12 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF BLACKPOOL AND DISTRICT 



which exists, and all that can be done towards the encouragement of further 

 planting should be a part of every statutory town-planning scheme for portions 

 of the region. 



Turning now from the history of roads, and of the centres of population 

 dependent on them, or rather mutually dependent upon one another, to the 

 equally important subject of history as expressed in ancient buildings, one's 

 mind goes naturally, first of all, to the area's only outstanding medieval 

 fortress, Greenhalgh Castle. Secondly, the Premonstratensian Abbey of 

 St. Mary-of-the-Marsh, known as Cockersand Abbey, which, whilst perhaps 

 just over the border line of the area under review, i.e., the Fylde, nevertheless 

 belongs to the ancient marsh area. Sufficient remains of both the castle and the 

 abbey to form conspicuous and interesting features in the area. 



Greenhalgh Castle, originally a fortress, took the form of a square with a 

 tower at each corner similar to that of which the ruins remain. It was erected 

 by Thomas, Earl of Derby, as a protection against the outlawed barons and 

 their outlawed and cut-throat followers under the depositions following the 

 rebellions of that period. It led effectively to the pacification of the 

 surrounding country, and remained until the Civil War, when it withstood a 

 siege of two years in the Royalist cause. By 1649 the castle had been dis- 

 mantled and lay in ruins. 



Cockersand Abbey lies near the estuary of the Rivers Lune and Cocker, on 

 the verge of the shore. To this day the site is very remote, and lies away 

 from the main roads. In earlier days access was even more difficult and 

 dangerous. Founded in 1 1 90, it takes its origin from the hermitage founded in 

 1 1 80 by Hugh Garth. The hermitage gave place to a hospital for the infirm 

 and lepers, and belonged to Leicester Abbey. It was given to the White 

 Canons of Croxton, who first founded a priory which was confirmed by Pope 

 Clement III. in 1 190, and within a further 10 years rose to the status of an 

 abbey. The only part of the building that now remains intact is the chapter 

 house, which appears to be the only example of octagonal form in a Pre- 

 monstratensian house in this country. A full account of the abbey is given 

 in the ' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society,' 

 Vol. XL. 



Most of the places mentioned in the Doomsday Book became the seats of 

 families who ruled their neighbouring country for many generations, and in 

 a few cases, at least, such as the Cliftons, of Lytham Hall, and their collaterals 

 persist to the present day. 



It is not, however, with the persons as with their seats and other buildings 

 of historical interest for which they were responsible, that such a survey as this 

 is most directly concerned. The outstanding fact seems to be that, most 

 unfortunately from the archeological and artistic points of view, most of them 

 have either been pulled down and re-built as farm houses, sometimes of a 

 deplorably utilitarian kind, or have been re-faced with stucco and modernised 

 internally, and thus have lost their original aspect so completely as to be almost 

 incapable of restoration, even if the owners wished it. But some of them 

 retain enough of their original character externally, such as Lytham Hall, 

 Hackensall Hall, at Knott End, Naine Hall and Burn Hall, to be of the greatest 

 interest to the artist, architect and antiquarian. 



