Tudors
1485 - 1603


During the reign of the Tudor king Henry VIII a subsidy was made upon Prestwich, again to pay towards the war with the French. The returns from 1524 show amongst others the following names :-

Nicholas Holland;
John Radcliffe;
Thom Tonge;
Gilbt Langley;
Frawse Scolles;
and an entry for Wilton Hall (not Heaton Hall until 1682 so what's this ?)

The Parish Church of St Mary was invested in heavily and in 1500, shortly after the War of the Roses , the church tower of St Mary's was built on the instructions of the Earl of Derby.

The ecclesiastical commission of 1552 during the reign of Edward VI , listed the following as Commssioners of Prestwich :-

Sir Edward Trafford;
Sir John Holcroft;
and Sir Thomas Holt .

About 1520, Agnes Langley, daughter of John Langley of Agecroft , also niece of Thomas Langley ( rector 1507-1515) and great-niece of Ralph Langley ( rector 1493-1495) founded the Southern chantry, now the Lever Chapel in St Marys

1532 saw Eleanor, widow of Robert Langley of Agecroft request burial in the new Chantry, and bequeathed money for a priest to pray daily for one year. By 1548 a priest by the name of John Hall was serving the Langley Chantry, succeeded upon his death by a Lawrence Wallwork.

In 1550, a dispute erupted over the Mill in Prestwich. It was followed by an agreement for an exchange of lands, made by Sir Robert Langley of Agecroft and Thomas Holland; among other things the former was bound to safeguard the Holland lands 'which might hereafter be hurted by the course of the water of Irwell by means of the erection of the weir therein made by the said Sir Robert, that is to wit, from two roods above the "Head of Holme" to the lowest end of the lands which the said Thomas now exchanges'; Agecroft D. no. 118.From: 'Townships: Clifton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 404-06.

In 1561 the last in the line of the Langley family, Sir Robert Langley, died leaving the manor to his daughter Margaret , wife of John Reddish and so it became part of the Reddish Estates.

Sir Robert also left part of the manor - now known as Polefield - to one of his other (three) daughters, Dorothy

The Chantry in St Marys became part of the Alkrington Estate during this division, and subsequently bought by the Lever family in 1630

In the late 1500's the Coke family (see Middle Ages ) bought Agecroft from the Langley family.


Feel free to suggest articles/corrections by E-mailing me here