Contents of the fikst volume
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ground, of which a large portion must have been under tillage ?
of the Domesday Survey, as applied to this district, that, under Leyland, I shall only notice one or two peculiarities.
be inquired, where did this ecclesiastic officiate ? I have long been persuaded that there existed many unendowed chapels, 1 some of which afterwards became parish churches : Leyland may have been one of these. But the absence of a church, in this hundred alone, leads to a conclusion, which Mr. Whitaker had already adopted, that Leyland hundred had, at no long period before the Confessor's time, been separated from that of Blackburn. But a real difficulty remains. For whereas it is said, that in King Edward's time there were 12 carucates held by five men, for so many manors, it is next stated that these same 12 carucates consisted of six hides and eight carucates ; which, even supposing the identity of the hide and carucate here, produces the absurdity of saying that 12 are equal to 14. This, however, is easily removed, by supposing that the first 12 has been miswritten by the transcriber for 40 ; for, in the old numerals, the mistake would be very easy, as xn might catch an hasty eye, and be confounded by XL ; which will make the hide in this
where there are no churches. HISTORY OF WHALLEY. [BOOK I. CHAP. III. hundred consist of something between six hides, which it was in Derby hundred, and five as it was in Salford.
town, having 21 families ; and, as no slaves are mentioned, it had probably many more inhabitants in the whole.
The reduction in point of value in consequence of devastation which must have taken place since the Confessor's reign is striking. It then yielded ~LQl. 18s. 2d. ; in the latter end of the Conqueror's reign it was reduced to 51. 10*. It is thus that tyranny cuts the nerves of its own power.
65
BOOK II.
CHAPTER THE FIRST. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOEY. _|_ HE origin of parishes is justly accounted one of the opprobria of English topography. Too local and obscure to be recorded in the general histories of the times, and too ancient, for the most part, to be preserved in any episcopal registers now extant, these subdivisions of the ancient diocesan paroecMa; usually commenced at an uncertain as well as an early period. It is therefore a circumstance not the least interesting in this history, that it will afford materials for tracing, with considerable exactness, the origin of the church of Whalley nearly to the first preaching of Christianity in the North of England, and also for ascertaining that of its dependent churches and chapels, some of which claim an antiquity higher than the Norman Conquest.
more than 400 superficial miles, is a proof of its high antiquity. The beauty and fertility of Whalley itself would point it out as an object of prime occupancy in the first re-popula- tion of the country after its abandonment by the Romans ; and it is pleasing to contemplate the descendants of the first settlers gradually diverging from their first seat, as from a centre, pursuing the course of the valleys which unite near the place, and planting in succession the numerous villages whose names still indicate their Saxon origin. The present parish, from the summit of Little Bowland north to the extremity of Cliviger south, is 30 miles in length, and from the verge of the chapelry of Colne east to the Hyndeburn west, 15 miles. That portion of it which lies south of Ribble has been ascer- tained to consist of 161 square miles. Little Bowland may be estimated at 10 miles, and the scattered and insulated portions of it which lie intermixed with the parish of Slaidburn, in Yorkshire, at as much more. The county of Lancaster, south of Eibble, measures 1003 square miles ; that on the north 616 ; in all 1619 miles ; estimating, therefore, the present parish of Whalley at 180 miles, it is nearly equal to one ninth part of the county of Lan- caster, or to 115,200 acres. 1 Though a mere village, the parish which it denominates con- 1 [According to the Ordnance Survey the area of the present parish of Whalley, including the forests, is 116,909 acres and 38 perches, nearly 183 miles, of which 5,465 acres 1 rood and 6 perches are in Yorkshire. The area of Lancashire, including the foreshore, 119,665 acres, is 1,327,258 acres 3 roods and 2 perches, or nearly 2,043 square miles, not including the foreshore.] 66 HISTORY OF WHALLEY. [BOOK II. CHAP. I. tains within its limits four market-towns, of which one is a borough ; and the church has under it 16 existing chapels, besides several which are dilapidated. It is also the mother of seven parish churches, with their several dependent chapels.
