Bell ringing at St Wilfrid,s church Standish Lancashire England.
The church.
close to the road from Wigan to Preston was probably built by the Standish family which would account for the fact it was sited on the edge of the ten townships which it served, rather than in the centre. The parish stretched from the Boar’s Head to Bamber Bridge and included Shevington, Coppull, Welch Whittle and Charnock Richard, whilst to the east it extended to include Worthington, Duxbury, Heath Charnock, Anderton and Adlington.
The church was dedicated to St. Wilfrid, a fiery, strong willed man, often in trouble with the authorities, and no respecter of persons, who at various times was Bishop of Ripon, Hexham and York. His greatest achievement was to persuade the Church in England to accept the practices of Rome rather than those of the Celtic churches founded by the early missionaries from Ireland and Scotland.
Over the following centuries the links between the church and the Standish family were consolidated and many of the rectors came from various branches of the family.
Sometime in the 15th century the original church fell into serious disrepair and needed to be restored but the new building was itself later destroyed by fire.
In the 15th century two chantries were built within the church; a third was added later. A chantry was a small chapel at which a priest was appointed to pray and offer Masses for the welfare of named individuals, both while they were living and for the repose of their souls after death. Chantry priests were usually very poor men who lived and ate frugally. They wore a rough cassock with a leather girdle, thick clogs and a felt hat or none at all. These chantries disappeared at the time of the Reformation.