WARTON
Warton With Lindeth; Carnforth; Borwick; Yealand Conyers; Yealand Redmayne; Silverdale; Priest Hutton
This parish, situated on the north-east shore of
Morecambe Bay, with Warton Crag as its dominating
feature, has an area of 11,100 acres, and its population in 1901 numbered 5,918.
Before the Conquest the various manors within the
parish limits were in three different lordships; afterwards they were given to the Lancaster family, lords
of Kendal, and to this grant the formation of Warton
as a parish may be due. Its history has been that of
a retired country district, broken unpleasantly by
devastating raids such as that of the Scots in 1322.
The Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 probably affected
the people from their vicinity to Kendal, but there
does not seem any evidence of the king's anger being
visited on Warton. The forces of Charles II in
August 1651 encamped at Carnforth and Borwick,
on the way to Worcester. The Jacobite invasion of
1745 made its advance and retreat through the
parish.
Within it some exciting events accompanied the
disputes concerning the advowson of the church.
In 1473 John Harrington of Lancaster and others set
fire to the rectory-house, Thomas Bolron, John
Lawrence and others being within it, and being
assaulted so that their lives were in danger. (fn. 1) Early
in the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII John
Lawrence sent about eighty men, armed, to the
rectory, and they seized the corn and grain in the
barns and took the revenues of all kinds; further,
they used the church tower as a fortress, roasting their
meat in the church itself, and would scarcely allow
the curate to enter the building. (fn. 2) In 1530 a tumult
arose from another cause. The inhabitants of Bolton
had, or claimed, an ancient right to drive their beasts
over Lindeth Marsh to Yealand Conyers Moss, but in
the year named Robert and John Kitson with others
of Warton, to the number of a thousand, resisted the
passage with arms in their hands. (fn. 3)
Leland, the antiquary, about 1536 visited the place,
and writes: 'I rode over Lune toward Warton, a
vi. miles off, where Mr. Kitson was born. A ii. mile
from Lancaster the country began to be stony and a
little to wax mountainous. Half a mile from Warton
I passed over Keer river, coming out of hills not far
off, and there ebbing and flowing, and about Lune
sands going into the salt water. Warton is a pretty
street for a village. The ground beyond Warton and
about is very hilly and marvellous rocky unto Beetham,
a v. miles off. In the rocks I saw herds of goats.' (fn. 4)
WARTON. DALTON.
The earliest of the recorded race meetings in
Lancashire was held on the sands in the first part of
the 17th century. About 1630 a number of gentlemen subscribed about £10 each to buy a piece
of plate, which was to be run for every year 'on
a horse course called Warton Sands,' and the race
was run accordingly, one being on Easter Tuesday,
1641. (fn. 5)
Mining has been carried on in the parish, (fn. 6) and at
one time there was some shipbuilding; thus in
1698 William Stout of Lancaster 'was persuaded by
some neighbours to stand a sixth part share in
a new ship of about 80 tons (then) building near
Warton.' (fn. 7) Weaving formerly employed many of
the people.
The agricultural land in the parish is now occupied
thus (fn. 7a) :—
|
| Arable land ac. | Permanent grass ac. | Woods and plantations ac. |
| Warton with Lindeth | 363 | 1,171 | 148½ |
| Carnforth | 255 | 1,009 | 2 |
| Silverdale | 153 | 516 | 155 |
| Yealand Conyers | 326 | 637½ | 230 |
| Yealand Redmayne | 532 | 734½ | 205 |
| Priest Hutton | 152 | 792 | 18½ |
| Borwick. | 100½ | 825 | 15½ |
| 1,881½ | 5,685 | 774½ |
An elaborate description of the parish was compiled
between 1710 and 1743 by John Lucas, a native of
Carnforth and a pupil of Warton School, who became
schoolmaster at Leeds, where he died in 1750. He
states that the dedication feast
had been transferred from 5
August to the Sunday nearest
to I August, in order to check
the dancing and drinking that
had been customary, and the
rush-bearing took place on the
Monday. He thus describes
it:—
The people cut hard rushes from
the marsh, which they make up into
long bundles and then dress them in
fine linen, ribbons, silk, flowers, &c.;
afterwards the young women take the
burdens upon their heads and begin
the procession (precedence being
always given to the churchwarden's
bundle), which is attended with a
great multitude of people with music,
drums, ringing the bells and all other
demonstrations of joy they are able to
express. When they arrive at the
church they go in at the west end
(the only public use that ever I saw
that door put to), and setting down
their bundles in the church they strip
them of their ornaments, leaving
crowns or garlands placed over the
cancelli. Then they return to the
town and cheerfully partake of a
plentiful collation provided for that
purpose, and spend the rest of the day and evening in dancing
about a maypole adorned with greens, flowers, &c, or else in
some other convenient place. (fn. 8)
The principal river is the Keer, which divides
Warton proper from Carnforth. Lucas notes that
the eager sometimes appeared in the river; he had
seen it, when a good way inland and almost spent,
'run turbulently up the river with a head or breast of
water about a yard high.'
