Historical names: Aighton (Manor) | Bailey (Manor) | Chaigley (Manor)
Location: Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire
Places / associated places: Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 53.845, -2.475
Identity: confirmed — The record is the composite medieval and early-modern manorial complex of Aighton, with Bailey and Chaigley as associated or component manors in the same Lancashire township. The historical evidence links the principal Shireburn interest to Stonyhurst, while Bailey Hall represents a separate associated manor-house centre. This matches the supplied alternative names, registry location, Shireburn court and rental records, and the 1733 map explicitly titled as a map of the Manor of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley.
Representative point: 53.84500, -2.47500
Basis: documented_manor_house — Stonyhurst was a late-medieval house and the principal Shireburn manorial and estate centre in Aighton. Historic England records the site as a medieval house, later rebuilt by the Shireburns; the historical account identifies Stonyhurst as representing the old Shireburn manor in Aighton.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early eighteenth-century manorial complex; a 1733 map documents the manor's mapped extent.
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The surviving online evidence establishes that a dedicated 1733 map and field book of the Manor of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley existed, and contemporary descriptions distinguish the component areas: Aighton around Stonyhurst extending toward the Hodder and Ribble, Bailey west of Dean Brook, and Chaigley north of Longridge Fell toward the Hodder and Yorkshire border. However, the accessible evidence does not provide enough georeferenced boundary detail to reconstruct a defensible historical manorial polygon without substituting the later civil-parish boundary or guessing parcel limits.
Sources:
- Historic England, Stonyhurst College, NHLE 1000953: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000953/ — Identifies Stonyhurst in Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley; records the estate's Shireburn ownership and the site's late-medieval origins, later Shireburn rebuilding, and historic parkland.
- Historic England Research Records, Stonyhurst College, HOB UID 43661: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=19191&uid=43661 — Records Stonyhurst as a late-fourteenth- or early-fifteenth-century medieval house and states that John de Bailey, ancestor of the later Shireburn family, was seated there; gives the historic grid reference SD6906139055.
- Newdigate, The Chantry of St John Baptist at Bailey: https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/68-8-Newdigate.pdf — Describes Bailey as a hamlet or vill associated with Aighton, identifies Bailey Hall as the old manor-house, and states that Stonyhurst represents the old manor of the Shireburns in Aighton; gives historical township divisions and approximate area.
- Rea, The Rental and Accounts of Sir Richard Shireburne: https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/110-4-Rea.pdf — Describes Stonyhurst as Sir Richard Shireburn's great house and gives the historical arrangement of the three areas: Aighton around Stonyhurst extending toward the Hodder and Ribble, Bailey west of Dean Brook, and Chaigley north of Longridge Fell toward the Hodder and Yorkshire border.
- Lancashire Archives / National Archives catalogue lead, DP 225: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14339263 — The supplied catalogue record identifies a 1733 field book for the Manor of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley; related archival descriptions identify the associated 1733 manor map surveyed for the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk by Joseph Dickinson.
- Forest of Bowland AONB, Deer Parks in the Forest of Bowland: Appendices: https://www.forestofbowland.com/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?fid=1131 — Identifies DP 225 as the field book of the Manor of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley surveyed for the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and notes the associated manor survey material.
- Historic England, Chaigley Manor, NHLE 1146892: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1146892 — Confirms the historical place-name and manor-house location within the same composite township, while also showing that the surviving listed Chaigley Manor house is a nineteenth-century building and not sufficient by itself to define the medieval manor boundary.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The record concerns a composite manorial complex with divided medieval interests, not necessarily one compact estate polygon.
- The 1733 manor map and field book are strong evidence that a historical extent was mapped, but no accessible georeferenced copy or sufficiently detailed online boundary transcription was found.
- The representative point is anchored on the documented Stonyhurst medieval/manorial centre, not on the modern civil-parish centre.
- Bailey Hall is an associated old manor-house centre approximately two miles southwest of Stonyhurst, but the principal Shireburn interest and the strongest evidence for the supplied Aighton Manor identity are centred at Stonyhurst.
