THURNHAM
Tiernun, Dom. Bk.; Thurnum, 1212; Thirnum,
1282.
Thurnham, from its position on the south side of
the Lune estuary and cut off from Ashton by the
Conder on the north-east, belongs rather to Cockerham than to Lancaster; yet the larger part of its
area of 2,096½ acres (fn. 1) lies within the latter parish—
viz. 1,315½ acres. This part also includes Glasson,
at the mouth of the Lune, which forms a port for
Lancaster, having since 1787 had a dock; it has the
terminus of the single-line railway from Lancaster,
opened in 1887, and also that of a canal branching at Galgate from the Preston and Lancaster
Canal, formed in 1826. The hamlet of Higher
Thurnham is in Lancaster parish, but Lower Thurnham, with the hall, is in Cockerham. Cockersand
Abbey, extra-parochial, is sometimes considered a
hamlet of Thurnham. The population numbered
540 in 1901.
The principal road is that from Lancaster to
Cockerham going south through the eastern side of
the township. To the west of this road the land is
flat and lies very low, but to the east, between the road
and the canal and Conder, is a tract of higher land,
100 ft. above sea level being attained, in which are
the hamlets just named and the hall with its wellwooded grounds. Other roads connect Glasson with
Conder Green and with Thurnham, and from Upper
Thurnham a minor road leads west to Cockersand
Abbey. The railway and the canal, which is little
used, have been mentioned. There is a ferry across
the Lune from Glasson to Overton.
The township has a parish council.
Wheat, oats, potatoes and clover are grown. The
soil is loam with clay subsoil, but on the north clayey
with marl subsoil. There is a graving dock at Glasson
and ships are repaired there. The first vessel built at it
was launched in 1838. (fn. 2) There is also a custom-house.
Simon George Bordley, a priest-schoolmaster of
some note, was born in Thurnham in 1709 and died
in 1799. (fn. 3)
Manor
Before the Conquest THURNHAM,
which was assessed as two plough-lands,
was a member of the Halton fee, being
held in 1066 by Earl Tostig. (fn. 4) Afterwards it is
found to belong to the lordship of the Lancaster
family, (fn. 5) and was held of them by the Flemings of
Aldingham in Furness. (fn. 6) Their tenure was sometimes described as knight's service and sometimes as
socage. A rent of either 20s. or 13s. 4d. was payable to the heirs of Lancaster; afterwards it was
6s. 8d. only perhaps by composition with some of
the heirs. (fn. 7) It thus descended to the Harringtons
of Aldingham, (fn. 8) and through Bonvill to Grey, being
held by Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, executed for
treason in 1554. The duke had in 1552 sold it to
Thomas Lowne, citizen of London, (fn. 9) who transferred
it at an advanced price to Robert Dalton of Bispham
in 1556. (fn. 10)
John de Harrington in 1315 obtained leave to
inclose a park at Thurnham from Thomas Earl of
Lancaster, (fn. 11) and a charter of free warren was granted
by the king in 1318. (fn. 12)
The earlier history of the Dalton family has
already been told. (fn. 13) Robert Dalton, by his marriage
with Anne daughter of John Kitchen of Pilling,
obtained the site of Cockersand Abbey, adjoining
Thurnham, and in 1558 added Aldcliffe and Bulk by
purchase from the Crown. A pedigree was recorded
in 1567. (fn. 14) Robert Dalton died in 1578 without
issue, and left his estates to his namesake, son of his
brother Thomas, an infant two months old. (fn. 15) The
younger Robert, a recusant in religion, (fn. 16) grew up and
held possession till his death
in 1626, (fn. 17) when he was succeeded by his son Thomas,
born in 1609. Like the
Roman Catholic gentry in
general, he proved himself an
ardent Royalist at the outbreak of the Civil War, raised
a troop of horse, (fn. 18) and was
fatally wounded at the second
battle of Newbury, 27 October
1644; he died at Marlborough a week later. (fn. 19) His
estates were of course seized
by the Parliament for his
recusancy and delinquency (fn. 20) ;
but Robert his son and heir being only five years of
age, there was probably some delay, and no record
of the proceedings has been preserved.
Dalton of Thurnham. Azure a lion rampant gardant within an orle of eight crosslets argent.
Robert Dalton, who recorded a pedigree in 1664, (fn. 21)
left two daughters to inherit at his death in 1700. (fn. 22)
Elizabeth, the elder, married William Hoghton of
Park Hall in Charnock, and had Thurnham, Bulk
and other estates; Dorothy, the younger, married
Edward Riddell of Swinburne Castle, Northumberland, and received Caton and a moiety of Aldcliffe.
John the son of William and Elizabeth Hoghton
assumed the surname of Dalton in 1710, and succeeded his father in 1712. (fn. 23) He was a strong
Roman Catholic and Jacobite, (fn. 24) and on the invasion
in 1715 joined the Pretender's forces at Lancaster
and marched with them to Preston, where he was
taken prisoner. His life was spared, (fn. 25) and his estates,
in which he had only a life interest, were redeemed
by him for £6,000. (fn. 26) He died in 1736 and his
son Robert in 1785. (fn. 27) John Dalton, son of Robert
by his first wife, had several children, (fn. 28) but the
heirs at his death in 1837 were two daughters, Lucy
wife of Joseph Bushell, who died without issue in
1843, and Elizabeth, who died at Thurnham in 1861
unmarried.
