MUCH HOOLE
Hole, 1212 and usually; Holes, 1223; Hoole,
1320; Grett Wholle, 1551.
The township of Much Hoole has an area of
1,776 acres, (fn. 1) and the population numbered 624 in
1901. The Douglas or Asland River forms the
boundary on the west, and the surface rises slightly
from west to east, about 70 ft. above the ordnance
datum being reached on the boundary of Leyland.
In the south the township is bounded mainly by
Carr Brook.
The principal road is that from Ormskirk to Preston, which goes north-east through the township,
passing Mill Hill on the left or west, the church on
the right and the village; Goose Green and Mosshouses are hamlets to the east. The West Lancashire
portion of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from
Preston to Southport crosses the north-west corner,
and passes into Hesketh by a bridge over the Douglas.
The township is governed by a parish council.
The district is supplied with water by the Preston
Corporation.
The soil is marl, with subsoil various. The chief
crops are wheat, oats and potatoes. There are some
market gardens.
Manor
The 'land of HOOLE' was a member
of the barony of Warrington; by Pain
de Vilers it was given to Thomas de
Vilers, and in 1212 seems to have been held by
Robert and William de Vilers. (fn. 2) As in the case of
Halsall and Windle, the descent is in one part uncertain. In 1242 the Earl of Ferrers was holding
Hoole, or a portion of it, of the heir of Amery le
Boteler, (fn. 3) and a century later Otes de Halsall and the
heirs of Windle were returned as tenants. (fn. 4) In 1223
Robert de Vilers gave an oxgang of land in Hoole to
Walter de Hoole and Beatrice his wife, a rent of 2s.
being payable. (fn. 5) This seems to be the land which
Adam de Walton held of the Earl of Ferrers in
1288 by the same rent. (fn. 6) Before 1260, however,
the whole had been given to the Cistercian Abbey of
Merivale, (fn. 7) probably by the Earl of Ferrers (fn. 8) and
through his influence, and by the monks it was
granted to the Walton family (fn. 9) of Ulnes Walton.
After the partition of their estates it was held by the
Leghs (fn. 10) and the Radcliffes of Smithills, (fn. 11) and so
descended for several centuries.
The subsequent story is obscure. The Legh
moiety appears to be that now held by Lord
Lilford, (fn. 12) while the other was sold to Andrew
Stones in 1638, (fn. 13) and was afterwards acquired by
the Crook family, (fn. 14) and may be that now held
by Mr. Richard Rainshaw Rothwell of Sharples. (fn. 15) Courts are held annually in June by the joint
lords. (fn. 16)
A resident family or families took their surname
from the place, but few notices
of them occur (fn. 17) ; some charters relating to their estate at
Mosshouses are in the British
Museum. (fn. 18) Among the other
landowners recorded are
Aughton, (fn. 19) followed by Bold (fn. 20) ;
Banastre (fn. 21) ; Beconsaw, (fn. 22) succeeded by Hesketh (fn. 23) ; Boteler
of Rawcliffe, (fn. 24) by Walton (fn. 25) ;
Shireburne, (fn. 26) Shuttleworth, (fn. 27)
and Waleys. (fn. 28)
Powys, Lord Lilford. Or a lion's jamb erased in bend between two crosslets fitchy gules.
Warinede Vilers and Robert
son of Richard le Waleys
gave land in Much Hoole to Cockersand Abbey. (fn. 29)
Peter Martindale in 1649 desired to compound
for his small estate, sequestered by the Parliament for
'delinquency.' (fn. 30) Edward and Henry Stananought,
as 'Papists,' registered their estates in 1717. (fn. 31)
The land tax return of 1783 shows that the ownership was greatly subdivided; the principal names
were those of Peter Legh and Thomas Stananought. (fn. 32)
Among the leaseholders in 1717 and later were
the family of Buck, who afterwards succeeded to
Agecroft in Pendlebury. (fn. 33)
Church
The church of ST. MICHAEL is
situated close to the road at the south
end of the village, and consists of
chancel, nave, south porch and west tower. It is a
small building of red brick on a low stone base,
erected in 1628—replacing, it is said, an older structure which stood on another site (fn. 34) —but added to
subsequently at different periods. The original
building forms the present nave, and was a simple
parallelogram about 55 ft. long by 21 ft. 6 in. wide
inside. In 1720 a tower was erected at the west
end and the west wall rebuilt, and in 1824 a small
chancel was built. In 1857, however, as the result
of an appeal to commemorate the name of Jeremiah
Horrocks, the chancel appears to have been taken
down and an extension of the church made eastward, known as the Horrocks chapel, beyond which
the chancel was rebuilt with a small vestry on the
south side. The internal dimensions are: chancel,
10 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in.; Horrocks chapel, 11 ft. by
21 ft. 6 in.; nave, 55 ft. by 21 ft. 6 in.; and tower
(at clock stage), 6 ft. 9 in. by 7 ft. 9 in., the longer
dimension being from north to south. The brick
walls of the older part of the building were relieved
by blue diaper patterns, as in other brick buildings of
the period in the district; but lately the whole of
the exterior brickwork has been painted red all over,
and the old distinction temporarily lost. A portion
of the south nave wall at the east end seems to have
been rebuilt at the time that the Horrocks chapel
was erected, but the window is the original 17thcentury one. The extension of 1859 is in the same
style as the original building, and the roof, which
is covered with green slates, is merely carried eastward without a break. The general appearance of
the building outside is therefore, with the exception
of the tower, very uniform.
The chancel, the roof of which is lower than that
of the rest of the building, has a three-light pointed
window, and is separated from the Horrocks chapel
by a pointed arch 8 ft. wide. The chapel is practically part of the chancel, though not so styled, and
has a three-light square-headed window with roundheaded lights on each side. The floor is level with
that of the nave, from which the chapel is separated
by a pointed arch 8 ft. 6 in. wide, the centre line of
which, like that to the chancel, is 2 ft. north of the
axis of the nave, so as to allow for the small
entrance vestry south of the chancel. The nave,
which is flagged, has four windows on each side, each
of four round-headed lights under a square head,
with a doorway in both north and south walls, and
one at the west end under the tower. The roof is
ceiled with a segmental plaster vault erected in 1812.
There is a wide organ gallery at the west end, and a
narrower one containing square pews along the south
side, carried on iron columns, and gained by a
staircase at the west end. The north doorway,
which externally shows the same detail as that on
the south porch, is now made up. The south doorway bears the date 1628 on the stone head, and the
door itself is the original oak nail-studded one.
The porch has an open outer doorway under a segmental arch, with moulded jambs and square head
and label over. Over the label is a modern panel
with text, and the wall finishes in a brick gable with
stone coping with urn ornaments. On one of the
arch stones are cut the initials P. H.
The tower is built of stone and stands inside the
building, carried by semicircular arches on Tuscan
columns 1 ft. 9 in. diameter with pedestals 4 ft. high.
It is of a somewhat nondescript architectural character,
the upper stages being in a pseudo-Gothic style, with
a two-light stone-louvred window on each face
and embattled parapet with angle pinnacles. The
west arch is filled in, and the wall pierced with a
square-headed door with circular window over.
Above the keystone of the arch and below the belfry
window is a two-light square-headed Gothic window
to the ringing chamber. The whole of the west
wall of the building was apparently rebuilt in stone
when the tower was erected, and has the characteristic 18th-century urn ornament at the angles.
On the south side of the tower, under a square string
below the belfry window, is a painted sundial with
the inscription, 'Sine sole sileo,' and on the north a
clock, (fn. 35) round which is cut in the stone, 'In memoriam
Horrockii, 1639–1859. Ut hora, sic vita.'
The font, which is of stone and octagonal, was
the gift of John Stones of Carr House, and bears
the inscription, 'Deo Donum Johanis Stones An.
Dom. 1633.' For a long time it was painted, but
has now been cleaned.
In the north-east corner of the nave is a twodecker oak pulpit and reading desk with rich carving
and octagonal canopy over. On the canopy is the
date 1695, with the names of the minister and
chapel-wardens. (fn. 36) The pulpit has been tampered
with in the early years of the 19th century, when
small Gothic panels were introduced. The back
and canopy, which are the original 17th-century
work, were taken down and cleaned in 1859. The
front of the desk has good carving with 18th-century
top. Two bench ends at the west end of the nave
bear respectively the initials R. O. and F. O., but
to whom they refer is not known. There are two
old square pews at the west end of the north side
under the gallery and two at the east end of the
south side, but the rest of the seating is modern.
