A History of Lancashire

by Henry Fishwick

Though Liverpool as a town had not in the fifteenth century grown much in size or importance, yet its castle, seated upon the rocky knoll commanding the entrance to the Mersey, was of some importance; built probably in the time of the Conqueror, it had ever since been kept available for purposes of defence. In 1351 Henry, Duke of Lancaster, appointed Janekyn Baret, his esquire, to be Constable of Liverpool Castle, with an annuity of ten marks sterling for the term of his life, and in 22 Henry VI. (1442–43) the duchy receiver accounted for £46 13s. 10¼d. which had been expended on repairs to this castle; it was about this time that a new south–east tower was erected. During the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI. considerable sums were spent in keeping this stronghold in repair, yet in a report made on its state in 1476 it is described as being in a somewhat ruinous condition; the east tower wanted repairing, for which purpose the walls of the bakehouse were to be taken down, and the elder–trees growing on the walls within and without the castle were to be cut away.

In 1476 further repairs were done, but the object of these appears to have been rather of a domestic than military character. At this time three towers are named: the new tower, the prison tower, and the great tower.[101]

Besides the castles already mentioned, there were a few others of minor importance. Hornby Castle, in the parish of Melling, may possibly date back to the time of the Edwards, and is several times referred to in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. On the western side of the peninsula of Furness, which is separated from Cumberland by the waters of the Duddon, lies the Island of Walney, which has near to it several other small islands, on one of which was built the ancient castle or peel long known as the Pile of Fouldrey. The waters near to its site formed a natural harbour capable of floating, even at low tide, the largest vessels at that early period in use, and to protect that and the adjacent country this castle was erected. It is of great antiquity; it was certainly there in the twelfth century, as appears from a precept issued on March 13, 1404 to the escheator for the county to “amove the King’s hands from the island called Wawenay [Walney], the cause of the seizure being insufficient.” The reason why the King had taken possession is then clearly stated, viz.: “That King Stephen, having granted to the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of St. Mary of Furness certain lands and tenements in the island called Wawenay [Walney] in Furness on condition of sustaining and keeping in repair a certain castle or fortress called La Pele de Fotheray for the defence of the country there, the said castle was now prostrated by John de Bolton the Abbot and the Convent of Furness, to the great fear of all the country.”[102]

It was here that Lambert Simnel, the pretended son of the Duke of Clarence, landed in 1487, and was joined by Sir Thomas Broughton. The subsequent history of this stronghold is very obscure; in 1588 it is described as an old decayed castle.

In the parish of Tunstall, Sir Thomas Tunstall, in the time of Henry IV., built Thurland Castle on a rising piece of ground between the Greta and the Cant.[103]

Of the religious houses and churches which had sprung up since the coming of the Normans, it need only here be stated that they had now spread all over the county, and that the Christian creed had become the religion of the entire community (see [Chapter IX.]).

The impending final struggle between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster would probably not excite any very great interest in the minds of the people of this county, except that they had again been called upon to find men for Lord Stanley’s army, which the King had commissioned him to raise in the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire; this force is supposed to have been about 5,000 strong, and it virtually decided the battle, as Lord Stanley, on the field, turned against the King, and led his troops to the support of Richmond.

With the death of Richard III., the last Plantagenet King, on the field of Bosworth, came an end of that system of government which had existed for nearly 300 years, and the old feudal chain was soon to be broken, and Englishmen were to become more their own masters and less the blind followers of their social superiors; and, moreover, they were soon to find themselves free from the tyranny of priestcraft and superstitions, and prejudices were to be gradually dispersed by the increase of civilization and freedom.

Towards this end the introduction of printing was a powerful lever, for when John Caxton, in 1472, set up his press in London, the priest could no longer prevent the spread of knowledge, and it was not long before the printed books found their way into Lancashire.

With the spread of literature and knowledge came the spirit of adventure and enterprise, which soon raised the country to a position which it had not heretofore occupied.