Bretherton is a small village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
Borough of Chorley
The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The population of the Borough at the 2011 census was 107,155. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.
History
The non-met ...
, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of
Leyland and east of
Tarleton
Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...
. The population of the civil parish at the
2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-
conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
origins and its early history was closely involved with the manor house
Bank Hall
Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...
and the families who lived there. Bretherton remained a rural community and today is largely residential with residents commuting to nearby towns.
History
Toponymy
Bretherton derives from either the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''brothor'' and ''tun'' or Norse ''brothir'' and means "farmstead of the brothers". It was first recorded in documents in 1190. Bretherton has been variously recorded as Bretherton in 1242, Brotherton occurs in 1292, Bertherton in 1292 and Thorp was mentioned in 1212.
Manor
Bretherton, was part of the
Penwortham
Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links cr ...
fee and assessed as two plough-lands. It was given by the Bussels to Richard le Boteler of
Amounderness
The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the name ...
, who made grants to
Cockersand Abbey
Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey and former civil parish near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It is situated near the mouth of the River Cocker. History
It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mar ...
around 1200 and
Lytham Priory
Lytham Priory was an English Benedictine priory in Lytham, Lancashire. It was founded between 1189 and 1194 by Richard Fitz Roger as a cell of Durham Priory. It was dedicated to Saint Cuthbert and lasted until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteri ...
. In 1242 the manor was held by six families of Richard Banastre, Walter de Hoole, Richard de Thorp, William de Brexes, Thomas de Gerstan and Simon del Pool who held the land from the Lord of Penwortham. Over time these six parts were consolidated into two
moieties held by different branches of the Banastre family, the Banastres of Bank, and that of Sir Thomas Banastre. The Bank moiety remained with the Banastres until 1690 when Christopher Banastre died leaving two daughters. His eldest daughter, Anne, married Thomas Fleetwood who made the first to attempt at draining
Martin Mere
Martin Mere is a Mere (lake), mere near Burscough, in Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The mere is a vast marsh, around that was, until it was drained, the largest body of fresh water in England.
History
Martin Mere ...
. Their daughter, Henrietta Maria, married
Thomas Legh of
Lyme Park
Lyme Park is a large estate south of Disley, Cheshire, England, managed by the National Trust and consisting of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens and a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Chesh ...
and subsequently the manor descended to Lord Lilford.
[ This branch of the family built or rebuilt ]Bank Hall
Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...
in the Jacobean style in 1608.[
The vanished hamlet of Thorp, held by a family of that name was sold to Sir Thomas Banastre. Sir Thomas's portion was owned by different families until the early 19th century when the Heskeths of Rufford acquired it. In 1880 the Heskeths sold their portion to Lord Lilford who owned the other moiety making him sole ]lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
.[
Recorded in the 1666 ]Hearth tax
A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is cons ...
, the village had 99 hearths, Bank Hall had twelve, John Sharples had eight and John Cliffe five.[
]
Governance
Bretherton was a township in the parish of Croston
Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917.
History
Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...
in the Leyland hundred. It became part of the Chorley Poor Law Union, formed in 1837, which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
and built a workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
in that area.
Bretherton became part of Chorley Rural Sanitary District
Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:
*Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies
*Rural sanitary dis ...
from 1875 to 1894, and part of Chorley Rural District
Chorley Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974.
The district was created by the Local Government Act 1894 as the successor to the Chorley Rural Sanitary District. It comprised an a ...
from 1894 to 1974. Since 1974, it is part of Chorley Borough's Lostock ward and has a parish council.
Bretherton is part of the South Ribble
South Ribble is a borough in the county of Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The population, at the 2011 Census, was 109,057. Notable towns and villages include Walton le Dale, Bamber Bridge, Leyland and Penwortham. It ...
parliamentary constituency, which elected Seema Kennedy
Seema Louise Ghiassi Kennedy (' Ghiassi, fa, سیما غیاثی; born 6 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the Department of Health and Social Care and the ...
as Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party at the 2015 General Election.[ and Katherine Fletcher
in 2019]
Geography
The township covers 2,292 statute acres of flat low-lying land mostly used for agriculture. The River Lostock
The River Lostock is a river in Lancashire, England.
The source of the Lostock is at the confluence of Slack Brook and Whave's Brook at the entrance to Miller Wood near Withnell Fold.
Slack Brook drains an area around Brindle, having its sourc ...
forms a village boundary and the River Douglas and River Yarrow join before flowing into the River Ribble
The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...
to the north.[ The village is situated towards the centre of the township on slightly rising ground and Bank Hall on higher ground to the west whilst the south-west of the township is less than 25 feet above level.]
