STANDISH, a parish in the hundred of LEYLAND,
county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the chapelry
of Coppull, and the townships of Adlington, Anderton,
Charnock-Heath, Charnock - Richard, Duxbury, Shevington,
Standish with Langtree, Welsh-Whittle, and
Worthington, and containing 7616 inhabitants, of which
number, 2065 are in the township of Standish with
Langtree, 3 miles (N."W. by N.) from Wigan. The
living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of
Chester, rated in the king's books at £45. 16. 8., and
in the patronage of Sir R. Perryn, Knt. The church,
dedicated to St. Wilfrid, was built in 1584, by the Rev.
Richard Moodie, the first Protestant rector; it is an elegant
structure of the Tuscan order. The free grammar
school, founded in 1603, by Mary Langton, is endowed
with lands, &c., producing an annual income exceeding
£ 100, for the support of a master and an usher. Mary
Smalley, in 1794, bequeathed £1000 for the endowment
of a school, in which twenty poor girls are taught
and clothed: the income amounts to £50 per annum.
Fairs for horses, cattle, toys, &c., are held on June 29th
and November 22nd. Two of the twelve ancient castles
of Lancashire, viz., Standish and Penwortham, stood
here, but their sites only can now be distinguished.