CHAPTER XIV

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PARISH OF LYTHAM.

LYTHAM. At the commencement of the Norman dynasty, when William I. instituted a survey of his newly-conquered territory, the name of the town and parish which will occupy our attention throughout the present chapter was written _Lidun_, and was estimated to contain two carucates of arable land. How long this orthography continued in use is difficult to say, but it could not have been for much more than a century, as amongst certain legal documents in the reign of King John, the locality is referred to under the style of _Lethum_, an appellation which seems to have adhered to it until comparatively recent years. The derivation of the latter title is apparently from the Anglo-Saxon word _lethe_, signifying a barn, and points obviously to an agricultural origin, whilst the more antique name of _Lidun_ is possibly a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon _lade_, implying a river discharging itself into the sea, that is, its mouth or estuary, and _tun_, a town.

Shortly before the termination of the reign of Richard I. in 1199, Richard Fitz Roger, who is supposed to have belonged to the Banastre family, gave all his lands in Lethum, with the church of the same vill, and all things belonging to the church, to God, and the monks of Durham, that they might establish a Benedictine cell there to the honour of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert.[206] The following is a copy of the document by which the transfer was effected:—“Richard Fitz Roger, to all men, both French and English, who may see this letter, greeting: Let all and each of you know, that I, with the consent and wish of my wife, Margaret, and my heirs, for the Salvation of my lord, Earl John, and for the souls of my Father and Mother, and mine and my heirs, have given and granted, and with these presents confirm as a pure and perpetual offering to God and the Blessed Mary and St. Cuthbert, and the monks of Durham, all my estate of Lethum, with the church at the same vill, with all things appertaining to it, in order to build a house of their own order; namely, within these divisions—From the ditch on the western side of the cemetery of Kilgrimol (Lytham Common) over which I have erected a Cross, and from the same ditch and Cross eastward, going along the Curridmere (Wild Moss or Tarns) beyond the Great Moss, and the brook, as far as Balholme (Ballam), which brook runs towards Snincbrigg (Sluice Bridge). Likewise from Balholme directly across the moss, which my lord John, earl of Moreton, divided between himself and me, as far as the northern part of Estholmker (Estham), going eastward as far as the division of the water which comes from Birckholme (Birks), and divides Etholmker and Brimaker (Bryning), following this division of water southward as far as the middle point between Etholme and Coulurugh (Kellamergh), and thus returning towards the west and going southward across the Moss as far as la Pull from the other side of Snartsalte (Saltcoats), as it falls upon the sand of the sea, and thus going southward across to Ribril to the waterside, and thus following the line of the water to the sea on the west, and so to the ditch and across aforementioned,” etc., etc. In a charter dated 1200-1, it is specified that the whole of the lands of Lytham, amounting to two carucates, had been presented by King John when earl of Moreton, to Richard Fitz Roger, by whom, as just shown, they were immediately conveyed to the monks of Durham.

There are unfortunately no means of ascertaining the extent or appearance of the Benedictine cell established at Lytham, but its site would seem to have been that now occupied by Lytham Hall, in the walls of some of the offices attached to which remains of the ancient monastic edifice have been incorporated. Dr. Kuerden alludes, in a manuscript preserved in the Chetham library, to an undated claim of feudal privileges in Lytham, by which the prior of Durham asserted his right to have view of frankpledge in his manor of Lytham, with waif, stray, and infangthefe[207]; emendations of the assize of bread and beer; wrecks of the sea; exemption for himself and tenants in Lytham from suit to the county and wapentake, and from fines and penalties; to have soc, sac, and theam;[208] and finally, to have free warren over all his lands in Lytham, and all royal fish taken there. During the reign of Edward I. the legality of the ecclesiastic’s assumption of the sole right to wreckage was called in question, ultimately ending in litigation, and at Trinity Term, York, the verdict of the jury was given against him. In the twenty-third year of his sovereignty, Edward I. granted the wreck, waif, and stray of Lytham to his brother Edmund, the earl of Lancaster. Amongst the Rolls of the Duchy is the record of an agreement, entered into in 1271, between Ranulphus de Daker, sheriff of Lancaster, Richard le Botiler, and others, for arranging and fixing, with the consent and approval of Stephen, the prior of Lytham, the boundaries between the land of Lytham and Kilgrimol, and that of Layton. The priors of Lytham were entirely dependent on the parent house until 1443, when they solicited and induced Pope Eugenius to issue an edict declaring the prior of that date and his successors perpetual in their office and no longer removable at the will and dictation of the monks of Durham. Afterwards, in the same year, letters patent were received at the Lytham cell, pardoning the application to the papal See and granting the request;[209] but the union between the two houses was not absolutely dissolved, for we find that, in addition to the various properties at Lytham and Durham continuing to be valued together, the cell and domain of the former place were granted in 2 Mary, 1554, to Sir Thomas Holcroft as part of the possessions of the Durham convent. In 1606 the knight transferred his rights and lands in Lytham to Sir Cuthbert Clifton, in exchange for certain estates on the opposite side of the river Ribble. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant of the latter gentleman, is the present lord of the manor. Reverting to the Benedictine cell it is seen from an ecclesiastical valuation, taken in the reign of Henry VIII., probably about the time of the Reformation, that the annual income of the institution was derived from the following sources:—

“Cella de Lethum in com’ Lancastr’ Rad’us Blaxton prior Ibd’m

£ s. d. Situ celle pdce cum pt’ pastur’ & terr’ arabilib 3 p annu 8 8 0

Redd’ & firmis in divs’ villis viz—villa de Lethum, £21 11s. 0d.; Esthowme, £3 7s. 0d.; Medholm, £7 2s. 8d.; Pilhowes cum Bankehousse, 12s. 11d.; Frekkylton cum Ranklysse, 7s. 3d.; Bylsborrow cum Carleton, 13s. 0d.; Warton, Goosenargh & Kyllermargh, £1 1s. 8d. 34 15 6 ------- Total £43 3 6”

