Sir Piers Legh, of Lyme

Peter Legh (Leigh), V, Knight @ find a grave

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Sir Piers Leigh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe was born circa 1455 at of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England.2

He was the son of Piers Leigh & Mabel Croft.

He and Ellen Savage obtained a marriage license in 1467; Date of Dispensation. They had 4 sons (Peter, John, Gowther, & Richard) and 3 daughters (including Margaret & Alice).

supporting data

Of Lyme,
Knight and priest Peter (or Piers) Legh (V), Knt., of Lyme in Handley, co. Chester, and of Haydock, in the parish of Winwick, co. Lancaster, d. 11 Aug. 1527 at Lyme aforesaid, and buried at Winwick, co. Lancaster. According to Faris,-in his earlier life he followed the profession of arms, and was present at the siege of Berwick, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV. He was described in the 1580 Visitation of Cheshire as Piers Leigh who after was a Preist. [He and his wife] had three sons and one daughter. She died in 1492. He then entered into holy orders.

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The Church of St. Mary-the-Virgin, Disley, stands among trees, 700 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pennines. It is a building of great beauty and immense historical interest and as such is greatly valued by its present congregation and the residents of Disley. Of even greater importance is the fact that it has been a place of prayer for over 450 years which can be sensed in the peace and tranquillity of its interior and in the life and celebration of its Sunday and weekday services.

Its founder, Sir Piers Legh of Lyme and Haydock, born in 1455, had lived through the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses. For his part in the Wars he had been given the honour of Knight Baronet, a title and rank bestowed only for distinguished service done in the King’s presence on the field of battle. About 1511 Sir Piers gave up this office and entered a Monastery, where he was ordained as a priest. He then retired to the house and park at Lyme, which had been given to his forefathers by Edward III in 1346. At Lyme, Sir Piers seems to have given himself to living simply, and to building a Chantry Chapel in Disley.

The building was begun in 1510 before Sir Piers gave up public office, and was completed in 1524. It was consecrated as a parish church on 23rd July 1558 after a petition to the Bishop of Chester by the inhabitants of Disley, then known as Dysley Dene, who previously had to travel 6 miles to Stockport for baptisms, burials and holy communion. The earliest parish register dates back to 1591. It is believed that Sir Piers himself, Knight and Priest, officiated in the Chantry for some years.

As the population grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the original building proved to be too small and so extensive rebuilding took place in the 1820s and 1830s. Some of the original structure was destroyed but the Church still retains much of the character and design of its late medieval origin, and most of its original stone, including the battlements. Only the tower and porch remains from the original St Mary's church Disleystructure, which shows the early masonry and the original windows.

The Church contains some very fine stained glass, including an example of 16th century glass, which came from Stienfield Abbey in Southern Germany. There are also many monuments to the Legh family in the church, together with the grave of Joseph Watson (b.1648), who lived to be 104 and was Park Keeper at Lyme Park for 64 years. Watson drove a brace of stags from Lyme to Windsor as a present for Queen Anne to win a 500 guinea wager for his master.

The present organ was built for Disley Church by Samuel Renn of Manchester and installed in 1836, being rebuilt and restored in 1882, 1977 and 1885. There is a peal of six bells, put in in 1837, which is rung every Sunday before morning worship.

---

The Church of St. Mary-the-Virgin, Disley, stands among trees, 700 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pennines. It is a building of great beauty and immense historical interest and as such is greatly valued by its present congregation and the residents of Disley. Of even greater importance is the fact that it has been a place of prayer for over 450 years which can be sensed in the peace and tranquillity of its interior and in the life and celebration of its Sunday and weekday services.

Its founder, Sir Piers Legh of Lyme and Haydock, born in 1455, had lived through the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses. For his part in the Wars he had been given the honour of Knight Baronet, a title and rank bestowed only for distinguished service done in the King’s presence on the field of battle. About 1511 Sir Piers gave up this office and entered a Monastery, where he was ordained as a priest. He then retired to the house and park at Lyme, which had been given to his forefathers by Edward III in 1346. At Lyme, Sir Piers seems to have given himself to living simply, and to building a Chantry Chapel in Disley.

The building was begun in 1510 before Sir Piers gave up public office, and was completed in 1524. It was consecrated as a parish church on 23rd July 1558 after a petition to the Bishop of Chester by the inhabitants of Disley, then known as Dysley Dene, who previously had to travel 6 miles to Stockport for baptisms, burials and holy communion. The earliest parish register dates back to 1591. It is believed that Sir Piers himself, Knight and Priest, officiated in the Chantry for some years.

As the population grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the original building proved to be too small and so extensive rebuilding took place in the 1820s and 1830s. Some of the original structure was destroyed but the Church still retains much of the character and design of its late medieval origin, and most of its original stone, including the battlements. Only the tower and porch remains from the original St Mary's church Disleystructure, which shows the early masonry and the original windows.

The Church contains some very fine stained glass, including an example of 16th century glass, which came from Stienfield Abbey in Southern Germany. There are also many monuments to the Legh family in the church, together with the grave of Joseph Watson (b.1648), who lived to be 104 and was Park Keeper at Lyme Park for 64 years. Watson drove a brace of stags from Lyme to Windsor as a present for Queen Anne to win a 500 guinea wager for his master.

