GROWTH OF BLACKPOOL AS A HEALTH AND HOLIDAY RESORT 77 



built ' a large dining room with lodging for twenty beds.' His terms were 

 2s. 2d. per day for ladies and gentlemen, and Is. 6d. per day for children and 

 servants. 



By the end of the eighteenth century Blackpool had already achieved fame 

 as a health and holiday resort. In 1 788, the Birmingham bookseller, William 

 Hutton, published his ' Description of Blackpool in Lancashire, frequented 

 for Sea Bathing.' In that year, according to Hutton, the number of visitors 

 in August was about 400. The chief houses and farms had been enlarged and 

 had become inns or coffee houses. The number of habitations had increased 

 to 50 and these were spread over the space of one mile. Four additional inns 

 had been built, Bailey's (now the Metropole), Forshaw's (the Clifton), Hull's 

 (the Royal) and The Yorkshire House (the York Hotel). A promenade six 

 yards wide and 200 yards long had been constructed between the Lane Ends 

 (the County) and the Clifton Hotels. 



Hutton describes at some length the amusements to be enjoyed. Visitors 

 might ' Ride or walk on the sands or the parade, or the pretty grass walk on 

 the fringe of the sea bank.' There were bowling greens, boats for sailing and 

 butts for bow shooting. Excursions were arranged for visits to the Number 3 

 Hotel, where the gardens and bowling greens were popular. There was also 

 in the summer months a theatre, though for nine months in the year it was the 

 threshing floor of a barn. It was fitted with rows of benches divided into 

 ' pit ' and ' gallery ' and the charges were 2s. and Is. The total takings for a 

 full house were £6. 



In 1790, some verses left by a visitor enumerate the hotels and lodgings 



from south to north and give the following list : — Mr. Bonny's, Mr. Hull's, 



Mr. Hudson's, Bailey's (site of Metropole Hotel) : 



' The next house is Bailey's so new and so neat, 

 Much pains he has taken to make it complete. 

 It stands on the beach far detached from the rest, 

 And with a fine spring of good water is bless d.' 



Old Ned and Old Nanny at Fumbler's Hill and The Gin complete the list. 



The space between Fumbler's Hill (the neighbourhood of Cocker Street) 



and the Gynn remained without houses until 1846. 



Between Hutton's visit and 1 801 , fifty new houses were built in four groups : 

 the most northerly group at Fumbler's Hill ; further south a group near and 

 including the site of the County Hotel ; a third in the locality of the Royal 

 Hotel and the most southerly in the vicinity of Foxhall. South Shore remained 

 quite undeveloped until the eighteen-twenties. Most of this area consisted 

 of the ' Waste or common called Layton Hawes, which had been enclosed in 

 1767. In 1800, then, the whole hamlet was contained between Fumbler's Hill 

 to the north (excluding the Gynn) and the ruins of Foxhall to the south, and 

 boasted five good-class hotels. (Porter. ' History of the Fylde of Lancashire.') 



The first years of the nineteenth century saw a more rapid expansion in the 

 growth of Blackpool. Much of this was due to the enterprise of the Banks 

 brothers, the memory of whose services is perpetuated in the Arms of Blackpool 

 by the inclusion of the fleur-de-lys. Henry (1 759-1847) and Thomas (b. 1 762), 

 became tenants of the coffee house at the corner of Lane Ends. The owner was 

 William Yates, of Oswaldtwistle, partner of Robert Peel, who started calico 