preserved in that curious memoir the Status de Blackburnshlre ; * and afterwards endeavour to appreciate the value of that account, and to confirm its veracity by such external evidences as can be adduced in its support. The story is shortly this : That in the time of Ethelbert King of Kent, who began his reign A.D. 596, Augustine the monk was sent to preach the gospel in England by Gregory Bishop of Rome : that, in the course of his mission, he travelled into Northumbria, and preached at Whalley : in memory of which event certain crosses were erected, which, after more than seven cen- turies, continued to be called the crosses of Augustine. That, at the same time, a parish church was erected, dedicated to All Saints, 2 and denominated WHITE CHURCH UNDER THE LEIGH ; that the rectors of this church were also lords of the town, and married men, who held it not by presentation from any other patron, but as their own patrimonial estate, receiving 1 " institution, however, from the bishops of Lichfield as ordinaries of the place. That these incumbents wrote themselves and were usually styled not rectors but deans ; of which the reason is supposed to be, that, on account of the remote and almost
Dugdale, who printed it Ex authenticis nuper penes Radulfum Assheton Baronettum. DE STATU BLAGBOENESHIRE. Ecclesia) de Whalley a prima fundatio per Augustinum archiepiscopum Dorovernis, aliarumque ecclesiarum infra limites de Blagburneshire. Successio decanorum in eadern. Ejusdem appropriationem et concessio monachorum de Stanlawe per Johannem de Lascy comitcm Lincolnis cum multis nato dignissimis.
Augustinus Anglorum Apostolus missus per beatum Gregorium Papam, tertio papatus anno, ad instantiam et rogatum dicti Regis prsdicavit in Anglia, et fidtm docuit Christianam, fuit apud Whalley in Blagbornshire Ecclesia qusedain parochialis constructa in honore Omnium Sanctorum, in cujus quidem Ecclesis cimeterio erant cruces qusdam lapidete tune erects et vocals a populo Cmces beati Augustini, qua; sub eodem nomine usque hodie ibi durant, appellataque erat, tempore illo, ecclesia supradicta Alba Ecclesia subtus LegJi. Infra fines autem et limites parochise ejusdem Ecclesis continebantur tune temporis tota Blagburnshire et tota Boland, et sic annis plurimis perdurabant. Post hsc autem, crescente fidelium devotione, numeroque credentium augmentato in partibus illis, constructs fuerunt alia; tres ecclesia; infra Blagbornshire; videlicet Ecclesia de Blagborne, Ecclesia de Chepyn, et Ecclesia de Riblechester; parochi Ecclesiarum earundem ab invicem distincts, et certis undique limitibus designate:, prout in pnesens usque continue perseverant et apud omnes partibus illis innotescunt. His autem temporibus, dum diets Ecclesi* taliter fuerant ordinals, non erat in Blagbomshire, apud Clyderhowe, vel alibi, castrum sdificatum, neque capella quscunque prstre Ecclesias supradictas, nee dominus aliquis qui patrocinium dictarum Ecclesiarum vel alicujus earundem ullatenus vendicaret, sed rector quilibet terram et villam in qua Ecclesia sua fuerat situata, tanquam dotem Ecclesia) suse, tenuit etpossedit; ipsamque Ecclesiam suam sic dotatam tanquam patrimonium suum et hjereditatem propriam gubernavit; successoremque sibi de filiis vel amicis suis libere subrogavit, interveniente duntaxat acceptatione seu institutione ! There is reason to think this account strictly correct; for though it is called in Domesday Ecclesia tfcce Marice in Wallei, yet in a charter almost two centuries later (Townley MS.) it is styled Ecclesia Sancta Marice et Omnium Sanctorum,
BOOK II. CHAP. L] ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 67
