The Parish was founded in 1785 with Fr James Foster as Parish Priest. Previously the district was served by travelling priests who usually stayed with the Dalton Family at Thurnham Hall. The first named of these priests was a Rev. North who lived at the end of the sixteenth century. However, the most famous was a Rev. James Swarbrick who was well known as "The Riding Priest". He was arrested in 1715 and taken to Lancaster Castle where he was condemned as a priest. A few days before he was due to be executed the old man died in prison in 1716, possibly as the result of torture. We still have the little chalice he carried on his travels.
The Dalton Family lived mostly away from Thurnham. In their absences the district was visited occasionally by priests from various places. While the threat to the lives of priests was still real, their comings and goings were in some secrecy. Meanwhile the Hall was rented to a Valentine Family who used the place as a farm, and the Daltons lived in the south.
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