Under a settlement made by John Dalton with
the object of barring out of the estate his halfbrother William Hoghton Dalton, who was a Protestant, and his descendants, the manor then went
to a cousin, Sir James George Fitzgerald, (fn. 29) who on
succeeding took the additional surname of Dalton.
He died in 1867, and was followed by his brother
Gerald Richard, who likewise prefixed Dalton to his
surname. At his death in 1894 Thurnham went to
William Henry Dalton, son of the above-named
William Hoghton Dalton of Park Hall, (fn. 30) half-brother
of John Dalton. Mr. W. H. Dalton, who had
a good deal of litigation on succeeding, died in
1902, and was followed by his son Mr. John Henry
Dalton, aged twenty-eight.
THURNHAM HALL stands on slightly rising
ground about a quarter of a mile from the left bank
of the River Conder in the eastern part of the
township, and is a three-story stone-built house,
erected probably by Robert Dalton soon after his
purchase of the property. The front of the building
faces west, and is said to have had originally three
gables with an embattled porch and mullioned windows, and in front a 'spacious courtyard protected
by six square embattled towers, three on each side,
connected by lofty curtain walls.' (fn. 31) In 1823, however, the old front was pulled down and the present
pseudo-Gothic facade erected, with corner turrets and
embattled parapet. Of the courtyard and inclosing
walls, if ever they existed, there are now no remains.
The front, which is faced with ashlar, is about 100 ft.
in length, with square and four-centred headed
windows, the middle part slightly projecting, with a
porch, or vestibule to the hall, 34 ft. in length, on the
ground floor, projecting 9 ft. from the main building.
The house has been for long unoccupied, and is now
in a state of dilapidation. It had apparently undergone some process of restoration or rebuilding before
the addition of the new front, some of the work
in the older part at the back being apparently of
18th-century date, very few of the original mullioned
windows remaining. There have been additions at
the north-east end, the first an extension or rebuilding
northwards of the original east wing, and later, but
apparently in the 17th century, a long two-story
brick wing at right angles, now used as a residence for
the caretaker. The brick wing has, however, been
restored in recent times and new windows inserted.
A domestic chapel in the Gothic style was added at the
south end of the house by Miss Dalton in 1854–5.
Thurnham Hall: West Front
The hall, which is 39 ft. by 24 ft., is probably a
reconstruction of the original 16th-century apartment and is 12 ft. high, with plastered ceiling and
flagged floor. The walls are panelled to a height
of 8 ft. 3 in. with grained deal wainscot, but the hop
pattern plaster frieze above appears to be of 17thcentury date. The arms of Dalton and Gage, which
appear on the porch outside and again in the vestibule,
have been introduced on to the frieze in 1823, and
the fireplace, over which are two shields with the
arms of (1) Dalton quartering Fleming and (2)
Dalton and Fleming impaling Middleton, is modern.
The ceiling is supported by two modern classic
columns, and the west side of the room, the wall of
which is 4 ft. thick, is open by two arches to the
vestibule, which measures internally 31 ft. 3 in. by
6 ft. 9 in. The rooms north and south of the hall
are now dilapidated, but preserve the classic decoration of the early 19th-century rebuilding, in contrast
with its pseudo-Gothic exterior. Most of the rooms
on the first floor are also neglected, the floors in many
cases being broken. The drawing-room is immediately over the hall and of the same dimensions.
Two hiding-places have been discovered in the upper
floor in recent times, one entered through a square
opening about 4 ft. from the floor covered with a
large stone moving on a pivot. (fn. 32)
The chapel is 34 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 9 in., and has
a turret containing a bell on the south side. The
sanctuary is at the west end, and there is an eastern
gallery approached both by stairs from below and
from the first floor of the house. On the north side,
at the level of the first floor and approached from it,
is a recessed pew containing a fireplace. The chapel,
like the rest of the building, is now in a state of
dilapidation. A carved chest formerly kept in the
chapel is now at the priest's house at Thurnham. (fn. 33)
Inserted within one of the built-up windows at
the north end of the house, near the front, is the
stone inscribed 'Catholicae virgines,' &c., brought
here from Aldcliffe Hall.
The family portraits are now at Bygods Hall,
Essex. (fn. 34)
The Historical Manuscripts Commission has reported on the deeds at Thurnham Hall. (fn. 35)
Robert Middleton of Thurnham, who had lands
in Lancaster (the Friars) and Warton, suffered
sequestration in 1643 for his recusancy. He died
in 1652, having bequeathed all his estate to William
Cobb, who then petitioned for the removal of the
sequestration. (fn. 36) Several 'Papists' registered estates
in 1717. (fn. 37)
The canons of Leicester allowed Michael de
Furness to build a chapel in Thurnham, (fn. 38) but it is
not known that worship was maintained there. The
hall was probably a refuge for the missionary priests
in the times of the penal laws against the Roman
Catholic religion, (fn. 39) and in the Tyldesley Diary there
are notices of 'prayers'—i.e. mass—being said there
in 1712. (fn. 40) The churchwardens of Cockerham in
1738 reported to the Bishop of Chester that there was
'a place where it is supposed Papists resort to hear
mass at Thurnham Hall.' (fn. 41) The continuous history
of the existing mission begins in 1785, and the old
chapel was built in 1810. The present church of
SS. Thomas the Apostle and Elizabeth of Hungary
was built in 1847–8. (fn. 42)
At Glasson Dock, in the
parish of Lancaster, Christ
Church was built in 1840 for
the Church of England. The
perpetual curates are appointed
by a body of five trustees.