The present organ was built for Disley Church by Samuel Renn of Manchester and installed in 1836, being rebuilt and restored in 1882, 1977 and 1885. There is a peal of six bells, put in in 1837, which is rung every Sunday before morning worship.

• ______________
• 'Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe1,2
• 'M, b. circa 1455, d. 11 August 1527
• Father Peter Legh3,2 d. 1468
• Mother Mabell Croft3,2
• ' Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe was born circa 1455 at of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England.2 He and Ellen Savage obtained a marriage license in 1467; Date of Dispensation. They had 4 sons (Peter, John, Gowther, & Richard) and 3 daughters (including Margaret & Alice).1,2 Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe left a will between 1 February 1521 and 1 December 1522; Left two wills.2 He died on 11 August 1527 at Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England; Buried at Winwick, Lancashire.2
• 'Family Ellen Savage b. c 1460, d. 17 May 1491
• Children
  • Peter Legh, Esq.+4 b. c 1479, d. 4 Dec 1541
  • Margaret Legh+ b. c 1485
• Citations
• 1.[S11577] Unknown author, Burke's Commoners, Vol. II, p., p. 686.
• 2.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 443.
• 3.[S11577] Unknown author, Burke's Commoners, Vol. II, p., 686.
• 4.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 443-444.
• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1477.htm#...
• _____________
• 'Eleanor SAVAGE
• Born: ABT 1452
• Died: 17 May 1491/2
• Father: John SAVAGE (Sir Knight)
• Mother: Catherine STANLEY
• 'Married: Peter LEIGH (Sir) (b. ABT 1455 - d. 11 Aug 1527) (son of Peter Leigh and Mabel Croft) 2 Jan 1466/7, Clifton, Cheshire, England
• Children:
  • 1. Peter LEIGH (b. 1479/80 - d. 4 Dec 1542) (m.1 Jane Gerard - m.2 Margaret Tyldesley)
  • 2. Margaret LEIGH (b. 1473) (m. Hamnet Hyde)
  • 3. John LEIGH (b. ABT 1482)
  • 4. James LEIGH (b. ABT 1484 - d. 1530)
  • 5. Richard LEIGH (b. ABT 1486)
  • 6. Gunther LEIGH (b. 1490)
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/SAVAGE.htm#Eleanor SAVAGE1
• ______________________________
• 'Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham
• Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham
• Pg. 638
• 11. JOHN SAVAGE, Knt., of Clifton, Macclesfield, Brereton, and Great and Little Barrow, Cheshire, Tean (in Checkley), Staffordshire, etc., Chamberlain of Middlewich, born about 1401-10 (aged 40 and more in 1450). He married before 1423 ELEANOR BRERETON, daughter of William Brereton, Knt., of Brereton, Egerton, Cheshire, by his wife, Anyll de Venables. They had one son, John, K.G., and two daughters, Margery (wife of Edmund Legh and Thomas Leycester) and Margaret. In 1438 he was pardoned by the king, being then styled esquire and gentleman. In 1446, as John son of John Savage, Knt., he sued for and obtained his mother's manor of Rushton Spencer and the advowson of Checkley, Staffordshire, and half of the manor of Dore, Derbyshire, from his half-brother, Richard Peshale, Esq. SIR JOHN SAVAGE died 29 Jun 1463.
  • 12. JOHN SAVAGE, K.G., of Clifton and Rocksavage, Cheshire, Knight of the Body, Chamberlain of Middlewich, Mayor of Chester, born about 1423 (aged 40 in 1463). He married KATHERINE STANLEY, daughter of Thomas Stanley, Knt., K.G., 1st Lord Stanley (descendant of Geoffrey Plantagenet), by Joan (descendant of King Edward I), daughter and co-heiress of Robert de Goushill, Knt. [see STANLEY 13 for her ancestry]. They had ten sons, John, Knt., K.B., K.G., Thomas (clerk) [Bishop of Rochester and London, Archbishop of York], Humphrey, Knt., Lawrence, Knt., James, Edward, Knt., Christopher, Knt., George, William, and Richard, Knt., and five daughters, Ellen, Katherine (wife of Thomas Legh), Margaret, Alice (wife of Roger Pilkington), and Elizabeth (wife of John Leeke). He fought at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. SIR JOHN SAVAGE died 22 Nov. 1495, and was buried with his wife, Katherine, at Macclesfield, Cheshire.
  • Children of John Savage, K.G., by Katherine Stanley:
    • ' iii. ELLEN SAVAGE, married PETER LEGH, Knt. of Lyme (in Handley), Cheshire [see LEGH 13].
• _________________________________
• 'Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham
• Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham
• Pg. 505
• JOHN SAVAGE, K.G., of Clifton, Cheshire, married KATHERINE STANLEY [see SAVAGE 11].