Carnforth was added to this parish about 1208, the
change being due probably to the influence of the
lords of the manor. (fn. 9) The parish was anciently divided
into three parts: (1) Warton with Lindeth, (2) Camforth with Borwick, (3) Yealand Conyers, Yealand
Redmayne and Silverdale and Priest Hutton. (fn. 10) For
the county lay of 1624, based on the old fifteenth,
Warton with Dalton contributed £7 2s. 3¼d. when
the hundred had to raise £100; the separate portions
were thus assessed: Warton, £1 16s. 8d.; Yealand
and Silverdale, £1 7s. 1½d.; Carnforth and Borwick,
£2 5s. 5¾d.; Dalton with Hutton, £1 13s. (fn. 11)
Church
The church of ST. OSWALD or
the HOLY TRINITY (fn. 12) stands at the
south end of the village on rising ground
at the foot of Warton Crag, and consists of a chancel
with south chapel, clearstoried nave with north and
south aisles, south porch and west tower. The site
falls considerably from north to south, the north door
being 2 ft. 2 in. above the floor of the nave and the
south door 14 in. below it, with a descent and ascent
of steps inside the building. The oldest part of the
structure is the south aisle wall, which is of 14thcentury date, probably marking the extent of the nave
of the mediaeval church, 56 ft. in length. No other
part of the building being of this period, it is impossible to say whether this represents the south wall of
an aisleless church or whether it was originally as now,
the outer wall of an aisle. The church seems to have
been almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th century, when
it assumed more or less its present shape, though it is
not certain whether there was a north aisle. The
chancel, south chapel or chantry of St. Mary and
west tower are of this period, as was also the south
arcade until the year 1848, when it was rebuilt on
its old lines. The date of the 15th-century rebuilding
may have been c. 1480; the tower was apparently
built by the Washington family, whose arms it bears.
The north aisle and north arcade are of 16th-century
date, and may replace a former aisle, but the evidence
of the walling at the east end would suggest that the
aisle was an addition at that time, or, if a rebuilding,
that the former aisle did not extend so far eastward.
The south window of the chancel and the west end
of the south aisle are also of 16th-century date, though
the window of the aisle has lately been replaced. The
porch is modern.