It is evident from the wording of the foundation-charter of the cell of Lytham that a church existed there at that date, and Reginald of Durham affirms that the grand-father of Richard Fitz Roger pulled down the original church of Lytham, which had been built of shingle, and erected another of stone, dedicating it to St. Cuthbert.[210] This event must have taken place anterior to the establishment of the Benedictines in the locality, and is possibly related by the Durham ecclesiastic as a brief account of the stone church standing there when the grant of lands, etc., was made to his monastery by Fitz Roger. Amongst the number of historical fragments collected by Gregson is a notice to the effect that Thomas de Thweng was rector of the church of Lytham in 22 Edward III. (1349), and founded a chantry of twelve in the parish church “to pray for the good estate of himself and Henry, Lord Perci, and for the souls of their ancestors.” Thomas de Thweng was descended from Lucy, granddaughter of Helewise, the eldest sister of William de Lancaster, and in 1374, very likely the year of his death, held the manor of Garstang.[211] The edifice existing until 1770, when another church, also dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was erected on its site, was a low building, constructed of cobble stones, the walls being more than a yard in thickness and penetrated by five windows, one of which was situated at the east end, and the others at the sides. The main entrance was protected by a porch. From the scanty description preserved of the general features of this antique specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, it has been conjectured that its origin might be traced back to the time of Henry VIII. Within the erection the seats, which were of black oak, ornamented with scrolls, were arranged in four rows, two running down the centre and one down each side, whilst the north side of a small chancel was set apart for the choristers. The pulpit was fixed against the south wall; and the Cliftons possessed an old canopied seat, the precise station of which cannot be ascertained.

On the demolition of this church in 1770, its successor arose with a somewhat more pretentious exterior, having a low tower abutting the west extremity. The interior of the latter structure contained several objects of interest, amongst which may be noticed two tables fastened to the wall and inscribed as under:—

FIRST TABLE.

“Charities to Lytham church.

“1765.

“The honourable Countess Dowager Gower, one hundred and fifty pounds. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, two hundred pounds.

“1768.

“Ryheads in Goosnargh, purchased with the above four hundred pounds. Thomas Clifton, Esq., added seven pounds per annum, to be paid of Bamber’s estate in Layton, to the old stipend of twenty pounds per annum. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty purchased six acres and three perches of land with the above two hundred pounds, from Barker’s estate; it adjoins Ryheads.

“1770.

“This church was rebuilded. John Gibson, minister. William Silcock and William Gaulter, churchwardens.”

SECOND TABLE.

“1801.

“Subscriptions in the parish, two hundred pounds. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty laid out the above two hundred pounds in the purchase of a rent charge of five per cent. per annum, payable off Bamber’s estate in Layton.

“1814.

“John Clifton, Esq., one hundred and thirty-one pounds. William Hornby, Esq., sixty-five pounds eight shillings. Joseph, Thomas, and John Hornby, Esqs., ten pounds each, making thirty pounds. Rev. Robert Lister, fifty pounds. L. Webbe, Esq., ten pounds. Joseph Benbow, five pounds. Captain Thomas Cookson, ten pounds. Richard Cookson, ten pounds. Cornelius Crookall, ten pounds. John Cardwell, ten pounds.

“Smaller subscriptions in the parish, sixty-eight pounds twelve shillings. Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, six hundred pounds.

“Total amount, one thousand pounds.

“Purchased five acres, one rood, and two perches of land, of eight yards to the perch, in Layton-cum-Warbreck, with the above one thousand pounds.

“Rev. Robert Lister, B.A., minister. Thomas Cookson and John Cookson, churchwardens.”

On each side of the altar, at the east end of the church, were several mural marble monuments erected in memory of certain members of the Clifton family, whose remains had been interred within the walls of the sacred edifice. Thomas Clifton was the first of this family buried at Lytham, and on his tomb was inscribed:—“Here lie interred the mortal remains of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esquire; who died on the 16th of Dec., 1784, in the 38th year of his age. Requiescat in pace.”

Another monument, near to the former one, bore the following inscription:—“D.O.M. Here lies dead the body of Ann Clifton, wife of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq.; daughter of Sir Carnaby Haggerstone, Baronet: but her name will live to future ages. Wonder not, reader; in her was seen whatever is amiable in a daughter, wife, mother, friend, and Christian. Admire her, man; a pattern to her sex. O! woman, imitate. She died in the 37th year of her age, on the 22nd day of February, 1760. Requiescat in pace.”

The memorial writing over a third tomb ran thus:—“Here lies the body of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, esq.; who departed this life in the 56th year of his age, on the 11th day of May, 1783. R.I.P.;” whilst a fourth monument had these lines upon it:—“Here lies the body of Jane Clifton, wife of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, Esq.; daughter of the Right Hon. the Earl of Abingdon, who departed this life in the 61st year of her age, on the 14th day of Feb., 1791. R.I.P.”

A white marble tablet fixed against the south wall, contained the annexed notice:—“In memory of Elizabeth Clifton, wife of John Clifton, of Lytham, Esq.; and daughter of Thomas Horsley Widdrington Riddell, of Swinburne Castle, in the county of Northumberland, esq.; who departed this life in the 63rd year of her age, on the 19th day of November, 1825. Requiescat in pace.”

Sixty-four years from the date of its erection this church was also pulled down, having become unable to accommodate the increasing influxes of visitors during the summer; and on the 20th of March, 1834, the foundation stone of the existing pile was laid by the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, who contributed £500 towards the cost of the building. Mrs. Fisher, the widow of a local physician, contributed £300, and the subscriptions for the necessary work were further augmented by a grant from the Church Building and Extension Society. The church, which comprises nave, side aisles, chancel, and embattled tower, contains the monuments of the Cliftons already enumerated, and three additional marbles, one of which, at the entrance to the chancel, records that “in the family vault near this place lies the body of Hetty, daughter of Pelegrine Treves, esq., and widow of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Clifton and Lytham; she died on the 4th of June, 1864, aged 68 years.” The other attached to the opposite side of the entrance is _in memoriam_ of “Thomas Clifton (eldest son of John Clifton, esq., by Elizabeth, his wife) of Clifton and Lytham, who died 17th February, 1851, aged 63 years”; whilst the third, in the chancel itself, is to the memory of “John Clifton, of Lytham, esq., who departed this life on the 25th of March, 1832, aged 68 years. Requiescat in Pace.” Against the wall of the south side aisle is a tablet surmounted by a cross and inscribed thus:—“In memory of Richard Barton Robinson, born July 28: A: D: 1804, died August 9: A: D: 1872, vicar of Lytham for 36 years. This cross is gratefully erected by his parishioners, A.D. 1875.” A similar tablet in the north aisle is erected to the “memory of Edward and Sarah Jane Houghton, by their only surviving son. E. H. born April 23: 1807: died December 15: 1869. S. J. H. born September 26: 1803: died April 21: 1872.” The east window, beautifully emblazoned, “is dedicated by her friends and neighbours, to the memory of Ellen Fisher,” born 1759, died 1837. Similar windows, north and south, in the chancel, were given by Thomas Clifton, esq., in 1845, also a second, on the south side, by Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton, in 1871. The north side aisle contains six handsome windows inserted respectively to the memories of Anne Shepherd Birley, died 1872; James Fair, died 1871, by J. T. Clifton, esq.; Sarah Agnes, wife of W. C. Dowding, clerk, M.A., died 1869, by her maternal aunt, Agnes Newsham; her mother and sisters, by Anne Wilson, 1871; Margaret Hornby, died 1866; William and Agnes Birdsworth and of their father and mother, by their surviving relatives. In the south side aisle are two memorial windows, one being to Henry Miller, died 1859, aged 46 years, and his infant son, died 1852, by his wife Caroline A. Miller; and the other to John Stevenson, died 1872, aged 78 years; Jane Stevenson, died 1872, aged 64 years; William Elsworth Stevenson, died 1869, aged 31 years; and Jane Stevenson, died 1872, aged 25 years. The clerestory of the church is lighted by twelve single windows, each bearing the representation of a saint, all of which were presented by private individuals.

PERPETUAL CURATES AND VICARS OF ST. CUTHBERT’S.

------------+------------------+----------------------+----------------- Date of | NAME. | On whose |Cause of Vacancy. Institution.| | Presentation. | ------------+------------------+----------------------+----------------- 1379 |William de Aslaby,|Prior and Chapter of | | monk | Durham | | | | 1413 |William Patrick, | Ditto | | monk | | | | | 1678 |James Threlfall | | | | | 1701 |Josiah Birchall | | | | | 1717 |Timothy Pollard |Chancellors, Masters, |Death of Josiah | | and Scholars of | Birchall | | Cambridge | | | | 1741 |Ashton Werden |Alexander Osbaldeston,| | | of Preston, esq. | | | | 1743 |Robert Willasey | Ditto | |Thomas Place | | | | | 1760 |John Gibson |Abigail Clayton, of | | | Larkhill, Blackburn,| | | relict and executor | | | of Thomas Clayton, | | | who was surviving | | | executor of | | | Alexander | | | Osbaldeston, of | | | Preston, esq. | | | | 1800 |Robert Lister, |John Clayton, of |Resignation of | B.A. | Little Harwood, esq.| John Gibson | | | 1834 |Richard Barton |Thomas Clifton, esq. |Resignation of | Robinson, M.A. | | Robt. Lister | | | 1870 |Henry Beauchamp |John T. Clifton, esq. | | Hawkins, M.A. | |Resignation of | | | R. B. Robinson ------------+------------------+----------------------+-----------------

In 1872 the chancel was enlarged and a new vestry erected, whilst the solitary gallery at the west end, formerly used for the choir, was converted into commodious sitting accommodation for the congregation. During the same year half an acre was added to the north of the burial ground, and a fresh boundary wall, facing Church Road completed, the iron work being given by the late John Stevenson, J.P., of West Beach, and the stone work by the late John Knowles, proprietor of the Clifton Arms Hotel. The tower contains a peal of eight bells. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, is the patron of the living. The parish register begins in 1679.

The churchyard, which is encircled by a thick plantation of trees, possesses many very handsome monuments, but none of historical importance. The oldest gravestone still legible lies in close proximity to the ancient sun-dial, and bears the date 1672. The parish schools, erected in 1853, stand in Church Road.

Dodsworth informs us that in the neighbourhood of Lytham there existed, in 1601, a village called Waddum Thorp, and that eleven years previously the Horsebank was a green pasture for cattle. Dr. Leigh affirms that the hamlet in question was peopled by some Saxon fishermen. The locality alluded to in the foundation document as Snartsalte is now denominated Saltcoats, and was, like several neighbouring places, the site of a salt manufactory in remote days. Geoffrey Gillet worked the Saltcoats manufactory. Cambden in describing the extractive process says:—“They pour water from time to time upon heaps of sand till it grows brackish, and then with a turf fire they boil it into a white salt.” Bowden wrote, in 1722, concerning the same subject:—“On many places on the coast the inhabitants gather heaps of sand together which, having lain some time, they put into troughs full of holes at the bottom, pour water upon them, and boil the lees into white salt.”

