PENDLEBURY
Penelbiri, 1201; Pennilbure, 1212; Pennebire,
1226; Pennesbyry, 1278; Penilburi, 1300; Penulbury, 1332; Penhulbury, 1358; Pendulbury, 1561;
Pendlebury, 1567.
Lying on the west bank of the Irwell between
Clifton and Pendleton, but with a detached part—the
ancient Shoresworth—to the south of Pendleton,
this township has an area of 1,030½ acres. (fn. 1) The town
proper lies in the north-west part of the district,
while Agecroft Hall stands apart upon the Irwell in
the north-east corner. The surface of the land slopes
generally from west to east, from nearly 300 ft. to
about 120 ft. above the ordnance datum. The population in 1901 was 8,493.
The principal road is that from Manchester to
Bolton, from which the ancient Wigan road parts
company near the southern boundary; a cross road
leads through Agecroft by a bridge over the Irwell to
Prestwich, and near the bridge another road from
Manchester joins it. The Lancashire and Yorkshire
Company's line from Manchester to Bolton runs
north-westward, and that from Manchester to Hindley
also crosses the township, and has two stations—
Irlams-o'-th'-Height and Pendlebury. The former
nearly follows the line of a fault which brings up the
Coal Measures to the west, leaving the New Red Sandstone in evidence to the east. The Manchester and
Bolton Canal runs along the easterly side of the former line, between it and the River Irwell.
There were thirty-five hearths liable to the tax in
1666. Agecroft Hall was the only large house, having
eleven hearths. (fn. 2)
The manufacture and printing of cottons have long
been the principal industries.
Pendlebury was joined with Swinton in 1875 to
form a local board district; it is now governed by
the Swinton and Pendlebury Urban District Council. (fn. 3)
The Public Hall was built in 1870. The detached
portion of the township was, with Pendleton, included
in the borough of Salford in 1852. One of the
Salford cemeteries is at Agecroft and another at New
Barns. The great children's hospital on the southwest side was erected in 1873.
An ancient Campfield exists in the detached part of
Pendlebury near Salford; and a neolithic hammer
axe was found at Mode Wheel in the excavations for
the Manchester Ship Canal. (fn. 4)
MANORS
The manors of PENDLEBURY and
SHORESWORTH were in 1212 held of
the king in chief in thegnage by a rent
of 12s. (fn. 5) The tenant was Ellis son of Robert de Pendlebury, to whom King John had granted Pendlebury
while he was Count of Mortain, confirming or renewing the grant when he obtained the throne. (fn. 6) Ellis
was also master serjeant of the wapentake of Salford,
and this office, like the manor, was to descend to his
heirs. (fn. 7) Ellis was a benefactor of Cockersand Abbey. (fn. 8)
He died in or about 1216, and his son Adam succeeded him in his manors and serjeanty. (fn. 9) But little
is known of him, and his son Roger appears to have
been in possession in 1246 and 1254. (fn. 10) He also was
a benefactor of Cockersand. (fn. 11) At this stage of the
descent there is some difficulty. In 1274 Ellis son
of Roger came to a violent death, (fn. 12) and Amabel, as
widow of Ellis son of Roger the Clerk, claimed
dower in various lands against Roger de Pendlebury. (fn. 13) Again, a short time afterwards, Amabel having received her dower, she and Roger de Pendlebury had to defend a suit brought by one Adam de
Pendlebury, who satisfied the jury of his title to the
manor. (fn. 14)
Ellis had a brother William and daughters Maud,
Lettice, and Beatrice. Maud married Adam son of
Alexander de Pilkington, and had a daughter Cecily. (fn. 15)
The manor was sold before 1300 to Adam de Prestwich. (fn. 16)
The new lord of Pendlebury married Alice de
Woolley daughter of Richard son of Master Henry de
Pontefract, (fn. 17) the eventual heir being a daughter Alice,
wife of Jordan de Tetlow. Her heir also proved to
be a daughter, Joan, who married Richard de Langley, (fn. 18)
and the manor descended regularly in this family
until the end of the 16th century. Joan de Langley
died in or before 1374, and her son and heir Roger
being a minor the sheriff took possession of the manors.