Externally the walls are covered with rough-cast,
the buttresses, parapets and dressings to doorways
and windows alone being of ashlar, and with the
exception of the two 14th-century windows on the
south side the building has externally little architectural detail of any interest. The chancel and
nave are under one continuous slated roof with embattled parapet—a modern restoration—and the aisles,
which stop some 16 ft. short of the east wall of the
chancel, have lean-to slated roofs with modern gutters
and a stone cornice. The dressed stonework, both
inside and out, is said to have come from a quarry
near Cote Stones, re-discovered at the beginning of
the 18th century, when the course of the River Kent
was diverted southward. (fn. 13) The church was restored
in 1892, when many of the windows, including those
of the clearstory and north aisle, were renewed, the
roof reconstructed, (fn. 14) and the old pews which formerly
filled the nave removed, their place being taken by
modern seating. (fn. 15)
The chancel, which is 33 ft. 6 in. by 21 ft. 9 in.,
has a modern five-light east window with segmental
head and perpendicular tracery, and a modern twolight window with transom and perpendicular tracery
on the north side. On the south it is lit by an
old square-headed window of three round-headed
lights, without external hood mould, similar in detail
to those in the north aisle, and westward of the
sanctuary, which is 15 ft. 4 in. in depth, it is open
to the aisle and south chapel. There is no chancel
arch or any structural distinction between the chancel
and nave, whose combined length is 105 ft., the
nave measuring 22 ft. 9 in. in width at its west end
and being 71 ft. 6 in. in length. The north aisle,
which is 15 ft. 6 in. wide and 84 ft. 4 in. long, is
separated from the nave and chancel by an arcade of
six pointed arches of two chamfered orders springing
from octagonal piers 9 ft. 9 in. high with moulded
capitals and chamfered bases. The easternmost opening seems to have been cut through the thickness of the
15th-century wall, the first pier being a rectangular
piece of masonry 3 ft. by 2 ft. 5 in. chamfered at the
angles, with a chamfered capital on which the later
arch sits. Lucas (fn. 16) says that the approach to the
rood loft was on the north side of the chancel by an
ascent of stone steps, but no traces of these remain.
The chancel arrangement is continued 4 ft. to the
west of the first pier on the north side, the eastern
arch of the north arcade being that much less in
width than the corresponding arch of the south arcade,
which limits the extent of the modern chancel. The
new south arcade consists of six pointed arches of two
chamfered orders springing from octagonal piers with
moulded capitals, but is much less in height, the piers
being only 6 ft. 10 in. to the tops of the capitals.
There are five clearstory windows on each side to
the nave and chancel, of three cinquefoiled lights
under a segmental head with external hood mould, and
in the interior all the walls are plastered. The north
aisle, the east end of which is inclosed by a modern
wood screen forming an organ chamber, is lit by four
square-headed three-light windows and a similar one
at each end. The north doorway is opposite the
first bay from the west, and has a semicircular head
with continuous double hollow-chamfered jambs and
head and hood mould, and above it is a small ogeeheaded niche now empty. The roof of the nave
and chancel is modern, with king-post principals
carried down the wall by struts on to stone brackets,
and plastered between the spars.
The south chapel is open to the church, and is
34 ft. 4 in. in length by 11 ft. 6 in. in width, the
north side being bounded by the two easternmost
arches of the arcade. In the south wall, between two
square-headed two-light windows with cinquefoilheaded lights and perpendicular tracery, are triple
sedilia with trefoil arches and moulded jambs. The
intermediate shafts are moulded and stand clear of
the wall, and the seats are on one level. To the
west of the second window is a priest's door with
hollow-chamfered jambs and head, external hood
mould and internal segmental arch. The south wall
of the chapel sets back 4. ft. from that of the older
south aisle, and the chapel narrows in width towards
the east end. The south aisle of the nave, which
is 56 ft. in length westward of the chantry and
15 ft. 6 in. in width, is lit by two original pointed
windows, each of two cinquefoiled lights with quatrefoil in the head and external hood mould, and by a
late square-headed window of two cinquefoiled lights
without hood mould, inserted in the wall in close
proximity. The south doorway is pointed, with
double hollow-chamfered jambs and head and external
hood mould, and is about 20 ft. from the west wall,
opposite the second bay. The porch is open, with a
four-centred arch and stone seat on each side.
The tower measures 13 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 3 in.
internally, the longer dimension being from west to
east, and is 62 ft. in height to the top of the embattled parapet. It has diagonal buttresses of three
stages on the west side and at the north-east corner
and a vice in the south-west angle. At the time of
the restoration the angle pinnacles and the belfry
windows, which are of three cinquefoiled lights under
a segmental head and hood mould, were renewed.
