Historic non listed buildings
Listing a building can cause many issues especially is an owner wishes to change the vuilding in some way. Therefore a great deal of te historic buildings in the village do not having a listing.
This section of the website gives some background to these buildings. Click on the title to take you to the relevant sub page
Leckonby House
This was once known as Eccleston House to distinguish it from Great Eccleston hall. It always played second fiddle to the Hall. It used to be a much grander mansion forming 3 sides of a rectangle. In 1643 it was besieged by the Earl of Derby and his troops; who fired cannon balls at the house, some of which have been recovered nearby.
In the late 18th Century the house was damaged by a fire meaning that the present house and the adjoining one were originally mostly the stable block. Thw 'new' house was commissioned by Emma Phipps in 1754 and was built by Richard Leckonby. The initials of the original owner Richard Leckonby and those of his wife can be seen on the Leckonby Street side of the house.
Richard was declared bankrupt in July 1762 at the court of sessions in Lancaster Castle and was imprisoned at the Castle and died there in 1783. When Richard died in 1796 he was buried at St Michael's. Four years after his death fire again destroyed most of the house. When Richard's grandaughter married in 1804 the Leckonby line died out.
The original house was an imposing structure forming 3 sides of a quadrangle with the fourth side being a set of gates in the centre of a low wall. The South wing was a stable block which contains the incribed plaque on the wall. Opposite the gates was a large bowling green wich was part of the Blowling Greem Inn.
As the families who owned the hall were Roman Catholics there are a number of Priest Holes in the building.
Cross House, Great Eccleston
According to records this house was occupied in 1332 by the White family. By 1591, as Roman catholics they were listed in the 'Recusant Rolls'.
By 1600 we see from the Exchequer records that Nicholas White inhabits Cross House, having inherited the property from his father William. According to these records th owner of Cross house also was the receiver of the tithes of St Michaels. It was stated in the records that the original owners of Cross House were Magdalen College, Battlefield, with the house being leased from Richard Hussey the master of Magdelen College.
In the 1800s the white family sold the house and it became a farmhouse, namely Cross House Farm. At this time people started seeing an apparition of the 'white lady' looking out of a small window in the attic which overlooked the garden. This sometimes is accompanied by strange and unaccountable noises.
Near the farmhouse is the base of an ancient roadside cross. This was a resting stone for the coffin during fineral processions. Other parts of the Fylde have similar crosses. high Cross and Low Cross in hardhorn were both used to rest the coffin when funeralsprocessions were taking the coffin from places like Staining to St Chad's in Poulon.
It was said that the base of the cross at Cross House filled with water after heavy rain and people used to wash their hands in the water which would cure many ailments.
As the families who owned the hall were Roman Catholics there are a number of Priest Holes in the building.
Great Eccleston Hall
This was originally a moated hall and parts of the moat can still be seen. The first mention of the Hall was in 1332 when it was owned by the Eccleston family. This small hall was sold in 1592 to Thomas Stanley who was a descendent of Lord Derby. The family lived there until 1715 when it was forfeit to the crown as a penalty for High Treason by Thomas Stanley. the hall then was bought by Thomas westby. Thomas Stanley also owned the watermill at Larbreck.
The hall had an underground passage leading to White Hill farm. even though it was bricked up in 1857 the entrances both in the cellarage of the buildings can still be seen. On the 23rd June 1828 it was sold by auction by William seed. The auction catalogue stated it was a simple farm, consisting of farmhouse and buildings and 168 acres.
In 1893 the owner Dr Thomas Fisher offered the hall as a cottage hospital for small pox patients. This lasted for 197 days and was known as the Great Eccleston Smallpox Hospital. Seven people were infected in Great Eccleston and two had died.
As the families who owned the hall were Roman Catholics there are a number of Priest Holes in the building.
Great Eccleston Independent Roman Catholic Mission
This was set up in a thatched house in Raikes. it is believed that this house was opposite the old post office and is one of the oldest houses to still survive in the village. The house is built on four corner stones and is built out of stones and straw held together by cow dung. The original priest was William Caton. Even though the origins of the mission are lost in the mists of time there is a record in 1701 of William Caton having now been trained and ordained in rome returned to the priesthood in the mission. By 1872 the mission had moved and the house had become an outhouse.