Roger himself died in 1393, holding the manor of
Pendlebury as one plough-land
by a rent of 16s., and a messuage called Agecroft, the family seat, by a rent of 6s. 8d.
Again the heir was a minor,
Roger's son Robert being fifteen years of age, but already
married to Katherine daughter
of Sir William de Atherton. (fn. 19)
Langley of Agecroft. Argent a cockatrice sable beaked or.
Robert Langley died in April
1447, seised of the manors of
Pendlebury and Prestwich, and
various other lands; Thomas Langley his son and heir
was then forty years of age. (fn. 20) Another son, Ralph,
was rector of Prestwich and warden of Manchester.
There was a third son, John. (fn. 21) Thomas had a son John,
who succeeded him (fn. 22) in the manors and died in 1496,
leaving a son and heir Robert about forty years old. (fn. 23)
Dying in 1527, holding the manor of Pendlebury in
socage by a rent of 16s. yearly, besides other manors
and lands, he was succeeded by his grandson Robert
son of Thomas Langley, the last of the male line in
possession. (fn. 24) Robert was made a knight in 1547, (fn. 25)
and died 19 September 1561, leaving four daughters
as co-heirs. (fn. 26) On the division of the estates, Agecroft
and lands in Pendlebury became the portion of Anne, (fn. 27)
who married William Dauntesey, springing from a
Wiltshire family. (fn. 28) The 'manor' of Pendlebury also
was claimed by the Daunteseys for some time, (fn. 29) but
was afterwards said to be held with Prestwich, descend
ing in the Coke family (fn. 30) until about 1780, when it
was sold to Peter Drinkwater of Irwell House, Prestwich. (fn. 31)
William Dauntesey of Agecroft, who died in 1622, (fn. 32)
was succeeded by a son (fn. 33) and a grandson, also named
William. The last-named, a minor at his father's
death in 1637, was succeeded by his brother John,
who, dying about 1693, (fn. 34) was succeeded in turn by
his sons William and Christopher. (fn. 35) The latter of
these married Mary daughter of Sir Edward Chisenhale or Chisnall, and had several
children. (fn. 36) Edward, the eldest
son, was subject to fits of lunacy,
and his younger brother Christopher had the management of
the estates, and succeeded. (fn. 37)
He left a son John, in holy
orders, who resided at Agecroft (fn. 38) till his death in 1811,
and bequeathed his estate to
cousins, the Hulls of Chorley. (fn. 39)
John son of Richard Hull had
but a short enjoyment of Agecroft, dying in 1813, when he
was followed by his brother-inlaw, the Rev. Richard Buck,
who had married Margaret
Hull, and their son Robert succeeded. (fn. 40) His younger
brother, John Buck, the next owner, took the name
of Dauntesey in 1867, (fn. 41) and was followed by his
sister Katherine Dauntesey Foxton, who died in 1878,
when Agecroft Hall passed to Robert Brown, grandson of Thomas Hull. Mr. Brown took the name of
Dauntesey on succeeding. Dying in 1905 he was
succeeded by his brother, Captain William Thomas
Slater Hull, who also adopted the surname of
Dauntesey. (fn. 42)
Dauntesey of Agecroft. Per fesse dancetty or and gules a lion rampant seizing upon a wyvern erect counterchanged, a bordure engrailed ermine.
Agecroft Hall stands on slightly rising ground on
the west side of the Irwell valley, where the river
flows southwards towards Manchester between the
high ground of Kersal and Prestwich on the east and
north, and Irlams-o'-th'-Height and Pendlebury on
the west. The surroundings of the house are now
greatly altered from what originally obtained, the
colliery workings of the neighbourhood and the immediate proximity of railway and canal having almost
entirely destroyed the former picturesqueness of the
scenery. The hall, however, yet stands in grounds
which preserve to the building something of its original
country aspect, though the trees have suffered much
damage from the smoke and fumes of the surrounding
district.
The house is a very interesting example of timber
construction standing on a low stone base with portions in brick, built round a central courtyard. The
ground on the west side of the building falls precipitously, the walls standing close to the edge of the
cliff. The three remaining sides are said to have been
protected by a moat, but there is no trace of this, and
the position of the house, being not far from the
River Irwell on the east side, does not make the probability of the moat having existed very great. (fn. 43)
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from Bolton
to Manchester and the Bury Canal both pass close to
the house on the north side. (fn. 44)
The entrance to the court is on the east side, and
the great hall is at the south end of the west wing,
with the former kitchen and scullery at its north end.