The lower portion of the original west door, which
is of two hollow-chamfered orders, is now built up,
and the upper half, which has a four-centred head
and hood mould, is converted into a three-light
window. The west window is square-headed, of
two cinquefoiled lights with external hood mould,
and above it is a modern two-light segmental-headed
opening. The north and south sides are quite plain
between the moulded plinth and the belfry windows,
but there is a clock dial on the north and east sides
facing the village. The tower arch is of two chamfered orders dying into the wall at the springing, and
is open to the nave, above which the floor of the
tower is raised 2 ft. 2 in. On each of the two west
buttresses is an incised blank shield, and on the north
side of the west window a shield with the arms of
the Washington family, now covered over with glass
to protect it from the over-zealous attention of
American visitors. (fn. 17)
Plan of Warton Church
The font is a plain stone cylinder 2 ft. high and
2 ft. 3 in. in diameter, and may be of Norman date.
It stands on a modern moulded base, and is lined
with elaborately wrought lead work bearing the date
1661 and the initials R. B. G. M. (fn. 18)
The other fittings, including the pulpit, are all
modern, but in the vestry are an old 17th-century oak
communion table and four oak panels belonging to the
old seats, one dated 1571 with the initials I. B., two
with the initials of Sir Robert Bindloss of Borwick
and his wife, with the date 1612, (fn. 19) and the other
dated 1712. The Middleton (fn. 19a) or Leighton pew
was the subject of a successful claim at the last
restoration of the church.
There was formerly in the floor of the nave a
tombstone bearing the name and arms of Nathaniel
West, who died in 1670, with a Latin inscription, (fn. 20)
but it was removed in the restoration of 1892 and
sold to be used as flagging for footpaths in the
village.
The churchyard is planted with yew trees on the
east and south sides, and is well raised above the road
which bounds it on the east side. The entrance
from the village is on the north-east, and on the
south is a pedestal sundial, the plate of which bears
the name of Thomas Dean, vicar.
There is a ring of three bells, (fn. 21) the oldest of which
is inscribed 'R. B. anno dom. 1578'; another is by
Dalton of York, 1782; and the third is inscribed
'Memento Mori,' and bears the names of W. Aylmer,
vicar, and four churchwardens.
The silver plate consists of a chalice without
marks; a paten of 1716 inscribed 'Warton in Com.
Lanc, obpoen. Mulct. Dedicat. huic ecclesiae 1716,'
with the maker's mark S. L.; and a flagon of 1802
inscribed 'Dedicated to God and the Parish of
Warton. John Peel 1802.' There are also a plated
chalice and flagon.
The registers begin in 1568, but there are gaps
in the baptisms between 1589 and 1591 and between
1605 and 1612, in the marriages between 1606 and
1612 and in 1617, and in the burials between 1594
and 1612.
The churchwardens' accounts are extant from 1739.
The earliest volume contains a description of the
manner of taking the tithes of wool and lambs about
1778. The payer laid up his fleeces in tens, and
then took one fleece in each pile, after which the
tithe-gatherer chose his fleece; there was a composition for the last pile if it had less than ten. So
with the lambs; the tithe-gatherer had the second
choice. The tithe maps are kept at the vicarage,
as also are some inclosure awards.
There was formerly an endowment of 5s. a year
for a lamp in the church. (fn. 22)
Advowson
The advowson, held with the
manor by the Lancasters, (fn. 23) appears on
division about 1250 to have been
assigned to the Brus family, and on the later division
to the Thwengs (fn. 24) ; thus it descended to Lumley and
others, (fn. 25) one portion being acquired by the Lawrences
of Ashton, (fn. 26) who presented several times. There
were, however, many disputes, (fn. 27) and the king presented on several occasions on account of the wardship
of the heirs. The various disputants perhaps grew
weary of asserting their claims, and there seems to
have been no demur when the Crown in 1547
assumed the whole right and gave the rectory to the
Dean and chapter of Worcester, (fn. 28) then recently
founded, by way of exchange.
At the death of William de Lancaster in 1246 the
value of the advowson was declared to be 80 marks, (fn. 29)
and in 1291 it was taxed at 100 marks or £66 13s. 4d.
