A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



About 130 years ago Lytham came into notice as a 

 sea-bathing place for summer visitors 4 ; in 1825 it 

 was stated that ' if the company is less fashionable 

 than at Blackpool it is generally more numerous and 

 usually very respectable.' 6 The development of the 

 place was then restricted by the ' reservations and 

 covenants of the old feudal life-leases ' inserted in 

 grants of building land, 6 and the town has long 

 ceased to be in the same rank with Blackpool. It 

 is of pleasant appearance and attracts a large number 

 of visitors in the season, while its mild climate makes 

 it a favourite resort in winter also. There are wide 

 sands, an open promenade with a stretch of grass 

 called the Green along the sea front, and a pier 

 built in 1864-5 and rebuilt in 1891. From this pier 

 steamers go to Southport and Blackpool. A windmill 

 near it is still working. 



A branch of the Preston and Wyre railway was 

 made to Lytham as early as 1846,* and was continued 

 along the shore to Blackpool in 1863 with stations at 

 Ansdell and St. Anne's. An electric tramway starting 

 at Lytham also goes through St. Anne's to South 

 Shore ; it is owned by a private company. 



A pool on the eastern boundary under the control 

 of the lord of the manor was formerly useful when 

 the state of the Kibble prevented any but the 

 smallest vessels going up to Preston. 8 A graving 

 dock there led to the establishment of shipbuilding 

 works. The hamlet of Saltcotes adjoining is said to 

 have taken its name from a salt refinery formerly 

 worked there. 9 



The market-house was built in i848. 10 A cottage 

 hospital was opened in 1871, and the institute, con- 

 taining a library, &c., in the following year. At the 

 same time Mr. Clifton gave the Lowther Gardens at 

 the west end of the town. There are public baths 

 on the central beach. 11 



St. Anne's-on-the-Sea sprang into existence " in 

 1875. It extends over the boundary into Marton. 

 Here, as at Lytham proper, are a sea promenade, a 

 pier, an institute and a public hall. There are three 



convalescent homes for children and a home for the 

 blind. 



Weekly newspapers, the Times and Standard, are 

 published at Lytham and St. Anne's. 



The agricultural land 12a is thus occupied : 



1,237 



2,196 



280 



For Lytham a local board was formed in 1 847, 

 and Hey houses acquired a local board in i878 u ; 

 but in 1894 the parish was divided into two town- 

 ships, Lytham and St. Anne's, each with an urban 

 district council. 14 The Lytham council consists of 

 twelve members elected by four wards North-east, 

 North-west, South-east and South-west ; it owns the 

 gas works, 15 while water is supplied to the whole 

 district by the Fylde Water Board. The St. Anne's 

 council also consists of twelve members elected bv 

 four wards North, East, South and West ; it owns 

 electric lighting works, but gas is also supplied by a 

 private company. 



In 1676 there were 181 Protestant inhabitants 

 and seventy popish recusants ; no Dissenters. 16 In 

 1755 the number of Protestant families was returned 

 as eighty, of Papist forty-four. 161 



The population of Lytham numbered 7,185 in 

 1901, and that of St. Anne's 6,838, but thirty-one 

 of the latter belonged to Marton ; thus the popula- 

 tion of the old parish was 13,992. 



The descent of the manor oiLTTHAM 

 MANOR may be given in very few words. In 

 1066, assessed as two plough-lands, it 

 was part of Earl Tostig's Amounderness lordship. 17 

 Afterwards it was held of the Crown in thegnage 

 by the lord of Woodplumpton, 18 and about 1 1 90 was 

 granted to the great monastery of Durham, 19 which 



4 Whittle's Marina (1829) contains 

 an account of Lytham composed in 1799 

 by Captain .William Latham ; this speaks 

 of the place as then ' only advancing into 

 fame,' but mentions a tradition that there 

 was formerly a ' town of some note . . . 

 between the present church and the 

 sandhills, in a direction towards the 

 common side." 



6 Baines, Lanes. Dir. (1825), ii, 53. 



6 Ibid. See also the account in Porter's 

 Fylde, 437-51. 



7 The terminus of 1846 stands some 

 distance to the east of the present station. 



8 Baines, op. cit. ii, 55 ; 'the pool in 

 Lytham, situated about a mile east of the 

 village, is nearly formed into a natural 

 dock, large enough to contain a fleet of 

 men-of-war, and there is a small graving 

 dock at its northern extremity where 

 vessels are built and repaired. This pool 

 belongs to Mr. Clifton and at the summer 

 assizes at Lancaster in 1824 he established 

 his claim for anchorage on vessels loading 

 and unloading there." 



9 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1870), ii, 506. 



10 A market was authorized by an Act 

 10 & ii Viet. cap. 251. 



11 The baths and assembly rooms were 

 opened in 1862. 



12 Porter, Fylde, 453. 



"a Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



13 By a special improvement Act 10 & 



ii Viet. cap. 251, amended by later 

 Acts. 



14 Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31813. In 

 1897 a further order was made (no. 36320) 

 extending Lytham and St. Anne's to 

 include the foreshore. 



15 These works were established by the 

 local board in 1850. 



16 Hist, of Lytham (Chet. Soc.), 20-4 ; 

 the names are given. A Subsidy Roll of 

 1546 is printed ibid. 16 ; another of 

 1640-1, ibid. 314; and a list of sub- 

 scribers to a ' voluntary present to his 

 majesty 'in 1661, ibid. 17-19. 



16a Visit, returns at Chester. 



17 V.C.H. Lana. i, 288*. 



18 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 46. 



19 Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 346 (from the 

 Charter R. 130, of 1335) ; Richard son 

 of Roger, with the consent of his wife 

 Margaret and of his heirs, gave in pure 

 alms all his land of Lytham, with the 

 church of the same vill, and all appur- 

 tenances, in order that the monks might 

 build a house of their order there. The 

 bounds were described as beginning on the 

 west side of the cemetery of Kilgrimol, 

 where the benefactor had raised a cross, 

 and thence westward to the sea. From 

 the same cross the boundary went east 

 along the Cursed mere beyond the great 

 moss and the Suinebrigg brook as far as 



214 



Ballam ; from Ballam across the moss, 

 which had been divided between the 

 grantor and John Count of Mortain (his 

 lord) as far as the east side of Estholme 

 carr, and thence to the water coming 

 from Birchholme between the said carr 

 and Bryning carr ; then following the 

 water south to the middle point between 

 Estholme and Couburgh, returning west- 

 ward and going round the moss southward 

 to the Pool beyond Swartesalt, and the 

 sand by the sea ; thence by the thread of 

 the Ribble and the sea back to the 

 starting-point. Islands, sands and all 

 rights were given as fully as possible. 



These bounds seem to have been pre- 

 served down to the present, with little 

 if any variation. 



Another charter, perhaps earlier, gives 

 the bounds in reverse order ; Lytham D. 

 at Durham, i, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. From this 

 it is clear that the 'islands' were in the 

 inner marsh. 



Count John showed his good will not 

 only by confirming the grant, but also by 

 remitting the thegnage rent of 8i. 8</. 

 due from Lytham, and after he became 

 king he ratified these acts; ibid. 130, 

 137 ; Lanes. Inq. and Extents, loc. cit. ; Cal. 

 Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 88. The original 

 charter is at Durham, 2, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 20. 



There was an inspeximus of the charter 

 in 1319 ; Cal. Pat. 1317-21, p. 404. 



