PENWORTHAM
Penwortham; Farington; Howick; Hutton; Longton
The parish of Penwortham occupies a comparatively level area on the south bank of the Ribble
from opposite Preston westward to the River Douglas.
The highest points, about 100 ft. above sea level,
are near the eastern boundary, from which there is
a gradual slope westward to the 50-ft. level, and
then, at least on the northern boundary, a steep
descent to the low lands by the Ribble. In this
parish, as elsewhere, the 25-ft. level appears to indicate the limit anciently habitable, the old hamlets and
mansions standing above it. The parish has an area
of 11,249 acres, including 1,323 acres of tidal water,
and in 1901 had a population of 6,754.
PENWORTHAM PARISH.
Each of the townships is now governed by its
parish council.
The growth of Preston has affected Penwortham
as a residential district, but apart from agriculture
the principal industries are a cotton factory at Farington and breweries at Longton. The agricultural
land in the parish is thus divided: Arable, 2,521
acres; permanent grass, 6,455; woods and plantations, 156. (fn. 1)
To the ancient 'fifteenth' the parish paid thus:
Penwortham, 9s.; Howick with Farington, 23s. 8d.;
Hutton, 13s. 4d.; Longton, 28s. 9d. (fn. 2) For the county
lay of 1624 it was divided into three 'quarters' as
follows: Penwortham and Hutton, Farington and
Howick, and Longton, each paying equally. (fn. 3)
Leland, writing about 1536, says: 'Penwortham
seemed to me more than half
a mile from Preston; and
there goeth Ribble; standing
in respect of the town of the
further side of Ribble, the
which there divided the diocese
of Chester from the diocese
of York. Penwortham is a
parish church and cell to
Evesham Abbey, and standeth
in Chester diocese.' (fn. 4) At that
time the various branches of
the Farington family were the
chief landowners. (fn. 5)
Probably owing to its being
so largely in the hands of
religious orders the parish
had, it would seem, a very
peaceful history; and since
the Reformation there is but
little to relate. The chief resident family, the
Fleetwoods of the Priory, were Protestants, and the
main body of the population seem to have conformed
without resistance, (fn. 6) though for a short time there
was a Roman Catholic priest at Farington Hall.
In more recent times Nonconformity has been
very popular in the district. An observant writer
remarked some thirty-five years ago: 'The soil all
along this part of the western coast of Lancashire
seems to be very favourable to the growth of Dissent.
At Longton this is apparent; at Bretherton we have
much of it; at Tarleton it is strong; at Hesketh
Bank it is predominant. In fact, all along the coast
from Southport to Longton the Dissenters have a
strong hold; the Established Church is "nowhere,"
taking the entire range; and as for Roman Catholics,
why you can't find a single church or chapel of theirs
in any part of it.' (fn. 7)
An old survey-plan of Penwortham, Hutton and
Howick is preserved at the Record Office, London. (fn. 8)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN (fn. 9) is situated on elevated ground
commanding an extensive view of the
Ribble valley, slightly to the south of the Castle Hill,
from which it is separated by a deep fosse, (fn. 10) and about
300 yds. to the north-east of the site of the priory. (fn. 11)
The building, which stands at a considerable distance
from the road, is approached from the south by a fine
avenue of trees, and consists of chancel 30 ft. 6 in.
by 17 ft. 9 in., nave 60 ft. 6 in. by 25 ft., with north
and south aisles 14 ft. wide, south porch and west
tower 12 ft. 6 in. square, all these measurements
being internal. Only the chancel and tower, however, are old, the nave having been rebuilt in 1855–6,
at which date also the chancel roof was restored, the
tower arch opened out, and a west gallery removed. (fn. 12)
Little or nothing can be said as to the development
of the plan, but there was probably a building in the
14th century covering approximately the present
area, with the exception of the west tower, of which
the chancel is a portion. The windows on the north
and south sides of the chancel are of this period, and
though the walls themselves appear to have been
rebuilt, either wholly or in part, at a much later date,
there is no reason to suppose that the present chancel
is not substantially that of the 14th-century church.
The tower is of 15th-century date, to which period
or later the destroyed nave seems to have belonged.
The church was repaired in 1812, when a north
gallery was erected and 'the higher part of the body
of the church was fronted and castellated in the latest
style of Gothic architecture.' (fn. 13)
The chancel roof is of framed spars and at the
time of the restoration was covered with blue slates.
The walls appear to have been originally built of
gritstone, but have been a good deal patched with red
sandstone, the whole of the middle part of the east wall
from some 4 ft. above the ground being so constructed.