This was reduced to £26 13s. 4d. after the Scottish
raid of 1322. (fn. 30) The abbot of St. Mary's at York
had a pension of 10s. a year from the church, but
this does not appear in later records. The value of
the ninth of sheaves, &c., in 1341 was returned as
40 marks. (fn. 31) In 1527 the value was again estimated
at 100 marks, (fn. 32) and in 1535 at £74 10s. 1d. clear,
the rectory-house and glebe accounting for £8 5s. 2d.
of this sum. (fn. 33)
To the east of the church on the opposite side of the
road is the vicarage, a modern house erected in 1825,
to the north-east of which and partly incorporated
in it are the ruins of the old rectory-house consisting chiefly of the outer walls of the great hall
and its adjoining offices. The work is of 14thcentury date, the walling being of limestone rubble
with quoins at the angles, and yet retains some of its
architectural features. The great hall is 42 ft. 10 in.
long from north to south, including the screens and
26ft in width, and formerly had an open timbered
roof. The dais was at the south end with a door to
the west, and the screens at the north end with the
usual through passage arrangement, and three doors
in the end wall opening to the buttery and pantry,
and the middle one to a through passage leading to a
back court which contained a well. (fn. 34) The gabled
south wall yet stands its full height, and is supported
in the middle by a single buttress, above which is a
vesica-shaped quatrefoil opening, but the side walls
are broken away along the top and are partly covered
with ivy. The hall was lighted by two windows on
the east side and one on the west high up in the
walls, but all traces of them except for some of the
quoins have disappeared. There are no remains of a
fireplace, the hall having apparently been warmed
from a central hearth. The south-west doorway at
the end of the dais is a small plain square-headed
opening, but the doorways at each end of the screens
are pointed and the jambs and heads have a broad
wave moulding. The holes for the screen remain in
the walls, but there are no other traces of either
screen or gallery. The original walls separating the
passage from the buttery and pantry have disappeared,
and the space occupied by these places is now divided
up by modern walls in a different fashion the western
part of it (formerly occupied by the buttery and
passage) being now roofed in. The total length of
the existing 14th-century building externally is 75 ft.,
beyond which to the north modern buildings have been
erected. Over the buttery and pantry, to the north
of the hall, was an upper room, 26 ft. by 21 ft., the
stone fireplace of which remains in the north wall.
Plan of Old Rectory, Warton
To the south-west of the hall at a distance of
about 6 ft., and standing, correctly orientated, at a
slightly different angle, is another building of the
same date of two stories, now forming part of the
vicarage-house. It measures internally 22 ft. by 12 ft.,
the greater length being from west to east, and has a
large projecting chimney on its south side, 7 ft. 6 in.
by 5 ft. 4 in. at the base externally. The lower room
was entered by a door, now blocked up, at the west
end of the north side, approached by two or three
steps which were continued as an external staircase to
the room above. The lower room is referred to in a
lease of 1678 as the 'old kitchen,' and may very
well have been the original kitchen of the house. It
had two small slit windows on the south side and a
single two-light window to the west. The west wall,
against which the modern vicarage was built, was,
however, pulled down in 1905. The upper room
has a pointed window of two trefoiled lights at its
east end high up in the wall with a small squareheaded slit window at a lower level at each side.
There were also two small trefoil-headed windows on
the north, one of which remains. On the south side
are a single window of two lights and the remains of
another, now cut away. This upper room is said to
have been used as a chapel or oratory, and its strict
orientation seems to point to such a use. The room
has, however, a large fireplace on the south side, though
this may be, along with the adjoining windows, an
insertion of post-Reformation date, when the room
may have been put to other uses. A small plain doorway led from its west side into some building long
since destroyed on the site of the present vicarage. (fn. 35)
When the rectory was granted to Worcester a vicar
was appointed to minister at Warton. A house with
half an acre of glebe was allowed and about £18 a
year out of the rectory. A stipend of £20 was in
1650 paid by the lessees of the dean and chapter, (fn. 36)
the value of the tithes being then £277 a year. The
Commonwealth authorities procured an augmentation
of £50 a year out of the sequestrated Royalist estates, (fn. 37)
and when this ceased at the Restoration the dean and
chapter on renewing the lease required £80 a year to
be given to the vicar, who allowed £5 a year to the
curate of Silverdale. (fn. 38) Various augmentations have
been procured, and the net value is now given as
£309. (fn. 39) The Dean and chapter of Worcester retain
the patronage.
