Wood Plumpton. In the Domesday Book Pluntun is entered as comprising two carucates of arable land. Robert de Stokeport died possessed of the manor in 1248, and his daughter and heiress married Nicholas de Eton as her first husband, and John de Arderne as her second. Robert de Eton, a descendant of her first marriage, obtained Wood Plumpton in 1340. Cecily de Stokeport, heiress of the Etons, conveyed the manor to Sir Edward Warren, of Poynton, in which family it remained until transferred, in 1777, to Viscount Thomas James Bulkeley on his marriage with Elizabeth Harriet, only child of Sir George Warren. The Bulkeley property ultimately passed to the Fleming-Leycesters, whence Lord de Tabley obtained the lordship. Charles Birley, esq., of Bartle Hall, is the present possessor of the manor. Wood Plumpton Hall was anciently the seat of the Warrens, whilst Ambrose Hall was occupied by a family of the same name, from which descended the Rev. Isaac Ambrose, who was ejected from Garstang by the Act of Uniformity. Richard Ambrose, of Ambrose Hall, left a son and heir, William, who married the daughter of — Curwen of Lancaster, and had issue a son, Nicholas. Nicholas Ambrose espoused Jane, daughter of John Singleton, of Gingle Hall, Lancashire, and left six sons and a daughter, the eldest of whom, William, resided at Ambrose Hall in 1567, and was twice married, first to Anne, widow of Lawrence Cotham, of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, and after her decease to Margaret, widow of Sir Richard Houghton. Flower's heraldic visitation, from which the foregoing is extracted, was made in in 1567, and consequently the pedigree cannot be traced further.
The church of Wood Plumpton is very ancient, being probably in existence during the earlier years of the 14th century. It was rebuilt in 1630, and has subsequently undergone numerous alterations, consisting now of nave, chancel, and two aisles. The communion table has the date and initials "W. A. 1635" upon it, and a beam in the roof is carved with the year "1639." An organ was obtained in 1849. The principal window, the gift of R. Waterworth, esq., of Preston, is beautifully emblazoned, in addition to which there are several other richly stained windows. A handsome monument of marble, representing a sailor mourning, is situated in the north aisle, and was erected in memory of Henry Foster, R.N., F.R.S., son of a former incumbent who was
