OVER WYRESDALE
Wyresdale, 1246.
Formerly part of the forest of Lancaster, this
district occupies the upper part of the Wyre valley,
the river being formed by the union of two main
sources, called the Tarnbrook Wyre and Marshaw
Wyre, and then flowing west. The northern boundary
is marked by the fells stretching west from Yorkshire
to Clougha Pike, the highest point, Ward's Stone,
being 1,836 ft. above sea level. Between the two
branches of the Wyre are minor fells, over 1,500 ft.
being attained at the Yorkshire border. The southern
boundary is formed by the Grizedale Fells, about
1,000 ft. in the main, but attaining 1,568 ft. at
Hawthornthwaite Fell Top, on the county boundary.
Numerous minor streams descend from the hills to
feed the Wyre, and there are many stretches of
woodland along the river and its tributaries, as
well as others on the hill-sides. On the whole,
however, the fells are bare. At Abbeystead is a
reservoir of the Lancaster Water Works, constructed
in 1855 and afterwards enlarged in order to supply
compensation water to the factories then at work
lower down the Wyre.
The total acreage, including about 10,000 of
moorland, is 17,318, (fn. 1) subdivided thus: North of the
Wyre, going east—Greenbank Vaccary, 781½ acres;
Ortner Vaccary, 357; Lentworth Vaccary, 894;
Abbeystead Fell, 1,635; Lee Fell, 1,335; Dunkenshaw Fell, 777½ Tarnbrook Fell, 3,336. Between
the two branches—Emmets Vaccary, 546½ Marshaw
Fell, 3,526½. South of the Wyre—Hayshaw Fell,
in which is Swainshead, 922½ Catshaw Vaccary,
1,184; Hawthornthwaite Vaccary, 2,022½. The
population numbered only 464 in 1901.
The road from Lancaster enters the township on
the north-west border at a height of 940 ft. above sea
level, descends south-east to Grizedale Brook, which
it follows to the Wyre, crossing at Emmets to reach
the northern bank of the other branch of the Wyre
near Marshaw; then following the stream upwards
it ascends through the wild pass known as the Trough
of Bowland into Yorkshire, the boundary being
crossed at a point 1,000 ft. above sea level. Another
road ascends the Wyre from Ellel on the north side,
crossing Damas Gill, the western boundary, at Lower
Greenbank, and passing Ortner, Lentworth and
Abbeystead; at this point it crosses the river and
joins the other road at Emmets. There is neither
railway nor canal.
The township has a parish council.
Sheep and cattle fairs are held at Marshaw in
June and September.
The land is mostly in pasture, but oats are grown.
The soil is clayey.
The Manchester water supply from Thirlmere
passes through the west side of the township in
pipes.
Forest
Nothing is known of the district before
the Conquest, except that SUENESAT,
or Swainshead, assessed as one plough-land,
formed part of the Preston lordship of Earl Tostig. (fn. 2)
Afterwards WYRESDALE seems always to have
formed a principal part of the forest of Lancaster, but
its bounds were not recorded in the perambulation of
1228, because from that year until 1232 it was held by
Hubert de Burgh. (fn. 3) In 1297 there were twenty vaccaries, of which ten seem to have been occupied by the
earl's cattle, (fn. 4) and the following are named in 1323–4:
—Swainshead, Catshaw, Groghbrook, Hawthornthwaite, Hindshaw, Marshaw, Little Gilbertholme,
Over Gilbertholme, Dunkenshaw (Dunnockshaw),
Mickle Lea, Little Lea, Emmets, Abbeystead, Withyridding (Whiteridding), Lentworth, Calveley, Ortner,
Greenbank, Harappletree, Rowtonbrook and Tarnbrook. (fn. 5) In later times, as to the office of forester
and the right of hunting there were various
complaints. (fn. 6)
The tenants under the duchy do not appear often. (fn. 7)
Various water-mills seem to have been erected in the
16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 8) Charles Earl of Devon in
1604 purchased four vaccaries in Wyresdale from the
Crown, (fn. 9) and the others were afterwards leased and
sold. (fn. 10)
Lentworth passed from the Tunstall (fn. 11) to the
Clayton family, (fn. 12) a pedigree being recorded by the
latter in 1665, (fn. 13) and it was acquired in 1686 by
Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst. (fn. 14) In his family
it descended for a century and a half. It is now
owned by the Leemings of Lancaster. (fn. 15) Thomas
Hathornthwaite died in 1620 holding a messuage of
the king as of his manor of Bolingbroke; he had a
son and heir John, about forty years of age. (fn. 16) Thomas
Townley of Ortner, who died in 1739, was a benefactor to the church. (fn. 17) Another family named Cawthorne had a considerable estate which descended to
Fenton. (fn. 18) This is stated to have been purchased by
Robert Garnett, and to have descended to his son the
late Henry Garnett of Wyreside. (fn. 19) The fourth Earl
of Sefton (d. 1897) purchased the Garnett estate in
the township and built a residence at Abbeystead in
1887. His daughter Lady Rose Molyneux succeeded
and on her death in 1905 was followed by her
brother the present Earl of Sefton.
Clayton of Lentworth. Argent on a bend sable cotised gules three roses or.
Shireburne of Stonyhurst. Argent a lion rampant gardant vert.