About the Manor
Aighton Manor was the principal medieval manor in the township later known as Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, Lancashire. Chaigley was originally included within Aighton, with its lords holding it, while Bailey was closely associated with Aighton and was separately accounted a manor in some medieval records. The manor complex included the Shireburn family estate centred on Stonyhurst and the Bailey Hall manor-house. Medieval evidence records divided or shared interests in Aighton, including a moiety associated with the Shireburn family and a quarter part held of the Harrington interest. The descent cannot be reconstructed continuously for every medieval generation, but by the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley manors were held within the Shireburn estate. Shireburn court rolls survive for the manors in the seventeenth century. The composite estate passed through the Shireburn inheritance to the Howard and Weld families after the death of Sir Nicholas Shireburn in 1717. Chaigley, treated as a component of the Aighton complex, was reported as sold to William Winstanley about 1840.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely identifiable interests are medieval and were divided among the Mitton, Shireburn, Bailey, Harrington and other families. In 1349 John son of Walter de Bailey obtained a moiety of Aighton from William de Shireburne, and the interest was settled on him and his male issue in 1361. In the same year Sir Richard de Shireburne granted a moiety of Aighton to Richard son of John son of Walter de Bailey, Jordan de Bailey chaplain and Ralph son of Robert de Bailey. A 1362 grant by Cecily and Emma de Mitton conveyed lands in Aighton and Chaigley to their cousin John de Bailey, but the precise relationship of that grant to the several manorial shares is not fully clear. An inquisition associated with John de Bailey's death in 1391 records him holding a quarter part of Aighton of Nicholas Harrington, subject to a rent of 60 shillings and military service. The Shireburne family subsequently held the principal Stonyhurst-based interest; the medieval descent is not continuous in the surviving online evidence, although Richard Shireburne is recorded as succeeding to the Stonyhurst estate in 1391 and the Shireburn line continued to possess the Aighton-related estate. Sir Richard Shireburne acquired or consolidated further local interests during the sixteenth century, including the settlement of a long-standing Harrington or Mounteagle rent in 1576. In 1647 Richard Shireburne made a settlement or conveyance involving the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley and other estates. Chaigley was expressly reported as sold to Richard Shireburne in 1655, after which it descended with Stonyhurst. Shireburn court records from 1652 to 1665 expressly describe Richard Shireburne as lord of the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley. Sir Nicholas Shireburn succeeded to the consolidated estate before 1690 and died in 1717. The estates then passed through his daughter Mary, wife of Thomas Howard, eighth Duke of Norfolk, and subsequently through the Weld family. The online evidence is insufficient to establish a complete post-1754 descent of every component of the composite manor. The report that Chaigley was sold to William Winstanley about 1840 concerns the Chaigley component and should not automatically be treated as a conveyance of the whole Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley manor.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
6 records found · showing 1–6.
1733-1733: field book, with Bailey and Chaigley
Held by: Lancashire Archives
Further information: NRA 3510 Lancs RO misc
1662-1662: rental, with other manors (part of Blackburn wapentake court roll)
Held by: Manchester Archives and Local Studies
Further information: NRA 17338 Dr Farrer
1651-1665: book of court rolls, with other manors (photocopy, 61 pages)
Held by: Lancashire Archives
Further information: NRA 3510 Lancs RO misc
1651-1665: court leet book, with other manors
Held by: Stonyhurst College
Further information: NRA 22957 Stonyhurst College
1571-1577: rental, with other manors
Held by: Stonyhurst College
Further information: NRA 22957 Stonyhurst College
1568-1568: rental, with other manors
Held by: Lancashire Archives
Further information: NRA 103
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: John son of Walter de Bailey
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 14 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
John son of Walter de Bailey, landholder of Aighton, of the Bailey family
Transfer: Obtained a moiety of the manor of Aighton from William de Shireburne in 1349; the interest was settled upon him and his male issue in 1361.
