"1797.
"Apr. 18. Ordered that the curates of Lund, Warton, Ribby, and Singleton shall not exceed 2 qts. of wine each day they administer the sacrament until further orders."
The first church of Kirkham is commonly said to have been
erected by the Saxons on Mill Hill, and subsequently rebuilt on
its present site, but as this statement is unsupported by any more
reliable evidence than tradition, we give it simply for what it is
worth. The earliest authentic word of Kirkham church is in
1512, when the edifice was in part rebuilt; and at that time, and
doubtless for centuries before, it occupied the same situation as
to-day. After the alterations and renewals had been completed,
the building comprised a nave, chancel, and side aisles, separated
by stone pillars, on which rested pointed arches. At the west
end of the church, throughout its entire width, was erected a
gallery, another of less extent being placed at the east end for
the accommodation of the organ. The north aisle contained a
small gallery belonging to the ffrance family, the private chapel
of the Westbys of Mowbreck, and a spacious room or vestry, in
which the "Thirty-men" held their meetings. In the south aisle
was located the private oratory of the Cliftons, of Westby and
Clifton. The chancel extended the width of the nave and south
aisle, and in 1780 the Clifton chapel was, with the consent of its
proprietor, enclosed within the communion rails. The reading
desk stood against the central pillar of the north side of the nave,
and immediately above it was placed the pulpit. The north wall
was low, and contained several large windows. The whole of
the building, with the exception of the chancel, which possessed a
double-gabled roof, was covered in by a single roof, which slanted
from the south to the north wall, and was pierced at each end
with dormer windows. The main entrance was protected by a
massive porch.
The tower was probably erected but little later, if not, indeed, at the time the church was rebuilding, as appears from the will here quoted, bearing the date 29th of July, 1512:—"I, Cuthbert Clifton, Squyer, desire to be buryed at Kirkham in the tombe where Rychard Clifton, my great grandfather was buryed; I bequeath £6 13s. 4d. towards buyldyng of the steple of the saide churche."