  • ' 12. ELLEN SAVAGE, married by dispensation dated 1467 PETER (or PIERS) LEGH, Knt., of Lyme (in Prestbury), Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire, Stewardd of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, and Clitheroe, son of Peter (or Piers Legh, of Lyme (in Handley), Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire by Mabel, daughter and co-heiress of James Croft. He was born about 1455. They had four sons, Peter (or Piers), John, Gowther, and Richard, and three daughters, including Margaret (wife of Laurence Warren, Esq.), and Alice (wife of ___ White). In his earlier life he followed the profession of arms, and was prsent at the Siege of Berwick in 1482, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV. His wife, Ellen, died at Bewganet, Sussex 17 May 1491. In 1511 he entered into holy orders and became a priest. In 1521 he joined Sir Thomas Butler and others in soliciting contributions to build Lymm steeple. he built the chapel of Disley and the Cage in Lyme Park in 1524. SIR PETER LEGH died at Lyme (in Prestbury), Cheshire 11 August 1527, leaving wills dated 1 Feb. 1521 and 1 Dec. 1522. He was buried at Winwich, Lancashire.
    • 13. PETER (or PIERS) LEGH, Esq., of Lyme (in Prestbury) and Bradley, Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire, born about 1479 (aged 48 in 1527). He married (1st) JANE GERARD, daughter of Peter Gerard, of Bryn (in Ashton-in-Makerfield), Lancashire. They had three daughters, Cecily (wife of Thomas Butler), Jane (or Joan), and Anne. His wife, Jane, died 5 May 1510. He married (2nd) before 1513 MARGARET DE TYLDESLEY, daughter of Nicholas de Tyldesley. They had three sons, Peter (or Piers, Knt., George, and Robert, and six daughters, Katherine (wife of Peter Langton), Margaret (wife of Thomas Bruche), Ellen (wife of ___ Stanley), Elizabeth (wife of Lawrence Downes), Alice (wife of ___ Rowley), and Mary. PETER LEGH, Esq., died 4 Dec. 1541, leaving a will dated 6 Sept. 1539.
• _____________
• 'Pedigrees Made at the Visitation of Cheshire, 1613 (1879)
• http://www.archive.org/details/recordsociety58recouoft
• CHART
• http://www.archive.org/stream/recordsociety58recouoft#page/141/mode...
• ch of S'r Piers Leighe & Margarett Moluneux
  • 1. Piers Leighe died before his father 1468. mar. Mabell da. & heir to S'r James Croftes & of the da. to ffreackleton [died 1474-5]. 2. Janne vxor Richard Kighley.
  • ch of Piers Leighe & Mabell Croftes
    • 1. James 2 sonne [died 1514] mar. Ciceley da. to S'r Roger Gerrard. 2. John 3 son. '3. S'r Piers Leighe Knight banarett by E. 4. obiit 1524 [1527]. mar. Ellen da. to S'r John Sauage Knight [died 1492]'. 4. Margarett vxor Raffe Orrell. 5. Elizabeth.
    • http://www.archive.org/stream/recordsociety58recouoft#page/142/mode...
    • 'ch of Piers Leighe & Ellen Sauage
      • 1. [Gowther Legh, founded Winwick Grammar School.] 2. John. 3. James. 4. Piers Leighe of Lime & Bradley [died 1541]. mar. Jane da. to S'r Thomas Gerrard K. 2 wyffe [1 wife, died 1510]. mar. Margarett da. to Nicholas Tillesley 1 wyffe [2 wife]. 5. Margarett vxor Lawrance Warren [of Poynton] barron of Stopford [Stockport].
• _______________________
• 'The house of Lyme from its foundation to the end of the eighteenth century (1917)
• http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027932320
• http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n31/mode/1up
• . . . Peter the third (son of Sir Peter Legh last named) succeeded his father at the age of seven or eight. He was married when only sixteen to Margaret Molyneux, the daughter of his stepfather, Sir Richard Molyneux, by Ellen, daughter of Sir W. Harrington of Hornby. At her death, shortly before June 28, 1428, when the writ of diem clausit extremum issued, Peter Legh married, secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Trafford and widow of Sir John Pilkington.
• http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n34/mode/1up
• This Sir Peter Legh died at Bradley in 1478 at the age of sixty-three, and his eldest son, also a Peter, the fourth of his name, married, about 1449, Mabell, the heiress of the Crofts. She leaves a very curious will, dated 1474, in which there is mentioned an indenture of the 8 of July, 14 Edward IV, by which " Dame Mabell Lye, widow of Peres Legh," provides for her three younger sons, Hamond, James, and John, with 100 shillings yearly during their lives, the money "if they be evil deposit or wrong gydit" to go to her eldest son " Peersher," i.e. Piers or Peter. One hundred shillings would be equivalent to about L8o of the money of the present day ; but this would not appear to be a very munificent portion even for a younger son.
