Chelford to the monks of St. Werburg on condition of
their sending a priest to celebrate mass for the souls of himself,
his ancestors and successors, on Sunday and two week days,
and on the other four days to say mass in Prestbury church
before the altar of St. Nicholas. (Ormerod.)
The remainder of the south aisle is lighted by three Square-
headed windows, and a gable built of wood. The square-headed
windows were inserted in 1613, and the wood and plaster addition
was made in 1607, when the pulpit was placed against the Second
column of the south aisle.
Outside the porch a niche has been made for the effigy of the
patron saint, and within there is a holy water stoup and two
stone benches.
THE CHOIR.
The choir arch has undergone such varied defacements that
its Early English character must be inferred rather than demon-
strated. The Early English details exist on either side of it.
This part of the church seems to have furnished the wardens
with constant employment. Shafts, capitals, and mouldings
have alike disappeared. In 1572–73 the wardens pulled down
and put up again the rood loft. In 1638 they “set up a lofte
for the organ, at the east end, under the chancel arch.” Both
organ and loft disappeared in 1787, when the present screen,
bearing the Legh crest (unicorn's head), was substituted, and
apparently the chancel roof also. The choir door on the South
side is a simple and elegant Early English structure ornamented
with a continuous roll and fillet moulding.
One triple lancet window, the lights of which are all of the
3O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
same elevation, and two perpendicular windows, light the sides
of the choir. The east window is of the very debased Perpen-
dicular style in vogue during the post-reformation period. It is
composed of five large transomed lights, each one of which is
subdivided by transomes, with cuspings beneath them.
From the above details it may fairly be concluded that, (I) The
nave and choir are coeval and both Early English, and that
they date about the year 1220; (2) That the south aisle is next
in point of antiquity, and bears date about 13 IO-2O ; that the
tower and porch were built about the year 1480, and that the
clerestory of nave and the east window in the choir come next
in chronological order. After these the square-headed windows
and the gabled window were added for convenience sake; and,
last of all, the north aisle, built by C. Legh, Esq., in 1741. The
church was pewed in the year 1707.
The most noticeable monuments in Prestbury church are four
incised slabs, two of alabaster and two of stone. One is fixed
against the wall of the Tytherington chapel, and is to the
memory of Jasper Worth and his wife Alice, one of the daugh-
ters of Sir Philip Draycot of Staffordshire. Jasper Worth is
represented habited in the characteristic armour worn towards
the latter part of the 16th century, his hands clasped in prayer,
and by his side his wife, in a Marian costume. Beneath the feet
of Alice Worth three children are depicted. Between the heads
of the husband and wife is a shield bearing their respective arms.
Those of Worth have four quarters, whilst his wife's impalement
has been obliterated, though Dugdale (Church Notes) says they
were of seven quarters. Randle Holme (Harleian MSS.) gives
a drawing in which six quarters only are shown. At the foot
of the slab, between the two figures, there is another shield on
which Worth, with four quarters, impales Downes. This latter
stands for a son of Jasper Worth, who married a daughter of
Downes. The following inscription encompasses the slab: “Here
lieth the bodies of Jasper Worth Esquire which said Jasper
deceased the 18th day of February Anno Domini 1572 and Alice
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THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 3 I
his wife one of the daughters of Sir Philip Draycot, knight,
which Alice deceased the I Ith of March in the year of our Lord
I 596.”
On the north side of the chancel a slab of millstone grit stone
is inserted into the wall, on which is cut the figure of a man in
full armour, with hands clasped in the attitude of prayer, and
head resting on a helmet surmounted with a ducal coronet, out
of which a bird's claw issues, for crest. Around the slab is the
following: “Here lyeth the body of Edward Warren of Poynton,
knyght, whyche departed frome thys transitory lyffe the 12th
day of October in the yeare of our Lord God I 558, whose soule
God pardon. Amen.”
Sir Edward Warren was son of Lawrence Warren of Poynton,
who married Margaret, daughter of Sir Piers Legh of Lyme, by
whom he had fourteen children. Edward Warren resided at
Prestbury up to the year 1544; after he went to Poynton where
he built a new house in the park, which was pulled down by the
late Sir George Warren. (Watson's History of the House of
Warrem.) He was knighted at Leith by the Earl of Hertford
in I 544. He married Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Booth
of Dunham Massey, who died in 1584, and was buried at Prest-
bury, as was also Ranulph, a younger brother of Sir Edward,
in I 562.
Near to this is another slab of the same grit stone materials,
to the memory of Reginald Legh. It is a curious example of a
late cross with debased decorations, and can hardly be said to
resemble those earlier monumental slabs So common from the
I Ith to the 14th centuries. An additional interest attaches to it
from the circumstance that the surrounding inscription records
the fact that this Reginald Legh was instrumental in causing the
tower and south porch of the church to be built. It is as fol-
lows: “Hic jacet Reginaldus Legh armiger filius Roberti Legh
militis quondam dominus de Adlington que Reginaldus fuit
principuus adjuton in edificacione campanilis et posticon ecclesiae.
Edificavit de propriis sumptibus. Obiit die Julii Anno Domini
32 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
m.ccccºlxxxijo K” Dudgåale (Church Notes) reported this in-
scription as imperfect, and it has since been restored from the
reading left by him.
In the building of the tower a member of the Davenport
family appears to have taken a less conspicuous part than the
coat of arms carved above the west window indicates; and had
it not been for this Legh monumental inscription, the entire
credit might well have been given to the Davenports.
Reasons have been adduced elsewhere (vide Legh of Adlington
pedigree) for believing this Reginald Legh to have been of
Mottram-St.-Andrew, and not of Annesley in Nottinghamshire.
The fourth incised slab is of alabaster, and is built into the
south wall of the chancel. It is to the joint memory of Robert
Downes and his wife, who is here called Matilda; and also to
Robert, son of the above, and to his wife Emma, daughter of
Roger Booth.
The male figure is in full armour, and by his side his wife is
carved, habited in a long flowing robe, with ermine tippet.
Between the heads of the two figures is a shield impaling the
arms of Downes and Booth, viz.: A hart lodged, and three
boars’ heads erased upwards. Lower down is another shield
impaling Downs and Bechton, viz.: A hart lodged, and three
spades. Above the heads of the effigies, and occupying one
fourth of the slab, is the following inscription : “Hic jacent
Robertus Dounes Armiger et Matilda uxor ejus, et Robertus
Dounes filius dicti Roberti et Emmota uxur ejus filia Rogeri
Bouthe Armigeri et dictus Robertus Dounes obiit in vigilia
sancti Laurensii martyris Anno Domini m,ccc.cxcv. Amen.”
From the reading, and from the position of the Booth impale-
ment, it may safely be concluded that the sculptured figures
are intended for Robert and Emma Downes. This Robert was
brother to Roger Downes, the founder of Shrigley church.
Sixty years after the date on the above monument the family
resided at Tytherington, but not as lords of the manor. On
May 15, 1564, 6th Elizabeth, an agreement was made as to the
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ls étrºpºſſ &lt;ſºlºung, Jºnº. 2,312)3 ºpiºillupº



THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 33
burial of Lawrence Downes in Prestbury church chancel. “In-
denture between Thomas Stanley (of Alderley, whose daughter
Elizabeth married Roger, son of Lawrence Downes), Robert
Hyde, and Jasper Worth, Esqrs, of the one part, and Thomas
Chamber proctor of the Right Worshipfull Sir Richard Egerton
Knt. and Dame Mary his wife of the other part, witnesseth that
whereas Lawrence Downes Esq. was desirous in his lifetime that
after his death his body should be buried within the chancel of
the parish church of Prestburie, which is consented and agreed
to by either of the parties aforesaid. It is now therefore agreed
as well by the parties aforenamed as by other the friends and
kinsfolks of the said Lawrence being present at the said burial,
that the heirs or friends of the said Lawrence shall not claim
any title or interest in the said chancel, or any buryall or burying
place there, by reason or colour of the burying of the said Law-
rence in the same chancel, nor that this burial shall be hurtfull
or prejudicial to the right liberty or interest which the fermer of
the parish of Prestburie ought to have in the said chancell, nor
yet prejudicial to any right which the heirs of the aforesaid
Lawrence may hereafter claim to the said buryall place. In
witness,” &c., &c. Accordingly, there are yet tombstones in the
churchyard showing that the right of burial in the chancel was
was not claimed, and further that this branch of the family of
Downes continued to reside at Tytherington till 1727.
Elizabeth, wife of Lawrence Downes of Tidrington was interred
October 3rd, 1672.
Lawrence Downes of Titherington died 25 July 1695, aged
70 years. His daughters Mary and Rachael were interred in
I674 and 1686 respectively.
John, son of Mr. Daniel Downs of Titherington was buried
October 22nd, 1727, aged 20.
Lawrence Downes and John Worth—the last Worth of Tyth-
erington—died the same year, viz., in 1695.
In the east window of the north aisle, there are some remnants
of stained glass which originally represented an impalement of
F
34 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Legh of Adlington and Brereton of Handforth. The three
shields of Corona, Handforth, and Brereton of Malpas, differenced
with a cross flory gules charged with five bezants, are yet entire,
whilst a part of the coat of Legh of Adlington may be dis-
tinguished. A mutilated crest of Brereton of Handforth sur-
mounts the sinister half of the shield, viz.: On a gentleman's
helmet a griffin statant with wings raised, on a chapeau. Re-
arranged, the shield would read as follows: On the dexter half,
one and four Corona, two and three Legh of Adlington. Unicorn's
head sable issuing out of a ducal coronet argent for crest. On
the sinister half, one and four Brereton of Handforth quartering
Malpas, two and three sable a star of six points pierced argent
(Handforth). Crest of Brereton of Handforth a griffin with wings
elevated gules, standing on a chapeau gules, turned up or.
Beneath the shield, on a renaissance tablet, is the following:
“Orate pro bono statu Thomae Leyghe de Adlington Armigeri
et Sibilla uxoris suae uni' filiarum Uriani Brereton de Handford
militis defuncti qui hanc fenestram fieri fecerunt in Anno Domini
I6OI.”
A small lozenge-shaped brass is let into the north wall of the
chancel to record the death of Theodosia seventh daughter of
Nathaniel Booth, Esq., of Mottram-St.-Andrew. On the upper
third the arms of Booth, viz.: Three boars' heads erased upwards,
differenced with a crescent, are displayed on a lozenge-shaped
shield, which is surmounted by a gentleman's helmet wreathed,
and bearing the statant lion of Booth for crest. The whole is
surrounded with an elaborately wrought lambrequin. The lower
part of the brass is occupied with the following inscription: “Hic
sepult. jacet cadaver Theodosiae filiae septim. Nathaniel Booth
Armig. nuper de Mottram-Andrew quae mortem obiit 1703.
Hic Sepultum jacet cadaver Mariae octavae et natu minimae filiae
Nathanielis Booth Armiger nuper de Mottram-Andrew Quae
mortem obiit die 16 Octobris 1690.”
Mottram-St.-Andrew passed from the Calveleys to the Booths
in the reign of James I, and remained with them till 1738, when
it passed to Mr. Wright of Offerton, by purchase.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 35
A small brass plate, with the following inscription, is let into
the west face of the chancel arch : “Heere under lieth buried
Edward Newton late of Butley yeman: who deceased ye xijth
day of May 1589 being of the age of 72 yeres, and having had
by Alyce his wife (with whom he lyved in wedlocke 50 yeres)
Seven Sonnes and seven daughters; whereof four sonnes, Thomas,
Edward, Will'm, and Philip, and five daughters, Anne, Elizabeth,
Thomazin, Helen, and Marie, survived their father. Thomas
Newton filiorū primogenitus; charissimo patri monumentil hoc
pietatis et officii ergo P. 12 of September 1589.”
Notices of this Thomas Newton are to be found in Wood's
Athena Oxonienses, Chalmer's Biographical Dictionary, Warton's
Aſistory of English Poetry, and elsewhere. Chalmers says that
he held the living of little Ilford during the latter part of his
life; and that he was buried there. He was a brilliant classical
Scholar, a poet, a physician, and an author. He was, at one
time, in the habit of directing his letters, &c., from “Butley, near
Prestbury, in Chestershyre.” He was of the same family as the
Newtons of Newton and Pownall. In the Englis/. Thebais of
Thomas Newton, the initial letter bears within it a shield, on
which is delineated a lion rampant sable, charged with a cross
argent on the shoulder, and differenced in the dexter quarter
with a crescent argent, being the arms (save the crescent) which
were borne by the Newtons of Newton, and which had previously
been the armorial device of the Pownalls of Pownall. From the
circumstance of a crescent differencing the paternal coat, it
would seem that Edward Newton was either a second son of
Newton of Newton, or the descendant of a second son.
Thomas Newton received his early education at Macclesfield
grammar school, under his distinguished relative Dr. Brownsword,
at that time master. Afterwards he went successively to Cam-
bridge and Oxford. After Dr. Brownsword's death, he succeeded
him in the head mastership of King Edward's grammar School
in Macclesfield, which office he resigned on being appointed to
the living of Little Ilford, in Essex. Robert earl of Essex was
36 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
his patron, and he was noticed by most of the learned men of his
day. (Ormerod.)
A small brass plate is fixed into the south wall of the chancel,
bearing the coat of Downes quarterly with Shrigley, impaling a
fess between six cross crosslets, three and three. It is inscribed
as follows, and may be considered as a pious tribute to the pen-
ultimate members of the Downes family by the only two sur-
viving female representatives: “In a vault on the south side of
this chancel are interred the bodies of Elizabeth Anne, aged 35,
the wife of Peter Downes, Esqre.; and of her infant son, John,
who died at Butley on the 6th of February, 1781. Also Peter
Downes, Esq., late of Shrigley and Worth, who died at Butley
on the 27th of March, 1791, aged 63 years. Also Frances their
daughter, who died at Manchester on the 7th of March, 1783,
aged 7 years. Also many others of the same name and family,
who were previously interred in the same vault. This plate was
placed here Anno. Dom. 1837 by the only surviving children of
the family, Bridget Downes of Shrigley, and Sarah the wife of
John Leach Panter, Esq., of Northend Lodge, in the parish of
Fulham, Middlesex.”
The Elizabeth Anne here named as the wife of Peter Downes,
was a daughter of John Craven of the city of London, merchant.
The arms at the head of the brass represent therefore Downes
impaled with Craven. The colours of Craven are argent a fess
gules between six cross crosslets of the second. Above the shield
is the crest of Downes, on a wreath, viz., a hart lodged.
Two monuments are fixed against the north wall of the
chancel, one to the Rev. Joseph Ward, and his wife; and another
to the Rev. John Watson. Mr. Ward was vicar of Prestbury for
thirty-three years, and he died in 1772. The Rev. John Watson
married a daughter of the Rev. H. Offley Wright, of Mottram-
St. Andrew. Mr. Watson resided at Bonis hall, and died in
1816. He was son of the Rev. John Watson, the learned rector
of Stockport, who wrote the History of the House of Warren,
and died in 1783.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 37
The following monuments are fixed against the wall of the
South side of the nave aisle :
I. A marble slab to the memory of Joseph Brooksbank,
major in y” army, who died in 1853, aged 64 years, at the
Higher Beach, Macclesfield, of which place, and of Titherington,
he was owner.
2. A marble tablet to the memory of Mary, wife of John
Marsden, D.D., and daughter and co-heiress of John Acton of
Beach, who died in 1771, attat 41.
3. A small tablet to the memory of Laetitia Catherine Hibbert,
daughter of Henry Augustus Leicester of Tabley, Esq., and wife
of Robert Hibbert, junr., Esq., of Birtles. She died in 1817, at
the age of 19 years. The arms of Hibbert impale those of
Leicester, viz.: Ermine, a bend sable charged with three crescents
argent, for Hibbert; and azure, a fess between three fleur-de-lis
or, for Leicester.
On the north aisle wall there is a monument of Greek design,
ornamented with urn, palm branches, &c., to the memory of the
Orfords of High Lane, Disley. The father served the office of
steward to Colonel Legh of Lyme. The two sons, Richard and
Thomas, were much and very deservedly respected for their active
benevolence in the neighbourhood of Disley, where they devoted
a large share of their time and means to promote the Social and
religious wants of the community. Both died unmarried.
Within the Adlington chapel, and on the east wall of the nave,
there are two family monuments. One is to the memory of
Charles Legh of Adlington, Esq., the last representative of his
family in direct descent. The arms of Venables of Kinderton,
with the inescutcheon of Lee of Wincham, adorn the slab, and
represent respectively Charles Lee and Hester his wife, the
heiress of Wincham. The inscription states that Charles Legh
died July 26, 1781, aged 84, and that he had an only child,
Thomas, who died at Wincham when 40 years old. The second
is to Emily Jane, infant daughter of Jno. and Emily Ann Lawton.
Passing up the centre of the nave, two small brass plates are
to be seen screwed to a pew door, inscribed thus:
38 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“Here lieth the body of Thomas Duncalf Esq. of Adlington,
of the ancient family of Duncalfs formerly of Foxwist, in Butley,
who departed this life Sept. 25, 1805, aged 84. Also Ann his
wife who departed this life Nov. 28, 1774, aged 58.”
“Sacred to the memory of Mary Duncalf of Adlington, who
departed this life Augt. 18, 1839, aged 87 years. In the same
grave lie also the remains of her sister Ann Duncalf who departed
this life Feb. 5, 1842, aged 82.”
The above records are the more entitled to notice because
they refer to the last survivors, in genteel circumstances, of an
old family which resided at a doubly-moated grange within
2% miles of Prestbury called Foxwist, on the western boundary
of Adlington deer park. Their armorial bearings were argent,
between a chevron gules, three calves' heads sable. Dr. Ormerod
says that the names of the Duncalfs frequently occur to deeds in
the reigns of Edward II. and III.
Nothing of the house now remains but a part of the foundation
walls, upwards of a yard in thickness. A part of the site is
occupied by a small 17th century half-timbered dwelling. Till
a few years ago the water remained in the inner moat; and
when it was drained off many objects of interest were found,
and amongst others a figure of Christ in good Byzantine work-
manship. -
The arms of Legh of Adlington, Legh of Lyme, Warren of
Pointon, Davenport, Downes, Meredith of Henbury, Swetenham,
Glegg of Withington, Wright of Mottram-Andrew, and Thorny-
croft of Thornycroft, are painted in a row in front of the organ
gallery, which was built in 1711–12, and newly fronted in 1769.
Dr. Ormerod says that, when he wrote, there was a brass in
the south aisle, on which was written, “Here lyeth the body of
Bythia wife of William Swetenham of Swetenham Esq. 1742.”
Also Thos. son of the above, who died in 1748, aged 52. This
brass is not now to be seen ; but its former existence gives a
reason why the arms of Swetenham are included amongst those
of families resident in and about Prestbury in the middle of the
eighteenth century.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 39
The arms of Birtles of Birtles are painted in front of the gal-
lery at the western end of the south aisle. They are quarterly
One and four, argent a chevron sable bearing three fleurs-de-lis
argent, between three cross-croslets sable; two and three Sable,
on two chevronels or three fleurs-de-lis gules. Crest, a lion ram-
pant regardant azure, on the sinister side of a tree proper.
About the year 1841, when a part of the chancel wall was taken
down, two fragments of slabs were found as parts of the masonry,
representing monumental art of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen-
turies respectively. One is ornamented with a geometrically
interlaced double floriated cross, the stem of which is rendered
ornate with five pairs of stalked lilies. The other fragment shows
a lilied cross, and the hilt of a sword. Amongst the mass of
displaced masonry was a piece of red sandstone, with rude chain
tracery carved on one face, and evidently a part of the early
Norman mortuary cross. Another fragment of an incised slab
was brought to light when the floor of the Tytherington chapel
was taken up in 1858. It has a leaf-like cross enclosed in a
nimbus, and is of a design by no means common. Formerly
a mortuary chapel of the Davenports stood in the churchyard,
as the following extract shows, taken from Piccope's Cheshire
WZ//y :
“That her body (i.e. the body of Elizabeth Davenport, 1577)
be buried in the chapel standing in the churchyard of Prestbury,
near unto her husband.”
There are some rhyming couplets on a tombstone in the church-
yard, curious from recording that a century ago Shrigley was a
deer park, and from the word “wounds” being pronounced
“wouns.” The date is 1750.
“Here lies the body of Edward Green
Who for cutting stone famous was seen
But he was sent to apprehend
One Joseph Clarke of Kerridge End
Who was stealing deer of Squire Downes
When he was shot and died of the wounds.”
4O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Another rather jovial couplet commemorates an old Adlington
huntsman :
“O the joys of his life were good hounds and good nappy,
Then let us all wish he'll be more and more happy.”
A penultimate branch of the old family of Malbon, or Malbank,
is buried near the chancel door. His tombstone is inscribed thus:
“M.S. Samuelis Malbon de Aula Willotensi (Willot Hall in But-
ley) in hac parochia, Generosi. Quicoluid Caducum hic infra
recondebatur. 300 Die Apr. 1678.”
The name occurs several times in the parish register at the
latter end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries.
In 1857 the advowson, previously purchased by the Rev. Mr.
Antrobus, was sold by him to the Rev. Stephen Lea Wilson.
Soon after, Mr. Wilson came to reside at Prestbury, and acted
as curate to the Rev. Henry Pearson, at this time vicar. He
made the following alterations in the church, and completed
them in 1858.
The sanctus bell was replaced in the belfry at the east end of
the nave.
The early English font was recut, and parts worn through time,
&c., were replaced by stone insertions. The base is new.
The parclose was removed from the Tytherington chapel, and
the whole chapel was re-pewed. The altar stone was broken up,
and the piscina taken out of the south wall and inserted beneath
the window. The stone tracery of this eastern window was re-
newed after its former design. Stained glass was introduced at
the cost of Mr. Thomas Brocklehurst, to whom this chantry
chapel passed when he purchased Tytherington estate. Two
shields of arms were introduced, viz., his own, and those intended
for Tytherington, viz., argent, a cross ragulee, sable, which should
have been couped.
The mahogany pulpit was removed from the third pillar of the
nave. Whilst being taken down an oaken octangular pulpit was
found to be enclosed within it, supported on a stem. This Jaco-
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 4. I
bean pulpit was placed against the chancel arch. It is inscribed,
“attendite Dominus loguitur.” The wardens' accounts show that
it was made of oak taken from Burleyhurst and Adlington woods,
and that it was made in 1607. In 17 Io, the same records show
that it was re-cased with mahogany, and had a sounding board
added, at a cost of 8/.
Stalls were erected in the choir, which have obscured the Booth
brass and the alabaster slab of Downes. The east window was
fitted with stained glass representing the leading events in the
life of St. Peter. The roof was painted.
The following items are to be found in the wardens' accounts
relating to pews, property, pulpit, reading desk, &c.
I 563—72. High altar removed, and rood screen. Settles
placed in the church.
“Item to Hugh Mottram for takynge downe and settynge upp
the roode lofte, and makynge formes in the Church.
“Item to John Cowper for pullynge downe the Hygh Altar;
and for a Communion table on a frame, 8sh:”
1577. “For cuttynge the Crosse in the Church yarde, and for
charge of one with a certificate thereof to Manchester, I2d.”
1632. “A brass dyall & a poste” was put up on the Stumped
mortuary Cross, at a cost of 33. 6d.
In 1602 an inventory was made of all the church goods be-
longing to the parish church of Prestbury.
“Foure bells with ropes, wheels, and bell ropes.
“One lytell bell hyngynge on the Churche ende.
“One Clock, with ropes, and face of lead.
“Two Coverynges for the Communion table.
“One Coverynge for the Pulpitte, and one Pillowe.
“A payre of Organes with some pypes wantynge.
“Two Chystes, and a Poor-man's box.
“A Communyon table.
“One Communyon Cup of Silver, and one of Pewter.
“A box to put bread in, and a bottle for wyne.
“Three bibles, two of an English prynte, and one of a Geneva print.
G
42 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“A lanthorne.2
“A Shovel.
“An old Communyon booke with the first tome of Omelyes.
The second tome of Omelyes, with an old Psalter ; the apolegy;
and Moorlerate on Matthew.
“A regyster booke in paper for Chrystenings, Weddynges, and
Buryinges.
“A book for the Church Wardens' Accounts.
“A buckette of brass, and an old handbell.”
“Two surplices, and a table cloth of flaxen.
“A large service book given by the late Vicar.”
In 1637 “the pues were set up, the workmanship Iol. The
timber came from Tabley.”4
I67 I. Faculty granted for erection of additional pews.
“Whereas it hath been represented unto me that the seats
and pews in the parish church of Prestbury are too few to
contain so numerous a congregation as resort thereto, and that
there are several vacant places unseated, viz., at the west end of
the said church by the wall on each side of the great doors, the
quantity twelve square yards or thereabouts on the lower end of
the south side of the wall (belonging to Edward Birtles of the
Hill), seven yards or thereabouts, and by the font two square
yards, I John Bishop of Chester do hereby give leave for the
setting up of seats or pews accordingly, in the places aforesaid,
provided that the setting up, or erecting of the said seats or pews
doth neither obstruct the passage, or obscure any lights in the
said church, and that it be not in any other ways prejudicial to
any person ; and also that the said pews or seats be so decently
framed and built as may become a place of public worship.
Given, &c., 1671.”
*“Let the Host be carried with reverence, with a light and a lanthorne going
before.” (Arch. Reynolds’ Cov., 1322.)
* “Let there be a handbell to be carried before the body of Christ, in the visitation
of the sick.” (Arch. Winchelsey’s Cons., 1305.)
*The present pews were erected in 1707, at a cost of 60/.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 43
In the same year a faculty was granted to Mr. Nathaniel
Booth of Mottram-Andrew, for a pew. “That the uppermost
seat next to the Chancel upon the south side is fit to be appro-
priated to Mr. Nathaniel Booth of Mottram-Andrew, and his
successors, no other person claiming a right to it.” This seems
to be the spot from whence the pulpit was removed in 1607, and
to which it was restored in 1858. The reading desk remained
in situ till 1694, when a faculty for its removal was obtained.
“Thomas Wainwright doctor of Laws, vicar general and official
principal, to the right reverend father in God Nicholas &c. Lord
Bishop of Chester, to John Davenport Esq., John Baskervill Esq.
(of Withington) John Worth Esq. and Edward Thornycroft Esq.,
Churchwardens, greeting. Whereas we are certified that it would
be very much for the benefit and advantage of the auditory to
have the reading desk removed and placed under the pulpit on
the south side of the Church of Prestbury, without damage or
prejudice to any person ; and whereas we have sent out our
Proclamation and general Citation against all manner of persons
that have or pretend to have any right title or interest in the
place under the pulpit to appear and propound and allege
reasonable cause why Our license or faculty should not be granted
to you to remove and place the said reading desk under the
pulpit as aforesaid, and no person appeared or alleged cause to
the contrary, these are therefore to permit and authorize you the
Said John Davenport, &c., &c., to remove the said reading desk,
and decently to place a reading desk under the pulpit as afore-
said. In testimony, &c. Concordat cum decreto. Henricus
Prescott Reg. Dep.”
The year following, i.e., in 1695, the following faculty was
granted to John Davenport, Esq., of Woodford, and Edward
Thornycroft, for erecting “Scammam, stallum, sive sedile, infra
navim ex parte australi ad usus ibidem standi, sedendi, genu-
flectendi, divina audiendi, et preces Deo effundendi, dictus
Dominicis et Testibus aliisque temporibus opportunis, &c.”
An “old order was taken and of longe tyme used, by the
44 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
consent of the whole Parish of Prestburie for the meeringe and
devydinge of the Churchyarde there, for the better repayringe
and mayntainge of the same.” This was not later than the year
I600. “First beginninge at the south west corner, and soe
descendinge after High-street unto the south,
Sidington........................... hath 3 yards.
Marton.............................. » 5 º'
Roade .............................. » 4 »
Capesthorne ..................... » 3 º'
Henbury ........................... » 4% "
in which part is the High street above the Lych gate towards
the south.”
Part of this Lych gate is coeval with the tower of the church.
It was repaired in 1728; or, as an inscription within it states,
newly erected. t
“Mottram-Andrew 43 yards in which part is the yate.
“Ranowe hath 8 yards and a half. -
“Birtles hath Ił viz., the street next the north corner.”
The west wall of the churchyard was built in 1765, at a cost
of 56!. 8s. 9d. Birtles and Henbury paid nothing towards this
wall in consideration of their having “recently erected stone stiles
in the place where the gates now are.” The parish paid their
proportion, viz., 7/. Is. I Id. In 1858 the area of the churchyard
was doubled at the expense of C. R. B. Legh, Esq., the patron.
Prestbury church was still under the influence of the Bishop of
Lichfield in the time of abbot Hugh Grylle, i.e., 1208–26.
William, Bishop of Coventry, gave to the church of St. Wer-
burg, for their own use, the church of Prestbury, together with
everything of his belonging to it, save ten marks of silver to the
vicar, and his own episcopal jurisdiction.
The following convention made between John de Montalt and
Eleanor de Stockport his wife, and Richard de Stockport, is
copied into Mr. R. Wood's Cheshire MSS. :
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY, 45
“Hoc est conventio facta inter Johannem de Montealto et
Elenam uxorem ejus ex una, et Ricardum de Stockport ex altera,
viz.: Quod cum predictus Ricardus et Johannes unanimi consensu
dilectum sibi Walterum de Kancia clericum ad ecclesiam de
Prestbury in comitatu Cestriae vacantem nuper presentassent
que quidem advocatio ad Dominum Johannem ratione donacionis
uxoris ad manerium suum de Puenton (Poynton) pertinet. Quod
quidem manerium post decessum dominae Elanae dicto Ricardo
et heredibus suis ut hereditas Sua una cum advocacione dictae
ecclesiae reverti debent. Ita convenit inter eos quod, &c. Testi-
bus Dominus Galpidus de Cheadle, Petrus de Arderne, Roger de
Avenporte (qy. Davenport), Ric. Worth, W. de Hawardyn, et
aliis.”
To this is appended the seal of John de Montalt, viz., a lion
rampant with a label of three bars, circumscribed “Sigillum
Johannis de Montealto”; and the seal of Eleanor de Stockport,
viz., a woman statant, holding in the right hand a shield on
which the arms of Stockport are cut, and in the left another
shield quarterly, over all a bend for Malbank, Eleanor's maiden
name, circumscribed “Sigillum Elenae de Stockport.”
The Cheshire charters show that Richard de Stockport quit
claimed to St. Werburg's monastery the claim which he had in
vill of Prestbury. 179. Edward son of Henry. I 289.
The vicar's portion was settled in 1274, as follows: “Simon de
Blaydon the official of Bishop Roger ordained that the Vicar of
Prestbury shall receive for ever offerings throughout the year, ex-
cept the offerings of tenths at lent, and the offerings at Easter Day,
and the day of St. Peter, which shall go to the abbot and Convent
at Chester. He shall also receive the whole of the wax money,
and flax, and tenths of eggs, and birds, together with the portion
already assigned to the Vicar and then possessed. The said
Vicar shall bear all ordinary charges, and provide that both the
mother church and the chapels are served in a becoming manner.
He shall find the books and ornaments in the same : but the
extraordinary expenses, together with the reparation of the
46 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
chancel, the monks will bear. The Vicar shall also have a suffi-
cient house, with its enclosure.”
A dispute between the parishioners and the vicar called forth
the following: “definitive sentence after great disputation, pro-
ceeded from the Official the Archdeacon of Chester, that the
parishioners of the church of Prestbury should repair the nave of
the church, and find the Vestments, and Books, and other eccle-
siastical ornaments, except a decent Pyx for the Eucharist, and
Corporals, about which the Vicar for the time being shall see.”
(For originals of these two last documents, vide Ormerod, Hist,
Cheshire.)
In 1525 Dr. Ralph Sneyd made an award between the monas-
tery and the vicar: “This awarde of me Mayster Rauffe Sneyde
doctor of both laws made the 11th day of September in the yere
of oure Lorde God a thousanne ffyve hundreth ffyve and twenty
witnesseth that where varyance discorde and contencion hath
been had movyd and styred bitweene Thomas Abbot of the
Monasterye of Saynte Werbergh in Chester one the one partie,
and one Sir John P’sons (Parson) vicare of the parishe churche of
Prestburye on the other partie of for in & upon the right tytle
and possession of augmentation and of a deme oblacion of 4
pence at every weddynge, and of and for the fyndynge of bredde
and wyne for all theym that shall receyve the blessyd sacramente
at the feste of Pasche to all the whole parishioners of Prestburye
aforesaid. And also for the contentation and payment of pynege
and signage for the said parishe churche of Prestburye I6 shil-
lings & eight pence yerely to be paid to the Archdeacon of
Chester. Wherefore I the said Doctor Sneyde by the assent
consent and agreemente of both the said parties order juge deme
and awarde of and in the premysses that the said Thomas Abbot
of Chester shall pay or cause to be paid unto the said Vicare of
Prestburye during his lyffe naturale four marks sterlynge yerely
to be paide unto the said Vicare at the day and feste of Saynte
Martyne the Bysshop in winter next comying after the date
herof, and the day and feste of the Nativitie of Saint John
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 47
Baptiste then next foloynge by evyn porcions. And so yerely
for ever so that the said Vicare pay or cause to be payde unto
the said Abbot or his fermer or proctore there for every weddyng
4d. And the said Vicare to finde bredde and wyne at Pasche
to howsill the said Parishioners and yerely to pay the pynege and
signage due unto the Archdeacon of Chestre for the said Parishe
Church of Prestburye. And further more I the said Doctor
Sneyde award that the said Vicare shall never sue for augmen-
tation pencion or porcion during his lyffe but be contented with
the same aforesaid. In witness,” &c., &c. Ralph Sneyde was
of the family of Sneyd of Keele, in Staffordshire.
The value of Prestbury living some time before the dissolution
of the monastery was stated as follows in a local MS. History
compiled by Mr. T. Watson:
36 s. d.
Manor of Prestbury with tenants thereon ... Io 8 O
Easter Roll ....................................... 2O O O
Tythe Corn ....................................... 6O O O
Tythe Wool and Lamb ........................ 3O O O
Tythe Calves....................................... 7 O O
A 127 8 O
Offerings and other casualties belonging to the Vicar of
Prestbury:
36 s. d.
Mansion House and 5 acres of Glebe ......... I 3 4.
Sydington Corn tythe and Hay ............... 2 I 3 4.
Capesthorne tythe ................................. O I 3 4.
Upton and Fallibroome........................... O I6 O
Tytherington tythe Corn and Hay ............ 2 O O
Offerings at Christmas from all the Parish ... I IO O
Hemp, Flax, Geese, White tythe except half
the Village of Poynton ..................... 3 6
8
48 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Casualties of all burials, and marriages, all
wax candles that be, upon the corps at
funerals through the whole parish except
the Chapel of Macclesfield of which the
Vicar is to have but the half............... *===
This statement agrees very nearly with the item in Valor
Ecclesiasticus, temp. Henry VIII.:
Vicar of P'stbury
Rad’ Grene Vic, ib’m
valet in
Terr. glebat'p. anm xxs decim granor vili dec'
minut' coib3 annis xls oblac’ xx"............... xii
Sma pat; clare .......................................... xli
Xmä inde ................................................ XX8
The inventory taken shortly after the dissolution of the monas-
tery, shows that the value of Prestbury living had increased :
A s. d.
The parsonage of Prestbury is worth by year I 5 I O - O
Temporalities of Chelford are worth ......... 7 3 3
yy Astle 3 y < * * * * * * * * O 3 O
Wages of Priests serving in Chelford in the
parish of Prestbury ... ..................... 4 6 8
Pixis and Sinagys, Prestbury .................. O I6 4
In the Will of Dame Mary Egerton, copied into Piccope's
Cheshire Wills, the tithes of some nine chapelries in Prestbury
are given as follows: -
A s. d.
Tithe Corn and Hay of Old Withington...... 4 O O per year.
yy yy Chelford............... 4 O O ,
yy 33 Ranow ............... 2 O O yy
5 y yy Hurdsfield ............ I 2 O y \
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 49
A s. d.
Tithe Corn and Hay of Bollington ............ 7 O O per year.
y? y 3 Bosley and Rode ... 8 o o yy
y? yy Marton ............... I 5 O O yy
35 yy Milne House ......... I 6 8 } y.
5 y yy Astle ........... , º º O p q tº 2 I 3 4. yy
y y , Withington ......... I4 6 8 y?
3659 8 8
In 1859 the value of the living of Prestbury was 55ol, per
annum. The corn tithe has been commuted for 153/ per annum.
The hay tithe has been commuted for 237/, per annum. These.
sums are liable to vary. The glebe land is at present let for 75/.
per annum. A wear rent of 251 per annum is due to the vicar
for mill water power. The surplice fees vary from 65l. to 85/.
There are notices of leases and grants of Prestbury church
from the year I448: -
1448. Henry VI. Robert de Legh and Nicholas Briddon
leased Prestbury church and tythes of the abbey of St. Werburg
for one hundred pounds per annum.
I491. Henry VII. Thomas Legh renewed the lease.
I525. Henry VIII. George Legh and Ralph Green (parson
of Lawton) renewed it.
I542. Prestbury manor and rectory were granted to the
cathedral of Chester.
I58O. Elizabeth. The Queen re-granted the manor, advow-
son, and tythes of Prestbury, to George Calveley, George Cotton,
Hugh Cholmondeley, and Thomas Legh.
Mr. Legh survived the other grantees, whereupon the manor,
&c., became invested in him and his heirs for ever, subject to an
annual payment of I 3/. I Is, to the dean and chapter of Chester.
On this subject Dr. Ormerod makes the following note: “After
the dissolution, the manor and advowson of Prestbury, which
had been granted to the dean and chapter of Chester, fell, with
|H
5O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
other manors, &c., into the hands of Sir Richard Cotton, and by
patent, 22 Elizabeth, were confirmed generally to the fee farmers,
to whom George Cotton transferred his father's acquisitions. In
the division of this property, the same passed (August 6, 22 Eliz.)
to the Leghs of Adlington, who were possessed of a lease of the
impropriated rectory before the dissolution. In the Inq. p. mortem
44 Eliz., Thos. Legh of Adlington, Esq., held, inter alia, the
rectory and manor of Prestbury, and lands therein, and in Butt-
leigh, from the Queen, as of her manor of East Greenwich, in
socage by fealty, value 5/. From this period, the manor, impro-
priated rectory, and advowson of Prestbury, have passed with
Adlington. The Leghs hold a court leet and court baron for
the same twice a year.”
THE REGISTER OF PRESTBURY CHURCH, AND
CHURCHWARDENS’ ACCOUNTS.
These records are interesting for many reasons. Local man-
ners and customs are preserved in many of their pages; glimpses
of the bye-gone natural history of the neighbourhood are ob-
tained ; the intolerance of former ecclesiastical statutes is illus-
trated ; the modes in which charity displayed herself are repre-
sented ; the lax moral discipline, that was not uncommon, is set
forth ; the method of levying the rates, and the titles they re-
ceived, are shown ; besides events and circumstances that call for
no particular classification. {
The register begins in 1520; and is more or less imperfect till
1720. During the Civil wars the entries are especially deficient,
as the following extract best shows :
“During the time of the Civil war this, and other parchments
were, for their preservation, for several years, hid; and the regis-
ters taken in paper, were in Valentine Braithwaite's custody,
whereof some part, by hiding, were spoiled, others pulled in pieces
and defaced, and that for divers years.”
All of the most interesting items were extracted, and grouped
together, by the Rev. William Pearson in 1859, during the time
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 5 I
that his father acted as vicar of the parish church and parish ;
and, in this form they will perhaps be read with greater interest,
than if the chronological order had been more exactly followed.
OLD CUSTOMS, &C.
1577. Ringinge the Curfewe one Wynter Season. (Elsewhere
written “Curfyre, and Corfire.") Ringinge the five o'clock bell.
(This practice is yet in vogue.)
I655. Paid to ringers for ringing at the Gunpowder trayson
day, 5s. (This practice has since been regularly continued.)
I707. Being a day of thanksgiving annually to be observed
in memory of our gracious deliverance from the Popish powder
Plot, charges then on ourselves and ringers, and several other
parishioners for Gunpowder, 3/ 5s. Iod. Item, Coals for bonfire,
Is. 6d. Item, paid for a load of stocks from Whitley Hey Park,
and for carriage, 2s. 6d. Item, paid for making and kindling the
fire, 6d.
I67 I. A book to notify the names of strange Ministers.
1623. Spent at rush bearing (first mention); afterwards there
are several mentions of a fee or present made to the sidesmen,
e.g. “I 729, to the Prestbury Sidesmen at Rushbearing, 53,”
1687. Item. For hyre of a horse to Lyme where we received
two warrants from Mr. Legh for persons who brought noe affidavit
concerning the burying in wollen of John, son of Mary Mills, of
Ranow, widow, and Sampson Frost of Ranow. Horse hyre, 8d.
Two warrants, 4s.
1688. Upon the Vicar's Certificate to us that noe affidavit
was brought in tyme for Mary Simpson of Pott Shrigley, and
Dorothy Birchenough of Bollington, for being buryed in woolen;
charges for ourselves and horses in riding to Sir J. Andrews, one
of his Majesty's justices of Peace, for a warrant according to the
act concerning the same, 4s.
One of the forms of affidavit required to be produced at fune-
rals under this oppressive and useless act of parliament is here
52 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
given as a specimen. It was intended to encourage and protect
the woollen trade.
I584. For the Charges of the Church Wardens for gatherynge
the money sessed within the Parishe for the relief of Prisoners,
and carrynge the same to Congleton to Mr. Swetnam, and after
to Chester.
1595. Received for money for maymed Soldyers and Mary-
ners synce the xth daye of June 1594, and the xth daye of June
1595, xxvish.
1632. Item, the new addition, xvish.
This means a sum of I6s. additional to that collected in I595.
It was a distinct church rate ; and, if it remained uncollected, the
churchwardens were summoned, as appears by the following entry
made in -
1585. To Mr. Sheriff, and his men, when they served us being
indyted for wante of the prisoner's money, and other expenses at
payment thereof, 2s. 4d. To the Clarke of the peace, when we
were attached for the said money. º .
This rate seems to have been an obnoxious one, and subject
to inquiry, as follows:
1634. Agreed that the Churchwardens hereafter shall inquire
of the generalitie of this paymente throughe the County; and by
what authoritie, and for what use it is collected ; and if they
finde it not to be generall, and by sufficient warrant, then they
shall refuse the payment thereof.
MODES OF CHARITY.
1628. To a poore man who should have had a gatheringe in
the Churche.
Given to two strangers which should have had a collection in
the Churche, xijd.
I636. Given to a stranger who had a pass from the Kinge to
goe to his own Country. *:
Paid for writing letters of request for dyvers poore and impo-
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. . 53
tent persons to have Collections in the Churches and Chappels
within our Parish. -
I638. Given to a Souldier who had a passe to goe from
Churchwardens to Churchwardens, 4d.
I662. Given to a poore man that came with a letter of request
from the Lord General Munche.
I72 I. To a traveller with pass from Major Davenport, Is. 6d.
BRIEFS AND COLLECTIONS.
I672. Mrs. Margaret Alland by a letter of request, shee being
a Minister's wife, her husband troubled with the melancholy,
4s. I Id,
I676. Isa, a Caldean priest borne in Mosa in Mesopotamia,
together with his son Mes, a deacon, foure sons more in Cap-
tivitie under the Turks, 6s. 2d.
Richard Malpas and Margery his wife of Hole Hill in the
parish of Debington, in behalf of Andrew Malpas who was taken
by the Turkish pyrates belonging to Algiers, being in a shipp
called the John of Dublin, 8s.
1688. Upon a letter of request in behalf of Mr. Timothy
Crowe of Halstone in the County of Cornwall whose late able
qualitie of publique service was so pressed under the Royal Hand
and Signet of his late Sacred Majesty, but hee being reduced very
lowe by severall misfortunes by sea and land, and his son William
Crowe travellinge into foraigne parts was taken by a Sally Man
of War, and not to be redeemed under 3OOl. Collected 12s. 3d.
1699. For poore distressed Protestants of the Vaudois, in-
habitants in the valleys on this side the river Cluson, and of
those of Piedmont on the other side of the said river, 3/. 9s. 7%d.
The next collected items are in respect of Recusants, or those
who refused to attend service in the Church. Cognizance was
taken of recusants in the Ist of Elizabeth ; and in the 22nd of
the same reign, it was resolved to “proceed roundly with them.”
The principal recusants in Cheshire were ordered to be imprisoned
54 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
in Halton Castle, under the care of some godly person, and to
be dieted in the same way as the Fleet prisoners. In the 24th
Elizabeth the wardens and sidesmen, ministers and others, were
ordered to present recusants at the next quarter sessions; and
in the year following William Chaderton, bishop of Chester, re-
ceived orders to send up to London a certificate of recusants in
his diocese. Eightpence a week was ordered to be collected in
all the churches in Cheshire for the support of priests and poor
recusants imprisoned in the Fleet at Manchester, where a preacher
was kept to instruct them. Lady Mary Egerton, widow of Thos. .
Legh of Adlington, was one of these Non-conformists. In May 7,
1582, a letter passed from Sir George Bromley, to the bishop of
Chester, desiring a further respite for her, ſorasmuch as he
thought there were hopes of her conforming. On the 1st of July,
he writes again, and expresses Sorrow for her obstinacy; but
wishes she may be gently dealt with, and have preachers sent to
confer with her. Next January, through Sir Christopher Hatton's
influence, a further respite was obtained. From this time no
mention of further proceedings is made. She lived to the year
1599, and her immunity is probably due to the fact of her being
foster mother to the lord keeper.
In 1593, an act was passed “to restrain her majesty's subjects
in their due obedience;” and, under its provisions, any person
above sixteen years of age who obstinately refused to attend
public worship during the space of one month was to be com-
mitted to prison, &c.
1592. Item, for charges of one of the wardens to answer in
the name of his fellowes and some men of the parishe, what re-
cusants were in the said paryshe before the Justyce of Asyse at
the last Asyse.
For charges of two of the wardens for apprehendynge of Roger
Laye suspected to bee a recusante.
For paper to make a booke wherein was contayned the names
of all the parishioners. The booke was delivered to the Com-
missioners for recusantes.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 55
1626. Item, for makynge billes to every Chappel in the
parish Concerning recusants and non-communicants.
I635. Spent at several tymes about the Bushoppe's warrant
for apprehension of John Scurrier and others who were not con-
formable to our Church of England.
I682. Paid Parator Faulkner for bringing the justices' order
touching dissenters when the Lord Bishop's appointment was
read in the Church.
I67 I. The Wardens cited before the Court of Correction for
not having a black hearse cloth.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
1634. Spent about Contribucion to Pawle's Church, and in
giving the names to the Justices of those who were able to Con-
tribute to the same. (King James set on foot subscriptions for
the re-building of St. Paul's Church, London, in order to gratify
the public.)
1683. Paid to a messenger for going to a man's friends who
was killed that day as was supposed with the first bell, when the
bells were ringing.
“When we met the King's Amner diverse tymes concerning
the 6th bell which was supposed to kill the man, 9s.”
1676. For the Carriage of the old silver bowls and two Cha-
lices for the Communion which were sent to London to be made
bigger and handsomer after the new mode, and more rich, at the
Charge of the Patron. (These two flagons were stolen out of the
vestry, together with the surplice; and in 1703 were again found
in a pit in Cheadle Hulme.)
1704. The Virger, his Salary, paid to him towards a pair of
shoes and stockings.
1728. The Virger, Annual Salary, and biennial gown.
1702. Paid to Edward Downes of Shrigley Esq. by the con-
sent of the parish toward the repair of Pott Chapel, IOl. In 1718
2O/, more was given for the same purpose.
1771. Agreed that two shillings should be added to the burial
56 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
dues in consideration that the new graves should be digged two
feet deeper, on account of want of room in the Churchyard.
The following entries respecting exemptions from fasts, occur
in the register of births, deaths, and marriages.
1632. Licencia Comedendi Carnes concessa fuit Luciae Gobert
vidua 20 die Martii. (Widow of Thos. Legh of Adlington.)
Licencia Comedendi Carnes Concessa fuit Elizabethae uxori
Johannis Davenport de Marton armigeri 70 die Martii, 1632.
Similar licenses were granted in 1633, to Francis Pott of Pott,
Esq.; to William Burgess of Macclesfield, gentleman; to Lucy
Gobarte of Adlington, gentlewoman ; to Elizabeth Davenport of
Marton, gentlewoman ; to Thomas Legh, knight; to all of which
the following note is appended : “Omnes supra dictae Licenciae
concessae fuerunt in causa gravioris morbi, excepta E. Davenport
in Puerperio.” “Thomas Joynson, vicar.”
In this same register it is recorded that, “the first meeting for
the sale of Cattle, ever held in Prestbury, was on the 17th day
of April, old style. The next meeting was held October II, the
same year. These meetings have been continued ever since,
April 28, and October 22, new style.”
OF THE SERAGE SILVER OF PRESTBURY.
The serage silver, or wax money, and the holy bread silver,
constitute items of interest in the registers. The serage silver
answers to the more modern church rate; and holy bread silver
was money paid by different townships towards the purchase of
bread and wine for Communion.
Concerning serage silver, the following is the earliest notice:
“A true copie of an order concerninge the Church of Prest-
burie as followeth : At Prestburie the 6th December, 1558, at
which daie it was ordered, condescended, and agreed by us, Sir
Piers Legh, knight, Sir Richard Egerton, knight, and John War-
ren, Esq., with the advyse and consent of dyvers of the inhabi-
tants of the parish of Prestburie, that all such dues and laudable
customes as of longe tyme have been due and accustomed to be
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY, 57
paid and done for the use and reparacion of the Church of
Prestburie aforesaid, the ornaments therein, and other necessaries
thereto belonginge, from henceforth shall be levied, paid, recyved,
and used, to and for the use of the said Church as hereafter in
these books annexed maie appear. In witness whereof wee have
to these bookes subscribed our names. First, that a certain dutie
called Serage Silver shall be levied and gathered in everie town-
shippe by eleven questmen of the same accordinge, and after the
rate as they be sessed in a booke hereunto annexed, or more,
and the same soe gathered to be brought to the Churche afore-
said yerely on the feaste daie of Saint George the Martyre, and
there to be paid to such as for the time shall be appoynted to
receyve the same to the onlie use of the Church. Item, that all
such townshippes or anie part thereof as be nowe behinde and
unpaid any of the said Serage Silver shall pay the same afore
the feaste of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus, or ells to be
asyted the same daie to appear before the Bushoppe of the dyo-
cese, or his officer accordinge to one quor. nom. now remayninge
in the parish. This present year last afore written, Sir P. Legh
K*, Sir R. Egerton Kt., and John Warren Esq., were Church-
wardens.”
The Serage silver of Prestbury parish due yearlie at the feaste
of St. George the Martyr to the reparacion of the Church? :
Siddington ............... 15 d Prestburie.................. I4d
Titherington ............ 9d Adlington.................. I I IS
Newton..................... 5d Butley ..................... I 1s 4d
Withington ............... 2 Id Road........................ 23d
Lyme Hanley ............ I I'd Upton ..................... 4d
Fallibrome ............... I'd Pott Shrigley ............ 23d
Bollington ............... 23d Macclesfield ............... I I IS
Ranowe .................. 27d Henbury and Pexhill ... 5d
Kettleshulme ............ I Id Sutton ..................... I I IS
Birtles ..................... 3d} Wincle ..................... 23d
* Wincle and Sutton, comprising the district of Wildboarclough, were separated in
1695. Worth and Woodford townships are included under Poynton.
I
58 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Chelford ......... tº a tº e s e º a o 2 Id}
Bosley ..................... 13.0%
Capesthorne............... 50+
Hurdsfield ............... IOd
Mottram-Andrew ...... 26d
Poynton .................. 4s 3d
Marton ..................... 2s 4d
“Those persons whose names are subscrybed did agree and
consent to the foresaid order as well for themselves as the rest
of the parishe:
Prestbury:
Richd Warren gent
George Barber
Mottram :
Rich" Davenport gent
Thos Bradburne
Butley:
Henrie Pigott gent (Bonishall)
John Davenporte
Edward Newton
Bollington:
John Shrigley
Thos Greene
Adlington:
John Greene
John Bennett
Titherington:
Wm. Willott
Christº Birrow
Humphrey Swindells
Newton:
Humphrey Lees
Poynton:
George Hurst
Peter Browne
Macclesfield:
John Blagge
John Bateman
Pott Shrigley:
Roger Potte
Reynold Adshead
Lyme Hanley:
Sir P. Legh kº
Kettleshulme:
John Potte
Nichº Clayton
Henbury:
Roger Royle
Birtles:
Jno Birtles jun: gent
Bosley :
Richard Smith
Henry Bouthe
Rode:
John Newton
Robert Passe
Marton:
John Davenport
John Warde
Withington:
Richard Orle
John Barne
Chelford :
Jeffrey Duncalfe
Peter Bateman
Fallibrome:
Humphrey Barlowe
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 59
Sutton and Wincle: Upton:
Wm Sutton Thos Stapleton
Ranowe: Capesthorne:
Lawrence Pott the elder Randle Richardson
William Lowe Thos Birtles
Hurdsfield: Sidington:
Thos Potte John Snelson"
WHO LEVIED THE SERAGE SILVER.
I627. The churchwardens ordered to direct the precepts for
the church ley unto the constable and two or three of the moste
substantial and discreet men in evrie townshippe to the end it
may be layd with discretion.
I636. Spent when we met to view the churche booke and to
advyse who was fitt to be put in suite.
I637. Notice of a suite between the churchwardens and the
court of warde on behalf of Peter Legh of Lyme, a ward, which
was referred to Venables of Kinderton for arbitration. Item,
sent to George Walter 40s. towarde the charge of the suite
betwixt the parish and Lyme Hanley, when he went to London.
Paid more to the counsell, and fees at London about the said
Suite 4!. IOs.
I638. Paid charge of suit in the spiritual court against T.
Browne of Marton, William Fallows of Chelford, William Jackson
of Ranow, T. Turner for lands in Hurdsfield, 4!. 6s. I Id.
I64I. Spent . . . . . . at Prestburie the 15th day of June, being
the day appointed for the constables to pay in their church ley.
EXTRACTS FROM WARDENS’ ACCOUNTS, SHOWING. HOW THE
SERAGE SILVER WAS RAISED AND ENFORCED.
Citacion I 572. Item, to one Quor. Nom. 2s. 6d. to asyte such
as will not answer theire dutye to the churchwardens. Received
of such as were asyted by virtue of a Q. N. for church dutyes
unpaid, 9s. 7d. for 3 Quor. Nom.
I 573. Item, for the charge of the church wardens goynge
6O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
twyse to my Lordd Bishoppe for the serage silver of Maxfielde,
and for wrytte for the same cause, and a supplicacion for the
Same 4s. 9d. *
1604. Goeing to Chester for an excommunication.
1615. Citacion and excommunication against R. Wiland.
1628. Excommunications for fifteen persons.
1630. Received of James Key and Thomas Browne who were
excommunicated the laste yeare, 9s. Of Thomas Lowe of Mar-
ton who lykewyse stood excommunicated last year, for fees,
Ios. Id. Paid John Downes the Sheriffes Bailliffe II pence,
when he recd the significavit, and the Sheriff's Warrant for
apprehending Joseph Cadon who stood excommunicated.
1638. Robert Page (warden) for goeinge to Chester toune
severall tymes for cytacions and excommunications 23s.
1638. Suite with Old Withington: “Memorandum that it is
covenanted and agreed between John Woodcock, John Byrrow,
and William Barton, the churchwardens of the parish of Prest-
bury, and the inhabitants of the hamlet of Old Withington
within the said parish that, whereas there is at present a Suite
in the Consistorie Court at Chester depending betwixt the said
church wardens and the constable of the said hamlett, for and
concerning the said church lay due out of the said hamlett unto
the parish church of Prestbury for the reparacion and other
necessaries of and belonging to the said church : the inhabitants
aforesaid doe hereby acknowledge themselves bound to pay their
proportionable part of the said church ley to the said parish
church according to the ancient custome of the parish, and
accordingly as the said parishioners are enrolled in the register
book and bookes of accounts belonging to the said parish, and
doe acknowledge themselves bound to pay for the future their
rateable part of so many serages or years' serage silver as shalle
be by the parishioners in there usual meeting for any yeare to
be assessed. And for the meane time as a fruite of their sub-
mission, and in satisfaction for all arrearages of the church lay
unpaid and behind in the said Hamlett, and for satisfaction of
mº | º % wº % 27 …”
*Wºº */ %rezºvº aſ «rt. Pariſh *::::::4 • -
º i. £4% %292-2-ſnaketh Oath, Tºyº,8. %re-
|/44,-4.1% ºftºrſ ºf Aºs- º,
[. (% * -- %-44-4→ lately deceſſed, waſ not put in,
..-lºº
wrapt or wound up, or buried ºn afty Shirt, Shift, Sheet or Shroed, made or
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THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 6 I
charges of the present suite to the inhabitants doe acknowledge
themselves indebted to the said churchwardens in the summe of
40 shillings of current English money to be paid at the parish
church of Prestbury to the churchwardens or some of them
within 3 weeks next after the day of the date of these presents.
Given under there hand interchangeably the 14th of March 1638.
Signed, Sealed, &c., in presence of us Thomas Joynson Vicar,
Thos Smallwood, Humfrey Bradford, and nine others.”
SERAGE SILVER VOTED DURING THE
COMMON WEALTH.
I650. Voted a lay of six score and eight pounds seventeen
shillings & sixpence, being according to the ancient church laye
sixtie years Serage silver.
I653. Six score years Serage silver again voted to finish the
church, the former having been disbursed."
In 1656 the ley seems to have been enforced. “Spent on ale
Is. 4d. On the soldiers that collected the church lay. Paid to the
soldiers that went into the parish to distraine. Item, for a
warrant to Mr. Deane to distraine on several persons.
1657. Paid to John Helsall and Robert Downes who were
hyred to distrayne for church lay.”
In 1735 the wardens had troubles with Quakers: “Journey to
Chelford to have Mr. Cholmondely's opinion about the obstinate
quakers. Charges at Several times to have gotten this lay from
the Quakers.”
* Both votes were allowed and approved by Thomas Stanley and Edward Hyde,
neighbouring justices at Alderley and Norbury, who required the churchwardens to
gather the same according as they have been accustomed. Countersigned by Henry
Bradshaw, elder brother of John Bradshaw, the regicide. He was born in 1600 and
died in 1661. Dr. Ormerod says of Henry Bradshaw that his name was first attached
to a petition addressed to the houses of Parliament in July, 1646, praying for the
establishment of the Presbyterian religion. He acted as magistrate under the Parlia-
ment government, and was present at the battle of Worcester, where he was wounded.
His residence was Marple Hall, where his collateral descendants, the Isherwoods,
still continue to live.
62 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
EXTRACTS FROM WARDENS’ ACCOUNTS SHEWING THE
MANNER OF SPENDING THE SERAGE SILVER.
1573. In this tyme was the laye for the destruction of noy-
some foule and vermin.
1630. Paid a boy to beat dogs forth the churche, IOd. 7
1636. Spent when the new wardens should have taken the
oaths, but did not, 4s. When they did, 8s. When we met to
consider about hanging the little bell. Spent in considering
about the bell steps 3d. Being Sunday, when the Mayor of
Macclesfield did dine with us, & other gentlemen, and parishioners,
charges then I 5s.8
1709–13. 81 Foxes, and 1964 Urchins (Hedgehogs) paid for.
I7II. The Gallery began to be erected, and was finished and
paid for the year following, at a cost of 60l. -
1713. Being a day of thanksgiving for the conclusion of the
peace, 4/9
1714–15. When the King (George I.) was proclaimed, 3/. 6s.
7d. When the king came to London I/. 7s. 4d. Day of thanks-
giving for bringing his majesty to a quiet and peaceable possession
of the throne, 2/. I 53. Od.10
1718. Paid when we had news of the Emperor's victory over
the Turks.
1719. Paid at meeting, when we consulted with George Twem-
lin, Ios. Paid him for pointing the Tower, 12/. Spent, when we
paid him, IOS. Dined with Mr. Pott and other company when
7 In Chambers' Book of Days, vol. i. p. 423, there is an engraving from a picture
painted by Henry Farley's order, in 1616, which represents a congregation listening
to a sermon preached at Paul's Cross, and where the “whip dog” is seen in the act of
driving away the dogs. *
*In 1636, 20!, were spent in refreshments, out of a ley of 791.
°33', were spent in refreshments this year, possibly in helping Uncle Toby and
Corporal Trim to fight Marlborough's wars over again.
*36!, were spent in rejoicings this year, out of a total of 120l. Some murmurings
arose, and 12!, were struck of the 36/, only to be replaced next year.
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 63
he consented to remove the gravestone. Charges this year for
treating strange ministers. Treating a clergyman and his father.
Treating a clergyman 2s. 2d. Another neighbour clergyman
2s. 4d. Treating two ministers from Macclesfield. Treating a
strange clergyman and his Company.
1729. At a public vestry meeting for the encouragement of
persons to destroy foxes with which this neighbourhood and
parish is now much infested ; it is ordered that five shillings shall
be paid for every fox head taken and killed within the parish of
Prestbury, the head whereof being brought to one or more of the
churchwardens within the space of five days, or upon the next
Sunday after the fox is so taken and killed, provided always
that he who brings the fox head, or some other sufficient person
coming along with him, shall, if required, give and declare upon
oath, before Some lawful magistrate, that the said fox was taken
and killed within the parish precincts, and also within the time
limited. tº
1730. Meeting to consider about otters, 7s. 6d. Offered for
a full grown Otter, 5.S. For a young One . . . . . .
1732. Meeting to consider about moles or waunts, a great
detriment to meadow, or pasture land. 6d. a day offered, three
halfpence each if killed in a garden so called, cultivated, or used.
The payments for 40 foxes this year were IO/, for 50 otters
I/. I 5s. Od, and for I 32O moles, I I/. 8s. Od. Paid to whip-
dog IOd. .
1733. Spent on ourselves and other parishioners who came
expecting to see the new vicar, 5s. Spent when the newspapers
gave account of the day when the Prince of Orange was to be
married, and another day when he was married, 6/ 5s.
I744. Paid for Ordinaries, and extraordinaries, for us and
communicants . . . . . . Spent at Mr. Tankard's on the fast day
5s. Battle of Dettingen . . . . . . Horse hire to London to find
a person to make one garland. Given to officers of Wilmslow
when a pattern was taken for a frame to dress the garland on.
For gold, and dressing the garland, which is fixed in the church
64 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
in honour and memory of the glorious battle of Dettingen. Spent
when fixed up, in drinking the king's health . . . . . .
I745. Paid for umbrella, box, and carriage 3/. Paid for nine-
teen dinners for communicants, 12s. 8d. For liquor for us and
Communicants, IIs. IOd.
1765. New west wall of churchyard built.
I772. In this year two hundred and eighty dinners were paid
for, besides 6l. for weekly allowances.
1779. Given to ringers when the Emperor was chosen . . . . . .
Spent when Mr. Atkinson gave us a sermon . . . . . . Spent when
Mr. Atkinson gave us two sermons, 33. 6d. For joy of the King
of Sardinia's victory, given to the ringers 5s.
HoLY BREAD SILVER LEVIED IN THE LATTER PART OF
THE I6TH CENTURY.
1572. Received money for bread & wine for the Communion,
commonly called “Holy bread Silver,” from Upton 8d., from
Capesthorne 6d., &c.
In 1584 the holy bread silver was refused, whereupon the fol-
lowing entry was made:
“Paid for a Quor. Nom. or Citacion for Mr. Thornycroft and
his fellows which refused there money for bread and wyne.”
“Received from Mr. Thornycroft Jeoffrey Wilkinson &c. for
charge of a suite commenced against them for bread and wyne,
or money for the same, & the charge of the said suites.”
Afterwards, it was agreed that each township should provide
bread and wine for its own inhabitants, as follows:
“Also order is taken by the worshipful of this parish and the
rest of the parishioners that henceforth every townshippe shall
fynde breade and wyne only for the inhabitants of the same
towne, and provyde it so as no lacke shall be when a communyon
is to be hade ; but if any recey've he shall provyde breade &
Wyne so as neyther the churchwardens nor curate shall stand
charged henceforth untyle new order is taken.”
THE PRESENT CHURCH OF PRESTBURY. 65
VICARS OF PRESTBURY FROM TIME OF PUBLICATION
OF DR. ORMEROD'S HISTORY.
Rev. John Rowlls Browne died May, 1843; and was succeeded
by the Rev. Henry Pearson, who died June, 1858; and was
succeeded by the Rev. Stephen Lea Wilson, honorary canon of
Chester, who is the present vicar. Charles Richard Banastre
Legh, Esq., patron.
K
66 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
BUTLEY AND BONISHALL ;
AND PIGOT OF BUTLEY, AND OF BONISHALL.
After the dispossession of Hundin, the Saxon tenant, Butley
came into the possession of Richard, son of Hugh Lupus the
first Norman Earl of Chester, who held it until his death by
drowning in I I2O. From this date there is no direct evidence of
ownership for the space of a century, though probably the manor
devolved on the successive Norman Earls of Chester, and was
used by them for hunting purposes, as it contained a “hay.”
In Earl Hugh's time mention is made of three generations of
the family of Pigot, viz.: Robert, son of Gilbert Pigot; Gilbert,
son of — Pigot, and Robert his brother; but they are not styled
of Butley.
“Hugo com cestº Constabular Dapifero et omnibus Baronibus
suis, &c., salutºn sciatis me dedisse concesisse et presenti carta mei
confirmasse in feodo et hereditate et in libero burgagio Nichad filio
Liulfi et heredibus suis, et heredibus meis anno et die quo ipê
Liulfus fuit vivus et mortuus. Testibus Ric, de . . . . . . , Waltero
le Brett, Gilberto filio Picot, W. Waschet, Henrico Mansell, Rogero
Luntof Frumbaldo, Willo filio Ricardi, Roberto filio Gilberti
Pigot,” &c.
To another charter of Earl Hugh's given at Lee to Ralph
Menilwaring, and Alice, the earl's daughter, the names of Gilbert
son of Pigot, and Robert his brother, appear as witnesses.
In Burke's Commoners (v. iii. p. 192) mention is made of Gilbert
Pigot as a benefactor to Poulton abbey in the year 12 Io.
Another Gilbert Pigot who died in 1267 is known to have been
of Butley. From this time, for the space of three hundred years,
Butley continued to be held by successive generations of this
family, sometimes in chief under the king, as earl of Chester, and
sometimes as mesne lords. On the failure of heirs male, Butley
passed to a collateral member of the same family settled at
Chetwynd, in Shropshire, as will appear presently. Afterwards
PIGOT OF BUTLEY AND BONISHALL. 67
it passed by sale to the Leghs of Adlington, with whose descend-
ants the entire township still rests, with the exception of the hall
and some lands adjacent, which were purchased by Mr. W. C.
Brocklehurst in 1861. Butley hall overlooks the village of Prest-
bury, and is a house of fair proportions. No part of it is very
ancient. The tops of the leaden spouts have the arms of Downes,
viz., a hart lodged, and the date, 1777, worked in relief. The
front is of ashlar stone, and quite modern.
Originally, there were two families of Pigot who came to
England with the Conqueror. One was hereditary viscount and
baron of Boorne in Cambridgeshire, and the other was settled in
Wales and the Marches. In the reign of Henry I. the Lord of
Powys married a daughter of the Lord Pigot, called of Say, in
Normandy, who had a son, Henry, from whom the Pigots of
Cheshire, Shropshire, and Flintshire descend. (Burke.)
Gilbert Pigot, who was lord of Broxton, and who died in 1267,
had a son Robert, who succeeded him, and whose name is attached
to a Davenport deed prior to 1272. He granted the vill of Chel-
ford to the monks of Saint Werburg's monastery at Chester.
(See Charter, Ormerod, vol. i.)
Robert Pigot was succeeded by his son William, whose name
appears in the monastery charters as having confirmed his father's
gift, and as quit claiming the mill at Butley, &c., to the abbot
and monks. He died in I287, 16 Edward I., as his post mortem
inquisition shows.
He appears to have been succeeded by William Pigot, whose
name is attached to a deed dated 1297, and executed at Maccles-
field, in which Adam le Bray of Godelegh granted Some lands in
Wilmslow to John, son and heir of Edmund Fitton of Bollin.
(Trafford deed copied by Canon Raines.)
He seems to have been succeeded by Edward Pigot. In a
deed quoted by Dr. Ormerod, vol. iii. p. 36, Sir Thomas Daven-
port claimed puture from the abbot of Chester, from two tenants
in Butley, held of the gift of Edward Pigot. This was sometime
between I 307 and I 327. Ed. II.
68 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
His successor was William Pigot, whose history is best set
forth in the following post mortem inquisition : “William Pigot
died seized in fee of a moiety of the manor of Butley, which said
William formerly held the said manor from Hugh le Despenser,
who held it from the earl in capite by military service, which said
Hugh forfeited it, by reason whereof the said William at the time
of his death held it immediately from the said earl by the like
service. He also died seized in fee of a certain parcel of land in
Smethwick, which he held from the lord of Smethwick in Socage.
He died on Thursday next after the raising of the holy cross,
5o Edward III., leaving John, his son, upwards of twenty-two
years, his next heir.”
John Pigot held Butley by the same tenure as his father. He
was one of the justices itinerant for Cheshire. (Cheshire, Cham-
berlain's accounts.) He died in 1394, and was succeeded by
John Pigot, who held Butley under the Despensers in the 6th
Henry VI, 1427. He also held rents issuing out of Old Fox-
wist, and Newton in Butley. His name occurs as one of the
justices itinerant for Macclesfield Hundred in 14O2 and 1413.
(Ormerod.)
He appears to have been succeeded by a son also named John
Pigot, who, in 142O, witnessed a deed executed at Chorley in
company of Lawrence Fitton, Christopher Davenport, and others.
In it he is styled John Pigot senior.
Whether his son succeeded or no, remains uncertain ; but the
direct descent is resumed in the person of John Pigot of Butley,
whose post mortem inquisition is dated 1512, 4 Henry VIII.
He had two sons, viz.: Robert Pigot, who succeeded him; and
George Pigot, who settled at Bonishall in Butley, and who mar-
ried Catherine, daughter of Henry Henshaw of Henshaw, in
Siddington. § g
Robert Pigot died in 1535, 27 Henry VIII, leaving one son,
Thomas, and four daughters. - -
Thomas Pigot died without issue, leaving four sisters and co-
heiresses. His post mortem inquisition, dated 6 Edward VI.,
PIGOT OF BUT LEY AND BONISHALL. 69
I 552, is as follows: “Thomas Pygotte tenuit terras et tenementas
suas in Butlege una cum terris et tenementis in Olde Foxwiste,
Newton, et Leehall, de Domino Rege ut comes Cestrie foed. milit.”
6 Edward VI. One of his sisters, the inheritrix of a fourth part of
Butley, married Francis Clinton of Herefordshire.
The family of Pigot of Chetwynd, in Shropshire, took rise
from the Pigots of Butley in the reign of Henry VI, when
Richard, a younger son of John Pigot of Butley, married the
daughter and co-heiress of Sir R. Peshale of Chetwynd. (Burke)
The name of Richard Pigot occurs as justice itinerant of Mac-
clesfield Hundred at this time, but his identity with Richard
Pigot of Chetwynd is doubtful.
Richard Pigot, the first of Chetwynd, had a son, John, who
married a daughter of Robert Legh of Adlington. He died in
his father's lifetime, leaving issue Robert, who succeeded his
grandfather in the Chetwynd possessions. Richard Pigot, the
first of Chetwynd, dying in 1440, 19 Henry VI., was succeeded,
as before Said, by his grandson Robert, who married a daughter
of Sir John Blunt, and had issue Thomas, married to Elizabeth
Gatacre, from whom the Pigots of Chetwynd descend (vide Burke).
As already said, Thomas Pigot joined with his father in the sale
of their portion of Butley to Sir Edward Warren.
The Pigots of Bonishall, descended from George Pigot younger
son of John Pigot of Butley (temp. Henry VIII.) and Catherine
Henshaw. They flourished there for five generations, after which
the family migrated into Lancashire in consequence of the mar-
riage of George Pigot with the daughter and co-heiress of Robert
Parkinson of Fairsnape, near Preston.
The manor of Butley did not long remain a possession of the
Pigots after the death of Thomas Pigot in 1552. In 24 Elizabeth
Thomas Legh of Adlington bought a moiety of it from Sir
Edward Warren and dame Susan his wife, who had bought the
same from Sir Thomas Gerard about five years previously, which
Sir Thomas had purchased it, in 20 Elizabeth, from Robert Pigot
of Chetwynd and Thomas his son, to whom this moiety presum-
7o THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
ably devolved by will of two of the co-heiresses. A further part
of Butley went, by purchase, to Philip Worth of Titherington,
from another of the co-heiresses.
In the same year (i.e., 24 Elizabeth), Thomas Legh bought
another fourth of the manor from Nicholas Moseley (at that time
lord mayor of London, and ancestor of the Moseleys lords of the
manor of Manchester) and Rowland his son, Nicholas Moseley
having previously come into possession by purchase from Francis,
or from Ivo Clinton, in the county of Hereford, the latter of
whom had married one of the sisters and co-heiresses of Thomas
Pigot. By these several acquisitions, the Leghs of Adlington
became possessors of a large part of the manor, which was
further augmented by the purchase of Bonishall, in 1746, by
Charles Legh, from Thomas Pigot of Bonishall, who migrated to
FairSnape, near Preston.
The whole descent of the Pigots of Bonishall and Preston is
given in the eighty-eighth volume of the Chetham Society's
publications, p. 233.
The arms borne by the families of Pigot of Butley, Chetwynd,
and Bonishall, were ermine three mascles conjoined in fess sable.
Crest, a wolf's head erased.
4Pigot of 05utley, Cljettupno, and Bonigball,
Gilbert Pigot of Butley,
-T- * † tº gº tº .
lord of Broxton, ob.
1267. (Williamson,
Burke, &c.)
Robert Pigot of Butley, = . . . . . .
grantee of Chelford to
Robt. Worth. (Name
attached to a Daven-
port deed, tmp. H.III.
i.e., prior to 1272.)
e e º e º º
|
William Pigot of Butley, ==
A. m. inq., 16 Ed. I.,
1287. (Wood's Ches. |
A/.S.)
|
Tº . . . . . .
|
|
William Pigot
|
Edward Pigot? of Butley
I 307–27.
* & 8 e s is
|
William Pigot of Butley,
A. m. inq., 1376, 50
tº v e º s 2
Ed. III.
|
John Pigot of Butley,
one of the justices itin-
erant of Macclesfield
Hundred. Inq. p. m., |
I 394, 18 Rd. II.
* * * * * *
|
John Pigot of Butley,
living in 1427. One
of the justicesitinerant |
in 14O2 and 1413.
John Pigot
I 42O.
John Pigot ?
|
John Pigot of Butley, ==
Q. f. 27t., I5 I2, 4
| In
H. VIII.
Salop, jure uxoris, ob. 19
H. VI., I44O.
#, |
John Pigot of Chetwynd, =
|
Richard Pigot of Chetwynd, ==
. . d. & co-h.
of Sir Rd. de
Peshale of
Chetwynd.
= d. of Robert
Legh of
Adlington.
|
Robert Pigot of Chetwynd, = Margaret, d.
who together with father of Sir Jno.
sold moiety of Butley. Blunt.
|
Thos. Pigot of Chetwynd Tº Gatacre.
From whom yº Pigots of
Chetwynd descend.
Robert Pigot of Butley, =
ob. 27 Henry VIII., |
I535.
|
Thomas Pigot of
Butley, o. S. p. 6
Ed. VI. 1552.
in Butley.
in Siddington.
|
Four daughters and co-
heiresses, one of whom
md. Francis Clinton.
|
Henry Pigot of = Dousabel, d. of Jno.
Bonishall, liv- Millington of Mil-
ing in 1558. | lington, Cheshire.
3o Henry VIII.
|
Thomas Pigot of = Jane, d. and co.-h. of
Thomas Pigot of ==Jane, d. of George Red-
Bonishall, aged
84 in 1644.
|
George Pigot of = Elizabeth, d. and co.-
h. of Rbt. Parkinson
of FairSnape.
Bonishall, and
of FairSnape nr.
Preston, Lanc.
Bonishall, ob. Rd. Kay of Dods-
circa 1630. worth, Yorks., 23
Eliz.
| g
John Pigot of = Judith, d.
dish of Reddish, Lan. Davenport
Forton, Staf.
Catherine, d. of .
Crowton of Pre
Hall.
T
|
Thomas Pigot of
Prestbury, Lan.
Ann hº = John Downes
of Downes and
Taxal. (Orme-
rod.)
|
George Pigot of Bonishall, H= Catherine, d. of Henry
Henshaw of Henshaw