Warton Old Rectory
The following is a list of the rectors and vicars:—
|
| Instituted | Name | Patron | Cause of Vacancy |
|---|
| Rectors |
|---|
| before 1199 | William (fn. 40) | — | — |
| oc. 1265 | William de Suwell (fn. 40a) | — | — |
| c. 1267–81 | Thomas de Grimston (fn. 41) | — | — |
| oc. 1304–16 | Galvan de Thweng (fn. 42) | — | — |
| oc. 1327 | Mr. Robert de Thweng (fn. 43) | William de Thweng | — |
| 4 May 1344 | William de Hugate (fn. 44) | The King | — |
| 8 Dec. 1344 | William de Gaghenstede (fn. 45) | " | — |
| — | John de Kirkby (fn. 46) | — | — |
| 27 Sept. 1367 | Walter Power (fn. 47) | — | res. J. de Kirkby |
| oc. 1377 | John Cauchon (fn. 48) | — | — |
| 4 Aug. 1383 | Hugh Sebot (fn. 49) | The King | — |
| 17 July 1389 | Richard de Clifford (fn. 50) | " | — |
| 31 July 1389 | Richard de Clifford the younger (fn. 51) | " | — |
| — 1389 | John de Bilton (fn. 52) | — | — |
| 21 Aug. 1389 | William de Cawood (fn. 53) | — | exch. J. de Bilton |
| 21 May 1420 | Marmaduke Lumley, LL.B. (fn. 54) | Bishop of Durham and James Strangeways | d. W. de Cawood |
| 30 July 1421 | Robert Rolleston (fn. 55) | The King | res. M. Lumley |
| Jan. 1450–1 | George Nevill, M.A. (fn. 56) | Sir Thomas Lumley | d. R. Rolleston |
| Oct. 1458 | Robert Fleming (fn. 57) | James Lawrence | res. G. Nevill |
| ? 1483 | Roger Middleton (fn. 58) | — | — |
| 6 Mar. 1489–90 | Robert Lawrence (fn. 59) | Sir James Lawrence | — |
| 1507–8 | Richard Dudley (fn. 60) | The King | — |
| cc. 1527 | Brian Higdon, D.C.L. (fn. 61) | — | — |
| c. 1540 | John Stringer (fn. 62) | — | — |
| Vicars |
|---|
| 10 Apr. 1553 | Thomas Lynsey (fn. 63) | Dean and Ch. of Worcester | d. J. Stringer |
| oc. 1562 | Reginald Wadson (fn. 64) | — | — |
| 28 Sept. 1583 | Henry Livesey (fn. 65) | Dean and Ch. of Worcester | d. R. Wadson |
| 25 Feb. 1588–9 | William Owborne, M.A. (fn. 66) | " | " |
| 26 Apr. 1613 | Anthony Buggs (fn. 67) | — | [d. W. Owborne] |
| 25 June 1632 | James Smorthwaite, B.A. (fn. 68) | Dean and Ch. of Worcester | d. A. Buggs |
| — ? 1646 | Richard Walker, M.A. (fn. 69) | — | — |
| Nov. 1655 | Francis Jackson, M.A. (fn. 70) | Oliver Lord Protector | d. J. Smorthwaite |
| 29 Mar 1661 | Dean and Ch. of Worcester |
| 8 July 1670 | Thomas Atkinson | Dean, &c., of Worcester | d. F. Jackson |
| 25 Nov. 1681 | Thomas Lawson (fn. 71) | " | d. T. Atkinson |
| 11 Nov. 1710 | Josiah Sandby, M.A. (fn. 72) | " | d. — Lawson |
| 3 Sept. 1711 | John Davies, M.A | " | res. J. Sandby |
| 7 May 1714 | William Aylmer (fn. 73) | " | d. J. Davies |
| 20 June 1734 | Robert Oliver, M.A. (fn. 74) | " | d. W. Aylmer |
| 15 Dec. 1775 | Thomas Hest (fn. 75) | " | res. R. Oliver |
| 27 Feb. 1789 | Joseph Nicholson (fn. 76) | " | d. T. Hest |
| 25 Sept. 1799 | Thomas Washington | " | d. J. Nicholson |
| 30 July 1823 | James Barns | " | d. T. Washington |
| Apr. 1838 | William Hutton, M.A. (fn. 77) | " | d. J. Barns |
| — 1844 | Thomas Dean (fn. 78) | " | res. W. Hutton |
| 2 May 1871 | Thomas Holland Pain, M.A. (fn. 79) | " | d. T. Dean |
| 6 July 1903 | John Kestell Floyer, M.A. (fn. 80) | Dean, &c., of Worcester | d. T. H. Pain |
| 5 Jan. 1909 | Ernest William Arthur Ogilvy, B.A. (fn. 80a) | " | res. J. K. Floyer |
Several of the rectors were men of high distinction, but it is unlikely that they ever ministered in
this church. In the visitation list of 1548 four
names are entered, those of the rector, his curate,