Cawthorne. Argent on a saltire sable five crosses patonce or.
Molyneux, Earl of Sefton. Azure a cross moline or.
There is no lord of the manor. The Crown about
1895 sold the forest rights to the various landowners, so that in each estate the owner has full
powers.
A report of the condition of the township in 1822
states that Marshaw, Dunkenshaw, Abbeystead and
part of Tarnbrook belonged to John Fenton Cawthorne, Hawthornthwaite to Mrs. Hunter, a relative,
Lee to —Hawthornthwaite, Lentworth chiefly to—
Weld of Stonyhurst, Ortner to — Townley, Emmets
to the Rev. — Clarkson, Catshaw to — Brown of
Garstang and — Kilshaw; and Hayshaw to the
Rev. — Forshaw. Mr. Cawthorne had carried out
extensive improvements from 1798 onwards by inclosing, draining and applying lime: 'The land thus
improved has been found capable of supporting a
full-grown beast . . . per customary acre the first
year. . . . The more elevated parts of the land,
which are barren, rocky, and incapable of other sorts
of cultivation, are planted out with mixed forest and
other trees, at the distance of more than a yard from
each other.' (fn. 20)
Richard Woodward in 1631 paid £10 as his fine
on refusing knighthood. (fn. 21) Lawrence Parkinson of
Swainshead in 1630 compounded for his recusancy by
£3 a year fine, (fn. 22) and had his estate sequestered by
the Parliament for 'delinquency' in the Civil War.
He had succeeded his father Thomas, who had
obtained a lease of the vaccary from Queen Elizabeth.
He died before the end of 1652, when his widow
Faith desired to compound. (fn. 23) Several 'Papists'
registered estates in 1717. (fn. 24)
Church
A house of Cistercian monks existed
for a few years before 1204 in Wyresdale. (fn. 25) Of the buildings no trace remains unless a few carved stones in various houses
and buildings in the district formed part of them. (fn. 26)
Tradition points to the site as being just below the
junction of the Marshaw Wyre and the Tarnbrook
Wyre on the north side of the Abbeystead reservoir. (fn. 27)
The chapel, which stands on high ground about
three-quarters of a mile to the west of Abbeystead, was
rebuilt in 1733, when a tower was added, but both
chapel and tower appear to have been again rebuilt
or restored in 1843. Before that date the building
is described as having been 'bare and uninteresting,'
the windows with semicircular heads and 'a square
mullion down the centre of each,' and the tower was
without battlements. In 1853 the interior was again
restored, but it was not till 1893 that the building
was properly dealt with, when a chancel was added,
the old roof opened out, new windows inserted, a
north vestry and south porch built, buttresses added
to the walls and an embattled parapet to the tower,
the whole cost of the work being defrayed by the
Earl of Sefton. The pulpit, though largely modern,
bears the date 1684, and there is a brass to John
Barker (d. 1778) and a tablet to Thomas Townley of
Ortner (d. 1739).
There is one bell, by A. Rudhall of Gloucester,
1774, inscribed with the name of Thomas Harrison,
churchwarden.
The registers date from 1730 for baptisms and
burials.
The earliest record of the existence of the chapel is
an order by John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster to pay
£4 a year to the chaplain of Wyresdale. (fn. 28) Henry VIII
also in 1509 gave £2 a year, (fn. 29) and again in 1515
ordered £2 to be paid to the chaplain from the produce of Oakenclough in Bleasdale (fn. 30) as part of the
£4, which annuity continues to be paid to the present
incumbent. It seems certain, therefore, that there has
from about 1360 always been a chaplain nominally
in charge. About 1610 he was 'Mr. Cragge, no
preacher.' (fn. 31) Under the Commonwealth £30 a year
was granted out of Royalist confiscations, and Thomas
Denny, B.A., was 'a preaching minister' there from
1638 to 1658, and probably later. (fn. 32) The augmentation would cease on the Restoration, but the use of
the chapel is witnessed by William Cawthorne's will
of 1683, by which an endowment of £8 a year was
given. (fn. 33) The church was served three Sundays each
month in 1717. (fn. 34) It was further endowed (fn. 35) and
rebuilt in 1733. The net income is now stated to
be £222 a year.
The incumbents are presented by the vicar of
Lancaster. The following is a list (fn. 36) :—
— Hadwen
|
| 1716 | Lawrence Washington |
| 1769 | Francis Lee |
| 790 | James Watson (fn. 37) |
| 1799 | James Thomas, B.A. (fn. 38) |
| 1824 | Joseph Stuart (fn. 39) |
| 1829 | Robert Watson |
| 1863 | Constantine Adolphus Lusignan, M.A. (fn. 40) (T.C.D.) |
| 1878 | Thomas Joseph Brereton, B.A. (Christ Church, Oxf.) |
| 1894 | Daniel Schofield (fn. 41) |
| 1910 | John Leonard Gamble, M.A. (Dur.) |
A free grammar school was built in 1674 by the
above-named William Cawthorne. (fn. 42)
According to Bishop Gastrell there were in 1717
'many Papists and Quakers in this chapelry,' and the
latter had a meeting house. (fn. 43) This is at Brooks; it
was rebuilt in 1883, and is also used as a school. (fn. 44)
The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Emmets.