of John
of Butley
|
Henry Pigot, vicar of
Rochdale, Lanc.
|
Thomas Pigot of =
FairSnape, from
whom Charles
Legh of Adling-
ton bought Bo-
nishall in 1746.
Margaret Pigot,
aged 27 in 1664.
Ston.
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CROSSES AND OTHER STONE MEMORIALS. 7 I
CROSSES, AND OTHER STONE MEMORIALS,
WITHIN PRESTBURY PARISH.
Within the parish of Prestbury, and, for the most part, within
the old boundaries of the royal forest of Macclesfield, , there
are several single and double stone crosses, which have long
exercised the ingenuity of antiquaries. No less than eleven of
these crosses remain, whilst others are known to have been
destroyed and demolished through various causes. By some
they have been thought to have a Danish origin. Others have
considered them Saxon, and others again have opined that they
are not only Norman, but that they were erected by the monks
of Combermere abbey in the 12th century.
For a long time I held the opinion that they were the work of
those early Normans who settled in Cheshire under Hugh Lupus,
and who might naturally enough copy the chain tracery orna-
mentation of their Saxon predecessors in working out the details
of such comparatively simple structures; but the weight of evi-
dence in favour of an earlier date is so strong and cumulative
that I am constrained to relinquish a once cherished theory in
favour of that which now seems to be a more plausible and truthful
explanation.
To save the necessity of a description tediously minute, the
accompanying illustration is inserted, so that, at a glance, the
salient features of all the crosses may be recognised. Two crosses
not within the parish are added for the sake of comparison.
There are four double-socketed crosses which trace a line,
more or less direct, from the village of Prestbury to the village
of Mottram-in-Longdendale, or to the Roman castle of Melandra
adjacent, on the extreme verge of the hundred of Macclesfield.
The first stands on the edge of Lyme Park, adjoining Shrigley,
nigh to a farmhouse known as “Bowstones” farm, so called after
the crosses, which are known as the “Bowstones.” These pillars
or crosses stand about four feet out of a double-socketed base of
72 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
unhewn rock. The tops have been either broken off or have
decayed through age and weather. Two miles further away,
at the edge of a bleak hill known as “Longside,” there is the
basement socket of a similar double cross. The crosses are now
gone altogether, though Mr. Marriot found the remnant of one
in 1810.
About the same distance further away, towards Disley village,
there used until recently to be another double-socketed cross,
called “Jordan Law Cross,” which differed from the rest in
having a true crucial outline, and being enriched with chain
tracery ornamentation. The socket has been removed, but the
cross is preserved in the domestic chapel at Lyme hall.
Further away, at Mellor Moor end, another cross stands, so
like to the one at Bowstone farm, that no further description of
it is needed. This cross is now known as “Robin Hood's picking
pegs,” and its site is often called “Ludworth intakes.”
All these four crosses appear to have been erected at one
particular period, and, like the “white bore stone” formerly stand-
ing near Shrigley, seem to have served the purpose of mere or
boundary stones, or landmarks. This latter term, landmark,
recommends itself most strongly because three out of four stood
within the heart of the forest where there were no boundary
lines; and because all four stones take a course consistent with
that casual but difficult inter-communication which would arise
between two places of known existence in early days. The
terms Bowstone, Borestone, Bawdastone, are identical, and in
the Danish language signify tall slender stones set upright,
either singly or in groups. As a rule, these stones are three or
more ells in height, and are devoid of any inscription, either in
Sweden or Norway. (Guide to Worthern Archaeology.) “Low,”
again, is a Danish terminal, as in Knight's low and Shutling's
low, both of which hills are in Prestbury parish, on the summit
of the latter of which there are two rude upright stones, which
were described and figured by the Rev. Dr. Marriot in 1810. On
the other hand, the words Bowstone and Borestone may be
CROSSES AND OTHER STONE MEMORIALS. 73
understood as corruptions of Horestone, whilst the word hore.
stone itself would appear to be nothing more or less than a
corruption of the Saxon “haran stan” (or stone, or stane, as
stone is commonly called in Yorkshire at this day.) Whichever
etymology recommends itself the most, the conclusion seems to
be almost inevitable that these crosses were not erected by the
Normans, and that they date back to the Saxon times at the
latest. Several years ago, with the permission of Mr. Thomas
Legh, a deep excavation was made beneath the Bowstone cross
to ascertain whether any burial had taken place under it; but
though the excavation was continued till the virgin rock was
reached, it was manifest to all present that the ground had never
before been disturbed.
The next group of single crosses or pillar stones, with single
or double fillets round the upper part of the shaft, is found at
Fallibrome, Wincle, Clulow, Ridge, Adlington, &c. Some of
them have plain chamfered tops, and others have the chamferings
ornamented with chain tracery. Some are larger, loftier, and
more pretentious than others, but they one and all partake of
the same character and design as the mortuary cross at Leek,
and at Ilam. Leek, though in Staffordshire, was only separated
from the royal forest of Macclesfield by the river Dane. The
double-pillar cross in Penrith churchyard, known now as “the
giant's grave,” is another of the same date and construction.
One and all have without doubt been embellished with crosses at
their summits, wrought out patonce-wise, and circumscribed with
a nimbus, as is drawn in dotted outline on the cross once at Ridge,
but now removed with two others to Macclesfield public park.
Mr. J. Britton (Architectura/Antiquities of England) says that
when he visited the double cross in Penrith churchyard in 1807,
its height was eleven feet, and that there was a cross on the top
of each in relief; also that the shafts were ornamented with fret
work, &c.; and the distance of one pillar from the other was
fifteen feet. Leek cross is ten feet in height.
The exact purposes served by these crosses in Prestbury parish
L
74 - THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
are very questionable, seeing that they are nearly all placed
within the precincts of the royal forest, or immediately adjacent,
and in a very irregular fashion as regards the topography at the
present time. They may have marked out trysting places where
forest paths met,
“By a forest gan they mete
Wer a cros stoode in a strete.”
or they may possibly have indicated the humble abodes of pious
Saxon anchorites from St. Werburg's monastery at Chester,
who dwelt within the forest precincts, offering alike shelter to
the belated, and short and ready shrift to many an outlawed
felon who chanced to fall into the hands of the forest rangers,
and whose body would as shortly, as surely, depend from the
nearest Oaken branch.
The circumstance that three of these crosses in later days are
found to be in close proximity to manorial and ecclesiastical
residences, in no way militates against either of the above infer-
ences, seeing that they own an antiquity far greater than the
present halls of Adlington and Ridge, or the grange at Wincle.
The real or supposed sanctity of these venerable relics of a bye-
gone era would be much more likely to have determined the
building sites of the above-named places.
These crosses are consistent in design with the small fragment
of a mortuary cross preserved until recently at Prestbury village,
and figured in the drawing.
As all the crosses have an architectural resemblance, the only
way to speculate on their respective uses is to consider their
names on the one part, and their localities on the other. The
double-socketed ones are so designated and placed as to indicate
that they served as landmarks. Three, being found in church-
yards, are readily recognised as mortuary crosses. The remainder
are so scattered about that neither of the above uses can strictly
be assigned to them. When they were set up, the country was
a tangled forest, whereas now it is, for the most part, under cul-
tivation. Whether woodland paths and roads intersected each
CROSSES AND OTHER STONE MEMORIALS. 75
other where the crosses stand cannot now be determined, neither
can it be averred, with any degree of certainty, that they marked
out the cells of anchorites. That they were erected under eccle-
siastical Supervision is evident from their design ; and, reasoning
from design to use, it is moderately certain that they were
intended to fulfil Some function more or less associated with the
religious beliefs and usages of a time perhaps not very far ante-
cedent to the invasion of the Normans.
Greenway Cross, in Sutton, has a design in many respects
different to all the foregoing. It is a wayside cross, carved on
the top of a rough and unhewn flat stone, and may be of any
early period. Nevertheless, the English word greenway is derived
from the Saxon “grenan weyes,” as Mr. Hamper pointed out in
the Archaeologia of 182O.
STONE RELICS OF THE PLAGUE IN PRESTBURY
PARISH.
This scourge left few districts in England unvisited, at dif-
ferent times, and did not spare Prestbury parish. The record
handed down, So far as one of the visitations is concerned, shows
that it made its appearance at the Bowstone farm, near to which
four tombstones lying flat in the heather yet attest the fact of its
ravages. Concerning this Outbreak of plague at Bowstone and
Browside farms, it is traditionally recorded that the dread scourge
made its appearance there in 1646, and that the infection was
brought in a bundle Sent from London. The reality of the out-
break is attested by three flat grave stones that lie on these
bleak uplands, whilst the fragment of a fourth Stone has been
utilised as a doorstep.
Inspired with a terror SO common to persons in plague-Smitten
districts, it is said that provisions, fixed on the ends of long poles,
were passed through the windows to those who suffered, by those
who had hitherto escaped. Two families lived within a quarter
of a mile of each other, whose names were Mackewal and
Hampson respectively; and two stones of memorial are devoted
76 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
to each, marked with the date 1646. On one of them, to the
memory of Elizabeth Hampson, this moral reflection is engraved:
“Think it not strange our bones lie here
Thine may lie thou knowest not where.”
To many, the date 1646 may sound strange, as I665 is best
known as the year of the great plague in London So graphi-
cally described by De Foe, and which immediately preceded the
equally great fire. With the exception of this latter date, but
little has been recorded, though several visitations of this direful
disease spread terror and death through England prior to this
last and great outbreak. The years recognised as plague years
are 1593, 1603, 1625, 1636, 1640, 1646, and 1665; but the plague
was fatal in London out of all proportion in 1625 and 1665.
A plain stone, inscribed “E. S., July Io, I665,” marks the site
of a grave in a field near a house formerly built by Edmund
Duncalf, in 1607, at Chorley in Cheshire.
Macclesfield was visited by plague in 1603 and I646, and on
each of these occasions Greenway cross was used as a “plague
cross,” to which country people came to sell their provisions to
the dwellers in the town. The practice was for the sellers to
place their goods near to the cross and then to retire, after which
the townspeople came and paid the price marked, letting the
money fall into a basin or socket filled with water, by which
process all infection was supposed to be destroyed. The double-
socket stone at Stretford was used in this way when the plague
ravaged Manchester.
The late Mr. Thomas Legh of Lyme mentions the continuance
of this practice of passing money through water during the out-
break of plague he witnessed at Alexandria, and he speaks of it
as being thought the only efficacious way of destroying the
plague germs that attach themselves to money carried near the
person.
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 77
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON.
Adlington is, and has always been, one of the most noteworthy
townships in Prestbury parish. The first-known possessor of
this manor was the Saxon earl Edwin. After him the Norman
earls of Chester held it as a valuable possession. When they
died out, it lapsed to the crown in 21 Henry III. Then it came
to Hugh de Corona by royal grant, and, after continuing in this
family for three generations, passed to the Leghs of Adlington
by deed of gift, as will shortly be explained.
It probably is the same as Edwin's town, and is the Edulvin-
tune of Domesday. The name is derived from its being a resi-
dence of the Saxon earl Edwin, earl of Chester and Coventry.
Edwin, and his brother Morcar, were two of Harold's chief
generals at the battle of Hastings. Edwin retreated from the
battle, after Harold's death, with a part of the English army;
but, on making his submission to William ye Conqueror, was
allowed to retain his possessions till the year Iozo. At this
latter date he took part with the Northumbrians in their attempt
to bring in the Danes and was dispossessed, and shortly after-
wards murdered. William I., after this event, gave the Saxon
earl's lands in the county palatine of Chester to Hugh Lupus,
who retained Adlington in his own hands, probably as a hunting
seat, as it was noted for having seven game enclosures and four
eyries at the time of the Survey. Adlington appears to have
remained an appenage of the succeeding Norman earls till the
death of John Scott, the seventh and last, when it passed to the
crown in 21 Henry III.
Soon after, the manor was in the holding of Hugh de Corona,
and remained in this family till the reign of Edward III. Hugh
de Corona was lord of Adlington temp. Henry III., and also the
possessor of the manors of Little Neston, Hargreave, and Penisby-
in-Wirral About the year 1270 Hugh de Corona gave his lands
in Penisby (which he had shortly before purchased of Hugh the
78 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
prior and the brethren of ye hospital of St. John of Chester) to
his daughter Sarah, and her heirs (deed pemes Legh). He also
granted to Richard de Worth, and his heirs, all the land which
Wasse de l'Hope formerly held of him in the ville of Adlington,
and an enclosure for tillage adjacent to the said land, ascending
Holbrook, and rendering thirteen shillings and sixpence at the
feast of All Souls. The deed is without date, but is attested by
Sir Geoffrey de Chedle, William de Baggiley, John de Mottram,
and others, who lived in the time of Edward I. (M.S. penes
Legh.) These lands passed from the Worths to the Downes's,
and remained in the latter family till the year 1696, when they
reverted to John Legh by purchase from Edward Downes.
Hugh de Corona seems to have had a brother John, whose
name appears amongst the Tower charters in this same reign of
Henry III. “Extunc' terrae Joh’is de Corona in cest.”
Hugh de Corona married Amabilla the daughter of Sir Thomas
de Bamville, and left issue one son, Hugh, and two daughters,
Lucy and Sarah. *
Hugh de Corona, the second of Adlington, married, and left a
Son, John, who was lord of the manor of Adlington in the reign
of Edward II. “John de Corona held the manor of Adlington
and the manor of little Neston. Thomas de Corona is his son and
heir” (Tower records, 22 Edward II). The Christian name of
John's wife was Margaret.
Thomas de Corona died unmarried about the middle of the
reign of Edward III., and so the male line failed. During his
lifetime, by a deed without date, he gave to John de Lassells all
the land which Lucy de Corona held of his inheritance in the
ville of Newton-in-Wirrall, and which came to him by the gift of
his grandfather, Hugh de Corona, and all the land which Mar-
garet, who was wife of John de Corona, held of his inheritance in
Newton-in-Wirrall, by gift of his father, John de Corona. (MS.
pemes R. Wood.)
Lucy, daughter of the first Hugh de Corona, married for second
husband Sir William Baggiley, and had issue by him one son,
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 79
who died without issue, and two daughters named Ellen and
Isabel, which last married Sir John de Hyde.
Nothing is known of Sarah, the sister of Lucy, and it seems
likely that she either died single, or, if married, left no offspring.
Ellen, daughter of Lucy de Corona, married Sir John Legh,
son of Sir William Venables of Bradwell, and called “de Legh.”
from having been left to the care of his mother, whose maiden
name was Legh, and which was also the name of the place where
he was born, and where he lived till his marriage. From this
marriage the Leghs of Adlington descend.
Sir John de Legh and Ellen his wife purchased Norbury
Booths (28 Edward I.), and there fixed their residence. Sir John
died in 1323, and his wife in 1350. s
Thomas de Corona, the last of his line, having no issue, gave a
moiety of Adlington to John and Ellen Legh for life, with
remainder to Robert their second son, and his heirs, by a deed
bearing date in ye early part of ye reign of Edward II. “Thomas
de Corona grants to John de Legh and Ellen his wife all his
part of the manor and vill of Adlington (except the lands which
Margaret his mother, and Lucy formerly wife of Hugh de Corona
had in dower) to hold to the said John and Ellen for their lives.”
This John is probably the same who is called “John de Adlington”
in a presentment against twelve persons for hunting in the king's
forest with hounds and horns, and destroying deer, and finally
joining in an affray with the keepers. I 3 Edward II. (Ormerod.)
In 9 Edward II, Thomas de Corona gave to John and Ellen
Legh all the rest of his lands in Adlington previously held in
dower by Lucy and Margaret. After this grant was made,
Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II., seized Adlington manor,
alleging that Thomas de Corona had forfeited it to her by reason
of the alienation having been made without her license, as the
same was held of her as of her manor of Macclesfield.
In 17 Edward II., John de Legh being lately dead, Ellen, his
widow obtained a re-grant of the Adlington manor, on her pur-
chasing a pardon from the Queen. To this pardon a fair seal of
8O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Queen Isabella is affixed, from which it would appear that the
Queen held Macclesfield to her own separate use, even whilst
her husband was king. (See illustration.)
She used to be styled “the Lady of Macclesfield,” and
enjoyed the emoluments far into the reign of Edward III., as
the following, extracted from the Adlington MS. (in the
Chetham Library) shows: “Thomas of Poker of Macclesfield
was summoned to answer his lord the earl of a plea by what
warrant he claimed to have the bailliwick of Pokarie of the
hundred of Macclesfield in fee within the liberty of Dame Isabel
Queen of England Ladye of Macclesfield. That is to say to
make extension and return of all writ and precept of the Lord
the earl within ye precinct of the hundred of Macclesfield, &c.
And also to make execution of all pleas moved before Dame
Isabel, or her baillies. And also to levy all fines, amercements,
rents, and monies due to the said dame Isabel, and to account
thereof at Macclesfield, and make yearly payments at ye feast of
St. Michael, for all things concerning her sword and dignity.”
After this exercise of prerogative on the Queen's part, Thomas
de Corona thought fit to make a further deed of grant, which he
executed at Chester in 17 Edward III., and in which he quit
claimed to Robert de Legh, senior, and his heirs and assigns, all
the claim he ever had in the manor of Adlington, &c. In witness
whereof he affixed his seal in ye presence of the justice of Chester,
John de Legh, Hugh de Venables, Sir John Danyers, Sir Thomas
Danyers of Spurstow, Robert de Bulkylegh, and others.
To several of Thomas de Corona's deeds a fair seal was
attached, bearing a chevron between three crowns, and circum-
scribed “Sigillum Thomas de Coroun.” (See illustration)
Ellen de Legh continued in the enjoyment of the manor of
Adlington till her death in 26 Edward III. By an inquisition
held the same year, it was found that she died seized of the
manor of Adlington for life, held of the manor of Macclesfield,
in chief, by the service of a ſourth part of a knight's fee, and that
Sir John de Legh was her heir. -
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ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 8 I
Sir John de Legh was heir to the Norbury Booths estate, &c.,
as eldest son ; but Adlington passed to Robert Legh, as already
stated. In addition to all former grants made by Thomas de
Corona, he executed a further one the year after the death of
Ellen Legh. It bore date 27 Edward III., and set forth that he
released all his rights in the manor of Adlington to Robert and
his heirs, by the name of Robert de Legh the elder. (Deed
£enes Legh.) And so it came to pass that this manor passed
to the Leghs, who continued to enjoy it, with divers other pur-
chased possessions, &c., in uninterrupted succession from father
to son until the death of Charles Legh, Esq., without surviving
male issue, in 1781.
Afterwards the manors of Adlington, Butley, and Prestbury,
devolved on Thomas Crosse of Shaw Hill, Lancashire, through
the female descent, who assumed the name of Legh, and in
whose descendant, Charles Richard Banastre Legh, these estates
are now vested. Having now traced the territorial descent as
far as Ellen and John de Legh, I proceed to speak of the deriva-
tion of the family of Legh.
The Leghs derive their descent from Eudo, or Eules, the
Second of that name, earl of Blois, Byre, and Chartres, who was
slain in IO37 by Gozeled, duke of Lorraine, whose territory he
had invaded. He left issue Theobald, eldest son, Gilbert or
le Galliard, the younger son, and Alexia, a daughter.
Theobald succeeded to the honours and possessions of his
father, but, losing Tours to Geoffrey Martell, he died of grief in
IO47. His son, Stephen, subsequently recovered Tours; and his
grandson, Stephen, was king of England.
Gilbert, the younger son, assumed the name of Venables,
(venator abilis), and was the common ancestor of the Leghs.
He engaged with William duke of Normandy in his expedition
against England, and was knighted by the Conqueror on the
battlefield of Hastings. For his services there, and for many.
others afterwards against the forces of Edgar Atheling, and
against the Welsh, he had large possessions bestowed on him in
M
82 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Cheshire and elsewhere. In 20 William I. he appears to have been
one of the eight barons of Chester, under Hugh Lupus, the earl.
Gilbert was married before coming into England, and had a
son who succeeded to his lands in Tourraine; but his first wife
dying, he married again, after coming into England, Margery.
daughter of Waltheof, son of Wolfric lord of Hatton, by whom
he had issue William de Venables, who succeeded to the barony
of Kinderton, and Amabilla, who married Richard de Davenport.
To William de Venables Gilbert succeeded ; and to Gilbert
Sir William. To Sir William Sir Hugh succeeded ; and to Sir
Hugh Sir Roger. To Sir Roger Sir William succeeded. He
had two sons Sir Hugh de Venables, who succeeded him in the
barony of Kinderton, and William, to whom his father gave
Bradwell, near Sandbach, and with whom the present pedigree
of Legh is directly concerned.
William de Venables of Bradwell married, for his first wife,
Catherine daughter of Sir Piers Thornton, knight, by whom he
had issue one son, William de Venables, afterwards of Bradwell.
He next married Agnes, daughter and heiress of Richard de Legh
of the West Hall (then widow of Richard de Lymme, or Limm),
by whom he had issue John, who, as already said, was called
de Legh, and who became the first of Norbury Booths.
Agnes was entitled to a moiety of the manor of High Legh,
by descent from her father, Richard de Legh, and to several
other estates, all of which, with the exception of a farm in High
Legh, she either gave or suffered to descend to Thomas, her son
by the first marriage, from whom the Leghs of High Legh are
descended, as well as those of West Hall.
John de Legh (or Venables) and Ellen (de Corona) his wife
had four sons, viz.: John de Legh of Booths; Robert de Legh of
Adlington; William de Legh of Isall in Cumberland, from whom
descended Sir William Legh, bart, lord chief justice of England,
and the Leghs of Rowcliffe and Eggington ; and Peter de Legh
of Bechton, ſure uxoris, Agnes daughter and heiress of Philip de
Bechton. This latter had issue Margaret, who married Thomas
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 83
Fitton of Gawsworth ; and another daughter married to Thomas
Davenport of Henbury. They were co-heiresses, and shared
between them Bechton and the other paternal estates. It now
remains to continue the descent of the Leghs of Adlington.
Robert Legh, the first of Adlington, sat as justice in eyre at
Macclesfield, and was one of the king's stewards of the manor
and forest of Macclesfield. From deeds (£emes Legh) it seems
that he resided for the most part in Macclesfield, and he is often
described as Robert Legh of Macclesfield. He married, first,
Sibyll, daughter of Henry de Honford, or Handforth, and by her
had issue a son Robert, who succeeded him. For second wife he
married Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir Adam de Norley of
Northleigh-in-Pemberton, in the county of Lancaster. According
to an old A/S. pedigree (penes Wood) she was his second cousin,
and must have been very much his junior. By her he had issue
Peter, the first of Lyme, and John, the first of Ridge. He had
also several daughters, one of whom, by the first wife, married
William Radcliffe of Radcliffe, and another John Ashton of
Ashton-under-Lyne. Of the daughters by the second mar-
riage, one married Ralph Wilbraham of Wincham and Radnor,
ancestor of the Wilbrahams of Woodhey ; another married
Jeoffrey Holt; and a third Roger Hilton of the Park, in the
County of Lancaster.
In the early part of the reign of Edward III., John de Grey
held the fourth part of a fee in Adlington, of which Robert Legh
Subsequently became the tenant. (/Liber Rubeus.) According
to an early heraldic visitation, Robert Legh sealed with two bars
argent, and a bendlet gobonny or and gules. His son Robert,
during his father's life, differenced this coat with a label of three
points. Robert Legh, senior, died at Macclesfield in 1370.
Five years afterwards, i.e., 49 Faward III., Maud (Norley), his
widow, was indicted for forging a settlement of her husband's
estates in fraud of the heir, and in favour of her youngest son
John, as appears by the following (penes Legh of Lyme), and
which also forms part of the Cheshire Chamberlain's accounts:
84 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
49 Edward III. (1375.)
Indictment against Thomas le Par, and Maud, wife of Robert
Legh of Adlington:
“Also they say that when Adam de Kingsley was seized of
his lordship, as of fee, of all the lands and tenements with
appurtenances which Robert the son of John de Legh had in
Broome within Lyme, that is to say, of eight messuages, one
hundred and sixty acres of arable land, ten acres of pasture, and
four acres of moorland, by the gift and enfeofment of Robert
Legh, and which Adam Kingsley re-enfeoffed to Robert for the
remainder of his life; and that after his death all the lands,
tenements, and appurtenances should go to (q) Robert) Hugh
the son of the said Robert, and his heirs male ; and failing
him and them, to Peter his brother and his heirs male ; and
failing them to John the brother of Peter and his heirs male;
and failing these to Hamo the son of Robert, and his heirs male;
and failing them to Robert the son of Robert, and his heirs
male; and failing them to the right heirs of Robert the son of
John.
“Whereupon Thomas le Par, and Maud the wife of Robert
Legh of Adlington deceased, falsely and maliciously conspired
together, insomuch as the said Thomas Par fabricated a false
charter in the name of Adam de Kingsley, setting forth that
Adam de Kingsley gave and granted all the aforesaid lands and
tenements with appurtenances to Robert Legh and Matilda his
wife for their joint lives, and that after their deaths the lands,
&c., were to go to John their younger son and his heirs male,
thus disinheriting Peter and others contrary to the peace of the
realm, &c. Also that through this false charter Maud Legh had
unjustly retained possession of the above land for six years, after
her husband's death. Also that she had extorted two shillings
from William de Balywoole at Adlington, in 49 Edward III.”
The indictment is endorsed with the following names, viz.,
Robert de Legh, William de Hulme, Richard de Honford, John
the son of Robert Chorley, Robert de l'Downes, William le
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 85
Clerke de Knottesford, Robert de Newton, Robert de l'Shawe,
Richard Vernon of Lostock, Thomas de Pedeley, Richard de
l’Broome, Richard le Warde de Som'fort.
The issue of this indictment is uncertain, but it serves to show
conclusively that Maud Norley was the second wife of Robert
Legh, the first of Adlington, and that Peter Legh and John
Legh were her children, the first of whom settled at Lyme, and
the second at Ridge. Additional evidence in favour of this much-
disputed fact will be found in a “dispute,” shortly to be given,
which took place between Sir Robert Legh, the third of Adlington,
and the above-named Peter and John Legh, his kinsmen.
Robert Legh was succeeded by his son Robert Legh, who
married Maud, daughter of Sir John de Arderne of Alford,
knight, by whom he had one son and two daughters. Through
his marriage, lands in Hyde, Cliff, Hattersley, Romiley, and
Etchells, were added to the Legh possessions, and continued in
this family till the latter part of the 16th century, when Sir
Urian Legh gave a part of them away to his eldest daughter as
a marriage portion when she became the wife of Sir Henry Legh
of Rowcliffe and Eggington, whilst the remainder he sold, except
some lands in Stockport. Robert Legh inferentially held the same
offices in the manor and forest of Macclesfield as his father did be-
fore him. He died 6 Richard II., on the feast of St. Martin, and
was succeeded in the Adlington estates by Sir Robert Legh, who
was more than twenty years of age, as is shown by the post
morſem inquisition, by which same instrument it further appears
that he was born at Borterley Hey, and was baptized in Audley
church on the feast of St. Chad the bishop, on the second of
March, 35 Edward III., and that he held Adlington manor in
chief by knight's service. He married Anabella, daughter and
heiress of Thomas de Belgrave of Eccleston, near Chester, and
owner also of other estates in Little Belgrave, Mouldisdale,
March, and Northwall in Flintshire, and of Kelsall and Tiers-
worth in Cheshire, and in the city of Chester, all of which pos-
sessions remained in the family till the reformation, when, upon
86 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
the purchase of the inheritance of the manor and tithes of
Prestbury, a moiety of Belgrave manor, and a large part of the
other Belgrave possessions were sold to the Grosvenors, who
were instrumental in securing the inheritance of Prestbury to the
Leghs of Adlington.
In Io Richard II., 1386, a dispute arose between Sir Robert
Legh, and his kinsmen Peter and John Legh, of Lyme and
Ridge, which was settled as follows:
“This indenture witnesses that whereas a dispute has arisen
between Sir Robert Legh on the one part, and Piers de Legh,
and John his brother, on the other part, touching the manner in
which they should discharge their several offices in a certain part
within the Hundred of Macclesfield and the forest, it was agreed
and ordained by the intervention of the following mutual friends,
viz.: Sir Ralph de Vernon, Sir William de Legh, Sir John de
Ashton, Sir John de Hankeston, Thomas Davenport, William de
Hanlege, Robert de l’Downes, Reginald de Downes, Thomas
de Ashton, Ralph de Legh, and Thomas de Baggeleghe, that,
“Sir Robert de Legh shall hold his office of senechall of Mac-
clesfield and the forest, according to the tenor of the patent of
the earl of Stafford and of the king, without any molestation on
the part of either Piers or John. And that Piers de Legh and
John his brother, general attorneys of Lady Mohun, shall have
full power to have and to use all the things, charges, and pro-
visions, granted to them by the said Lady Mohun, according to
the tenor of the patent which they hold of Lady Mohun. Given
at Knutsford, in the Ioth year of Richard the Second.”
In the year previous to this dispute, Richard II. had granted
the royal manor, lordship, and hundred of Macclesfield to John
de Mohun :
“Rex concessit consanguineae suae Johé de Mohun pro vita
maner, domin, et hundred de Macclesfield in com. cest. cum
diversis libert. et prerogativis.”
In Io Richard II, on the first threatening of a French inva-
sion, Robert de Legh was engaged against the French. He was
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 87
twice sheriff of Cheshire in the reign of Richard II. In the 16th
year of the same reign he had a commission, jointly with Peter
Legh of Lyme, to arrest malefactors and disturbers of the peace
in Macclesfield Hundred. For many years he served the double
offices of king's stewart and chief forester of the forest of Mac-
clesfield, and was succeeded in them by Sir Perkin a Legh of
Lyme. In 21 Richard II., he was entitled Sir Robert Legh,
and had a grant of the Office of constable of Oswaldtree for life,
valued at IOl. Later on he took part against Richard II, and
joined Sir James Booth, and many other Cheshire gentlemen in
furthering the interests of Henry IV., whom he went to meet at
Shrewsbury, and whom he accompanied to Chester and Flint.
In the first year of the reign of Henry IV., the king confirmed to
him a grant of 40/, per annum, which had been made in the last
reign. In 4 Henry IV., Sir Robert Legh was appointed one of
the justices in eyre for the Hundred of Macclesfield. A further
annuity of 20/, per annum was granted him by Henry IV., in
the 6th year of his reign. In this same year, and upon the break-
ing out of the rebellion of the earl of Northumberland and Arch-
bishop of York, Sir Robert Legh received a summons from
Henry, Prince of Wales, as earl of Chester, to join him in person
at Warrington with one hundred defensible and honest bowmen
in good array for war, and go with him thence to meet the king
at Pomfret.
Three years later he died, having survived his father twenty-
five years. His post mortem inquisition, amongst the treasurer's
records at Chester, is as follows: 9 Henry IV. Sir Robert Legh
held the manors of Andford (Handforth) Aldreley, Upton, and
Adlington, in Cheshire, in chief by military service. Also the
manor of Echiels, of Lord Strange, as of his manor of Dunham
Massey; also the half of Belgrave, and certain lands in Eccleston
of Hugh Venables, in socage, by render of two shillings yearly.
(Wood's Ches/ire M.S.)
He quartered the coat of Belgrave, viz., a cross patée Sable on
a field argent, with the arms of Legh and Corona ; and for crest
88 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
had a unicorn's head sable, issuing out of a silver Coronet.
(Herald's visitation, temp. Edward IV.) He left four sons, viz.,
Robert, William, Reginald, and Piers.
Robert de Legh of Adlington succeeded his father in 1408.
He married Maud, or Matilda Belgrave (according to Mr. Wood's
Cheshire MS.) who survived him sixty-four years, and was re-
married to William Honford. In 18 Edward IV., “Matilda
late wife of William Handford, and mother of Robert Legh of
Adlington, died, leaving Robert Legh her son and heir then
aged 68 years.” *
Robert Legh, her first husband, died in 14 IO, leaving a son
five years of age, who is the person named as Maud's (Hand-
forth's) heir.
This Robert Legh of Adlington married, first, Isabel, daughter
of Sir John Savage of Clifton, by whom he had no issue. He
married, secondly, Isabel, daughter of Sir William Stanley of
Hooton, by a special dispensation from the Pope, because she
was of the blood of his first wife, being in the fourth degree
related to her. By this latter marriage came two sons and a
daughter.
In 1441 Robert Legh made the following exchange of lands,
and sealed the deed with a unicorn's head erased, not issuing out
of a coronet: -
“Know all men, &c., that I Robert Legh of Adlyngton have
given granted and confirmed to John Marshall, chaplain, and
Thomas Barlowe, their heirs and assigns, all my messuages
lands and tenements which Thomas Asthull lately occupied
in Fulshawe, and all those messuages lands and tenements
which Robert Duncalf lately held (ad firmam) in Mottram-
Andrewe, and all those messuages, &c., which Henry Chorley
lately farmed in Chorley, and also all those messuages lands
and tenements which Ralph Astbury lately farmed in Warford
in the county of Chester, in exchange for certain lands and
tenements called Lydgate and Whitehalgh in the county of
Derby, to have and to hold them in exchange. As witness, Sir
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 89
John Hondford, Christopher Davenport, Reginald Downes, Wil-
liam Clayton, John Shalcros, and others. Given on Monday the
next after the feast of St. Martin in winter, in the 20th year of
the reign of King Henry the 6th.” (Deed peries Trafford, copied
by Canon Raines.)
In 1448, 26 Henry VI., the manor and tithes of Prestbury,
which before had been leased to the Pigots of Butley, who had
been benefactors to the abbey of St. Werburg at Chester, were
demised to Robert Legh by the abbot, together with the Hey-
birches and Ewood, with appurtenances ; also the church of
Prestbury, with all the tithes, great and small, and all other
rights and appurtenances belonging to the church and manor,
except the vicar's endowment and the presentation to the church,
to hold the same for 39 years, under a yearly rent of IOO/. A
subsequent lease was made in 38 Henry VI., which expired in
1492, 8 Henry VII.
It was thus that the manor and tithes of Prestbury first came
to the Leghs of Adlington, and have since been enjoyed by
successive generations, the inheritance having been finally pur-
chased when the monastery was dissolved.
In 1447 Robert de Legh obtained a license from the bishop of
Lichfield and Coventry to keep a chaplain to perform mass,
&c., in any manor house belonging to the family within the
diocese, for a term of 30 years, to be without prejudice to the
curate of the place. Shortly afterwards a domestic chapel was
built at Adlington. -
In 9 Edward IV., the king, as earl of Chester, granted to
Robert de Legh liberty to enclose and make a park at Whitley
Hey and Adlington Wood, and Whitley Hey Green, so that he
might keep and hold the same to himself and heirs notwith-
standing that it was within the bounds of the royal forest of
Macclesfield. He also obtained a grant of free warren in all his
demesnes and woods, with court leet privileges, views of franc
pledge, &c., within Adlington manor, the vills and hamlets of
Stockport, Bollington, Hyde, and Rainow.
N
90 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Robert Legh died in 1478, and was succeeded by his son,
Robert de Legh, who married Ellen, daughter of Robert Booth
of Dunham Massey, by whom he had issue. He only survived
his father seven years, and dying in 1486 was succeeded by his
son, Thomas Legh, who was 35 years old at the time of his
father's death. He married Catherine, daughter of Sir John
Savage of Clifton, and sister of John Savage, the Archbishop of
York, who founded the chantry chapel at Macclesfield. Their
mother was Catherine, sister of Thomas first lord Derby.
In 15 Henry VII a quo warranto was brought against Thomas
de Legh to show by what authority he claimed to have a park at
Whitley Hey, and to hold courts leet. These liberties appear to
have been very generally challenged when Prince Arthur, as
eldest son of Henry VII., was earl of Chester. The burgesses of
Nantwich were summoned to show cause why they claimed like
privileges, and the punishment of butchers and fishmongers for
selling tainted meat and fish ; and John Warren was also sum-
moned to show cause why he claimed view of franc pledge within
his manor of Stockport, which otherwise belonged to the sword
and dignity of the Prince. Thomas Legh pleaded the grant
that was made to his grandfather by Edward IV., and upon
challenge of particulars replied that he claimed liberty to enclose
the lands already specified, and free warren in all his Cheshire
possessions, and views of franc pledge, with all liberties and
commodities which belonged to or in any way appertained to
the new view of franc pledge. He claimed the assize of bread
and ale; the punishing of scolds by the thew, or putting them
into the kokynstole (ducking stool); and to punish bakers and
brewers, after the third offence, by amercement; and after the
fourth offence to punish bakers by the judgment of the pillory,
and brewers by the judgment of the tumbrell; and to have all
amercements and fines for all trespasses and offences, and effu-
sions of blood, and affrayers presented within the leet, to be
assessed by the jury. To sum up, Thomas de Legh declared
that he made no claim other than had been granted to his
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 9 I
grandfather in the time of Edward IV., as earl of Chester. (Vide
Adlington M.S.)
No further proceedings were taken at Chester, and the courts
leet continued to be held twice a year. The park was, however,
disparked about the year 17 Io, as it was found to lay too far
away from the hall ; and another large tract of land, near to the
hall (which had formerly been imparked), was again converted
to the same use.
The extent of the possessions of the Leghs of Adlington, at
this time, may be judged of by the following grant to Sir Thomas
Gerard, Sir William Stanley, Sir William Pierpoint, Peter Dut-
ton, William Grosvenor, and many other gentlemen, of the manor
of Adlington, and all other of Mr. T. Legh's manors, messuages,
mills, salt works, lands, &c, &c., in Adlington, Prestbury, Stock-
port, Mottram-Andrew, Macclesfield, Bollington, Kettleshulme,
Rainow, Butley, Foxwist, Swyndells, Romiley, Hyde, Millington,
Legh, Northwich, Budworth, Kelsal, Tiersworth, Belgrave, and
Marsh, and Northwall in Flint, to hold of them and their heirs,
to perform his will.
One of the sons of Robert Legh, by name Reginald, was of
Mottram-St.-Andrew, and was the principal contributor towards
the building of Prestbury church tower, as his monumental
inscription testifies. He has, as I think, been confounded with
another Reginald Legh of Annesley, by Dr. Ormerod and by
Canon Raines. In the time of Edward IV. there were two
Reginald Leghs, cotemporaries, one of Annesley in Nottingham-
shire, and the other of Mottram-St.-Andrew within the parish of
Prestbury in Cheshire. In corroberation of this statement I
quote the following transcript of a deed copied into the Adlington
M.S.:
“Reginold Lege of Annesley Esquier and Ales his wief gives
and grantes all his landes in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire
unto the Lord Stanley, Henry Lord Greye, Reynold Leige of
Mottram-Andrew Esquier and Richard Legh Son of the said
Reynold Legh of Annesley. By deed dated at Annesley afore-
92 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
said in the feaste of the Annunciation of the blessed Marie the
Virgin anno regni Edwardi Quarti post conquestum Angliae Octo
decimo.”
I think that Reginald Legh of Annesley sprung from the
Leghs of Lyme. Thorsby, in his History of Nottinghamshire,
says that Reginald Legh was second husband of Alice, the
daughter and heiress of Annesley, and that, in a north window
in Annesley church there were in his time, amongst others, these
arms, viz., gules a cross engrailed argent, impaling Annesley.
The first coat is unquestionably that of Legh of Lyme, and if
Reginald, who married the heiress of Annesley, had sprung from
the Leghs of Adlington, he would not have taken the coat-armour
of Lyme. *
Reginald, the younger brother of Robert Legh of Adlington,
in 12 Edward IV., gave all his lands in Mottram-Andrew, Butley,
and Chorley, to his brother James de Legh. In the same year
James de Legh gave them to John de Hulme, John de Shall-
cross, and William le Fletcher Chaplain, and their heirs. These
lands eventually came back to the family in the first year of
Henry VII., by grant from Robert Hulme, as appears by family
deeds. Reginald Legh of Mottram-Andrew died in the 23rd
year of Edward IV., leaving issue Maude, an only daughter, who
married Nicholas de Berd of Berd, in Staffordshire. -
Thomas de Legh died in 1519, and was succeeded by his son,
George de Legh, who married Joan, a daughter of Peter Larke, a
gentleman of Huntingdonshire. She afterwards married a bro-
ther of George Paulet, marquis of Winchester. From an entry
made in the Adlington MS., it appears that Joan Larke was
one of three children of Peter Larke. “Peter Larke had issue
Thomas Larke, Jane, and Elizabeth Larke. Both of them dyed
in Ireland (i.e. Peter and his wife). Jane Larke married George
Leyghe of Adlington, and by him had issue one sonne and three
daughters, that is to saye, Thomas Leyghe father unto Thomas
now living, with Isabell, Margarett and Marye.”
I have been the more particular in quoting this record because
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 93
it has been said in Fiddes' Life of Cardinal Wosley that Jane
Larke was the cardinal's natural daughter. This story has been
repeated in later works, but it would seem to have no stronger
foundation than the malice with which Wolsey was persecuted
towards the period of his fall.
In the first place Jane was one of a family of three children,
she being the second child born to Peter Larke. In the next
place the marriages she contracted go far to disprove any such
allegation. Furthermore, Wolsey's enemies did not dare to press
the inquiry to a legitimate issue. Then again, the lease of the
manor and tithes of Prestbury had been so long in the Legh
family that a renewal of both to them would appear quite a
matter of course. It is probable that Sir John Stanley, who was
a natural son of the bishop of Ely, who was himself an eccle-
siastic and warden of Manchester, and who had married Margaret
the heiress of the Handforths of Handforth, and who was hence
a near neighbour of the Leghs of Adlington, endeavoured to
obtain this particular lease from the abbot and convent of St.
Werburg. It seems certain that a dispute arose between these
two neighbouring families respecting the renewal of the Prest-
bury lease, and that Sir John Stanley's claim was espoused by
the bishop of Ely, his father, and favoured by the conventual
authorities, who enabled him to obtain it for a brief period.
It is also certain that Wolsey was a friend of the Larkes, and
that the cardinal's influence was obtained by the Leghs to wring
from Sir John Stanley the privilege he had secured.
In the thirty-eighth article of impeachment it was stated that
Wolsey “by his power and might committed Sir John Stanley to
the Fleet until he compelled him to relinquish a convent seal he
had taken of the abbot and convent of Chester, unto one Legh
of Adlington.” It required a twelve month's incarceration before
Sir John Stanley was induced to give up the lease. The measure
was a high-handed one on both sides, and the battle seems in
reality to have been fought between the powerful bishop of Ely
On the one hand, and the yet more powerful cardinal on the
94 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
other. Favouritism was undoubtedly shown on either side; and
yet the cardinal acted the more worthy part in the strife, seeing
that he battled for the family which had enjoyed the privilege
for years before he (the cardinal) was born. -
A further proof of the friendship borne by cardinal Wolsey to
the family of Larke is made manifest from the fact that, circa
I 52 I, Jane's brother, Thomas Larke, was instituted by him to the
rich living of Winwick, in Lancashire, and was entrusted with
the education of the future earl of Derby. For a more ample
account of Sir John Stanley, and of his father, reference may be
made to Mr. Beamont's AWotes on the Lancashire Stanley's, zwith
particular reference to Sir John Stanley of Honford, published in
1869.
The mutilated arms of Sir John Stanley, impaling Handforth,
with the equally mutilated motto “vanitas vanitatum,” are yet to
be seen in the Brereton chantry of Cheadle church, in Cheshire.
George Legh died in 1529, and was succeeded by his son,
Thomas Legh, who married Mary, daughter of Richard Grosvenor
of Eaton, Esquire, and by her had an only child, Thomas, who
was yet in his inſancy when his father died in 3 Edward VI.
Thomas Legh, or, as he was more frequently styled, Dr. Legh,
took an active part in the religious movements that were insti-
tuted by Henry VIII. He seems to have convinced himself
very early of the thorough rottenness of the monastic system in
England, and to have set to work for its amendment, or suppres-
Sion, with a zeal, ability, and thoroughness unsurpassed by any
of his brother commissioners. His letters, which have been pre-
served amongst the Hardwicke state papers, and which have
been recently printed by Mr. Thomas Wright in one of the
Camden Society's publications, show conclusively that the do-
mestic habits and practices of the more affluent lay families
reflected but too truly the religious teachings and example of
their spiritual advisers. Few counties were left unvisited by
him. Now he writes from his native county of Cheshire; then
he is found in Wiltshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertford-
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 95
shire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire. To Sir Thomas Cromwell
he reports with an unsparing pen all that he finds lacking in
learning, religion, probity, and morality. Fountain's abbey, in
Yorkshire, is held up as a hotbed of contumacy and profligacy.
He calls the abbot a very fool, a miserable idiot, a keeper of six
whores, a man so devoid of common honesty as to make a
Systematic practice of selling the convent plate and jewels
privately, and for his own particular gain. Sometimes Dr. Legh
prosecuted his labours single-handed ; at others he travelled in
the company of Dr. Laton, a fellow commissioner and a priest ;
and at others his name is associated with those of three or more
Commissioners.
It was a common practice with Dr. Legh to confine the monks
within the precincts of their several houses. In this respect he
seems to have been a more rigid disciplinarian than others who
were engaged in the same Commission. Nevertheless he acted
with so much honesty and impartiality that Sir Thomas Audley,
who was by no means his especial admirer, was constrained to
say, whilst writing to Cromwell, that “he (Dr. Legh) suith
(beareth) himself right indifferently in the execution of his
charge.”
It is a noteworthy and a highly honourable circumstance, that
the allied houses of Adlington and Lyme sent forth, at this
critical juncture, two such worthy Scions of a common stock in
the persons of Thomas Legh of Adlington and Sir Peter Legh
of Lyme. In the one was found a man erudite, courageous,
active, indefatigable, of strong convictions, and, in practice, a
very “malleus monachorum,” who left no stone unturned whereby
he hoped to root out and utterly destroy what he conscientiously
believed to be a corrupt and a corrupting system of life and
teaching. That he was mated to a wife in every respect worthy
of him and of the house of Grosvenor from which she sprang, the
house of Egerton will willingly testify.
Sir Peter Legh of Lyme was a doughty warrior who earned
laurels at Leith, who was provost marshal of Cheshire and Lan-
96 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
cashire, who twice served as sheriff in each county, who was
deputy stewart of Macclesfield Hundred, in which capacity he
represented the earl of Derby on the trial of the Martyr Marsh,
and who, when too old to bear arms any longer, sent the Sinews
of war in the shape of a money contribution towards driving away
from England the Spaniards, when they swooped down on
Queen Elizabeth in particular, and upon the champions of the
reformation in general.
One of Thomas Legh's letters to Thomas Cromwell, lord privy
seal, dated 22nd August 1536, and written from Vale Royal
monastery, is too interesting and too characteristic to be omitted:
“In my most humble manner I commend me unto your good
lordship evermore thanking you for your munificency and
great goodness at all times showed unto me. Advertising your
lordship that whereas I have hitherto according to your com-
mandment visited the Archdeaconries of Coventry, Stafford,
Derby, and part of Cheshire, for that I can perceive, accordingly
as I have before written unto you, there lacketh nothing but
good and godly instruction of the rude and poor people, and
reformation of the heads in these parts. For, certain of the
knights and gentlemen, and most commonly all, liveth so incon-
tinently, having their concubines openly in their houses, with
five or six of their children, and putting from them their wives,
that all the country therewith be not a little offended and taketh
evil example of them. Wherefore I have hitherto given and
sent commandment to them (by reason I could not speak with
them all by reason they were at the assizes) to put from them
immediately such concubines as they have hitherto notoriously
and manifestly occupied and kept, and to take again their wives,
or else appear before your Lordship to show a cause why they
should not be compelled ; and if your Lordship will command
any other thing to be done in the premises I shall be ready to
accomplish the same. And seeing my Lord of Norfolk is come to
the Court, I shall most humbly desire you to have me in remem-
brance. And thus God preserve you, and have you in his most
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 97
firm tuition, with much increase of honour according to the con-
tentation of your Lordship's most noble good heart's desire.
“From the monastery of Vale Royal, the 22d of August,
Your Lordship's humble at commandment, Thomas Leigh.”
By a reference to the survey of the monastery of St. Werburg
after the dissolution, it appears that the manors of Huntyngdon
and Cheveley, with appurtenances, were let to Dr. Thomas Lee
by an indenture bearing date October 18, in the 30th year of
Henry VIII., for a term of 99 years,
Thomas Legh sold lands in Bishire, in the county of Flint,
and in the lordship of Molesdale, to his brother-in-law Richard
Grosvenor, who afterwards conveyed them, in trust, to Sir Urian
Brereton and John Wynne, by will dated 22 Elizabeth. (Pic-
cope's Ches/sire Wills.) He died in the 3rd year of the reign of
Edward VI. His widow afterwards married Sir Richard Egerton
knight, whose natural son Thomas she carefully educated, and
always treated with much care and kindness. As is well known,
he studied law, was raised to the rank of lord keeper of the seal,
and became the founder of the family of Egerton of Ellesmere,
and Dukes of Bridgewater. By Sir Richard Egerton she had a
son named Ralph, and other children. She died at Astbury, in
Cheshire, in the church of which place her remains lie buried
beneath an altar tomb, which bears her recumbent effigy, habited
in the costume of the period, and coloured. The lettering is now
effaced, but three shields of arms remain which represent first,
Legh of Adlington impaling Brereton of Handforth ; second,
Egerton impaling Holford, and Dutton, placed palewise on the
sinister half of the shield, and representing Ralph Egerton and
his two wives; and third, Brereton of Tatton, impaling on the
sinister half Legh of Lyme and Egerton, and representing the
armorial device of Dorothy, daughter of Sir Richard Egerton,
and her two husbands. (See illustration, p. 80.)
During the joint lives of Sir Richard Egerton and Mary his
wife (late wife of Thomas Legh deceased) a survey was made of
the lands, tenements, rents, services and hereditaments in Stock-
O
98 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
port, which they held in right of Mary Egerton's jointure, and
which, after her death, were declared to be part and parcel of the
inheritance of Thomas Legh of Adlington, son and heir of his
father deceased. The survey was made on the 2nd, 8th, 9th, and
Ioth days of October, in 199 Elizabeth, 1577. It is of interest as
showing not only what these possessions consisted in, but also as
giving a good idea of what Stockport was at this particular time.
Two mansion houses of the Leghs of Adlington are enumerated.
One was an old ruinous house of four bays, gone to decay. The
other mansion house had also four bays, with outbuildings,
standing by the side of Turncroft lane. Then there was a
cottage in a field called the Underbank, and other houses in a
row, standing in Milnegate street, with gardens at their backs.
Other lands called Barnes Carr were held by the lords of
Adlington in free socage, and by payment of a yearly rent of
two shillings and fourpence at the feast of St. Martin the bishop,
in winter. In all there were about forty separate holdings vary-
ing from four to six acres, and so on, to a few roods each. The
extent of the entire holdings, exclusive of manor-houses, amounted
to about fifty acres, with tenements attached.
Dorothy Legh lies buried in Eccles church, Lancashire. She
married, first, Richard Brereton of Tatton and Worsley, and,
second, Sir Peter Legh of Lyme. By her will, dated 1639, she
desired to be buried in the tomb at Eccles which she had made
for her former husband and herself to lie in. To her godson,
Mr. Thomas Legh of Adlington, she bequeathed three “spurrer-
alls” to make him a ring.
Thomas Legh, who succeeded, married Sibil, daughter of Urian
Brereton of Handforth. He had a long minority, during a part
of which the manor and tithes of Prestbury were purchased in
the names of Sir Richard and Sir John Grosvenor, in trust.
After the dissolution of the monastery, Henry VIII. granted to
the dean and chapter of Chester cathedral (founded for the most
part out of the monastic revenues) the manor and church of
Prestbury, which they in turn (7 Edward VI) granted to Sir
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. 99
Richard Cotton of Werblington for ever. Sir Richard Cotton
re-granted them to the brothers of Mary Legh, viz., to Sir
Richard and to Sir John Grosvenor, they having purchased a
reversionary lease from Urian Brereton and one Broughton
before the inheritance was conveyed to them by Sir Richard
Cotton. But the grant from the dean and chapter of Chester to
Sir Richard Cotton having been complained of as informal and
void, an information was exhibited in the exchequer at West-
minster in 19° Elizabeth, against the feoffees of Sir Richard
Cotton for intruding into the queen's lands. The matter was
referred to several lords and others of the privy council, who
ordered the rents to be reserved and that the chapter should
take a grant of them from the crown. In 21° Elizabeth the
feoffees surrendered the lands to the queen, and, on the 19th of
December following, the queen re-granted the manor, advowson,
and tithes of Prestbury (together with other estates that had
belonged to the monastery of St. Werburg) to George Calveley,
George Cotton, Hugh Cholmondely, Thomas Legh, Henry
Mainwaring, John Nuttall, and Richard Hurleston, and their heirs.
On the 1st of October in 289 Elizabeth, all the other grantees
except Calveley (who was dead) re-leased the manor, advowson,
and tithes of Prestbury to Thomas Legh and his heirs, subject
to a rent of 95/. I 3s. 4d, payable to the dean and chapter of
Chester. (Records penes Legh.) -
Thomas Legh, the next in succession, married Sibill, daughter
of Sir Urian Brereton and Margery Hondford, who was the
daughter and heiress of William Honford of Hondford, or
Handforth. He rebuilt the hall of Adlington in 23 Elizabeth,
as the raised letter inscription over the doorway shows.
He was possessed of salt works at Northwich, as appears by
entries made in the Harleian M.S. and elsewhere, which were
collected and arranged by the late Mr. Hadfield of Alsager. In
“I 565 (7 Elizabeth) Thomas Legh of Adlington held one wich
house, with four leads (or evaporating pans); and other works,
amounting in all to twelve leads, some of which Thomas Stanley
IOO THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
of Alderley took from him.” For this a yearly rent of two
shillings was paid to the lord of the manor. These and other
works were held by Sir Urian Legh, after his father's death.
Thomas Legh was sheriff of Cheshire in 30° Elizabeth. By
a clause in the will of dame Mary Egerton, the mother of
Thomas Legh, it appears that he, and Sibyl his wife, conveyed
the manor of Prestbury, and all messuages, tithes, &c., to the use
of dame Mary, for a period of sixty years, if she should live so
long, and afterwards to the use of Thomas Legh and his heirs,
with power, for twenty-one years after her death, to demise the
tithes, &c., to whom she would. She also gave to her son,
Rauffe Egerton (then lord keeper) the reversion of a messuage in
Prestbury, at that time held by Lawrence Hyde, who is styled
his servant. (See Piccope's Cheshire Wills.)
Thomas Legh having survived his father fifty years, died 45°
Elizabeth, 1602, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Urian Legh, who
married Margaret, daughter of Sir Edmund Trafford of Trafford,
knight, in 1592. In 1596 he joined the earl of Essex in the
expedition fitted out by Elizabeth against the Spaniards, and,
having taken a leading part in the siege of Cadiz, received the
honour of knighthood on the field, at the hands of the earl of
Essex. His portrait is preserved at Adlington, and is that of a
man with good and regular features, and highly-arched eye-
brows, apparently about forty-five years of age. Around his
neck he wears a long and heavy chain composed of six rows of
gold links, after the manner of a string of pearls. On one side
of the picture is his coat of arms of six quarters, viz.: Venables,
Legh of Adlington, Trafford of Trafford (argent, a griffon gules),
Belgrave, and two others. On the other the following inscrip-
tion : “Sir Urian Legh of Adlington in the county of Cheshire
Knight who went with Robert Devereux Earl of Essex to the
seige of Cadiz and was by him knighted in the field for his great
services in taking that Town in I596. He married Margaret daugh-
ter of Sir Edmund Trafford of Trafford in the county of Lancaster
Knight by whom he had four sons and three daughters.”
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. IOI
Sir Urian Legh has always been accounted by the Leghs of
Adlington to be the hero of the beautiful ballad of “The Spanish
lady's love,” although Dr. Percy, in his introductory remarks to this
ballad in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, assigns it to either
a member of the Popham family, or to Sir Richard Levison of
Trentham, in Staffordshire. The Leghs, on the other hand, not
only adduce as evidence of identity the family tradition, but
until recently could produce the chain, which used formerly to
be preserved in a casket as an heirloom at Adlington, and which
was removed to Shaw Hill, Lancashire, shortly after the Adling-
ton estate descended by inheritance to Richard Crosse of Shaw
Hill, in Lancashire. The statement made by Dr. Ormerod
to the effect that the original portrait of Sir Urian Legh is to be
found at Bramhall is erroneus. The portrait in question is of
later date, and represents Colonel Thomas Legh, son of Sir
Urian, who was so distinguished a partisan of the royal cause
during the Civil war. Its preservation at Bramhall is accounted
for by the marriage of Anne Legh, daughter of Col. Thomas
Legh, with Peter Davenport of Bramhall.
Sir Urian Legh sold the moiety of the manor of Hyde, and
all his lands in Hyde, and gave three estates in Hattersley and
Cliffe, and all his estates in Stockport except Croft and the
several burgages and tenements thereto adjoinging, to Sir Henry
Legh of Rowcliffe, in marriage with his eldest daughter.
Lum, in Hyde, now a farm house, was formerly a manorial
residence of the Leghs of Adlington. In 1609 Sir Urian Legh
purchased Foxwist, in Butley, from William Duncalf, whose
ancestors had been settled there for generations, and were per-
sons of good account. Foxwist came to the Duncalfs through
the marriage of the daughter and heiress of William Foxwist
with one of the Duncalfs. In the Ad/ington MS. it is stated
that Robert Foxwist was heir to a local family named Hoghlegh
of Hoghlegh, formerly enjoying one of the subordinate forester-
ships of Macclesfield. Nothing of Foxwist now remains except
a small part of a very strong foundation, and the outlines of a
I O2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
double moat within which the house was intrenched. The inner
moat was drained off about the year 1846. The names of Hugh
de Foxwist, and of Urian de Foxwist, are attached to 13th
century deeds relating to Wilmslow, penes Trafford. The same
deeds show that Robert de l'Downes was of Foxwist, for one
year. (Canon Raines's extracts.)
Sir Urian Legh served the office of sheriff of Cheshire in II”
James I. He died in 1627, and was succeeded by his son,
Thomas Legh, who married Ann, one of the daughters and
co-heiresses of John Gobard, or Gobarte, Esquire, of Boresworth
in Leicestershire, and sometime of Coventry." He was of French
extraction, and his ancestors were persons of great command and
possessions in France. John Gobarte had several estates in
Leicestershire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, London, and
Ireland. Peter Gobarte, who first settled in England, was in the
service of Henry VIII. They bore for arms or, a bend between
six martlets, three and three, gules. Besides the fortune that
his daughter received in marriage with Thomas Legh, he pre-
sented them with Clumber, in Nottinghamshire, and, by his will
dated 1623, he gave the lands he held in the parish of Prestbury
to his daughter for her life, with remainder to her eldest Son
Thomas for ever. He further gave estates in South Killworth,
Leicestershire, to his grandchildren, Charles, John, and Peter
Legh, and money legacies to others. Clumber formed part of
the royal manor of Mansfield, and forest of Sherwood. It
appears to have been sequestrated from the Leghs during the
Civil war, and never restored. It was a rather wild piece of
woodland and heath at this time, and remained so till John
Holles, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Henry
Cavendish, the last duke of Newcastle of that name, received a
royal license from Queen Anne, in 1707, to empark his own
* Boresworth, now called Bosworth or Husband Bosworth, to distinguish it from
the Bosworth of historic notoriety, is situate in the Hundred of Gartrey, on the
Northamptonshire border of the county.
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. IO3
3,OOO acres of “land of inheritance” at Clumber, for the Queen's
use first and afterwards for his own.
Thomas Legh served the office of sheriff of his county twice
during the reign of Charles I. Upon the breaking out of the
Civil wars he engaged very strenuously on the king's part, and
had a colonel's commission. All the male members of his
family were actively employed in the same cause. His eldest
Son Thomas was a lieutenant-colonel, whilst the younger sons,
and uncle Urian, were all included in the royalists' ranks. His
zeal made him so obnoxious to the Parliament party that, when
the treaty of Uxbridge was set on foot in in 1644, it was insisted
(amongst other things delivered to his majesty by the commis-
Sioners) that Colonel Legh, with about forty-seven more (of
which number Lord Cholmondely and Sir Thomas Aston formed
part) should be removed from the king's council and restrained
from coming within the verge of the court, and debarred from
bearing any office or employment concerning the state ; and
that, if they offended therein, they were to be considered guilty
of high treason, and incapable of the king's pardon, and their
estates disposed of as the Parliament should think fit. But,
before this time, the Parliament had seized all Colonel Legh's
estates, Sir William Brereton, his near relative, having entered
thereon, by an order of both houses dated March 18, 1643, for
Satisfaction of damages he alleged to have suffered by pretending
that Mr. Legh had seized his lands.
Adlington hall, which was garrisoned for the king's party, was
afterwards taken by storm and plundered by the Parliament
forces. Soon after it was retaken and garrisoned for the king a
second time. Colonel Legh, leaving his house in charge of his
son, now went to the garrison at Chester, where he died towards
Christmas, 1644. To continue the narrative after Colonel Legh's
death, Adlington hall was taken a second time by the Parliament
forces, and retained by them as a garrison for a lengthened
period. At the time of his death Colonel Legh had ten children,
viz., four Sons, and six daughters. His portrait is preserved at
IO4 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Adlington. He is dressed in the costume of the time of Charles I,
and holds in his hand a baton of command. In one corner of
the canvas the following is written : “Ano. xpi. 1632, aet. Suae
39.” His widow survived him, and resided at the Milne house,
which was formerly the Dower house. In 1645 she preferred a
petition to the committee for compounding with delinquents, at
Goldsmiths' hall, setting forth that her late husband was entitled
to a great real and personal estate, but that the greater part
thereof had been seized for his delinquency and converted to the
use of the Parliament; that there was some part of his personalty
unconverted to the public use; that he died indebted more than
the remains of his personalty would pay; that he had made her
sole executrix of his will ; that she had long before her husband's
death misliked the course of the enemy in the parts where she
resided, and had departed thence into the Parliament's quarters,
where she had ever since remained and conformed herself to all
the orders of Parliament. She therefore prayed that she might
be admitted to compound for the remainder of her husband's
personal estate, according to the the value of the tenth part
thereof.
Upon this allegation, which appears to have been made bond
fide, and through the interest of Sir Alexander Rigby, her
brother-in-law, who was a member of the House of Commons
and in the Parliament interest, she compounded for rather more
than 600l.
She afterwards married Alexander Rigby, a Parliamentarian
colonel, and after his death she was united in marriage, for the
third time, to Sir John Booth of Woodford, a descendant of the
Booths of Dunham Massey. Her portrait is preserved at Adling-
ton, painted by Walker Robert in 1650.
In the printed catalogue of royalist Cheshire gentlemen and
others who compounded for their estates (vide Ormerod's Hist.
Cheshire, vol. i. pp. 38–9) the following names occur as connected
with the Adlington possessions:
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. IO5
A s. d.
Ann, widow of Thomas Legh ............... 603 7 8
Thomas Legh, her son ........................ IO4O O O
John Legh (who was killed) .................. 6o O O
George Watts of Adlington .................. 44O O O
Dorothy Shirt (Sherd) do. .................. 3O O O
Thomas Pickford do. .................. I6 I5 O
Thomas Pigott of Butley (Bonishall) ...... 3O O O
Total.................. :6222O 2 8
Thomas Legh succeeded, and married Mary, daughter of
Thomas Bolles of Osbanton, Nottinghamshire, by dame Mary
Bolles, a baronetess, and one of the daughters of William Wilham
of Leadstone hall, Yorkshire. During his father's life-time he
had distinguished himself as a royalist soldier, and in 1643,
having had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by the Par-
liament forces at Stafford, he was placed in confinement at
Coventry, where he remained two years, until exchanged for his
kinsman Colonel Rigby in June, 1645.
In April, 1644, the committee for sequestrations, on the peti-
tion of Thomas Legh's wife, ordered that she should have the
Miln house with the grounds belonging to it, also the demesne
of Foxwist, and the mill at Prestbury, for the maintenance of
herself and children.” But, it afterwards appearing that these
allotments were in jointure to her husband's mother, she peti-
tioned Sir William Brereton and the council of war at Nantwich,
and the committees for sequestration, that they would please to
assign the hall of Adlington for her to live in, and a competent
part of the residue of the estate which should belong to her
husband, for the maintenance of herself and children ; also that
Some consideration therein should be had for the relief of her
* The manorial mill stood behind the village of Prestbury, near to where a factory
has been built for silk spinning.
P
IO6 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
husband. This petition was subscribed by Sir William Brereton,
who desired the sequestrators to consider and report what was
warrantable and fit to be done; but, as to Adlington hall, as it
had been garrisoned twice against the Parliament, he could not
judge it fit to be ventured a third time.
The committee afterwards, in 1645, upon consideration of the
articles of marriage between Thomas Legh and the Lady Mary
Bolles, allotted her a small part of the lands which should have
descended to her husband. ---
In 1646, in the proposition of both houses sent to the king at
Newcastle, Thomas Legh, with about fifty more of his party,
was excepted ; and, amongst other things, it was insisted that
one full third part of the extehded value of their estates should
be employed in payment of the public debts and damages of the
nation.
In June of this same year Mrs. Legh again petitioned the
sequestrators on behalf of her husband, begging that he might
be admitted to compound for his estates, and alleging that, since
his exchange, he had forbore to repair to the enemy's quarters;
and setting forth the miseries she and her children endured,
being destitute of livelihood unless relieved.
Mr. Legh likewise petitioned the committee at Goldsmiths'
hall for liberty to compound for his estates, and delinquency,
upon which petition a charge of delinquency was exhibited
against him, viz.:
I. That he led a company of musquetiers into Adlington hall
when it was first garrisoned against the Parliament, and brought
some who were well affected to the Parliament prisoners into the
garrison and kept them there till they compounded with him.
2. That he bore arms in that garrison ; was governor of it;
and gave directions to the inferior commanders therein.
3. That he refused to deliver up the said house to Colonel
Duckenfield for the use of the Parliament.
4. That he went from that garrison to Shrewsbury, thence to
Chester, and thence to other garrisons of the enemy, and that
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. IO7
he associated himself and held intercourse of intelligence against
the Parliament with them.
He was admitted to compound for his estates, and, having
paid and secured 2,260/. to the treasurers for the money to be
raised upon composition with the delinquents, he obtained a
discharge in July, 1646. Afterwards, in 1647, he sued out a
pardon under the great seal for himself and three brothers, who
also had to compound. Notwithstanding all this, the commis-
sioners, in November, 1648, ordered him to settle the tithes of
Bosley, valued at 56/, a year, upon the minister of Bosley and
his successors for ever, for which he was to be allowed 560/. out
of the remainder of his fine. In the same year he was assessed
to the twentieh part of his estate by the committee of Lords
and Commons for advance of money, and so paid 22O/, more in
pursuance of that order. He was afterwards called upon to give
in a particular of his real and personal estate, and in February,
I655, he gave in such account to Major-General Worsley and
the commissioners for securing the peace of the county, at
Middlewich.
In November, 1656, his estate being again decimated, and he
secured, he preferred a petition to Cromwell alleging that he
had behaved peaceably under the present government, and
praying that he might no longer be looked upon as an enemy,
but might partake of the Protector's grace and favour for taking
off the tax. The petition was referred to the major-general
and commissioners for securing the peace of the county, who, in
January following, certified that since his composition Thomas
Legh had behaved peaceably and respectably to the Parliament
party, soldiers, and friends, and had been concerned in no plots
against the Protector or Parliament, to their knowledge, and
had constantly paid all taxes for the use of the Commonwealth,
and sent forth such forces, both horse and foot, for the service of
the late Parliament as required, and did offer his personal
assistance for them at the battle of Worcester, and that they
conceived him to be a person capable of favour. After this, no
IO8 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
further molestation was offered, and Mr. Legh was suffered to
live quietly till the restoration. (Records penes Legh.) No
family in the county suffered more than this one during the civil
war, and to none was less recompense made.
In 1662, i.e., in the third year following the restoration, Mr.
Legh was made a colonel of militia, and also served the office of
sheriff for the county. A noble picture of Colonel Legh and his
wife, on one broad sheet of canvas, is preserved in the dining
room of Adlington. Both are drawn at full length. He is a
tall and powerful man with dark hair and complexion, and
habited in a doublet with slashed sleeves ; she in a turned down
tippet, and point lace cuffs to a jacket over a flounced dress.
Both dresses are very characteristic of the latter end of the
Commonwealth period. In 1687 he died, and was succeeded by
his eldest son Thomas Legh, who married in 1666 Johanna, one
of the daughters of Sir John Maynard, knight, sergeant-at-law,
a commissioner of the great seal, and one of the greatest lawyers
of his day. Soon after the revolution which seated William III.
on the English throne, the king in audience observed to him (he
being then more than 80 years of age) that he had outlived
most of his cotemporaries of the law, whereupon Sir John replied
that, until the happy event of the king's advent, he was afraid he
should have outlived the law itself.
In 1669 Thomas Legh purchased the hall, demesne, and mills
of Handforth from Sir Thomas Brereton of Handforth, baronet.
In 1681 he further purchased the demesne and estate of Newton
from John Bennison. Like his father and grandfather, Mr.
Thomas Legh fell into trouble through the cabals of his day, for
his name is included in the list of those who were supposed to
favour Monmouth's rebellion in 1683, and against whom it was
deemed expedient to demand security of the peace. (Ormerod.)
He was a colonel of militia, and appears to have outlived
any political suspicion, for he was made sheriff of the county
in I688. -
He died shortly afterwards, and was succeeded by his son
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. IO9
john Legſ, who married the right honourable lady Isabella,
daughter of Robert Robartes, Lord Bodmyn (whose widow,
Sarah Bodville, was created countess of Radnor by Charles II.,
and was granddaughter of the first earl of Radnor, who was
president of the council and lord-lieutenant of Ireland in the
reign of Charles II.), and had issue one son and two daughters.
In 1693 John Legh purchased an estate in Adlington called
“Sherdfold,” from William Sherd ; and another at Hope Green,
from Edward Downes, in the year 1696. In 1699 he further
purchased “Day's tenement,” in Prestbury. He was a colonel
of militia, and sheriff of the county in 1705.
The sale of Sherd fold must have proved a sad blow to the
family of Sherd, which had been settled as free tenants on
Adlington for generations. William Sherd, the last of Sherd
and Disley, had fought side by side with John Legh's father
during the civil wars. His widow Dorothy, as already shown,
had to compound for her husband's delinquency; and this,
added to the exhausting effects of the strife, had doubtless
proved too much for the family to bear. In Dr. Ormerod's
Cheshire four generations are recorded, as is also the additional
fact that the Sherds were subordinate foresters of Macclesfield.
The names of Richard and John de Scherd are appended to
I3th century deeds.
John Legh died in 1739, and was succeeded by his son
Charles Legh, who married, in 1733, Hester, daughter and
finally co-heiress of Robert Lee of Wincham, by whom he had
one son, Thomas, who died in his father's, lifetime, and two
daughters, one of whom, Lucy Frances, was married to Peter
Davenport.
Charles Legh was a colonel of militia, and served the office of
sheriff for Cheshire in 1747. He built the brick front of Adlington
hall, the left wing and chapel, and in many other respects added
to and adorned the mansion, park, and grounds. He also rebuilt
the north aisle of Prestbury church. He was a friend of Handel,
who composed the “Musical Blacksmith" whilst on a visit to
I IO THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Adlington. Mr. Legh had asked for an original composition
whilst the two were out walking. The request was made when
they were near to Hollingworth Smithy, and whilst they walked
home through the park Handel whistled the tune and afterwards
wrote it down. The whole originated in the natural music made
by the smiths whilst plying their trade. Handel also left behind
the music of a hunting song, the words of which were composed
by Mr. Legh, and which is yet preserved in the family.
Charles Legh always claimed to bear the arms of Venables,
without any mark of decadence, on the ground that all other
male descendants of Gilbert de Venables, first baron of Kinderton,
were dead, though it is needless to say that this claim has been
disallowed. His son Thomas married Mary, daughter of Francis
Reynolds of Strangeways, Manchester, by Elizabeth, one of the
daughters of Matthew, lord Ducie. By her he had several chil-
dren, none of whom arrived at maturity, and all of whom pre-
deceased their father, who himself died when forty years old.
His ſull length portrait as a minor, habited in a drab suit, hangs
in the drawing room at Adlington. His father's has been
removed to Shaw Hill, as also another of himself. There being
now no direct surviving issue, Hester Legh willed Wincham to
the family of Townsend. Charles Legh settled Adlington, with
its dependencies, on his niece Elizabeth, and her heirs male.
She was the daughter of Sir Peter and Lucy Frances (Legh)
Davenport, and was married to John Rowlls of Kingston, in
Surrey, receiver-general of that county, and who assumed the
name of Legh upon the death of Charles Legh, which happened
in 1781. Her portrait, by Angelica Kaufman, is at Adlington.
John Rowlls Legh and Elizabeth his wife had three sons and
a daughter, Elizabeth Hester. Two of the sons died unmarried.
The third son married Harriet, daughter of Sir Piers Warburton
of Arley, baronet, and by her had a son, Charles, who died in
1797 when fifteen years old. His father died in the lifetime of his
mother, Elizabeth Rowlls Legh. The daughter, Elizabeth Hester
Rowlls Legh, married, in 1800, Thomas Delves Broughton of
ADLINGTON, AND LEGH OF ADLINGTON. I I I
Ham Common, and by him had a numerous family, to whom
Butley hall and some lands adjacent were alienated.
The male descent having once more failed in the person of
John Rowlls Legh, the manor and dependencies of Adlington
passed to Richard Crosse of Shaw Hill, near Preston, Lanca–
shire, as next of kin. He was great grandson of Robert, second
brother of John Legh, the 15th in direct descent, of Adlington,
who married the lady Isabella Robartes.
Robert Legh was settled at Chorley, in Lancashire, and mar-
ried Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Standish of Duxbury,
by whom he had, inter alia, Ann, married to Richard Crosse of
Crosse hall, Lancashire. By this last marriage came two Sons,
Thomas and Legh Crosse. Thomas was married to Mrs. Pedder,
and was the father of Richard Crosse, on whom the Adlington
possessions devolved. By royal sign manual he assumed the
name and arms of Legh, and became known afterwards as
Richard Crosse Legh of Adlington in Cheshire, and Shaw Hill
in Lancashire. (Portrait at Adlington.)
He married Ann, only surviving daughter of Robert Parker of
Cuerdon, and had issue Thomas Crosse Legh, who was born in
1796, and who succeeded his father in the Cheshire estates
in 1822. In 1814 he married Louisa, daughter of George
Lewis Newnham of Newtimber, Sussex, by Mary Diana, only
daughter of Sir William Aston of Addington near Croydon.”
* The Newnhams of Newtimber bore for arms argent a cross sable, over all a bend
vert. For crest a demi-lion rampant charged with a bend vert. Lewis Newnham of
London and Sussex married Theodosia, daughter of Sir William Leman of Northaw,
Herts, by whom he had a son Nathaniel, of Streatham, Boghley, and of Newtimber in
Sussex. Nathaniel Newnham's son was the above-named George Lewis Newnham.
His daughter, Ann, was married to Sir Dudley Ryder, justice of king's bench and
ancestor of Lord Harrowby. The present representative of the family, without the
landed estates, is John Newnham, her majesty’s consul at Amsterdam, who married in
1859 Louisa, daughter of the late Canon Ryder at Lichfield. The twin porrtaits of
George Lewis Newnham and of his wife Diana, with her son at her knee, by Opie,
are preserved at Adlington. He is habited in his legal robes. This painting was
considered by Opie as his finest work.
II 2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Thomas Crosse Legh died in his 34th year, by accidental drown-
ing whilst crossing the river near Antwerp. Shortly before this
event happened, and on the death of Richard Townley Crosse in
I828 without issue, the Shaw Hill and Lancashire possessions
were alienated in favour of Ann Mary Crosse, 14 who married
Mr. Bright Ikin of Leeds, who assumed the name of Crosse,
and ultimately became possessor of Shaw Hill, &c., ſure uxoris,
by deed of settlement. Mr. Legh's widow married, secondly, the
Hon. Thomas Americus Erskine, afterwards third baron Erskine,
grandson of lord chancellor Erskine. She died in 1867, aged
72, and is buried in Prestbury churchyard along with her only
brother, John Lewis Newnham.
Thomas Crosse Legh was succeeded in the Adlington estates
by his only son, Charles Richard Banastre Legh, the present
representative of the family, at that time a minor in his ninth
year. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, is a magis-
trate and deputy-lieutenant for Cheshire, and was for several years
a captain in the earl of Chester's yeomany cavalry. He married
Mary Jane Annabella, second daughter of the Rev. Henry
Wright of Mottram-St.-Andrew, by whom he has one son,
Charles Henry Americus, born in 1858, and two daughters.
ADLINGTON HALL,
The seat of the Leghs of Adlington, is a massive building,
situate in the township of Adlington, in the parish of Prestbury.
It stands in a large and handsome park, and is built adjacent to
a bend in the river Bollin. It is quadrangular in shape, and the
architecture is of the 16th and 18th century styles respectively.
As built by Thomas Legh, in the reign of Elizabeth, the style
throughout was half-timbered ; but the front and the right wing
were removed in 1757 by Charles Legh, who replaced them with
a pedimented brick front and wing, and who built the domestic
chapel in the opposite wing, and in many other respects altered
“See Burke's Landed Gentry, Crosse of Shaw Hill.
ADLINGTON HALL. II 3
the internal economy of the house. There are some remains of
a former house erected in the reign of Henry VII, by Thomas
Legh and Catherine (Savage) his wife, in the year 1504.
The quadrangle is approached beneath a four-columned portico,
the pediment of which holds the armorial quarterings of the
Leghs up to the date of erection. Beneath the pediment is
written in stone letters, “Charles and Hester Legh, 1757.” The
oak door is the original one, very massive, and pierced in three
or four places with bullet holes made in the days of the civil
wars. On the opposite side of the quadrangle another door leads
to the large entrance hall, which is said to be the handsomest in
the county. Over the door the following inscription is carved in
relief out of the oak beam :
QI)0māg £cgi) cºquper mijū marpet spbbel boughter to
(litian 15tetcton of Haanbfutuz finigſ)te ant by jet ſjab iggue
foute gonneg and fytic boughterg mate tſjig buplbinge in
the peate of 5 3Lotug (5pb. 1581 and in the taigne of out
50teptaignſ: 3/aby glucent (Elijabctſ, the 234.
The hall, which is of noble proportions, rises uninterruptedly
from floor to roof, and has a minstrel's and a lady's gallery
opening into it. The open hammer-beamed roof is richly pan-
neled. Each pannel is adorned with an armorial shield, of which
there are eight consecutive rows. The heraldic insignia of the
seven Norman earls of Chester, and of their eight barons, are
displayed in the first three rows. Beneath them, and arranged
in three rows, are the arms of Cheshire gentlemen, numbering
thirty-six in all. Beneath them the matrimonial alliances of the
Leghs of Adlington are set forth, in two rows, to the number of
sixteen. Then follows the shield of Legh, with six quarters.
Each roof bracket is ornamented with an angel with extended
wings, six in all, each bearing a shield of arms.
All this decoration was effected as early as the year 1744.
Prior to this, and as early as 161 I, the walls of the hall were
covered with armorial shields to the number of 183. An account
Q
II.4. THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
of them is preserved in the Adlington MS. in the Chetham
library. They were the work of Thomas Legh who built the
hall, and who was blood relation and cotemporary of Sir Peter
Legh of Lyme. Both were greatly given to heraldic studies,
and each enjoyed the friendship of Flower, the herald. The
dining and drawing rooms were remodelled by Charles Legh,
and each room has carvings by G. Gibbons.
49edigret of Legſ) of Øblington,
r of Waltheof,
f son of Wolfric, Lord of Hatton.
|
Amabilla. =Richard de Davenport.
|
William de Venables, T=. . . . . .
Baron of Kinderton. |
º | . . . .
Gilbert de Venables, T=Amabilla, daughter Richard. Michael.
Baron of Kinjº, ſº Adam Panton.
married, I 166.
- | | |
Sir William Venables, H-. . . . . . Hugh Venables, Hamo. Maud Venables. =Ralph . . . . .
priest patron of Rosthorne, To whom her brother
Eccleston and Astbury gave Wincham and half
churches, I 188, by grant of Pickmereinmarriage.
GILBERT DE VENABLEs,
younger son of Eudo, Earl o
Blois. Baron of Kinderton, IoS6.
==Margery, daughte
Fº wife.)
Baron of Kinderton.
from brother.
|
Sir Hugh Venables, T=Amabilla, daughter
Baron of Kinderton. of Warin Vernon,
Baron of Shipbrook.
|
Sir Richard V.
of Newbold and
Walton, Stafford,
34 Henry III.,
from whom de-
|
Sir William V.
of Wincham by
purchase from
Henry de Elets
in 1233. Lord
of Radnor. scend Newbolds
Both divided in of Newbold-Ast-
1273, between bury.
two daughters
coheiresses.
|
Maud. = Nicholas de Elets,
to whom she gave
Wincham, I230.
Ç
Emma. = Robert Brant.
.