the 'stipendiary,' and another. One of these probably served Silverdale. There were again four
names in 1554, but only one of the 1548 clergy
remained. In 1562 the vicar and another were recorded, (fn. 81) and it is probable that for some time
afterwards there was only one resident clergyman
in the parish, the chapel at Silverdale having no
maintenance. (fn. 82) A private chapel was instituted at
Borwick Hall, but was temporary. Those appearing
at the visitation in 1691 were the vicar, the schoolmaster and usher of Warton and the schoolmaster of
Silverdale; the schoolmasters were in orders, the
Warton one being curate of Over Kellet. (fn. 83)
The churchwardens' replies to the questions at the
visitations afford some light on the condition of the
church. In 1705 there were a decent font, a table
with carpet, linen, and flagons, chalice—all 'very
decent.' The vicar wore a surplice, observed holy
days and fasting days, instructed the youth in the
church and visited the sick. In 1717 the holy
sacrament was administered four times a year; in
1738 the Lord's Supper was six times a year. The
Rogationtide perambulations had been discontinued
by 1721.
The above-mentioned 'stipendiary' of 1548 was
probably the chantry priest of earlier records. In
1503 Henry Thornburgh was admitted to the altar
of B. Mary in Warton Church at the presentation of
Thomas Middleton of Leighton. (fn. 84) About 1520
Richard Hudson was appointed to the chantry
founded by the ancestors of John Whittington, (fn. 85) and
he was still there in 1535. (fn. 86) William Ireland, aged
thirty-five, was the 'stipendiary' at the altar of Our
Lady in 1548; the clear value was 47s. 6d. a year.
He had no other living. (fn. 87) The endowment was
confiscated with the chantries, (fn. 88) and sold by the
Crown in 1606 to William Blake and others. (fn. 89)
A grammar school was founded by Archbishop
Hutton in 1595. (fn. 90) The old building was sold in
1902 and converted into cottages. The inscribed
stone over the door has been placed in the newbuilding. Lucas describes the customs as they existed
about the beginning of the 18th century. The first
boy in the school used to give the master after Christmas a paper containing six or eight names, of whom
the master chose two to be captains of the school for
the year. The captains divided the boys by lot
and a great football match was played, parents and
neighbours attending. The boys gave the master their
cock-pennies on Shrove Tuesday, and he gave them
a cock to throw at. There were 'noted cockings'
at Warton that day; each of the school captains
provided a cock of the game, and the 'captains'
battle' was generally the first that was fought. At
a wedding the boys made fast the church doors,
and would not allow the parties to leave without a
gift from the bridegroom or a shoe from the
bride. 'Nicholas pennies' were given to the master
before the breaking-up at Christmas, usually about
St. Nicholas' Day.
Charities
Official reports were made concerning the parochial charities in
1826 and 1899; the following details are derived from them. Apart from endowments for religious and educational purposes, the
principal benefaction is one by Thomas Mansergh,
who in 1700 gave houses, lands, &c., in Burton,
Warton and Borwick to provide fees for the apprenticing of poor boys of the parish. The gross income
was in 1899 £179 17s., the working expenses
amounted to £60 or £70 a year, and the remainder
was applied in apprenticing six to eight boys yearly.
