Astley Hall

  The C onservation work continues at Astley Hall, though currently shrouded in plastic sheeting, as the work progresses under the careful management of “Bullen Conservation” A quick peep through a gap in the plastic shrouding reveals the stucco rendering has been removed revealing the 18 th century brickwork beneath and a chat with one of the craftsmen on site confirms that the brick is laid in English Garden Wall Bond. This pattern of brick work was rarely used outside the North of England and sometimes even used occasionally on garden walls. The Charnock family. had held land in the area since the 12 th century and when their home in Charnock Richard was damaged by fire in the 16 th century they moved to Astley then on the far boundaries of their lands. Locally this pattern was also used on other two properties that would originally have been on the boundaries of the Astley Estate and certainly within the original holdings of the Charnock family. Toy Farm Spout Hous

  During the 12 th  century the Chernoc’s were one of the important Lancashire families, living in the village of Chernoc to which Richard added his own baptismal name to distinguish it from the nearby Heath Chernoc.  Over the centuries both names changed in spelling to Charnock as until the introduction of Dr Johnson’s dictionary in 1755 spelling was not fixed.  Scribes recording deeds would write them as they heard them, often changes occurred because of local accents. The Chernoc family later moved to Astley Hall. The name Richard or Ricardus, as it was written in the Medieval Latin of these documents, derived via Old French from an early Germanic language and is composed of ‘Ric’ meaning ruler, or king and ‘Hardu’ signifying ’strong or brave’ thus ‘strong ruler’. Several of these documents have been preserved in the Lancashire Archive in Preston and in Oxford’s Bodlieian Library.   One of the most fascinating deeds records the gift of the Chernoc estate ‘in soul alms’ to the Knight