Holding arrangement: Share — one moiety
Shared holding: Bailey moiety of Aighton
Previous holder: William de Shireburne
The Victoria County History states that John son of Walter de Bailey obtained a moiety of Aighton from William de Shireburne in 1349 and that this was settled upon him and his male issue in 1361. This is a direct manorial conveyance, but it represents only a moiety rather than the whole manor.
Source: William Farrer and J. Brownbill, A History of the County of Lancaster, volume 7, 1912, pp. 3-4, discussion of Aighton and the Shireburne and Bailey interests; citing Kuerden MSS, iii, A 3, nos. 65 and 966. — source link
Richard son of John son of Walter de Bailey, Jordan de Bailey chaplain, and Ralph son of Robert de Bailey, joint grantees of a moiety of Aighton
Transfer: Sir Richard de Shireburne granted a moiety of the manor of Aighton to the named grantees.
Holding arrangement: Joint — one moiety
Shared holding: Joint feoffees of the Shireburne moiety
Previous holder: Sir Richard de Shireburne
A 1361 grant by Sir Richard de Shireburne placed a moiety of Aighton in the hands of Richard son of John son of Walter de Bailey, Jordan de Bailey chaplain and Ralph son of Robert de Bailey. The record does not establish the subsequent legal disposition of each grantee's interest, so no later transfer is inferred.
Source: William Farrer and J. Brownbill, A History of the County of Lancaster, volume 7, 1912, pp. 3-4, citing Kuerden MSS, iii, A 3, no. 72. — source link
Transfer: Cecily and Emma de Mitton granted lands in Aighton and Chaigley to their cousin John de Bailey. The grant is associated with the Stonyhurst and Bailey interests, but the precise extent of the manorial interest conveyed is not fully stated in the accessible evidence.
Holding arrangement: Other
Shared holding: Mitton grant associated with Stonyhurst and Bailey
Previous holder: Cecily de Mitton and Emma de Mitton
The accessible historical material records a 1362 grant by Cecily and Emma de Mitton of lands in Aighton and Chaigley to their cousin John de Bailey. Because the surviving online summary does not specify whether the grant conveyed the whole manor, a share, or particular lands held of the manor, it is recorded as an associated land conveyance rather than as an assumed conveyance of the entire manor.
Source: Summary of the Aighton and Stonyhurst descent based on the Whalley Coucher and related medieval evidence; corroborated by the discussion of the Bailey and Shireburne interests in the Victoria County History. — source link
Transfer: Holding evidenced at his inquisition post mortem: a quarter part of the manor of Aighton held of Nicholas Harrington, subject to a yearly rent of 60 shillings and military service. The preceding conveyance is not established.
Holding arrangement: Share — one quarter part
Shared holding: Aighton quarter held of the Harrington interest
The inquisition evidence establishes John de Bailey as holder of a quarter part of Aighton in 1391. It also demonstrates a superior or mesne Harrington interest, since the quarter was held of Nicholas Harrington. This should not be conflated with sole ownership of the whole manor.
Source: Abstract of the inquisition post mortem of John de Bailey, dated 23 September 1391, as summarized from Towneley abstracts and discussed in the Aighton material; compare William Farrer and J. Brownbill, A History of the County of Lancaster, volume 7, 1912. — source link
Richard Shireburne, esquire, lord of the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
Transfer: Succeeded to the Stonyhurst and associated Aighton interest after the death of his grandfather John de Bailey in 1391; the accessible evidence does not specify the precise legal instrument or whether all Aighton shares passed at that time.
Holding arrangement: Other
Shared holding: Stonyhurst-Shireburne interest in Aighton
Previous holder: John de Bailey, holder of a quarter part of Aighton
The Stonyhurst descent identifies Richard Shireburne as succeeding to the estate after John de Bailey's death in 1391. The evidence securely links him to the Aighton/Stonyhurst interest, but the precise extent of the manor held by him and the legal form of the succession are not fully stated. The entry therefore avoids treating the succession as proof that he acquired every medieval share of Aighton.