About 1800 the hamlet comprised several mud and thatch cottages, interspersed here and there with a fair number of habitations of recent origin, built with bricks and slated. There were also two inns in existence, the Wheat Sheaf and the Clifton Arms, besides two small licensed houses. The Wheat Sheaf was erected in Clifton Street during the year 1794, and almost simultaneously, but a little later, the Clifton Arms arose on the opposite side of the thoroughfare, facing the sea. There were several shops in the village, and in Douglas Street a house of confinement, containing separate cells, for the detention and punishment of any offenders against the law. The most pretentious dwellings stood upon the northern portion of the tract known as the Marsh, and all of them were newly constructed. One near the western extremity was a substantial house with gardens and plantation, inhabited by the clergyman of the parish, the Rev. Robt. Lister. In close proximity was a marine villa with a Chinese porch, belonging to William Hornby, esq., of Kirkham; and a row of white cottages, called Lizmahago, after a race horse of John Clifton, esq., who had erected them for the accommodation of visitors. A pretty white villa was placed more to the rear, and several well-constructed lodging-houses studded the ground between those just mentioned and the old village, where clay and straw had been the time-honoured building materials. The beach afforded no more than three bathing machines, but sundry improvements, both in multiplying the vans and in the establishment of a warm sea-water bath, were in contemplation. No elegant promenade with its expansive sward, as at present, defined the landward margin of the beach, but the whole space, at one end of which Mr. Cookson had erected a windmill, was covered with miniature sand-hills and star-grass, unfolding a most uninviting and deterring aspect to the pedestrian. The church of St. Cuthbert’s was built of rubble, rough cast and whitened, and certainly possessed, both externally and internally, no very extensive claims to architectural beauty. The instrumental part of the service was accomplished by means of a clarionet and a bass fiddle. The religious edifice stood in the midst of fields, and was approached by a footpath, sufficiently wide to admit the passage of bathing vans, which were occasionally had recourse to by visitors on wet Sundays, in order to attend the service with dry garments, being then, and for some time afterwards, the only covered vehicles in the place. Lytham Hall, embosomed in lofty trees and plantations, formed an imposing object, being situated half a mile inland, between the village and the church. This noble mansion, comprising three fronts, of which the east is the principal, was commenced in 1757 and completed in 1764, by Thomas Clifton, esq., and superseded the original Hall, erected about 1606, by Sir Cuthbert Clifton. At the date now under examination, its possessor, John Clifton, esq., had laid out a race-course for training purposes, of three miles and a quarter in circumference, in the fields to the north-west of the church; and close at hand were excellent paddocks and stables, filled with a considerable stud of fine blood horses. The residence of the trainer was an elegant villa near the stables, surrounded with a shrubbery. Two steamers plied daily in the season between Preston and Lytham, but the larger share of the company arrived by the road, the journey having a few years previously been rendered more direct by the opening of a route across the marshes, past Freckleton, instead of the former circuitous one through Kirkham. In 1801 the population amounted to 920 persons.

During the ensuing twenty years Lytham made steady, if not rapid, progress. Buildings of modern and pretty designs sprang up along the beach, whilst others of substantial workmanship were visible in the lines of various thoroughfares, especially in Clifton Street. The two hotels already specified, underwent enlargements, owing to the growing pressure on their accommodation, and a fresh inn, the Commercial, was erected on the land behind the present Market Hotel, the front and main entrance of the house having an easterly aspect, overshadowed by several lofty trees. A little beyond the north gable end of the inn, in a westerly direction, were the old gates of the park attached to Lytham Hall, near to which, on the road side, was stationed the pinfold, constructed of cobble stones, in a quadrangular form, with an embattled tower rising about eight feet above the height of the walls. A small Baptist chapel, having a school-room connected with it, also existed, standing on part of the ground now occupied by the premises of Mr. Edmondson, draper, the remaining portion being covered by the residence and shop of that gentleman’s father, who owned the chapel, and acted as its minister. The chapel would hold about thirty worshippers, and contained three or four rows of forms and a pulpit; whilst the school-room, of equal dimensions, was let to a person for a private day seminary.

During the summer months, hundreds of day visitors, in addition to the more permanent ones who constituted the company, found their way in carts, waggons, or lighter vehicles, to the coast at Lytham, from Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, and other inland towns, for the pleasure of enjoying once, at least, a year, an invigorating bath in the sea. The fortnightly spring tides were the signals which foretold the advent of these huge pic-nic parties, for such it seems appropriate to style them, who flocked down to the shore, generally bringing their own provisions with them, and after disporting themselves amidst the waves, and procuring amusement in various ways during the day, returned quietly or hilariously home to their several destinations, in the evening or following morning, in the manner they had arrived. Some from the more remote places prolonged their sojourn for three days. Races for the better class of farmers’ horses were held annually on Wit-Monday, over the sward which runs from the windmill to the site of an old lime kiln about one mile distant, in the direction of Saltcoats, the course being round that spot to the starting point. These races, which are described as having been very fair contests, were kept up for many years. The prizes competed for were saddles, bridles, whips, etc. The bowling greens of Lytham amounted to two, which were attached to the Clifton Arms and Commercial Hotels, and were well patronised.

The following description of the attractions of Lytham, published in 1821, furnishes a pretty correct idea of the recreations afforded by the watering-place about that date:—“Lytham is a very salubrious place; its walks are pleasant and diversified. You may walk for miles on the sand westward. You may trip to the Hey-houses and get bad ale. Common-side offers a journey, which, if you please, ends at Blackpool. The walks are many and various for those who love exercise; the lazy will soon tire here, but the active will never be at a loss. The sands are fine—the sea breeze pleasant—the air is impregnated with health. Sailing may be had at tide time; boats are occasionally going to Preston and over the water to Southport. There are baths, shower, cold, and warm for invalides. Old Hugh Holmes, the shaver, doctor, and shopkeeper, is an old man, thin and meagre, conceited to a tittle, and remarkably fond of chit-chat. The people here bathe not at all, whilst those from a distance think it a blessing. Holmes, the barber, said he had never bathed in his life, nor could I persuade him to do so. He said that he was sound in body, and if so, why dip in the briny sea at all.”

