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The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan/Robert de Clyderhou

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​Robert de Clyderhou, the next parson, was instituted to the Church of Wigan on Sunday, the morrow of St. Matthew the Apostle (Sept. 22), 1303, in the Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral, on the presentation of Sir John de Langton.[1] The said Sir John, who was a clerk, and afterwards became Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Chichester, presented in right of his custody of the lands and heiress of Robert Banastre, which Robert died before 1293. Alice Banastre, then in her minority, was the daughter of James Banastre (who died in his father's life time), and grand daughter and heiress of the said Robert ​Banastre, Lord of Newton. She was given in marriage to John de Langton (brother of the Chancellor John de Langton, and son of Robert de Langton, of West Langton, in the county of Leicester), to whom, in 1301, the King granted a weekly market and two annual fairs at his manor of Newton in Makerfield.[2]

In 32 Edw. L (1303-4) a fine was levied of the manors of Walton-in-le-Dale, Newton, and Lauton (Lowton), and the advowson of the Church of Wigan, between John Langton and his wife and John Langton, clerk.[3] But the right of presentation to Wigan Church at this period appears to have been disputed by William de Standish, though he was unable to substantiate his claim. The pleadings in the suit, held in Michaelmas term, 31 Edw. I. (1303), are thus recorded in the year book of King Edward I.[4] —

Sheweth unto you William, the son of Jordan de Standish, by his attorney, &c., that John, the clerk de Langetone, , &c., tortiously deforces him of the advowson of the chapel of Wygan, and tortiously for this, that it is his right and heritage, and whereof one of his ancestors, named Ralph, was seized as of fee and of right, in time of peace, in the time of King Richard, cousin of our Lord the King that now is, whom God preserve, who in his lifetime presented his own clerk, Ulf by name, who on his presentation was received and instituted, &c., in the same time, which clerk took the esplees, such as great tithes, small tithes, oblations, obventions, and other kinds of issues of the chapel, amounting to half a mark and more, as in right of the aforesaid chapel; from Ralph the right descended, and ought to descend, to one Richard as son and heir; from Richard, because he died without heir of his body, to Alexander as brother and heir; from Alexander to Ralph as son and heir; ​from Ralph to Edmund as son and heir; from Edmund, because he died without heir of his body, to Hugh as brother and heir; from Hugh, because he died without heir of his body, to Jordan as brother and heir; from Jordan to Ralph; and from Ralph to William, who now demands; and he offers suit and proof. Est. denied, &c., and said, Sir, whereas they demand against us the advowson of the chapel of Wygan, we say that we hold the advowson of the Church of Wygan, which church has the rights of sepulture and baptism ; and we say that there is no other chapel; therefore if he will admit this we pray judgment of the writ ; or if he will say that there is another chapel, then we cannot be certified of that without a view, and we pray the view, &c., if we may have it. Willeby— There is no other chapel in the town of Wygan but this, whereof they ought not to have the view. And, on the other hand, although they call it the mother church, or by any other name, we now say that it was a chapel in the time of our ancestor, as we have counted, &c. Toutheby—Sir, the writ states,— "Command, &c., that he yield up the advowson of the chapel &c." Therefore we say that he cannot yield up the chapel &c., for we say that he is not tenant of a chapel &c., but he is tenant of the advowson of a church &c., to which clerks were presented in the time of King Henry, and in the time of the King that now is, as to a church ; therefore we cannot be certified unless by the view whether he demands this church, or whether he means to say that there is another chapel. But it would be different if he demanded against us the advowson of a church, and there were only one church in the town, for then we should not have the view, but in the present case the view is necessary, for otherwise perhaps we should lose our voucher. Willeby—It was a chapel in the time of our ancestor, and we have offered suit and proof, and he answers not. Warr—Sir, John cannot yield up the advowson of a chapel, for we say that this is a church, &c, and not a chapel ; and this we will aver. Willeby—As before. Mutford—From their demand, and from our plea two things ​may be inferred. They demand the advowson of a chapel, &c. We say that we hold the advowson of a church, &c. Wherefore the view is necessary. Willeby — There is only a chapel in the town. Warr. — We cannot yield up what he demands, for we hold the advowson of a church, and at present we do not know if he demands the advowson of a chapel in that church, as we have seen in other cases, or if he mean to say that there is another chapel; and we pray the view, &c. And the Justices awarded the view, and he had it.

