LUNT
Lund, 1295; Lont, 1302; Lond, 1349; Lount,
1350; Lunt, 1396; the definite article was prefixed
down to the xvii cent.
Lunt is situated in the flattest fen district drained
by the River Alt, which also forms its north-eastern
boundary. The marshy pastures are liable to floods
during winter and in wet seasons. In the southern
portion there are cultivated fields where cereals and
root-crops thrive in a soil consisting of a mixture of
sand and clay. Hedges are scanty and trees few and
far between. The geological formation is the same
as in Sefton.
It was formerly a hamlet of Sefton, but its separation seems to have been accomplished before 1624. (fn. 1)
It has an area of 477 acres, (fn. 2) and the population in
1901 was 80. The road from Sefton to Ince Blundell passes through it.
St. Helen's well, close to Sefton church, is a wishing well; a pin had to be thrown in, and if it could
be seen at the bottom of the well the omen was
favourable. (fn. 3)
The township is governed by a parish council.
Manorially Lunt seems to have been a member of
Sefton, but land in it is on one occasion said to have
been held of the lord of Warrington, (fn. 4) suggesting a
territorial connexion with the adjoining township of
Thornton.
Richard de Molyneux, some time before 1212, gave
to Richard Branch and to Robert half a plough-land
to be held by knight's service and a rent of 6s. (fn. 5) In
1295 Robert son of Robert Branch granted to
Richard de Molyneux an oxgang of land in Lunt. (fn. 6)
A family which took surname from the place may
have descended from Richard Branch. (fn. 7) Other families
named Derleigh (fn. 8) and Fowler (fn. 9) also held land here in
the fourteenth century.
Richard Johnson of Lunt was returned among the
freeholders in 1600. (fn. 10)
John Lunt as a 'Papist' registered a leasehold
estate here in 1717. (fn. 11)
Footnotes
| 1 |
Gregson, Fragments, 16. |
| 2 |
478, including 3 of inland water;
Census Rep. 1901. |
| 3 |
Caröe and Gordon, Sefton, 54. |
| 4 |
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i,
16, where John Lunt of Lunt is stated to
have done homage at Warrington in 1505
for lands in Lunt. This is the only instance of the kind, and may have been
an error; the following entry concerns
John Lunt of Thornton. |
| 5 |
Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc.
Lancs. and Ches.), 13. William de Molyneux, son of Adam, granted land on the
Lunt Green to Robert son of Richard the
clerk of Thornton, at a rent of 3d., about
1260; Croxteth D. Ee. 2. |
| 6 |
Ibid. X. i, 1. |
| 7 |
The most prominent member of this
family was Richard de Lunt, clerk, who
in the fourteenth century was feoffee in
numerous instances for local families. In
1337 he granted to his son Henry a messuage and croft in Lunt which he received
from Agnes his mother; and twelve
years later Henry transferred them to
Robert le Breton; ibid. X. iv, 6–7.
Robert son of Roger de Lunt granted
to his son John in 1309 a house and curtilage in Lunt; ibid. X. iv, 4.
Adam, son of Margery de Lunt, in
1302 granted to Peter, son of Richard
de Molyneux, all his land in the vill of
Sefton, lying in the Lunt, at a rent of
1d.
In 1317 Simon son of Adam de Lunt
gave a part of his land to his son Robert,
a rent of 1d. being payable to the
chief lord; and in 1342 Robert son of
Robert son of John de Lunt sold land
in Lunt, called the Cole Yard, to Richard
de Molyneux; ibid. X, i, 9–10.
On the other hand Richard de Molyneux in 1336 demised to Margery
daughter of Simon de Lunt and Richard
her son, for the life of Henry de Lunt, a
messuage and curtilage in Sefton in the
Lunt; ibid. Ee. 18.
The Henry just named was probably
the son of Simon, who in 1344 granted to
Richard de Molyneux and his heirs all his
lands, &c., 'as well in demesne as in reversion, in the vill of Sefton in a certain
hamlet called the Lunt'; and four years
later Henry son of William son of Simon
de Lunt quitclaimed all his interest in these
lands; ibid. X. i, 11–12.
A William, son of Robert de Lunt, was
a contemporary; as also a William, son
of Simon de Lunt; ibid. X. i, 8; Y. i, 3. |
| 8 |
Adam son of Vivian granted his
daughter Ameria certain land in Sefton;
and Ameria, as widow of William de
Liverpool, gave to her daughter Margery
on her marriage to William de Derleigh,
in 1331, a messuage in the Lunt, with the
house built thereon, which she had had
from her father; Croxteth D. X. iv, 3, 5.
Twenty years later Derleigh granted the
same to his daughter Emma, with remainder to William, son of Richard de
Molyneux; ibid. X. i, 14.
A John de Derleigh occurs in Garston
in the time of Edward II. |
| 9 |
Richard the Fowler in 1340 exchanged his house in the Lunt for land at
Lewen Green granted by Richard de
Molyneux; ibid. X. i, 7–8.
Two other families may be mentioned;
Richard son of William Goldenough, in
1397, gave all his lands in the Lunt in
the vill of Sefton to Richard de Molyneux; and Henry Robinson and Ellen
his wife in 1463 gave their son Thomas
lands in the Lunt within the lordship of
Sefton; ibid. X. i, 25; iv, 11. |
| 10 |
Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i,
241. John Richardson, otherwise Johnson, made a settlement of his lands in
Lunt, Sefton, and Ince Blundell in 1593;
Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 55, m. 215. |
| 11 |
Engl. Cath. Non-jurors, 107; his son
James is named. |