WALKS AROUND MAWDESLEY

with acknowledgements to Alan J. Cocker 

1. MAWDESLEY

Mawdesley Hall stands in a commanding position on a sandstone outcrop. The black and white timber framed building dates back to the early 17th century when William Mawdesley lived there. The central hall is Tudor and some of the inner walls are made from wattle and daub. The south wing is of local red sandstone whilst the north wing is built of hand made bricks made at the old Bluestone Lane brickworks. The stone stairway leading up from the road was built about 1613.
Close by the Hall is City Farm and City Cottage, parts of the red sandstone farmhouse are believed to have been built in 1591; certainly there is a stone bearing this date on the wall. The low roofed black and white cottage was built in 1623; it is timber framed with wattle and daub walls. The Black Bull Inn was built in the 1580's, the windows to the left of the entrance have been blocked off and 'windows' painted on, this was probably a consequence of the window tax which was levied between the late 17th and the mid l9th centuries. Manor courts were held here at the end of the 17th century.
Wrest House is the oldest surviving house on New Street; the whole of the terrace used to be a single property. Built in 1631, it used to house a joiner and wheelwright, the family living at one end and the workshops being at the other.
The Lane End's House was built at the end of the 16th century. It is the home of Finch family who suffered heavy fines for recusancy during the reigns of Charles I & II. One member of the family John Finch, was imprisoned and then hanged in 1584 for the offence. There is a Chapel hidden away in the attics where Catholics could practice their faith safely in secret during the troubled years of the Reformation, it continued to be used regularly long after the need for secrecy ended, indeed until St. Peter and St. Paul's Church was built in 1831. It was restored in the 1960's. Lane End's House is known locally as the "House of the Skull', referring to the bones that are kept there, thought to be those of a monk, Brother William Haydock, who died for his faith in 1537.
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is the oldest of the three churches in the village and serves the Roman Catholics of Mawdesley and Croston. The religious persecutions of the reformation made it very difficult for Catholics to practice their religion and led to hidden chapels, such as the one that was in Croston Hall and the one in Lane End's House, being constructed inside 'safe' houses. By the late 18th century conditions were better and a Chapel was built onto Croston Hall to replace the one hidden inside. This served the Croston Catholics until the Mawdesley Church was opened in 1831. The Chapel of the Holy Cross was built close by Croston Hall in 1858 but was only used for some 26 years before it fell into disuse, it was reopened in 1964.
The township of Mawdesley used to be part of the parish of Croston and it was not until 1840 that St. Peter's Church was completed. The altar is made of oak from the Douglas Chapel in Parbold, removed when the chapel was
A Methodist Society existed in the village in 1811 but it was not until 1844 that a purpose built Chapel was constucted. The original Methodist Church still stands; Chapel House, now an attractive stone dwelling, stands end on to the road next door to the newsagents. The building, which had its own schoolroom attached, soon proved to be too small and in 1905 the present Church, situated at Four Lane Ends, was consecrated.

2. HESKIN

The name Hesidn is thought to come from the old welsh heskenn, which means the area where the rushes grow, ie. a marsh. Curiously Heskin New Hall is older than Heskin Old Hall. The New Hall is generally ascribed to the 16th century, Thurston Mawdesley, a local landowner acquired it during the reign of Charles I. The attractive weathered brick building was until recently owned by Lancashire County Council, it is now being converted into flats. The Old Hall stands on the site of a much older manor house which was demolished early in the l9th century. Blackburn House is probably of a similar age to the original Heskin Hall and contains some wattle and daub inner walls. It confronted Heskin Old Hall across the parish boundary and presumably acted as a warning to intruders. Sir James Pemberton, a Heskin born man who became Lord Mayor of London, endowed a free Grammar School in 1507. The original building still stands although the school is nowhoused nearby.

 

3. RUFFORD

The name Rufford is believed to come from "the rough ford", perhaps referring to the point at which the Mawdesley road crossed the River Douglas. The Church of St. Mary was built in Gothic style in 1869, replacing an earlier building. It contains many monuments to the Hesketh family including one dating from about 1458 showing 11 children.
Rufford Old Hall is a medieval timber framed manor house which is owned by the National Trust. The Great Hall was built about 1480 by Thomas Hesketh and contains a magnificent ornate hammerbeam roof and a carved oak movable screen. The west wing, which contained accommodation for the lord and his family has disappeared, but the east wing, which included the kitchen, was rebuilt in 1662; it is a good example of Jacobean brick architecture. The family left the Old Hall in the 1 760's to live at Rufford New Hall. The Heskeths however returned to live at the Old Hall in the 1820's and the first Lord Hesketh presented it to the National Trust in 1936.
The River Douglas was an important means of communication in the 18th century and by 1740 a series of 8 locks had opened the up river to shipping as far as Wigan, t was however tidal. As time went on artificial cuts or canals were made to bypass difficult sections of the river creating the Douglas Navigation Canal; none of these original river locks remain today. The Wigan-Burscough section of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and the Rufford Branch, as they are now called, are man made as far as Sollom, just north of Rufford.