In 1821 the population of Lytham amounted to 1,292 persons, consisting of 258 families; and in 1825 the parish contained 258 houses, the occupants of 75 of which were employed chiefly in agriculture, and of 55 in trade, fishing, or handicraft, those of the remaining 128 being unclassified. Three years later the Wheat Sheaf Inn and a wide range of thatched buildings adjoining were demolished, and after leaving the spacious opening, called Dicconson Terrace, leading down to the beach, several improved dwellings and a billiard-room were placed on the remainder of the ground. The greater part of the marine frontage had been levelled, and efforts commenced to lay out a species of walk or promenade. The houses standing along the shore line were usually hired furnished by families for varying periods, at prices from one and a half to three guineas per week, their value being estimated by the number of bed-rooms, each of which represented ten shillings and sixpence a week. Other villas in the watering-place were similarly let, but lodgings could be procured amongst the humble cottages on a weekly payment of four shillings and sixpence by each individual. The prices at the hotels for board and lodging, exclusive of wine and liquors, were—at the Clifton Arms, seven shillings a day in private, and six shillings in public; the Commercial, five shillings and sixpence; and the Ship, a new inn erected since 1820, three shillings and sixpence. Of trades and professions in the village there were three milliners, six drapers, three boot and shoe makers, five joiners and cabinet makers, one druggist, two blacksmiths, one ship carpenter, one custom-house officer, one tide-waiter, one corn miller, three butchers, five grocers, two coal dealers, one confectioner, one surgeon, one attorney, and one clergyman. In addition it should be mentioned that a solitary ladies’ seminary had been established within the previous twelve months. “I recollect,” says Mr. Whittle, in his _Marina_, “visiting Lytham during July, 1824, when Mr. Lardner’s troop of comedians were performing in what was termed the ‘New Theatre, Lytham,’ Cibber’s admired comedy of a ‘Journey to London, or a Bold Push for a Fortune,’ and the laughable farce of the ‘Irish Tutor, or New Lights.’ The chief of the stage business was done by the Lardners, consisting of father, mother, son, and daughter. Likenesses were also taken in miniature by Mr. Lardner, senior, at from two to five guineas each! and the polite art of dancing taught by Lardner, junior. We saw in succession performed Morton’s comedy of ‘Speed the Plough, or the Farmer’s Glory;’ ‘Lovers’ Vows, or the Child of Love’; and Coleman’s admired and excellent comedy of the ‘Poor Gentleman’; all of which were tolerably got up, but the scenery was not of that kind which befitted a place of dramatic exhibition.” During the season three coaches ran regularly from Preston to Lytham and returned, their times of departure being—from Preston, at 12 noon, 5 in the evening, and 7 in the evening; and from Lytham, at 6 in the morning, 9 in the morning, and half-past 4 in the afternoon. In addition to these coaches, occasional public conveyances and many private vehicles brought their loads of pleasure-seekers to the village, especially during Easter and Whit-tides. Letters arrived at half-past 9 in the morning and were despatched at 4 in the afternoon. In 1828 the buildings situated in the vicinity of the beach were, commencing at the eastern extremity of the line and travelling westward, a house, occupied by Miss Dennett, Rimmer’s and Butcher’s cottages, the Baths with a house adjoining, two newly erected dwellings, Cookson’s cottages, Rawstorne’s Marine Cottage, Craven’s and Hampson’s cottages, Clifton Place, Buck’s cottages, Silcock’s and Miller’s cottages, Townend’s and Captain Cookson’s residences, Mr. Barton’s house, Captain Fell’s and Mrs. Birdworth’s residences, Mr. Fisher’s house, Lizmahago houses, Hornby’s Chinese villa, the Parsonage, in the occupation of the Rev. Robert Lister; the Parish Church, situated more inland, and Church-house, a rural place. Mr. Corry, in his History of Lancashire, published about that time, states:—“That the increase of Lytham has not been so rapid as in many villages, where the people are engaged in manufacture; but a considerable part of the visitors and settlers within the last twenty years have been opulent individuals, who were induced by the beauty of the spot and the benefit derived from bathing in the sea water, to resort to this pleasing village.” The houses were unnumbered and recognised by the titles bestowed upon them, or the names of their owners. Lamps for the autumn and winter evenings were unknown in the streets, whilst libraries, news-rooms, and livery stables were things of the future. The Clifton Arms Hotel had recently been overlaid with a thick coating of cement resembling stone, and the Commercial Inn had undergone sundry enlargements. An ornamental enclosure or garden had been formed on the land of the present Market-house, surrounded by a palisading and planted with flowers and shrubs. A carriage road also had been lately made from the village to the church of St. Cuthbert.

In 1831 the census of Lytham showed a total of 1,523 residents, being an increase of 231 over the population ten years before; and three years subsequently the ancient church of the parish was levelled to the ground and the erection of the present edifice commenced. The early growth of the summer resort was much retarded by the exceedingly short terms upon which building leases were granted. Previous to 1820 all land reverted to the lord of the manor forty years after its provisional purchase had been effected, so that there was little inducement for either the speculative or private individual to upraise habitations where the tenure was so unsatisfactory. About that date the duration of leases was extended to sixty years, and even this slight advance in a more liberal direction was not without influence in promoting the development of the place, but no great rapidity characterised the multiplication of houses until a later epoch, when periods of 99 and 999 years were offered to purchasers. In 1839 the Roman Catholics erected a chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, at the east corner of Clifton Street. Previously the members of this sect had worshipped in a small chapel belonging to Lytham Hall, which had superseded the domestic oratory of the Cliftons, in the days when they professed the Romish creed. The edifice in Clifton Street is of brick and has a priests’ residence and schools attached, the whole being prettily encircled by willow trees and a low wall.

The returning seasons brought increasing streams of visitors to the shores of Lytham, and practically proved that the delightful and invigorating influences of the climate and sea were well and widely appreciated by the populace of the large inland towns. The marine esplanade and the firm sands left by the receding tide were ever alive with crowds of people, who either for health or pleasure, or a combination of the two, had arrived in the watering-place. The bathing vans were still unequal to the demands on their accommodation, and many were compelled to dispense with their decorous shelter, and unrobe themselves on the more secluded parts of the beach. To have returned home again without immersing their body in the buoyant sea would to most of them have been to omit the chief object of their journey, many, indeed, having such an exalted idea of the remedial and hygienic properties of the water that they imbibed huge draughts, and even filled bottles with it, for future use, or for friends who had been unable to come themselves. There were few amusements for the visitors beyond those enumerated earlier, but had there been none other, the exhilarating breeze and bath, coupled with the novel surroundings, would have possessed sufficient charm to insure a thronged season year after year.