5.
*
(Z
Sir Roger Venables, T=Oliva, daughter of
Baron of -- Pennington.
Henry III.
Baron of Kinder- daughter of
O
Hugh de Corona, al-Amabilla,
F--—
Hugh de Corona.=Lucy ... Sarah.
6
| |
Sir William V.,+Margaret, Rose. = Alexander de
ton. Sir Thomas
Dutton of
Dutton.
Bamvile, son
of Philip de
Bamvile, Lord
of Storeton-in-
Wirrall.
|
Sir Hugh V., ==Agatha, Catherine,
Baron of Kinder- daughter daughter
*
of Bradwell.
ton, through of Sir of Sir P.
whom this family R. Vernon Thornton.
was continued of Han- (First wife.)
till the seven- well, son
teenth century, of Sir William Venables of Brad-
Ralph well, married to Agnes,
Vernon, daughter of Robert Grosve-
Baron nor of Budworth. On failure
of Ship- of this branch, Bradwell re-
brook. verted to Baron of Kinderton.
As
| -
Amy. = Hugh Hatton.
|
Tº William V.-FAgnes, daughter and
heiress of Richard de
Legh, and widow of
Richard de Limme.
She survived two first
husbands, and re-
married W. de Ha-
warden, and had
issue.
or Coroum, Lord of daughter of
Adlington (Henry III.), Thomas de
Little Neston, Har- || Bamville.
Wirrall.
greave, and Penisby-in-
Lucy de Corona.=
FSir. W. Baggiley.
(Second husband.)
Jno. de Corona, sī-Margaret . . .
A. m. 22 Edw. II.
Thomas de Corona.
O.S. P. Grantor of Adlington to
Jno. and Ellen Legh for life, with
remainder to second son, Robert
Legh.
|.
John de Venables, =Ellen de cº, or Baggiley,
called Legh, and pur- great-aunt of Thomas, the last
Norbury | of the Corona’s, Ob. 1350.
Booths, 28 Edward I. |
chaser of
|
Jno. Baggiley.
|
Isabel Baggiley. =Sir Jno. de Hyde.

