St Oswald's Church History

St Oswald and George Washington

Warton Church is dedicated to Oswald, warrior king and one of England’s favorite saints before the Norman Conquest. He was born about the year 605 A.D., at a time when the English nation was a loose confederation of often warring tribes. He died in battle and his vanquisher, King Penda, caused his body to be savagely dismembered. The head, arms and hands were severed and fixed on a stake, probably the “tree” that survives in the place named Oswestry (Oswald’s Tree). His death was seen as martyrdom and the barbaric treatment of his remains would be linked in the mind of Christians at that time with the humiliation of the crucified Christ less than 700 years earlier.

Warton Church also has an historical link to the George Washington family and receives many visitors from the UK and oversees to explore the connection.

St. Oswald’s Church has long been associated with the Washington family and over the years has received many American visitors wanting to visit a part of this country associated with their first president, George Washington.

The Washingtons, or de Wessingtons, were a Durham family who acquired lands in the county of Westmorland and then in north Lancashire. There are references in wills, deeds and settlements throughout the 14th and 15th century to Kerneford (Carnforth), (Over) Kellet, (Priest) Hutton, Heysham, Tuetffylde (Tewitfield), Silverdale and Warton involving members of the Washington family.

John de Wessington seems to have been the first member of the line to settle in Warton. Then followed three generations of Robert Washingtons. The Washington family tree is displayed in the north aisle of St. Oswald’s. Also displayed is the family tree of Sir Winston Spencer Churchill who is related to the Washingtons through the Kitson family of Warton.
The third Robert Washington had a son John with his first wife Elizabeth Westfield, and this son married Margaret Kytson of Warton Hall. Their son Lawrence, presumably born in Warton, then appears in Northamptonshire as a wealthy wool merchant, purchasing Sulgrave Manor. This house, remained in the possession of the Washington family for three generations.

Through his son Robert and grandson Lawrence, Lawrence Washington of Warton is the ancestor of Colonel John Washington, who emigrated to Virginia in 1656, and so of President George Washington.

The earliest known example of a Lancashire Washington seal is a Duchy of Lancaster deed dated 1401 in the Public Record Office in London. In St. Oswald’s church tower, reputed to have been built by a Robert Washington of Warton, you will find an eroded stone seal consisting of two bars and three mullets in chief on a shield, exactly as described above. This stone was formerly on the outside west wall of the tower but was brought indoors to preserve it. The Washington seal is believed to have inspired the modern flag of the United States consisting of stars and stripes.

Other members of the Washington family remained in Warton and the surrounding area for several generations, some of them taking holy orders. The last member to live in Warton was the Rev. Thomas Washington, Vicar of the parish (inducted in 1799). He died on 7 February 1823 aged 69. His grave is the only Washington tombstone visible in St. Oswald’s churchyard, though many other members of the family must lie buried there. Much eroded it stands against the east wall of the church and bears the inscription:
Mrs. Elizabeth Washington
June the 15th 1751
THOMAS WASHINGTON
Clericus hujius Ecclesiae Vicarius
obiit die Septimae Feby
MDCCCXX111 aetatis
Suae anno Sexagesimo non