At the east end of the nave, in front of the
Horrocks chapel, is a stone, with inscription,
marking the burial-place of the Rev. Thomas
Leigh, rector (d. 1703), and on the north wall of the
nave is a marble tablet to the memory of Horrocks,
erected in 1859, with a long inscription, and a brass
in the Horrocks chapel states that the chapel was
'erected by subscriptions from Lancashire, Oxford,
and Cambridge.' The chancel window is also a
memorial to Horrocks, the centre light containing at
the top the symbol of Venus, and at the bottom the
figure of the astronomer observing the transit, with
his own words, 'Ecce gratissimum spectaculum ut tot
votorum materiem.' In the window by the pulpit
is an allusive figure representing a Bible and telescope, with the motto, 'The word of God shall
stand for ever. 1639. Religion and science in
fellowship. 1874.'
On the north wall is a hatchment with the arms
of James Rothwell of Moss House (d. 1825).
There is one bell, by John Rudhall, 1813.
The plate consists of a chalice inscribed, 'The
gifte of Margaret Warner, the wife of John Warner,
1629'; another chalice, 'The gifte of Elizabeth
Wheat, the wife of William Wheat, 1629'; both
chalices have inscribed on foot, 'Belonging to the
Chappell in Hoole in ye parish of Croston,
Lancashire'; and a breadholder, 'The gift of
Katherine Stones, ye wife of Andrew Stones.'
The registers begin in 1676.
Advowson
The earliest reference to a chapel
is a grant about 1280 by Amery de
Hoole to God and St. Mary of an
acre in Much Hoole for the maintenance of the
lights in the chapel of Little Hoole. (fn. 37) What became
of it is unknown; it is not noticed at the time of
the spoliation of such chapels by Henry VIII and
Edward VI, and by that time, therefore, had probably fallen into decay, the endowment, if there had
been any, having been lost. (fn. 38) About 1628 a chapel
was built in Much Hoole by Thomas Stones of
London, and in 1641–2 it was made a parish
church, (fn. 39) the townships of Much and Little Hoole,
with a messuage called the Carr House in Bretherton,
being assigned to it. The patronage was vested in the
builder, and a seventh part of the rent of £53 6s. 8d.
due to the Crown from the rectory of Croston was
to be paid by the rector of Hoole. (fn. 40) The advowson
has frequently changed hands, and the present patron
is Mrs. Mary Dunne. The income is £169.
The following have been rectors (fn. 41) :—
|
| 1641 | Robert Fogg (fn. 42) |
| 1647 | Samuel Jones (fn. 43) |
| c. 1654–8 | William Brownsword, M.A. (fn. 44) (Emmanuel Coll., Camb.) |
| 1660 | Robert Browne, M.A. (fn. 45) |
| oc. 1676 | Samuel Barton (fn. 46) |
| 1686 | Richard Foxcroft, B.A. (fn. 47) (Christ's Coll., Camb.) |
| 1701 | Thomas Leigh, B.A. (fn. 48) |
| 1704 | James Whitaker (fn. 49) |
| 1732 | Thomas Ellison, LL.B. (fn. 50) |
| 1763 | John Lowe, B.A. (fn. 51) |
| 1783 | Roger Barton, B.A. (fn. 52) (Brasenose Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1799 | Thomas Shutt, M.A. (Queen's Coll., Oxf.) |
| 1803 | Richard Rowe |
| 1805 | Robert Harris, B.D. (fn. 53) |
| 1812 | Miles Barton (fn. 54) |
| 1848 | Robert Brickel, B.A. (fn. 55) (T.C.D.) |
| 1881 | Edmund Neal Dunne, B.A. (T.C.D.) |
There is a Wesleyan Methodist church, built in 1848.
A school seems to have been founded at the same
time as the church, but it had disappeared by 1720. (fn. 56)
Another was built in 1774.
Charities
Apart from £24 for education the
only charitable endowments (fn. 57) are
9s. 8d. a year for prayer-books (fn. 58) for
the poor and £1 distributed in clothing. (fn. 59)