The east window is of three lights, the jambs, head
and mullions being new, but the tracery is apparently
original, though later in date, probably early 16thcentury work. On the south side are two pointed
14th-century windows of two trefoiled lights with a
quatrefoil in the head, and between them two
buttresses and a priest's door, the jambs and head of
which have the wave moulding. Above the door is a
stone with the date 1653 and the initials of John
Fleetwood and Anne (Farington) his wife. This
date probably indicates the year in which the chancel
walls were rebuilt or repaired, the inscribed stone
and the walling on each side of it being of red sandstone. There is also some brick patching under the
eaves, and the bottoms of the buttresses have been
renewed. At the east end of the north side is a
similar 14th-century window, but the other north
window of the chancel is of a nondescript character,
apparently made up of fragments from two later
windows in another part of the church. There are
two buttresses on the north side of the chancel similar
to those on the south, and diagonal buttresses at the
angles. Internally the chancel walls are of bare
stone, and the floor, together with that of the nave
and aisles, was tiled in 1884. The chancel arch is
modern. (fn. 14)
The nave is of four bays and has a clearstory of five
two-light windows on each side. On the east wall of
the tower are the lines of two former roofs, the lower
one of steep pitch coming down below the springing
of the tower arch and apparently indicating the
original roof of the church. The other, of flatter
pitch, would appear to be that of 1812. There is a
gallery at the west end. The tower arch is of two
chamfered orders, the inner one dying into the wall
at the springing. The arch is open to the nave,
but is filled in under the gallery by a modern wood
screen.
The tower was restored in 1884. Its stages are
unmarked externally by any string course except
below the west window. There is a projecting vice
in the south-east corner, and the top terminates in
an embattled parapet with angle pinnacles. The
belfry windows are of two lights with cinquefoiled
heads and tracery under a pointed arch with hood
mould. The west window is of three cinquefoiled
lights with tracery and hood mould, and above is a
niche with canopied head. The buttresses are of six
stages, placed diagonally, and terminating below the
level of the belfry windows. The west door is
pointed with continuous moulded jambs and head and
hood mould. There is a clock on the south side, and
on a gargoyle on the same side is a shield with coat
of arms, much defaced.
The fittings are almost entirely modern, but a
small four-sided font, dated 1667, yet remains (fn. 15) in
addition to a modern octagonal one, and in the
chancel windows are some fragments of old glass.
In the easternmost window on the north side is the
emblem of the Trinity and in the other window are a
female head, portions of lettering and other fragments.
The west window on the south side has a small
shield with the arms of Fleetwood impaling Legh,
with crests above, and below the inscription, 'Richard
Fleetwood and Margery his wife 1595.' In the same
window is part of an inscription in black letter in
which the words 'Harewood,' 'Botelier' and 'fieri
fecit matris sue' occur. There are two helmets
suspended from the chancel roof, one with the
Fleetwood crest.
Penwortham Church From The South-west
The organ is in the westernmost bay of the north
aisle. In the chancel is a mural monument to Sir
Christopher Musgrave, bart., of Edenhall (d. 1735),
and there are memorials in the church to members of
the Rawstorne family.
In the churchyard north of the chancel is a stone
slab with a floreated cross within a circle and sword
on dexter side, and there are a number of 17th and
early 18th-century stones with good raised lettering.
There is a pedestal sundial dated 1845, and an
oak lych-gate was erected in 1896. The
churchyard is surrounded by trees and is very
picturesquely situated.
There are six bells cast by Abraham Rudhall
in 1712, but the treble seems to have been
recast by Taylor of Loughborough in 1858,
and again by Mears & Stainbank in 1891, it
bearing both names and dates. (fn. 16)
The plate consists of a chalice, paten, breadholder and flagon of 1846–7, inscribed 'Penwortham Church 1849,' presented by the Rev.
R. A. Rawstorne, incumbent. There is also a
plated chalice.
The registers began in 1586, but perished
in a fire in 1856. (fn. 17) The present registers,
therefore, do not begin till 1857.
Advowson
The church, which was a
parish church, was granted by
Warine Bussel, lord of Penwortham, to the abbey of Evesham about the
year 1140. (fn. 18) The monks on their part undertook to place at Penwortham three of their
number, together with a chaplain, for the
service of God, and thus the cell or priory of
Penwortham came into existence. (fn. 19) The
church was served by the monks, and thus no
institutions were necessary, and the successive
priors may be regarded as incumbents of the
benefice. (fn. 20) On the Dissolution, the Fleetwoods,
having obtained possession, (fn. 21) held the tithes as
lay rectors, and placed a stipendiary minister
in charge, regarding the cure as a donative.