  • This Peter dying in the lifetime of his father, the estates devolved, at the death of Sir Peter in 1478, on his grandson, 'Peter the fifth, generally called Piers, born in 1455, and married in 1467 when a child to Ellen, daughter of Sir John Savage. . . . . '
    • http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n35/mode/1up
    • ' By his wife Ellen, Sir Piers had four sons, and three daughters. His second son, Gowther, gave L10 a year towards a free school at Winwick, Lancashire (one of the oldest parts of the Legh property), which fact is notified by a brass on the school building erected by Gowther's great-nephew. Sir Peter Legh, in 161 8, who augmented the grant by another yearly sum of L10, "for his zeal to God's glorye and his love to the parish of Winwick and common good of the country."
    • http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n37/mode/1up
    • ' In 1491, Sir Piers Legh lost his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached. She was buried at Bewgenet, in Sussex, but there is no record to show what took her there. Her husband, who never ceased to mourn her loss, retired from the world at her death and became a monk, probably influenced by his brother-in-law, the Archbishop of York.* He died at Lyme in 1527, and is buried at Winwick, the burial-place of the Legh family for many generations.
    • http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n42/mode/1up
    • ' This Sir Piers — a very remarkable man in his way — was succeeded by his son, another' Peter, sixth of his line, who had reached the age of forty-eight at his father's death. He was twice married, first to Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Gerard, and in 1510 to Margaret, daughter of Nicolas de Tydesley, by whom he had one son, born in 1513.
• __________________________
• 'Remains, historical and literary, connected with the palatine ..., Volume 97 By Chetham Society
• Remains, historical and literary, connected with the palatine ..., Volume 97 By Chetham Society
• Pg. 125
• Peter Leghe, knighted at the bataile of Wakefield by Richard Duke of Yorke. He mar. Margarett d. of Sir Richard Molyneux, and dyed at Bradley Nov. 29 A.D. 1478. b'd at Winwicke.
  • Pg. 126
  • Peter Legh Esquire m'd Mabell d. & h. of James Crofte, by whom descended Dalton, and the advowson of Claughton. He dyed at Macclesfield Aug. 2 A.D. 1486. b'd at Winwich.
    • ' Peter Leghe Knyght Ban't and Priest, in his youth mar'd Helen d. of Sir J'no Savage K't. He was made Knight, and created Ban't in the warres of Ed. 4 at Barwicke, and was maide priest in an. aetat. suae 56, after the dethe of his wyfe, and he lyved 22 years, and buylded the Chappell at Dystley in Ao 1524.
      • (Peter his son was borne)
• Pg. 133
• Sir Peter Legh, . . . . . , and the third of Lyme, was a minor at the time of his father's death. When of age, he married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, . . .
  • Pg. 134
• He greatly enlarged and adorned his mansion at Bradley, of which place he styled himself, and where he died in 1478. . . .
  • Pg. 134
  • He was succeeded by his son Peter Legh, who married Mabel, daughter and co-heiress of James Croft of Dalton, whose mother was daughter and heiress of Butler of Freckleton. . . .
  • Peter Legh died at Macclesfield in 1486, in the lifetime of his father, and was buried at Winwick. He left a son 'Peter, afterwards Sir Peter Legh, soldier first, and priest afterwards He married Helen, the daughter of Sir John Savage, knight, by whom he had a son and successor named Peter. . . . After his wife's death, in 1492, he entered into holy orders, . . .'
• _____________________
• 'Nooks and corners of Lancashire and Cheshire: A wayfarer's notes in the ... By James Croston Pg.295-358
• Nooks and corners of Lancashire and Cheshire: A wayfarer's notes in the ... By James Croston
• Pg. 309
• Thomas Legh was thirty-five years of age when he entered upon his inheritance, and he had then been married about seven years, his wife being Katharine, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, and sister of Thomas Savage, Archibishop of York, . . . , and of 'Ellen Savage, who married Sir Piers Legh, of Lyme'.
• -----------------------
• 'The visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580 (1882)
• http://www.archive.org/details/visitationchesh00fellgoog
• http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n169/m...
• CHART
• http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n220/m...
• CHART
• Savage of Clifton.
• [Harl. 1424, fo. 125'b]
• http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n258/m...
• CHART
• Warren de Pointon, Baron of Stockport.
• [Harl. 1424, fo. 143. Harl 1505, fo. 147.]
• _____________

