In 1479, Sir James Harrington was granted a licence to crenellate his house and enclose and empark all his lands. Joint with Brereley
The suggestion is that the licence may have been applied for to confirm ownership in a contested inheritance although rewards for long service to the crown is another factor.

Harington, Sir James (1430-87); Knight of the Body 1479-85 MP Lancashire 1467-4, 1478, ?1483, ?1484. Sheriff Yorkshire 1466-7. Soldier involved in the capture of Henry VI in 1465, for which he was financial rewarded. (Wedgewood)

John (Harrington) left two daughters from his marriage to Matilda Clifford, but in 1463 the feoffees who had been appointed by Thomas (Harrington) in 1459 handed over all the land to John's eldest surviving brother, James Harrington (d. 1485?), who, according to a later claim, kept his two nieces in custody. In October 1466 Thomas, Lord Stanley, intervened, securing a grant of the Harrington lands and of the two girls. In 1468 a commission found that the girls were indeed the heirs to the estates, but the dispute dragged on until 1475, when Edward IV imposed a compromise. Both James and his brother Robert Harrington were in the service of Richard, duke of Gloucester, and his accession raised their hopes of reopening the case. By 1485 Richard may have been sufficiently mistrustful of the Stanleys to countenance the idea, but his death at Bosworth supervened. Both Harringtons were attainted for their part in the battle, and the family tradition was that James died there. This may well have been true, for the only firm references to a James alive after 1485 are to Robert's son. (Horrox)