MORETON - OLD HALL FARM |
Old Hall Farm, at 19
Barnston Lane, Moreton, has a house plate W inscribed D M the initials
standing for Daniel and Mary Wilson 1719.(right) Daniel Wilson was one
of the sons of Robert Wilson of Bidston Hall.“ Robert Wilson was a
Presbyterian,“ and in I672 his house was licensed as a place for
religious meetings.“ Towards the end of the reign of Charles II a troop
of horse searched Bidston Hall for arms, and there or at other places in
the district seized 122 guns, pistols, etc.” At this time Daniel Wilson
would be a youth of seventeen, for he was christened at Bidston on 11th
]uly 1666.
Barnston Lane was originally Chapel Lane |
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2013 image |
He obtained a license on 15th September, 1688, to marry Mary Ensdale of
Meols, and the baptism of his first child, Robert, took place on 18th
August, 1689. The entry in the Bidston Register giving the latter piece
of information is made in a different hand-writing along the margin of
the page, evidently at a later date, and according to W. F. Irvine, ‘The
explanation is probably that since Daniel Wilson was at this time a
Presbyterian he had his children baptised at the Chapel in Upton, but
after his father’s death in 1697 he conformed to the Establishment and
entered the dates of the births of his children in the Register with his
own hand.“ Confirmation of this theory is to be found in the fact that
although Daniel’s father left £5 to the poor of Bidston by his will of
1697 the money was not paid to the churchwarden by Daniel and his
brother until 3rd March, 1708.
In the Bidston Register for the year 1689 Daniel Wilson is described as
‘of Lingham. Later he moved into Moreton Village and built himself the
house in Barnston Lane.
The oldest parts of this house, judging by the
thickness of the walls, appear to be the
section against the road, the wing at right
angles to this, and the part which in former days was probably the barn.
One of the oak beams in an upstairs room seems to have come from a
building of wattle and daub construction. This building may have been
the original one on the site.
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Daniel Wilson’s father, Robert, died in 1697 and left Daniel amongst
other property a share in two mills, one being Bidston Mill. (below) Daniel’s
mother, Ellen, by her will of the year 1703, gave to her daughter Hannah
three cows, and if any of them be not of profit for the pail then Daniel
and his brothers had to replace them. As for Daniel, he was to have the
big new bed and the two boulsters that are in the Wainscot Chamber, a
watch, some silver spoons and a pair of best large flaxen sheets.
In his own will, dated 21st November, I737,
Daniel Wilson is referred to as a husbandman. He left two acres of land
in Saughan New Carr to his son Jeremiah. Four other fields known as the
Two Guffits Ovens, Holmsich and Marled Heaps, were to be sold to pay his
debts. The residue of his estate at Moreton he gave to his grandson,
Thomas, who would probably become, therefore, the next owner of the
house in Barnston Lane. Thomas Wilson’s name appears very infrequently
in the records. He is mentioned in the Moreton list of those who paid
Land Tax in 1765.“ In his will bearing the date 11th March 1776 he
arranged for the sale of Two Pasture Gates which were his share of
land enclosed at Moreton. |
Bidston |
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He added, however, that should the encroachment of
the sea make this impossible another field was to be substituted. He gave
a shilling apiece to the poor of Moreton and directed that at his
funeral he should be carried by twelve men who were to have two
shillings each for their trouble. Thomas Wilson seems to have been a man
of some culture, for amongst his possessions were three books: Matthews
Exposition of the Pentateuch, Salmon’s History of the World, and
Stackhouse’s History of the Bible.
Thomas Wilson did not leave any children, so
that his property at Moreton passed to his sister Gatharine Gardener
thus severing the connection between the house in Barnston Lane and the
name of Wilson.
Bidston Mill (left) once part owned by Daniel Wilson
This image Sept 2009 |
Old Hall Farm is still
standing at 19 Barnston Lane and now houses offices. Sadly it cannot be
listed as unauthorised modernisation and changes were conducted in the
past, negating any chance of being listed and preserved any further.
Inside it boasts a Tudor style grate and Jacobean ceiling, Further
additions had been added at a later date. |
Image: Tony Franks-Buckley April 2015 |
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In this painting of The
Farmers Arms, Chapel Lane (now Barnston Lane) clearly visible in the
rear is Old Hall Farm. |
Chapel Lane, later
Barnston Lane (right) Showing Old Hall Farm.
Garden Lane runs off to the right |
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