POPULATION OF GREAT ECCLESTON.

1801.1811.1821.1831.1841.1851.1861.1871.
455540648624661631641565

The area of the township in statute acres is 1,412

Out Rawcliffe. The manor of Out Rawcliffe was presented to Theobald Walter by Richard I., and from that time to 1715 remained in the hands of the same family. Theobald Walter, the son of the above-named gentleman, and Butler of Ireland, a title which, as elsewhere stated, he adopted as a surname, gave the whole of Out Rawcliffe, and one carucate of land in Stainall, to his relative, perhaps son, Sir Richard Butler, and from him sprang the long line of Butlers of Rawcliffe.[230] In 1627 the inquisition post mortem of Henry Butler, of Rawcliffe Hall, revealed that his possessions consisted of the two manors of Out and Middle Rawcliffes, and of lands in Upper Rawcliffe.[231] Henry and Richard Butler of Rawcliffe, father and eldest son, joined the ranks of the insurgents in 1715, and after the suppression of the rebellion, their estates were confiscated; Henry escaped, but Richard was seized, and died in prison at London in 1716, before the day appointed for his execution. The sale of Out Rawcliffe by Government was enrolled on the 19th of September, 1723, the purchasers being the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, (vicar of St. Michael’s), John Leyland, Cornelius Fox, and James Poole; and in the diary of the Rev. Thos. Parkinson, curate of Garstang, reference is made to the completion and terms of the transfer as follows:—

“April 1723.— ... At night I preached for T. Raby, of Tarnacre, at St. Michael’s. His son paid me 10s. Mr. Crombleholm, the vicar there, came from London, whilst I was there, who, in conjunction with three more, had bought Rawcliffe demain and tenants, paying to the board £11,260. It cost them near £1,000 more in hush money, as they call it.”

In 1729 the Rev. Richard Crombleholme, who seems to have bought up the shares of his co-investors, died, and five years later his heir, Edward Crombleholme, disposed of the lordship of Out Rawcliffe, with its courts, fishing in the Wyre, rents, etc., to Thomas Roe, whose only child and heiress married John ffrance, of Little Eccleston Hall. The only son and heir of John ffrance, of Rawcliffe and Little Eccleston, also called John, became lord of the manor on the decease of his father in 1774. He espoused Margaret, the daughter and heiress of ⸺ Rigg, of Lancaster, and, dying without issue, devised his property, after the death of his widow, to Thomas Wilson, of Preston, whose wife, the daughter of ⸺ Cross, of Shaw Hall, Chorley, was his nearest relative. Thomas Wilson assumed the surname of ffrance in addition to his own, and was succeeded, under the will of John ffrance, by his son, Thomas Robert Wilson-ffrance, who effected great improvements on the land by draining and re-covering the mosses, thereby increasing the value of the estate considerably. T. R. Wilson-ffrance died in 1853, and Rawcliffe descended to his only son, Robert Wilson-ffrance, who lived but six years afterwards, and bequeathed his estates to his sole offspring, Robert John Barton Wilson-ffrance, esq., at that time an infant, and now in possession. Rawcliffe Hall lies on the south of the township, in a park-like enclosure, leading to the banks of the river Wyre. The present mansion was built in the 17th century, but during more recent years has undergone material alterations. The remains of the Catholic chapel attached to it are situated at the rear.

The church of Out Rawcliffe was consecrated in 1837, and was erected by subscription and a donation from the late T. R. Wilson-ffrance, esq., who also gave the site, and retained the patronage. The style of architecture is said to resemble some portions of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with a fine Norman arch over the west end. There are 250 sittings, of which 150 are free. The first incumbent was the Rev. W. Chadwick, who was succeeded by the Rev. Joshua Waltham. The Rev. James C. Home, M.A., is the third and present holder of the living.

There is a good day-school supported out of the Rawcliffe estate.

POPULATION OF OUT RAWCLIFFE.

1801.1811.1821.1831.1841.1851.1861.1871.
413484598575728791771832