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Birth: 1455 Death: Aug. 11, 1527

Knight of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, of Dalton and Hydock, Lancashire.

Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale and Clitheroe.

Son of Peter Legh of Lyme and Mabel Croft, daughter of James, born about 1455.

Peter married Ellen Savage, daughter of Sir John Savage and Katherine Stanley. They married by dispensation dated 1467, and had four sons and three daughters including; Peter, John, Gowther, Richard, Margaret; wife of Lawrence Warren, Alice; wife of Mr White.

Peter was present at the siege of Berwick in 1482, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV.

Ellen died at Bewganet, Sussex on 17 MAy 1491, and Peter entered into holy orders to become a priest in 1511. He joined with Sir Thomas Butler in soliciting funds to build Lyme Steeple in 1521, built the chapel of Disley and the Cage in Lyme Park in 1524.

He had two wills, dated 01 Feb 1521 and 01 Dec 1522.

Burial: St Oswald Churchyard Winwick Warrington Unitary Authority Cheshire, England

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Sir Piers Legh, of Lyme

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LCR3-5Y6

Occupation • 1480 Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale & Clitheroe Description Steward Title of Nobility • 1482 Berwick, Northumberland, England Description Knight Banneret Religious Affiliation • 1511 St Oswald Churchyard Winwick Warrington Unitary Authority Cheshire, England Description Catholic Custom Event • Legal Transactions 1 Dec 1522 Winwick, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom Description Will Title of Nobility • Sir Knight of Lyme

Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe was born circa 1455 at of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England.2

He was the son of Peter Legh & Mabel Croft.

He and Ellen Savage obtained a marriage license in 1467; Date of Dispensation. They had 4 sons (Peter, John, Gowther, & Richard) and 3 daughters (including Margaret & Alice).

supporting data Of Lyme, Knight and priest Peter (or Piers) Legh (V), Knt., of Lyme in Handley, co. Chester, and of Haydock, in the parish of Winwick, co. Lancaster, d. 11 Aug. 1527 at Lyme aforesaid, and buried at Winwick, co. Lancaster. According to Faris,-in his earlier life he followed the profession of arms, and was present at the siege of Berwick, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV. He was described in the 1580 Visitation of Cheshire as Piers Leigh who after was a Preist. [He and his wife] had three sons and one daughter. She died in 1492. He then entered into holy orders.

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The Church of St. Mary-the-Virgin, Disley, stands among trees, 700 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pennines. It is a building of great beauty and immense historical interest and as such is greatly valued by its present congregation and the residents of Disley. Of even greater importance is the fact that it has been a place of prayer for over 450 years which can be sensed in the peace and tranquillity of its interior and in the life and celebration of its Sunday and weekday services.

Its founder, Sir Piers Legh of Lyme and Haydock, born in 1455, had lived through the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses. For his part in the Wars he had been given the honour of Knight Baronet, a title and rank bestowed only for distinguished service done in the King’s presence on the field of battle. About 1511 Sir Piers gave up this office and entered a Monastery, where he was ordained as a priest. He then retired to the house and park at Lyme, which had been given to his forefathers by Edward III in 1346. At Lyme, Sir Piers seems to have given himself to living simply, and to building a Chantry Chapel in Disley.

The building was begun in 1510 before Sir Piers gave up public office, and was completed in 1524. It was consecrated as a parish church on 23rd July 1558 after a petition to the Bishop of Chester by the inhabitants of Disley, then known as Dysley Dene, who previously had to travel 6 miles to Stockport for baptisms, burials and holy communion. The earliest parish register dates back to 1591. It is believed that Sir Piers himself, Knight and Priest, officiated in the Chantry for some years.

As the population grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the original building proved to be too small and so extensive rebuilding took place in the 1820s and 1830s. Some of the original structure was destroyed but the Church still retains much of the character and design of its late medieval origin, and most of its original stone, including the battlements. Only the tower and porch remains from the original St Mary's church Disleystructure, which shows the early masonry and the original windows.

The Church contains some very fine stained glass, including an example of 16th century glass, which came from Stienfield Abbey in Southern Germany. There are also many monuments to the Legh family in the church, together with the grave of Joseph Watson (b.1648), who lived to be 104 and was Park Keeper at Lyme Park for 64 years. Watson drove a brace of stags from Lyme to Windsor as a present for Queen Anne to win a 500 guinea wager for his master.

The present organ was built for Disley Church by Samuel Renn of Manchester and installed in 1836, being rebuilt and restored in 1882, 1977 and 1885. There is a peal of six bells, put in in 1837, which is rung every Sunday before morning worship.

The Church of St. Mary-the-Virgin, Disley, stands among trees, 700 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pennines. It is a building of great beauty and immense historical interest and as such is greatly valued by its present congregation and the residents of Disley. Of even greater importance is the fact that it has been a place of prayer for over 450 years which can be sensed in the peace and tranquillity of its interior and in the life and celebration of its Sunday and weekday services. Its founder, Sir Piers Legh of Lyme and Haydock, born in 1455, had lived through the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses. For his part in the Wars he had been given the honour of Knight Baronet, a title and rank bestowed only for distinguished service done in the King’s presence on the field of battle. About 1511 Sir Piers gave up this office and entered a Monastery, where he was ordained as a priest. He then retired to the house and park at Lyme, which had been given to his forefathers by Edward III in 1346. At Lyme, Sir Piers seems to have given himself to living simply, and to building a Chantry Chapel in Disley.

The building was begun in 1510 before Sir Piers gave up public office, and was completed in 1524. It was consecrated as a parish church on 23rd July 1558 after a petition to the Bishop of Chester by the inhabitants of Disley, then known as Dysley Dene, who previously had to travel 6 miles to Stockport for baptisms, burials and holy communion. The earliest parish register dates back to 1591. It is believed that Sir Piers himself, Knight and Priest, officiated in the Chantry for some years.

As the population grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the original building proved to be too small and so extensive rebuilding took place in the 1820s and 1830s. Some of the original structure was destroyed but the Church still retains much of the character and design of its late medieval origin, and most of its original stone, including the battlements. Only the tower and porch remains from the original St Mary's church Disleystructure, which shows the early masonry and the original windows.