The chief living rooms are in the south wing, and the
north and east wings were occupied by the offices
and servants' quarters. The building appears to be
of two main dates, but has been very much modernized
both inside and out in the middle of the last century,
considerable repairs and alterations having taken place
there about the year 1865–7. There have also been
subsequent additions and alterations, the last having
taken place in 1894 after a fire which destroyed the
roof of the greater portion of the east and south
wings.
Agecroft Hall
The house was probably begun at the end of the
reign of Henry VII, or the beginning of that of
Henry VIII, and much of the carving under
the bay windows on the east side is very Gothic
in detail, and of excellent design. The south wing
and the greater part of the west wing appear to have
been rebuilt about a century later, though the south
wing has been so much modernized that its original
date is somewhat difficult to determine. The great
hall shows toward the courtyard a wealth of ornament
in the timber framing and gables, in great contrast to
the very plain construction of the east front, which
consists entirely of horizontal sill pieces and straight
uprights with a cove under the eaves. The building
is of two stories throughout, about 18 ft. to the eaves,
and the roofs are covered with grey stone slates, which
offer a charming contrast to the black and white work
of wood and plaster. The chimneys are of red brick,
giving a welcome note of colour, but they are largely
rebuilt or covered with ivy. The west side of the
house is wholly faced with small 2-in. bricks, and has
two projecting plain gables and a large central chimney. The general external appearance of the building, however, lacks some measure of that picturesqueness which is common in many other Lancashire
timber houses, owing to the monotony of its main
roof-lines, one gable only (that at the end of the south
wing facing east) breaking the long perspective of the
eaves. The roof of the south elevation, which is 96 ft.
in length, is broken by three chimneys, but there is
little diversity in the long line of wall, the projections
of the chimney, bay windows, and the brick in the
walling being very slight. The east or entrance
elevation, which is 101 ft. in length, had formerly only
one chimney at the junction of the old and later work
of the two wings, but a modern brick chimney added
in the north end has had the effect of breaking the
straight line where most needed, and giving a balance
to the original elevation which it formerly lacked.
The windows are for the most part slightly projecting
wooden bays carried on carved brackets, the carving
along the west wing being mostly original, but in the
south side modern copies. Over the entrance archway
is a small oriel, the corbel beneath it richly carved
with Gothic tracery in a series of radiating panels
springing from a shaft which rises from a small blank
shield on the crown of the four-centred entrance archway. The projecting sills of the other first-floor
windows exhibit equally good carved tracery, and one
has the figure of a hart couchant, a fine piece of
work. (fn. 45)
The entrance to the court on the east side is under
a plain timber arch, 10 ft. 6 in. wide, the old oak door
and wicket still being in position. An inner wall,
however, has been built, blocking the open way to the
court; the present entrance therefore now only leads
into the corridor which runs along the east side of the
courtyard. Originally this corridor, which runs round
the court on the east and south sides, was an open
one carried on wood posts resting on stone bases, but
the greater part of it is now inclosed. Its original
appearance, however, can still be gathered from the
north-east corner of the courtyard, where a length of
about 20 ft. still remains as built, forming a very picturesque feature of the inner elevation. The old stone
and wood posts are still in position the full length of
the east side, the later wall being merely filled in
between them, and continue for a distance of about
12 ft. along the south side, opposite the junction of
the dining and drawing-rooms. The open corridor
may indeed only have extended this far, and the
dining-room (which is said to have been the ancient
chapel) may belong to the earlier portion of the
building. Its present condition is so entirely modern
as to make it impossible to say whether this is so or
not. The dining-room and drawing-room, however,
are clearly of different dates, the division between
them consisting of two walls side by side with a small
space between, and their floors on different levels.
Probably the rebuilding of the south wing was begun
from this point westward at some time in the 17th
century, and the old chapel converted to its later use
at some subsequent date.
