Burscough / Borchestuoe / Borescou / Boureghe stide / Burcho / Buresco / Burgaschou / Burgastud / Burrestude / Burschehou / Burscho / Burschogh / Burschou / Burscogh

There is no entry for Burscough in the Domesday survey. The VCH (Lancaster, vol. 3, 1907) mentions "The foundation charter of the priory granted by the lord of Lathom in or about 1189 [...] Immediately after the surrender it was ordered that the buildings of the priory should be demolished. The earl of Derby was very reluctant to destroy the church, his ancestors having been buried there, and offered to maintain a priest if permission were granted. (fn. 13) This must have been denied as the buildings have been demolished, the only conspicuous fragments now remaining being the northern piers of the central tower; portions of old walls remain just below the surface of the ground. In 1886 a systematic exploration of the ground on which the church stood was carried out, and many interesting details and remains of the building were found. [...] The church was cruciform [...] The work is plain but good in design and workmanship, its date being c. 1280, and both transepts and the presbytery appear to have been of the same date. Whether any part of the older church was discovered is not stated, but the gap between the east wall of the cloisters and the south transept suggests that the former is on the site of the twelfth-century cloister, and preserved the old arrangement after the eastward enlargement of the church c. 1280. The plan of the nave also may represent that of the twelfth-century church. A careful and complete excavation of the site is much to be desired." [for the old baptismal font of the Priory church here cf. Index entry for Lathom]