The Church contains some very fine stained glass, including an example of 16th century glass, which came from Stienfield Abbey in Southern Germany. There are also many monuments to the Legh family in the church, together with the grave of Joseph Watson (b.1648), who lived to be 104 and was Park Keeper at Lyme Park for 64 years. Watson drove a brace of stags from Lyme to Windsor as a present for Queen Anne to win a 500 guinea wager for his master.

The present organ was built for Disley Church by Samuel Renn of Manchester and installed in 1836, being rebuilt and restored in 1882, 1977 and 1885. There is a peal of six bells, put in in 1837, which is rung every Sunday before morning worship.

______________ 'Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe1,2 'M, b. circa 1455, d. 11 August 1527 Father Peter Legh3,2 d. 1468 Mother Mabell Croft3,2 ' Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe was born circa 1455 at of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England.2 He and Ellen Savage obtained a marriage license in 1467; Date of Dispensation. They had 4 sons (Peter, John, Gowther, & Richard) and 3 daughters (including Margaret & Alice).1,2 Sir Peter Legh, Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, & Clitheroe left a will between 1 February 1521 and 1 December 1522; Left two wills.2 He died on 11 August 1527 at Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, England; Buried at Winwick, Lancashire.2 'Family Ellen Savage b. c 1460, d. 17 May 1491 Children Peter Legh, Esq.+4 b. c 1479, d. 4 Dec 1541 Margaret Legh+ b. c 1485 Citations 1.[S11577] Unknown author, Burke's Commoners, Vol. II, p., p. 686. 2.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 443. 3.[S11577] Unknown author, Burke's Commoners, Vol. II, p., 686. 4.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 443-444. http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1477.htm#... _____________ 'Eleanor SAVAGE Born: ABT 1452 Died: 17 May 1491/2 Father: John SAVAGE (Sir Knight) Mother: Catherine STANLEY 'Married: Peter LEIGH (Sir) (b. ABT 1455 - d. 11 Aug 1527) (son of Peter Leigh and Mabel Croft) 2 Jan 1466/7, Clifton, Cheshire, England Children: 1. Peter LEIGH (b. 1479/80 - d. 4 Dec 1542) (m.1 Jane Gerard - m.2 Margaret Tyldesley) 2. Margaret LEIGH (b. 1473) (m. Hamnet Hyde) 3. John LEIGH (b. ABT 1482) 4. James LEIGH (b. ABT 1484 - d. 1530) 5. Richard LEIGH (b. ABT 1486) 6. Gunther LEIGH (b. 1490) http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/SAVAGE.htm#Eleanor SAVAGE1 ______________________________ 'Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham Pg. 638 11. JOHN SAVAGE, Knt., of Clifton, Macclesfield, Brereton, and Great and Little Barrow, Cheshire, Tean (in Checkley), Staffordshire, etc., Chamberlain of Middlewich, born about 1401-10 (aged 40 and more in 1450). He married before 1423 ELEANOR BRERETON, daughter of William Brereton, Knt., of Brereton, Egerton, Cheshire, by his wife, Anyll de Venables. They had one son, John, K.G., and two daughters, Margery (wife of Edmund Legh and Thomas Leycester) and Margaret. In 1438 he was pardoned by the king, being then styled esquire and gentleman. In 1446, as John son of John Savage, Knt., he sued for and obtained his mother's manor of Rushton Spencer and the advowson of Checkley, Staffordshire, and half of the manor of Dore, Derbyshire, from his half-brother, Richard Peshale, Esq. SIR JOHN SAVAGE died 29 Jun 1463. 12. JOHN SAVAGE, K.G., of Clifton and Rocksavage, Cheshire, Knight of the Body, Chamberlain of Middlewich, Mayor of Chester, born about 1423 (aged 40 in 1463). He married KATHERINE STANLEY, daughter of Thomas Stanley, Knt., K.G., 1st Lord Stanley (descendant of Geoffrey Plantagenet), by Joan (descendant of King Edward I), daughter and co-heiress of Robert de Goushill, Knt. [see STANLEY 13 for her ancestry]. They had ten sons, John, Knt., K.B., K.G., Thomas (clerk) [Bishop of Rochester and London, Archbishop of York], Humphrey, Knt., Lawrence, Knt., James, Edward, Knt., Christopher, Knt., George, William, and Richard, Knt., and five daughters, Ellen, Katherine (wife of Thomas Legh), Margaret, Alice (wife of Roger Pilkington), and Elizabeth (wife of John Leeke). He fought at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. SIR JOHN SAVAGE died 22 Nov. 1495, and was buried with his wife, Katherine, at Macclesfield, Cheshire. Children of John Savage, K.G., by Katherine Stanley: ' iii. ELLEN SAVAGE, married PETER LEGH, Knt. of Lyme (in Handley), Cheshire [see LEGH 13]. _________________________________ 'Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham Pg. 505 JOHN SAVAGE, K.G., of Clifton, Cheshire, married KATHERINE STANLEY [see SAVAGE 11]. ' 12. ELLEN SAVAGE, married by dispensation dated 1467 PETER (or PIERS) LEGH, Knt., of Lyme (in Prestbury), Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire, Stewardd of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale, and Clitheroe, son of Peter (or Piers Legh, of Lyme (in Handley), Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire by Mabel, daughter and co-heiress of James Croft. He was born about 1455. They had four sons, Peter (or Piers), John, Gowther, and Richard, and three daughters, including Margaret (wife of Laurence Warren, Esq.), and Alice (wife of ___ White). In his earlier life he followed the profession of arms, and was prsent at the Siege of Berwick in 1482, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV. His wife, Ellen, died at Bewganet, Sussex 17 May 1491. In 1511 he entered into holy orders and became a priest. In 1521 he joined Sir Thomas Butler and others in soliciting contributions to build Lymm steeple. he built the chapel of Disley and the Cage in Lyme Park in 1524. SIR PETER LEGH died at Lyme (in Prestbury), Cheshire 11 August 1527, leaving wills dated 1 Feb. 1521 and 1 Dec. 1522. He was buried at Winwich, Lancashire. 13. PETER (or PIERS) LEGH, Esq., of Lyme (in Prestbury) and Bradley, Cheshire, and Dalton and Haydock, Lancashire, born about 1479 (aged 48 in 1527). He married (1st) JANE GERARD, daughter of Peter Gerard, of Bryn (in Ashton-in-Makerfield), Lancashire. They had three daughters, Cecily (wife of Thomas Butler), Jane (or Joan), and Anne. His wife, Jane, died 5 May 1510. He married (2nd) before 1513 MARGARET DE TYLDESLEY, daughter of Nicholas de Tyldesley. They had three sons, Peter (or Piers, Knt., George, and Robert, and six daughters, Katherine (wife of Peter Langton), Margaret (wife of Thomas Bruche), Ellen (wife of ___ Stanley), Elizabeth (wife of Lawrence Downes), Alice (wife of ___ Rowley), and Mary. PETER LEGH, Esq., died 4 Dec. 1541, leaving a will dated 6 Sept. 1539. _____________ 'Pedigrees Made at the Visitation of Cheshire, 1613 (1879) http://www.archive.org/details/recordsociety58recouoft CHART http://www.archive.org/stream/recordsociety58recouoft#page/141/mode... ch of S'r Piers Leighe & Margarett Moluneux 1. Piers Leighe died before his father 1468. mar. Mabell da. & heir to S'r James Croftes & of the da. to ffreackleton [died 1474-5]. 