The courtyard is of irregular shape, and measures
43 ft. 6 in. across at its widest part from west to east,
and 52 ft. from south to north. It presents a great
contrast to the outer elevations of the house, the skyline being broken on the west side by three gables,
two over the hall and one over the projecting bay
formed by the old kitchen. The timber framing of
the bay preserves something of the plainness of the
garden fronts, but the vertical lines give place to
diagonal tracings, and the upper story projects on
brackets and a plaster cove. The gables over the hall,
however, are richly ornamented with quatrefoil panels,
and a panelled cove runs the full length of the hall,
at the first-floor line, at a higher level than those of the
old kitchen bay line, the lower portion of the wall being
occupied by a long continuous window of fifteen
lights on a moulded stone base 3 ft. 6 in. high. The
gables are without barge-boards or hip-knobs, being
quite plain, with overhanging slates. The only two
gables in the building with barge-boards are shown at
the ends of the south and east wings facing east and
north, which have both been constructed in late years.
The north side of the court preserves its old black and
white wood and plaster construction, but in the west
and south the elevations have been a good deal
modernized, though in harmony with the old work,
and much of the 'half-timber work' is paint or
plaster. The east corridor runs right through the
building to an outer door on the north side, and the
south corridor leads direct to the great hall. A modern
butler's pantry has been added in the south-east corner
of the courtyard.
The rooms in the north and east wings, which are
9 ft. 6 in. high, are for the most part unimportant,
being still used as the servants' part of the house, the
present kitchen being immediately to the north of the
entrance. North of the kitchen is a small staircase
leading to the upper floor with good 17th-century flat
pierced balusters. Another small staircase in the west
wing north of the hall also preserves some 17th-century
detail, but the main staircase in the south wing is
modern. Internally the whole of the south wing is
so much modernized as to be of little architectural
interest; it contains the library, drawing-room, and
dining-room, with the principal entrance and staircase. In the east window of the dining-room, which,
like the oak panelling and other fittings, is modern, is
preserved some ancient glass, some of which was
formerly in other parts of the house. The initials
R.L. (Ralph Langley) occur in several of the lights,
either in a lozenge or circle, and sometimes with
the Langley crest (a cockatrice). The centre light
bears the Royal Arms (France and England) encircled
by a garter, and surmounted by a crown, and in
other lights are the badge of Edmund of Langley,
Duke of York (a falcon in a closed fetter lock), a lion's
head erazed gules collared and lined or, a red and a
white rose with stalks entwined, and a crown and
initials H.E. for Henry VII and Elizabeth of York,
and a daisy (root and flower) with the head of a
greyhound over. The Langley crest also occurs
twice by itself. The drawing-room preserves its
original square-framed oak panelling on three
sides, and over the north door are four full-length
figures and four heads, said to be emblematic of peace
and war, originally part of the pulpit in the private
chapel. (fn. 46) On either side of the same door are carved
panels, some with tracery, and others with a variety of
linen pattern. The library, which is wholly modernized, has also some fragments of heraldic glass in the
window, one showing part of a shield argent, two
hunting horns gules, stringed or. The staircase
window preserves some old diamond quarries, five of
which bear the initials R.L., while on another is
scratched the name of William Dauntesey, and the
date 'June ye 12, 1645.'
The great hall is 14 ft. in height, and has a flat
panelled ceiling divided into four bays by three wide
oak beams, and with intermediate moulded ribs. It
measures 29 ft. in length and 23 ft. 6 in. in width,
and is lighted on the east side by the continuous
ranges of mullioned and transomed windows already
referred to, and has three similar lights in the return
to the lobby at the end of the corridor in the southeast corner. In each of the top lights are the initials
R.L. with an interlacing pattern between, surmounted
by the cockatrice, and in the lower middle light are
the arms of Dauntesey with helm, crest, mantling, and
scrolls. The walls are mostly panelled to a height of
6 ft. 6 in. The hall appears to have always had a flat
ceiling, and there are no signs now of either dais or
gallery. The position of the screens is marked by the
vestibule and passage on the north side, and the kitchen
and pantry have now been made into a sitting-room
and smoke-room. Neither of these rooms retains anything of its original appearance except the great
twelve-light kitchen window overlooking the
courtyard, which occupies the whole of the east
side of the room. The
fireplace opening, now
modernized, is 10 ft.
wide, the wall above
carried by a beam 12 in.
square at a height of
5 ft. 8 in. from the floor.