Source: Victoria County History, Lancashire, volume 7, 1912, pp. 3-4; associated discussion of the Bailey and Shireburne succession and the Stonyhurst estate. — source link
John Holden and the Holden family, principal family and local estate holders at Chaigley
Transfer: The Holden family is documented as the principal family at Chaigley, whose estate was regarded as a manor. In 1655 Chaigley was sold to Richard Shireburne; the intervening legal instruments are not identified in the accessible source.
Shared holding: Holden estate at Chaigley
Previous holder: Earlier Chaigley holders associated with the Aighton manor complex
Chaigley was originally included in Aighton, but the Holden family developed a substantial estate there which was regarded as a manor. John Holden is documented in deeds from 1468 to 1491, and another John Holden died in 1687 holding a capital messuage in Chaigley. The source specifically reports the sale of Chaigley to Richard Shireburne in 1655, but does not provide a continuous descent or identify every intervening holder.
Source: Historic England Research Record Monument 43808, quoting Victoria County History, Lancashire, volume 7, 1912, p. 15, and Edward Baines, History of the County and Duchy of Lancaster, volume 3, 1835, p. 371. — source link
Sir Richard Shireburne, knight, of Stonyhurst, captain of the Isle of Man, sheriff of Lancashire in 1613-1614
Transfer: Consolidated or defended the Shireburn interest in Aighton; in 1576 he compounded with Lord Mounteagle for a 60-shilling free rent representing the continuing Harrington interest. His direct possession of the Stonyhurst-based Aighton estate is also documented in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Shared holding: Shireburn estate at Stonyhurst
Previous holder: Harrington or Mounteagle superior interest in part of Aighton
The 1576 transaction is evidence of Sir Richard Shireburne's consolidation of the Aighton interest against a surviving Harrington or Mounteagle rent. It is not described as a purchase of the entire manor, so the entry records the documented manorial interest without overstating the legal effect.
Source: A History of the County of Lancaster, volume 7, 1912, pp. 3-4, discussion of the Harrington interest and Sir Richard Shireburne's 1576 composition with Lord Mounteagle; corroborated by the Forest of Bowland documentary appendix. — source link
Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst, esquire
Transfer: Settlement or conveyance to Henry Blundell of Preston and Richard Shireburne of Buckley, gentlemen, expressly including the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley together with other manors and lands.
Holding arrangement: Joint
Shared holding: Settlement grantees or feoffees of the Shireburne manors
Previous holder: Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst, esquire
A Lancashire record dated 9 February 1647/8 describes a transaction from Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst to Henry Blundell of Preston and Richard Shireburne of Buckley. The instrument expressly names the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley. The accessible catalogue description does not state whether the grantees held beneficially or as trustees, so the entry records the parties and labels the holding as joint rather than inferring a trust.
Source: Lancashire documentary appendix, QDD/49/F9, deed dated 9 February 1647/8, Richard Sherborne of Stonyhurst to Henry Blundell and Richard Sherborne; the deed expressly lists the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley. — source link
Richard Shireburne, esquire, lord of the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
Transfer: Continuing lordship evidenced by court rolls for the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley; no separate conveyance is asserted.
Shared holding: Shireburn court lordship
The Shireburn court-roll book contains courts for Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley from the Commonwealth and Restoration periods. A 30 September 1652 entry describes the court leet as that of Richard Shireburne, esquire, of his manor of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley. This is direct evidence of manorial lordship but does not identify the preceding conveyance.
Source: Lancashire Record Office, P/128, copy of the Shireburn court-roll book for 1650-1665; summarized in the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire material on the Shireburn rental and related local records. — source link
Richard Shireburne, esquire, lord of the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
Transfer: Purchased the Chaigley component from Thomas Brockholes of Claughton and Chaigley, according to the historical account of Chaigley.