inaccessible situation of the place, entangled with woods and over-run with wild beasts, the bishops of Lichfleld devolved upon them a large portion of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, reserving only to themselves the decision of certain difficult and important cases : that this constitution remained for 470 years before the Conquest ; after which period, when the lordslup of Blackburnshire fell into the hands of one grantee from the Crown, the absolute independence of this benefice was so far intrenched upon, that, though the order of hereditary succession was still preserved, upon every avoidance commendatory letters to the ordinary were granted by the lords, which they seemed to consider as partaking of the nature of a presentation, and the clerks affected to accept merely as a testimonial of their birth and family. Episcopi Lichefeldiencis ; fuerantque dicti rectores de Whalley et de Blagborn, praecipuc, homines uxorati, et domini villarum. Et quidam de Whalley Decani, non persona;, fuerunt appellati. Cujus causa veiisimilis esti- matur, quod tempore fundationis ejusdem Ecclesia;, et per tempora diu postmodum subsequentia, populus illarum partium tarn rarus fuerit, tamque indomitus et silvestris, tanta insuper vulpium et ferarum nocivarum ibidem existerat multitude, necnon locus quasi hominibus inaccessibilis adeo videbatur, quod tarn Episcopi ejusdem loci qui pro tempore fuerant quam ipsorum officiales totam jurisdictionem ordinariorum purochia; supradicta;, pertinentem ad officiuni communium Decanorum, prasfatis rectoribus propter incommoditates prajlibatas penitus reliqueruut, et quasi jugiter commiserunt, causis difficilioribus et arduis duntaxat Episcopo reservatis. Unde ex hujus decanatus ofEcio quod successive et continue exercebant, non Rectores, sed Decani a populo vocabantur. Ac per hunc modum ordina- bantur Ecclesia; usque ad tempus Regis Willielmi Conquestoris ; scilicet per CCCCLXX aunos, et post tempus ejusdem Regis Willielmi Conquestoris, usque ad concilium Lateranense (1215), prout ex antiquis et veracibus Cronicis satis liquet. Quis autem dominium de Blagbornshire tenebat ante tempus dicti Regis Willielmi, sub certo in Cronicis non habetur. Vulgaris opinio tenet et asserit quod quot fuerant villas vel mansa;, seu maneria hominum, tot fuerunt Domini, nedum in Blagbornshire, verum etiam in Rachdalc, Tottington, et Boland, et toto convicinio adjacente, quorum nullus de alio tenebat, sed omnes in capite de ipso domino Rege. Memorandum, quod rectores de Whalley ab antiquo fuerunt uxorati, et Decani vocabantur, non rectores aut persona? ; tenebantque dictam Ecclesiam, una cum Ecclesia de Bachedale, jure quodam hajreditario. Ita quod semper filius patri, vel frater fratri, aut alius parens proximior in jure, possessione dictarum ecclesiarum hasreditarie succedebat; sic videlicet, quod defuncto quocunque Decano de Whalley, statim filius ejus, aut frater, aut alius parens ad quern jus hasreditarium dictarum ecclesiarum pertinebat, offerret se Domino de Blagbornshire tanquam haredem proximum earum Ecclesiarum, et, acceptis ipsius Domini litteris hoc testantibus, ad episcopum loci ordinarium, presbyteros aliquos, in prajdictis ecclesiis, et, earum capellis, servituros, ad eundem Episcopum cum suis et prafati domini litteris transmitteret pro cura parochianoruin subeunda, vel saltern pro licentia et potestate ministrandi ecclesiastica sacramenta in eisdem Ecclesiis et Capellis. Et per istum modum regebantur Ecclesise supradicta; usque ad Concilium prajdictum Lateranense. Et sciendum quod primus rector, sive Decanus ecclesia; de Whalley, de quo, in registro Diocesanorum Liche- feldiensium mentio reperitur, vel cujus nominis est memoria in Chronicis, vel apud plebem, vocabatur Spartlingus, vocabatur Decanus de Whalley, cui successit Liwlphus Cutwolfe filius suus et ha?res, Decanus ejusdem Ecclesia; appellatus. Post hunc successit Cudwolfus ejusdem Ecclesia; Decanus. Huic etiam successit Henricus senior ha;res, similiter ejusdem Ecclesia? Decanus. Post quern Robertus filius suus et ejusdem Ecclesia! Decanus; et huic successit Henricus junior, filius et ha?res, ejusdem Ecclesia; Decanus. Cui successit Willielmus Decanus. Post hunc successit Galfridus senior, ejusdem Ecclesia; similiter Decanus. Iste Galfridus senior desponsavit filiam domini Roger! de Lascy tune Domini de Blagbornshire. Huic etiam Galfrido successit Galfridus junior, filius suus et hasres, ejusdem ecclesia; Decanus; cui successit Rogerus filius etiam suus et haares, qui ultimus ejusdem Ecclesia; Decanus existit