IN

THE ANCIENT MANORS OF WHITTINGTON.

By Col. W. H. Chippindall.

N this Society's Transactions lxxiii. p. 225 the present writer cited some evidence to show that the ancient manor of Thirnby had been split in two and one part added to the county of Westmorland whilst the other part was added to Lancashire.

Since that account was written more Thirnby placenames have come to light in the Lancashire portion, viz., the three fields north-north-east of Sellet Mill are known as Higher Thirnby, whilst Thirnby Wood is just south of fields called Great Thirnby which lie partly in Westmorland and partly in Lancashire. Another long field, on the east side of the road from Kirkby Lonsdale to Whittington, extending from near the point in the road marked 185 on the six-inch Ordnance map to beyond the boundary of the county, bears the names of Far Jagger Thirnby, Near Jagger Thirnby and Thirnby Parrock. This, it is submitted, adds to the evidence that Holmehouse and Sellet Mill were part of the ancient hamlet of Thirnby. There is also the further consideration that a mill was one of the peculiar possessions of a manor, and as Sellet was never a manor the present mill is most probably that which belonged to the undoubted manor of Thirnby.

The boundary of Thirnby is lost, but from a careful consideration of the statements in the Cockersand Chartulary and the field-names of the Sellet Hall estate the writer has come to the conclusion that the boundary passed south of Sellet Hall and over the top of Great Sellet down toward the river Lune by Calebank Barn, thus enclosing Holmehouse tenement.

The first estate definitely mentioned as being in Thirnby is that belonging to Richard de Cansfield in 1271-2;1 then in 1283 David de Haverington and Ralph de Patton hold Thirnby and render 66s. 8d. yearly,2 and as the Harringtons were the heirs of the Cansfields this last holding probably contained the Cansfield property. In 1359 Sir John Harrington of Farleton died and his inquisition post mortem states that he was seised of a rent of 66s. 8d. from free tenants in Whittington and that he held under John de Harrington of Aldingham;3 here the similarity of the rents points to Thirnby as the property in question. This estate descended to the Harringtons of Hornby Castle, and on their attainder would be part of the lands given by King Henry VII to Sir Edward Stanley, afterwards the first Lord Mounteagle, and appears to be his so called 'manor of Whittington,' though he was not entitled to claim any manor there. It included Sellet, for which Mr. Baynes of Sellet Hall paid a rent of 15s. a year to Lord Mounteagle.4

In the ninth year of Charles I there was a suit Thomas Carus esq. v. Rowland Bordrigg and others, about tenements in Whittington, in which, among others, Thomas Brabin of Whittington, gent., aged 69, deposed that his late father Henry Brabin had bought lands of Lord Morley in Whittington and conveyed the same to Christopher Carus and to Anne Carus, wife of the complainant, their heirs etc. Thus the seignory over Sellet and part of Thirnby passed to the Carus family and was added to their manor of Westhall, in which they became merged. See later for Westhall manor.)

1 V. C. Hist. Lancs. viii. 243.

2 Inq. p. m. on William de Lindsay, see Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Lancs. and Chesh. Record Soc.) i. 256.

3 V. C. Hist. Lancs. viii. 243, n. 39.

4 V. C. Hist. Lancs. viii. 247.

5 P.R.O. Duchy of Lanc. Depositions 9 Chas. I. No. 20. I have to thank the editor for this and subsequent Record Office documents.

THE MANOR OF LATHEBOTE OR GARNEYGARTH.

That these two manors were the same under different names at different times can be shown by first identifying Lathebote, an estate which Robert son of Gilmichael possessed; and this can be done by examining the gift of Paulin de Lathebote to the abbey of Cockersand as shown in the Chartulary of that abbey and also the gifts made by Robert son of Gilmichael to the same abbey; then a comparison of the field names mentioned in those charters with the field names on the tithe map will show roughly the situation of this tract of land which used to be called Lathebote.

The Whittington charters of Cockersand abbey commence at page 940 of the Chartulary (printed by the Chetham Society) and are eleven in number, each being numbered in succession, so that it will be most convenient to refer to them by these numbers. The charter of Paulin de Lathebote is No. 8 and he gives six and a half acres all lying in Lathebote. By tabulating the names of the fields in which his gifts lay and tabulating corresponding tithe map names we get the undershown table of comparison.

Paulin de Lathebote's gift. 1 acre I rood in Scathagate

ridding

1 acre upon Gildhead moor

Modern Tithe Map names. Gatelands, on the south-east side of Sellet Bank.

Guilda, a large field due east of Low Hall rising from a level of 125 feet to a top 175 feet high.

I do. under Scalebank ridding Scalebank, the next field north

I do. in Twa-wendings and
Bochards fallow.

west of Guilda also rising to a top of 175 feet; in it is the modern Johnson's wood.

Two lanes leading from Whittington to Burrow Mill ford and to Coneygarth ford. Botchy fallows is named in a deed of the year 1700, Botchafallows on an estate map of 1774 and

do. under Gildhead. do. upon Burwains.

I do. upon Burtreberyh,

do. between the brooks.

Butchers fallows in the tithe map. This field lies between the two lanes not far from the river.

Guilda, as above.

Borrons, the second field parallel
with and south of Burrow Mill
Lane and the Holmes.
Beautifer, three fields west of
Hosticle Lane and north of the
Highouse. (See later as to this
name.)
Unidentified.

The evolution of the name Beautifer is worth a moment's consideration as it is well authenticated by the documents. We have seven examples of the name at different datessix from the Cockersand Chartulary and the other from the Royalist Composition Papers, giving the following equation:

1194-1207 Beuthreberg. 1200-1230 Burtreberyh. 1451 Burtrebregh'. 1461 Burtrebergh. 1501 Burtontrebrek. 1537 Burtontrebrek. 1649 Bowertribar.

Beautifer (from tithe map of 1845).

Further, in the charter (No. 2) of Robert [son of Gilmichael] circa 1194-1207 land is given as follows :-Two acres in Godfrey's croft, half an acre under Gildhead, half an acre by Newton upon [the bank of] Lune and half an acre in Bramfeet. Here again we find Gildhead, now represented by Guilda; land near Newton, which is far from Thirnby and Sellet; and Bramfeet, now represented by Bramfield, the modern name of seven fields which lie between the river Lune and Sellet Mill Beck adjacent to Scalebank.

In No. 6 charter, also by Robert son of Gilmichael, Lune wath is mentioned and is probably the ford at the foot of Burrow Mill Lane, though it may be Coneygarth ford

R