Ä
|
|
Agnes. = Hugh Massey
|
Sibyl, FFRobert de Legh-F Maud,
|
Maud, ==Sir Jno. de Legh=Isabel, daughter
daughter of Boothes. OI . . . . . Ob. of Timperley. daughter of Adlington. daughter of Isall in Cumber-
of Sir Jno. 43 Edward III. of H. Ob. 1370. and land, from whom |
Arden of Honford 43 Edward III. heiress of Leghs of Cumber-
Alford. of Hon- Sir Adam land and Yorkshire |
(First ford. de Nor- descend.
wife.) (First ley, Lan- F-
wife.) cashire. Peter Legh= Ellen,
Pi— (Second of Bechton. daughter
John Legh==Eliz., wife.) and heiress
of Booths. daughter and I —I | of Philip
heiress of Robert Legh ==Margaret, . . . . . . Margaret, Bechton of -
Richard de of Adlington. daughter of married to married to | Bechton. H
Sonbach. Ob. 1382. Sir Jno. W. Radcliffe. Jno. Ashton Pi———-T— Q
F- 6 Rd. II. Arden of of Ashton. Margaret, daugh: . . . . . . =Thos. I
Maud Legh. =Richard Rad- Alford, knt. ter and coheiress, daughter Daven- o
cliffe of Ord- T- } - | T married to Thos. and co- port of H;
sall. Sir Robt. Legh=Isabel, . . . . =Roger Legh Margery, Katherine, Fitton of Gaws- heiress. Hen- -
of Adlington. daughter of Ridge. married married to worth. bury. t;
Ob. I4O7. and Ob. 1448. to Tho. Reginald -T- l º
heiress of Daven- Downes. Sir Peter Legh=Margaret, daughter Z
Thomas port of of Lyme. Be- and heiress of Sir Q
F- | Belgrave. Henbury. headed 1399, Tho. Danyers of 3
James Legh, Sir W. Legh=Joane, 1 Henry IV. Bradley. Ob. 1428. Z
whose issue of Baggiley, daughter of | *
male con- by settlement W. Mainwar- Sir Peter Legh, ==Joane, daughter | |
tinued till of uncle Jno. ing of Peover. knight and baneret and heiress of John Legh of Ridge, H+Alice, daughter and
1723,as Leghs in 1353. at Agincourt. Ob. | Sir Gilbert Hay- jure uxoris. heiress of Tho. Al-
of Booths. 1422. tº dock, Lanc. Jºe of Ridge.
Leghs of Lyme descend. Leghs of Ridge descend,
| from whom sprung family of Lord
| Leigh of Stoneleigh.
| -
Roºk Legh =Maud, daughter Ellen Legh. =David de Calveley. }=s+
of Adlington. of (Belgrave). S


Ob. 14 IO.
|
Sir William Legh

Ob. 1478.


3.

C
| | | | |
late-ka- Legh==Isabel, Margery, Maud, Agnes, Isabel, A. | . . . Margaret, Elle, Ellen,
daughter of of Adlington. daughter of married to , married to married to married to married to married to married to married to
Sir Jno. Ob. 1478. | Sir TWm. , Wm., son of Jno., son Sir Andrew Sir Law. Pigot of Tho. Mere Robert, son Roger Legh
Savage of Stanley of Jno. Daven- and heir of Brereton of rence War- Chetwynd, of Mere, liv- of Jno. of Ridge.
Clifton. Hooton, port of Bra- Sir W. Main-Brereton, ren; re-mar- who diedbe-ing 1473. Duckenfield Ob. I448.
O.S. P. - mall, who waring, who who suc- ried 1475 to fore 1440. of Ducken-
§ died 1483. died 1495. ceeded his Sir George field, living
father 1482. Holford. I44 I.
| e | . .
Robert Legh ==Ellen, daughter of Sir Jno. James Legh, Reginald Legh = . . . . . . Dulcia Legh,
of Adlington. Ob. | Booth of Dunham Massey, parson of Rosthorne, of Mottram-Andrew. living I482.
I487. by Dowse, daughter and co- living 1485. Builder of Prestbury
heiress of Sir W. Venables church tower. Ob. 1–––.
of Bollin. Ob. 1505. I483. Maud, ma. to
Nicholas de Berd.
| | | | | |
tiºn. Legh==Catherine, Blanche, Margery, Margaret, Reginald Legh=Mary, * Richard. Elizabeth,
of Adlington. daughter of married to married to married to daughter - married to
Ob. I519. Sir Jno. Richard Jno. Moore Richard of Tho. Tho. Liver-
Savage, Lancaster of of Parkhall. Hyde of Vernon. sage of
knt., by Rain Hill. Skegby. Macclesfield.
Catherine,
daughter of F- —T-- -T-
Tho. Stan- Isabel, John. William.
ley, first married to
Earl of Der- Tho. Holt
by of that of Chesham,
| Iſla Dºle. Bury.
| | | . . |
George Legh=Joane, daughter Albane. Eleanor. =Sir P. Dutton Elizabeth. = Adam Hulton, Agnes.
of Adlington. of Peter Larke of of Hatton and Lancashire.
Ob. 1529. Huntingdonshire. Dutton.

d
d
|
| ?? | | |
Thomas Legh-FMary, daughter of Isabel. =. . . . Burdett. Margaret. =. . . . Norton. Mary. =Jno. Paulett.
of Adlington. Richard Grosvenor
Ob. I549. of Eaton, who after-
wards married Sir
Richard Egerton of
Ridley.
|
Thomas Legh==Sibill, daughter of
of Adlington. Urian Brereton of
Ob. I6O2. Handforth, and Mar-
(Built Adling- |garet, his wife, daugh-
ton hall.) ter and heiress of W.
Honford.
. . . | | | | | | *
Sir Urian Legh =Margaret, second Thomas. Edward. Ralph. Mary, Elizabeth, Dorothy. Margaret, married,
of Adlington, knt. daughter of Sir O.S. P. Killed Rilled in married, first, married to Frances. first, to H. Ardern
Ob. 1627. Edma. Trafford. in Ireland at Ireland at to Jno. Glazier, Tho. Moly- Jane. of Hawarden, and
Blackwater. Newry. and second, to neux. second, to W. Da-
Sir J. Bentley, venport of Bramall.
- Derbyshire.
|
| | | | | | |
Thomas Legh==Ann, daughter Urian. Robert. Henry. Mary Legh. =Henry, son and Lucy Legh. = Alex. Rigby Frances.
of Adlington. of Jno. Gobart heir of Sir H. of Middleton.
Ob. I644. of Boresworth, Legh of Isall and
Leicester. She Rowcliffe and
survived, and Eggington in
married, Second, Cumberland and
Alex. Rigby; Derby.
and third, Sir
Jno. Booth of
Woodford.
5


§
ſ |
Thomas Legh=Mary, daugh- John. Charles,
6
ter of Tho.
Bolles of Os-
barton, Notts.
|
Peter.
married
Margaret,
daughter
of Thos.
Bagshaw
of Ridge,
Derbysh.
|
Henry.
|
Lucy,
|
Margaret,
Ann,
Frances, Mary, Penelope,
married to married to married to married to married to married to
. . . Ireland Alex. Rigby W. Daven- Jno. Peshall . . . Hulston
of Abring- of Middle- port of
Bramall.
ton, Salop.
ton.
. . . Wright
of Sugnell, of Picton. of Long-
Stafford.
ston.
| | | | | | |
Thomas Legh=Joanna, daughter John. Edward = Ann, daughter Peter. Richard. Ann. Mary. =Henry Leigh Lucy. =Richard Ash-
of Park of C. Wheeler.
of Sir Jno. May-
nard, Sergeant-at-
law, &c.
hall,
Hayfield.
of High Legh. ton of Ashley.
|
John Legh ==The Lady Isabella Robartes,
daughter of Lord Bodwin,
granddaughter of first Earl
Radnor.
of Chorley.
Thomas Standish.
Richard Standish.
Henry Standish.
Charles Legh-FHester,
—
daugh-
ter and coheiress
of Robert Lee of
Wincham.
F-
Thomas Legh.-FMary, daughter of
of Adlington.
Ob. 1687.
of Adlington.
Ob. 1689.
of Adlington.
Ob. 1739.
of Adlington.
Ob. 1781.
Ob. 1775.
Francis Reynolds
of Strangeways.
Several children, all of whom pre-
deceased their father.
| |
Elizabeth, Lucy F. Legh.==Sir P. Davenport. Tho. Crosse-FMrs. Pedder. Legh Crosse, Charles.
unmarried.
|
Robert Legh=Margaret, daughter
of Sir Richard
Standish of Dux-
bury.
Ann Standish. Tº Crosse Margaret.
F-
Elizabeth Davenport. Tº: Rowlls (
of Kingston, Surrey.
Ob. 1799.
Joane. =John Owen of
of Cross hall,
| Lancashire.
|
|
Ann. =Thos. Townley
Upholland, of Royle, Lanc.
Lancashire.
Elizabeth. =W. Turner of

Legh)
Ob.
1802.
Frances. Blake hall,
Mary. Yorkshire.
married . . . O.S. P.
Cooper.
| |
Anh. | Frances,
Catherine. married to . . . .
Mawdesley.
Elizabeth,
married to Tho,
Armetriding,


f &
|
|
I
––
I I
| Richard Crosse Legh-i-Ann, dau. of Thomas Ahn. =J. Hilton of Sarah. =Tho. Wilson, Margaret-Rev. J. Armet-
| of Shaw Hill and | Robert Parker Pennington. who took riding.
Adlington. Ob. 1822. of Cuerden. name of Tho.
Wilson France.
|
F-— } | T ſ –– T
John Rowlls, T=Harriet, daugh- William. Charles. Elizabeth. =T. B. Calley, Thos. Crosse Legh-FLouisa, Richd. Townley.
died before his ter and coheiress O.S. P. O.S. P. Wilts. of Adlington. Ob. daughter of O.S. P. 1828.
mother. of Sir P. War- 1829. Geo. Lewis
burton of Arley. Newnham of
| L– T Newtimber, Sarah,
Charles Rowlls. Elizabeth Hester,<=Tho. Delves, fourth son of Sussex ; re- married to Rev.
o, "ºº" mºgº." |siºn, bar. married to H. Clarke.
As Tho. Ameri-
Several children. cus,third Bar-
on Erskine.
ſ ſ
Ann Mary-Eight Ikin, Jane.
who assumed
the name of
Crosse.
Crosses of Shaw Hill descend.
of Adlington, born 1821, now in Rev. H. Wright, of Cavendish, fourth Ob. 1866. Chaloner of afterwards of
possession. Mottram-Andrew. son of Lord Newton- Lawton, Ches.
| | |
Charles Richard Banastre Legh=Mary Jane, dau. of Mary. =Rev. Augustus Marcella.==Rev. J. W. Emily Ann. =John Lawton,
|; Kyme,
Yorks. Lawtons of Lawton descend.
Tho. Emilius Cavendish.
Ob. 1874. Had issue.
: Several others. O.S. P.
Charles Henry * Legh, F *-*. son of Rev. Edith laid
born 1858. . . . Cotton, Dalbury,
Derby.
S

I 22 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
WOODFORD HALL, OLD AND NEW,
Is the property of the Davenports of Woodford and Capesthorne,
and was a residence of the Davenports in times gone by. The
old hall was of the usual black-and-white architecture common
in Cheshire, and of moderate dimensions. In 1636 it gave place
to the “new hall,” which is gabled and built of Stone, and is also
of very moderate size. The windows are Square-headed, stone
mullioned, and of eight and ten lights respectively. On a stone
label over the entrance doorway the arms of the Davenports are
carved out, with the initial letters W. D. and E. D. on either
side. Above is the date, 1636. Several of the window panes
are written on with a diamond, apparently in moments of idle-
ness or conviviality. They serve to show that the Davenports
and Leghs of Adlington lived on terms of friendly intimacy.
On one pane is scratched, “Davies Davenport, 1720.” On
another “Ann Siddall.” On a third “J. Dod, April 20, 1728.”
On a fourth “Peter Davenport, Apl. 12, 1724, long live, D.V.
Charles Legh, I 724.” On a fifth, “Charles Legh, long live good
company, Davenport.” On a sixth, “Mrs. Legh, Mrs. Lucy
Legh. Heaven long preserve you both. Amen. June 7,
1726. P. D.” -
Davies Davenport, above mentioned, married the heiress of
John Ward, Esq., of Capesthorne, in 172 I ; and, in consequence
of this event, removed to Capesthorne, which has since been
the family seat. Woodford new hall is now occupied as a farm
house.
Lucy Legh, named on the sixth pane of glass, became the wife
of Peter, afterwards Sir Peter Davenport, knight, who died in the
year 1746. (See pedigree of Legh of Adlington.)
The initials over the doorway are those of William Davenport,
and of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Rawlinson of
Heathfield, Derbyshire, who died in 1656, and was buried at
Prestbury.
LEGH OF LYME. I 23
<º
LEGH OF LYME.
The pedigree of this family has been drawn by Dugdale,
Glover, Yardswick, Ormerod, and others. Errors have crept
into the draughts of Dugdale and Ormerod.
Dugdale rightly deduces the descent of Legh of Lyme from
Robert Legh of Adlington ; but instead of making John Legh
of Ridge a brother of the first Legh of Lyme, he makes him a
nephew, by a roundabout and inexplicable connexion.
Dr. Ormerod's pedigree errs in making Maud Arderne the
mother of Sir Piers Legh the first of Lyme ; and, by So doing,
the maternity and succession are alike vitiated, as the Lyme
Leghs are placed two generations behind those of Adlington,
instead of one.
Dr. Ormerod quotes Mr. Browne's note at the foot of his
pedigree, which is the true account.
The pedigree in Claughton church, which is also printed in
Whittaker's Richmondshire, is apparently drawn by Glover ;
whilst that by Yardswick in the Harleian MSS. is almost
certainly a copy of Glover's.
The pedigree, drawn up by me, of the Leghs of Adlington,
shows the exact manner in which the Leghs of Lyme branched
off from that family. In the accompanying pedigree I have
endeavoured to show the descent of the family of Danyers, or
Daniel, up to the time when Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir
Thomas Danyers, became the wife of Sir Piers Legh the first of
Lyme. This is the more necessary, as the main genealogical
difficulty has consisted in determining, first, the manner in which
one family of Legh branched off from the other ; and second,
the manner in which the estate of Lyme Hanley came to be a
Legh possession.
§
32e3cent of 49argaret Pamperg, mife of
the firgt ºir 49terg Legi) of Lyme.
William Danyers or Daniell,-FAgnes de Legh, 19° Edward I.,
purchaser of lands in Daresbury, in of the family of High Legh and Westhall.
1291, from Henry de Norreys.
*.
|
I I
Joan Norreys, T=Thomas Danyers of Bradley-H-Margaret, d. of William Danyers==Agnes . . . . . .
2nd wife. in-Appleton. Ob. 1354, and Adam de Tabley, of Daresbury. Ob.
buried at Lymm. Ist wife. 1306, and buried
at Lymm.
| –– | I
Sir Thomas==Catherine, d. Henry. Richard. F-
Danyers and h. of Wm. John Danyers=F. . . . . .
de Tabley of T
Over Table. F- tº
27 Ed. III. William Danyers==Clemence, d. and h.
of Alan de Norreys.
F--—
Thos. Danyers=Eliz., d. of Sir
of OverTabley Richard Ashton
Ob. 1431. of Ashton, and
widow of Thos.
Boydell of Gro-
penhall.
|
I
Sir Thomas Danyers=Isabel, d. and h. of
of Clifton. Ob. 1353. | Sir Wm. Baggiley, by
Vita patris. Lord of Clemence, d. and h. of
Gropenhall & Broome | Sir Roger Chedle.
From this stock the Daniels
of Daresbury descend.
Sir John Banyers of-Joan, d. and co-h. of Augustin.
Gropenhall. Ob. 1374 Sir Wm. Boydell of
(claimantof Bradley). Gropenhall and Dod-
leston.
Sir Piers Legh, son of Robert Legh=Margaret Danyers, d. and h., and one of the heiresses of Thomas Danyers of Bradley. Thrice
of Adlington and Maud Norley. married. Ist, to Sir W. de Radcliffe; 2nd, to Sir John Savage; and 3rd, to Sir Piers Legh.

Ob. I428.

