AMOUNDERNESS HUNDRED 



POULTON-LE- 

 FYLDE 



missionary priests, Seminarists and Jesuits. He 

 went to Rome in 1585, and lived there till his 

 death. About 1576 he began to take part in the 

 politics of the time, which were inextricably mixed 

 up with the religious struggle, and became an advo- 

 cate of the plans of Philip II, which resulted in 

 the Armada of 1588. 79 In 1587, in anticipation of 

 this expedition, he was made cardinal by the title of 

 St. Silvester and St. Martin in Montibus. He spent 

 the rest of his life in the ordinary duties of a cardinal, 80 

 and dying 1 6 October 1594 was buried in Trinity 

 Church in the English College at Rome, 81 which he 

 had assisted to found in I576-8. 82 While his 

 political schemes failed, the college at Douay to some 

 extent fulfilled the objects of its founder, defeating 

 Elizabeth's anticipation that Roman Catholicism in 

 England would die out quietly of starvation by 

 supplying a long succession of missionary priests to 

 labour in England at the peril of their lives. After 

 more peaceful times came round at home the French 

 Revolution drove the college from its old seat, but it 

 is still represented by St. Cuthbert's, Ushaw, and 

 St. Edmund's, Ware. 



There are several places of worship in Thornton 

 proper. In connexion with the Church of England 

 Christ Church was opened in 1835, and a separate 

 parish was assigned to it in 1862. The patronage is 

 vested in trustees. 83 There is a mission church at 

 Burnt Naze and another at Cleveleys. 



The Wesleyans built a chapel as early as 1812. ** 

 There is also a Primitive Methodist chapel, and at 

 Thornton Marsh a meeting-place of the Society of 

 Friends. There is a Congregational mission room 

 at Cleveleys. 



The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, 

 near Burn, was opened in 1899. 



As already stated, the modern town of FLEET- 

 WOOD owes its origin as also its name to the enter- 

 prise of Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood, who judged 

 that the mouth of the Wyre would form an excellent 

 site for a port. He procured the construction of a 

 railway line from Preston in I835-4O, 85 the building 

 of the town proceeding at the same time. 86 He ob- 

 tained an Act of Parliament in 1842 vesting the 



government of the place in a board of commissioners. 87 

 The town was very popular for many years as a sea- 

 side holiday resort, and when it declined some- 

 what in this respect the place improved as a seaport. 

 Queen Victoria and the royal family, travelling from 

 Scotland to London, landed at Fleetwood 20 Septem- 

 ber 1847. There is a considerable fishing industry, 

 it being the port for a large fleet of steam trawlers 

 which operate from the Portuguese coast to Arch- 

 angel. A dock was opened by the Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire Railway Company in 1877. In 1875 tne 

 manorial rights, with lands, buildings, &c., were pur- 

 chased by a limited liability company for _ 120,000. 

 The railway company built a grain elevator in 1882, 

 and made provision for the fish trade by an ice 

 factory and cold storage ; it also maintains steamboat 

 services to Belfast and (in the summer) to the Isle of 

 Man. The government has a barracks and rifle range. 

 There is a ferry from Fleetwood to Knott End across 

 the Wyre. 88 A coat of arms is used. 



The town is now governed by an urban district 

 council of eighteen members, 89 which meets in the 

 town hall close to the railway station. 90 The 

 council possesses the market rights, and a market 

 was built in 1892. Friday is the market day. The 

 other public buildings include library, seamen's in- 

 stitute and cottage hospital. Water is supplied by 

 the Fylde Water Board and gas by a private com- 

 pany. 



There are a number of places of worship. In 

 connexion with the Church of England St. Peter's 

 was built in 1841, and a separate parish was assigned 

 to it. The patronage is vested in the devisees of the 

 late Mrs. Meynell-Ingram. There is a mission 

 church of St. Margaret, built in 1893. The 

 cemetery is outside the town. 



A Wesleyan church was opened in i847, 91 and 

 the present one was built on the old site in 1899. 

 The Primitive Methodists also have a church. The 

 Congregationalist church was built in i848. 92 The 

 Plymouth Brethren, the Society of Friends and 

 the Salvationists also conduct services. 



Mass has been said since i84i 93 ; the present 

 church of St. Mary was opened in 1867. 



to be withdrawn or reconciled ; 23 Eliz. 

 cap. i. Eighty Douay priests are said to 

 have suffered death under this and other 

 penal statutes. 



79 Inthisyearwasprinted his Admonition 

 to the English people to assist the in- 

 vaders on account of the various crimes 

 of the queen. 



80 To support his dignity he had the 

 revenues of an abbot in Calabria and the 

 archbishopric of Palermo from the pope. 

 Philip II nominated him to Malines, but 

 he did not obtain that see. 



81 The epitaph placed over him by his 

 brother Gabriel Allen and his nephew 

 Thomas Hesketh is in Fishwick, op. cit. 

 133. 'To the parish church of Poulton 

 where he was born, when the people there 

 became Catholics," he left certain vest- 

 ments, which meantime were to be kept 

 in the English college at Rome ; ibid. 134. 



83 This college was intended for secular 

 priests, but in consequence of dissensions 

 was in 1579 given to the care of the 

 Jesuits, who retained it till 1773 ; the 

 students were seculars. Its Diary is (im- 

 perfectly) printed by Foley, Rec. S. 7. vi. 



83 Porter, Fylde, 271-2. 



84 Ibid. 273. 



85 The original terminus was on the 

 south-east side of the town, near the 

 present dock. The line was continued 

 northward to the present terminus at 

 Wyre mouth, opened in 1883, to provide 

 facilities for the seagoing passenger traffic. 

 There is a passenger station also at the 

 docks. 



86 The ttreets were made to radiate 

 from an eminence called the Mount on 

 the north side, by the Irish Sea. On 

 the sea side is a promenade over a mile in 

 length. To the east, at the mouth of the 

 Wyre, is a small ornamental green ; then 

 turning south the ferry to Knott End and 

 the railway terminus are seen. The docks 

 are on the south-west of the town, in a 

 bend of the river. The Pharos light- 

 house, built about 1840, stands between 

 the Mount and the station ; in conjunc- 

 tion with the Lower lighthouse on the 

 shore it assists in navigating the Wyre. 

 A third lighthouse, 2 miles north of 

 the town, marks the entrance to the 

 channel. 



87 5 & 6 Viet. cap. 49. The area was 

 extended^ in 1882. The port of Fleet- 



237 



wood under the Customs Act of 1846 

 extends from Blackpool to the mouth of 

 the Wyre and thence to Broadfleet River, 

 both streams being included. 



88 These particulars are from the 

 guide issued by the council. There is 

 a detailed account of the town in Porter's 

 Fylde, 218-67, and Mr. Frederick W. 

 Woods, clerk to the council, has afforded 

 information as to recent progress. 



89 The council is the board of improve- 

 ment commissioners extended. In 1905 

 the district was divided into wards 

 Central, East and West and the number 

 of councillors increased from twelve to 

 eighteen, six being elected by each ward. 



90 It was originally the custom house, 

 and then a private residence. It has 

 been used as the town hall since 1887. 



91 Porter, op. cit. 234. 



93 Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. i, 

 17480. Preaching began in 1838, the 

 minister at Preesall officiating. A church 

 was formed in 1840, and a schoolroom 

 was built in the following year. 



93 The first St. Mary's in Walmsley 

 Street, 1841, was afterwards turned 

 into cottages ; Porter, op. cit. 224. 