Population
Economy
The village was almost self-supporting but changes have occurred within living memory; well-paid employment elsewhere and rationalisation of farming caused people to move to local urban centres, such as Leyland, Preston and Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
. The village is now largely residential, a dormitory village with few residents engaged in agriculture or associated support industries. Many residents access services such as shops, schools, medical services, employment and leisure pursuits outside the village.
Transport
The Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and Preston turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
road of 1771, now the A59, and a branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
cross the west of the township. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...
's Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway
The Liverpool, Ormskirk & Preston Railway in north-west England was formed in 1846. It was purchased by the East Lancashire Railway the following year and opened to traffic on 2 April 1849.
The railway ran from a junction with the Liverpool an ...
line passes through the north east of Bretherton but the nearest station is at Croston
Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917.
History
Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...
to the south east.
There are four minor roads in Bretherton village, North Road ( B5248), South Road, Pompian Brow and Marl Cop.
Landmarks
There are several listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s in Bretherton including several farmhouses and St John's Church.
The manor house, Bank Hall
Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...
, a Grade II* Listed Jacobean mansion from 1608 is nearly derelict. It was an unsuccessful contestant on the BBC 'Restoration' series in 2003. The building continues to deteriorate but planning permission was granted in 2011 for its restoration and conversion to a visitor centre and housing. Bank Hall Barn a Grade II Listed Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
tithe barn
A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the vi ...
was restored and converted into housing in 2004.
Carr House, built in 1613 was home to the Stone family and is associated with Jeremiah Horrocks
Jeremiah Horrocks (16183 January 1641), sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox (the Latinised version that he used on the Emmanuel College register and in his Latin manuscripts), – See footnote 1 was an English astronomer. He was the first person ...
who observed the transit of Venus
frameless, upright=0.5
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...
, it was later used as a doll museum.[ Bank Mill, a Grade II Listed building, is a brick built and rendered, white painted ]windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
which has lost its sails. It was built in 1741 and has been converted to a house.
Education
Bretherton Endowed Primary was founded as a free school by a merchant, James Fletcher in 1653. The present school has around 115 pupils on role. The majority of secondary age pupils in the village attend Tarleton High School
Tarleton Academy is a secondary Academy situated in Tarleton, Lancashire, England; the head is Simon Day, appointed April 2021."https://www.tarletonacademy.org/key-contacts" The school caters for 11 to 16-year-olds. The academy is scheduled a ...
or Bishop Rawstorne CE Academy in Croston.
Religion
A record of a chapel is mentioned in a charter of 1344 but nothing else is known. The Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Commissioners' Church
A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplied ...
of St. John the Baptist was consecrated in 1840. It is built in the Early English Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
. Chapels were built for Wesleyan Methodists in 1824, rebuilt in 1836 and 1883 and for Congregationalists in 1819, rebuilt in 1896.[
]
Community and sport
Bretherton has a cricket club founded in 1925 which enters teams in Palace Shield Cricket Competition and plays at the South Road Ground opposite the Blue Anchor Inn. After defeating local rivals Croston twice in the 2021 season, former notable person Shaun 'Trigger' Parkinson now lives rent free in David 'I've got a ferrari Tommo' Tomlinson's' head. They are currently 2019 Division 6 Champions. The parish council maintain a recreation ground with children's play area, tennis court, football pitches and bowling green off South Road.[
Bank Hall Action Group formed in 1995 campaigns to save the derelict Bank Hall.
In 2009 Bretherton was awarded the Lancashire's Best Kept Village (Small Village Class) Award.][ The Bretherton Gardens Group, open their gardens as part of the ]National Gardens Scheme
The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...
.
Notable people
George Anthony Legh Keck
Colonel George Anthony Legh-Keck (1774–1860) was a British MP in the Georgian era who owned landed estates in Leicestershire and Lancashire.
Early life
Legh-Keck was born at Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, the only surviving son of Anth ...
owned Bank Hall and Sir Harcourt Everard Clare Clerk to Lancashire County Council, lived in the village.[John Howard, "The Bank Hall Timeline" 2007]
World Cup alpine ski racer and first British World Cup winner (Kitzbühel Slalom 2022), Dave Ryding
David Ryding (born 5 December 1986) is an English World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in slalom. Widely considered to be the greatest British skier of all time, he has competed for Great Britain in four Olympics, seven World Championshi ...
, was born in Bretherton.
See also
*Listed buildings in Bretherton
Bretherton is a civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. The parish contains 19 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Grade II* ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
Bretherton photographs
Geograph images
Bretherton, Chorley Council
{{authority control
Geography of Chorley
Villages in Lancashire
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Bank Hall