LEGH OF LYME. I 25
of Mr. Sampson Yardswick in April, 1576.
The following pedigree of Legh of Lyme was in the possession
It was copied into
Bostock's Cheshire Collections, and now forms a part of the Har-
leian MSS., from which it was extracted by me in 1857:
:
#
f
i
ºſ
4 gevé
Norley.
Pemberton.
ov. Walton.
Hoole.
Hanley.
by
K. Rd. 2.
Gropenhall.
* Broome.
Haydocke.
Bradley.
r
Werington.
Onforthe.
Sonkey.
i Bolde.
Newton.
Lawton.
Golbron.
Walton-in-
J le-Dale.
Burton wood.
Sir Rob. Leighe of Adlington knight maried for
his second (or later) wife . . . . . . doughter and
heir of Adam de Norley, knight, by which their
descended to her son and heir Peter Leigh,
Norley, Pemberton, over Walton, and Hoole.
Peter Leighe Esquire, justicer stuard of Mac-
clesfield in the forest thereof, married Margº d.
and one of the heirs of Thomas Danyers, knight,
of Bradley, by whom descended Gropenhall and
Broome, to which Peter and Margaret, and their
heirs male, K. Rd 2 gave Hanley not only for the
relevynge of his father's standard at the battle of
Cressy, but also for the manfull takynge of the
Earl of Tankarville at the said battle, as sheweth
by the letters patent of the said K. Rd 2. After-
wards beheaded by K. Hy 4, 14OO.
Peter Leghe Kº Bant ma Joane d. & h. of Sir
Gilbert Haydocke, by whom descended Bradley,
Burton wood, Newton, Waryngton, Onſeth, Son-
key, Bold, Hadocke, Lawton, Golbron, and Wal-
ton-le-dale, and he was slayin at the battle of
Agincourt in An. dom. I422. Ossa Sepelita apud
Macclesfield.
Peter Leghe, knighted at the bataile of Wake-
field by Richard Duke of Yorke. He mar.
Margarett d. of Sir Richard Molyneux, and dyed
at Bradley Nov. 29 A.D. 1478, bd at Winwicke.
I 26 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Dalton, Peter Leghe Esquire mº Mabell d. & h of James
g * d Crofte, by whom descended Dalton, and the
#: ...” advowson of Claughton. He dyed at Maccles-
U Claughton, field Aug. 2. A.D. 1486, ba at Winwick.
Peter Leghe Knyght Bant and Priest, in his
youth mard Helene d. of Sir Jno Savage Kº. He
was made Knight, and created Bant in the warres
of Ed. 4 at Barwicke, and was maide priest in
an. aetat. suae 56, after the dethe of his wyfe, and
he lyved 22 years, and buylded the Chappell at
Dystley in A9 1524.
(Peter his son was borne)
Sir Piers Legh of Norley, and the first of Lyme, was the son
of the first Robert Legh of Adlington, by his second wife Maud,
daughter and co-heiress of Adam de Norley of North Leigh, in
Lancashire, and grand-daughter of Thurstan de Norley. In the
Placita Paschae, 349 Edward I., the following occurs: “Adam de
Pemberton brought an action of trespass against Thurstan de
Norley, and Matilda the wife of Adam de Norley, for cutting
down and trespassing on his woods at Pemberton.” Maud made
over the Norley possessions to her son, as appears by the two
following deeds penes Legh of Lyme : “Maud, late wife of
Robert Legh the elder, grants to four chaplains, trustees, her
manor of Norley and all her messuages, lands, and tenements,
rents and services, with appurtenances in Mickellhole, &c. . . . . . .
and all other lands in the Duchy of Lancaster, &c., to hold of
the chief lord of the fee by services accustomed.” This docu-
ment is dated I370, 43° Edward III. The next is as follows, and
is dated 1382, 50 Richard II. : “The aforesaid four trustees release
to Peter, son of Robert de Legh, all their right to the manor of
North Legh with appurtenances, and all messuages, &c.”
In this same year, 1382, Peter Legh sealed a deed in his own
LEGH OF LYME. I27
right, with his coat of arms, viz., a cross fusily, circumscribed
“Sigillum Petri de Legh.” (Deed peries Legh. See seal, p. 80.)
These are the armorial bearings that were used by the Norleys
of North Legh, in Pemberton, and which Peter Legh inherited
from his mother. The colours are gules, a cross fusily argent,
though for many generations the cross engrailed (see quartered
shield of Legh, p. 80) has been used instead of the cross fusily.
The release of the Norley manor determines the age of Sir
Peter Legh. He attained to his majority in 1382, and was
decapitated in 1399, and hence could not have reached the age
of forty years at the date of his death. This point being con-
ceded, it follows that he could not have taken part in the battle
of Cressy (which was fought in 1346), as asserted by Dugdale,
who further affirms that he acted as standard bearer to the
Black Prince on that memorable occasion. That the reverse
opinion had for centuries passed current is shown by the brass
inscription appended to Sir P. Legh's monument in Macclesfield
church, set up in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, which will be
given presently.
The statement contained in Gregson's Lancashire Fragments
to the effect that the augmentation to the arms of Legh was
granted after the battle of Poictiers is equally fallacious, as it
was fought in I 356.
Sir Thomas Danyers was the hero of Cressy, whose daughter
and heiress Sir Peter Legh had married. He it was who rendered
such substantial service to the Black Prince at Cressy, for which
he was rewarded with a grant of forty marks a year, until Such
time as a convenient grant of land could be made to himself and
his heirs.
This grant of land was made in 219 Richard II, jointly to Sir
Peter Legh, and Margaret his wife, as appears by the records in
the custody of the master of the rolls, known as the Cheshire
Recognizance Rolls.
“Letters patent of Peter de Legh and Margaret his wife
concerning a certain place called Hanley.
I 28 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“Richard by the grace of God, &c. To all to whom these
presents shall come, greeting. Know that our well beloved Sir
Piers de Legh and Margaret his wife, the daughter and heir of
Sir Thomas Danyers deceased, have made known to us that the
most honorable lord our father, whom God absolve, for the good
and free service which the said Thomas did to him not only by
taking the earl of Tankarville prisoner, but also by relieving the
shield of the said prince at the battle of Cressy, by letters patent
granted to the said Thomas forty marks a year out of his manor
of Frodsham in the county of Chester to be paid in two equal
installments, &c., &c., until such time as lands to the value of
20 pounds a year could be provided in a suitable place for the
said Thomas and his heirs for ever. And that in consequence
of the death of the said Thomas before the forty marks a year
could be exchanged for twenty pounds worth of land, as the
said Peter and Margaret have made known to us, &c., we, of our
special grace and favour, and in consideration of the good Services
rendered unto us by the said Peter, &c., &c., have given and
granted to the said Peter and Margaret his wife, a parcel of
land and pasture called Hanley lying in our forest of Macclesfield
in ye county of Chester which heretofore was farmed for 20 marks
a year, to be held by them and their heirs for ever upon payment
of sixpence annually to ourselves and our heirs, &c, &c. Given
at Chester on the 4th of January, in the 21st of our reign.”
Margaret Danyers had been twice a widow when she was
married to her cousin, Sir Peter Legh, in 1388. She was the
daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Danyers and Isabel, daughter
and heiress of Sir William Baggiley. A papal dispensation for
this marriage had to be obtained on account of the consanguinity.
It is dated 1388, and is preserved at Lyme. -
Her great-grandfather, William Daniel, purchased the manor
of Bradley-in-Appleton from Sir P. Dutton in 1301. To this
manor her grandfather, Thomas Daniel, succeeded by gift of
William Daniel, who predeceased his father by one year, i.e., in
I353. According to Sir P. Leicester, this event caused the
LEGH OF LYME. I 29.
family inheritances to be diverted from Margaret to the heirs
male of the Daniels. Be this as it may, Bradley manor- ulti-
mately came to her.
Yardswick expressly states that Margaret was one of the heirs
of Sir Thomas Daniel of Bradley (her grandfather). Lyson
says: “This same Margaret brought Bradley-in-Appleton to
the Savages in marriage.” And Dr. Ormerod quotes a post
mortem inquisition in the time of Henry VI., to show that
Bradley-in-Appleton belonged to the Savages.
Care must be taken not to confound Bradley-in-Appleton with
Bradley-in-Burtonwood. The one is in Cheshire, and the other
in Lancashire. Bradley, in Lancashire, as will presently appear,
came into the Legh family when the second Sir P. Legh married
the heiress of Haydock.
Margaret also came into possession of her mother's jointure, a
part of which comprised the manor of Clifton, and from which
circumstance Sir Thomas Danyers, or Daniel, was called of
“Clifton.”
Margaret's first husband was Sir John Radcliffe. She was a
ward in the king's chancery, and of tender years at the time of
her marriage; for in 33° Edward III., the king issued a writ
from Westminster to the abbot of Whalley, Thomas de Lathom,
Henry de Haydock, and John de Cockayn, commanding them
to examine into all the circumstances of this marriage, and to
report whether the ward was too young to have been married,
and whether she had been married against her will ; and if they
so found, they were to separate her from her husband, and place
her in safe custody, until otherwise instructed. They were
further ordered to prohibit the marriage, if it had not already
been solemnized. (Rymer's Faedera.)
No measures were taken to enforce a separation ; and later
on, John de Radcliffe, and Margaret his wife, commenced an
action against John Danyers, and Alice his wife, for the recovery
of Bradley, on the ground that William Danyers, the great-
grandfather of Margaret, had given it to her grandfather, and to
S
I 3O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
the heirs of his body. A copy of the original is preserved in the
Cheshire MS. (penes Wood), and is as follows:
“Johannes de Ratcliffe et Margareta uxor ejus petit versus
Johannem Danyers et Alician uxorem ejus manerium de Bradley
que W. Danyers dedit Thomae filio W. Danyers et heredibus de
corpore suo exeuntibus. Et quod post mortem Thomae filii W.
et consanguineae et heredi predicti Thomae filii Willi descendere
debent per forman donationis predictae.”
Sir P. Leicester's and Yardswick's statements, already quoted,
serve to show that the manor of Bradley was in dispute; and
that the action terminated in favour of Sir John Radcliffe and his
wife Margaret. Margaret's second husband was Sir John Savage,
of whom mention is made elsewhere. (Wide Macclesfield.)
It would appear that Sir Thomas Danyers, who married
Katherine, the daughter and heir of William de Tabley of Over
Tabley, claimed to have Nether Tabley also, which by a precept
of the Black Prince, dated 489 Edward III., he was ordered to
relinquish to John Savage and Margaret his wife. (Wood's
Cheshire M.S.)
“Edwardus fil. Regis, &c. Precipe Thomas Danyers de Tabley
et Catherinae uxori ejus quod reddat Johi Savag et Margaretae
uxori ejus manerium de Nether Tableghe &c. Apud Cestram
xx Oct. an. regni pat, mei 48.”
By Sir P. Legh's marriage with Margaret, then the widow of
Sir John Savage, Broome and the moiety of Gropenhall came to
the family. The Gropenhall property came to her as follows:
Sir William Boydell, of Dodleston and Gropenhall, left three
children, i.e., one son and two daughters. The son, William
Boydell, married but died without issue; whereupon the estate
devolved on his two sisters, Margaret and Joan. Joan married
Sir John Daniel, who was second brother of Sir Thomas Daniel,
the father of Margaret, and who thus became Sir John Daniel of
Gropenhall. He died without leaving male issue, and the property
then passed to Sir Thomas Daniel of Over Tabley, who was half-
brother to Sir John, by Joan Norreys. (Leicester.)
LEGH OF LYME. I 3 I
Margaret Boydell married Owen Voyl, who subsequently re-
leased all his property in Gropenhall to Sir John Daniel, 259
Edward III. Sir John Daniel had two daughters, one of whom
died without issue; and the other, Nicholaa, married and had
a daughter, who became wife of Alan de Rixton. No issue
following on this marriage, a moiety of Gropenhall passed to
Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Danyers, as next
of kin, and at that time wife of Sir John Savage. This moiety
of Gropenhall she gave to her son, Sir P. Legh, during her
widowhood. (Leicester.) And ever since this time the arms of
Legh of Lyme have been augmented with those of Boydell of
Dodleston and Gropenhall.
Sir Piers Legh suffered death by decapitation at Chester in
I399; whilst Margaret, his widow, survived till 1428, as appears
by her post mortem record in the reign of Henry VI.
The Rev. John Wells (the translator of the French metrical
History of the Deposition of Richard II., Archdologia vol. xx.),
says that whilst Henry was at Chester, and the king at Conway
Castle, he, i.e., Henry of Lancaster, beheaded Sir Piers Legh,
commonly called Perkin a Legh, a faithful adherent of Richard,
and ordered his head to be set on one of the loftiest towers of
Chester. His body was buried at Macclesfield, where the follow-
ing epitaph, Once cut in Stone and now carved in brass, records
the death of himself and his son :
“Here lyethe the bodie of Perkin a Legh
That for King Richard the death did die
Betrayed for righteousness;
And the bones of Sir Piers his sone
That with King Henry the Fifth did wonne
In Paris.”
“This Perkin serv'd King Edward the third and the black
Prince his son in all their wars in France and was at the battle
of Cressie and had Lyme given him for that service and after
their deaths servd King Richard 2 and left him not in his
troubles but was taken with him and beheaded at Chester by
I 32 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
King Henry 4 and the said Sir Piers his son servd King Henry
5 and was slain at the battle of Agincourt. In their memory
Sir Peter Legh of Lyme knight descended from them finding
the said verses written upon a stone in this chapel did readifie
this place 162O.” - *
Sir Piers Legh the first of Lyme was justiciary stewart of
Macclesfield, and of the forest of Macclesfield. He left issue
Piers, or Peter Legh the second of Lyme, who was a minor when
his father suffered decapitation for loyally serving his fallen
master and king. If the respective dates of the father's marriage
in 1388 and of the beheadment in 1399 be compared, it becomes
plain that the eldest son was about eight, or from that to nine
years old when he succeeded. Later on he was knighted, and
afterwards created a bannaret.
He married Joan, daughter and heiress of Sir Gilbert Haydock
of Haydock, near Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, by whom he
had a son also named Peter. By this alliance the extensive
possessions of the Haydocks were added to those already in the
family of Legh of Lyme, viz., Haydock, Bradley, Burtonwood,
Warrington, Overford, Sonkey, Bold, Newton, Lawton, Golborne,
and Walton-le-Dale.
Bradley-in-Burtonwood was the abode of the Haydocks. In
the Charter Rolls, 180 Edward III., Gilbert. de Haydock is said
to have obtained license for imparking Bradley-in-Burtonwood,
and for free warren. After the marriage of Sir P. Legh with
the heiress of Sir Gilbert Haydock, Bradley-in-Burtonwood
became the principal residence of the Leghs for several genera-
tions. In Leyland's Itinerary, temp. Henry VIII, the following
entry occurs : “Syr Perse de Lee hath his place at Bradley in a
park a two miles from Newton.”
This manor was alienated a few years since by the Rev. Peter
Legh, brother of Thomas Legh of Iyme, who sold it to Samuel
Brooks, banker, of Manchester. The original gate tower of
Bradley yet remains to point to the ancient stateliness of this
manorial residence.
LEGH OF LYME. I 33
Sir Peter Legh took part in the French wars under Henry
V., and was present at the battle of Agincourt, where he was
wounded. Five retainers followed him into this engagement,
viz., Robert and Hugh Orrell, Thomas Sutton, John Pigot, and
George de Asheley. (Vide Sir N. H. Nichola's history of the
battle.) It has been generally stated that Sir P. Legh died of
these wounds in Paris; but as this latter event happened in 1422,
f.e., seven years after the battle of Agincourt, it is much more
likely that he followed the king's standard in his subsequent
wars with France, and was present at the siege of Meaux
1n I42 I.
His remains were brought to England, and buried in the
church of St. Michael in Macclesfield, in the rebuilding of which
he appears to have taken an active interest.
After Sir Peter Legh's death, at the age of 33 years, his widow,
Joan, married Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton, in Lancashire.
She lies buried under a stone altar tomb in Sefton church, around
the edge of which the following inscription was once to be read,
but is now totally obliterated :
“Hic jacet Domina Johanna quondam uxor Petri Legh militis,
et postea uxor Ricardi Molineux militis, que fuit Domina de
Bradley, Haydoke, et similiter tertiae partis villarum de War-
rington, Mikille Sonke, et Burtonwoode, ac eciam Domina
diversarum parcellarum terrarum et tenementorum infra villas
de Newton, Golbron, Lawton, Bold, et Walton le Dale, que obiit
in festo sancti Sulpitii episcopi, in anno domini m.cccCxxxiv.,
cujus animaº propitietur Deus. Amen.”
This inscription is the more valuable, because it shows the
exact jurisdiction of the Leghs, as successors to the Haydocks,
over the several possessions enumerated.
Sir Peter Legh, son and heir of the above, and the third of
Lyme, was a minor at the time of his father's death. When of
age, he married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux,
a choice in which he was doubtless very largely influenced by his
mother's second marriage, and his tutelage under her husband at
I 34 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Sefton. He was a remarkable man in many respects, full of
prudence and caution, and moreover a great improver and
cataloguer of his family possessions. Living in the time of the
Wars of the Roses he sided with the Yorkists, and took part in
the battle of Wakefield, where his ability earned for him the
honour of knighthood, which he received at the hands of Richard
Duke of York, the father of Edward IV. Amongst other offices,
he held that of keeper of Rhudlan castle, with a salary of 40/, a
year for his life.
He greatly enlarged and adorned his mansion at Bradley, of
which place he styled himself, and where he died in 1478. His
M.S. rent roll was compiled in 1465. For the general character
of this Sir P. Legh, and for a Latin and English copy of the
rent roll, so far as Lancashire is concerned, the learned account
by W. Beamont, Esq., may be consulted in the 170 vol. of the
Chetham Society Transactions, entitled Warrington in 1465.
He was succeeded by his son Peter Legh, who married Mabel,
daughter and co-heiress of James Croft of Dalton, whose mother
was daughter and heiress of Butler of Freckleton. Through this
alliance with the double heiress, the Leghs of Lyme were hence-
forward enabled to add the arms of Croft and Butler to their
escutcheon. The alternate advowson of Claughton church came
also by this marriage, a circumstance which serves to explain
how the Legh pedigree came to be preserved there.
Peter Legh died at Macclesfield in 1486, in the lifetime of his
father, and was buried at Winwick. He left a son Peter, after-
wards Sir Peter Legh, soldier first, and priest afterwards. He
married Helen, the daughter of Sir John Savage, knight, by
whom he had a son and successor named Peter. In his earlier
years, Sir Peter Legh followed the profession of arms, and was
present at the seige of Berwick, where he was made a knight
bannaret by Edward IV. After his wife's death, in 1492, he
entered into holy orders, as may be gathered from the following
monumental inscription on his brass in Winwick church, where
his remains lie buried :
LEGH OF LYME. I 35
“Orate pro animabus probi viri Domini Petri Legh militis hic
tumulati, et Dominae Elenae uxoris ejus filiae Johannis Savage
militis cujus quidem Elenae corpus depositum apud Bellinginitt
I7° die mensis Maii Anno Domini millesimo quadringentessimo
et nonagessimo primo. Idem Petrus post ipsius Elenae mortem
in Sacerdotem canonicae consecratus. Obiit apud Lyme in
Hanley xi die Augusti Anno millesimo quingentessimo vicessimo
Septimo.”
Sir Peter Legh's arms, with six quarters, are engraved at the
head of the brass; and the shield is surmounted with a ram's
head erased holding a sprig of olive in the mouth, on a knight's
helmet. The quarters are Haydock, Lyme, Boydell of Poul-
croft, Ashton, Boydell of Dodleston and Gropenhall, and Croft
dimidiated with Butler.
The record preserved in Claughton church touching the claim
advanced to bear the arms of Ashton of Ashton in the second,
or other quarter, of the Legh shield, only that the mullet should
be differenced by a bezant in the first point, applies especially to
this Sir Peter Legh. The Ashton arms, thus differenced, are
placed quarterly in the second and third quarters in a shield of
Legh of Lyme, drawn by Flower in 1580, in which the engrailed
cross of Norley occupies the first and fourth quarters. (Vide
Adlington MS. in Chetham College Library.)
Mr. William Langton, so well known as a careful genealo-
gist,-infers that this mullet was an armorial bearing to which
Margaret Norley became entitled as heiress of Waren de Walton.
She had two daughters, co-heiresses, one of whom, Maud, by
marriage with Robert Legh of Adlington, became the mother of
Sir Peter Legh of Lyme; whilst the other, Catherine, became
the wife of Robert de Radcliffe. Additional weight is given to
this assumption by the fact that the mullet is a Radcliffe quarter;
and that it is a quartering of Barton of Holme, who married
Joane, daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Radcliffe, whose son
was Barton of Smithells.
If this be so, the mullet quarter must have been in abeyance
I 36 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
for more than a century, and then revived through the action
of Sir Peter Legh.
This Ashton mullet appears for the first time as a Legh
quartering on the Winwick brass; and though now no bezant
can be seen, it was doubtless once visible.
After he became an ecclesiastic, Sir P. Legh built the chapel
of Disley in 1524, and the “cage” at Lyme.” He is also
reported to have raised funds for the building of Lymm church
tower. After his death a law suit was instituted on the subject
of Disley chapel, as appears by the following entry in the
Calendar of Pleadings of the Duchy of Lancaster:
“A suit in which Edward Molyneux, clerk, Thurston Tyldsley,
and others, executors of the will of Sir Peter Legh, knight and
priest, deceased, were plaintiffs, and Peter Legh, son of the said
Sir P. Legh k" was defendant. The plaintiffs stated that amongst
other bequests, the testator had disposed of part of the lands,
messuages, rents, and Services of lands in Dalton manor, Hulton,
Aybank, Over-Burton, in Lancashire; and of Hanley, Lyme
Park, Lyme, and Disley chapel, for the sustentation of a chapel
which he had built at Dystley, and for other purposes. The
Defendant insisted that the executors had taken the issues and
profits to the amount of 215/ and upwards, whereof he claimed
account.”
It has been said traditionally that the building of Disley
chapel was the fine imposed upon Sir P. Legh for the part he
took in what is commonly known as the “Bewsey Tragedy;”
but the improbability of the story, nay, the almost impossibility
of the murder of Sir John Boteler having been in any way accele-
rated by Sir Peter Legh, or William Savage, as agents of Lord
Derby; or of Sir John Boteler himself having been murdered,—
has been shown by Mr. Beamont in the Ammals of the Lords
of Warrington, p. 3O4 to 323, Chetham Society Transactions,
vol. 87.
* The present “cage” is a much more recent erection.
LEGH OF LYME. I 37
Sir Peter Legh was succeeded by his son Peter, who was
afflicted with lameness, and who was twice married : first, to
Margaret, daughter of Nicholas Tyldesley, by whom he had a
Son ; and second, to Jane, daughter of Peter Gerard of Bryn and
Kingsley. In his father's time, Fernhed, Garstang, Allerton,
Hyndley, and Bretherton, were added to the previous territorial
possessions, as appears by the post mortem inquisition, 20°
Henry VIII.
He died in 1541, and was succeeded by his son Peter Legh,
who was a man of mark. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir
Thomas Gerard of Bryn. Three years after coming into posses-
Sion, the honour of knighthood was conferred on him at Leith.
He became sheriff of Cheshire and of Lancashire, and was sub-
sequently provost marshall of both counties under the earl of
Derby. . In addition, he was a deputy steward of the hundred of
Macclesfield, and a forester of the royal forest. Sir Peter was at
once a soldier, a Scholar, an architect, and a herald. He rebuilt
Lyme hall, and to him was granted the escutcheon of augmenta-
tion to the shield of Lyme, consisting of an arm armed and
embowed grasping in the hand a banner semée of stars.
He died in 1590, and was succeded by his grandson, Sir Peter
Legh, son of Peter Legh (who died in 1570) and Catherine, daughter
of Sir Thomas Venables of Kinderton. He was born in 1563, and
married Margaret daughter of Sir Gilbert Gerrard, master of the
rolls. He served the office of sheriff, and represented Cheshire in
Parliament in 1593. Four years later he repaired the mansion be-
longing to his family at Bradley, as appears by an inscription on
one of the beams. In 1598 he received the honour of knighthood
from Queen Elizabeth, at Greenwich. For some time he acted
as captain of the Isle of Man. Whittaker says that he re-roofed
Disley church, and surrounded Lyme park with a wall. About
1600 he purchased Bruche from Roger and Hamet Bruche, and
on the 13th February, 1603, he received a pardon under the
great seal. (Beamont's MS. pedigree.)
He died in 1636, and was succeeded by Peter Legh, his son,
T
I38 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
who married Ann, daughter of Sir John Savill of Howley, by
whom he had issue a son Peter who died without issue, losing
his life in a duel in 1641, by which fatality the direct succession
was broken after having passed uninterruptedly through eleven
generations, in every one of which the eldest son bore the name
of Peter, or Piers.
In the Calendar of post mortem inquisitions 120 Charles I., the
following list of messuages, mills, lands, woods, rents, &c., in
Lancashire, Cheshire, and Westmorland, is given as having be-
longed to Peter Legh, who died in 1636: -
Bradley manor, Burtonwood manor, Dalton manor, Haydock
manor, Bruch manor, and Handley manor; Hulton, Pemberton,
Norley, Bridgemore, Newton-in-Makerfield, Lawton, Golborne,
Fernhead, Hindley, Kenion, Warington, Sonkey Magna and
Parva, Overforde, Wolston, Penketh, Garston, Ollerton, Much
Woulton, Much Hoole, Walton-le-Dale, Ulnes Walton, Brether-
ton, Eccleston juxta Crofton, Bold, Childwall, Croston, Poulton,
the Advowson of Claughton juxta Horneby, the Church of
Shevington, and the Church near Prescott. Lands, &c., in
Westmorland. Lyme, Grapnall, Disley, Broome, Heatley,
Sutton, Marple, Offerton, Norbury, Weyley, Macclesfield, Latch-
ford, Warburton, Kettleshulme, and Bridgmoore. -
After the death of the last-named, the succession and estates
passed to an uncle, viz., to the Rev. Thomas Legh, D.D., rector
of Sephton and Walton, whose wife was Lettice, daughter and
co-heiress of Sir George Calveley of Lea.
Beyond this point I have not traced the family in exact
succession ; but have contented myself with making mention
of such other members as are represented pictorially at Lyme hall.
LYME HALL,
The residence of the Leghs of Lyme, is situate in the township
of Lyme Handley, in the parish of Prestbury. It is a very stately
residence, of massive proportions. In shape it is a quadrangle,
LYME HALL. I 39
and it stands in a large and wild park, amongst the Cheshire
moorlands, not far from the village of Disley.
Sir Peter Legh makes the earliest mention of Lyme hall in a
M.S. dated I466, about seventy years after the first hall was
built on the Lyme estate :
“In primis, dictus Petrus (Legh) tenet predictum manerium
de Lyme in comitatu Cestriae sibi heredibus et assignatis suis in
perpetuum, videlicet una pulcra aula cum alta Camera, Coquina,
pistrina, et pandoxatorio, cum orreo stabulo, et domo Ballivi,
cum pulcro parco cum palis circumclausis, et campis, et hais
diversis in dicto parco contentis, cum bostis et subbostis, pratis
pastuis, et pasturis, et Suis pertinentiis limitatis modo et forma
Subsequente que valent dicto Petro per annum xli.”
As the manor of Lyme was a part of the royal forest of
Macclesfield until it was separated by the grant of Richard II.,
in favour of the first Sir Peter Legh of Lyme and his wife, no
“fair hall” could have then existed ; and if Sir Peter built a
house there it could not have been much prior to I399.
The present hall is rich in architectural and heraldic decora-
tions; but none of these date before Elizabeth's reign. Con-
sequently, if there was an earlier building on the present site, it
has been overlayed or obscured by the architect who built the
oldest part of the existing hall about the year 1569.
In the notes to Glover's pedigree of the Leghs of Lyme,
preserved in Claughton church, it is expressly stated that Sir
Peter Legh, who died in 1590, built a part of Lyme hall.
Up to the year 1569, Bradley-in-Burtonwood was the most
favoured, and perhaps also the most stately residence of successive
generations of the family.
Lyme hall, as it at present stands, is a three-storied quadran-
gular building, which exhibits many proofs of its Elizabethan
Origin both externally and internally, being rich in renaissance
tracery displayed on panel and freize, on ceiling and chimney-
piece ; whilst the royal arms in the central compartments of
these latter display the French lilies quartered with the English
I4O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
lions, supported with the crowned lion and griffon of the last of
the Tudors.
Externally, the building has been so changed that only the origi-
nal north front remains, in which the three orders of Greek column
and capital are represented. The windows were of the usual
square-headed, stone-mullioned, and many-lighted style of the
16th century; but in 1676 they were re-arranged and modernized
by Mr. Richard Legh, whose cipher and arms are stamped on
two of the leaden spouts, which are dated 1676. In the centre
of the spout head there is the shield of Legh impaling Chicheley.
The Legh coat is the same as Legh of Adlington, differenced
with a crescent ; and this coat Mr. Richard Legh of Lyme
appears always to have borne, for it is repeated on glass in
the drawing-room, and on the remains of his alabaster monu-
ment in Winwick church. On either side of the spout head
the engrailed cross of Lyme and the plain cross of Haydock
is represented. -
In 1725 Lyme hall was delivered over to Leoni for external
and other alterations. The south front is Leoni's altogether,
and is a very fine specimen of Palladian architecture, adorned
with a Corinthian-columned portico. Leoni's alterations were
very extensive, and lasted till 1729.
In 1822, Mr. Wyatt, acting under instructions from Mr. Thomas
Legh, raised a square story over this part of the hall, to the no
small detriment of Leoni's frontage. Formerly the centre of the
north front was surmounted with a lofty octagonal lantern, holding
two tiers of Square-headed windows. This has been removed
and replaced by a statue of Minerva. The lantern now stands
in an elevated part of the wood. From its site the hall can be
seen to the best advantage, sheltered by the foliage of surround-
ing woods and adjacent hills; whilst below, the plain of Cheshire
stretches away to the sea, the high ground of Alderley Edge
alone intervening to break the landscape. Red and fallow deer,
and a herd of wild cattle (now sadly diminished) roam in the
extensive park. In the reign of Henry VIII, Lyme park is
LYME HALL. I4 I
thus described in an inventory taken of forest wastes, common
lands, &c. (Adlington M.S.)
“Item a comyn called Lyme now in the holdinge of Sir Peter
Leygh which conteyneth in length two myles from a place called
the Heayhough to the Bowstone, and in bred the two myles
from a place called the Edullgate to the Waterlowe, from a
place called the Blackshawe within Lyme by estimacon a myle,
and in bredthe half a myle. Item, within the said Lyme be
eighteen Comyns, and a park, and a manor place, and a mylne.”
The right of free warren was granted to Sir Peter Legh and
his heirs, by Queen Elizabeth.
The arms of Mr. Richard Legh, with eight quarterings, and
crest encircled with the garter and motto “endiv et ma foi,” are
placed over the rounded archway that leads into the quadrangle.
The quarters are: First, Corona; second, Legh of Lyme. Between
these two the escutcheon with embowed arm and starred banner.
Third, Butler; fourth, Croft; fifth, Haydock; sixth, Boydell of
Poulcroft; seventh, Boydell of Gropenhall; and eighth, Ashton.
(See shield of arms, p. 80.)
The rooms of Lyme hall untouched since Elizabeth's time
are the “stone parlour,” the drawing-room, the long gallery, the
knights' room, and room adjoining. Those most altered are the
entrance hall, library, saloon, and dining-room. In the two last,
and on the capitals of the columns supporting the grand staircase,
very precious specimens of Grindling Gibbons' carvings are to be
See 11. *
In attempting to describe the interior of Lyme hall, enriched
as it is with architecture, painting, sculpture, heraldry, and the
fine arts, it becomes necessary to pursue a consistent plan ; and
this is the easier, because the principal suite of entertaining
rooms is on the same floor, leading into one another. The only
exceptions are the stone parlour on the ground floor, and the
long gallery, and knights' room and adjoining room, on the upper
story.
The entrance hall leads out of the court yard to the left,
I42 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
and is approached by a flight of stone stairs. It was re-
modelled in 1822 by Wyatt, and is a large, lofty, and handsomely-
proportioned room. The stone chimney-piece, also by Wyatt, is
handsome in itself, though meagre when compared with its
Elizabethan rivals. The ornamentations of helmets and swords
are fit emblems of an abode that has domiciled so many genera-
tions of a knightly family.
The portrait of Sir Peter Legh hangs over this mantelpiece,
not, as is often said, the founder of the family, but Sir Peter, who
lived in the reign of Henry VIII., Mary, and Elizabeth, the
restorer, or re-builder of the hall. He is habited in a close-fitting
embroidered surcoat and ruffle. The right hand rests on a plumed
helmet of the Tudor time, and the left grasps the hilt of a substan-
tial sword. The face is bearded and moustached. Beneath this
picture a long two-handled sword is fixed, with a knightly-looking
pair of long-rowelled gilt spurs slung across it, and said to have
been borne by Sir Perkin Legh.
The portrait of a young man habited in a bonnet set round
with roses, and the motto “jusqu 'alors,” hangs on the right
wall. Examined carefully, the same features as those of Sir
Peter Legh are recognizable, only this latter is the portrait of a
young man. Again, the same face is displayed to the left of the
chimneypiece, only the features are those of an old, though
vigorous and determined man. It is in this last character, with
silver hair and beard, that contemporary artists most frequently
depicted the doughty knight, seeing that more than one portrait
hangs on the walls, and more than one is displayed on stained glass.
To the right of the mantelpiece there is a portrait of Sir
Thomas Chicheley of Wimpole, in Cambridgeshire, chancellor of
the duchy of Lancaster, and master of ordnance to Charles II.
His daughter Elizabeth was wife of Richard Legh of Lyme.
His portrait hangs on the left wall, and is that of a cavalier in
buff coat, &c., of the later Caroline period. He was born in
1634, and died in 1637.
Opposite to this picture, on the same wall, is that of Richard
LYME HALL. I43
Legh's son, viz., Piers Legh, who married Frances Legh of
Bruche, sister and heiress of her brother. He is said to have
died at Bruche and to have been buried at Winwick. He was
Committed to the Tower in 1694 for adhering to the king's
enemies, and to Chester castle in 1696 on a like charge. He
denied his guilt in both instances, and in his will expressed a
wish that his innocency might be commemorated on a brass in
the church where he was buried. He was a friend of Dr. Byrom's,
who visited him at Lyme in 1728. He settled his estates on his
four nephews. (Beamont's pedigree.) The last portrait in this
hall is that of Thomas Legh, who is dressed in an Albanian
costume. He rests one arm on his horse's neck, and his favourite
Mameluke servant sits at his feet. Mr. Thomas Legh was an
enterprising traveller, and published a quarto voulme in 1816
entitled Narrative of a journey in Egypt and the Country beyond
the Cataracts. He was one amongst the earliest explorers of
Nubia, and one of a party who first rode through the “Written
Valley,” notwithstanding the hostility and prejudice of the popu-
lace. His interesting and exciting account of the dangerous
descent made by himself and two other Europeans into the
mummy pits at Amabdi near Manfalout on the Nile, under the
escort of three Arabs, is scarcely to be surpassed. To him, also,
the British public is to a great extent indebted for the discovery
and acquisition of the celebrated frieze of the temple of Apollo
at Phigalia, a cast of which adorns Lyme hall.
On a doorway which opens out of the drawing room on to the
entrance hall, a full-length portrait of the Black Prince is painted,
whilst opposite to him is another full-length painting of his
father, Edward III. They are fac-similes of the two engraved
portraits in Gregson's Lancashire Fragments, but whether taken
from them, or vice versa, does not appear.
On passing down a flight of steps to the left of the entrance
hall, the domestic chapel is reached, which is fitted up in the
debased Jacobean style. The only objects of antiquarian interest
consist of a square-headed font, said to have been brought from
I44 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Bradley, on the faces of which four coats of arms are carved ;
and the fragments of two crosses, ornamented with chain tracery,
which formerly stood in a double-socketed base above Disley,
and known as the “Jordan Law Crosses.” The socket-stone was
taken to Stockport rectory and converted into a grindstone when
the crosses were removed to Lyme hall. They formed part of a
singular chain of double “law” or boundary stones that crossed
the moorlands from nigh Prestbury to Mellor. Jordan Law
cross and the “Borestones,” or Bowstones, are made mention of
in the 15th century Latin MS. of Sir Peter Legh :
“Beginning at a bridge called Chorlshede brigge, and so
descending the highway as far as a stone crosse called Jordan
lawe crosse, and so following the road from the said cross to a
certain pit called Wolfe putte, and so as far as the Borestones,”
&c., &c. From the same MS. it appears that “a square stone
called the ‘Whytebore’ used to lie upon Shrigley moor.”
On returning from the chapel to the entrance hall, another
short flight of steps leads into the drawing room, in the passage
to which hangs a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots.
The drawing room is a lofty and handsome apartment, about
forty feet Square, and is in every respect a good specimen of an
Elizabethan interior. The mantelpiece is a fine piece of renais-
sance work, the entablature being supported by Ionic columns,
and the pediment by Caryatides. The royal arms of Elizabeth
occupy the central compartment.
The lower half of the walls are of panelled oak, wrought out
into intersecting arches. The upper half is plain, and hung
round with family portraits, &c. A deeply-recessed bay window,
its separate compartments filled in with stained glass repre-
senting the heraldic insignia of the knights of the garter (said
to be the handsomest decoration of its kind in England), gives
additional beauty to the general coup d’azil.
The arms in one window compartment represent George
Talbot earl of Shrewsbury, Sir H. Sidney, Thomas Percy earl of
Northumberland, W. Stanley earl of Derby, H. Hastings earl of
LYME HALL. I45
Huntingdon, W. Somerset earl of Worcester, H. Radcliffe earl of
Sussex, Thomas Cecil earl of Exeter; over which are the arms
of Seymour quartering Vere.
In the other compartment are, H. Manners earl of Rutland,
W. Paulett earl of Winchester, John Dudley earl of Warwick,
Sir Rhys ap Thomas, Edward Clinton earl of Lincoln, H. Clif-
ford earl of Cumberland, Francis Russel earl of Bedford, and
Walter Devereux earl of Hereford.
In the Central compartment the royal arms of England with
lion and unicorn for Supporters are displayed, thus showing that
the window is Jacobean in its origin. Beneath this there is a
miniature portrait of Sir P. Legh, the provost marshall, &c.,
represented as an aged man with white hair and beard, and on
each side of it the escutcheon of augmentation. Beneath these,
and disposed side by side, are the Haydock and Boydell coats.
Below these the engrailed cross of Legh with inescutcheon ; and
by its side the coat of Croft of Dalton. Still lower down the
quartered coats of Legh of Lyme and of Calveley are depicted.
The portraits of James I., Charles I., Charles II., James II.,
Queen Ann, and Mary of Scotland, are painted on the Oaken
panels beneath this oriel window.
Three other windows facing north are each enriched with
armorial shields. In that one furthest removed from the bay,
there are three shields of arms, viz.: First, Molineux with six-
teen quarters, and badge of baronetcy; second, Legh impaling
Chicheley; and third, Egerton with eight quarters. Beneath
these is a shield bearing a crest, viz., on a wreath, a hand grasping
a phean sable, for Holt of Grislehurst.
The coat armour of Richard Legh is the same as that already
described on the lead spout, viz., Adlington differenced with a
crescent. Richard Legh, the heir to his uncle Francis Legh, was
born in 1634. He represented Cheshire in Parliament from 1656
to 1659, Sir George Booth being his first colleague, and John
Bradshaw, the regicide, his second. He died in 1797, and was
buried at Winwick. (Beamont's pedigree.)
U
I46 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
The Molyneux coat has reference to the marriage of
Margaret daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, with Sir Peter
Legh. The Egerton coat represents the marriage of Sir Peter
Legh, some time about 1615, with Dorothy, daughter of Sir
Richard Egerton of Ridley, and widow of Richard Brereton of
Tatton. A full length portrait of this lady is preserved in one
of the bedrooms at Lyme, as is also that of Margaret, the first
wife of Sir Peter Legh, and daughter of Sir Gilbert Gerrard,
master of the rolls, circa 1586. The arms and name of Egerton
are painted on the first picture. She survived her husband, and
died in 1639. Some mention of her has already been made (vide
Legh of Adlington, p. 98); and of her desire to be buried with
her first husband at Eccles church, in Lancashire. In 1856, and
even later, this stately tomb was in its original entirety, and
surrounded with an iron railing, from the four corners of which,
and from the four centres, armorial shields were displayed on
small metal flags. This railing was recently removed during the
time of the church restoration. The effigies of herself and first
husband, and of a swaddled infant, repose on an altar tomb,
which is encircled with the following inscription :
“Hic jacent corpora Ricardi Brereton de Tatton et Worksley
Armigeri, et Dorothae uxoris ejus filiae Ricardi Eggerton de
Ridley militis, et Ricardi filii eorum qui quidem Ricardus obiit
17 die Decembris Anno Domini 1598, et dicta Dorothea obiit
quarto die Aprilis Anno Domini 1639, et dictus Ricardus filius
eorum qui infans obiit Anno Domini 1575, et dicta Dorothea hoc
monumentum fieri fecit I600.”
A large shield stands at the head of the tomb, on which the
arms of Brereton of Tatton are impaled with those of Egerton
of Ridley. (See drawing.) Brereton has four quarters, and each
quarter is quarterly. First and fourth, Brereton quarters Malpas;
second, Stanley of Weaver quarters Lathom ; third, Massey of
Tatton quarters the older coat of Massey.
The Egerton shield is also quarterly of four, viz., Egerton of
Ridley, Basset of Blore, Beke, and argent three bends gules. On
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LYME HALL. I47
the first flag Brereton of Tatton quarterly with Stanley and
Massey, impaled Leicester of Nether Tabley. On the second
flag Brereton and Malpas were displayed quarterly, and in the
centre an escutcheon of pretence with the arms of Stanley,
Lathom, and Massey Old and new, blazoned quarterly. The
third flag displayed Stanley of Weaver quarterly with Lathom,
over all an escutcheon of pretence bearing the new and old coat
armour of Massey of Tatton. The fourth flag bore Massey of
Tatton old and new coats quarterly, impaling Butler of Bewsey.
On the fifth flag, Egerton impaled Mainwaring of Ightfield,
Salop. On the sixth flag were the arms of Egerton and an
inescutcheon bearing Done of Oulton, third son of Done of
Utkinton. On the seventh were the Egerton arms and an
inescutcheon bearing Basset of Blore. The eighth flag bore the
quartered coat of Egerton impaling Grosvenor of Eaton, with
six quarters.
Four of the shields on these metal flags belonged to the
Breretons directly or indirectly, and four to the Egertons of
Egerton and Ridley. Of the Brereton quarterings the brief
explanation is as follows:
Worsley came by marriage of Sir John Massey of Tatton with
Alice sister and heir of Sir Geoffrey Worsley of Worsley, Lanca-
shire. (Edward III.) Sir Geoffrey Massey of Tatton married
Isabel the daughter of Sir John Butler of Bewsey. Sir Geoffrey
left Joan his daughter and heiress, who married Sir William
Stanley of Weever. Sir William again left a daughter and
heiress who married Sir Richard Brereton, younger son of Sir
Randle Brereton of Malpas.
Sir Geoffrey Brereton of Tatton, in 1551, married Alice,
daughter of Sir Piers Leicester of Nether Tabley. His son by
this marriage, Richard Brereton of Tatton, married Dorothy,
daughter of Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley. Their son died in
infancy (vide effigy on tomb), when the estates were settled on
Sir Thomas Egerton, lord keeper, from whom the dukes of
Bridgewater derive.
I48 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
The quarterings on the Egerton shields are explained as
follows:
Philip Egerton of Egerton (p.m. 13° Edward IV) married
Margery daughter of William Mainwaring of Ightfield.
John Egerton of Egerton (p.m. 10 Richard III) married
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Henry Done of Oulton.
Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley, who died in or about I 528,
married the daughter and heiress of Ralph Basset of Blore. His
son, Sir Richard Egerton, who died in 1579, married Margaret,
daughter of Sir Richard Grosvenor of Eaton, and widow of
Thomas Legh of Adlington. Their daughter Dorothy married
first, Sir Richard Brereton of Tatton, and second Sir Peter Legh
of Lyme.
On the centre window in the drawing room at Lyme, are four
shields of arms quartered, and the crest of Legh of Lyme. Only
the fourth coat is a family cognizance. It is a shield of Legh
with ten quarters, viz., Legh of Adlington, Legh of Baggiley,
Corona of Adlington, Legh of Lyme, Butler, Savage of Clifton,
on which the Legh inescutcheon is placed, Haydock, Boydell
of Poulcroft, Ashton, and Croft.
In the window to the right there is a coat of arms with
twenty-four quarterings, belonging to Gerard of Bromley. Sir
Peter Legh, the provost marshall, married Margaret, daughter
of Thomas Gerard of Bryn, in 1518. She lived to an advanced
age. Her portrait is preserved in the long gallery at Lyme,
taken in her 90th year. She holds in her arms Ann, her great
grandchild, then an infant, and afterwards wife of Richard Bold
of Bold. Below this is another shield of ten quarters, of Ven-
ables baron of Kinderton, placed presumably to set forth the
marriage of Sir Peter Legh with Catherine, daughter of Sir
Thomas Venables of Kinderton.
A hawk or, with wings expanded on a field argent, and the
engrailed cross of Legh with crest, completes this series of
armorial bearings. -
Within a glass case are preserved the gloves said to have been
LYME HALL. I49
worn by Charles I. on the scaffold, and his dagger, marked
“Carolus” on the blade.
Several good portraits hang on the walls, amongst which may
be mentioned Mrs. Legh, Lady Masters, Ashburnham of Ash-
burnham (qy Vandyke), Lord Derby, and his countess the Lady
Tremouille, and Sir John Ogle.
The “stag parlour” is an ante-room between the drawing and
dining rooms, so called because the history of a stag hunt is
displayed in twelve medallions on the frieze and cornice. The
stag is first represented feeding, then running through the forest,
next the dogs are questing, then the stag is at lair, afterwards he
is breaking cover, then at bay, then being run down, then pulled
down by the hounds, then the coup de grace, then he is seen
trussed up ready to bear away, and lastly the dogs are being
beaten off. The chairs in this room are covered with tapestry
work, said to be portions of the cloak worn by King Charles at
the time of his beheadment.
The royal arms of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland,
with garter and motto of the time of James I., are placed over
the mantelpiece. The quartered arms of Legh of Lyme occupy
the centre panel of the mantelpiece, and the side ones are occu-
pied with the crest and inescutcheon. An interesting bas-relief
representing Lyme hall in the Jacobean period is fixed over
this mantelpiece.
The dining room was remodelled by Wyatt. The walls are
panelled, and adorned with scrolls in high relief which run
round as a frieze. The panels are coupied with portraits. An
exquisitely-wrought group by Grindling Gibbons, consisting of
fish, fishing tackle, and wild fowl, is fixed over the mantelpiece.
The following portraits hang round this room : I, Charles I.,
by Vandyke. 2, Ann, eldest daughter of lord-keeper Coventry,
eminent for her zealous and faithful services to the king in his
troubles ; the painting is by Housman. She was married, first,
to Sir William Saville of Yorkshire, and was by him mother of
the last marquis of Halifax of that name. She married after-
I 50 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
wards Sir Thomas Chicheley, knight. 3, Richard Legh, baron of
Newton, and his wife, daughter of the above-named Sir Thomas
Chicheley. Sir Richard is habited in a buff coat. His arms
have already been described. He was born in 1634, and repre-
sented Cheshire in 1656–59. 4, Peter Legh and his wife Frances
Legh of Bruche, sister and heir to her brother. Peter Legh was
born in 1669. In 1694 he was committed to the Tower on a
charge of high treason for adhering to the king's enemies. In
I696 he was committed to Chester on a like charge. (Vide
Jacobite trials in Manchester.) On both occasions he protested
that he was wrongly accused and dealt with ; and when he died
in 1744, he ordered a plain brass to be erected over his remains
at Winwick to express his innocency of the wicked conspiracy
by false witnesses, imprisonments, and trials in 1694 and 1696,
and that he died a member of the Church of England, and .
looked on it as the best and purest of churches, which he hoped
might continue for ever. In 1709 Peter Legh founded Trinity
church in Warrington for the benefit of his tenants and others.
(W. Beamont, Esq.). 5, A portrait of Peter Legh who was born
in 1717 and died in 1792, and was buried at Disley. He was a
friend of Dr. Byrom at Cambridge in 1729; and he gave his
voice against the rising of the Cheshire men in the rebellion of
I745. (Beamont.) There are five more portraits, but their authen-
ticity is doubtful.
In the ante-room leading from the dining room into the library
there is a portrait of Admiral Francis Legh. The walls of this
room are hung with tapestry representing the rape of Europa.
In the library, designed and executed by Wyatt, is a portrait
of Richard Sherlock, D.D., who was born at Oxton in Cheshire
in 1613, and was educated at Magdalene College, Oxford, and at
Trinity College, Dublin. He wrote The Principles of the Christian
Religion, The Catechism Paraphrazed, Mercurius Christianus, &c.,
and died in 1689.
On the walls of the grand staircase there are two portraits
by Beechy representing George IV, when prince of Wales, and
LYME HALL. I 5 I
his brother the duke of York. Another painting represents the
death of the red deer, and the old huntsman Bullock. Another
represents John Watson with a knife in his hand, a dead stag at
his feet, and a dog by his side. It is inscribed as follows:
“John Watson, who in the 26th year of his age, viz., in 1674,
commenced keeper at Lyme Park, in which service he continued
7O years, and in 1750, in the one hundred and second year of his
age, hunted a buck, a chace near six hours long, at which hunting
one gentleman was present whose ancestors he had hunted with
for 4 generations before, he being the 5th generation he had
hunted with.”
Two busts by Gatley, the sculptor of Kerridge, of Mr. Thomas
Legh and of his second wife, Maud Lowther, are placed on
this staircase.
The most noticeable objects in the saloon are six groups of
flowers, fruit, musical instruments, &c., which depend from the
panelled walls, whilst two similar groups are arranged over the
doors, all by Grindling Gibbons.
Casts of the Phigalian marbles are fixed against the walls of
the quadrangular gallery in the upper story of Lyme hall. The
originals are in the British Museum, and were brought to Eng-
land by Mr. Thomas Legh. They are antique friezes representing
contests between the Centaurs and Lapithae, and the Greeks and
Amazons, which formerly ornamented the temple of Apollo
Epicurus at Phigalia in Arcadia.
A room I 19 feet long leads from off this gallery, and is very
characteristic of 16th and 17th century houses. The mantelpiece
is a fine specimen of renaissance work, and is of the debased Doric
order, rising from floor to ceiling. The walls are of panelled oak,
wrought into flat pilasters, with interlacing arches and studs. A
bedstead, covered with faded tapestry stands in this room, said to
have been used by Mary Queen of Scots when she slept at Lyme
on her way from Chatsworth with Lady Cavendish. Lord Byron's
study chairs are also here. Amongst the portraits is one of a
herald said to be Mercury Patten. Another of an ancient lady
I 52 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
holding a child in her arms, and inscribed “Sir Piers' lady aetatis
suaº. 9o, A.D. 1595.” Beneath the portraiture of the child,
“aetatis suae Anno primo after marryed to Bold.” Another
portrait is that of Lady Masters, and of Admiral Francis Legh,
both in duplicate. Then there is one of the Rev. Thomas Legh
dated 1626, and marked third son of Sir Peter Legh. Another
represents Dr. John Hewitt, son of Thomas Hewitt of Eccles,
and chaplain to king Charles I. For his loyalty to Charles II.
he was beheaded on Tower hill on the 8th June, I658. He
married the lady Mary Bertie, daughter of Robert earl Lindsay.
There is also a portrait of the Rev. John Dod, called the Deca-
logist, who was born in Cheshire and died in 1645, when 90 years
old. In his hand he holds a scroll which is inscribed “Dod on
the commandments.” “Dr. Legh's lady, Hugh Calveley's daugh-
ter,” is represented in another picture. Two portraits of Henry
VIII. and Henry IV. complete the series.
The “knights' room” is thoroughly Elizabethan. The lower
half is panelled oak, and the upper half is covered with renais-
sance tracery, surmounted with a deep cornice, and over all an
elaborate ceiling. The mantelpiece rises the whole height of the
room, and is ornamented with fluted Doric columns, &c. The
quartered coat of Gerard of Etwall impaling that of Radcliffe
with six quarters, occupies the central compartment. The crests
of Gerard and Radcliffe surmount their respective arms, viz., on
a helmet two wings expanded sable ; and on a helmet a bull's
head erased. To the side of the Gerard crest is a monkey,
and to the side of the Radcliffe crest a lion's jamb erect and
erased ermine, holding a lure gules garnished and lined or and
tasseled argent. Beneath is the motto “Bono vice malum.”
Gerard quarters Ince, and Radcliffe quarters Plessington, Bald-
win, Lawrence, Washington, and Butler of Rowcroft. Gerard
of Etwall had two crests, viz., two wings expanded sable, and a
lion's jamb erect and erased ermine as above described. The
monkey statant proper collared and chained is the crest of the
Fitzgeralds, dukes of Leinster.
LYME HALL. I 53
On another renaissance mantelpiece, in the adjoining room,
are the arms of Hoghton impaling Ashton, with bull's head for
CreSt.
There are three portraits in the room known as the “state
bed room,” viz., that of Sir Richard Legh, baron of Newton, by
Sir Peter Lely; that of Sir R. C. Gerard of Grousewood near
Newton ; and a full-length portrait of “Sir P. Legh's first lady
that was Lord Gerard of Bromley's daughter master of the
rolls,” in full Elizabethan costume.
The only other room in Lyme hall needing special mention is
known as the “stone parlour,” which also contains a handsome
renaissance mantelpiece with Corinthian columns and capitals,
and holding in its central compartment the coat of Molineux,
with sixteen quarterings, with the peacock's tail issuing out of a
cap of maintenance for crest. Here is a portrait of “Grimshaw
the bailiff,” and at his feet a fine specimen of the well-known
breed of Lyme mastiff dogs.
I 54 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
LEGH OF RIDGE.
This family derives from John Legh, younger brother of Sir
Peter Legh the first of Lyme. It is the more necessary to insist
on this point, as in many genealogical charts he is styled brother
to Sir Peter Legh the second of Lyme. A reference to the
indictment of Maud Norley (see Legh of Adlington, p. 84)
shows that John Legh was her younger and apparently favourite
son. Again, in the dispute that arose between Robert Legh and
his kinsmen, it is expressly stated that Peter and John Legh
were brothers. (p. 86.)
John Legh is styled by Bostock (Cheshire collections Harleian
MSS.) the son of Peter Legh of Rudge, by Cecily, daughter and
heiress of John de l’Haghe. In Mr. Wood's 16th century
Cheshire M.S. he is said to be the issue of Sir P. Legh the first
of Lyme, and Cecily, daughter and heiress of John de l’Haghe
of Derbyshire. Dugdale calls him the grandson of Sir Peter
Legh the first of Lyme, who, according to the same authority,
was twice married, first to Cecily Hagh, and second to Margaret
Danyers.
He married Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Alcocke
of Ridge in Sutton, and hence became known as Legh of
Ridge; and was sometimes known as John de Macclesfield.
In token of juniority he differenced the Norley arms with a
mullet sable, and in this respect only do they differ from the
coat armour of Legh of Lyme. Alice died sometime before
the year 1430, when, as is generally understood, John Legh
married Catherine Kingsley. John de Kingsley was living in
1412, and was one of the signatories to a deed in which Sir
Robert Legh of Adlington relinquished his claim to Pulford in
favour of Sir Thomas Grosvenor; whilst Adam de Kingsley's
name occurs prominently in the indictment already referred to.
David Browne, formerly of Macclesfield, states that Catherine
was a daughter of John Kingsley. The fragmentary inscription
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LEGH OF RIDGE. I 55
once over a window in Bosley church, and copied by Dugdale
(Church Notes) shows that Catherine Kingsley was wife of John
Legh in 143O :
“In another window three crosses engrailed, the first ermine in
a field vert marked with an annulet for Kingsley : the next
argent in a field gules with a mullet for Legh of Macclesfield :
the last ermine in a field gules for Macclesfield. Underneath
the following, Joh’is Regge . . . . . . et fact' fuit 1430, Katherine
ux'is suae tunc dri'. . . . . .
The word “tunc” makes it certain that Catherine was at that
time wife of John Legh, and as such his second wife, by whom
he had no issue.
The exact date of John Legh's death is uncertain, but he was
escheator of Cheshire in 1453, as the public records show: “John
Legh de l'Ridge was escheator of Cheshire in the 31st year of
Henry 6” (Leicester), at which time he must have been upwards
of eighty years of age.
By Alice, his first wife, he had issue Roger Legh, who married
Helen, daughter of Sir Robert Legh of Adlington, by whom he
had a son called Roger. Roger Legh died in 1448, so that at
the death of John Legh, Ridge devolved on his grandson, Roger
Legh, who married Elizabeth, a daughter of Sutton of Sutton,
by whom he had issue, and from whom the Leghs of Ridge
descend, as also the family of Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh, in
Warwickshire. Roger Legh died in 1506, and his wife in 1489.
Both were buried at Macclesfield church, where the larger por-
tion of their monumental brass may yet be seen, inscribed as
follows :
Ølate p aiah; Rogeli legſ, ct (Elisabeth brig ſue qui
quipm, 150genus obiit uíſo bic Pourmbyig @9 pm) mº tº biº
(Elisabetſ beyo obiit to big @ttobrig @” bm, mºttttirrrit”
quº aiah; ppítictu, tº
The effigies of Roger Legh and his sons, all kneeling, have
been removed, but those of his wife and her six daughters
remain. Issuing from her mouth is a scroll bearing the prayer
I 56 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
from the litany, “A dampnacione perpetua libera nos Domine.”
In the space between the two sets of kneeling suppliants is a
representation of the Pope, triply crowned, in the attitude of
asking a pardon from Christ, who is represented displaying the
nail wounds in both hands. Beneath this pictorial design is the
following: “The pardon for saying of five pater nosters and five
aves and a cred is twenty-six thousand yeres and twenty-six
dayes of pardon.” (See illustration.)
Common though the sale of indulgences was about this time,
and much as the minds of thinking people were scandalised by
the indiscriminate traffic in them, this Legh pardon or indulgence
was probably thought then, and has certainly been considered
since, as having all but surpassed any of its predecessors in
laxity and amplitude, and as having served to help forward the
reformation in England. In further illustration of the subject,
the following form of indulgence, or pardon, may not be un-
interesting :
“May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon you, and
absolve you by the merits of his most holy passion. And I,
by his authority, that of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and
of the most holy Pope, granted and committed to me, in these
parts, do absolve you, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in
whatever manner they have been incurred ; then from all thy
sins, trangressions, and excesses, howsoever enormous these may
have been, even from such as are reserved for the cognisance of
the Holy See, as far as the keys of the holy church extend. I
remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory on
their account; and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the
church, to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence and
purity which you possessed at baptism ; so that, when you die,
the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the
paradise of delight shall be opened ; and if you shall not die at
present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the
point of death. In the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy
Ghost.” gº
WIN CLE GRANGE. I 57
In yet further illustration of the supposed efficacy of these
instruments, Tetzel, one of Pope Leo's principal agents, used to
say that he would not exchange his privileges against those
which St. Peter had in heaven, for he had saved more souls by
his indulgences than the apostle had by his sermons; adding,
whatever crime one may have committed, let him pay well and
he will receive pardon.
WINCLE GRANGE
Stands on the high ground overlooking Wincle village, in Prest-
bury parish. It is a Gothic house, built of stone by the abbot
and monks of Combermere, apparently towards the close of the
I4th century.
Combermere abbey was founded in I 143 by Hugh Malbank.
In 1299 the monks of Combermere had a grange at Wincle
valued at ten shillings yearly, the stock upon it being four times
the value of the land. (Canon Raines, in Gastrell's Wotitia
Cesàriensis.) The existing building is not the original one.
Wincle manor originally formed part of Hugh Malbank's terri-
torial possessions. It is mentioned in the abbey charter, and
also in the taxation of Pope Nicholas, as follows: “Item habet
apud Wynkehull in dec. de Maclesfeld duas carucatas terrae et
valet p. annum IOS.”
The grange at Wincle is again referred to in the Valor Eccle-
siasticus of Henry VIII. as rendering I 3s. 4d. annually. In
34° Henry VIII. Combermere abbey was granted to George
Cotton, together with its dependencies, in which Wincle grange
was included. It shortly afterwards formed part of the estate
of John Legh of Ridge, as appears by his post mortem inquisition
dated 22° Elizabeth. In his will, dated 1577, he granted to his
eldest son John, then twenty-two years old, his manor house of
Ridge, and all the demesne lands belonging to his mansion or
dwelling house called Wincle grange, except five marks to his
widow to be paid yearly out of Wincle grange. (Piccope's Cheshire
Wills.)
I 58 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Within a year or two of the restoration of Charles II, Peter
Legh of Wincle grange well nigh got into trouble for his loyalty
to the Stuart cause. A letter from Sir Thomas Stanley of Alder-
ley, addressed to Mr. Croxton of Ravenscroft, dated I658–9,
and published in the Chester Historic Society's transactions,
shows how thorough a royalist he was: .
“Good Sir, Att our last month's meetinge att Prestbury, there
was two informacions given in and taken uppom oathe before
Coll: Bradshawe and myselfe against Mr. Peter Legh, of Wincle
Grange, for words by him not longe agoe spoken, which are to this
effect: that the late Lord Protector was dead and gone to the Devill:
and that this Protector would not bee longe before hee dyed, and
went to the Devill after him; and that it was better for a man to bee
buried underground alive than to live under this present govern-
ment. And then, discourseinge of the late election (i.e., when
Bradshawe was returned as knight of the shire), declared that
Bradshawe was more fitt to stande betwixt a paire of Plowe
stilts, than to sitt in the Parliament house: or wordes very neare
to this effect. Besides, he uttered some false and unbecominge
expressions against my sonne Stanley in order to the election.
Coll: Bradshawe and I hereupon granted forthe our warrant to
apprehend and bringe him before us, or one of us, to answer
such matters as were proved and objected against him, and did
thereupon conceive he was not Bayleable; and soe resolved that
before whether of us two he appeared to send him unto you to
be further dealt with, as you should see cause, or think good.
This morneinge Mr. Legh appeared before mee of his owne
accorde, and having neither constables nor other trustie persons
readie by whom safely to convaye him to you, have adventured
to send for the Bearers your Soldiers, and given them strict
charge safely to bring him before you. Coll: Bradshawe hath
the Informacions (which are as above I have related) to whom I
will write, and desire they may bee speeded to you. The rest is
to present you with my kindest love and service, and ever to
remaine your very assured friend to love and serve you.
“Alderley 49 March 1658.” “Thomas Stanley.
WIN CLE GRANGE. I 59
Wincle grange remained in the possession of the Legh family
till the beginning of the 18th century. Afterwards part of the
copyhold estates held in connection with this property were
successively in the possession of John Armitt of Nettlebeds, in
Wincle, yeoman, and his son John Armitt, and of William
Trafford of Swythanley, and others, and were, in 1735, surren-
dered to Thomas Hollinshead of Ashenhurst, near Leek. It is
presumed, and as regards Thomas Hollinshead it is certain, that
Wincle grange, which is freehold, was held by these parties, or
Some of them, with such copyhold estates.
From Thomas Hollinshead these estates, including Wincle
grange, with others in Staffordshire, descended to William
Stanley of Nether Alderley, in the county of Chester, and to
Francis Leigh of Cheadle, in the county of Stafford, his nephew,
on his dying intestate. -
The Cheshire and Staffordshire estates of Thomas Hollinshead
were divided, and allotted (by deed of partition of 30th October,
1750) between the said William Stanley and Francis Leigh,
Wincle grange and other estates being allotted to William
Stanley, who died in 1752, and thereupon his eldest son, Thomas
Stanley, became entitled to the estates. The last-named Thomas
Stanley died without issue in 1765, and by will gave to his bro-
ther Lawrence his estates, &c.
Lawrence Stanley died without issue in 1772, when his estates
descended to his sister and heiress-at-law, Frances, wife of the
Rev. George Salt, by whom they were conveyed in 1788 to
Michael Daintry, of North Rode, in the county of Chester.
They remained in the possession of this family till 1850, when
Wincle grange was sold to William Brocklehurst, banker, of
Macclesfield and Swythamley, from whom they descend to his
nephew Philip Brocklehurst, the present owner.16
Wincle grange is an interesting specimen of domestic eccle-
siastical architecture, the details of which show that it was built
* For information concerning the tenure of Wincle grange subsequently to its relin-
quishment by the Leghs of Ridge I am indebted to J. Challiner, Esq., of Leek.
I6O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
at a time when the Decorated was giving way to the Perpen-
dicular Gothic style. It is distant about seven miles from Leek,
quite on the Staffordshire border of Cheshire, and stands on the
high and once barren moorlands that overlook the “Roches.”
The external appearance of the grange at the present time is not
materially changed from its original design. The walls are of
considerable thickness, and are pierced with ten square-headed
windows. The house is two-storied. The window tracery, the
mouldings, and the embattled ornamentations indicate the date
to be sometime between the years 1380 and I42O. (See plate.)
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MACCLESFIELD. I6 I
MACCLESFIELD.
The leading antiquarian and historic features connected with
the town of Macclesfield have already received such ample treat-
ment from the pens of Ormerod, Lyson, and Corrie, that, in order
to save needless repetition, mention will here be made only of
such facts and minor events as have hitherto escaped notice, or
been cursorily dismissed.
There is a tradition to the effect that a castle once existed in
Macclesfield, and this belief has been strengthened by stray
notices in books. The investigation, conducted exhaustively,
will show that a stately dwelling of a half-castellated kind once
existed on the brow of the hill between the church and Parsonage
green, to the left of Mill street. Some remnants of this house
are yet in existence, though of a very fragmentary kind. These
consist (I) of a Solid stone wall which stretches a considerable
distance ; (2) of a square-headed window, with perpendicular
tracery; (3) a very mutilated pointed arch which once formed a
doorway; (4) a buttress with a perpendicular string course ; and
(5) a stone groined gateway. These remains afford a proximate
date, as they represent a late period of Perpendicular Gothic archi-
tecture, such as prevailed in the reign of Richard III., who is
known to have displayed skill and taste of no ordinary kind in
Gothic architecture. The bosses of the groined roof of the gate-
way are large, and one of them bears a double-flowered rose for
ornament. The arches are depressed, and the bosses are many
and bulky. So far as can be ascertained, the dimensions of the
outer walls were forty yards long, by thirty-six yards wide. The
square-headed window is fixed above the gateway, and on a
third story. The arch in the wall, and the string course, both
display the shallow cavette which is so characteristic of Perpen-
dicular architecture.
Camden, in his Britannia, says, “there are still some remains
of the mansion of Henry Stafford, the great Duke of Buckingham,
Y
I62 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
who lived here in great state and hospitality.” Lyson (History
of Cheshire) also says that in a street called Back Wallgate are
some small remains of a mansion of the Duke of Buckingham,
and he adds that the name of the Duke of Buckingham is not to
be met with in any record of Macclesfield. The building is
spoken of in Smith's Cheshire as a huge place, all of Stone, in
manner of a castle, which belonged to the Duke of Buckingham,
but is now gone to decay. Webb, writing in 1672, says, “in
ye towne are yet some ruines of ye auncient manor house of the
renowned Duke of Buckingham, who, as report goeth, kept there
his princely residence about the time of King Edward the fourth,
of whose great hospitality there, much by tradition is reported.”
Dr. Ormerod copies Webb's words.
Dugdale, in his Baronage, traces the family descent of the
Staffords from the Conquest. He also gives lists of all the castles,
manors, and estates, of which the various members of this family
died seized. It is remarkable that this particular manor house
in Macclesfield is made no mention of by so accurate a chronicler
as Dugdale. The principal estates of the Staffords were in Staf-
fordshire, Wales, Kent, and the southern English counties. No
mention is made of this Cheshire manor by any chronicler of
events, until the time of Duke Henry's grandson, although there
is every reason for thinking and saying that the Macclesfield
manor was possessed by grandfather, father, and grandson.
The beheadment of the grandfather in Salisbury market-place,
in 1483, is a familiar history. He was betrayed by an old
servant, Banister, who was instigated to this treachery by a
promised reward of IOOO!, not one farthing of which did he ever
receive from Richard III., who wisely and well said that “he who
would be untrue to so good a master would be false to all other.”
(Stowe's Chronicle.)
The eldest son and heir succeeded to the dukedom of Buck-
ingham, and shared his father's fate in 1521, after having been
tried on various charges, and having had sentence of death pro-
nounced upon him by the Duke of Norfolk.
MACCLESFIELD. I63
His son, Henry, was restored in blood, but not to his honours
and lands, by act of parliament two years after his father's death.
Nevertheless, the king (Henry VIII) of his special grace, granted
to him the manors of Norton-in-the-Moors, Tyllington, Cyton,
Church Cyton, Wood Cyton, Dorlaston Forbrigge, Bradwalle,
Dodyngton, Blyminchull, Holdych near Newcastle, Centynshull
and Barlaston in Staffordshire, with the advowsons of these
churches; also manors, tenements, and rents of Menlefield and
Crystellon, in Cheshire, with the advowsons of the churches
thereunto belonging, &c, &c., all of which were parcels of the
possessions of the before-specified Edward duke of Buckingham
attainted.
Here, for the first time, is any mention made of Cheshire
manors belonging to the Dukes of Buckingham, i.e., forty years
after the death of Henry Stafford, the great duke of Buckingham,
who, by tradition, built the Macclesfield manor house, the ruins
of which correspond, in architectural style, to the day in which
he lived. That Macclesfield and Menlefield are the same is
undoubted, as the spelling in old deeds and writings is very
variable.
Notwithstanding this singular lack of documentary evidence
concerning the abode of this family of Stafford in Cheshire, there
is every reason for thinking that several generations of them did
reside in or near to Macclesfield.
In I 19 Edward III., Ralph Stafford was justice of Cheshire.
He is said by Dugdale to have died in 469 Edward III., and
during his life to have had license to make castles of his manor
houses of Stafford and Madeley.
In 350 Edward III., Henry Spurstowe held a messuage and
five acres of land in Henbury, with appurtenances, of Richard
Stafford, by military service.
In 99 Richard II., Hugh, earl of Stafford, son of the above
Ralph, was sheriff of Cheshire, and deputed Sir Richard Venables
of Kinderton to discharge the duties of the office. (Leicester.)
In the October of the same year, the king commanded Peter
I64 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
de Legh, late locum temens of Nigel de Loryng, to perform the
office of supervisor and steward of the lordship and manor of
Macclesfield, which office his relative the earl of Stafford had
relinquished. (Public Records.)
In Ioo Richard II., Robert Legh of Adlington was steward
of the Hundred and forest of Macclesfield, by patent of the earl
of Stafford; and later on in the same year, when Robert Legh had
summons to go to the war in France, a warrant was issued to
him to deliver up certain offices which he then held as attorney
of the earl of Stafford. *
In Mr. R. Wood's MS. it is stated that Humfrey de Stafford
junior was one of many present when Margaret Parr gave the
manor of Barrow, in Cheshire, to John Savage and Maud (Swim-
merton) his wife, in 70 Henry IV.
In the Adlington MS. there is a copy of indenture made by
the right worshipful lord Humfrey, earl of Buckingham, Here-
ford, Stafford, Northampton, and Perche, and dated 20° Henry VI.,
1442, in which it is agreed that Sir John Handforth of Hand-
forth, knight, is to take the fues, profits, and reversions of the
manor and lordship of Thornbury, in Gloucester, for IO/, a year
during his lifetime.
In all these notices there is something of a very local nature,
and the last transaction with Sir John Handforth is particularly so.
Hugh, earl of Stafford, is referred to as sheriff of Cheshire in
9° Richard II, whilst in Io9 Richard II. Edmond his son
was a bearer of offices in Cheshire, and is the person referred
to in the warrant to Robert Legh. Now, his eldest son was
Ralph Stafford, who was murdered in 89 Richard II, and it
is very questionable whether he is not the Ralph de Macclesfield
referred to in Cheshire Histories as exchanging his manor of
Bosley with Humphrey afterwards Duke of Buckingham, to
whom he was uncle. -
It is remarkable that Leyland made no mention of this Mac-
clesfield manor house in his ſtinerary (temp. Henry VIII.),
although he was well acquainted with the town, as the following
shields •% Qrms ... haecesſida.
Church. ‘Jower.
£2. /*36.