 

4. CROSTON

Town Bridge, the old packhorse bridge that you cross as you enter the village is a flne example of its kind; it was built in 1672. The name Croston derives from the village cross, literally "town with a cross". It was one of the earliest religious centres in the area and was already a valuable possession at the time of the Norman Conquest when, in 1094, Count Roger de Poitou granted it to the Abbey of St. Martin of Sees. The Parish used to be much larger and included the townships of Mawdesley, Bispham, Bretherton, Ulnes Walton, Tarleton, Hesketh Bank, Rufford, Chorley and Much Hoole. The present Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels was largely built in the 16th century but contains a double piscina believed to date from the 13th- 14th century.
Croston Park stands to the south of the village. Several Halls have existed; the most recent, designed by Pugin, was built in the l9th century and demolished about 30 years ago. The Chapel of the Holy Cross stands in what were the grounds of Croston Hall. The Chapel was, also designed Pugin,was started in 1854 and replaces one which was attached to the Hall; it was extensively restored in 1965. The present village cross was erected in 1953 but it stands on a much older base, the old cross was probably removed during the Cornmonwealth. The school in the churchyard was founded in 1662 by James Hyett, a puritan priest, as a grammar school although another priest, John Bradley, , had obtained permission to open one as early as 1372. There are several interesting almshouses in the village including some erected in 1692 by Henry and Isobel Croston.
In the 18th century flax growing and weaving played an important part in the local economy; a number of three storey weavers' cottages can still be seen along Drinkhouse Lane and near Town Bridge.

 

5. ECCLESTON

The first mention of a parish church in 'Aycleton' was in 1094, although little of the Norman Church remains, just a rounded Norman pillar at the foot of the altar tomb. The name of the village suggests an early strong connection with the church and it has been suggested that a stone resting on the altar tomb is Saxon and is possibly part of a cross. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin dates back to the 14th century, it was restored in the 18th. and l9th centuries. There are some interesting medieval items including the windows of the south west side and the font which has panels carved with signs of the Passion including nails, a spear, hammer, whip etc., it also has, somewhat incongruously, the Stanley arms and the three legs of Man. A 15th. century table tomb has a brass depicting a priest. The old rectory was sold in 1956 and is now called Eccleston Hall.
The Methodist Church fronting the main road was built in 1900. The original chapel, built in 1863, stands behind the present church and is now used as a church hall.
The moated Bradley Hall was the manor house of the Molyneux family of Sephton, it is now a farmhouse.
Brick House, a misnomer today since it has been rendered, is situated near to the Church. It was built in the 17th century and was the home of the Dicconson family.
Red House gives its name to Redhouse lane although it is now covered in rough cast. The red sandstone building dates from 1673.
 

6. PARBOLD

There is mention of Parbold as being held by Robert Fitz Henry, Lord of Lathom, in 1189. It became part of the barony of Manchester after the Norman conquest. Robert Fitz Henry was also said to have founded Burscough Priory. The manor was acquired by a John Crisp in 1680 whose son Thomas reconstructed the earlier Parbold Hall in the Palladian style that we see today. There was a Chapel of Ease at Parbold, Douglas Chapel, sited close to Bridge 39 on the canal, all that remains now at the site is a modern cross carved from the old threshold stone. The Chapel was built in 1526 and the ruins demolished in 1875. The table, font and pulpit are now in Parbold Parish Church and the altar of Mawdesley Parish Church is made out of oak from the Chapel.
Parbold was little more than a farming community until the coming of the railway in the l9th century. About this time several collieries were opened in the area, stone quarrying was also an important industry, and the area around Wood Lane was where some of the wealthy Manchester cotton merchants had their summer retreats.
The Churches in the village both date from the same period; Christ Church, part way up the hill, was built in 1875, and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and All Saints was built in 1884.
Parbold Bottle, a stone monument sited at the top of Parbold Hill, was built to celebrate the passing of the Reform Act in 1832. It was rebuilt in 1958.

 

7. DALTON

Dominating Dalton is Ashurst's Hill which is crowned by the Beacon. As the name implies it was part of a chain intended to serve as a signal of national emergency. It was erected by Lord Skelmersdale in 1798 when a French invasion seemed imminent. A plaque on the monument records that it was donated to Wigan Corporation by Thomas Meadows, a journalist.
Ashhurst's Hill is riddled with underground quarries and workings, the result of flagstone mining, once a major industry in the area. There is little surface evidence to be seen of this today.
The remains of the 17th century Ashurst's Hall, a gatehouse and dovecote are to be found close to the church; the gatehouse has a stone plaque with the arms of the Ashurst family, their motto and the date 1649.
Prior's Wood Hall, to be found on the north side of the hill is of similar age although not much of the original building remains. It may be the house mentioned in the Charter of Burscough Priory.

 

8. LEEDS - LIVERPOOL CANAL

The scheme for the canal was drawn up by John Longbotham in 1768 and the Liverpool-Parbold section was opened in 1774. However the company ran into financial problems and the work stopped. The route should have turned north at Parbold to go to Barrowford by way of Mawdesley, Eccleston, Leyland and the Ribble Valley, but as a temporary measure the company built a link with the Douglas Navigation Canal to get to Gathurst and thus with the River Douglas giving access to the Wigan coalfields. After several years wrangling a new line was authorised to get from Barrowford to the north of Chorley, by way of Burnley and Blackburn, enabling them to link with the southern part of the Lancaster Canal to reach Wigan and the Douglas Navigation Canal and thus connect Leeds with Liverpool. This was completed in 1816. The only remaining evidence to be seen of the intended northern route is a short stub about 200yds east of the Mill Lane Bridge in Parbold