nominatus, nee ex tune permittebatur successio ha;reditaria in Decanatu, vel in possessione ecclesia; supradicta;, qua; per homines uxoratos, et successione hasreditaria, ut prasmittitur, solebat antiquitus occupari, obstante Concilio Lateranensi tune temporis celebrate, clericis quibuslibet, et ecclesiarum rectoribus, continentiam imponente. K 2 68 HISTORY OF WHALLEY. [BOOK II. CHAP. I. With this change of constitution the deanery of Whalley subsisted down to the Lateran Council held in the year 1215, which, by finally prohibiting the marriage of ecclesiastics, put an end to this order of hereditary succession, and occasioned a resignation of the patronage to the chief lord of the fee, after which the church of Whalley sunk into an ordinary rectory ; and this also, after the death of the first incumbent, was further degraded, by two successive appropriations, into an impoverished vicarage. So singular is the outline of our ancient ecclesiastical story : and, when the reader is further told that this account is merely abstracted from a monkish MS. of the fourteenth century, though purporting to be drawn ex antiquis et veracibus Chronicis, he will pro- bably see reason for suspending his assent to so extraordinary a narrative till he finds it corroborated by older and more authentic testimonies.
falsehood, for no evidence or probability warrants the supposition that Augustine was ever in Northumbria : and it had been well if his monkish admirers had allowed themselves time to reflect, that, by engaging him in this Northern expedition, they have loaded his memory with a reproach which does not belong to it ; I mean that they have exposed him to the charge of having instigated the monks of Bonchor. I do not highly esteem the character of this man : his conduct towards the Christian Britons proves him to have had the narrowest views in religion ; and he was besides proud, superstitious, and addicted to an indelicate casuistry, which, devoted to celibacy, argues at least a contaminated imagi- nation. But I am unwilling to condemn him, upon such evidence, of all that complication of fraud and cruelty in which his unthinking panegyrists have involved him ; and am happy, at the same time, to reserve the apostleship of Whalley for a better and more evangelical man. 1
quod beneficia ecclesiastica juxta ordinationem concilii supradicti non debebant ex tune per concessionem hsereditariam occupari, volensque nobili viro domino Johanni de Lascy, comiti Lincolnise ac domino de Blagbornshire cognato suo placere, et jus patronatus totius Ecclesiaj suae de Whalley cum capellis, sibi et hseredibus suis confirmare, ac ipsi transferre, cessit Rectoria et Decanatu ecclesia? suaj predicts, ut sic jus prsesentandi ad personatum ejusdem ecclesise per dictum comitem et hajredes suos, quantum in ipso fuerat, evidentius affirmaret, solum sibi retinens, per assensum Episcopi, ejusdem Ecclesise vicarium, unde Dominus Comes ad personatum dicta? Ecclesia? de Whalley quendam clericum suum Petrum de Cestria prassentavit. Qui quidem Petrus extitit primus ejusdem Ecclesias persona nominatus, atque ad prcesentationem ejusdem domini comitis ab episcopo Lichfeldensi Alexandro admissus ad eundem personatum et institutions canonice ac inductus et eandem Ecclesiam extunc tenuit et possedit per totam vitam suam, vide- licet per LIX (quinquaginta novem) annos et amplius. Idem tamen Petrus, pro tempore dicti Kogeri, non habuit de prsefata Ecclesia nisi quinquaginta marcas annuse pensionis nomine rectories suss, et dictus Eogerus totum residuum Ecclesiae habuit dum advixit, nomine vicarise, prout in literis presentations et institutions dicti Petri, et ordinationis Episcopi inde factis, satis liquet. Huic autem Petro successerunt in personatu praedicto, Religiosi viri, abbas et conventus vocati quondam de Stanlaw, nuper de Whalley, et intraverunt in manerium de Whalley, Domino Gregorio de Norbury tune Abbate, vn id. Ap. anno regni regis Edwardi viginti quatuor, setatis vero domini Henrici de Lascy comitis Lincolnia? quadragesimo septimo, A.D. M.CC.XCVI. anno bissextili, littera dominicali G. &c.