MACCLESFIELD. I65
entry shows: “Maxwelle hard on the egge under the Maxwel
foreste, and yet out of the foreste, xxiv myles north-west from
Chestre towards Darbishire;” and again, “The hole foreste of
Maxwel except it be a smaul spek is in Chestre.”
I consider that the manor house was built by the Staffords
Some time between the years I44O and 146O.
In the 23rd year of the reign of Henry VIII. the manor house
passed by purchase from the Staffords to the Stanleys, as the fol-
lowing shows, peries Antrobus of Eaton: “Indenture made yº ſyrste
daye of February in the three and twentyth yere of Henry VIII.,
between Edward earl of Derby on the one part, and Henry lord
Stafford and Ursula his wife on the other part, for the sale of
all that their messuage or chief mansion situate and lying in the
towne of Macclesfyld in the county of Chester, with one croft of
land lying on the backside of the said messuage, compassed and
enclosed with a wall of stone conteyning one acre of grounde
more or lesse as it lyeth within the said wall.” The consideration
money was two hundred and twenty marks of good and lawful
English money, or about 16O/
The lady Ursula here mentioned was daughter of that grand
old countess of Salisbury who refused to lay her head on the
block, averring that she was no traitor, and so had it removed
whilst standing ; or, as a contemporary chronicler Said, “had it
fetched off slovenly.”
EXPLANATION OF THE SHIELDS CARVED IN RELIEF ON
THE TOWER OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH,
MACCLESFIELD. A.D. I858.
The tower of Saint Michael's church, the mother church of
Macclesfield, though really only an elder daughter of Prestbury,
is rich in armorial shields, which are carved in relief on stone, on
its north and west faces. There are sixteen in all, and as there
can be no reasonable doubt that the possessors of these bearings
were contributors towards the erection, it becomes an object of
antiquarian and historic interest to rightly decipher them. (See
illustration.)
I66 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
I. On the north elevation, near to the battlement, there is a
shield bearing a beehive within an orle of bees, and above it the
figure of a man in armour. This is the armorial device of Roe,
a family of distinction in Macclesfield in the time of Edward III.,
whose names are recorded amongst the free tenants of Maccles-
field as late as 2.29 Elizabeth. The colours are, argent a hive, and
bees flying thereabout sable.
2. Two shields bearing respectively two bars, and two bars
differenced by a bend componée, are placed above the buttress
on the north-west face of the tower. The first represents Ven-
ables baron of Kinderton, from whom the Leghs of Adlington
descend, and the second is the coat of Legh of Adlington. The
colours of the first are azure two bars argent, and of the second
the same colours, but over all a bend componee or and gules.
These two shields placed side by side signify that Venables and
Legh are of one blood. For details vide pedigree of Legh of
Adlington.
3. Two shields stand out beneath the battlements of the west
tower front. One displays a chevron between three bugle horns
strung, and the other a stag, or hart lodged. The first represents
Sutton of Sutton, one of the nine subordinate foresters of Mac-
clesfield forest. “Inq. p.m. 36 Ed. 3. Jno de Sutton holds a
forestership in the forest of Macclesfield of ye Earl of Chester.
Adam son of Alan Sutton holds his lands of Sutton by charter
of Hugh Earl of Chester, in name of forestership.” The arms of
the forest of Macclesfield are the same as those of Sutton, viz.,
argent a chevron between three blowing horns sable, founded
on the coat proper to Delamere forest, which was argent one
blowing horn sable.
Downes of Downes is represented by, sable a hart lodged
argent. “Inq. p.m. 239 Rol. 3. Downes of Downes and Taxall
holds yº manor of Downes and Taxal, and a pasture called
Oxencrofte, and advowson of Taxal Church, in chief of the
Ring by military service, as of his manor of Macclesfield.”
Two shields placed above a three-canopied niche bear respec-
MACCLESFIELD. 167
tively two chevrons and a dexter canton, and a bend charged
with three garbs. They stand for Sir Lawrence Fitton of Gaws-
worth and Agnes his wife, daughter of . . . . . . Hesketh of
Rufford, in the county of Lancaster. The colours are argent,
two chevrons, and a dexter canton gules; and argent, a bend
Sable, charged with three garbs or. The Fittons of Gawsworth,
after the marriage of Sir Thomas Fitton with Isabel, daughter and
heiress of Thomas Orreby of Gawsworth, usually took the Orreby
arms, viz., the chevron coat, by which they set forth their
manorial possession. At other times they used their own proper
bearings, viz., argent on a bend azure three garbs or, a dexter
Canton gules, which latter was added to the arms after the mar-
riage of Isabel Orreby, and is in effect the Orreby canton.
King, in the Vale Royal, calls the chevron coat “Gawsworth.”
The Seal of Philip de Orreby was ermine, five chevronels, and a
Canton dexter charged with a lion statant; and of Thomas de
Orreby ermine two chevrons and a canton ermine. Randle
Holme (Cheshire Church Notes, Harleian MSS.) says that this
marriage of Sir Thomas Fitton and Agnes Hesketh was once
displayed in stained glass, on one of the windows of Gawsworth
church. The difference between the arms of Fitton and those
of Hesketh consists in the colour of the bend, and the absence
of canton. This coat refers to a younger son of Fitton of Bollin,
who settled in Lancashire at an early period, and with whose
family the Heskeths of Rufford became allied through the mar-
riage of Sir William Hesketh with a daughter and co-heiress of
Richard Fitton, who died seized of half the manor of Rufford.
Gregson (Lancashire Fragments) says that the Heskeths of
Rufford having married one of the daughters and co-heiresses of
Richard Fitton, thenceforward took the arms, which were argent
on a bend Sable three garbs or, and quartered them with their
more ancient arms, argent an eagle displayed with two heads
proper, and for Crest a garb proper.
Robert de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, confirmed Great Harwood to
Richard Fitton, who had a son Hugh, who had a son John, who
I68 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
had a son Edmund, whose son John was lord of Great Harwood
and half of Rufford (Henry I.), who had a son William, who had
a son Richard, who died leaving three daughters and co-heiresses,
Maude, Elizabeth, and Anabella.
The entire moiety of Rufford was granted to Maude, who
married Sir William Hesketh of Hesketh and Beconshaw (4°
Edward I., 1275), and by him had a son Thomas, who in his
turn had two sons, Robert and John. John, afterwards Sir John
Hesketh, became heir of Rufford in its entirety through marriage
with Alice, daughter and sole heiress of Edmond Fitton, who
was lord of the other moiety of Rufford. He thereupon assumed
the arms of Fitton. (Cuerdon MS., quoted by Baines.)
The two outer corbels of the three-canopied niche in the
tower have each a shield carved on their face, whilst the centre
corbel is adorned with leaf tracery only. The shield on the left
bears a cross engrailed ermine, and that to the right a plain
cross with five lozenges. The engrailed cross ermine represents
Macclesfield. A family bearing this name, and holding impor-
tant civil offices, was intimately connected with Macclesfield for
six generations, which embraced a period of time dating from
the reign of Henry III. down to the early part of the 15th
century, when they died out through failure of heirs male. The
following brief history seems to embrace all that is known of
them.
The first of whom any record exists was named Gilbert de
Macclesfield. He had a son, Roger, who married Isabella . . . . ,
as appears by the following agreement concerning forty acres of
land in Bosley, between Robert de Montalt and Roger de Mac-
clesfield and Isabella his wife :
“Finalis concordia (309 Henry III, 1246) inter Robert de
Montealto et Roger de Macclesfeld, et Isabellam uxorem ejus
deforcient de 40 acris bosci in Bosley qui recognoverint predicta
tota esse jus ipsius Rob. de Montealto arm.” (Cheshire M.S.,
£emes R. Wood.) --
His son, Thomas de Macclesfield, succeeded. He was bailiff
MACCLESFIELD. I69
of Macclesfield and lord of Staley, or Staveley, as appears by his
post mortem inquisition, Io Edward I., I 272. Peter Arderne
assigned to him the custody of the manor and church of Gaws-
worth during the minority of the eldest son of Thomas de
Orreby, as appears by the following: t
“ Universis, &c. Petrus de Arderne dominus de Aldford
salutem, &c. Noveritis me dedisse et concesisse Thomæ de
Macclesfeld tunc Baillivo de eadem custodiam manerii de Gose-
worth et omnium terrarum et tenementorum quæ fuerunt Thomæ
filii Ricardi de Orreby quæ mihi ratione dictæ custodiæ aliquo
in re accidere poterint cum advocacione ecclesiæ de Goseworth.
Habendum usque ad legitimam ætatem filii et heredes dicti
Thomæ de Orreby, &c. Test. Johis de Downes, Jnis de Sutton,
Ws Gerrard, Joh. de Mottram, Jordan de Tydrington, Hs Daven-
port, Tho. de Ada Byron, Ric* de Legh, et aliis. (Sine data.)"
(From C/ies/iire MS., penes Wood.) £,
Jordan de Macclesfield succeeded, and was one of the justices
in eyre for Cheshire. In 20 Edward III. he held ten acres of
land in Hurdesfield, and in 3O0 of the same reign he held five
messuages with appurtenances of the king as earl of Chester, by
military service. (Liber faedorum// //ti/itum infra comm. cest.) His
paternity, and Other details of interest concerning his family are
shown in the following record :
“ Rex, &c. Willmio de Thorp salutmi quia in recordo et pro-
cessu qua Thomas Fyton et Isabella uxor ejus coram justiciaí
Edwardi Ducis Cornubiæ et comitis Cestriæ per breve ipsius comi-
tis versus Jordanum filium Thomæ de Macclesfeld et Thomam
filium ejus et Elizabeth uxorem ejusdem Thomæ ad commin-
cend in ratores assiza mortis anteforis quæ inter ipsum Jordanum
et prefates Thomam et Isabellam summonita fuit et capta de
decem acris terræ in Stubbs juxta Gouseworthe. Error in-
tervenit manifestus ad grave dammum ipsorum Jordani Thomæ
filii ejus et Elizabeth, nos errorem illum, &c. Sine data.” (MS.
penes R. Wood.)
Jordan de Macclesfield made his will in I 356, and died the
Z
I7o THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
same year. In it he made mention of his son John, of Millicent
and Marion his daughters, and of Alice who was wife of his son
John. He had a brother Robert de Macclesfield, and besides
the parties named in the will, a son Thomas and two daughters,
viz., Margaret, afterwards sister and co-heiress of John de Mac-
clesfield (married to John de Moreton), and Agnes who was the
wife of Sir John Davenport, 13° Edward II. In 1334 (7° Edward
III.) an agreement was concluded between Jordan de Maccles-
field and Richard the son of Gralam de Moreton, whereby John
the son of Richard Moreton was to marry Margaret the daughter
of Jordan de Macclesfield.
John de Macclesfield succeeded, and had three sons by his
wife Alice, above-named, all of whom died without issue. He
was one of the justices at Chester for hearing and determining
pleas concerning the forests of Mara, Mondrem, and Wirrall, in
21° Edward III. He died in 1374 (470 Edward III.), when
forty-three years of age, seized of all his father's lands, besides a
parcel in Standlegh and Upton. Richard de Moreton (son of
John de Moreton and Margaret), Eleana (daughter of Robert de
Holt by Millicent), and Maria Gerberte, were declared his next
heirs. Richard and Maria were declared to be of full age, and
Eleana ten years of age.
With the exception of the name John de Macclesfield, priest,
being appended to a deed in 14O6 (7° Henry IV.), wherein
Margaret wife of William Parr released to John Savage and
Matilda his wife the manor of Barrow, all sight is lost of this
family. They seem in fact to have become extinct shortly after-
wards.
That the Macclesfields bore the arms assigned to them is
proved on the authority of heraldic visitations formerly in pos-
session of Robert Cooke, once clarancieux king of arms. In the
same heraldic collection, Macclesfield borough was said to bear
gules a cross ermine with a bordure gobonny gold and blue,
which is the coat of Macclesfield differenced. These arms of
the Macclesfields once figured in a window of Bosley church,
MACCLESFIELD. I7 I
side by side with those of J. Legh of Ridge and Catherine
Kingsley; and it has hence been erroneously inferred that they
were compounded out of the two latter coats. The church
window is dated I430, at a time when the Macclesfields were
either extinct or fast becoming so, and the inscription was to
this effect : “Johis Regge . . . . . . et fact fuit I430, Katherine
ux'is suae tunc dii . . . . . . What the missing letters implied
there is now no means of knowing ; but no proof exists that
either John Legh of Ridge or his wife had possession at any
time of Bosley manor. In 39° Edward III. (1375), William de
Salisbury, lord of Hawarden, granted Bosley manor to John de
Luce, for a term of years by a deed written in Norman French,
and executed at London. (M.S. penes Wood.) The liber fa-dorum
militum shows that Edward Stanley was lord of Bosley as early
as the 169 and as late as the 370 Henry VI. ; yet, in the face of
such fact, it has been stated by one and another Cheshire his-
torian that Ralph de Macclesfield, a descendant of John Legh of
Ridge (who lived in the reign of Henry VI) exchanged Bosley
manor, together with his mansion and other lands in Maccles-
field, with the duke of Buckingham.
Who was Ralph de Macclesfield 2 There is no such prefix to
the name of any descendant of John Legh of Ridge; but it was
a very usual one with the family of Stafford, earls of Stafford,
and afterwards dukes of Buckingham. That they were officially
connected with Cheshire generally, and with Macclesfield in par-
ticular, has been shown. For the present inquiry it will be well
to be particular about dates. Humphrey Stafford, first duke of
Buckingham, was killed in 389 Henry VI., at the battle of St.
Albans, i.e., within four or five years of the time when John Legh
of Ridge was escheator of Cheshire. This fact disposes of the
story of John Legh's descendants having sold possessions to
Humphrey, styled by Webb the great duke of Buckingham. I
believe that Ralph Stafford was lord of Macclesfield at the time
of the transfer, which was made in the reign of Richard II., and
not in that of Henry VI. or his successors. Ralph Stafford was
172 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
º
C’
murdered in 89 Richard II., i.e. in 1384; or, in other words, nine
years after the grant of Bosley manor to John de Luce. The
very next year, viz., in 1385, Richard II. granted the manor and
lordship of Macclesfield to J ohn de Mohun, who was also styled
John de Macclesfield. The circumstance of Ralph Stafford being
lcilled in 1384, and of John de Mohun being appointed to the
lordship of Macclesfield in 1385, is at the least a remarkable one,
and is rendered the more so from the fact of both parties being
directly or indirectly related to the king. Edmond earl of Staf-
ford, the elder brother of Ralph, had married Ann, daughter of
Thomas Woodstock, and hence the king's bounty might not
unnaturally fall to Ralph Stafford in the form of a lordship in
his royal borough within the forest. The patent rolls of Richard
II. show that John, de Mohun was lord of Macclesfield in I 385
and in 1391 :
“Rex concessit consanguineae suae Johé de Mohun pro vita
manerium dominium, et hundredum de Macclesfeld in comitatu
Cestriae cum diversis libertatibus et prerogativis.”
It is quite within the pale of ordinary probability that Ralph
Stafford should exchange lands with his nephew Humfrey, after-
wards duke of Buckingham, and such I believe will prove to
have been the case. But, in the absence of any direct proof to
the contrary, it is safe to fall back on the recorded fact that in
I246 a member of the original family of Macclesfield claimed to
have forty acres of land in Bosley ; and this circumstance alone
possibly served to explain the presence of the Macclesfield shield
in the Bosley church window.
Having entered thus fully into details connected with the
lordship of Macclesfield, I may conclude by saying that both Sir
Peter Legh, the second of Lyme, and his uncle John were each
styled “de Macclesfield” at different times. Sir Peter Legh was
one of the attorneys of Lady Mohun. (Vide pedigree of Legh
of Adlington.) In Bassano's pedigree of Legh of Adlington
John Legh, the first of Ridge, is called “John de Macclesfield.”
I have not been able to find an owner for the next shield,
MACCLESFIELD. I73
which bears a plain Latin cross charged with five lozenges. The
family of Upton of Upton, in Prestbury parish, bore argent a plain
cross vert; and probably the addition of the lozenges was a mark
of cadency by some member of this very little understood family.
Lower down, on the west face of the tower, there are two
shields placed side by side, which bear a cross engrailed and a
cross engrailed differenced with a mullet. They represent the
families of Legh of Lyme and Legh of Ridge, both of which
have been described elsewhere.
Below these shields, and on the same buttress, there is another,
which bears quarterly, one and four a hart lodged, two and three
a man's leg couped. It is a shield of arms compounded of
Downes and Shrigley, and was used by Downes of Shrigley.
The colours in all four quarters are sable and argent. This
branch of the Downes family is derived from Downes of Downes,
for whose pedigree vide Ormerod's History of Cheshire. William
de Downes of Downes and Taxall purchased lands in Shrigley
in I 3 I 3, and his second son had a grant of thirty acres of waste
land in Shrigley in 1342. In 1345, as appears by the following
extract from the patent rolls, 189 Edward III., the advowson of
Taxall church and the manors of Downes and Taxall were con-
firmed to Edward Downes : -
“The king confirmed to Edward Downes and divers others of
the same name, and their heirs male the manors of Downes and
Taxall in the forest of Macclesfield, together with the forester-
ships belonging to these manors, as well as a pasture called
Oxencrofte, in the forest, and the rents, services, &c., and the
advowson of Taxal church in the forest.”
The eldest son of this last-named Downes was the first who
was styled Downes of Shrigley, in 1364. A descendant of this
family, Roger Downes, was the founder of Shrigley church. The
arms of Downes were sable, a hart lodged or at the leare, argent;
crest a stag's head erased, as may be seen on an alabaster monu-
ment within the altar rails of St. Michael's church, Macclesfield.
According to the ancient heraldic M.S. already quoted, Shrigley
I74 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
originally bore argent on a fess three sheep hooks sable, and also
a demi-leg of a man from the calf downwards. This latter coat
seems therefore to have particular reference to the official privilege
of holding the king's stirrup when he came out hunting, claimed
by Downes of Taxall. Shrigley of Beristall, a younger branch,
bore sable a chevron between three half legs couped argent.
On the corresponding buttress there are two more shields,
one of which bears a pale fusily, and the other an engrailed cross
ermine. The first stands for Savage of Clifton. Sir John
Savage was second husband of Margaret Danyers. He was
descended from an ancient family living in Derbyshire. He
died in 1386, leaving one son and two daughters. Sir John
Savage, who succeeded, was half-brother to Sir Peter Legh, the
second of Lyme. Both fought at Agincourt, where Sir John
Savage was knighted and Sir Peter Legh badly wounded. Until
I3° Henry V., the Savages bore argent six lioncels sable ; but
after the above date Sir John Savage took for arms, argent a
pale ſusily sable, which was the coat of Margaret Danyers,
inherited by her from her father, Sir Thomas Danyers, whose
daughter and heiress she was. At the time of making this
heraldic grant, Margaret also presented her son with the terri-
torial possession of his grandfather, viz., Clifton, afterwards
known as Rock Savage. The Savages continued to bear these
arms till the reign of Elizabeth, when they once more reverted
to the coat with six lioncels. Margaret Danyers' grant, in
Norman French, is as follows:
“A tous ceux qu’cest ltres (lettres) venont ou orrent. Marguerite
qu'feut le Seur (q) femme) de John Savage file et here a Thomas
Danyers chev salut en Dieu ; sachey moi avoir doné et graunté
et par c'este ma present charter confirmé a John Savage mon
fils eisné et a ses heres a tous jours mes armes entierres qu’ a
moy descenderont apres le mort le dit Thomas mon père comme
a sa fils et heres. Au tenir et porter les dites armes om (avec)
tour lours appurtenants et tout chose qu'au dits armes appar-
tient en chesqun man (iere) et lieu a leur plaisir quietement de
MACCLESFIELD. - I75
moi et mes heres a dit John mon fils et ses heres. En temoignage
de quelles choses a cest ma present charter J'ai mys mon Seal.
Don le dismanche prochain apres la feste de l’ translation de St
Thomas le Martir, l’ an du reigne le roy Henri quint apres le
conquest tierce.”
Then follows Margaret Legh's (Danyers) coat, viz., parti per
pale, on the dexter side the cross engrailed, for Lyme ; and on
the sinister side the pale fusily, for Danyers.
Sir John Savage married Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir
R. Swimmerton of Magna Barrow, in Cheshire. He was suc-
ceeded by his son, John Savage, who married Eleanor, daughter
and heiress of Sir William Brereton. He died in 1463, and was
succeeded by his son Sir John Savage, who married Catherine,
daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Stanley, and sister of
Thomas Stanley earl of Derby. His son, Sir John Savage, led
the charge of the left wing at the battle of Bosworth field, and,
together with his uncle Thomas Stanley, afterwards Lord Derby,
was very instrumental in promoting the accession of Henry VII.
to the throne of England. In the latter years of the reign of
Henry VII., viz., in 1492, he was killed at the seige of Boulogne.
In this same year his second brother was consecrated bishop of
Rochester, and was, perhaps, the most conspicuous member of a
distinguished family. He was translated from Rochester to
London in 1497, and from thence was raised to the archiepiscopal
see of York in 15O1. He founded the exquisite mortuary chapel
attached to the church of St. Michael at Macclesfield, where his
own heart was buried, and where the remains of many members
of his family, before and after, have a fitting place of rest.” In
the small square tower of this chapel there are two rooms for
the accommodation of a resident priest, whose office would
17 For an excellent account of chantry chapels in general, see Canon Raines’ intro-
duction to Aſistory of Chantries within the County Palatine of Zancaster, Chetham
Society's transactions, vol. 59. A good general view of Macclesfield church, and the
Savage chapel adjoining, is given in Lyson’s Britannia Depicta. Many shields of arms
are drawn in their proper positions on the church tower, though latterly two have shaled
off.
176 - THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
consist in saying masses for the repose of the souls of the
indwellers. -
The west front is enriched with tracery, and adorned with
eight shields of arms representing family and episcopal coats
and quarterings.
“James Vernon of Haslington, son and heir of Robert Vernon
of Lostock, was made prisoner in Chester by Sir John Savage
Kº ye elder.” (Post mortem inquisition Vernon, 170 Henry VI.)
His grandson, Sir John Savage, whose post mortem inquisition
was taken in 19° Henry VIII., besides holding great possessions,
was certified to have been the king's jailor of the jail at Maccles-
field. This consecutive narrative of events from the days of
Henry V. to Henry VIII., establishes very conclusively the
sustained interest, direct and collateral, taken by the Savage
family in and around Macclesfield.
The other shield, bearing a cross ermine, cannot be so clearly
identified ; but I think it may be assigned to Beck, or Beeke.
If so, the colours are gules a cross ermine. Towards the close
of the 15th century Roger Beke, Sergeant-at-arms, married a
daughter of Sir Lawrence Warren of Poynton, whose mother
was Margaret, daughter of Sir Piers Legh of Lyme. (Watson's
House of Warrem.) Independently of this very probable reading,
it appears that Sir Robert Beeke of Teno (109 Edward III) had
a son, Sir Nicholas Beeke, who married Joan, daughter of Ralph
lord Stafford. The dates, in either reading, correspond to the
time of the erection of St. Michael's church tower. In addition,
the Savages quarter Beeke. -
The next and last two shields are fixed on each side of the
west window. The device is the same in both, viz., two bars
and a bend over all, and I regard them both as belonging to
Legh of Booths, who bore the Venables shield differenced with
a bend gules. They appear to be duplicated for symmetry's
sake. John Legh of Booths held twenty messuages and 530
acres of land in Sutton, within the forest of Macclesfield, as
appears by his post mortem inquisition dated 89 Henry VI., I43O.
MACCLESFIELD. 177
As the connexion which this family had with the district is so
slight, I forbear going into further detail concerning them.
The deductions to be drawn from these fifteen personal coats
of arms are as follow :
I. That the building of the church tower was not begun before
the marriage of Sir Piers Legh and Margaret Danyers, as the
presence of the Savage coat shows.
2. That it was built prior to the marriage of Sir Peter Legh
(the second of Lyme) with Joane the daughter and heiress of Sir
Gilbert Haydock, otherwise this very important family alliance
would have been displayed. This inference is strengthened by a
determination of the above Sir Peter Legh's age at the time of
his death at Paris. Sir Peter Legh, the first of Lyme, having
been married in 1388 and beheaded in 1399, it follows that his
son (the second Sir P. Legh) could not have attained to a greater
age than nine years at the date of his father's decapitation. As
he died in 1422 from the effects of wounds received in the French
wars, he could only have reached his thirty-third year of age
when the accidents of war terminated his existence.
3. That the church was built during the joint lives of Sir
Lawrence Fitton and his wife, else the arms of Hesketh of Ruf-
ford would not have had a place assigned to them.
All these circumstances, taken conjointly, favour the conclusion
that the tower in St. Michael's church in Macclesfield was built
some time between the years 14 II and I422 ; and, as Sir P.
Legh left a son, it is yet more probable that the year I4I 5 will
approximate very nearly to the exact date. The additional
circumstance of Sir P. Legh's remains being conveyed from
Paris to Macclesfield for interment, shows the close interest this
family was then taking in the church.
It is quite certain that an older church than the present one
existed in Macclesfield, on the same site, founded by Eleanor,
consort of Edward I. ; but the oldest portions of the church, as
it now stands, exclusive of the Savage chapel, were built in the
early years of the reign of Henry V.
A A
178 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
MARKET CROSS.
The market cross formerly stood in the market place, where
Jordangate, Chestergate, and Mill street meet. It was removed
in 1776, and set up in a field in Upton township, near to the road
side, where it remained till recently removed to Macclesfield
public park. It now consists of a triple base and three rounded
stones which formed the shaft. During the plague visitations in
I603 and 1646 it was used as a convenient place to which pro-
visions were brought and money exchanges made. In 1665
banns of marriage were published on three successive market
days at this Macclesfield cross, and the ceremony was afterwards
performed by Mr. Thomas Stanley, a magistrate. (Alderley
church records.)
PRINCE CHARLEs EDWARD IN MACCLESFIELD.
The following letter, formerly in the possession of David
Browne, once town clerk of Macclesfield, is interesting as giving
a very graphic account of the entry of Prince Charles Stuart and
his troops into Macclesfield at the time of the rising in 1745, and
as showing the state of feeling amongst the officials and inhabit-
ants on this occasion. It enters, with a minuteness of detail
worthy of Boswell, into the entire business, and its author
appears throughout amusingly unconscious of the Sorry part he
was playing. The letter was the production of Mr. John Staf-
ford, an attorney living in Jordangate. He was an alderman of
the borough, and he gave so much trouble to the corporation
that they passed a law—which continued for many years in force
—forbidding any lawyer to become a member of their body in
future.
“Dear Sir, I thank you for your kind advice, but it came too
late; for in a few hours after I received the letter we were
alarmed with the approach of the rebels. It was then too
hazardous to remove my family, so I determined to stand my
MACCLESFIELI). I79
ground, especially as my wife seemed to be in good spirits and
in no way afraid. And indeed I must own that she had more
courage than all the whole family besides. My brother and T.
Tatton were with me that morning, but they went to Asenhurst,
and Fanny (who, when the rebels were at Carlisle was as valiant
as an Amazon, and of all things said that she should like to
have a peep at the Pretender's son) durst not stay to see them
march by the door, but rode off with great precipitation, with
her brother, about a quarter of an hour before they entered
the town.
“Before the dragoons came in here, a party of rebels that
morning crossed a ford above Stockport bridge (which, with
Some others, was very summarily broken down some time since),
and coming into the town, rode round the cross and dispersed
papers to encourage men to enlist in the Prince's service. But,
not meeting with the least encouragement, they retired. How-
ever, it was expected a larger body of them would have marched
in that evening. We acquainted the officer who commanded the
Dragoons with what we heard, upon which he sent one of our
townsmen to Stockport, as a spy, to bring home intelligence of
their motions. He, not returning, we concluded that the rebels
stayed at Manchester. But the next morning (December Ist),
about ten o'clock, we had notice from the country people that
the rebels were within a quarter of a mile of the town.
“The young officer who commanded the party of Dragoons
was at breakfast with Mrs. Mayoress when the alarm was given,
and he was just saying ‘Never fear Ma'am, we'll protect you.'
Down went his dish, and he and his party of Dragoons made
full as much haste out of the town as did Madame Frances.
The good folks at church ran out before half the service was
Over, in the utmost confusion, and the whole town was in the
greatest consternation.
“When the first emotion of my own fright was abated a little,
I ventured to peep out of a garret window ; but, seeing my wife
and her sister below at the gate, shame roused my courage and
I8O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
I ventured to stand by them and saw the whole army pass by
my door, except a regiment of horse commanded by Lord
Elcho, and some forces which came in later, but these I saw
next day. The Quartermasters came first into the town, who,
with their guard, were about twenty in number. They rode to
the cross and enquired for the constables.
“By this time I was grown so manful that verily I followed
this party to the cross (but, by-the-bye, my wife went along with
me). They enquired for Sir Peter Davenport's house, whether
he was in or not, and being answered ‘Not,” they gave him a
curse, and asked when he left it; and soon after rode to his
house, and after viewing it inside and out, marked the door with
the word ‘Prince.’ I had now so much valour that I ventured to
speak with one of the best of them, and inquired what number
of forces would be in the town that day. He answered IO,OOO,
upon which I returned home much dismayed. .
“Immediately afterwards came in a regiment of horse, by way
of advance guard, said to be commanded by the Duke of Perth,
and, in the second or third rank was the poor fellow (our client,
Samuel Salt by name) who had been sent out as a spy, guarded
by four terrible fellows, with their swords drawn. They soon
found that he was a townsman, and that the eyes of the inhabit-
ants were upon him. But fear had so metamorphosed our friend
that his neighbours scarce knew him. He was shorter by half
a yard than the day before. If he cast an eye on the right,
‘D—n you (Says a ruffian) you must not look that way.' If he
looked to the left, “D–n you, don't look that way,” so that he
was forced to conduct his two eyes directly between the two ears
of his palfrey, and all the whiles his guards kept laughing and
pointing at him to the people who beheld his distress.
“After about four or five regiments had passed by us, it was
said the Prince was coming up. You may safely imagine that
we were all very attentive to see him, and it happened that a
halt was made just opposite my door for a minute or two, which
gave us an opportunity of having a very full view of him. He
MACCLESFIELD. I8 I
was in highland dress, with a blue waistcoat trimmed with silver,
and had a blue highland cap on, and was surrounded by about
forty who appeared as his guard. He is a very handsome person
of a man, rather tall, exactly proportioned, and walks very well,
in my thinking not unlike Mr. N. Whitewall, but his face is not
marked with the small pox. He walked on foot from Man-
chester, as he had done, ’tis said, all the way from Carlisle, and
I believe they made their very best appearance in the town,
expecting to have been received as at Manchester, but there
was a profound silence, and nothing to be seen in the counten-
ance of the inhabitants but horror and amazement.
“Endeavours were used to give him a peal of bells, for fear of
insult, but four ringers were all that could be got, and they rang
the bells backwards, not with design, but through confusion.
“Soon after, the Pretender's son came into the town, and was
got to his quarters at Sir P.'s (which we now call Holyrood
House). Soon after an order came to the Mayor to proclaim
the Pretender, and he and the aldermen were directed to attend
in their formalities. I had two or three messages to have gone
in my gown, but I sent word it was out of the way, but that I
would come, for by this time I had got some of the rebel officers
in the house, and many more at the gates watching the proces-
sion, amongst whom I stood out of curiosity, and therefore durst
not say I would not go for fear of being abused, by which means
I escaped being present at So shocking a scene. Poor Mr.
Mayor was obliged to be present at it, and, I hear, two or three
aldermen. They made the town clerk repeat the proclamation
after them, and when it was over they themselves gave a huzza
or two ; but I believe there was not one of our townsmen joined
them.
“Many of the officers appeared very well. Some few indeed
were very old, in particular Glenbuckett, who seemed to be
eighty at the least, and bended almost double on horseback.
Some of those who stood by us said he had been bedridden three
years before the prince's son arrived in Scotland, but he had no
I82 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
sooner heard of his coming than he had a kind of new life, and
joined them with his whole clan and family, there being no less
than his two sons, two grandsons, a great grandson, and a nephew
along with him.
“Many of the common men, though dirty and shabby, were
lusty fellows. There were many old men amongst the common
soldiers, and a great number of boys. The use intended to be
made of the boys, who were to be armed with pistols and knives
only, was upon an engagement to disorder the king's Cavalry by
going amongst the ranks and cutting the legs of the horses.
“It was dark before the artillery came in, and, as it grew
duskish, orders were given that the inhabitants should illuminate
their houses upon pain of military execution, upon which most of
the houses were illuminated, but with great ill will.
“As for their numbers, there was no judging of it from their
march into the town, and they seemed to be very artful in con-
cealing their numbers. They bespoke billets for IO,OOO, and said
that 5,000 would come in next day, but for my part I don't think
they exceeded 6,000 in all. All along as they marched, they
had parties reconnoitering the country for eight or ten miles
round about. These parties, which are inconsiderable in number,
and a regiment of horse commanded by Lord Elcho, who were
quartered the day before at Prestbury, were all that came into
this town next day, which instead of being 5,000 were far short
of 500.
“The first billet received was for ten men, and five horses, but
with this no one came, only the officer I before mentioned, his
servant, and five horses. But about nine o'clock at night there
came a very ordinary fellow with a billet in these words and
figures: ‘Mr. Stafford, 408.' I read it 408, and was (as you may
imagine) in no little hurry. But he soon told me it was 40 men
and 8 officers. He gave us to understand he was a doctor, but
we all thought him a highwayman, and verily believe he was
one. We missed several things next day, and placed them to
his account, and it was very visible he had tried all the locks in
MACCLESFIELD. 183
my beaurow and my wife's chest, which were in the room
where he lay. You may easily imagine we could have no
heart to go to bed with such a company in the house, so
that we passed a very miserable night ; but I had taken
Care to get Some townsmen in the house for a guard, or else
I durst not have stayed,” &c.
The next morning Mr. Stafford obtained a pass for himself,
his wife, and three sisters, to Mr. Downs of Shrigley. Directly
he got there a party of highlanders came to search the house for
arms. Mr. Stafford gave them “good words” and showed them
his pass, whereupon they went away without further trouble.
The pass was as follows:
“Allow the bearer John Stafford Esquire to pass from this
with his wife and three sisters to Shrigley without molestation.
By his highness' command, J. Murray.”
Many persons, through timidity, sold their property whilst the
alarm of the Pretender lasted. By a deed dated March 3, 1745,
John Swindells of Rainow, gentleman, sold six cows, four calves,
two mares, a cart, a plough, and his household goods, to Sarah
Dearneley of Rainow, his mother-in-law, for 65/.
From Corry's Macclesfield it appears that Prince Charles
marched into Macclesfield on the 1st December, 1745, and
lodged at a house in Jordangate. The Dukes of Perth and
Athol, the Marquis of Montrose and Dundee, the Earl of
Cromartie, and several other persons of distinction, accompanied
the troops ; and Sir David Murray was one of many who
received knighthood at the hands of the Prince.
From the following entries in the churchwardens' accounts of
Macclesfield it would seem that the fear of the Pretender was
followed by great rejoicing at his defeat :
“I745. Spent in victuals and ale when his Highness our
glorious Duke of Cumberland passed through the town,
2/. I Is. Od,” 18
* The Duke seems to have remained in Macclesfield for three days.
I84 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“Paid the verger, and for coals, making a bonfire, attending,
cockades, and for ale for our parishioners, at the welcome news
that his Highness our glorious Duke of Cumberland had gained
a victory over the rebels, 21. Os. 4d.”
“Paid at Culloden's battle thanksgiving day, Il. 9s. 4d.”
“Wood, coals, pitch barrel, gunpowder, 7.s. 6d.”
“Paid ringers in cash, Ios.”
“Being the nativity of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cum-
berland, gave the ringers in memory thereof, 5s.”
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I85
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD.
As so large a part of Prestbury parish used to be included in
the royal forest of Macclesfield, some account of it must neces-
sarily form a fitting part to any historical contribution. And,
because some acquaintance with forest laws in general is neces-
sary to a right appreciation of those which appertained to Mac-
clesfield forest in particular, a brief summary is here given of
them.
Forests have always been in England, as have been laws relat-
ing to them. Up to Canute's time these laws were irregularly
enforced, but always with cruelty. Canute first digested a forest
Code, which was simple and in accordance with the rude society
of his day; but his laws have formed the broad basis of all sub-
sequent enactments, which have differed less in kind than in
humanity.
Persons of rank and consequence used to be appointed chief
foresters or verderers; and under them were subordinate officers
whose duty consisted in taking care of vert and venison. These
latter were called regardors, or rangers, who had under them
keepers, whose duty consisted in night watching and like employ-
ments, and who were known as agistors.
As, in time of war, each officer of a forest was expected to fol-
low his superior lord equipped with the weapons used by him in
the discharge of his ordinary duties, it is as well to know that
the equipment of a chief forester consisted of two horses, a
sword, five lances, and a shield. The next officer in rank was
allowed one horse, a lance, and a shield. The agistors, or keepers,
were furnished with a Sword and a crossbow, and in taking forest
service they obtained their freedom.
The chief forester of a royal forest was appointed by royal
grant, or by letters patent, and the office, together with its duties
and emoluments, generally became hereditary. The king only
could sit in judgment on a chief forester, so great were his pre-
B B
I86 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
rogatives and power. He sat in judgment on the subordinate
officers, and, as justice of the forest in eyre, awarded fines and
punishment on all offenders. His person, and that of his sub-
ordinates, was protected by the most rigid enactments when
discharging forest duties. If a forester pursued a trespasser in
the forest and he escaped, a hue and cry could be raised against
him, whereupon the man became a felon, and all who assisted in
his capture were held blameless in case of his being killed, pro-
vided that no malice could be proved. If a free man trespassed
in a forest and killed a royal stag, he forfeited his freedom ; but
if a serf did so, he paid the penalty with his life.
The duties of sworn subordinate foresters were to preserve
game, and to bring all offenders against forest laws to the forest
courts. And, because they had no privileges within the forests
except such as were granted to them in virtue of their several
offices, the grants had to be defined so that no one might accuse
them of unlawful conduct when they availed themselves of forest
privileges. If they failed in bringing offenders before the forest
courts they were liable to be suspended, or even deprived of
their offices; and if they committed acts contrary to the forest
laws they were dealt with accordingly.
There were three forest courts. One was held every forty
days for enrolling offences and “attaching” offenders, and was
hence called a court of attachment. Another court was held
once in three months for taking general cognizance of game,
trespass, encroachments, despoiling of trees and underwood, for
regulation of pannage, boundaries, hedges, &c., &c., and was
called a court of Swaynmote, to which all freeholders of the forest
owed suit and service.
The chief justice in eyre of the forest presided at the third
court, after receiving a royal commission. The proceedings were
very similar to those at a court of assize, and the penalty for non-
appearance was outlawry with forfeiture of goods. -
Every royal forest was marked out by meres, or boundaries,
which were perambulated at stated times. Demesne woods, and
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 187
even towns were often included within the boundaries, and these
latter needed to be most accurately defined, because in either
Case it constantly became important to know if venison, i.e.,
game, was killed within the forest or without it. In one case
the act came within the “regard of the forest,” or rangers' juris-
diction, and in the other case it came “without the regard.” In
the one case a trespass committed came within the jurisdiction
of the next agistment, or next Swaynmote court; in the other it
was exempt from either jurisdiction.
A forest differed from a park, or a chase, as follows: A park
was enclosed, and was a free warren, the right of which extended
to hares, rabbits, pheasants, and partridges. A chase differed
from a park and a forest in not being enclosed. The buck, doe,
fox, martron and roe were accounted game in a chase, and all
offenders were punished by common law. A forest included the
privilege of park and chase, and contained, in addition, the hart,
hind, hare, boar, and wolf. Hinds and harts were accounted
different, because they were not hunted at the same time. Pur-
lieus, or pourallers, were adjacent to forests, and had once been
forest, under the arbitrary extensions of the kings, until the time
of Henry III., who disafforested them and made laws for their
government. Different officers were appointed, called pouraller
men, who were bound to see that game coming out of the forest
into the purlieu was fairly dealt with. A freeholder might openly
chase a stag if found in his purlieu, but might not set up any
hindrance against its return to the forest ; neither might he or
his dogs follow the game into the forest. This privilege had its
restrictions, for no one who lived within seven miles of a forest
might exercise it for forty days prior to proclamation of a royal
hunt, lest the game should be disturbed ; nor for the same period
afterwards, lest the game should not have time to return to the
accustomed haunts.
Mastiffs, kept as house dogs, had to be expediated, i.e., deprived
of three fore claws with a blow of a mallet or chisel; and it formed
part of a subordinate forester's duty to see this operation per-
I88 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
formed at stated times. At no time might a house dog leave the
highway, and at the fawning season dogs might not leave the
homestead. A special grant from the king, or earl of a county
palatine, was necessary for the keeping of greyhounds within
royal forest boundaries.
Lastly, no man might cut down or otherwise meddle with
wood, underwood, &c., without special permission from the chief
forester.
Pammage, or, as it was sometimes called, Pasture, meant a toll
or rent received by foresters for allowing hogs to feed on acorns,
beech mast, roots, &c., and for which an account was rendered at
the Swaynmote courts.
Privilege of Pammage consisted in allowing hogs to feed without
payment of toll, and was generally extended to the officers of
the royal demesnes. A like boon was commonly granted by free
tenants to sub-tenants, who held lands adjacent. Religious
houses were generally exempted, all or in part, and their prayers
were sometimes, if not generally, counted as more than an
equivalent payment. “Roger de Menilwarin gave to the monks
of Dieulacres priory, for the good of his own soul, and for that of
Randle E. of Chester and Lincoln (his mother's brother) in pure
and perpetual alms, free common in his wood of Pevere, with
husbot and haybot, in presence of his foresters, and pammage for
fifty hogs, for which he and his heirs were to require nothing of
them but their prayers.” (Sleigh's Leek.)
When Henry de Lacy erected Congleton into a free borough
he granted privilege of pannage to the burgesses. When William
de Haydock, in I 332, granted a bovate of land and a messuage
to his son he added privilege of pannage within his Haydock
wood. (Deed penes Legh of Lyme.) Pannage, therefore, con-
sisted, first, in the running and feeding of hogs in the woods;
and, second, in the price or rate of running, unless there were
special exemptions. Hogs were excluded from the royal forests
during the breeding seasons, lest that they and their tenders
might disturb the game. There were persons within the pre-
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I89
cincts of royal forests who rented the privilege of feeding pigs in
the woods, and they were known as swineherds, or “Porcarii,”
and this office was sometimes hereditary. Some of them received
money, and some were paid in kind.
The custom of swine keeping in the reign of Richard II. is
well exemplified in a covenant made between Sir John Assheton
of the manor of Ashton-under-Lyne and his tenants : “The
tenants shall have their swine going in the demesnes from the
latter end of harvest till sowing time, so they be ringed. The
tenants shall keep them so that they do no harm to the Lord
nor his neighbours, from seeding time till harvest; and, in
default, the tenant shall pay to his lord 4d. Every tenant that
brews to sell shall have 4 Swine ; the miller shall have 3; and
every of their sub-tenants 2 ; and every of their sub-tenants I.”
Royal forests and private hunting domains had hayes (literally
hedges), which were formed with a view to entrap game from the
forests in which they roamed, but were not places set apart for
their permanent preservation. From these hayes game could be
transferred to parks and other places securely fenced, where it
could be hunted at pleasure. Besides hayes, there were in some
places aries or breeding places for hawks ; but the privilege of
possessing an aerie was only conferred on persons of conse-
quence, and, indeed, until the time when the English charter
was extracted from King John, freemen, except of the highest
rank, were not permitted to have aeries of hawks in their woods.
(Strutt.) Hayes and aeries show the early connexion between
the pastimes of hunting and hawking, as has been pointed out
by Mr. Shirley in his work on deer forests.
The townships comprised within Prestbury parish were for-
merly half within the forest, and half without. Bosley, Sutton,
Downes, Hurdsfield, Shrigley, Bollington, Disley, Ranowe, Upton,
Tytherington, Macclesfield, Kettleshulme, and Wincle, were within
the forest. Poynton, Adlington, Butley, Fallibroome, Prestbury,
Mottram-Andrew, Chelford, Capesthorne, Siddington, Withington,
Gawsworth, Marton, and Rode, were without the forest. My
I90 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
authority for making this statement (which is in some respects
at variance with other expressed opinions concerning the forest
boundaries) is derived from a copy of the letters patent addressed
by Prince Arthur (eldest son of Henry VII) as Earl of Chester,
in the 170 of his father's reign, to his well beloved subjects within
the hundred of Macclesfield, for the collection of a subsidy of
one thousand marks previously granted to him, and naming Sir
John Warren, Thomas Legh of Adlington, Robert Duckenfield,
and Roger Worth, as collectors. The different townships within
Prestbury parish paid in accordance with the usual mise, or levy,
as follows:
:3 s. d. 36 s. d.
Poynton ............ Io O 7 Bosley ............... I IO 5
Adlington............ IO O O Sutton ............... I I I 4
Butley ............... I 8 2 Downes............... O 2 O
Fallibroome......... O 2 2 Hurdsfield ......... O 7 O
Prestbury ............ O I2 3 Bollington ......... O I 5 O
Mottram-Andrew... O 3 2 Shrigley ............ O 6 8
Chelford ............ O I4. 9 Disley and Stanley O 9 9
Capesthorne ...... O 8 2 Ranowe ............ O 8 3
Siddington ......... O I6 O Upton ............... O 8 O
Withington ......... O I6 2 Tytherington ...... O I4 2
Gawsworth ......... I I2 O Macclesfield ...... I 16 3
Marton ............... I 4 O Kettleshulme ...... O 7 O
North Rode ......... I 4 O tºmºsºmºsºmº
Total......... :637 17 3
The boundaries of Macclesfield forest were as follows: Begin-
ning at Otterscoe bridge, near Marple hall, in Chadkirk valley,
the course ran due east by the river side until the county boundary
was reached close to Compstall. Then, following a westerly and
South-westerly direction, it extended along the Derbyshire and
Staffordshire borders of Cheshire until an extreme limit in this
direction was reached at North Rode. Thus far the natural
boundary lines were drawn by the rivers Goyt, Etherow, and
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I9 I
Dane. From North Rode the line stretched to Gawsworth, and
from thence it passed through Prestbury and Norbury to Otters-
coe bridge, almost in a straight direction. The forest occupied
Considerably more than a third of the whole hundred of Maccles-
field. In order that the boundaries as now described may be
Compared with an early perambulation in the Adlington MS.,
and for the further object of reconciling apparent discrepancies
concerning Gawsworth and Rode, it is now given : .
“The foresters say that the compass of the forest begins at
Rohehounde bridge (Otterscoe bridge) ascending the water of
Mersey unto the water of Goyte, and ascending the water of
Goyte unto the water of Dane, and descending the Dane unto
Crumwell, and from Crumwell unto the town of Rode which is
all within the forest but one house which late was Wyon's, and
so from Rode to the town of Gawsworth which is all within the
forest save the hall and church, and from Gawsworth the high-
way to Norbury Lowe, and from Norbury Lowe the going way
to the river of Bosden, and so descending the river to Salters-
bridge, and from Saltersbridge the highway to Rohehond bridge.”
In the mise taken for Prince Arthur's subsidy, Gawsworth and
Rode appear, therefore, to be represented by the hall and house.
The officers of Macclesfield forest consisted of one chief forester,
nine subordinate foresters, a bailiff, and deputy bailiff. The chief
forester had an extensive and very absolute jurisdiction. During
the time of the Norman earls of Chester the family of Davenport
held the office of chief forester by the usual homage and service.
For some time the Davenports combined in their persons the
double office of chief sergeant of the hundred and chief forester.
As foresters they perambulated their districts in the same man-
ner, and with the same powers, as the Sergeants of the earldom ;
and, in the execution of their duties, they had the assistance of
the forest laws, and the right of taking the lives of offenders by
decapitation without appeal.
The “Robber Roll,” preserved amongst the archives of the
Davenports, exhibits the members of this family in the exercise
I92 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
of their double capacity of foresters for Macclesfield and Leek,
and sergeants. The roll is a curious old parchment, written in
Latin, about three inches broad, and in several places illegible.
Enough however remains to show its general scope and purport.
It sets forth the names of the persons who were decapitated by
order of Vivian and Roger Davenport and others. As a rule,
the robbers and outlawed persons were found in groups of two,
three, or four, one of whom took the lead and was recognized as
a master robber, whilst the followers were known only as common
thieves, and cut purses.
In this roll the emoluments of the offices are twice set forth,
to wit that by charter of Randle earl of Chester, the fee for taking
a master robber was two shillings and a salmon; and that for
the decollation of a common thief one shilling.
Whilst Queen Isabella was lady of Macclesfield, she behaved
to the Davenports in the same high-handed manner that charac-
terized all her other proceedings. She exacted from them the
duties of office, and appropriated the emoluments herself.
“These (says the roll) are the names of robbers who were
beheaded in the time of Thomas de Davenport for whom no
fees were received which properly belonged to the sergeancy,
but which were kept back by our Lady the Queen as of her
liberty of Macclesfield;” or, as elsewhere said, whilst she was
lady of Macclesfield. For example, Richard le Bonetable was a
master robber caught and decollated, and yet the fee belonging
by right to the grand sergeant was withheld, viz., two shillings
and a salmon.
The different places enumerated in the rolls in which robbers
were caught and executed at various times were Olnetone park,
Botheslegh, Deulacres, Baxcomsdene, Distislege, Haylmarishurst,
Meppalis, Pointone, Adlington, Scerd, Buttileghe, Bolintone,
Moctisherid, Hasslethe, Tymperleghe, Gawsworth, Congultone,
Dockenfeld, Stanthoon, Astbury, Moseley, &c. This enumeration
shows the wide jurisdiction the Davenports then held, and that they
were chief officers of the royal forests of Macclesfield and Leek.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I93
Tacked to the end of this roll are two slips of parchment, one
relating to the cession of Wilwick park near Macclesfield, and
the other to an inquisition taken before Thomas de Ferrars
relating to Edmund Sutton's duties when he had to find mantles,
&c. The first slip is to the following effect:
“In redditibus resolutis Johanni Davenporte capitalis servientis
pacis hundredi de Macclesfeld pro quoddam redditum concesso
antecessoribus suis in fedo per Ranulphum comitem Cestrie in
excambio pro terris inclusis infra parcum que vocata Wilwick de
parte xxiv solidos per annum pro terminis nativitatis Domini et
nativitatis Sancti Johannis Baptisti allocatis per compotis prece-
dentibus tempore reginae. Et quia testatum est quod semper
solutus fuerit tanquam pertinens baillive sue per inquisitionem
Captum Coram justiciario et auditoribus per Sacramentum pro-
borum et legatium hominum xx0 die Junii anno regni regis
Edwardi 35 post conquestum xxvi.”
The second slip is as follows:
“Inquisitio capta coram Thoma de Ferrers justiciario Cestriae.
Nichol. Pynock, &c. Qui dicunt super sacramentum suum quod
cum Edmundus de Suttone fuit appromator dum . . . . . . in ser-
gencia habuit xxiv Solidos pro mantellis reperiendis Subeuntibus
Suis, et quod Ricardus de Davenporte et heredes Sui a tempore
excambii dicte ballive pro terra in Wylwick annuatim perceperunt
predictos xxiv solidos, &c., &c.”
The hereditary rights of the Davenports as chief foresters
were encroached upon after the Chester earldom had lapsed to
the crown. In the reign of Henry VI. (as pointed out by Dr.
Ormerod) the chief forestership was conferred on Thomas Lord
Stanley, and, with trifling interruption only, has remained in the
family of the Earls of Derby ever since. Not so, however, the
Office of grand sergeant of the hundred, which has been always
exercised by the Davenports from the days of Randle Blunde-
ville to the present time, though from changes of law, custom,
and a more advanced civilization, the duties, as well as the
emoluments, have gradually fallen into desuetude.
C C
I94 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
The subordinate foresterships were distributed over the dis-
tricts of Marple and Wibbersley, Heghlegh or Hochlegh, Downes
and Taxall, Gawsworth, Sutton and Disley, Stanley or Stanleghe.
These offices were held by military service, and were for the most
part hereditary, in the absence of default of duty or flagrant
breaches of forest law.
Marple and Wibbersley were originally granted to the Stock-
ports, and passed later on, by marriage, to the Vernons, and
later still, in like manner, to the Stanleys. Amongst the Cheshire
tenures is the following in 70 Edward IV.: “Wim Vernon, Knight,
holds the manor of Marpill and Wibersley of the Earl of Chester
by free service of the forest of Macclesfield.” .
Hochlegh, or Heghlegh, or High Leigh, in Sutton, was granted
by Earl Randall to a family bearing the local name. It descended
to the Foxwists of Foxwiste, in Adlington. The name Vivian
de Foxwist, in 1309, is appended to a Davenport deed in which
the sergeancy of Macclesfield forest is released to Thomas Daven-
port for two years. (Ormerod.) Hoghlegh was escheated by the
felony of Robert Foxwist, who was heir to the Hoghleghs. It
afterwards passed to the Leghs of Lyme. In 179 Henry VII.
Sir Peter Legh had a grant of the forestership of High Leigh for
his life.
Downes and Taxal were held by the family of Downes of
Shrigley. They claimed the privilege of holding the king's stir-
rup when he came a hunting, and of rousing the stag, and of
hanging and drawing within their jurisdiction. (Ormerod.) The
crest of Downes of Shrigley was a stag's head and neck decouped
gules, the horns vert, on a wreath argent and azure. (Wood's
Cheshire MS.) This crest surmounts the helmet in an alabaster
figure in the old church of Macclesfield.
Gawsworth was originally held by the Orrebys, and afterwards
by their successors, the Fittons. The hereditary nature of these
offices is well exemplified in the two following deeds (Wood's
MS.):
“Ego Tho. Fyton de Gousworth dedi Thomae Fyton de Pownall
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I95
totum statum que habeo in servicio unius forestarii foreste de
Macclesfeld, habend; sibi et heredibus suis. I 50 Richd 2.”
“Ego Tho. Fyton de Gosworth confirmavi Laurentio Fyton
filio meo unam forestiam quam tenui de Domo Com. Cest: per
magnum Servicium in foresta de Macklesfeld, Habend, &c. I69
Richard 2.”
Sutton and Disley were held by the family of Sutton, though
Adam, Son of Alan Sutton, held his own lands in Sutton by the
earl's charter. Adam Sutton was master sergeant of Macclesfield
hundred before 1226, which office he ceded, or was deprived of
by Randle Blundeville, who granted it to Vivian Davenport
against his will, and in compensation for the park and vivaries of
Macclesfield, of which the earl had deprived him. (Ormerod and
Davenport deed.) In the reign of Edward III. John Sutton was
bailiff, or receiver, of Macclesfield forest.
Worth, a township in Poynton, was held by the family of Worth
first, and afterwards by that of Downes, through marriage.
Disley appears to have been subdivided, as in addition to what
occurs under the head of Sutton, Jordan de Disley held his lands
in Disley in name of forestership. The name John de Disteleghe
occurs amongst the alphabet of charters in the tower of London,
in the time of Edward II. The arms borne by the Disleys were
argent, on a bend between two cotises dancetty gules, three
martlets or. This coat was formerly to be seen in Macclesfield
church. The Disleys were succeeded in office by the Sherds,
through marriage; and the members of the Sherd family were
sub-foresters till the civil wars in the days of the Stuarts, when
they embraced the cause of the royalists and suffered ruin.
In 13° Richard II. the king granted a pardon, on payment of
thirty shillings, to John de Hagh, vicar of Prestbury, and John
de ROSSyndale, chaplain, for purchasing a messuage, IOO acres
of land, 6 acres of meadow, and 4 acres of wood, in Dystelegh,
and the office of the bailliwick of the ninth part of the forester-
ship of the forest of Macclesfield, which they had purchased from
John del Sherd and Joyce his wife, being the inheritance of
196 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Joyce. The settlement of the premises was confirmed to John
and Joyce Sherd for life, with remainder to John son of Roger de
Mottrum, and his heirs male, with like remainder in tail male to
Roger, Ralph, Richard, and Robert, brothers of John. Remainder
to Joyce and her heirs. (Legh MS., copied by Canon Raines.)
Stanleghe was held by a family bearing the local name. In
23° Edward III. the king granted a license to Richard de
Stanley to alienate his forestership of Macclesfield forest in favour
of his daughter Joyce and her husband, Roger Symondson of
Mottram, and their heirs, by reason of good and gratuitous Ser-
vices rendered to him in Gascony by Roger Symondson. The
deed is dated from Chester, whither the king had gone as Earl of
Chester, and is preserved amongst the muniments of Lyme.”
This particular sub-forestership passed finally to the Dicons and
Savages. (Ormerod.)
The following inquisition, taken at the time of the breaking
out of the Welsh war in the reign of Edward I., gives a graphic
account of the suit and service of the sub-foresters and others in
the parish of Prestbury. It bears date 1287, and specifies, inter
alia,
I. That Edward Fitton held a fee in Fulshaw, which had for-
merly been held by the Earl of Albemarle, by military service.
2. That John de Corona held the fourth part of a fee in
Adlington by military service.
3. That Jordan de Titherington held Titherington by military
service. - -
4. That the borough of Macclesfield had to find eight foot
soldiers properly armed. -
5. That the forest of Macclesfield had to provide one foot
soldier for each free tenant.
6. That Richard de Vernon, Robert Downes, Thomas de
Orreby, Roger de Stanley, John Sutton, Thomas de Worth, and
* I am indebted to Canon Raines for an inspection of the copy made by him from
the original.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I97
Jordan de Disley, each and all held their possessions by free
forestership, and by coming to the king's summons, each follow-
ing his banner, and each bearing the same arms with which their
several bailliwicks were kept, viz., with bows and arrows, and
that whilst so serving they were not to be absolved from their
custody of the forest.
7. Richard de Davenport was to find eight fighting men at
the king's Summons, one of whom was to be mounted.
8. Richard de Stockport, William Pigot, and John de Mottram
held their manors of Stockport, Butley, and Mottram-Andrew
by attending the king's Summons properly equipped, i.e., “Cum
equo discoopto.”
The privileges of forestership for Macclesfield forest were as
follows: The foresters might take foxes, hares, squirrels, baw-
Sones (murilegos) otters fishing in the forest, muschels (diminu-
tive Sparrow hawks), and cayles (aquilas). Of every beast taken
in the forest they were to have a shoulder, and of every beast
found killed in the forest the residue after the four quarters had
been sent to Macclesfield. They were to have “husseia” (q)
forage) for their own cattle within their own devises, and when
the lord of the land sold “husseiam” in his own woods out of the
devises they were to have “husseiam” for their own cattle to
feed on. When the lord of the soil sold (fogagium) aftermath,
or autumn grass, out of the forest, the foresters were to have
“fogagium” for their own cattle. They might make use of the
woods within their own devises to hedge with, to bind or build
with, or to burn, without deliverance of any man. The tops of
all oaks and saplings fallen, given, or sold, throughout the forest
were their property. They had “molas” if any were found in
the forest. They were quit of pannage throughout the forest for
all their hogs and for the hogs of all the men they were required
to find. They were to have amongst them the best pig of all the
lord's pannage, and finally every forester was entitled to a penny
a day during the time of pannage. (Adlington M.S.)
The word “husseia” is of obscure meaning. I have sought
I98 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
information ſrom various persons likely to be well informed,
but hitherto unavailingly. In the following deed, copied out of
the De Trafford collection by Canon Raines, the word is spelt
“husseijam ;” and as it relates to Chorley, a township adjacent
to Wilmslow, must have been in common use for possessions
bordering on the forest :
“Sciant, &c. Ego Willelmus de Wilmislowe dedi concessi et
quietclamavi Roberto de Davenport et heredibus suis pro homagio
et servicio Suo totam terram mean in villa de Chorlege et totam
terram mean tam assartam quam non assartam in Morlege Cum
omnibus libertatibus et aysamentis et cum husbote et haybote in
omnibus boscis et locis feodo de Pownale et de Folsahe (Ful-
shawe) et de pannagio in omnibus boscis feodo de Pownale et de
Folsahe pertinentibus. Et habeat trantatura (?) et husseåſame
libertatibus in omnibus boscis feodo de Pownale et de Fulsahe
pertinentibus. Reddendo unum parum album cyrotecarum ad
festum omnium sanctorum. Hiis testibus Tho. de Orreby, . . . . . .
de Choudrey, Rob. de Downes, Hen. de Worth, Joh. de Motlowe,
Rob. de Bromale, Reg. de Davenport, Hen. de Birchel, et aliis.”
Du Cange and Fosbroke interpret the word as applying to a
mantle, or garment, or housing. It is spelt hussia or houssia,
indifferently. In the present instance it can have no such mean-
ing, as it is described not only as a product of the woods, but as
something for horses to feed on.
Mr. W. H. Ainsworth, in his story of The Goldsmith's Wife, in
describing the preparations made by Edward IV. for his descent
on France, says, “there were certain long vessels called ‘huis-
sieres' having two rows of oars, with doors and bridges for the
transport of horses.” And again, “hundreds of horses were put
on board the ‘hussieres.” Mr. Ainsworth cites Froissart as his
authority. The word clearly applies to horses, but whether in a
general or a special sense I am unable to say.
The sentence is as follows : “Item habeant husseiam ad
avaria Sua propria infra divisas Suas, et quando Dominus terre
vendit husseiam in propriis boseis infra divisas habeant husseiam
TIHE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. I99
ad avaria propria pascenda. Item quando dominus terre vendit
fogagium in forestam habeant forestarii fogagium ad avaria sua
propria.”
The privileges, obligations, and emoluments of foresters varied
in different localities. In Staffordshire, circa Edward I., William
de Beneclegg held a virgate of land with appurtenances as the
king's Sergeant for the custody and bailliwick of Beneclegg wood.
He rendered one mark per annum to the king for his farm, and he
received six shillings yearly out of the herbage in the wood. He
had a right to seven well-dried fallen oak trees, also privilege of
pannage, and right of levying fourpence a carucate for pannage,
&c., within the wood or forest. For help, he had one sworn foot
forester allowed, and one sworn boy under the foot forester. The
loppings of oak fell to him, and one penny for every windfall oak
within certain limits. A mark for every bailliwick was a common
payment to the king about this time. Special payments were
made for places in forests where hawking was practised. Thus,
in Hopewas wood (Staffordshire) the king received fourteenpence
yearly for seven aeries, or hawking grounds. (Shaw's Stafford-
shire.)
The burgesses of Macclesfield were granted housebote, and
haybote, and pasture in the forest, except in such places as were
marked out for the fattening of hogs. For these privileges each
burgess had to pay a shilling a year. Housebote signified an
allowance of timber out of the lord's wood for repair of tenements,
for building with, and for fuel. Haybote implied a like privilege
to take bushes, &c., for the repair of hedges, gates, &c.
From the days of Edward I. the abbot of Saint Werburg and
his monks had the privilege of hunting twice a year in all the
Cheshire royal forests, and of taking deer thence. They also
obtained a license to disafforest their own lands, so as to be free
from the jurisdiction of the verderers. (Ormerod.) They also
had a hay, or enclosure for trapping game near to Prestbury
village, as the name, “Abbot's hay,” yet indicates.
A like privilege, in the shape of purlieu, was enjoyed by the
2OO THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
abbots of Dieulencresse, near Leek, as appears by the inventory
made at the time of the dissolution of the abbey (1538, 29°
Henry VIII.) and quoted in Sleigh's History of Leek :
“Item, the sayd manor off Leeke with the members off the
same, doe adjoyne & immediately (without any intervalle save
only the water off Dane) doe abutte upon ye Kinge's Majestie's
fforest of Macclesfeld: in times past the late Abbots off Dieulen-
crease had certeyn purlewes within the sayd manor off Leeke,
and had in the same Hart, Hind, Buck, and Doe, and theyr
freholders of the sayd hamlettes of Heyton and Rushton were
theyre fforesters: by occasion whereoff certeyn landes liyng
within the said hamlets off the frythe doe kepe the name
unto this day, & be called the Abbot's forrest off the which
also part is called the hie forrest, and part is called the
middle forrest.”
This privilege of purlieu did not extend to poaching within
the royal preserves, for, temp. Henry I., the abbot of Dieulacres
was indicted for that his dogs took two stags in the forest of
Makelisfield, which stags were carried to his abbey of Dielacresse
and there eaten ; but the abbot excused himself by saying he
was from home when this trespass happened. (Harleian MSS.)
The chamber or hunting lodge in Macclesfield forest was
situate above Sutton hall, at the origin of one of the three prin-
cipal heads of the river Bollin. It stood therefore a little to the
south-east of Macclesfield. The chamber is marked in the
ordnance survey very near to the forest chapel and Bollinhead
Cottage.
Webb, writing two centuries since, says, “Bollin springeth in
divers heads in Maxfield forest. The two principal heads come
from the foot of Shutlingslowe by the hall of Ridge, and after
taking in another that cometh from the chamber in the forest,
passeth to the hall of Sutton.”
When the Vale Royal was published, great store of red and
fallow deer, hares, &c., were kept in the forest, and, as the breed
of wild cattle at Lyme has been preserved there time out of
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2O I
mind, it is reasonable to infer that these beasts, as well as the
red deer still preserved there, are descended from the royal forest
herds.
There were various combes or low lying lands within the forest
of Macclesfield, which were specially fenced in, and probably
acted as game traps. In the early forest days combes existed
near the chamber, called Nesset combes, and in Hoghleghe,
Chelford, Pott, Butley, Wilmslow, and Cheadle.
Dr. Ormerod suggests that Wilmslow and Cheadle were pre-
sumably formed out of the wastes of the demesne lands of the
earls of Chester. The lords of these districts were bound yearly
to repair the fences of the combes, and the former of them, and
Edward Trafford, had to send a guard for the earl's protection
when hunting in the forest. In 49 Henry IV, Sir William Booth
“held the manor of Bollin of the king as Earl of Chester as of
the lordship and hundred of Macclesfield by the fourth part of a
knight's fee; and by the service that he, the said William and
his heirs, and in like manner Edward Trafford gentleman, should
find thirty-three men to keep guard in the combes of Maccles-
field forest when the Lord Earl came a hunting, and to make
72% roods of the hay (or fence) of the combes, at their own
expense, at any time of the year when it was deemed necessary
by the persons superintending the said hays.”
The following record of similar services, in so far as repairing
the hays of the combes is concerned, is to be found in the
Adlington MS. :
“These are the parcels of hydes (a hyde being about one
hundred acres) to make the hay about the combes (literally
valleys between hills) in the forest, by the lords and inhabitants
of divers towns of the hundred. And first from the hedge near
the Nesset (Nesset combe is near to the chamber) ascending
towards Okyn Clonhead. Adlington begins at the Hoghlegh,
and makes twenty perches. Chelford next. Pott from the same
hedge makes twenty perches. Butley of free . . . . . . makes 20
perches.”
D D
2O2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Enclosures of a like nature seem to be intended in a grant to
John de Arderne of Aldford by Randle Blundeville: “Et cum
clausura haiae, quam silicet clausuram de predicto foedo de Aldford
habui ad haim mean de Macclesfeld claudendam.” (Ormerod.)
The following is a good illustration of tenure, privilege, Service,
and obligation, as connected with Needwood forest, temp. Henry
II. William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, grants to William de
Rydewan and his heirs that they shall have perpetual common
pasture in Needwood forest within certain specified limits, to-
gether with all cattle except pigs and goats, with good and
sufficient entrance to and exit from such pastures; also pannage
for forty pigs within these bounds, together with assarts without
let or hindrance for himself and his men ; and they are to make
and sustain proper hays within Lord Ferrars' wood park at
Rugeley, so that beasts of game can be held within these bounds.
For which privileges W. de Rydewan and his heirs were to pay
twenty shillings annually. (Shaw's Staffordshire.)
Seven free tenants had demesne woods within the bounds of
Macclesfield forest, which were carefully marked out and entered
in the Swaynmote records. Brooks and rivulets were principally
employed for this purpose. In the reign of Henry VII., when the
Earl of Derby was chief forester, the representatives of the fami-
lies of Vernon, Hyde, Warren, Legh, Downes, Fitton, and Sutton
held demesne woods.
The demesne wood of Legh of Adlington began near Poynton
and extended as far as Styperson park and the hall. The
demesne wood of Downes commenced at the eastern boundary
of Styperson, and extended from Pott to Kerridge. Warren's
demesne wood began on the northern boundary of Adlington
wood, and stretched toward Norbury. Then, after a little
intervening territory, the demesne wood of Vernon began and
extended to Wybersley near Disley, a dependency of Marple.
The demesne wood of Sutton, situate in Bosley, was joined
by that of Fitton of Gawsworth, on the extreme southern-
most forest boundary.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2O3
“These are the devises betweene ye demayne wood and the
woode of Sir Richard Vernon beginning from Wybersleye Cloyes
ascendinge unto yº river, and so over agayne unto the Planch,
& So from the Planches over agayne unto the Bluntes brook, &
descending Bluntes brook unto Cartlache.
“Also these are the devyses betwine ye demayne wood and
the woode of Robert Hyde in libertie, beginning at Cartlache
when it falleth into Bluntes brook.
“The devyses of the Lorde of Poynton after the same manner
in libertie beginning from Cartlache into Holebrooke.
“The devyses of the Lorde of Adlington beginning at the
Holebrooke Rosomecloughe ascending unto the Holebrooke,
and so descending unto Peddeleighe brooke, and so till Cald-
walych fall into hit. And so descending Caldwalyche unto
Hawkescloughe, and so ascending Hawkescloughe unto the mar-
ket gate, and so from the market gate over the warte (qy water)
unto Bystall (Berystall) of Ravenoke.
“The devyses betwine the demeyne lande of the lorde of Bol-
lington beginninge at the Clymyursall descending the Clyffe
unto the hedge of Pott, and from the hedge of Pott descendinge
unto the demeyne of Buclestone Deane, & so descendinge the
demeyne of Holehurslyshenede and so overthwarde to Ravenoke,
and soe from Ravenoake to the top of Cayridge (Kerridge) unto
Sydewaye, and descending Sidewaye into the ryver runninge
towardes Bollington. g
“The devyses belonging to the demeyne landes and the lorde
of Gowsworth beginning at the nether black lowe over thranorthe
Dinniswood unto the brooke under the hedge of Nettlehurste and
descendinge unto foorthe of Schepleye, and so ascendinge the
Ronte Brooke into the fayrehoalyhe.
“The devidinges betwine the lades (q) lords) demayne and the
demeyne of Bosseleighe beginning at the Fayreshoolyh of the
devises of Gawsworth unto the Haverfenese which woode is to
Bosleighe and the playne of our sovereigne Lorde the Kinge,
and so following the Haversenese unto Scuseyer, and from
2O4 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Scuseyer descendinge unto Hawkesleighe, and from Hawksleighe
into Shilbrook, and from Shilbrook unto Dane.
“Theſse) are enrolled in the rolles of the Courte at Macclesfelde
at the Swaynmote of the forest aforesaid, holden at Macclesfelde
before Thomas Earle of Darbye, Lord Stanley steward of Max-
fylde, and chief forester of the forest aforesaid, the Moundaye
next after the feast of the conversion of St Paule in the yeare of
the reigne of King Henry the Seventhe, after the conquest the
three and twentythe. In witness whereof,” &c. (Adlington M.S.)
The “Macclesfield Rolls,” known also as the Chester series of
the “Welsh Records,” now preserved in part at the Record office,
contain an account of the several Bailiffs of the Hundred, Borough,
Forest, and Park of Macclesfield ; and, as the names of these
respective office-bearers are locally interesting, I have had them
extracted for the space of nearly a century in order that the
present subject may be rendered more complete, and that they
may furnish data for future inquirers. .
The office of bailiff of the manor and forest of Macclesfield
was one of consequence, and generally held by persons of mark.
As Dr. Ormerod has pointed out, the duties of the bailiff for the
time being were to carry the rod, or mace, before the Earl of
Chester, to execute processes, &c., to receive rents, and to act as
chief gaoler of Macclesfield gaol; but there is no evidence to
justify the further assertion that this office was hereditarily held
by the family of Mottram prior to the middle of the 14th century.
About the middle of the 13th century Thomas de Macclesfield
was bailiff, yet the office did not descend to his posterity. In five
different deeds belonging to the De Trafford family (for an
inspection of copies of which I am indebted to Canon Raines)
as many different persons signed their names as holders of this
particular Office. Thus, in 1246, in a deed of grant from Gilbert
de Wilmeslowe to John Fitton of Bollin, the signatories are
Thomas “tunc ballio de Macclesfeld,” Robert de Downes, Henry
de Honford, John de Mottrum, Richard de Baggiley, Urian de
Foxwist, and others.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2O5
In another deed, the date of which is about the year 1256, the
witnesses are John de Hegham bailiff of Macclesfield, Richard
de Orreby, Richard Birchels, Roger Davenport, and others.
To another deed of a few years' later date, Büdeo de Coudray
signed his name as bailiff of Macclesfield, together with those of
Thomas de Orreby, Robert Downes, Henry de Worth, Roger
Davenport, and Henry Birchels.
At the latter end of the 13th century, i.e., circa 1297, an eccle-
siastic held the office, as appears by another deed executed at
Macclesfield, to which the following names are appended: Thomas
(clericus) bailiff of Macclesfield, William Pigot, Robert del Downes
(uno Anno de Foxwist) and others.
In the beginning of the 14th century Ralph de Speyne's name
was affixed to a Trafford deed, as bailiff of Macclesfield, together
with the names of John de Legh, John de Ardern, John de Hyde,
John de Baskerville, Thomas Davenport, and others.
The same series of deeds, all relating to Wilmslow and Ful-
shaw, shows that, in I 324, Hamo de Massey was bailiff of
Macclesfield.
In 1349 Dr. Ormerod shows that two co-heiresses of John “le
gāolar” claimed the office of bailiff of Macclesfield by prescrip-
tion, and established it by a plea at Chester in 23° Edward III.
He further shows that, in the same reign, Adam de Mottrum did
homage to the Prince of Wales for the office of bailiff and custody
of the gaol at Macclesfield, and that the court rolls indicate John
de Mottrum as seized in fee of the same office and custody in
the succeeding reign, viz., IO9 Richard II., I 386.
The Welsh records show, inter alia, that the family of Mottram
were bailiffs of Macclesfield forest till the year 1414, after which
time the duties were performed by the Savages. There is evi-
dence, therefore, to show that the Mottrams were bailiffs for about
IOO years, i.e., from a date a little prior to 1349 to 1414.
2O6 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
WELSH RECORDS, MINISTERS’ ACCOUNTS, CHESTER SERIES
MACCLESFIELD.
Io and II Henry IV., 1409-10. From Michaelmas IO Henry IV.
to Michaelmas II Henry IV.
Park. John Savage parker.
Hundred. Thomas Chedlee and Thomas Swetenham bailiffs of
the Hundred of Macclesfield.
Borough. John del Lowe catchpoll, and Reginald del Lowe
reeve.
Forest. John Mottrom bailiff, and John Savage his deputy.
Michaelmas. I2 to I3 Henry IV. I4II–I2.
Hundred. Thomas Chedlee and Thomas Swettenham bailiffs.
Borough. William Byllyng reeve, John de Falybrone catchpoll.
Forest. John Mottrom bailiff, John Savage his deputy.
Park. John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 13 Henry IV. to I Henry V.
Hundred. Thomas Cheddele and Thomas Swetenham bailiffs.
Borough. John de Newhall catchpoll, and John Bedlem reeve.
Forest. John Savage attorney and deputy of John Mottrom
bailiff.
Park. John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. I 3 Henry IV. and I Henry V. I.412-14.
. Forest. John Savage deputy of John Mottrom bailiff.
Park. John Savage parker.
Hundred. Thomas Cheddele and Thomas Swettenham bailiffs.
Borough. John de Newehall catchpoll and John Bedlem reeve.
Michaelmas. I to 2 Henry V. 1413-14.
Hundred. Thomas Cheddele (deceased) and Thomas Swetenham
and James Feton, deputy of Thomas Cheddele
deceased, bailiffs.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2O7
Borough.
Park.
Forest.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Thomas Beek reeve, and RanulphleFlecchercatchpoll.
John Savage parker.
John Savage bailiff.
Michaelmas. 2 to 3 Henry V.
I4 I4–I 5.
James Fyton and Thomas de Shwetenham bailiffs.
John de Lowe reeve, and John Boulond catchpoll.
John Savage bailiff.
John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 3 to 4 Henry V. I.4.15-16.
James Fyton and Thomas Swetenham bailiffs.
Reginald Lowe reeve, and John de Hurdeſfeld catch-
poll.
John Savage bailiff.
John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 4 to 5 Henry V. I.416-17.
James Fyton and Thomas de Swetenham bailiffs.
Richard Houde reeve, Thomas Beek catchpoll.
(Chivaler) Sir John Savage bailiff.
John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 5 to 6 Henry V. 1417-18.
William de Honford and James Fyton bailiffs.
Geoffrey del Lowe reeve, and Richard Phelipps catch-
poll.
John Savage bailiff.
John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 6 to 7 Henry V. 1418-19.
William de Honford and James Fyton, bailiffs.
John Byllynge reeve, and Adam Okeden catchpoll.
John Savage bailiff.
John Savage parker.
2O8 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Michaelmas. 7 to 8 Henry V. 1419-20. (No. 72.)
Hundred. William Honford and James Fyton bailiffs.
Borough. Thomas Okedene reeve, John Baguley catchpoll.
Forest. John Savage, Chivaler, bailiff.
Park. John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 8 to 9 Henry V. I.42O-2 I.
Hundred. William Honford and James Fyton bailiffs.
Borough. Laurence Blag catchpoll, and Thomas Blag reeve.
Forest. John Savage, Chivaler, bailiff. -
Park. John Savage parker.
Michaelmas. 9 to Io Henry V. (Until his death.)
Hundred. William Honford and James Fiton bailiffs.
Borough. Richard Honne catchpoll, and John Glaskurion reeve.
Forest. John Savage, Chivaler, bailiff.
Park. John Savage parker.
[Here several rolls are missing.]
Michaelmas. 9 to Io Henry VI. I.430–31.
Forest. John Savage, knight, bailiff.
Borough. William Clayton catchpoll, and Thomas Stathom
reeve.
Hundred. James Fyton and William Sutton deputy of Elizabeth
who was wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Joane
hersister, daughter and co-heires of John le Warde,
beadle.
Park. John Savage, knight, parker.
Michaelmas. IO to II Henry VI. 1431-2.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Borough. Roger Falybrome catchpoll, and John Lithersegge
1’eeve.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2O9
Hundred. James Fyton and William Sutton deputies of Eliza-
beth who was the wife of Thomas Swetenham,
and Joane her sister, daughters and co-heirs of
John le Warde, beadle.
Park. William Troutebek farmer of the park.
Michaelmas. I I to 12 Henry VI. I.432-33.
Forest. John Savage, knight, bailiff.
Borough. John Bruwode catchpoll, and Robert del Halle reeve.
Hundred. James Fyton and William Swetenham deputy of
Elizabeth who was the wife of Thomas Sweten-
ham, and Joane her sister, daughters and co-heirs
of John le Warde, beadle.
Park. William Troutebek farmer of the park.
Michaelmas. I2 to I3 Henry VI. I.433-34.
Borough. Richard de Swerston catchpoll, and William de Mac-
lesfeld reeve.
Hundred. James Staveley and William Swetenham deputies of
Elizabeth who was the wife of Thomas Sweten-
ham, and Joan her sister, daughters and co-heirs
of John le Warde, beadle.
Park. William Troutebek farmer of the park.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Michaelmas. I 3 to 14 Henry VI. I.434-5.
Borough. Robert Holynshede catchpoll, and Laurence Blagg
reeVe.
Hundred. James Stavely and William Swetenham deputy of
Elizabeth who was the wife of Thomas Sweten-
ham, and Joan her sister, daughters and co-heirs
of John le Warde, beadle.
Park. William Troutebek farmer of the park.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
2 IO THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Michaelmas. I4 to 15 Henry VI. I.435–6.
Lordship William Troutebek, Esq., and John his son, farmers
and of the manor, lordship, and Hundred of Maccles-
Hundred. field.
Forest. John Savage, knight, late bailiff of the forest. (By
this account it seems that John Legh of Bothes
was the bailiff of the forest in 5 Henry VI.)
Michaelmas. I 5 to 16 Henry VI. 1436-7.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Joane her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. William Hull reeve, and John Barker catchpoll.
Forest. John Savage, knight, bailiff.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 16 to 17 Henry VI. 1437-8.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Joane her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
- and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. John Othe Oldfeld catchpoll, by Thomas Othe Old-
feld, his attorney accountant for the same, and
John Marler reeve.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Forest. John Savage, knight, bailiff, John Savage, Esq., his
- deputy.
Michaelmas. 17 to 18 Henry VI. 1438-9.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Joane her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2 I I
Borough. Thomas Davy reeve, and Vivian Legatuller catchpoll.
Park. Robert Leigh, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Forest. John Savage, knight, bailiff.
Michaelmas. I 8 to 19 Henry VI. 1439-40.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Agnes her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and of Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. Peter Rossendale reeve, and Vivian le Gatullercatchpoll.
Park. Robert Leigh, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Michaelmas. Ig to 20 Henry VI. I.440-41.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Agnes her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. Peter Rossendale reeve, and Vivian le Gatuller, catch-
poll.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 20 to 2 I Henry VI. I.441-2.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Agnes her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. John Cartwyrght Barker reeve, and Vivian Gatiler
catchpoll.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 2 I to 22 Henry VI. I.442-3.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
2 I2 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Agnes her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
-- and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. Adam Rowe reeve, and Robert del Halle catchpoll.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. . John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 22 to 23 Henry VI. I.443-4.
Hundred. William de Swetenham deputy of Elizabeth who was
the wife of Thomas Swetenham, and Agnes her
sister, daughters and co-heirs of John le Warde
and Thomas Davenport, beadles.
Borough. Thomas Alicok reeve, and John Blagge catchpoll.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 23 to 24 Henry VI. I.444-5.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Cartewright catchpoll, and John Person reeve.
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. John Savage, Esq., farmer of the herbage of the park.
Michaelmas. 24 to 25 Henry VI. I.445-6.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Parsons catchpoll, and John Blagge, the elder,
reeve. -
Forest. John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 25 to 26 Henry VI. 1446-7.
Hundred. William Swetenham bailiff.
Borough. John Pyggotte catchpoll, Richard Hunt reeve, Regi-
nald Shryggeley his deputy.
Forest, John Savage, the younger, bailiff.
Park. Same as before.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2 I 3
Michaelmas. 26 to 27 Henry VI. 1447-8.
Hundred. William Swettenham bailiff.
Borough. Matthew Bostok catchpoll, John Olyver reeve, by
$ Reginald Shriggelegh his deputy.
Forest. John Savage, son of Sir John Savage, kt., bailiff.
Park Same as before.
Michaelmas. 27 to 28 Henry VI. 1448-9.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Olyver reeve, Thomas More catchpoll, and
Reginald Shriggelegh his deputy.
Forest. Same as before, by Richard Hunter his deputy.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 28 to 29 Henry VI. I.449-50.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Nicholas Heskette reeve, Edward Hensagh catchpoll.
Forest. Same as before ; same deputy.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 29 to 30 Henry VI. I.450-I.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Blagge catchpoll, Richard Sutton reeve.
Forest. Same as before ; same deputy.
Park. No account.
Michaelmas. 30 to 31 Henry VI. 1451-2.
Hundred Same as before.
Borough. Roger de Sidebothom catchpoll, Reginald Shriggeley
Teeve.
Forest. John Savage, son of Sir John Savage, and John
Savage, Son of the same John, Esq., bailiffs.
Park. Same as before.
[The next roll is missing.]
2I4.
THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Forest.
Michaelmas. 32 to 33 Henry VI.
I453-4.
Same as before.
John Marler catchpoll, John Hunt reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
Michaelmas. 33 to 34 Henry VI.
William Swettenham bailiff.
John Holden catchpoll and reeve.
John Savage, son of Sir John Savage, Kt., and John
Savage, Son of the same John, Esq., bailiffs.
John Savage, son of John Savage, Esq., farmer.
I454-5.
Michaelmas. 34 to 35 Henry VI.
I455-6.
Same as before.
Robert Hanford catchpoll, Nicholas Bothe reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
Michaelmas. 35 to 36 Henry VI.
I456-7.
Same as before.
William Hondesond catchpoll, Ranulph de Leghes
reeVe. -
Same as before.
Same as before.
Michaelmas. 36 to 37 Henry VI. 1457-8.
Same as beſore.
Hugh Clayve reeve, William Wylot catchpoll.
Same as before.
Same as before.
Michaelmas. 37 to 38 Henry VI. 1458-9.
Same as before.
Same as before.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2 I 5
Park. Same as before.
Borough. Richard Sutton catchpoll, Thomas Harrison reeve.
[Here one roll is missing.]
Michaelmas. 39 Henry VI. and I Edward IV. 1460–61.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Roger del Legh and Robert Dounes catchpolls,
Richard Trafford and Laurence Blagge reeves.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. John Savage the younger, Esq., and John his son,
farmers.
[The next roll is missing.]
Michaelmas. 2 to 3 Edward IV. I.462-3.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Pygot catchpoll, Hugh Bedell reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 3 to 4 Edward IV. I.463-4.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Hugh Glay've catchpoll, Hugh Prestwoole reeve.
Forest. John Savage, Esq., bailiff.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 4 to 5 Edward IV. I.464-5.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Hugh Roo catchpoll, William Janny reeve.
Forest. Sir John Savage, Kt., bailiff.
Park. Sir John Savage, Kt., and John his son, farmers.
Michaelmas. 5 to 6 Edward IV. I.465-6.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough.
William Persons catchpoll, Ralph Olyver reeve.
2 I6 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 6 to 7 Edward IV. 1466-7.
Hundred. Ranulph Maynewaryng bailiff.
Borough. Arnold Savage catchpoll, and William Parsons reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 7 to 8 Edward IV. 1467-8.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Richard Hunter catchpoll, John Hephalfe reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 8 to 9 Edward IV. 1468-9.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Ranulph Grene catchpoll, Reginald Stephenson reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 9 to Io Edward IV. 1469-70.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. William Jenny catchpoll, John Marler, junior, reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. IO to II Edward IV. 1470–1.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. William Persons catchpoll, Christopher Alegh reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I I to 12 Edward IV. 1471-2.
Hundred. Thomas Lord Stanley bailiff.
Borough. William Persons catchpoll, John Holdernes reeve.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 217
Forest. Same as before,
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I2 to 13 Edward IV. 1472-3.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. John Stubbes catchpoll, Christopher Legh reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I 3 to 14 Edward IV. 1473–4.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Richard Plont catchpoll, Matthew Waynewright reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I4 to 15 Edward IV. I.474-5.
Hundred. John Barne bailiff.
Borough. Christopher Legh catchpoll, John Stubbes reeve.
Forest, Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I 5 to 16 Edward IV. I.475-6.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough. Robert Falibrome catchpoll, John Alicok reeve.
Forest. Same as before. -
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I6 to 17 Edward IV. I.476-7.
Hundred. John Barnes bailiff.
Borough. Thomas Holynhed catchpoll, Hugh Hyne reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. I7 to 18 Edward IV. I.477-8.
Hundred. John Ward bailiff.
F F
2 I 8 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Borough. John Parson catchpoll, Robert Falibrond reeve.
Forest, Sir John Savage, the elder, bailiff.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 18 to 19 Edward IV. I.478-9.
Hundred. John Pycrofte bailiff.
Borough. Thomas Waynewright catchpoll, Thomas Champen
reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Sir John Savage and Sir John his son. (Q) same as
before.)
[The next roll is missing.]
Michaelmas. 20 to 2 I Edward IV. I.48O-I.
Hundred. John Pycrofte deputy of Thomas Lord Stanley bailiff.
Borough. Christopher Legh catchpoll, John Alecok reeve.
Forest. Same as before,
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 31 to 32 Edward IV. I481-2.
Hundred. Same as before.
Borough, Richard Rosyndale catchpoll, John Pson reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. Same as before.
Michaelmas. 22 Edward IV. to I Richard III.
Hundred. Same as before,
Borough. John Hidd catchpoll, Thomas Daw reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
Park. . Same as before.
Michaelmas. I to 2 Richard III. I.483-4.
Hundred. Thomas Lord Stanley, Kt., bailiff.
Borough. Ottevely Fernes catchpoll, Thomas Aleyn reeve.
Forest. Same as before.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 2 I9
Park.
Same as before.
Michaelmas. 2 Richard III. to 1 Henry VII. 1484-5.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
|Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough,
Same as before.
John Hyde catchpoll, Edmund Scalehorne reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
I to 2 Henry VII. 1485-6.
Thomas Lord Stanley, Kt., bailiff.
Elias Newton catchpoll, John Furnes reeve.
John Savage, the elder, Kt., bailiff.
John Savage, Kt., and John Savage son of the same,
Kt., farmers.
2 to 3 Henry VII. 1486-7.
Same as before.
Reginald Oldefield catchpoll, John Hide reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
3 to 4 Henry VII. I.487-8.
Same as before.
Geoffrey Vernon catchpoll and reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
4 to 5 Henry VII. I.488-9.
Same as before.
John Alycok catchpoll, Richard Ledebeter reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
5 to 6 Henry VII.
Same as before.
John Stevenson catchpoll, John Foxe reeve,
I489-90.
22O
THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Forest,
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
- Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Same as before.
Same as before.
6 to 7 Henry VII.
Same as before.
Robert Champeyn catchpoll, Robert Catcher reeve.
John Savage, the elder, Kt., bailiff.
Same as before.
I490-I.
7 to 8 Henry VII.
Same as before.
John Greves catchpoll, Ralph Holynhed reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
I49I-2.
8 to 9 Henry VII. 1492-3.
Same as before.
Robert Downes catchpoll, John Watson reeve.
Same as before.
Sir John Savage, Kt., farmer.
9 to Io Henry VII. I.493-4.
Same as before. -
John Worthe of Bacche catchpoll, John Lowe reeve.
Same as before. -
Same as before.
IO to II Henry VII. I.494-5.
Same as before.
Ralph Shore catchpoll, Laurence Holynhed reeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
i I to 12 Henry VII. 1495-6.
Same as before.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 22 I
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest,
Park,
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park,
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Hundred.
Borough.
Forest.
Park.
Thomas Dale catchpoll, Roger Rowe reeve.
John Savage, Esq., bailiff.
Thomas Bishop of London occupier of the park.
I2 to 13 Henry VII. 1496-7.
Same as before.
Edward Fitton, Esq., catchpoll, Nicholas Clapham
reeve.
John Savage, Kt., bailiff.
Thomas Bishop of London farmer.
I3 to 14 Henry VII. I497-8.
Same as before.
Sir John Savage, Kt., catchpoll, Richard Brauster
Teeve.
Same as before.
Same as before.
I4 to 15 Henry VII. I.498-9.
Same as before.
Roger Donne catchpoll, William Holynhed reeve.
Same as before.
No account.
15 to 16 Henry VII.
Same as before.
Hugh Fernyall catchpoll, Adam Baxter reeve.
Same as before.
No account.
I499-I5OO.
When, under pressure of increasing population, wealth, and
civic freedom, in the reign of Henry VII., the ancient forest
laws, tenures, and privileges, were being gradually relaxed in
stringency, the forest boundaries began to be greatly encroached
upon, and lands brought into cultivation by neighbouring Squires,
222 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
and other interested persons. Encroachments and squattings
abounded on all sides. Common lands paid no rent to the king,
and the numerous intakes only a fractional part of their value.
To remedy this state of things a general survey of the common
lands, intakes, &c., was ordered to be made in the latter part of
the reign of Henry VIII., so that the names and areas of the
remaining commons, and the names and dimensions of the several
intakes, encroachments, &c., and the names of the several occu-
piers, tenures, and rents, might be more clearly ascertained.
Commons a mile in length and half a mile in breadth are
frequently named in this survey, but these dimensions must have
been guessed at rather than accurately ascertained by measure-
ment, for, if taken at their literal computation, they would have
exceeded the entire forest in their joint areas. What Webb
wrote of the Brereton division of Nantwich Hundred at this
period might have been said with equal truth of Macclesfield
forest: “To pass over those great spacious heaths and commons
that lie everywhere dispersed in this part of the hundred, which
as they have in long continuance been cropped and snipped
round about their borders on every side, so the industry of future
ages, if it should increase as it hath done, would bring them in
time to a narrower compass.”
In the Adlington MS., preserved in the Chetham College
Library, a record of this survey is given, which, in addition to
furnishing landmarks, and names of places and persons of local
value and interest at the present day, forms a starting point from
whence the agricultural conquests in this particular locality, dur-
ing the last three centuries, can be computed. Even now an
almost unbroken Solitude reigns between Taxal and Wildboar-
clough, where the undulating ground is largely interspersed with
moor and waste.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 223
“These bene the commynes within the boundes of the forest of
Macclesfeld wich gyves no remie to the Kynge, and these bene
intacées upon the same commuynes whic/º be not rented to the
A ſynge to any valezve as ground is.
“In primis a comyn in Goswerthe called the Mer and the
Wood which conteyneth a myle and halfe in lengthe & a myle of
of bred the.
“Item a close lyinge in Sutton which was an intacke of the
comine and the londe payed the ferme and soe is cast onle to the
comyne agayne for the weage that was behind, and he was
Content.
“Item a comyne which longeth to Boseleye and Wyncull
called the Mynde which is by estimacon two myles of lengthe
and a myle of breade. -
“Item an other comyne longinge to Boseley called Dane Wood
wh is by estimacón an halfe myle of lengthe and a myle of breade.
“Item in Wyncull a comyne called the Hakesharte whis by
estimacön an halfe myle longe and three score rode of bredthe.
“Item that William Suttone has taken in an intake of the
said comyn whconteyneth viij acres yeldinge to the Kynge
therefore but iiijd.
“Item the said William hath taken another intake in the said
Hakesharte whiconteyneth an acre.
“Item another comyn in Wyncull called the Swynhille wh
conteyneth by estimacón a myle of lengthe and an half of bredthe.
“Item an intake taken in the sayd comyne nowe in the
holdynge of Lawrence Wing whicontayneth an acre, Id.
Item an intake taken in of the sayd Comyne now in the
holdinge of Rić Cloye whis by estimacón iiij acres, vijº. -
“Item an intake taken in of the Kynge Comyne in Wyncull
now in the holdinge of Willia Whattesone by estimacön ij acres.
“Item William Watsone another intake in Wyncull whis by
estimacón an acre.
“Item two intackes in Wyncull now in the holdinge of Thomas
Savage whare an acre and doe bylde thereon.
224 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“Item an intacke in Wyncull now in ye holdinge of Barlowe
wh is nighe an acre.
“Idem Barlowe an intacke in Wyncull on ye comyne and a
cote bulde one the same.
“Item an intacke in Wyncull nowe in ye holdinge of William
Clare whis new.
“Item William Sutton hath taken in a garden stydde in
Wyncull and buyldeth houses on yº Kinge comyne.
“Item the said William Sutton hath taken in an intacke in
Wyncull on a comyne called Holmestone whiconteyneth by
estimacón ij acres.
“Item a comyne called Holmestone whlongethe to Wyncull
& Sutton whicomyne conteynethe by estimacön the lengthe of
two myles and the bredthe of a myle between the water of Dane
and a place called the Nesfelle.
“Item Rauffe Hollenshed hath taken in an intacke in Sutton
in a lane whis an acre whithe highewaye is throwe.
“Item Rić Joynsone hath taken in an intacke in Sutton in the
same lane which is by estimacón half an acre.
“Item Arnolde Deane hath taken in an intacke in Sutton wh
is by estimacón the the third pte of an acre.
“Item another comyne in Sutton called Sutton comyne whis
by estimacón in lengthe a myle and a quarter from a place called
the Nesset to a place called tegg of Nase & brodthe a myle fro’
the Rigge yate in the forrest to the ende of the Rigg.
“Item another comyne longynge to Maxfeld and to Raynowe
wh is by estimacön in lengthe fro ye Black Lowe to a place
called the brinke a myle and in bredth fro yº forrest syde to
Macc two myles. -
“Item a comyne longynge to Raynowe whis by estimacön
two myles from a place called the brinke to a place called Har-
rope pasture & a myle and a halfe in bredthe. º
“Item Humfrey Mainfold hath taken an intacke in MacC in a
place called the fletishereyde wiche is by estimacón an acre.
“Item Renaulde Legge of Mottram Esquier hath taken in an
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 225
intacke whº is by estimacön the thirde part of an acer, and the
said intacke now lying out agayne was manye yeares in the
holdinge of Jonsen Wilsone.
“Item a place called Longleye within Sutton whis in the
holdinge of John Creswall a barn and an house buylded on the
Kynge Comyn.
“Item a comyne called Coryryge which belongeth to Ranowe
and Bollington whis by estimacö of length a myle of bred the an
halfe myle.
“Item a comyne longinge to Ranowe called Billinge and
Billingward whiconteyneth in lengthe by estimacón from a place
called Holleyurst to the heighe way above Billinge good a myle
and in bredth an half myle.
“Item Sir John Savage Knight hath taken an intacke out of
the same Billingward which is by estimató 8 acres 3 R.
“Item Roberte Shrigley hath taken at the same comyne two
garden styddes and besydes that he buylt a little house on the
same Comyn.
“Item a comyn called Holleyurst beneathe that whis enclosed
Billinge whº is by estimacó of lengthe a quarter of a myle and
bred the a quarter of a myle.
“Item Roger Downes Esquire hath taken in three garden
places in a comyn called Ordesell.
“Item the comyn called Lyme nowe in ye holdynge of Sir
Peter Leygh whiconteyneth in lengthe two myles from a place
called the Heayhough to the Bowstone and in bredth two myles
from a place called the Edullyate to the Waterlowe. From a
place called the Blackshawe within Lyme by estimacó in length
a myle and in bredth an half myle.
“Item within the said Lyme be xviij comines and a parke and
a manor place and a mylne.
“Item a comyn called Disselle longyng to Disley & Ocurley
wh is by estimató in lengthe a myle and a halfe and in bredthe a
myle.
“Item an intacke in the same comyn by Sir Peter Legh
G G
226 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Knight now in the holdinge of Sir Ralfe Wyttle prieste of
Disley and the wyfe of Oliver Hogkiston, vi and viijº.
“Item an intacke of the said comyn called Ellebank by Sir
John Savage Knight now in the holdinge of Richard Hill whis
by estimacó 3 acres.
“Item an intacke by Richard Rodgge of Kettleshulme comyn
wh is an acre.
“Item Richard Hill hath taken in an intacke called Warden
Place of the same comyn.
“Item George Dickson hath taken in two gardens by side of
the same comyn and stopped the Kinges highewaye to the greate
noyaunce of the Kinges people.
“Item a comyn longinge to Kettlesholme and Taxall called
Yormom wood being after the water of Goyte whis by estimacn
3 acres and rented in the bownd of Kettlesholme to pay to the
Kinge iijs. -
“Item a greate comyne longinge to Kettlesholme and Taxall
wh is by estimac in lengthe a myle and in bredthe a myle.
“Item Raynalde Warington hath builded an house in the
said comyn and taken in a garden stidd nowe in the holdinge of
Edward Wilstune whipayeth to the said Renaldo ijs.
“Item Renauld Hanley hath an intake lying in his hough wh
is by estimacon Io acres.
“Item a comyn called the Clyffe whis wood longinge to Pott
Shrigley whis by estimacon in length between Harrope pasture
and Berystall a quarter of a myle in lengthe in bredthe.
“Item a comyn longinge to Pott Shrigley called Potte Mow
wh is by estimacón in lengthe a myle and in bredthe a myle.
“Item John Pott of Pott hath taken an intake of the said Pott
Mow whis by estimacn . . . . . .
“Item the same John hath buylded an house and a barne in
Pott on the Kynge comyn.
“Item a comyn longinge to Pott Shrigley called Kerridge &
Arkehill whis by estimacö a quarter of a myle and in bredthe an
hundred rodes.
THE ROYAL FOREST OF MACCLESFIELD. 227
“Item Roger Downes hath builded a hough & a barn in the
holdinge of Richard Langley and taken in an intake of the said
Comyne.
“Item a Comyn longinge to Pott Shrigley called the Longe
Syde which is wood and a lengthe by estimacon a half myle and
in bredthe an half myle.
“Item Ronald Adsed hath builded an house & barn on the
said Comyn and taken in two garden stiddes now in the holdinge
of Nicholas Adsed his sonne.
“Item a house & barne buylded in the comyn which house is
called the Oxforthe whyeildeth to Pott and Taxall nearly 28.
“Item Robert Shrigley hath taken in some intakes on a comyn
called Carogye longinge to Bollington and builded a house and
a chamber, the house in the holdinge of John Turn and the
chamber in the holdinge of John Shryglege.
“Item Wm Aynsworth hath buylded on ye same comyn an
house and a barn, & taken in an acre of land, and a bore orchard
wh paye to the Kynge yearly Id,
“Item Ronald Oldford hath taken in an intake in Sutton
comyn whis by estimacó two acres.
“Item Sir Peter Legge hath a certayne house in Sutton
called the Helefielde whis in the holdinge of Ralfe Hollens-
hed by the whSir Peter clameth to be on the forreste of
Macclesfelde & payeth to the said Sir Peter Legge by yeare
xxvis & viijd.
“Item an intake taken in by the lord of Gowesworthe now in
the holdinge of Katherin Lathum late wyfe of John Lathum by
estimacó 8 acres.
“Item Wildborecloughe Harroppe Saltersford and Langside
with haw in Crabers betwine the Earle of Darby and Christopher
Savage.
“Item Roger Downes hath taken in dyvers intakes on the
said Kynge comyn which amounteth to greate Sumes to the said
Roger behond whisome cannot certainly be known without fur-
ther proofe.
228 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
“Item John Sutton of Sutton hath taken many intakes within
the said forrest which draweth to a great deale.
“Item Robert Shrigley . . . . . . . . . } }
(Here the record comes to an end.)
Macclesfield park was quite distinct from the forest. In the
I 5th, 16th and 17th centuries it belonged to the Savages of Rock
Savage, and extended nearly a mile to the south and south-east
of the town. (Corry's Macclesfield.) As late as 1817 some vestiges
of an ancient castellated residence could be traced near the high-
way between Macclesfield and Congleton, which belonged to the
Savage family. In this house Archbishop Savage was born. It
is the same park of which the Davenports were dispossessed in
the days of the Norman earls of Chester. Now it is covered, for
the most part, with streets and houses.
Swanscoe park, to the north-east of Macclesfield, is understood
to have been the property of the Staffords, earls and dukes of
Buckingham. -
The arms of the forest of Macclesfield were argent, a chevron
between three blowing horns sable.
*-*-*.
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SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH CHURCH TOWER. 229
HERALDIC SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH
CHURCH TOWER.
Gawsworth church and township, though not now considered
an integral part of Prestbury parish, used formerly to be so
classed ; and, indeed, its situation and surroundings lead natur-
ally to such a conclusion.
On the church tower fourteen shields of arms are carved in
relief, on stone. Five are placed on the south side, four are
placed on the west side, two are placed on the north side, and
three are placed on the east side. Five shields are single, and
nine shields are impaled. (See illustration.)
Low down, on the south aspect, two shields placed side by
side bear respectively two bars, and two chevronels and a dexter
canton. Higher up, beneath the belfry windows, there are three
shields in a row, on each of which the chevronel coat is impaled
with the following arms, viz., on the first three spades, on the
second a bend charged with three garbs and a dexter canton,
and on the third two bars and a canton sinister charged with a
garb. *
On the western side, and in a line parallel with the foregoing,
are three shields on which the chevronel and canton coat is
severally impaled with, first, a lion rampant; second, with two
coats, viz., a bend charged with three garbs and a crescent for
difference, and three birds heads erased ; and third, a lion ram-
pant, and a pheon.
Lower down, and ornamenting the corbel of a niche, is a coat
of arms quarterly borne by an angel, viz., first and fourth the
chevronel and canton coat, second a bend charged with three
garbs and a dexter canton, and third three spades.
The two shields on the north side bear, first, two quatrefoils in
fesse; and second a chevron humetté with two lozenges in fesse
between three cross crosslets fitchée.
The three shields on the east side bear, first, the chevronel and
23O THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
canton coat impaling a chevron between three cross crosslets
fitchée, and a lion rampant; second, three garbs, two in chief
and one in base; third, the chevronel and canton coat impaling
a cross patonce. -
The frequent repetition of the chevronel coat indicates that
some portion of family history is intended to be pourtrayed, and
that the founder of Gawsworth church bore these arms. The
architectural details of the nave and tower show that it was
built sometime about the reign of Henry VI. In addition to
this, during repairs conducted a few years since, three frescoes
were discovered on the walls, one of which represented St.
George, wearing a pointed shoe, in the act of slaying the dragon.
In pursuing any inquiry touching the ownership of the above-
named shields of arms, it is necessary to consult the pedigree of
the mesne lords of Gawsworth during the middle of the 15th
century.
}.
*
&
The following extract is from Dr. Ormerod's “AZistory of Cheshire.”
Thomas Orreby of Orreby of Gawsworth== . . . . . .
Ob., aet. 27, 18° Ed. I. |
|
F-
Isabella oº: 'second son of Edmond Fitton
d. & h. of Bollin. Living 1335.
| L– |
Margery Fitton=William S. & h. of Matthew Thomas Fitton of Gawsworth=Margaret d. & co-h. of Peter
Mere of Mere. Ed. III. Ob. 20° Richard II. Legh of Betchton, by Ellen
d. & h. of Math. de Bechton.
Ob. 1379.
|
T- -
Sir Lawrence Fitton=Agnes d. of — Hesketh
of Gawsworth. Ob. of Rufford, Lancashire.
35° H. VI., I456.
F- | |
Thomas Fitton=Ellen d. of Rd. Ellen =Jno. Fitton Elizabeth = Wm. Mere Joane Fitton–Robert seven other
Ob. I449. Mainwaring. Fitton of Pownall. Fitton. of Meere. Ob. 20° Ed. Grosvenor sons and
Ob. 1481. 149 H. IV. IV. of Hulme, another
s. & h. of daughter.
Sir T. Grosvenor.
|
| i |
Eliz. Fitton—thos. Maud F.—Sir Thos. Sir Thºs. Fitton, win. F. Edward F-Emmotad. & Robert F. Three sons
Vidua 249 Wever. ob. I5OI Poole of O. S. D. I.494. 4° son. Ob. I5IO. | of Robert Ob. 1501. and three
H. VI. Poole. Sidington. daughters.