In 1841 the population numbered 2,047 persons, being a rise of no less than 524 in the inhabitants during the preceding ten years, more than double the excess observed in the census of 1831 over its antecessor. During the previous twelve months the Clifton Arms Hotel, in Clifton Street, had been abolished and a stately building, bearing the same name, erected on the front, where it now stands, very considerable enlarged and beautified under the proprietorship of the late Mr. John Knowles, who purchased it on lease from the lord of the manor, and by whose representatives the Hotel and appurtenances were sold to a company of gentlemen in 1875.

The 16th of February, 1846, initiated a new era in the history and progress of Lytham, for on that day the branch line connecting this popular resort with the Preston and Wyre Railway was formally opened. At an early hour the town evinced manifest signs that the inhabitants were bent on doing full honour to the introduction of their invaluable ally; flags and banners floated from the church and the residences of many of the inhabitants, and later in the day the streets were thronged with processions and spectators of all grades. The directors and a large party of the neighbouring gentry assembled by invitation at Lytham Hall, and after partaking of luncheon proceeded to the newly erected station, where the “opening train,” consisting of an engine, gaily decorated, and fourteen carriages, awaited their arrival. Amongst the gentlemen who accompanied Thomas Clifton, esq., and Mrs. Clifton, on the formal trip to Kirkham and back, were John Laidlay, W. Taylor, J. Dewhurst, T. W. Nelson, Frederick Kemp, C. Swainson, James Fair, E. Houghton, W. H. Hornby, T. R. W. ffrance, P. Rycroft, W. Royds, and William Birley, esquires, the Revs. R. Moore and W. Birley, and Colonel Rawstorne. The train departed amid a volley of cheers and discharge of cannon, and proceeded to Kirkham; the return journey was performed in fifteen minutes. The carriage station was 140 feet long by 53 feet wide, and covered by a somewhat unique roof of twelve wooden arches, put together in segments and secured by nuts and screws, all the timber ends butting upon each other like the stones of an arch, but as solid, from their peculiar construction, as if the whole had been cut out of a single block of timber. The Lytham line diverged from the main railway at a point about a mile to the north-west of Kirkham, and was nearly five miles in length. It passed within a short distance of the village of Wrea, where a station was built, and terminated in the immediate vicinity of the Roman Catholic chapel in this town.

The impetus given to the building trade of Lytham by the opening of the railway and the almost simultaneous extension of ground leases was soon visible in the erection of numerous houses. A Wesleyan chapel, capable of holding 200 hearers, was built, before the close of the year, in Bath Street; but this structure having, as time progressed, become inadequate to the wants of the congregation, the foundation stone of a new one was laid on the 12th of September, 1867, by T. C. Hincksman, esq., of Lytham, at the corner of Park and Westby Streets, service being first conducted there on the 23rd of September in the ensuing year, by the Rev. John Bedford, of Manchester. The chapel is faced with Longridge stone and white brick. In front are stone columns and pilasters nearly thirty feet high, surmounted by Corinthian caps, massive cornice, parapet, pediment, etc. It contains seats for about 500 persons. The old Wesleyan chapel is now used as a literary and social Institute, established in 1872. In 1847 the growth and prosperity of Lytham rendered it necessary that some form of local government should be adopted, and the inhabitants applied for and obtained an Improvement Act, by which the regulation of all public matters was placed in the hands of a board of commissioners elected from amongst the ratepayers. On the 13th of May in that year, the corner stone of a substantial lighthouse was laid on the “Double Stanner” bank, by Peter Haydock, esq., chairman of the Ribble Navigation Company, at whose expense the work was accomplished; but on the 20th of January, 1863, a heavy storm swept over the coast, and amongst other damages effected by its fury was the overthrow of this pile, which was subsequently re-erected on the Star Hills, far removed from the destructive influence of the waves, and perhaps more efficacious, from its greater elevation, as a beacon. During the year 1848 a Market Hall was built on an open space, formerly the ornamental garden referred to in a late page. In the month of June the edifice was completed and ready for use, being constructed of brick and supplied with stalls for various articles, such as fish, vegetables, toys, etc. The tower was elevated in 1872 to receive a large clock, the gift of Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton, and during the following twelve months additional dials and illuminative power were added. The Hall is prettily situated in an enclosure of elm trees.

Another church, dedicated to St. John, was erected on the east beach in 1848-9, and consecrated on the 11th September, 1850. The site was granted by John Talbot Clifton, esq., who retains the patronage of the living, and the expense of construction defrayed by subscription. The edifice is of stone, and includes a nave, side aisles, transepts, chancel, porch, and tower, surmounted by a lofty spire. The side aisles are separated from the nave by pointed arches on circular columns. The chancel has since been enlarged. Within the church are several memorial windows, one of which, in the west end, is in memory of “James and Elizabeth Fair, who died August 16, 1871, and July 27, 1867,” inserted by their children. By the side of this is a smaller stained window to Mr. Bannerman by his widow. The east window of the chancel is magnificently illuminated, and another, lighting the scholars’ chapel on the south of that part, was placed by the Rev. W. H. Self “to his wife, Mary, ob. 1859.” The windows in the north and south transepts are, respectively, to “Thomas Miller, ob. 1865,” and “Thomas Clifton, ob. 1851.” There are no mural tablets. The organ was presented by William Bradshaw Swainson, esq., of Cooper Hill, near Preston, “as a tribute of affection, in memory of his mother, Catherine Swainson, who died at Lytham on the 1st of February, 1848.” The instrument was enlarged by the aid of public contributions in 1874. The lectern was presented by Margaret Ellen Clifford, the second wife of the Rev. W. H. Self, _in memoriam_ of her mother, Mrs. Hannah Biddell, in 1867. The tower contains a peal of six bells. An ecclesiastical parish was apportioned to the church of St. John in 1870. The Rev. William Henry Self, M.A., was the earliest incumbent and subsequently became the first vicar. The Rev. Gregory Smart, M.A., is the present vicar. The graveyard is a spacious area defined by a neat stone wall, and contains numerous elegant monuments. The vicarage house stands a very little distance to the east side of the church, and is a handsome villa residence. To the rear of the burial ground, and separated therefrom by a narrow street, are the parish schools erected in 1851 by subscription, and grants from the Council of Education and the National Society.