Thus there were no institutions and first-fruits
were not paid, the curates or ministers being
licensed by the bishop. This continued until
a century ago, when a grant of £,640 from
Queen Anne's Bounty having been obtained
the benefice became an ordinary perpetual
curacy. (fn. 22) In the 18th century the 'advowson'
was sold by the Fleetwood trustees in 1749 to
John Aspinall, who sold it to John Barton. About
1810 it was purchased by Lawrence Rawstorne of
Hutton, and has descended to the present patron, his
namesake.
In 1291 the value of the church was estimated at
£20, (fn. 23) but fifty years later at only 20 marks, the
difference being accounted for by the glebe of the
church, worth 40s., and the tithe of hay, &c., 7 marks,
belonging to the altarage. (fn. 24) It should be observed
that Brindle was included in this valuation. The
gross value of the rectory in 1535 was £36 11s. 10d. (fn. 25)
The tithes were valued at £174 a year in 1650, and
£60 a year was paid out of them to the minister. (fn. 26)
The value of the incumbency had risen to about
£100 by 1720, (fn. 27) and is now returned as £227. (fn. 28)
The following have been curates and incumbents, (fn. 29)
styled vicars since 1868:—
|
| oc. 1542–63 | Ralph Garstang (fn. 30) |
| oc. 1580–91 | Thomas Spode |
| 1599 | William Duxbury |
| 1599 | George Clark |
| oc. 1600 | Matthew French (fn. 31) |
| oc. 1601 | Nicholas Bamford |
| oc. 1607–21 | Nicholas Peele (fn. 32) |
| 1625 | Roger Wright |
| oc. 1634–40 | Nathaniel Bradshaw (fn. 33) |
| oc. 1641 | John Jacques |
| oc. 1647 | James Chrichley (fn. 34) |
| oc. 1650 | William Seddon (fn. 35) |
| 1653 | Thomas Robinson |
| 1654 | —Bradshaw |
| oc. 1676–88 | Henry Rycroft (fn. 36) |
| 1689 | Peter Gregory (fn. 37) |
| 1696 | James Butterworth (fn. 38) |
| 1712 | Ralph Loxam (fn. 39) |
| 1725 | Edward Martin |
| 1753 | William Loxham, M.A. (fn. 40) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1794 | James Barton |
| 1802 | Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 41) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1809 | James John Hornby, M.A. (fn. 42) |
| 1814 | Thomas Selkirk |
| 1819 | William Birkett, M.A. (fn. 43) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1826 | James Taylor Waring |
| 1831–3 | Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 44) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1852 | Robert Atherton Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 45) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1858 | William Edward Rawstorne, M.A. (fn. 46) (Christ Ch., Oxf.) |
| 1889 | Daniel Holland Stubbs |
| 1894 | Augustus Manley Winter, M.A. (Hertford Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1909 | Oliver Burton, M.A. (St. John's Coll., Camb.) |
There was no endowed chantry at Penwortham, but
there seem, nevertheless, to have been three or four
resident priests in the parish before the Reformation, (fn. 47)
one of whom would serve Longton Chapel. After the
Reformation only one 'curate,' the incumbent of the
parish church, appears in the visitation lists. (fn. 48) As the
Fleetwoods quickly became Protestant the starveling's
wage they paid him cannot be ascribed to hostility to
the then newly-established order. About 1610
Penwortham was described as 'an old priory in the
possession, by inheritance, of Richard Fleetwood,
esquire, who maintaineth a stipendiary minister there.' (fn. 49)
Even in 1650 there was only one, Longton Chapel
being vacant. After the latter chapel in 1719 obtained
a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty, there was probably
an additional minister usually resident in the parish.
The incumbents of Penwortham, however, were often
beneficed elsewhere.
A school was founded at Longton about 1527 and
refounded in 1552; though now situated in Hutton
it is known as Penwortham Grammar School. (fn. 50)
Charities
Apart from the school endowments, there are three benefactions
for the poor. The Penwortham Dole,
with an income of over £64, the result of a number
of ancient gifts, (fn. 51) is spent partly in apprenticing boys
from Penwortham and partly in gifts to people residing in Penwortham and Howick. 'The number
of recipients in 1898 was 176, of whom some three
or four were in receipt of poor law relief, but most
were ratepayers and in receipt of good wages, and
very few were really poor persons. In defence of this
system it was stated that it had the sanction of antiquity, and that the householders who have hitherto
received a dole expect and claim one.' (fn. 52) For Longton,
the poor's land, now represented by consols, produces
an income of £38 4s. 2d., which is distributed once
a year in money doles varying from 5s. to 35s (fn. 53) . A
stock for Hutton, founded by the gifts of several
benefactors, has now an income of £6 1s. 4d.; of
this £2 is spent on beef, and the rest is given in
small money doles, the distribution being made about
Christmas time. (fn. 54)