The descent continued.
232 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
The arms borne by Orreby of Gawsworth were argent, two
chevrons and a canton gules. The arms borne by Fitton of
Bollin were argent, a bend azure charged with three garbs or.
When Thomas, the second son of Edmund Fitton of Bollin,
married Isabel the daughter and heiress of Thomas Orreby of
Gawsworth, he differenced his paternal arms by placing a dexter
canton gules beneath the bend charged with garbs ; in other
words, he added the Orreby canton to the Fitton coat. From
this time forward the Fittons of Gawsworth used the two shields
of Orreby and Fitton differenced, interchangeably.
The arms of Bechton were azure, three betches, spades, or
irons, or.
The arms of Mainwaring are argent, two bars gules.
Thus far, therefore, the Orreby, Fitton, and Bechton alliances
are set forth on the quartered coat borne by the angel in accord-
ance with the ordinary usages of heraldry, whilst the unimpaled
shield of Mainwaring represents the alliance of Ellen Mainwaring
with Thomas Fitton of Gawsworth.
The heraldic difficulty arises out of the five remaining impale-
ments of Orreby (i.e., Fitton of Gawsworth) with Fitton of Pow-
nall, Grosvenor, Egerton, Davenport of Bramall, and Wever.
These will be found to represent a singular and very interesting
departure from the prescribed rules of heraldry, customary before
the establishment of the Herald's college in the reign of Richard
III., and absolutely fixed afterwards. In each instance the pre-
scribed order has been reversed, the female members of the
Fitton family having appropriated to themselves the dexter half
of the shields and relegated their husbands to the sinister half.
They represent, therefore, the alliances of four sisters of Thomas
Fitton with their respective husbands, and the marriage of Eliza-
beth, the daughter of Thomas Fitton and Ellen Mainwaring, with
Thomas Wever.
The key to the solution of the difficulty was found in a church
note of Randle Holme's, quoted by Dr. Ormerod, in which he
describes some painted glass formerly in a window of Gawsworth
SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH CHURCH TOWER. 233
church : “Two figures kneeling, the man in armour, Surcoat
emblazoned Pulford, the lady's mantle Fitton, chevron coat,
and” underneath ‘orate p. a, i, a., due Johanne Grosvenor qui
istam fenestram fieri fecit.’”
As the arms of Pulford are sable a cross patonce argent, and
as the above inscription identifies the bearing with R. Grosvenor,
who married Joane Fitton, no room for doubt is left. Robert
Grosvenor was son and heir of Ralph Grosvenor of Eaton, ſure
tºtoris, and second son of Sir Thomas Grosvenor of Hulme.
The colours of the quartered coat of John Fitton of Pownall,
to whom Ellen Fitton of Gawsworth was married, are argent on
a bend azure, three garbs or, and a crescent sable for difference ;
and azure three birds' heads erased sable, beaked gules for Erdes-
wick. The conjoined arms represent the marriage of Richard
Fitton of Bollin with Margaret daughter and heiress of John de
Oulton of Wrenbury. The crescent in the Fitton coat marks
descent from a second son thus:
Hugh Fitton second son of John==Margaret d. & h. of Robert de
Fitton, the first of Bollin. Pownall.
Thomas Fitton of Bollin==Agnes d. of Minshull of
Ob. 26° Rd. 2. | Minshull.
Richard F itton of Bollin==Margaret d. and one of the
heiresses of John de Oulton.
Ob. 16 Hy. VI.