Robert de Clyderhou was the son of Jordan and Cecilia de Clyderhou,[5] from whom he probably inherited the manor of Bayley in the county of Lancaster. Like his predecessor Maunsell he was a man of some importance in the affairs of State and entrusted with several commissions by the Crown. By writ tested at York on 3rd June, 1312, he was summoned as a clerk of the council to the Parliament to be held at Lincoln on Sunday next after the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, 23rd July (6 Edw. II).[6] In 7 Edw. II. he paid a fine of five marks to the King for a renewal of the charter granted to John Maunsell;[7] and a charter of inspeximus, tested at New Minster on 7th June of that year, 1314, was accordingly granted by the said King to his beloved clerk Robert de Clyderhou and his successors, parsons of the church of Wigan, and the burgesses of the borough aforesaid, confirming the privileges before given to John Maunsell and his successors.[8] In 8 Edw. II. Robert de Clyderhou appears as the King's escheator, citra Trentam,[9] as also in 9 Edw. II., in which year he seems to have changed places with John Walewayn and taken the escheatorship ultra Trentam. In the following year they appear to have ​again changed places. In this year, on 22nd Sept. 1316 (10 Edw. II.), Robert de Clyderhou was empowered, with others, to make a new assessment of the fifteenth in the city of York.[10] On the following day, ix Kal. Oct. (23rd Sept.) 1316, as Dominus Rob. de Cliderhow, presbyter he was instituted to the rectory of Gargrave, in the deanery of Craven, on the presentation of the Abbot and Convent of Sallay.[11] But he did not hold it long, for his successor was instituted on 22nd April of the following year, 1317.

By writ tested at York, 8th June, 1319, and again by writ tested at Westminster, 5th June, 1320, he was ordered to cause all proceedings before him as Justice of assize, or otherwise, to be estreated into the Exchequer.[12] In 1322, 11th July, 16 Edw. II., he entered into his recognizances as one of the manucaptors for Gilbert de Haydok, on his discharge from imprisonment.[13]

His tenure under the Earl of Lancaster now brought him into opposition to the crown. Like most of the magnates of the county of Lancaster, he took part with the said earl and the barons against the King and his unpopular favourite Piers Gaveston; and after the fall of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Boroughbridge, and beheaded in April, 1321, his adherents were prosecuted for high treason.

Two years later, at Michaelmas, 1323, an inquisition was held before the King at Wigan, when the jury presented that Robert de Clyderhou, parson of the Church of Wigan, who had been for thirty years clerk of the King's chancery and afterwards Escheator citra Trentam, had sent to the assistance of the Earl of Lancaster, at his own expense, two men at arms with good equipments, namely, his son, Adam de Clyderhou, and John, son of John de Knolle, and with them four strong and powerful foot-soldiers, armed with swords, knives, and bows and arrows, and also that the said Robert had publicly preached in his church of Wigan on a certain holiday, when he told his parishioners that they were ​the liege men of the said Earl, and were therefore bound to serve him in his enterprise against the King, swearing that his cause was a just one, and that of the King unjust, and promising plenary absolution of all their sins to every one who would go to his assistance; and so he had caused many to take part against the King who would not otherwise have done so. The said Robert appeared in court and made answer for himself that he had on a certain holiday, in his preaching, asked his parishioners to pray for the King, the peace and good estate of the realm, and for the Earls and Barons of the kingdom, and that God would so order and dispose between them that the peace and tranquility of the realm might in all things be preserved. He denied that he had sent any men at arms or men on foot to the assistance of the said Earl against the King. And as to this he placed himself upon a jury of his country. The jury elected to try him consisted of Sir Baldwyn de Gynes and Sir John de Kyrkeby, knights, Gilbert de Scaresbrek, William de Coudray, Alan de Rikkeston, Robert de Saunky, William de Standissh, John de Cophull, John de Asshton, John Banestre del Bonk, John de Heskeyth and Adam Nowell, who said upon their oath that the aforesaid Robert de Clyderhou had sent to the said Earl the said two men at arms and four men on foot to the help of the same Earl against the King at the cost of the same Robert, and that he had preached in the church against the King, as had been presented. Therefore Robert was committed to prison. Afterwards Simon de Aluetham, Adam de Clyderhou, Richard, son of Henry de Clyderhou, Henry de Rysshton, Roger de Aspeden, Hugh de Pemberton, Richard de Ins juxta Wigan, John de Boulton, Adam de Pemberton, John de Cruce, John son of Hugh of Wigan, Henry Russell of Wigan and Robert de Huyton became manucaptors for his appearance at the King's Bench, on the Monday next after the Octaves of St. Martin, under a penalty of 1,000 marks, and also for the payment of his fine to the King. On which day the said Robert appeared and proffered a fine of ​£200 to the King for his transgression, which was accepted and his manucaptors were discharged.[14]