Since the report the administration has been amended,
so that the working expenses have been greatly reduced; the lands have been sold and the proceeds
invested in £5,278 consols. (fn. 91)
Archbishop Hutton, in conjunction with the school,
founded an almshouse also, to be called the Hospital
of Jesus, for six poor almsmen, each to have £3 6s. 8d.
a year. His building contained a room for a chapel,
in which prayers were to be read on Wednesdays
and Fridays, 40s. a year being paid to a reader. (fn. 92)
The present building is erected on the site of
the old one. There are now three almsmen, each
receiving £6 13s. 4d. a year, and £5 is used for
repairs. There is little competition for vacancies.
Also available for the whole parish are sums of
£3 12s. 4d. and £1 7s. 6d., provided respectively by
John Lawrence (1726) and others (fn. 93) and by Robert
Lucas (1754) and others, (fn. 94) but now administered as
one, several poor women having small annuities.
From the Lucas foundation 15s. 8d. a year is given
in money to a poor householder of Warton. A sum
of money was left by William Sleddall in 1801 to
provide Prayer books, &c., for various parishes in
which Warton shares; a distribution is made every
eight years or thereabouts.
Mrs. Mary Walling, widow of John Walling, M.D.,
in 1876 bequeathed as a memorial of her husband
£2,000 to the ecclesiastical districts of Warton and
Carnforth and £1,500 to Silverdale, one moiety of
the interest to be devoted to church purposes and the
other moiety to the poor. In Warton and Carnforth
the poor's share is given in money doles, in Silverdale
partly in money and partly in food or clothing. (fn. 95)
For the poor of Borwick Dr. Sherlock, once chaplain at the hall, gave £30, which was lost by the
failure of a borrower after 1826. Thomas Killner
left a rent-charge of 8s. 4d. on Chapel Field, and a
piece of land, called Ball Close, supposed to have
been taken from the common, yields £3 rent; these
sums are divided among five poor persons each year.
Dr. Sherlock also gave £9 for the poor of Priest
Hutton, but this was lost by the failure of Worswick's
Bank in 1822. A house with garden given by him to
the poor seems to have existed in 1826, but nothing
is known of it now.
Land called Hollowgate at Carnforth was given to
the poor of the township by some unknown benefactor, probably Henry Hadwin, in 1737. The land
was sold in 1868 for a sum yielding £4 18s. a year;
this is distributed at Christmas in money doles.
For Silverdale Joseph Burrow in 1728 left rentcharges of £2 and £1 on lands there, the former for
the 'reader' of the chapel and the latter for the
poor. Both charges are still in force. Dr. Sherlock
gave £25 and John Jackson £20 (augmented by £40
from the township), and two sets of cottages were
purchased, which were in 1826 granted to paupers
rent free or to others at charges producing 30s.
The Sherlock cottages were burnt and the site sold
for £40; this was lost, but restored by another
benefactor, Richard Walling; the others were exchanged for cottages at Burton Well, let for nearly
£6 a year. Richard Walling in 1869 bequeathed
a further sum in augmentation, and the total income
of the above charities is now £16 15s. 4d. a year;
it is distributed in money doles at Christmas. Henry
Boddington in 1884 bequeathed £100 for the
benefit of the poor, and the dividends, £2 13s. 4d.,
are given in doles of 7s. or 8s. at Christmas.
Dr. Sherlock also gave £25 each to Yealand
Conyers and Yealand Redmayne, and these sums
were laid out in lands (including Sinderbarrow
Meadow). A small part, sold in 1847 to the railway company, is represented by £234 consols. Rents
and interest amount to £23 11s. 2d., and this is
given at Christmas in doles and payments in the
nature of pensions to seven or eight of the aged poor
of the township. For Yealand Conyers alone Nathan
Hadwen in 1803 bequeathed £120 for the poor.
Mrs. Dorothy Scott in 1857 left £ 100 to augment
the charity, which has now a total income of £518s.
There are no poor in the township, and in many
years nothing is expended.