HESKIN
Heskyn, 1301.
This township, formerly united with Eccleston,
lies on the northerly slope of the hills of Parbold
and Wrightington, the surface descending from the
200 ft. to the 100 ft. level. The north-east
boundary is formed by the Syd Brook, on which lies
the hamlet of Heskin Green. Barmskin is in the
south-west corner. The area is 1,242½ acres, (fn. 1) and
in 1901 there was a population of 537.
Three roads go north through the township; the
two on the eastern side join at Heskin Green, while
the third joins at Eccleston Green, just beyond the
northern boundary. From the last-named road a
branch goes north-west to Croston.
Pedestals of ancient crosses are known at Oxhey,
Heskin Hall and Cooper's Lane. (fn. 2)
There were sixty-seven hearths recorded for the
tax in 1666. The principal house was the New
Hall, Alexander Mawdesley's, with fifteen hearths,
the next being Mr. Dicconson's, with seven. (fn. 3)
Thomas Heskin, a Dominican divine of the
Reformation period, is supposed to have been of this
township. Being deprived of his preferments by
Elizabeth, he went abroad. (fn. 4)
MANOR
The manor of HESKIN was originally
included in Eccleston, but seems to have
been regarded as separate after coming
into the possession of Sir Richard Molyneux. It
has no independent history; for though one Robert
de Heskin in 1323 asserted that he and Randle de
Dacre were lords of Heskin, a separate hamlet in
Eccleston, his claim to lordship was rejected. (fn. 5) The
Heskin family, though of long continuance, have
left little or no record. (fn. 6) Thurstan Heskin, described
as of Wrightington, died in 1591, leaving a son and
heir Nicholas under age. (fn. 7) Nicholas Heskin, who
died in 1640, held lands in Heskin, Parbold and
Wrightington, to which his son Thurstan, aged
fourteen, was heir. (fn. 8)
Many of those who have been described as
owning estates in Eccleston also had land in Heskin;
indeed, as the former place-name included the latter,
it is not always possible to tell in which portion
land 'in Eccleston' was situated; but among those
who were more especially concerned in Heskin were
the families of Hoghton of Hoghton, (fn. 9) Rutter, (fn. 10)
Banastre (fn. 11) and Lancaster. (fn. 12) The Fleetwoods of
Heskin are said to be the original stock of a widespreading family, including those of Penwortham
and Rossall. (fn. 13) Sir William Fleetwood, an eminent
lawyer, who died in 1594, was an illegitimate
offshoot. (fn. 14) A few other names occur—e.g. Thomas
Haworth and — Waterworth were freeholders in
1600. (fn. 15) In the time of the Commonwealth Thomas
Howorth compounded for his sequestered estate, (fn. 16)
and the following recusants petitioned to be allowed
to contract for theirs: Anne Banastre widow,
David Baron and Thomas Prescott. (fn. 17) Several
'Papists' registered estates in 1717. (fn. 18)
Thurstan Mawdesley had a messuage in Heskin in
1594, and other members of the family also had an
interest. (fn. 19) The Mawdesley estates were in 1739–44
purchased by Alexander Kershaw.
Alexander Kershaw, who acquired other lands in
Ulnes Walton and elsewhere, sprang from a Rochdale family, (fn. 20) and, amassing a large fortune, settled
at Heskin. He never married, but had a number of
illegitimate children, three of whom he chose as his
heirs by his will of 1786—Edmund Newman
(Kershaw), John Cooper and James Kershaw, and
their lawful male issue successively, then to the
testator's right heirs. He died in 1788, and
Edmund Newman (Kershaw) succeeded, and on his
death without lawful issue John Cooper followed,
and when he died in 1833, also without lawful
issue, there was a dispute as to the succession. After
a trial in 1837 the estates were adjudged to be the
right of the heirs of Mary Stott, (fn. 21) sister of Alexander,
to be held in moieties by (1) Lewis Chadwick
Hargrave, grandson, and (2) Letitia Maria Ahmuty
and her sister Catherine Constantia (Ahmuty) wife of
James Charles Michell, great-granddaughters. About
1856 the estates were divided. The Mawdesley
and Ulnes Walton portions were given to Hargrave,
the Heskin and Eccleston lands to the Rev. William
Michell, and lands in Leyland, &c., to Miss
Ahmuty, who bequeathed them to Mr. Michell and
his sister, so that this moiety was reunited. The
whole has since been sold in parcels, Heskin Hall
having been purchased about 1885 by the late Henry
Rawcliffe of Gillibrand Hall, Chorley.