This sentence did not deprive him of his benefice, and in the next reign we find him justifying his conduct, in a petition to the King and his council, on the ground that he was assessed in Lancashire for the lands which he held there, and required to find, for the Earl of Lancaster, whenever he should go to war against the enemies of his country, a man mounted and armed. For doing this, and because he had caused prayers to be said in his church for the Earl of Lancaster and the other barons, that God would give them grace to maintain the crown and the peace of the realm against the plunderers of the land, he had been arraigned and sent to Nottingham whence he had been ransomed for 300 marks. In order to pay this he had been obliged to sell his land and pay 200 marks into the exchequer and 30 marks for the Queen's money, and Sir Robert de Leyburn, late Sheriff of Lancashire, who is now dead, had levied 300 marks of the said Robert to his great loss, for 200 of which he had an acquittance from the said Sheriff, but they are not yet paid into the exchequer. In a second petition he complains that whereas King Henry, the great grandfather of the present King, had granted to John Maunsell, late parson of the church of Wigan, by charter, two annual fairs, and a weekly market every Monday, with the customs appertaining thereto, of which the said Robert receives toll on market day, and amercements of emends of the assize of bread and beer, the burgesses, who are his tenants, come and hold a market among themselves, and with strangers, every day of the week, in diverse goods, although they be ill-gotten or stolen, and take toll for such merchandize and appropriate it to themselves, without any manner of charter or warrant. Also they make assay of bread and tasting of beer on every day of the week, except Monday, and take the amercements and profits thereof unwarrantably, by force and power, to the prejudice of the ​market of the said Robert and to the disinheritance of his church. The answer to the first of his petitions is that nothing can be done for his relief; and to the second that he must sue at common law.[15]

In 3 Edw. III. (1329) Robert de Clyderhou had a confirmation of the charter for a market and fair at Wigan.[16]

In the following year, 4 Edw. III. (1330), it appears from the return to an inquisition of ad quod damnum that it would not be to the King's hurt if Robert de Clyderhow, clerk, should give and concede to the Abbot of Cockersand the manor of Bayley, in the county of Lancaster, which he held of the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, by the rent of 3d. for all services, and of the Lady Isabella as of the honor of Cliderhow.[17] The said Robert de Clyderhou, Rector of Wigan, had previously built a chapel in his manor of Bayley, dedicated to St. John Baptist for the souls of the said Robert, Jordan de Clyderhou, and Cicely, his wife.[18]

In 7 Edw. III. (1333) Robert de Clyderhou, clerk, recovered his seisin against Adam, son of Hugh de Clyderhou, and John, son of Hugh de Clayton, of 36 acres of land, six acres of wood, six acres of meadow, and an eighth part of one mill, with the appurtenances, in Clyderhou and Dynkedeleye.[19] In the same year the first charter for paving the town of Wigan, and erecting a bridge over the Douglas, was obtained.[20] This brings us to the close of Robert de Clyderhou's life. He died on the Saturday next after the feast of Pernella (April 2), 1334.



  1. ↑ Lichfield Diocesan Register, Lib. I. fol. 96.
  2. ↑ Chetham Society Publications, vol. xcix. p. 96. By this marriage the advowson of the Church of Wigan passed to the Langtons.
  3. ↑ Lancashire and Cheshire Records vol. 8 p. 326. It was not in those days very unusual for two brothers to have the same Christian name.
  4. ↑ Rolls Edition, p. 338.
  5. ↑ Whittaker's Whalley, ed. of 1876, vol. ii. p. 83.
  6. ↑ Parliamentary Writs.
  7. ↑ Extract. Grossorum Finium, 7 Edw. II., Ro. 9 (Abb. Rot. Orig. vol. i. p. 207.)
  8. ↑ Wigan Borough Charters. Novum Monasterium, or New Minster, from whence this charter was dated, was situated in Northumberland. The King seems to have passed about a fortnight there and proceeded thence, about the middle of the month, to Berwick-on-Tweed.
  9. ↑ Abb. Rot. Orig. vol. i. p. 217.
  10. ↑ Parliamentary Writs.
  11. ↑ Whittaker's Hist. of Craven, 3rd edition, ed. by A. W. Morant, p. 231.
  12. ↑ Parliamentary Writs.
  13. ↑ Ibid.
  14. ↑ Rot. Plac. coram Rege Mich. 17 Edw. II. No. 65 (Parliamentary Writs, vol. ii. Div. ii. appendix, p. 240)
  15. ↑ Rot. Parl. vol. ii. p. 406.
  16. ↑ Baines' Hist. Lanc., vol. iii. p. 533, from Rot. Chart., 3 Edw. III., p. 14.
  17. ↑ Whittaker's Whalley, vol. ii. p. 471.
  18. ↑ Ibid.
  19. ↑ Abb. Rot. Orig, vol. ii. p. 82.
  20. ↑ Baines' Hist. Lanc. vol. iii. p. 533.

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