The acknowledgment of a rose before
mentioned might seem to have some allusion to the Knights Hospitallers.
The estate of Lime Hurst was called John of Jerusalem's land, and the
tithes and rent, in all probability, once went to the support of that
order.
In the Ashton pedigree we find a Nicholas Assheton, as it was then
spelt, who enrolled himself amongst these warrior-monks. It seems not
improbable that the profits of this estate belonged to him.
The custom of heriotship, however, was the most oppressive, being paid
and exacted from the parties at a time when they were least able to
render it. Our tradition will best illustrate this remnant of barbarism,
to which, even in the customs of the most savage tribes, we should
scarcely find a parallel.
In the early records of the Ashton family we find that Thomas Stavely,
or Stayley, held a place called the Bestal by paying one penny at
Christmas. This Bestal was, perhaps, a place of security or confinement.
Adjoining the hall yard, the ancient residence of the Ashtons, is an old
stone building facing the south, now called the Dungeon. It is flanked
at the east and west corners by small towers with conical stone roofs.
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