The want of proper illumination along the thoroughfares of Lytham during the long evenings of the autumn months, was a source of considerable inconvenience to the visitors, and induced many to vacate the place earlier than otherwise they would have done, so that the commissioners determined to erect gas works by loans on the security of the rates, and remedy the evil as soon as possible. On the 28th of October, 1850, the streets were lighted for the first time with gas. In 1851 the residents of Lytham amounted to 2,695, showing an increase of 648 persons since 1841. It was about this time that a lifeboat was stationed at Lytham, purchased by subscription, and named the “Eleanor Cecily,” out of compliment to the lady of the manor. The boat-house stands on the promenade to the east, in close proximity to the old windmill, and is now occupied by a new and larger craft, presented by Thomas Clayton, esq., of Wakefield, in 1863.

Throughout the succeeding ten years the area of the town continued to expand with fair rapidity. Many graceful villas were added to those already existing on the front, whilst fresh shops and lodging houses arose along the different thoroughfares, plainly evincing a determination on the part of the inhabitants to keep pace with the spreading popularity of the place by creating ample accommodation for the crowds of visitors. A corps of Volunteer Riflemen was enrolled under Captain Lennox in 1860, during the month of January. The census of 1861 furnished a total of 3,189 residents.

The advisability of connecting the two watering-places of Blackpool and Lytham by a coast railway was now freely discussed, and the scheme having been favourably entertained by a number of affluent gentlemen, the requisite powers were sought from Parliament for its formation. In May, 1861, the desired act received the royal assent, and on the ensuing 4th of September the first sod of the new line was cut by T. H. Clifton, esq., M.P., the son and heir of the lord of the manor, in Lytham Park. The directors of the company were E. C. Milne, esq., (chairman), of Warton Lodge; John Talbot Clifton, T. Langton Birley, Charles Birley, James Fair, Robert Rawcliffe, and Thomas Fair, esqrs. The distance, about 7½ miles, was spanned by a single line, stations being placed at the two termini and at South Shore, in addition to which there was a gate-house at Andsell’s road, near the town, where it was proposed to have a booking office. The railway was virtually finished in the autumn of 1862, but the formal opening was postponed until the 4th of April, 1863. At that date, which occurred on Saturday, flags and banners floated from many of the windows, whilst the bells of St. Cuthbert’s church rang out merry peals at intervals throughout the day. No further ceremony, however, was observed on the occasion, than the running of a train to Blackpool and back with a select party of invited guests. Regular public traffic commenced on Monday. During 1871 this line was amalgamated with the Preston and Wyre, of which the Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the London and North Western Railway Companies are the lessees. The track was doubled in 1874, by laying down another length of metals, and connected with the Kirkham and Lytham branch. In the same year on the 1st of July, a spacious and handsome station which had been erected according to the design of C. Axon, esq., of Poulton, was brought into service, and the use of the original one belonging to the branch just specified discontinued for passenger traffic, the whole of which, both from Kirkham and Blackpool, is now directed to the recently built central edifice. It is expected that in course of time the coast line thus established from Preston through Kirkham, Lytham, St. Anne’s, South Shore, to Blackpool will supersede the old route through Poulton to the last named resort for the conveyance of passengers. Important alterations, it should be noted, were effected in the course of the branch from Kirkham to Lytham immediately preceding its junction with the Blackpool and Lytham line, by which the corner lying north of and between Kirkham and Wrea was cut off. The rails were also doubled.

Reverting to the town itself, we find that the day which gave the small coast communication between Blackpool and Lytham to the public use, also witnessed another event—the opening of the Baths and Assembly Rooms, situated on the beach, about midway between the Clifton Arms and the Neptune Hotels. The building is of brick, with stone dressings, and presents an elegant and rather imposing appearance. It comprises private and swimming baths for both sexes; dressing-rooms, retiring-rooms, news and general reading-room, and a capacious saloon, able to contain 350 persons, used for concerts, balls, and other entertainments. Early in the same year a Congregational Church was completed in Bannister Street, the corner stone of which had been laid on the 17th of October, 1861, by Sir James Watts, of Manchester. The edifice is formed of Longridge stone, in the ornamental Gothic style of architecture, with a spire, and will hold about 500 worshippers. Within the enclosure wall surrounding the church are the Sunday schools connected with it. The first pile of the marine pier, extending into the estuary of the Ribble from the promenade, was screwed into the ground on the 8th of June, 1864. The structure was designed by E. Birch, esq., C.E., and is supported on hollow cylindrical columns, arranged in clusters. The length of the deck is 914 feet, the whole of which is encircled by a continuous line of side seats, whilst a lounging or waiting-room is stationed on the head. The entrance is protected by gates and toll-houses. Easter Monday, the 17th of April, 1865, was the day set apart for the ceremonious opening of the new erection. The town was gaily decorated with the bunting, and no efforts were spared to do full justice to the importance of so auspicious an event. Immense confluences of people arrived in excursion trains, running at greatly reduced fares, from the business centres of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the streets and esplanade were literally inundated with spectators from all grades of society. To Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton was delegated the honourable duty of declaring the pier accessible to promenaders, and at the selected time, that lady, accompanied by her son, T. H. Clifton, esq., proceeded to the spot, where the necessary form was gone through; a large procession, headed by a marshall, and consisting of the mayor and corporation of Preston, the directors of the Ribble Navigation Company, naval and military officers, clergy, the several directors of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, the Lytham and Blackpool Railway, the Blackpool and the Southport Pier Companies, and numerous gentry. Unabated prosperity continued to shine on the watering-place, whose limits were annually extended by additional buildings, and in all parts there was to be observed that aspect of recent improvements and embellishments which is ever indicative of a propitious fortune.