Shared holding: Chaigley added to the Shireburn estate
Previous holder: Thomas Brockholes of Claughton and Chaigley
Chaigley was originally part of Aighton, but the Holden and Brockholes estate at Chaigley had a distinct descent. The source expressly states that Thomas Brockholes of Claughton and Chaigley sold Chaigley to Richard Shireburne in 1655. From that time the Chaigley component descended with Stonyhurst. This entry records only the Chaigley component, not a new purchase of the entire composite manor.
Source: Historic England Research Record Monument 43808, quoting Victoria County History, Lancashire, volume 7, 1912, p. 15. — source link
Sir Nicholas Shireburn, 1st Baronet, 1st Baronet of Stonyhurst, lord of the Shireburn manors
Transfer: Succeeded to the Shireburn estate and made a settlement of Aighton, Bailey and other manors on succeeding.
Shared holding: Shireburn consolidated estate
Previous holder: Richard Shireburne, esquire, lord of the manors of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
The Victoria County History states that Richard Shireburne's elder son Richard died without issue in 1690 and that the younger son Nicholas succeeded. It further records a settlement of Aighton and other manors made by Sir Nicholas on succeeding. The precise date and terms of the settlement are not available in the accessible summary, so the start date is given as 1690 rather than an exact conveyance date.
Source: William Farrer and J. Brownbill, A History of the County of Lancaster, volume 7, 1912, pp. 15-16, discussion of the Shireburne succession and settlement; citing Lancashire Feet of Fines, Palatinate of Lancaster, plea and settlement records. — source link
Mary Shireburne, wife of Thomas Howard, eighth Duke of Norfolk, Duchess of Norfolk, daughter and heir of Sir Nicholas Shireburn
Transfer: Inherited the Shireburn estate as the only surviving child of Sir Nicholas Shireburn after his death in 1717; the Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley manors passed with the estate.
Shared holding: Howard inheritance of the Shireburn estate
Previous holder: Sir Nicholas Shireburn, 1st Baronet, 1st Baronet of Stonyhurst, lord of the Shireburn manors
After Sir Nicholas Shireburn died in 1717 without a surviving male heir, his only daughter Mary inherited the estate. She had married Thomas Howard, eighth Duke of Norfolk, in 1709. Sources describe the Shireburn estate, including Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, as passing through this marriage until Mary's death in 1754. The exact legal form of the couple's ownership is not specified in the accessible evidence.
Source: Historic England, Stonyhurst College registered park and garden, entry 1000953; Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Shireburn rental discussion. — source link
Edward Weld and the Weld family, Weld heir of the Shireburn estate
Transfer: The Shireburn estate, including the Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley interests, passed through the heirs of Elizabeth Shireburn, sister of Sir Nicholas, who had married William Weld. The precise conveyance date and the exact division among Weld heirs are not established in the accessible evidence.
Holding arrangement: Other
Shared holding: Weld inheritance of the Shireburn estate
Previous holder: Mary Shireburne, Duchess of Norfolk
After Mary, Duchess of Norfolk, died in 1754, the Shireburn estate passed to the heirs of her aunt Elizabeth Shireburn, who had married William Weld of Lulworth. Edward Weld is identified in the antiquarian account as the first Weld heir to inherit the property. The evidence supports the Weld succession of the estate but does not provide a complete conveyance history for the whole composite manor.
Source: James Croston, Nooks and Corners of Lancashire and Cheshire, discussion of the Shireburn inheritance; corroborated by Historic England's Stonyhurst registered-park entry. — source link
William Winstanley, purchaser of the Chaigley estate or component
Transfer: Chaigley was sold to William Winstanley about 1840 after descending with Stonyhurst. The source concerns the Chaigley component only and does not establish a sale of the entire Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley manor.
Shared holding: Later Chaigley component
Previous holder: Weld or Shireburn-derived estate holder
The historical account of Chaigley states that after its 1655 acquisition by Richard Shireburne it descended like Stonyhurst until about 1840, when it was sold to William Winstanley. Because the statement is specifically about Chaigley, it cannot safely be generalized to the entire composite manor record.
Source: Historic England Research Record Monument 43808, quoting Victoria County History, Lancashire, volume 7, 1912, p. 15. — source link
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