HESKIN OLD HALL stood on the extreme
north-west of the township, but was pulled down
at the beginning of the last century. The new
hall stands about three-quarters of a mile to the
east, and is a fine brick mansion of three stories
with gables and mullioned windows, having a front
elevation facing south of about 86 ft. It is now
used as a farm-house. The building belongs to the
middle of the 17th century, and is constructed of
small red bricks, varying in size from 2 in. to 2¼ in.,
with blue diaper patterns similar to other work of
the same period in the district. (fn. 22) A spout head on
the front of the house bears the date 1670 and
the initials of Alexander Mawdesley, but whether
this is the date of erection or merely of some later
work is uncertain. The plan follows to some
extent the usual arrangement of an earlier date, of
the central hall with projecting end wings, and the
principal elevation is one of much picturesqueness
and not a little dignity, being well broken up by
bay windows. The regularity of the design is somewhat lost by the bay window of the hall being
placed out of the centre, and by the porch, which is
in the angle of the east wing and the hall, being
carried up two stories with a small gable over,
though a certain balance is given to the elevation at
this end by another small gable at the other side of
the east wing. The brickwork has weathered a
charming colour, but the roofs have been covered at
a later period with green slates. There is a northeast wing about 50 ft. in length, containing the
offices and kitchen, externally more severe in
appearance than the front, with three regularly
spaced and equal gables facing east on the top floor.
From the north-west this wing, however, is very
picturesque in appearance, and is a very excellent
example of domestic brick architecture. The grouping of the octagonal staircase, which is corbelled out
to a gable at the top, with two well-designed stacks
of chimneys, is very effective. There is a similar
staircase turret finishing in a corbelled gable at the
end of the principal front facing east. At a later
date, probably in the early part of the last century,
a considerable change was made at the back of the
house by the addition or rebuilding of a large
dining-room and staircase. (fn. 23) These additions, which
are of two stories, are built with modern bricks,
and are architecturally uninteresting; but, not
being seen from the front, detract little from the
general appearance of the building. The interior
has been a good deal modernized in the last century,
but retains some features of interest. The hall is
34 ft. 6 in. long by 20 ft.
in breadth, and has a flagged
floor. The porch is in the
south-east corner, and the
bay window 5 ft. from the
west end, the space between them being occupied
by a four-light mullioned
window, the sill of which
is 7 ft. from the floor.
The original oak nailstudded door with heavy
ring knocker remains in
the porch, the doorway
itself having a low fourcentred arch. The ceiling,
which is 12 ft. 6 in. high,
is plain, and, together with
the fireplace and fittings
generally, is modern. The
drawing-room in the west
wing is panelled its full
height all round with good
Renaissance oak wainscot,
the walls being divided into
bays by fluted Ionic pilasters with architrave, inlaid
frieze and shallow cornice,
the whole on a surbase
3 ft. 9 in. high. Between
the pilasters the panels are
elaborately treated with inlay and strap-work, but
below they are plain. The fireplace is of stone, but
has been painted, and the panelling above (fn. 24) has
been removed and portions of plain chamfered and
moulded wainscot inserted. The large bay window
may be later than the room itself, but the threelight mullioned window on the west side is original.
The other rooms are uninteresting, being almost
wholly modernized. In a bedroom over the hall,
however, there is some old oak wainscot on one
of the walls. The spiral octagon stair at the east
end is now removed, only the walls of the staircase
remaining, and the plan of the house has been a
good deal altered at this point. There is an
external doorway in the angle of the staircase
turret, but the original opening to the staircase
itself from the outside is now blocked up. This is
also the case with the other octagonal staircase in the
north wing, the only entrance to which is now from
the passage at the end of the kitchen. This staircase retains its original oak treads and newel. The
east staircase was apparently the original means of
access to the first and upper floors or attic. This
latter is occupied by a long gallery in the roof
75 ft. long by 10 ft. 6 in wide and 9 ft. high,
extending the full length of the house, with recesses
on the south side, which have apparently at some
later time been partitioned off into separate rooms
in the gables. The gallery, which has a fireplace
and window at its west end, is now in a dilapidated
condition, the plaster having fallen from the studding, leaving the room open to the roof on each
side. In the north-east wing are three large rooms,
each with a fireplace and a four-light mullioned and
transomed stone window, and approached from the
northern staircase.
Plan of Heskin Hall
A grammar school was founded at Heskin in 1597. (fn. 25)