2. Janne vxor Richard Kighley. ch of Piers Leighe & Mabell Croftes 1. James 2 sonne [died 1514] mar. Ciceley da. to S'r Roger Gerrard. 2. John 3 son. '3. S'r Piers Leighe Knight banarett by E. 4. obiit 1524 [1527]. mar. Ellen da. to S'r John Sauage Knight [died 1492]'. 4. Margarett vxor Raffe Orrell. 5. Elizabeth. http://www.archive.org/stream/recordsociety58recouoft#page/142/mode... 'ch of Piers Leighe & Ellen Sauage 1. [Gowther Legh, founded Winwick Grammar School.] 2. John. 3. James. 4. Piers Leighe of Lime & Bradley [died 1541]. mar. Jane da. to S'r Thomas Gerrard K. 2 wyffe [1 wife, died 1510]. mar. Margarett da. to Nicholas Tillesley 1 wyffe [2 wife]. 5. Margarett vxor Lawrance Warren [of Poynton] barron of Stopford [Stockport]. _______________________ 'The house of Lyme from its foundation to the end of the eighteenth century (1917) http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027932320 http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n31/mode/1up . . . Peter the third (son of Sir Peter Legh last named) succeeded his father at the age of seven or eight. He was married when only sixteen to Margaret Molyneux, the daughter of his stepfather, Sir Richard Molyneux, by Ellen, daughter of Sir W. Harrington of Hornby. At her death, shortly before June 28, 1428, when the writ of diem clausit extremum issued, Peter Legh married, secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Trafford and widow of Sir John Pilkington. http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n34/mode/1up This Sir Peter Legh died at Bradley in 1478 at the age of sixty-three, and his eldest son, also a Peter, the fourth of his name, married, about 1449, Mabell, the heiress of the Crofts. She leaves a very curious will, dated 1474, in which there is mentioned an indenture of the 8 of July, 14 Edward IV, by which " Dame Mabell Lye, widow of Peres Legh," provides for her three younger sons, Hamond, James, and John, with 100 shillings yearly during their lives, the money "if they be evil deposit or wrong gydit" to go to her eldest son " Peersher," i.e. Piers or Peter. One hundred shillings would be equivalent to about L8o of the money of the present day ; but this would not appear to be a very munificent portion even for a younger son. This Peter dying in the lifetime of his father, the estates devolved, at the death of Sir Peter in 1478, on his grandson, 'Peter the fifth, generally called Piers, born in 1455, and married in 1467 when a child to Ellen, daughter of Sir John Savage. . . . . ' http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n35/mode/1up ' By his wife Ellen, Sir Piers had four sons, and three daughters. His second son, Gowther, gave L10 a year towards a free school at Winwick, Lancashire (one of the oldest parts of the Legh property), which fact is notified by a brass on the school building erected by Gowther's great-nephew. Sir Peter Legh, in 161 8, who augmented the grant by another yearly sum of L10, "for his zeal to God's glorye and his love to the parish of Winwick and common good of the country." http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n37/mode/1up ' In 1491, Sir Piers Legh lost his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached. She was buried at Bewgenet, in Sussex, but there is no record to show what took her there. Her husband, who never ceased to mourn her loss, retired from the world at her death and became a monk, probably influenced by his brother-in-law, the Archbishop of York.* He died at Lyme in 1527, and is buried at Winwick, the burial-place of the Legh family for many generations. http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924027932320#page/n42/mode/1up ' This Sir Piers — a very remarkable man in his way — was succeeded by his son, another' Peter, sixth of his line, who had reached the age of forty-eight at his father's death. He was twice married, first to Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Gerard, and in 1510 to Margaret, daughter of Nicolas de Tydesley, by whom he had one son, born in 1513. __________________________ 'Remains, historical and literary, connected with the palatine ..., Volume 97 By Chetham Society Remains, historical and literary, connected with the palatine ..., Volume 97 By Chetham Society Pg. 125 Peter Leghe, knighted at the bataile of Wakefield by Richard Duke of Yorke. He mar. Margarett d. of Sir Richard Molyneux, and dyed at Bradley Nov. 29 A.D. 1478. b'd at Winwicke. Pg. 126 Peter Legh Esquire m'd Mabell d. & h. of James Crofte, by whom descended Dalton, and the advowson of Claughton. He dyed at Macclesfield Aug. 2 A.D. 1486. b'd at Winwich. ' Peter Leghe Knyght Ban't and Priest, in his youth mar'd Helen d. of Sir J'no Savage K't. He was made Knight, and created Ban't in the warres of Ed. 4 at Barwicke, and was maide priest in an. aetat. suae 56, after the dethe of his wyfe, and he lyved 22 years, and buylded the Chappell at Dystley in Ao 1524. (Peter his son was borne) Pg. 133 Sir Peter Legh, . . . . . , and the third of Lyme, was a minor at the time of his father's death. When of age, he married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, . . . Pg. 134 He greatly enlarged and adorned his mansion at Bradley, of which place he styled himself, and where he died in 1478. . . . Pg. 134 He was succeeded by his son Peter Legh, who married Mabel, daughter and co-heiress of James Croft of Dalton, whose mother was daughter and heiress of Butler of Freckleton. . . . Peter Legh died at Macclesfield in 1486, in the lifetime of his father, and was buried at Winwick. He left a son 'Peter, afterwards Sir Peter Legh, soldier first, and priest afterwards He married Helen, the daughter of Sir John Savage, knight, by whom he had a son and successor named Peter. . . . After his wife's death, in 1492, he entered into holy orders, . . .' _____________________ 'Nooks and corners of Lancashire and Cheshire: A wayfarer's notes in the ... By James Croston Pg.295-358 Nooks and corners of Lancashire and Cheshire: A wayfarer's notes in the ... By James Croston Pg. 309 Thomas Legh was thirty-five years of age when he entered upon his inheritance, and he had then been married about seven years, his wife being Katharine, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, and sister of Thomas Savage, Archibishop of York, . . . , and of 'Ellen Savage, who married Sir Piers Legh, of Lyme'.