On the first floor corridors run round the inner sides of the north,
east, and south wings,
opening to a series of
rooms which have little
architectural interest. In
the south wing the bed-room over the drawing-room, known as the
'panelled room,' preserves its original square
oak wainscot mouldings
worked in the solid, and
contains a fine oak bedstead. Other rooms also
contain good oak furniture, though much has
been taken away, the
house being at present
(1910) unoccupied. The
rooms in the east range
exhibit their timber construction throughout, and their ceilings, together with
those on the south side of the house, partly follow
the rake of the roof. A small room at the west end
of the north wing has a good 17th-century angle
fireplace with plaster ornaments and egg-and-dart
moulding.
The upper corridors on the east and south appear
to have been originally open to the court and carried
on posts, forming a kind of upper gallery. A portion
of what appears to have been external quatrefoil panelling is still in position on the inner wall at the east
end of the south corridor. The appearance of the
courtyard as originally erected must have been exceedingly picturesque, and in marked contrast to the
plain work of the outside elevations.
The house contains a valuable collection of paintings, including a so-called portrait of Jane Shore,
attributed to Holbein. (fn. 47)
In a deed dated 26 June 1694, and an inventory of
the same year, (fn. 48) the following rooms and places at
Agecroft Hall are mentioned:—'The great parlor and
chamber over it, the hall, the dyneinge roome, the
chappell, the chappell chamber, the farther chappell
chamber, the greene chamber, the porter's warde, the
kitchen, the buttery, the seller and chamber over it,
the seller and brewhouse and the chambers over them,
the great barn commonly called the new barn, the
stable, the garden and orchard behind the garden.'
Plan of Agecroft Hall
An old painting of the house preserved at Agecroft
shows a long building, either a stable or barn, standing
at right angles to the east side of the house at the
north end, apparently meant to be some distance
away, with a stone wall and gate-piers along the east
front. This building is said to have stood until the
construction of the railway. The present stables and
outbuildings are on the north side of the house, and
are all modern.
SHORESWORTH
SHORESWORTH, (fn. 49) though the name has long
been forgotten, was the detached part of Pendlebury.
In 1212 it was held as one oxgang of land by Ellis
de Pendlebury in thegnage by a rent of 2s., and of
him it was held by the same service by his nephews,
or grandsons, Richard, Adam, Henry, and Robert. (fn. 50)
From these descended one or more families taking the
local surname, but no detailed account can be given
of them. (fn. 51) Early in the 14th century the Radcliffes
of Ordsall acquired it, and held possession for several
generations. (fn. 52) The place-name occurs as late as 1590
in the inquisition after the death of Sir John Radcliffe, who held '20 acres of land, &c. in Showersworth
in the town of Pendlebury,' but it was then included
with Ordsall so far as the service was concerned. (fn. 53) On
the alienation of the Radcliffe estates in the 17th
century it was obtained by Humphrey Chetham, (fn. 54) and
descended through the Chethams of Smedley and
Castleton to Samuel Clowes, who owned it about 1800.
The principal landowners in 1798 were the Rev.
John Dauntesey, Thomas William Coke, and Samuel
Clowes, whose lands together paid three-fourths of
the tax. (fn. 55)
A monument to Joseph Goodier of Mode Wheel,
Pendlebury, who died in 1854, is in Eccles Church.
In connexion with the Established Church, St.
John the Evangelist's, Irlams-o'-th'-Height, was built
in 1842; the patronage is vested in five trustees. (fn. 56)
The Bishop of Manchester is patron of Christ Church,
built in 1859, (fn. 57) and of St. Augustine's, built in
1874; (fn. 58) the latter has a mission hall—St. Matthew's.
The Wesleyan Methodists have two churches in
Pendlebury; the United Free Methodists also have
two, and the Primitive Methodists one.
The Congregationalists began preaching on Sundays in 1819, the population of the place having at
that time an evil reputation for profligacy. The first
chapel was built in 1821, and a somewhat larger one
four years later. The congregation declined, but in
1832 a fresh start was made, and in 1882 a new
church was built in Swinton, the old building being
used for a school. (fn. 59)
A Swedenborgian church was erected at Pendlebury in 1852.