videtur," says he, speaking of this very story, " erratum esse confundentis Augustinum cum Paullino. Sed tribuunt Augustino scriptores iter boreale consilio multum diverse, hinc ad elevandos (in the English, not the classical sense of
BOOK II. CHAP. L] ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 69
In fact, Augustine seems to have been to. the monks what the Theban Hercules was to the Greeks, an object of fond and thoughtless devotion, on whom they were anxious to accumulate the exploits, and to divert the honours, of his brethren. Thus, precisely in another instance nearly akin to the present, they have adorned him with trophies not his own. " In one Christmas Day," says a fragment quoted by Camden, 1 " Austin baptized above ten thousand men, and consecrated the River Swale." Yet the whole story, with concomitant circumstances, is related of Paulinus by Bede, whose authority is incontestible.
names of persons to whom they are ascribed : so that, if the gospel were not preached at "Whalley in this century by Augustine, it is far from following that it was not preached there at all in that period ; and still further, there is not only evidence to establish the probability of the fact, but to ascribe it to the known apostle of the North of England. This evidence, it must be allowed, is but circumstantial, though surely strong, That Paulinus was diligently employed, under the the auspices of Edwyn, in preaching and baptizing throughout the provinces of Deira and Bcrnicia, that vast multitudes nocked to him to receive the ordinance of Baptism, and that he usually chose the banks of rivers as the scene of his ministry, for the convenience of baptizing, is recorded by Bede. His presence at Dewsbury is moreover attested by a cross with an inscription, formerly extant, to that effect ; and though the three crosses of Whalley, 2 to which tradition has with one voice assigned the office of commemorating the same event under another name, have no remaining inscriptions, yet their obeliscal form and ornaments of fretwork, 3 used in common by the Norwegians, Saxons, Danes, and other Northern nations, prove their antiquity to be considerable, and probably of no later date than Paulinus. The sera, therefore, of this memorable event, the first preaching of the gospel at Whalley, may, in all probability, be fixed between the years 625, when his ministry commenced, and 631, when he was finally driven out of Northumlria 4 by the death of his royal convert. 5
the church of Whalley could not have been exactly contemporary with Paulinus. On this that word) ejus labores, auctoritatem et miracula; illinc, ad affigendum illi Monachorum Bonchoriunsium caxlem, pari utrinque, ut videtur, veritatis specie." Note in Bedam, 1. 2, c. xiv. 1 Gibson's Ed. vol. i. p. 88. 2 " One thing I much notid, was 3 Crossis standing in row at the est ende of the Chapelle Garth. They were thinges antiquissiini operis, and monuments of sum notable men buried there : so that, of al the old monasterie of Ripon " (the work of Wilfrid) " and the toun, I saw no likely tokens left, after the depopulation of the Danes in that place, but only the waulles of our Lady Chapelle and the Crosses." Leland, Itinerary, vol. i. f. 96. 3 The cross in the churchyard of Bakewell in Derbyshire, and those in the churchyard of Penrith, &c. are in the same taste. 4 It makes a difference of two miles, only that, according to the hypothesis which I have endeavoured to establish in this edition, Whalley was actually in Mercia. Considerable portions, however, of the parish, even of the present parish, were certainly in Northumbria.
statura;, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilentl, naso adunco pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu." Eccl. Hist. 1. ii. c. 16, 136.
70 HISTORY OF WHALLEY. [BOOK II. CHAP. I. head the testimony of Bede is decisive. " Nondum enim," says the venerable historian, " oratoria vel baptisteria in ipso exordio nascentis ibi ecclesiae poterant aedificari, attamen Yüklə 4,81 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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