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'The visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580 (1882) http://www.archive.org/details/visitationchesh00fellgoog http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n169/m... CHART http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n220/m... CHART Savage of Clifton. [Harl. 1424, fo. 125'b] http://www.archive.org/stream/visitationchesh00fellgoog#page/n258/m... CHART Warren de Pointon, Baron of Stockport. [Harl. 1424, fo. 143. Harl 1505, fo. 147.] _____________ Birth: 1455 Death: Aug. 11, 1527

Knight of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire, of Dalton and Hydock, Lancashire.

Steward of Blackburnshire, Tottington, Rochdale and Clitheroe.

Son of Peter Legh of Lyme and Mabel Croft, daughter of James, born about 1455.

Peter married Ellen Savage, daughter of Sir John Savage and Katherine Stanley. They married by dispensation dated 1467, and had four sons and three daughters including; Peter, John, Gowther, Richard, Margaret; wife of Lawrence Warren, Alice; wife of Mr White.

Peter was present at the siege of Berwick in 1482, where he was made a knight banneret by King Edward IV.

Ellen died at Bewganet, Sussex on 17 MAy 1491, and Peter entered into holy orders to become a priest in 1511. He joined with Sir Thomas Butler in soliciting funds to build Lyme Steeple in 1521, built the chapel of Disley and the Cage in Lyme Park in 1524.

He had two wills, dated 01 Feb 1521 and 01 Dec 1522.

Burial: St Oswald Churchyard Winwick Warrington Unitary Authority Cheshire, England

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Legh of Lyme & Haydock, (Baines, 1836) < GoogleBooks >