The population in 1871 had reached the high figure of 7,902, having more than doubled during the previous ten years, and if further evidence were required of the development of Lytham, none more irrefutable and convincing could be given than this wonderful multiplication of the inhabitants. On the 3rd of August, 1871, a neat Gothic cottage hospital, erected at the east end of the resort, in Preston Road, at the sole expense of the lord of the manor, was pronounced open for the reception of patients, and transferred to a committee of management. The building stands in three acres of land tastefully laid out, and comprises a central portion of two stories, with a wing on either side, containing two large wards (each with four beds), two sitting-rooms, surgery, bath-rooms, and laundry, on the ground floor; upstairs are four beds for invalids and a sleeping apartment for the matron. The hospital is intended for the poor labouring under disease or accidents. Luke Fisher, esq., M.D., is the physician in charge. From 1871 up to the present date (1876), there is nothing calling for separate comment beyond those matters in connection with the railway and station already noticed, with the exception of the beautiful park-garden, occupying the land formerly known as Hungry Moor, and instituted through the liberality of J. T. Clifton, esq., who bestowed the name of the Lowther Gardens on the enclosure so gracefully designed and planted, and gave free access to the public on its completion, about three years ago. The progress of the town within the short interval at present under consideration, has been marked by even greater rapidity than that which shed such a halo of prosperity around the period more immediately preceding; and there is no apparent prospect that the powerful impetus which has thus far exerted its beneficial influence on the place is likely to experience any diminution. Indeed it may with reason be anticipated that when passenger traffic is more thoroughly established along the coast line from Preston to Blackpool, the demand for residential accommodation will be still greater than that which supplies abundant occupation to the builders to-day.

The original endowment of Lytham Free School was derived from the following sources:—In 1702, the Rev. James Threlfall, of St. Cuthbert’s church, gave £5; and somewhere about the same time, William Elston, who died in 1704, presented £3 3s. 0d., for the use of the parish. Subsequently these sums of money were supplemented by a grant of £10 from John Shepherd, of Mythorp, and the whole invested, the interest being applied to local charitable purposes. The benefaction of John Shepherd was bestowed in trust upon Thomas Shepherd and his heirs, to the intent that the interest should be applied to the “use of such poor children’s schooling, as they, with two or three of the most substantial men of the parish, whom they chose to consult, should think fit;”[212] but it is doubtful how it was disposed of until 1720, when the three separate sums mentioned were incorporated, for a motive stated directly, with a collection made in aid of those who had suffered damage from a serious inundation in that year. The inhabitants were unable to agree upon an equable distribution of the collection specified, and decided, by way of settling the affair, to “make a free school,”[213] with it and the other sums. The total capital thus acquired amounted to more than £100. In 1728 £60 was derived from the residue of John Harrison’s estate, by the direction of his will. William Gaulter gave to Lytham school in 1745 several securities for money, amounting in all to £99, and three years later bequeathed the residue of his personal estate, except 20s., to the same object, making a total benefaction of £335. The whole of the endowment fund has been invested in land, and the school has always been in the hands of trustees, who have control over the teachers and all matters affecting its interest and government.

Cookson’s Charity is the interest of £10 bequeathed by Thomas Cookson at an unknown date before 1776, to purchase books for the poor children of the parish.

Leyland’s Charity represents the sum of £60 left by Elizabeth Leyland to trustees, in 1734, in order that it might be laid out, and the annual revenue therefrom devoted to the assistance of the poor, either in relieving the elderly, or providing instruction for the young.

ST. ANNES-ON-THE-SEA. The locality in which the new watering-place is rapidly developing was indicated in the foundation charter of the Lytham Benedictine Cell as Kilgrimol. It has been suggested that the peculiar orthography of the word Kilgrimol points to there having been at some era a religious settlement, presided over by Culdees, the priests of Columba,[214] but it is more probable that the name is derived from the two British words _kilgury_, a corner, and _mul_ or _meol_, a sand-hill. At a later epoch the district was known as Cross or Churchyard Slack, and tradition records that an oratory existed there until such time as it was swallowed up by an earthquake, long years ago. Mr. Thornber, in discussing the statement, advances the following fact as some evidence in favour of its veracity:—“Churchyard Slack is situated in a hollow, having on the north side a rising ground called Stony-hill, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile a similar elevation, though not so marked. On these ridges are found innumerable small boulders of grey granite, having apparently been acted upon by fire; but it is particularly remarkable that not one can be found amongst them entirely whole. Similar stones in less quantities are discovered in the intervening space, all more or less broken.”

On the immediate outskirts of the embryo town is the small hamlet of Heyhouses, at which a school was established in 1821, and enlarged in 1853; and it was there that Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton erected a church, in memory of the late James Fair, esq., of Lytham, on a site presented by her husband, the lord of the manor. The foundation stone of the edifice was laid in June, 1872, and on Wednesday, the 6th of August, in the ensuing year, the church and burial ground, occupying jointly 2½ acres, were consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The interior contains accommodation for 300 persons, 145 seats being appropriated, and 155 free. The roof is of red tiles instead of slates. The building is at present a chapel of ease to St. Cuthbert’s, Lytham, but will, when occasion requires, have a separate ecclesiastical parish of its own.

The whole of the land of St. Annes-on-the-Sea was leased to a company of gentlemen for a term of 1,100 years by John Talbot Clifton, esq., and on the 31st of March, 1875, the formality of laying the first stone of the future watering-place was gone through by Master John T. Clifton, the eldest son of T. H. Clifton, esq., M.P. The ceremony was accomplished amidst a large concourse of people, and was in fact the commencement of the handsome and commodious hotel near to the railway station, which has since been completed. The estate has been judiciously and tastefully arranged by Messrs. Maxwell and Tuke, architects, of Bury, and is intersected by broad streets with gentle curves. The houses are intended to be built either singly or in pairs with few exceptions, but in no case will any group comprise more than six; gardens in each instance are to front the dwellings. A promenade, 3,000 feet in length and 180 feet in width, has been formed with asphalt along the marine aspect, and already between twenty and thirty villas have been raised on the sides of the recently made thoroughfares. A public garden with conservatories is also in course of formation, as well as efficient gas-works and other requisites.

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