Richard Fitton of Pownall= Ellen d. of Sir Lawrence
Fitton of Gawsworth.
This coat armour, which is marked as representing Erdeswick,
is singular from the circumstance of colour being superimposed
on colour, and it is somewhat obscure, as only a little information
is to be obtained about it. In King's Vale Royal these arms are
underwritten “Yardswick,” the same as Erdeswick, whose coat is
argent, on a chevron gules, five bezants; also or, a fess argent.
The family derives from Vernon of Shipbrooke, who bore or, a
II H
234 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
fess azure. In no other local history is the “Yardswick” coat
of arms described as azure three birds' heads erased sable and
beaked or.
The following notices, mainly gathered out of Dr. Ormerod's
history, and the accompanying pedigree, may serve to make the
subject clearer and more comprehensible. Matthew de Vernon
was male ancestor of the Hulgreaves of Hulgreave, and of
Erdeswick of Erdeswick. The Erdeswicks ceased to be a Che-
shire family a long time ago, having settled at Sandon in Staf-
fordshire as early as 129 Edward III. Warren de Vernon con-
veyed Sandon to Sir Richard Stafford, knight; and one of the
Erdeswicks marrying a daughter descended from Sir Richard
Stafford settled at Sandon. Erdeswick and Hulgreave are ham-
lets in Minshull Vernon, and the family of Erdeswick came from
Hulgreave. Matthew de Hulgreave settled Erdeswick on his
younger son Richard. About the year 1300 William de Minshull
married Mabell daughter of Thomas de Erdeswick of Minshull.
Again, William de Lecton, son of Adam, first lord of Leighton,
granted to Randle de Aldington the entire lordship of Leighton
village. This Randle passed over the whole manor to Lawrence
Mainwaring, who, in the reign of Edward I., gave a moiety of
the lordship and lands of this place to Randle de Oldington, and
the other to Thomas de Erdeswick, in whose family the entire
lordship became vested in 5° Edward II, when John the son of
R. Oldington gave to Thomas the son of Thomas de Erdeswick
his moiety in exchange for lands in Minshull Vernon and Erdes-
wick.
Williamson (Vill. Cest.) says that in 1328 Thomas de Erdes-
wick quit claimed to Randle son of John de Oldington all the
right he had to lands in Erdeswick, Minshull Vernon, and La
Lowe, which he gave in exchange to him for lands in Leighton.
Leighton, Erdeswick, Hulgreave, and Minshull are adjacent places.
King (Vale Royal) speaks of them as follows: “And here we
must step over the water of Weever, at Minshull Bridge, where
again another branch of the same Minshulls have an ancient
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SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH CHURCH TOWER. 235
inheritance, and a fair house and domain called Erdeswick, from
whence we must go more southerly to Leighton, where you shall
find a fair seat of the ancestors of the Erdeswicks, no doubt
deriving the name from the place above-mentioned, but now
grown to a race of great worship, whose chief residence is at
Sand (Sandon) in Staffordshire.”
Incomplete though this evidence may be, it nevertheless serves
to associate the families of Oulton and Erdeswick; and although
the shield bearing the three birds' heads is not at the present
time a cognisance of the Erdeswicks, it was appropriated by
them in earlier days, as King's drawing shows. It seems to be
a manorial coat representing Erdeswick, which manor passed to
the Oultons, in exchange for other lands; and, along with it, the
right to quarter the arms.
In other words, the entire Erdswick manor came to Randle de
Oldington, who married the heiress of John de Wrenbury (vide
pedigree attached) by an exchange which seems to have been
effected through Randle's father's marriage with the heiress of
Leighton. -
It may be read as follows: One half of Leighton came by
gift to Randle Oldington or Oulton (first on pedigree) and
remained unaltered during the life-time of his son Richard.
The whole was alienated to Thomas the son of Thomas de
Erdeswick, during the life of John de Oldington (third on
pedigree). It was repossessed in its entirety by Randle de
Oldington, who married the heiress of Wrenbury, against whose
name the arms of “Yardswick’ are placed. Lastly, it descended
to John de Oulton, who was the great great grandson of Randle
the first-named on the accompanying pedigree.
This John de Oulton, lord of Oulton, Yardswick, and Wren-
bury, left three daughters, co-heiresses, one of whom, by marriage
with Richard Fitton of Bollin, brought the bearing in question,
together with those of Wrenbury and Oulton, into the Fitton
shield. These quarterings may still be seen in the stained glass
of Wilmslow church, where the arms of Newton, with six
236 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
quarters, impale the arms of Mainwaring of Peover. The fifth
and sixth quarterings have been destroyed, but their absence is
supplied by a drawing made by Bostock, and preserved amongst
the Harleian MSS. The drawing is underwritten “Arma de
Newtoun in the churche of Wembeslowe, 1572,” and the quarter-
ings are rendered as, one Newtoun, two Fitton, three Ravenscroft,
four Mylneton, five Oulton, six Wrenbury. The pedigree explains
in what manner the family of Newton of Pownall became entitled
to bear the Fitton quarterings on their shield of arms.
The shield on the church tower impaling, first, argent a chevron
between three cross crosslets sable, and, second, sable a lion
rampant or, stands for the marriage of Agnes Fitton with Robert
Davenport of Bramall, as appears in the pedigree of the latter.
He died 150 Henry VI., and she 18° Edward IV. The lion
rampant in the Davenport coat represents Richard Bromehall,
whose daughter and heiress was married to John the second son
of Thomas Davenport of Wheltrough, 229 Edward III.
The shield with the Wever impalement, viz., sable, two bars
argent, on a canton of the last a garb of the first, represents the
marriage of Elizabeth the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Fitton
with Thomas Wever. She died, a widow, in 249 Henry VI.
Thus, it is made manifest that the marriages of four daughters
of Sir Lawrence Fitton, and of one granddaughter, are displayed
in this singular manner, whilst, by a parity of reasoning, it is
plain that the marriage of Isabel daughter and heiress of Thomas
Orreby with Thomas the second son of Edmund Fitton of Bollin
is intended to be set forth on the shield where Orreby of Gaws-
worth is impaled with Fitton of Gawsworth. (See illustration.)
There are yet two Fitton impalements, one with a lion rampant
and the other with a lion rampant and a pheon. The first I am
unable to decipher, and it probably points to the alliance with
one of the sons unnamed in the Fitton pedigree. The other
indicates the marriage of Margaret Fitton (the unnamed daughter
in the Fitton pedigree) with Sir John Egerton of Egerton, knight,
who was killed at the battle of Blore Heath in 386 Henry VI.
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SHIELDS ON GAWSWORTH CHURCH TOWER. 237
In Dr. Ormerod's pedigree of Egerton of Egerton, Margaret is
called the daughter of Sir John Fitton. This shield shows that
she was the daughter of Sir Lawrence Fitton.
The shield bearing three garbs is that of Randle Blundeville,
sixth earl of Chester, to whom the Fittons are always supposed
to have been related, and to whose armorial device their own is
assimilated. -
The shield with two quatrefoils in fess stands for Rode of Odd
Rode, the predecessor of the Wilbrahams in that estate, situate
only a few miles distant from Gawsworth. The reading is, argent
two quatrefoils vert in fess, a chief sable. In Flower's Visitation,
I580 (Harleian MSS.), the shield is drawn with the quatrefoils
slipped.
The remaining shield represents the long extinct family of
Greenway of Biddulph. Some tiles at Biddulph hall may yet be
seen with this singular device on them, impaling a saltire engrailed.
It is drawn by Randle Holme (Harleian MSS.) as argent three
crosslets between a chevron debruized sable, and underwritten
“Greenway.” On Gawsworth church tower this shield has, in
addition, two lozenges in fess. The name Greenway is associated
with an ancient road-side cross called “Greenway cross,” placed
at the summit of “Greenway bank,” between Macclesfield and
Wildboarclough. It is a rough unhewn stone, with a Latin cross
carved on the summit, and stands about six feet out of the
ground. Old tradition points to this venerable relic as being one
of those “plague crosses” to which country people brought food
and other necessaries of life to the inhabitants of Macclesfield,
during one or more of those visitations of plague to which the
town was subjected during the 16th and 17th centuries. (See
p. 74)
This singular collection of armorial shields not only illustrates
a period of local family history, but serves to date the exact time
when the nave and tower of Gawsworth church were built, the
choir and the south porch being Subsequent erections.
With the exception of the shield appropriated to Randle
238 THE ANCIENT PARISH OF PRESTBURY.
Blundeville, all appertain to the founders and contributors to the
building. Rode of Rode, and Greenway of Biddulph, are the
only two contributors outside the family of Fitton of Gawsworth.
The impaled shields of Orreby and Fitton, of Orreby and Bech-
ton, and the quarterly coat supported by the angel, are to be
viewed as family cognizances. The rest represent members of
the family, then living, and married. The shields bearing the
arms of Fitton of Gawsworth, and Mainwaring, side by side,
point to the founders, and show also that the nave and tower
were built during the life-time of Sir Lawrence Fitton, and after
the demise of his wife Agnes (Hesketh of Rufford), as otherwise
the Rufford arms would have been displayed, as at Macclesfield.
They collectively show that the work was begun and finished
before the marriage of Edward Fitton with the heiress of Robert
Siddington, else this alliance would have been added to that of
Wever, the more surely so as it was never afterwards omitted
from the Fitton quarterings.
As Sir Lawrence Fitton's wife was living in 1415 (vide Mac-
clesfield church tower), and as Ellen Wever was a widow in
I446, it is moderately certain that Gawsworth church tower was
built some time intermediate between these two dates, probably
between 1420 and 1430.
A corbel on the west side of the south porch of Gawsworth
church is wrought out as a Tudor rose, within the petals of
which two faces are concealed, typifying the union of the houses
of York and Lancaster under Henry VII. (See illustration.)
This small architectural and ecclesiological curiosity shows that
the South porch was a later addition.
The monuments to different members of the Fitton family
within the church have already been described in Dr. Ormerod's
History of Cheshire, and elsewhere. Nothing therefore need here
be said of them further than that, a few years ago, when the
church underwent a process of restoration, some were removed
from their original positions, and others were shorn of their
stately alabaster canopies and heraldic adornments.
I N D E X.
BBOTS Hay and Hay Bank, 23.
Acton of Beach, 37.
Adlington chapel, 4, 6, 89.
manor, 77, 81, 90.
hall rebuilt, 99; garrisoned for king
in civil wars, IO3; altered by C. Legh,
IO9, II2.
Adlington hall, description of armorial
shields, &c., II2.
Adlington park, free warren, &c., license
for, 89, 202.
Adlington park, quo warranto to prove
title, 90.
Adlington tenants compound with Parlia-
ment, IO5.
Alcocke, Alice, wife of Jno. Legh, I54.
Alderley church, 4.
parish, 5.
Arderne, Maud, daughter of Sir J. Arderne
of Alford, 85.
Ashton mullet in arms of Legh of Lyme,
I35.
AILIFFS of Macclesfield forest, 204.
Barrows in Prestbury parish, 21, 22.
Bechton, Agnes, of Bechton, 82.
Philip de, 82.
—— Margaret, 82.
Beck, 176, 207.
Bells of Prestbury church, inscriptions on,
27.
Belgrave, Anabella, daughter and heiress
of Thomas Belgrave, 85.
Belgrave, Matilda, wife of R. Legh, 88.
re-married to Wm. Honford, 88.
Birtles of Birtles, arms of, 39.
Blagg, John, 212-13.
Bolles, Dame Mary, wife of Thomas Legh
of Adlington, IOS.
Bollington church, 19.
CrOSS, I9.
Bonishall, 69.
Booth, Ellen, of Dunham Massey, wife of
R. Legh, 90.
Booth of Mottram-Andrew, brass in Prest-
bury church, 34, 41, 43.
Bosley church, 4, 7, 155.
township, 7, 17I.
Bowstones, or Borestones, 71, 144.
Boydell of Gropenhall and Dodleston, 130.
Bradley-in-Appleton, 129.
Bradley-in-Burtonwood, 129, 132, 139.
Brass, Monumental, of Legh of Ridge, 155.
Brereton of Handforth, 34.
Richard, of Tatton and Worsley, 98;
tomb and armorial bearings at Eccles,
I46.
Brereton Sibil, of Handforth, 98, I 13.
Briefs and collections, 53.
Brocklehurst of Butley, 21.
of Swythamley, I 59.
of Titherington, 40.
Broken Cross, 19.
Brooksbank of Titherington, 37.
Broome, I3O.
Broughton, Thomas Delves, marries Eliz.
H. Legh, I IO.
Burial in woollen, certificate of, 51.
Butley hall, 2I, III.
township and manor, 20, 66, 69, 81.
ALVELEY, Lettice, wife of Rev. T.
Legh, 138, 152.
Calveley of Mottram-Andrew, 34.
Capesthorne domestic chapel, 4, 8.
Chamber in the forest, 200.
Chapel-in-the-Forest, 4, 9.
Charles I., relics at Lyme, I49; portrait
by Vandyke, I49.
Charity, modes of, 52.
Cheddele, Thomas, 206.
Chelford School, 4.
chapel, 8.
Chicheley, Sir Thomas, portrait at Lyme,
I42, I5O.
Christ’s church, Macclesfield, Io.
Churches and chapels of ease, 4.
Claughton church advowson, I34.
24O
INDEX.
Clifton, or Rock Savage, I29.
Clumber, once an Adlington possession,
IO2.
Common lands in Macclesfield forest, 222-
28.
Corona of Adlington, 77, 78, 79, IQ6.
Thomas, grants of Adlington to Legh,
79, 80.
Crosse, Ann Mary, inherits Shaw Hill,
I 12; marries Bright Ikin, II2.
Crosse, Richard, of Shaw Hill and Ad-
lington, III.
Crosse, Richard, of Shaw Hill, married to
Ann Standish, III.
Crosse, Thomas, of Lancashire, succeeds
to Adlington manor, 81, III.
Crosse, Thomas, married to Mrs. Pedder,
III.
Crosses in Prestbury parish, 71.
Coventry, Ann, portrait at Lyme, I49.
Dºy of North Rode, 18, 19,
I59
Danyers, Margaret, her descent, I24; her
marriages, 128, 174.
Danyers, Sir Thomas, at Cressy, I27.
Davenport, William, of Woodford, mar-
ried to Elizabeth Rawlinson, 122.
Davenport of Bramall, 236.
mortuary chapel in Prestbury, 39.
— Sir J., deed of grant to Marton
chapel, II.
Davenport, Thomas, of Henbury, 83.
Sir Peter, of Woodford, I Io, 122.
— Elizabeth, marries John Rowlls, I IO.
Davies, removes from Woodford to
Capesthorne, I22.
Davenports, chief foresters of Macclesfield
and chief sergeants of hundred, 191, 197.
Demesne woods in forest of Macclesfield,
2O2.
Derby, Lord, and Lady Tremouille, por-
traits at Lyme, I49.
Disley, 195.
church, 4, 136, I37.
Dod, John, the Decalogist, I52.
Domesday survey, 2.
Downes of Shrigley, I3, 32, 36, 166, 173,
I94.
Downes of Tytherington, 32, 33, 41.
— of Butley, 21, 36.
Robert, monument, 32, 196.
altar tomb in Macclesfield church,
I73.
Draycot, Alice, 30.
Duncalf of Foxwist, 38.
DWARD the Black Prince, his pre-
cept concerning Nether Tabley, 130.
Egerton, Thomas, lord keeper, 97.
Dame Mary, 33, 48, 97.
Egerton, Sir Richard, 97; quartered arms
at Lyme, I 45-6; arms on tomb at Eccles,
I46-8.
Egerton, Dame Mary’s tomb in Astbury
church, 97.
Egerton, extract from Dame Mary's will,
IOO.
Egerton, Dorothy, marries Richard Brere-
ton and Sir P. Legh, I46.
Egerton, Sir John, marries Margaret Fit-
ton, 236.
Erdeswick, 233-4.
Eudo, Earl of Blois, 81.
ACULTIES for pews in Prestbury
church, 42, 43.
Falybrome, Roger, 208.
Robert, 217-18.
Fasts, exemptions from, 56.
Fitton, Thomas, of Gawsworth, 83, 194,
22 I.
Fič. Sir Lawrence, I67, 231, 236.
Edward, of Fulshaw, 196.
of Pownall, 233.
of Bollin, 231-2-3-5-6.
James, 2O7-9.
Foxwist, and Duncalf of Foxwist, IOI, I94.
Freewarren, right of, granted to Leghs of
Lyme, I4I.
Freewarren, right of, granted to Leghs of
Adlington, 89-90.
Forest laws, 185.
Forestership, privileges of, I97, 199, 202.
Forest combes, 2OI.
ASTRELL’S (Bishop) visitation, 4,
5, et sequent.
Gawsworth church, 4-5, 229-38.
Gawsworth, I94.
Gerard, Jane, of Bryn, wife of Sir P. Legh,
e
I37.
Gerard, Margaret, of Bryn, wife of Sir P.
Legh, 137; her portrait at Lyme, 146.
Gerard of Bromley, quartered arms at
Lyme, I48, I53.
Gerard of Etwall, quartered arms, 152.
Gobarte, Ann, married to Thomas Legh of
Adlington, IO2; prefers petition to Par-
liament, IO4; married to Col. Rigby, and
afterwards to Sir G. Booth, IO4; her por-
trait, IO4; she compounds with Parlia-
ment, IOS.
INDEX.
24. I
Gobarte, John, of Boresworth, Io2.
Grant of Lyme from Richard II., 128.
Greenway of Biddulph, 237.
Grosvenor, Mary, of Eaton, marries Thos.
Legh, 94.
Grosvenor of Pulford, 233.
Gropenhall, a Legh possession, 130.
ANDEL visits Adlington, Io9.
Handforth chapel, 4.
Handforth demesne, &c., purchased by
Thomas Legh of Adlington, 108.
Handforth, Sir John, 164.
Haydock, Sir Gilbert, 132; Joane Hay-
dock, married to Sir P. Legh, 132.
Henbury church, 19.
Schools, 19.
township, I9.
Hesketh, Agnes, 167.
Hewitt, Dr., chaplain to Charles
I 52.
Hibbert of Birtles, monument, 37.
High Legh, or Hochlegh, 194.
Hoghton coat of arms, I 53.
Hollinshead, Thomas, his estates in Che-
shire and Staffordshire, 159.
Holme, Randle, notes on oratary at Prest-
bury, 24, 26.
Holy bread silver levied, 64.
Holynhed, Thomas, 217.
Ralph, 220, 227.
Laurence, 22O.
William, 22.I.
Honford, Sibyll, 83.
Henry, of Handforth, 83.
Margery, 99.
W. de, 207-8.
Hurdsfield church, I I.
I.,
NDULGENCES, sale of, 156.
Inventory of church goods in 1602,
Prestbury, 48.
ENKIN chapel, 18.
Jordan Law Cross, 71, I44.
Kºesnulateamsunº
*::::Adam de, lands in Broome, 84,
Kººie, Catherine, wife of John Legh,
Käs, John de, I54.
Knights of Garter, Arms of in Lyme,
I44.
ARKE, Joane, wife of G. Legh of
Adlington, 92.
Larke, Joane, her disputed legitimacy,
93.
Lawton of Lawton, monument, 37.
Leases and grants of Prestbury church,
49, 81, 86, 89, 93, 98, IOO.
Lee of Wincham, 37, Io9.
Hester, wills Wincham to Townsend,
I IO.
Legh, Reginald, monument (Mottram-An-
drew), 3I, 32.
Legh, Reginald, builds church tower at
Prestbury, 91.
Legh and Brereton arms in Prestbury
church, 34.
Legh, Sir John, Norbury Booths, 79, 81,
82, 176.
Legh, Ellen, of Adlington, 79, 80.
31 of Adlington, Norman descent of,
I.
Legh, Thomas, of Adlington, 34, 70, 90,
92, 94, 98, IO2, IIo, II 3, II4.
Legh, Charles, of Adlington, 37, 8 I, Io9;
claims arms of Venables, I Io; rebuilds
part of hall, I I3.
Legh, Robert, of Adlington, 69, 81, 82,
83, 85, 88, 90, I64, 2II.
Legh, C. R. B., of Adlington, 81, II2.
Agnes de, of West Hall and High
Legh, 82.
Legh, John, of Booths, 82.
— William, of Isall, 82.
of Rowcliffe and Eggington, 82, 85.
—— Peter, of Bechton, 82, 23.I.
— Sir P., of Lyme, 83, 85, 123, 126,
I27, 132, I34, 137, I64.
Legh, John, of Ridge, 83, 85, 123.
of Adlington, armorial bearings, 83,
87, 88, 113.
Legh, Sir Urian, of Adlington, 85, IOO ;
at seige of Cadiz, IOO; hero of ballad of
“Spanish lady's love,” IOI ; portrait at
Adlington, IOI ; marries Margaret Traf-
ford, IOO; purchases Foxwist, IOI.
Legh, Sir Robert, of Adlington, 85.
embraces cause of Henry IV., 87.
—— Reginald, of Annesley, 91, 92.
— George, of Adlington, 92.
Dr. T., of Adlington, commissioner
to inquire into monasteries, temp. Henry
VIII., 94; letters, reports, &c., 95, 96.
Legh of Adlington, lands and houses in
Stockport, 98.
Legh, Dorothy, buried at Eccles, 98; des-
cription of tomb, 146.
I I
- 242
INDEX.
Legh, Col. Thomas, engages on royalist
side in civil wars, Io9 ; his estates seized,
Io3; his portrait at Adlington, IO3; died
at Chester, Io9.
Legh, Thomas, of Adlington, compounds
for his estate with Parliament, IoS ; im-
prisoned at Stafford, IOS; sequestration
of his estates, Ioff; charges of delinquency
against, IO6; compounds for his estates,
Io'7; portrait, Io'7; made colonel of
militia, Io8; purchases Handforth and
Newton, IoS. +
Legh, John, of Adlington, Io9; purchases
Sherd Fold and Hope Green, Io9.
Legh of Adlington, direct descent fails,
I IO.
Legh, Charles, settles Adlington on niece,
Elizabeth Davenport, IIo.
Legh, John Rowlls, inherits Adlington,
I IO.
Legh, Robert, of Chorley, Lancashire,
married to Margaret Standish, I I I.
Legh, Richard Crosse, of Adlington, mar-
ried to Ann Parker, III.
Legh, Thomas Crosse, of Adlington, mar-
ried to Louisa Newnham, III ; drowned,
II2.
Legh of Adlington, pedigree of, II5.
of Lyme, pedigree of, I23, 125.
Lucy, married to Sir P. Davenport
of Woodford, 122. -
Legh of Lyme, arms derived from Norley,
I27; accessions to, I31, 134, I35, I37,
I40, I48, I73.
Legh, Sir Piers, decapitated, 131.
— epitaph at Macclesfield, 131.
—— Sir P. at Agincourt, 133.
his rent roll, 134.
—— Peter, marries Mabel Croft, 134.
Sir P., soldier and priest, 134; builds
Disley church, 136.
Legh, Sir P. of Lyme, provost marshall,
rebuilds Lyme hall, 137; portrait of,
I42.
Legh, Sir P., repairs Bradley and purchases
Bruche, I37. -
Legh, Peter, killed in a duel, 138.
of Lyme, possessions temp. Charles
I., I 38.
Legh, Rev. T., succeeds to Lyme, 138.
– P., of Lyme, committed to Tower in
I694, 143.
Legh, Thomas, of Lyme, his travels, por-
trait, &c., I43, I52.
Legh, Dorothy, of Lyme, her portrait, I46.
— Richard, baron of Newton, 150, 153.
Legh, Admiral Francis, 150.
John, of Ridge, I54, 173.
— Roger, of Ridge, 155.
— John, of Ridge and Wincle Grange,
I57.
Legh, Peter, of Ridge, his royalist pro-
clivities, I58.
Legh, Reginald, of Mottram-St.-Andrew,
3I, 9 I-2, 224.
Legh, Christopher, 216-17-18.
Long Moss, 19.
Lum, in Hyde, formerly possessed by Legh
of Adlington, IOI.
Lyme chapel, 4.
hall, description of, 138, el sequent.
— cage, I36. rº
grant to Sir P. Legh and his wife,
I27, 128.
M ACCLESFIELD church, 4, 9, 165,
17 -
7.
Macclesfield grammar school, 4.
manor and forest, Senechallship of,
83, 85, 86.
Macclesfield forest, chief forestership of,
87, IQ3, 204.
Macclesfield castle, so called, 161 to 165.
—— Ralph de, 164.
forest, 166, 185, 196.
family of, 168 to 172.
— market cross, 178.
— Pretender's visit to, 178.
rolls, 204, 206.
park, 228.
Mainwaring of Peover, 231-2-6.
Malbon of Willot hall, 40.
Marple, 194.
Marsden, Rev. John, wife of, monument,
37.
Marton church registers, 12.
school, 4.
church, 4, II.
Maynewaring, Ranulph, 216.
Milne house, in Adlington, IO4.
Mohun, John de, 172.
Molyneux, Sir Richard, marries Joane
Legh, 133; quartered coat of arms at
Lyme, I45, I53.
Molyneux, Joane, monumentat Sefton, 133.
— Margaret, married to Sir P. Legh,
I33, I46. -
Montalt, baron of, 6.
John de, 44, 45.
Mottram-Andrew, 34, 88.
Mottrum of Mottram-St.-Andrew, 204-5-6.
INDEX.
243
EWNHAM, Louisa, marries Lord
Erskine, II2.
Newnham of Newtimber, family of, III.
Newton school, I2.
chapel, 4, 12.
of Pownall, tenure of Newton, I2;
arms, 236.
Newton, Thomas, of Butley, brass, 35.
estate bought by Thomas Legh of
Adlington, IOS.
Norley, Maude, 83, 84, 85, I26.
Sir Adam, 83, 126.
Norman doorway, Prestbury, 25.
North Rode church, 18.
schools, 19.
— Davenports of, 12.
RATORY at Prestbury, 24.
Orford, R. and T., monument, 37.
Orreby of Gawsworth, 169, 194, 196, 231,
e! sequent.
Oulton of Wrenbury and Oulton, 234-5.
ANNAGE, 188.
Par, Thomasle, indictment against, 84.
Parker, Ann, married to Richard Crosse
Legh, of Adlington, I I I.
Pearson, Rev. H., vicar, 40.
Pickford, Thomas, of Adlington, com-
pounds with Parliament, IoS.
Pigot of Butley, 21, 66, 67, 68, 69, 89.
—— of Chetwynd, family of, 69.
of Bonishall, family of, 69, 70; com-
pounds with Parliament, IOS.
Pigot of Butley, Chetwynd, and Bonishall,
pedigree, 70.
Pigot, Robert, grant of Chelford to St.
Werburg's abbey, 8
Plague visitation, monuments, &c., 75.
Population, 2, 3.
Pott Shrigley church, 4, 13.
school, 4.
Poynton church, 4, 14.
school, 4.
Prestbury church registers and wardens
accounts, 50.
Prestbury parish, extent of, I.
— church, 5, 27, 44.
church, monuments in, 30.
hall, 20.
manor, church patronage, and tithes
invested in Leghs of Adlington, 49, 81,
86, 89, 93, 98, IOO.
Prestbury old vicarage, 2O.
Oratory at, 24.
— school, 4, 20.
Prestbury townships in, I, 4.
— value of living, 47, 48, 49.
village, 2O.
Pycrofte, John, 218.
Pygott, John, 212-14.
8o.
ADCLIFFE, Sir John, marries Mar-
garet Danyers, I29.
Radcliffe, Sir John, obtains Bradley manor,
I3O.
Radcliffe, quartered arms of, 152.
Raines, Canon, notes to Gastrell's visita-
tion, 4, et Segate???.
Rainow church, I9.
Recusants, method of dealing with, 53.
Reynold, Frances, of Strangeways, wife of
Thomas Legh, I4.
Robartes, Isabella, wife of John Legh, Io9.
Robber roll, Macclesfield forest, 191.
Rode of Rode, arms of, 237.
Roe of Macclesfield, 166, 215.
Rush bearing, 51.
O'º Isabella, lady of Macclesfield,
ALT works at Nantwich, owned by
J Legh of Adlington, 91, 99.
Saltersford chapel, 18.
Sandy lane, I9.
Savage, Isabel, wife of Robert Legh, 88.
Catherine, daughter of Sir J. Savage,
wife of Thomas Legh, 90.
Savage, Archbishop, founder of chantry
chapel, Macclesfield, 90, 175.
Savage, John, and Margaret his wife, ob-
tain Nether Tabley, I 30, 164.
Savage of Clifton, grant of arms, 174.
Savage, Sir John, I75, 206, et sequent.
Savill, Ann, wife of Peter Legh, 138.
Saxon church of Prestbury, 23.
Serage silver of Prestbury parish, 56.
by whom levied, 59.
how raised and enforced, 59.
during commonwealth, 61.
how spent, 62.
Sherd, Dorothy, of Adlington, compounds
with Parliament, IOS.
Sherd Fold, and family of Sherd, Io9, 195.
Sherlock, Dr., portrait at Lyme, I 50.
Shields of arms on Gawsworth church
tower, 229.
Shrigley, arms of, I 73. *
church, inscriptions on bells, 13.
Siddington church, 4, 17.
— school, 4, 17.
244
INDEX.
Sneyd, Ralph, award between abbot and
vicar, 46.
Spittal house, 23.
St. George's church, Sutton, Io.
St. James's church, Sutton, Io.
St. Paul’s church, Macclesfield, Io.
St. Peter's church, Macclesfield, Io.
Stanley, Isabel, daughter of Sir W. Stanley
of Hooton, wife of Robert Legh, 88.
Stanley, Sir John, of Handforth, claims
Prestbury tithes, 93.
Stanley, Sir John, of Handforth, arms in
Cheadle church, 94.
Stanley, Thomas, of Alderley, hisletter, 158
Lord Thomas, chief forester, 193, 204,
216 to 22 I.
Stanleghe, 196.
Stafford, Mr. J., letter on Pretender's visit
to Macclesfield, 178.
Stafford, Hugh, 163, 164. :
Ralph, justice of Cheshire, 163, 164.
H., Duke of Buckingham, 162, I64.
Stokeport, Eleanor de, and Richard, 44, 45.
Styperson park, 202.
Sub-foresters’ suit and service, 196.
Sutton, 195.
Adam, master-Sergeant, 195.
of Sutton, arms of, I66.
domestic chapel, 4.
Swetenham of Swetenham, brass of, 38.
Thomas, 206-7. -
— Elizabeth, Joane, and Agnes, 208-12.
W., 209-16.
Swanscoe park, 228.
AXALL church, 5.
Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 4.
Thornton, Catherine, 82.
Titherington, Jordan de, 196.
Tithes of nine chapelries in Prestbury
parish, 48.
Trafford of Swythamley, 159.
Troutbeck, W., 209-Io. -
Tyldesley, Margaret, wife of Sir P. Legh,
I37.
Tytherington chantry chapel, 23, 28.
| PTON of Upton, 173.
ENABLES, Barons of Kinderton,
descent of, 81, 82.
Venables, Catherine, wife of Sir P. Legh,
I37, I48.
Venables, William, of Bradwell, 82.
Vernon, Richard de, 196, 203.
Vicar of Prestbury's portion in I274, 45,
40.
Vicars of Prestbury, from 1817, 65.
ARD, Rev. J., monument, 36.
Warde, John le, 208, 212, 217.
Warren of Poynton, 15, 16, 31.
Sir Edward, monument, 3.I.
Watson, Rev. John, monument, 36.
Watts, George, of Adlington, compounds
with Parliament, IOS.
Welsh records, 2O6.
Wever, Thomas, 236.
Whitley Hey park, quo warranto to show
title to, 90.
Wibbersley, 194.
Wildboarclough chapel, 9.
Wilson, Canon, vicar of Prestbury, 40.
Wincle grange, I57.
Presbyterian chapel at, 18.
schools, 18.
church, 4, 17.
Withington, Old, suit with about serage
silver, 6O.
Wolsey, Cardinal, commits Sir J. Stanley
to the Fleet, 93.
Woodford hall, 122.
Worth, 195.
Jasper, monument of, 30.
of Tytherington, 29, 30.
Wrenbury, 233-5.
Wright of Mottram-Andrew, 34, 112.
Writ of Edward III. concerning Margaret
Danyers' marriage, I29.
Wroe, Christopher, Io.
Printed by Charles Simms & Co., Manchester.
33
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