CO N T E N T S . HA P E I —F L L O W E ' C T R . A F I L D I N ITS E A RL ms r DAY S II —BA BL ow H L L A ND T L W S . A HE BAR O — III . HO ' GH E ND A ND m s MO SL BYS — IV PL A TT HA L L A ND THE W onsm ys V —Bmcn HA L L . — VL F A L L O W F I E L D BE F O RE 1830 —Tm; L A E A YS r W VII . T R D o F AL L O F IE L D Tmum DIA GRA MS RE PRE SE NT THE CHIE F F am o u s or L L GE N E N E m p. VI A A D NE IGHBO ' RHO O D A s THE Y PRE S T D T vxs I N 1 81 4 nn sn 8 1 3 A ND 1 5 . u , 8 , 88 PR E F A C E . Mr little sketches wer e first drawn together in the form of t r r ad Pr s r W i ia in th l w S lec u es, e by ofes o ll mson e F a lo field chool ” o and re an att t to the S ir u Ro m, we emp help p eF nd. O ur r a f or te ri effort in wa e son volun e ng such , when no y con nected it the rc ri inate in a i h ad n w h Chu h, o g d w sh we lo g felt, to x r in a r our ar r t f or our ec r e p ess, some sm ll deg ee, w m espec R to , and our very high appreciation of his incessant kindly wor k a t the r tio f a r S ir mongs us e ec n o Chu ch p e, which, as an artistic to the il a if t in or was a focus v l ge, no h g m e, much needed, ppeared o r he o it so t to ffe t pportun y we ugh . O f the ar i r iti f F allowfield and the Ma or I e l e cond on o of n s, have written nothing that has not been previously published only r t r a t i are scatt r itt wi b ought toge he f c s, wh ch e ed a l le dely per a s and t r u s a f t not a s h p , h o gh book , m ny o hem e sy of acce s. ar e ario s i ati ns o the hetham S i These books v u publ c o f C oc ety, ” ” ia N itia Cestriencis Mamcestre of espec lly ot , , Histories ' Bir a Didsbury and ch Ch pels, The Civil W ar Trac ” ” S Pa ers an a hi r W i s and I t ri d tanley p , L c s e ll nven o es, an ’ “ “ others Hibbert W are s History of the Foundations Barlow r i t Bai Papers published by M . Egl ng on ley in his Palatine ’ r nr a r al a Note Book ; M . He y T ylo s H ls of Lanc shir e Tur ’ ner s English Domestic Architecture during the Thirteenth and o rt t ri Mos a i M ria s Dr F u eenth Cen u es The ley F m ly emo l . ’ Halley s History of Puritanism in Lancashire The Private ” o r la r i Corresp ndence of Cha lotte de T emou lle, edited by Madam I have just dipped into this sto re of interest and given out ra u the ra ma r v dainiz sc ps, b t hope sc ps y p o e y. 6 F or the tc f the r nt t of our i a I ske h o ece developmen v ll ge, am indebwd ntir to the ori s f o r si nt and to e ely mem e o ld e de s, he t hic th s ori s a n t kindness wi h w h e e mem e h ve bee ransacked. a s are —first to s an Prof ssor W i li son Th nk due , my hu b d, e l am , o in a itio to the s al dia ra s f or i is os wh , dd n m l g m , wh ch he m tly r s n i and to his o ict r s r ini n s n w e po s ble, wn p u e que em sce ce , k e o to ask f or all ls and o to ask t . S con to M r wh m e e, h w hem e dly, . Burr s the o t i in man o was orn in the i a ow , ldes l v g wh b v ll ge, and whose clear definite recitals of what has been were M d is V na r r and a a to Mr . rs an a inv lu ble. Then , , M s e bles, F me Mr n is r and to ssr s. i a r . a d o M s Rudd, . M s Mell , Me R dgw y, F oden and ot ort . , C sw h A ll the ladies and gentlemen r especting whose houses it was n r o a rso a n iri s a ost in i n ecessa y t m ke pe n l e qu e , h ve m k dly g ve , nd in ra tro to find the informatio a seve l cases taken much uble , n needed . ll f a owfielo in its E arliest E ase. IN walking through the village or along r Wilbraham Road, one often tries to pictu e how a six u things ctually looked h ndred years ago , the time when F allowfield is first mentioned under its present name . As the name implies, it was a fertile cultivated farm land, a tiny oasis in the midst of a huge wilderness. t In the thir eenth century, the High Road Mamcestre as between Manchester, or , the was Deddesburie Stoke ort City called, to and p , passed through a tract of low lying marshy ground, interrupted only here and there by s more genial spot , and merging on the south s and west into a vast almost impenetrable fore t, c alled the Forest of Arden or Hardy. 8 Mamcestre That part of the marsh nearest to , a and perh ps the first in any degree peopled, r s ll a was ich in the growth of rushe , and sti ret ins - l Rushome its name of Rush ho me, or , in remembrance. - ms Beyond Rush hol there was an upland, n which, with its crown of mag ificent oaks, F allowfield bounded the morass, and protected s from the northern wind . i t Proceeding st ll further south, the road, af er leaving our little farm land, reached a second and ” W thes wilder marsh, one so dense with y , or fi Willows, that its rst owner is spoken of as ” W ulfrith W thin ton de y g . The forest surrounding this W ythy Marsh s was uch that wild boar ran riot in it . our Whitaker, old historian, suggests that the - - name of Bar low, or Boar ground, may be a con sequence. This entire district is represented in the Doomsday Survey as Waste Land ; for two hundred years succeeding the survey it as . st continued w te The fore s grew, became more and more dense with undergrowth and brushwood , and harboured wild boar, wolf, hils and fox, w t eagle, hawk, and heron found a in s a home in them , but of hum n habitant they were destitute. 9 When we remember the Doomsday Population Returns for four hundred square miles of the region now called South Lancashire was onl y i es and s N nety Famili , that thi number ns a s e included the tow of M nche t r, Salford , ' Ratclifie n , and Rochdale, in the vici ity of which e d we u a how the peopl clustere , shall nderst nd complete was the desolation in this and similar s district . i ass the de Mamc stre As t me p ed , Baron e granted large tracts of Forest or Waste land e ni u a to d serving K ghts, req iring in exch nge Military or Court Service in proportion to the extent of his grant . In s u Manour thin ton this di trib tion, the of Wy g ” the Hathersa es fell to the lot of g , who, not themselves disposed for residence in so bleak u u t re- ns and nc ltiva ed a spot , granted portio of s e s K u also their e tat to maller nights , req iring r Military Service in return. These seconda y r s s ffi r s g ant being u ciently la ge, part of them a so were again gr nted to Squires , the second owners became in their turn Lords of Manours ; they had the power also of selling portions of their own grants to F r eeman for money.