Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/historyoffyldeof00portiala Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8 text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should consult the html version or the original page images noted above. HISTORY OF THE FYLDE OF LANCASHIRE, by JOHN PORTER, M.R.C.S., L.S.A. [Illustration] Fleetwood and Blackpool: W. Porter and Sons, Publishers. 1876. [All rights reserved.] Fleetwood and Blackpool: Printed by W. Porter and Sons. TO BENJAMIN WHITWORTH, ESQUIRE, M.P., IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ENTERPRISE, GENEROSITY, AND PHILANTHROPY, DISPLAYED IN THE FYLDE, AND ELSEWHERE, AND AS A TRIBUTE OF PERSONAL REGARD AND ESTEEM, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. A few, and only a few, words are needed to introduce the History of the Fylde to the public. In its preparation my aim has been to make the work as comprehensive in description and detail as the prescribed limits would allow, and I have endeavoured to write in a style free from any tendency to pedantry, and I hope, also, from dulness. How far these conditions have been fulfilled I must now leave to the judgment of the reader, doing so with some degree of confidence that at any rate the attempt will be generally appreciated, if the success be not universally acknowledged. In the course of my labours I have availed myself of the works of various authors, and desire to acknowledge my indebtedness, especially to Baines’s Lancashire, Fishwick’s Kirkham, Thornber’s Blackpool, and many volumes of the Cheetham and other historical societies. My thanks for valuable aid are also due to the following gentlemen, amongst others, the Ven. Archdeacon Hornby, of St. Michael’s-on-Wyre; the Rev. W. Richardson, of Poulton-le-Fylde; Col. Bourne, M.P., of Hackensall and Heathfield; John Furness, esq., of Fulwood; W. H. Poole, esq., of Fleetwood; and the Bailiffs of Kirkham. _JOHN PORTER._ _Fleetwood, August, 1876._ ERRATA. Page 7, line 15, after the word _crossing_, insert _the Main Dyke from_. This Dyke is crossed after leaving, and not before reaching, Staining, as stated. Page 147, line 9 from the bottom, for _Gulph_, read _Gulf_. Page 183, line 2, for 1857, read 1657. Page 256, dele the heading _Coasting_. Page 286, line 2 from the bottom, for _fortified_, read _forfeited_. Page 289, line 13 from the bottom, for the first _funds_, read _expenses_. CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER I. THE ANCIENT BRITONS, ROMANS, ANGLO-SAXONS AND DANES 1-29 CHAPTER II. THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO JAMES THE FIRST 30-54 CHAPTER III.