Poulton-le-Fylde
The name Poulton-le-Fylde is derived from the River Wyre, situated at the bottom of the Breck at Skippool. Poulton means "farmstead by a pool or creek". '-le-Fylde was added to the name in 1842 when the penny post began, to stop local post mistakenly being sent north to an-other village of Poulton-le-Sands, now part of Morecambe.
Poulton had two ports one on either bank of the River Wyre, on the south side at Skippool and on the north side at Wardleys in Hambleton. This was an important trading facility for Poulton during the eighteenth century. Poulton's famous five antiquities are regarded as one of the finest groups in Britain today.
The cross is the oldest of the group, with its base steps forming the seat for the stocks. The Market Cross was a sign in mediaeval England that even in business the church had overall control and was placed high up so all could see and be reminded of Christianity when trading. The Stocks in Poulton were used for offenders in detention, who suffered the indignity and humiliation of being pelted with rotten eggs and vegetables whilst secured within the stocks.
The fish slab would be used for cutting fish on markets days, as would the whipping post when criminals were ordered to be publicly flogged and their wrongdoings proclaimed for all to hear. The only one of the group that can be dated accurately is Queen Victoria's lamp, which was erected to commemorate her Golden Jubilee in 1887.
For ten centuries, the Parish Church of Saint Chad has stood in the centre of Poulton-le-Fylde. Dedicated to the seventh century Saxon Bishop, the church was first mentioned in 1094, when it is recorded Count Roger de Poictou granted the church one carucate of land, to the Priory of Saint Mary at Lancaster. The present structure is from three different periods, the oldest section being the tower dating from 1638.
The main part of the church was re-built between 1751 and 1753 although some parts of the walls are of an earlier origin. Its classical facade on the side facing the Market Square is virtually symmetrical, with two tall oval windows flanked by Doric doorways, with oval windows over them and another window to the side.
Inside, the nave has a single overall roof and no subdivisions except for the widely spaced Doric columns carrying the gallery, which runs around three sides. This has a panelled front with the original candleholders and is approached up a fine staircase in the northwest corner.
Some of the famous Poultonians in the seventeenth century, were Sir Alexander Rigby and James Baines. Sir Alexander Rigby, son of Sir Alexander Rigby of Layton Hall, became a successful trader in the 1690's building his Poulton home in 1693, two years later he was knighted. Sir Alexander's business began to fail and eventually he had to sell most of his lands in and around Poulton, because one of his business partners was imprisoned for piracy.
Sir Alexander was imprisoned in the Fleet prison for debtors in London, where he died in 1717. James Baines, the son of a Wy-resdale farmer, developed a successful woollen drapers business in Poulton and also became a moneylender within the market town. When he died in 1717, he had funded three schools in Thornton, Marton and Poulton, as well as bequeathing money for maintenance and school masters wages. Money was also left to develop a fund for poor apprentices within the area to enable them to learn their crafts.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century Poulton was the centre of the farming community in this part of the Fylde. The most famous person in the nineteenth centuries was William Hodgson, who was a County Councillor for more than sixty years. He was born in Preston in 1858, although his ancestors had lived in Poulton for many generations. William Hodgson became the first chairman in 1900 when Poulton became an Urban District Council.
In 1932 William Hodgson opened the Hodgson School, named after him and in 1935 he was knighted for his services to local government. He died in 1945, at the age of 87, having devoted much of his life to the local community. Poulton has probably seen more change in the twentieth century than any other part of its history, but it is remarkable how that change has brought it back to being partly the town that is was.
For more information on the history of Poulton-le-Fylde please see the Poulton-le-Fylde Historical And Civic Society website at:
