Lytham

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1912.

This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

Citation:

'Lytham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp213-219 [accessed 25 November 2024].

'Lytham', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Edited by William Farrer, J Brownbill( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed November 25, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp213-219.

"Lytham". A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. Ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 25 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp213-219.

In this section

LYTHAM

Lidun, Dom. Bk.; Lithun, Lithum, c. 1190; Lethum, 1347.

The township occupies a level tract of land at the mouth of the Ribble; Lytham proper is at the eastern end, and is bounded on the south by the Ribble; while St. Anne's, formerly called Heyhouses, occupies the north-west portion and looks out over the Irish Sea to the west. The area between the two extremes is known as Ansdell; the new residential district called Fairhaven is here, (fn. 1) while Heyhouses is more inland. Formerly a large part of the total area of 5,309½ acres (fn. 2) was occupied by sandy wastes on the sea side and mosses inland, but there was arable land to the north-east of the village. The township by the county lay of 1624 had to pay £2 6s. 2¼d. to each £100 levied on the hundred. (fn. 3) About 130 years ago Lytham came into notice as a sea-bathing place for summer visitors (fn. 4); in 1825 it was stated that 'if the company is less fashionable than at Blackpool it is generally more numerous and usually very respectable.' (fn. 5) The development of the place was then restricted by the 'reservations and covenants of the old feudal life-leases' inserted in grants of building land, (fn. 6) and the town has long ceased to be in the same rank with Blackpool. It is of pleasant appearance and attracts a large number of visitors in the season, while its mild climate makes it a favourite resort in winter also. There are wide sands, an open promenade with a stretch of grass called the Green along the sea front, and a pier built in 1864–5 and rebuilt in 1891. From this pier steamers go to Southport and Blackpool. A windmill near it is still working.

A branch of the Preston and Wyre railway was made to Lytham as early as 1846, (fn. 7) and was continued along the shore to Blackpool in 1863 with stations at Ansdell and St. Anne's. An electric tramway starting at Lytham also goes through St. Anne's to South Shore; it is owned by a private company.

A pool on the eastern boundary under the control of the lord of the manor was formerly useful when the state of the Ribble prevented any but the smallest vessels going up to Preston. (fn. 8) A graving dock there led to the establishment of shipbuilding works. The hamlet of Saltcotes adjoining is said to have taken its name from a salt refinery formerly worked there. (fn. 9)

The market-house was built in 1848. (fn. 10) A cottage hospital was opened in 1871, and the institute, containing a library, &c., in the following year. At the same time Mr. Clifton gave the Lowther Gardens at the west end of the town. There are public baths on the central beach. (fn. 11)

St. Anne's-on-the-Sea sprang into existence (fn. 12) in 1875. It extends over the boundary into Marton. Here, as at Lytham proper, are a sea promenade, a pier, an institute and a public hall. There are three convalescent homes for children and a home for the blind.

Weekly newspapers, the Times and Standard, are published at Lytham and St. Anne's.

The agricultural land (fn. 13) is thus occupied:—

Arable land ac. Permanent grass ac. Woods and plantations ac.
Lytham 509 1,062 280
St. Anne's 728 1,134
1,237 2,196 280

For Lytham a local board was formed in 1847, and Heyhouses acquired a local board in 1878 (fn. 14) but in 1894 the parish was divided into two townships, Lytham and St. Anne's, each with an urban district council. (fn. 15) The Lytham council consists of twelve members elected by four wards–North-east, North-west, South-east and South-west; it owns the gas works, (fn. 16) while water is supplied to the whole district by the Fylde Water Board. The St. Anne's council also consists of twelve members elected by four wards—North, East, South and West; it owns electric lighting works, but gas is also supplied by a private company.

In 1676 there were 181 Protestant inhabitants and seventy popish recusants; no Dissenters. (fn. 17) In 1755 the number of Protestant families was returned as eighty, of Papist forty-four. (fn. 18)

The population of Lytham numbered 7,185 in 1901, and that of St. Anne's 6,838, but thirty-one of the latter belonged to Marton; thus the population of the old parish was 13,992.

Manor

The descent of the manor of LYTHAM may be given in very few words. In 1066, assessed as two plough-lands, it was part of Earl Tostig's Amounderness lordship. (fn. 19) Afterwards it was held of the Crown in thegnage by the lord of Woodplumpton, (fn. 20) and about 1190 was granted to the great monastery of Durham, (fn. 21) which established a cell or priory. (fn. 22) After the Dissolution Lytham was sold by the Crown in 1554 to Sir Thomas Holcroft, (fn. 23) and in 1606 it was acquired by Cuthbert Clifton of Westby. (fn. 24) It became the chief residence of its new lords, whose descent has been traced in the account of Clifton in Kirkham. The lord of the manor, who is practically the sole landowner, is Mr. John Talbot Clifton, who resides at Lytham Hall.

The hall stands in a park of over 600 acres on the north-west of the town half a mile immediately to the north of the parish church. It is a fine classic building of two stories and an attic, begun in 1751 from the designs of Carr of York but not completed till 1764. (fn. 25) The principal front faces east and has a pediment supported by Ionic columns the height of the upper floors.

Lytham Hall

The Priors of Lytham (or of Durham) had various disputes with their neighbours as to boundaries and common rights, (fn. 26) and in 1292 were summoned to show by what right they claimed wreck of the sea at Lytham. (fn. 27) Later they are found paying the Earl of Lancaster 3s. 4d. a year for this right. (fn. 28) In 1498 a number of other claims were called in question, including free warren. (fn. 29) Estholme Carr was at one time held by the Bradkirk family. (fn. 30) There are but few traces of other freeholders. (fn. 31)

Several accounts of the furniture and stock of the priory have been preserved. (fn. 32) The house itself seems to have been deserted by the monks before the Dissolution; they returned to Durham.

In addition to the lord of the manor several yeomen and others registered estates as 'Papists' in 1717. (fn. 33)

Church

The church of ST. CUTHBERT stands at the west end of the town and is a modern building in red brick erected in 1834 on the site of an older edifice built in 1770, which in its turn had replaced one of still earlier date. This earlier church was built of cobbles and was very low, with a 'steeple,' a porch, and a 'pulpit against the south wall.' A description of the building as it was in 1764 has been preserved in a brief of that date, (fn. 34) in which it is stated to be a 'very ancient structure standing upon the sea-coast and so much decayed in every part that the parishioners cannot assemble therein for the worship of God without manifest danger to their lives, the walls being so bulged out, in some places near three feet from the perpendicular, that the parishioners have laid out considerable sums of money from time to time in repairing and endeavouring to support the said church, yet the same is by length of time become so ruinous and decayed that it cannot any longer be kept up, but the same with the steeple must be taken down and rebuilt.' The building was accordingly taken down (fn. 35) and a new church erected, which in plan was a simple rectangle under a gabled roof with a 'whitened' west tower containing one bell. (fn. 36) The interior of the building, which is described as being 'extremely simple, light, and elegant' (fn. 37) and 'preserved in the neatest possible order,' was 'fitted up with thick narrow oak frames ornamented with elbows or scrolls and having two rows in the middle and one at each side.' (fn. 38) The walls were above a yard in thickness, the main door having a small porch, and to the east and west were the remains of thick walls, as if they might have been the ruins of some former and larger edifice. (fn. 39) The parish maintained the west end, which was 'about half of it,' and Thomas Clifton the east end. (fn. 40) This second church was pulled down in 1834, being found too small to meet the requirements of the growing number of visitors in the season, and the first stone of the present building was laid in March and the church opened in the same year. It consists of chancel with north vestry and organ chamber, clearstoried nave with north and south aisles and west tower. The chancel, which was originally small, was extended in 1872, and the north aisle was widened in 1882, being increased to double its width and covered with a separate gabled roof. The style is Gothic with embattled walls to nave and tower, the roofs being covered with stone slates, and though architecturally of little merit is perhaps superior to much Gothic work of the period, the brickwork showing nothing of the hardness of line so common in stone churches of the early part of the last century. A new vestry on the north side of the old one was erected in 1909 in memory of Bishop Pym of Bombay (d. 1908), who was assistant curate at Lytham. (fn. 41) The church was reseated in oak in 1888. There are several Clifton monuments, including four 18th-century ones from the old church.

There is a ring of eight bells, six cast in 1857 by C. & G. Mears, and the treble and tenor in 1874 by Mears & Stainbank.

The plate consists of a chalice of 1844, no longer used; two chalices, a bread-holder and a flagon presented by Thomas Clifton in 1845; a paten of 1846; a paten of 1871–2; a small silver almsdish of 1874–5; and a large repoussè almsdish of unburnished silver presented in 1895 by the Rev. Samuel Ashton Thompson Yates. In a case in the vestry are preserved the bowls of two pewter chalices and a pewter flagon, together with the loose foot of one of the chalices, which is inscribed 'The gift of William Hornsby to Lytham Church, 1816.' The flagon is 'The gift of William Hornby, Esq., of Kirkham, to Lytham Church.'

The registers begin in 1679. The first volume, which contains the baptisms and burials from 1679 to 1761 and the marriages from 1679 to 1754, has been printed. (fn. 42)

On the south side of the church is an undated stone pedestal sundial, the plate bearing the motto 'Dum spectes fugio,' and with the name of Waller, maker. The oldest gravestone is dated 1672. (fn. 43)

Advowson

The earliest record of the church of Lytham is that contained in Reginald of Durham's book of the miracles of St. Cuthbert. (fn. 44) The grandfather of Richard son of Roger, he tells us, pulled down the ancient wattled church, and built a new one of stone, on an adjacent site, in honour of St. Cuthbert, 'wherein the grace of God on account of the merits of B. Cuthbert wrought many miracles, to be admired of all men.' A servant of Richard son of Roger named Uvieth, (fn. 45) having committed a secret sin, was smitten in the face by St. Cuthbert and was like to die. Being carried to the church, the faith of his friends was rewarded by a vision of the saint, who healed the man he had punished. Another servant, a youth, walking in the cemetery, saw a young sparrow fly from its nest on the church roof and rest on the remains of the altar of the old church still visible. (fn. 46) The youth captured it, not thinking he was breaking 'the peace of the saint,' and was surprised to find that he could not leave the cemetery until he had released his prey. Richard son of Roger himself, being, as it was thought, at the point of death, was carried to the church of St. Cuthbert,' whom he had always loved,' to die there, and was cured as soon as he entered the building; afterwards he went to Durham to watch at the shrine (fn. 47) and return thanks for his cure. His son also, being at the point of death, was restored to health after a night's watching in the church. For testimony of this restoration the father took his son to Durham and offered a gold ring, which was to be fixed on the tomb of St. Cuthbert, at the same time telling the story of all these wonders. (fn. 48)

Apart from Reginald's stories the existence of the church before 1190 is proved by the priory charter. (fn. 49) The church was probably at one time dependent upon Kirkham, but the founder obtained a formal release from the Abbot of Shrewsbury, (fn. 50) and the chapter of Lancaster decided that Lytham was a parish church and not a chapel. (fn. 51) The church was given absolutely to the monks, and the Prior of Lytham, the nominee or removable deputy of the Prior of Durham, took the position of rector, assisted by one or two other monks and a secular chaplain or more. (fn. 52) In 1291 the value of the church was £4, but after the raid of the Scots in 1322 (fn. 53) was reduced to £2; this remained the nominal value in 1341. (fn. 54) In 1535, however, the value of the tithes and oblations was reckoned as £9 13s. 11d.; out of which 3s. was paid to the Archdeacon of Richmond and 10s. was distributed to the poor on Maundy Thursday according to ancient custom. (fn. 55)

An inventory of the church goods made in 1446 shows that it was well furnished with books and vestments. (fn. 56)

After the dissolution of the monastery it does not clearly appear what provision was made for divine worship, (fn. 57) but the king as rector and then the Holcrofts and their successors would pay a chaplain to perform at least the minimum service. The stipend also would be a minimum, and in 1610 Lytham was reported as 'an usurped impropriation' (as it was supposed) possessed by one Mr. Roger Ley, gentleman, dwelling in the parsonage-house; the stipendiary minister (was) a bare reader and careless. (fn. 58) In 1604 it was reported that the parish clerk could neither read nor write. (fn. 59) In 1650 the tithes were worth £29 a year; the patron and impropriator was Thomas Clifton, 'a Papist and delinquent'; the minister had no allowance or salary, but £50 was allowed by the Committee of Plundered Ministers. (fn. 60) In 1717 Bishop Gastrell found that £20 a year was allowed to the curate by the lay rector, who nominated him; and the surplice fees came to £2. There were then neither schools nor charities. (fn. 61) A grant was afterwards obtained from Queen Anne's Bounty and other endowments were given, (fn. 62) the vicar's income now amounting to about £400. (fn. 63) The trustees of J. T. Clifton are patrons.

The following have been curates and vicars:—

oc. 1548–62 George Lorimer (fn. 64)
oc. 1610 Hugh Grimbalson (fn. 65)
oc. 1619 Peter Bullock (fn. 66)
oc. 1622 — Brown (fn. 67)
oc. 1639 Robert Brodbelt (fn. 68)
oc. 1646–54 William Armisteed (fn. 69)
oc. 1678–1701 James Threlfall (fn. 70)
1701 Josiah Birchall (fn. 71)
1717 Timothy Pollard (fn. 72)
1741 Ashton Werden, M.A. (fn. 73) (T.C.D.)
1743 Robert Willacy (fn. 74)
1759 Thomas Place
1760 John Gibson (fn. 75)
1800 Robert Lister, B.A. (fn. 76)
1834 Richard Barton Robinson, M.A (fn. 77) (Queen's Coll., Oxf.)
1870 Henry Beauchamp Hawkins, M.A. (fn. 78) (Trinity Coll., Camb.)

At the east end of the town St. John's Church was built in 1848–50; the Clifton trustees are patrons. (fn. 79) At Fairhaven St. Paul's was built as a chapel of ease to the parish church in 1904. St. Anne's-on-the-Sea has taken its name from St. Anne's Church built in that part of the township in 1872–3 (fn. 80); Lady Drummond's trustees are patrons. There is a mission church of St. Thomas built in 1900; the present vicar of St. Anne's is the patron, but Mr. J. T. Clifton will succeed after his death.

The Wesleyan Methodists opened a chapel in 1846; the present church succeeded it in 1868 (fn. 81) they also have chapels at Fairhaven, 1899, and St. Anne's, 1892, with mission halls. The Strict Baptists have long had a meeting-place (fn. 82); their present chapel is at Pollux Gate, Fairhaven. There are two more recent Baptist chapels, at Ansdell and St. Anne's, 1884–6; the former was rebuilt in 1908.

The Congregationalists opened their first church in 1862 (fn. 83); they have now another at Fairhaven, 1903–4, and a third at St. Anne's, 1894–6. (fn. 84) At the last-named place the Christian Brethren also have a meeting-room.

Worship according to the Roman rites was probably maintained at Lytham Hall during the 17th and 18th centuries, (fn. 85) there being a domestic chapel. (fn. 86) The list of convicted recusants about 1670 is headed by Sir Thomas Clifton, and contains many names still known in the district. (fn. 87) The number of 'Papists' returned to the Bishop of Chester in 1767 was 384.; the priest was 'John Mansel alias Talbot, Jesuit,' and 'Thomas Clifton esq.' followed him. (fn. 88) In 1800 an old tithe-barn on the edge of the park was used as a chapel. (fn. 89) After the squire became a Protestant the present St. Peter's was built in the town in 1839. (fn. 90) At St. Anne's the church of Our Lady Star of the Sea was built in 1890. (fn. 91) St. Joseph's, Ansdell, was founded in 1908.

The free school at Lytham was founded in 1726 or a little later. (fn. 92) A second school, or branch, seems to have been opened at Heyhouses in 1775.

Charities

Official inquiries were made as to the charities in 1824 and 1899, and from the reports issued in 1900 it appears that, apart from the educational endowments, amounting to £720 a year, there are only two charities in operation. Elizabeth Layland in 1734 left £60 for the poor or the education of children; this now produces £5 10s. a year, of which £2 2s. is given to the cottage hospital and the rest is distributed to the poor in kind. (fn. 93) Harriet Jane Quartley in 1878 left £19 19s. to the vicar of Lytham for a Christmas gift to the poor; the income is 13s. 2d., but the capital has been increased by accumulations. (fn. 94)

Footnotes

  • 1. Cross Slack was in the same neighbourhood.
  • 2. The Census Rep. of 1901 gives the following acreages for Lytham and St. Anne's respectively: Land, 2,453, 3,341; inland water, 11, 1; tidal water, 300, 402; foreshore, 775, 4,633. St. Anne's includes part of Marton.
  • 3. Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 23.
  • 4. Whittle's Marina (1829) contains an account of Lytham composed in 1799 by Captain William Latham; this speaks of the place as then 'only advancing into fame,' but mentions a tradition that there was formerly a 'town of some note . . . between the present church and the sandhills, in a direction towards the common side.'
  • 5. Baines, Lancs. Dir. (1825), ii, 53.
  • 6. Ibid. See also the account in Porter's Fylde, 437–51.
  • 7. The terminus of 1846 stands some distance to the east of the present station.
  • 8. Baines, op. cit. ii, 55; 'the pool in Lytham, situated about a mile east of the village, is nearly formed into a natural dock, large enough to contain a fleet of men-of-war, and there is a small graving dock at its northern extremity where vessels are built and repaired. This pool belongs to Mr. Clifton and at the summer assizes at Lancaster in 1824 he established his claim for anchorage on vessels loading and unloading there.'
  • 9. Baines, Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 506.
  • 10. A market was authorized by an Act 10 & 11 Vict. cap. 251.
  • 11. The baths and assembly rooms were opened in 1862.
  • 12. Porter, Fylde, 453.
  • 13. a Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905).
  • 14. By a special improvement Act 10 & 11 Vict. cap. 251, amended by later Acts.
  • 15. Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 31813. In 1897 a further order was made (no. 36320) extending Lytham and St. Anne's to include the foreshore.
  • 16. These works were established by the local board in 1850.
  • 17. Hist. of Lytham (Chet. Soc.), 20–4; the names are given. A Subsidy Roll of 1546 is printed ibid. 16; another of 1640–1, ibid. 31–4; and a list of subscribers to a 'voluntary present to his majesty' in 1661, ibid. 17–19.
  • 18. a Visit, returns at Chester.
  • 19. V.C.H. Lancs, i, 288a.
  • 20. Lancs. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 46.
  • 21. Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 346 (from the Charter R. 130, of 1335); Richard son of Roger, with the consent of his wife Margaret and of his heirs, gave in pure alms all his land of Lytham, with the church of the same vill, and all appurtenances, in order that the monks might build a house of their order there. The bounds were described as beginning on the west side of the cemetery of Kilgrimol, where the benefactor had raised a cross, and thence westward to the sea. From the same cross the boundary went east along the Cursed mere beyond the great moss and the Suinebrigg brook as far as Ballam; from Ballam across the moss, which had been divided between the grantor and John Count of Mortain (his lord) as far as the east side of Estholme carr, and thence to the water coming from Birchholme between the said carr and Bryning carr; then following the water south to the middle point between Estholme and Couburgh, returning westward and going round the moss southward to the Pool beyond Swartesalt, and the sand by the sea; thence by the thread of the Ribble and the sea back to the starting-point. Islands, sands and all rights were given as fully as possible. These bounds seem to have been preserved down to the present, with little if any variation. Another charter, perhaps earlier, gives the bounds in reverse order; Lytham D. at Durham, 1, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. From this it is clear that the 'islands' were in the inner marsh. Count John showed his good will not only by confirming the grant, but also by remitting the thegnage rent of 8s. 8d. due from Lytham, and after he became king he ratified these acts; ibid. 130, 137; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, loc. cit.; Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 88. The original charter is at Durham, 2, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 20. There was an inspeximus of the charter in 1319; Cal. Pat. 1317–21, p. 404. From deeds preserved at Durham it seems that Evesham Abbey had had a grange at Lytham; Lytham D. 12, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. &c.
  • 22. See the account of the religious houses in V.C.H. Lancs. ii, 107–10.
  • 23. Pat. 2 Mary, pt. ii, the church and hall formerly belonging to Durham. The Prior of Durham had in 1539 granted a lease of the manor to Thomas Dannett for eighty years at a rental of £48 19s. 6d., and this seems to have been confirmed by the Crown in 1549, with a reduction of the rent due; D. at Lytham. Dannett was to pay 3s. 4d. to the king for wreck, wife and strays, and 40s. to the Earl of Derby as steward's fee. Sir Thomas Holcroft died in July 1558 holding the manor of Lyham of the Crown by knight's service. His son Thomas was a year old; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. x, no. 13. In 1586 Thomas Holcroft had a dispute with William Clifton as to waste called Westmoss; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), iii, 173, 187.
  • 24. Cuthbert Clifton (afterwards made a knight) came of age in 1603, and purchased Lytham in 1606 from Sir Richard Molyneux and Frances his wife; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 70, no. 60; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 50. How the vendors obtained the manor has not been as certained. In the year of purchase Cuthbert Clifton made a settlement of the manor, rectory of the church, view of frankpledge, free warren and fishery, lands, &c.; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 70, no. 40. In 1609 Gilbert Sythworth had a rent of £24 out of the manor from Cuthbert Clifton and Anne his wife; ibid. bdle. 76, no. 34. In 1612 the manor appears among the other Clifton properties, and continues to do so in later settlements, &c.; ibid. bdle. 80, no. 24; 156, m. 247, &c. The tenure of the manor was declared to be by knight's service in 1634; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xxvii, no. 43.
  • 25. E. B. Chancellor, Lives of British Architects, 251. There is a view of it in Twycross, Mansions of Engl. and Wales (Lancs. ii, 33).
  • 26. In 1272 a declaration of the bounds between Kelgrimoles and Layton was made by Ranulf de Dacre, the sheriff, and other arbitrators. The old cross on Cross How was the starting-point; from it the boundary line went west to the sea, and east to another cross set up by the arbitrators on the road from Lytham to Layton, and thence through the middle of the great moss between Marton and Lytham on the north side of Miggylund as far as Swinebridge Brook; but Kelgrimoles and the Northhows were to be common for both Layton and Lytham; 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 14. In 1291 the Priors of Durham and Lytham, Alan a monk at Lytham and Robert de Millum chaplain there had to answer Robert de Holland and Margery his wife as to land alleged to be in Westby, the defence being that it was in Lytham; Assize R. 407, m. 3. Next year a similar dispute between the Prior of Durham and William de Clifton resulted in a division; Assize R. 408, m. 25. There was a further dispute in 1350; De Banco R. 360, m. 23. Pasture land in Holmecarr was in 1347 declared to be in Lytham, not in Kellamergh as claimed by Adam and John de Sharples; Assize R. 1435, m. 15. In July 1351 the Prior of Durham proved his right to 100 acres of moor and marsh against Robert de Beetham, Eleanor his wife, Thomas son of Gilbert de Singleton, Gilbert his son and Isabel his wife, Richard son of Richard Banastre and others; Duchy of Lanc. Assize R. 1, m. 4. The prior was in 1356 defendant to a claim put forward by William Boteler of Warrington and Sir John Boteler; ibid. 5, m.12. In 1530 the Botelers asserted their boundary claims in a violent manner, throwing down an ancient boundary cross, another cross and the image of St. Cuthbert, and threatening the priory itself, being held in check only by two monks who brought the sacrament out, for the honour of which they desisted. They were ordered not to interfere in the Hawes, but might use their common in Kilgrimosse as before; Duchy Plead. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 206–10. A renewal of the dispute has caused some further information as to the priory lands to be recorded. The Priory of Lytham stood at the end of the church; the Kilgrimoles churchyard had been (so it was said) 'worn into the sea.' One Cursed mere was near the priory; another was in the moss. The name was given because many beasts had been drowned therein. The decision was in the prior's favour; ibid, ii, 9–19.
  • 27. Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 386. The king recovered this right, and in 1295 transferred it to his brother Edmund; Cal. Chart. R. 1257–1300, p. 461.
  • 28. Survey of 1346 (Chet. Soc), 44.
  • 29. Pal. of Lanc. Writs Proton. 20 Aug. 13 Hen. VII; the claims were view of frankpledge, with waifs and strays, assize of bread, wreck of sea, sok, sak, team, &c.; freedom from common services and amercements, pontage, &c.; also free warren in the demesne lands in Lytham.
  • 30. The Prior of Durham in 1327 granted all his waste of Estholme Carr in Lytham to John de Bradkirk and Alice his wife, with remainder to John their son for his life only. A rent of 4d. was to be paid for each acre newly approved; corn growing on the land was to be ground at the Lytham mill, and suit of court was to be performed as done by other tenants of Lytham and Estholme; Lytham D. at Durham, 4 and 5, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. From pleadings of 1344 it appeared that John de Bradkirk had had a charter for Estholme Carr from the Prior of Durham, and by his wife Alice had three sons, John, Edmund and Adam; the last, as heir of his brothers, surrendered to the prior; Assize R. 1435, m. 39. In the status domus for 1345 a sum of £7 11s. 8d. was put down for this plea; 5 marks were given to Adam de Bradkirk. In 1246 the Prior of Durham demised for life 24 acres in the marsh of Edricholme to John Sauener of Lytham and Adam son of Roger the Priest for 8s. rent; 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 7.
  • 31. Richard Cardwell in 1572 claimed a tenement in Lytham by descent against Richard Salthouse, whose title was derived from Thomas Holcroft; Ducatus Lanc. iii, 4. Robert Clark died in 1599 holding, besides other property, a messuage, &c., in Norcross in Lytham, but the tenure was not recorded; Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 44. Small plats were held by Thomas Jollice and Thomas Bamber of Layton; in those cases also no tenure was given. John Walsh of Layton in 1624 held 3 acres in Lytham of the king by the three-hundredth part of a knight's fee; Towneley MS. C 8,13 (Chet. Lib.), 1311. The profits of the portion of the estate of William Harris of Lytham sequestered for recusancy were in 1607 granted by the Crown to Sir Richard Coningsby; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1603–10, p. 383. James Beesley, a recusant, had two-thirds of his estate sequestered by the Commonwealth authorities before 1653; Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 3174.
  • 32. In 1311 corn in the granary and grange from the demesne .ind the tithe amounted to 18 qrs., in seed 10 qrs.; [other corn] 2 qrs., in seed 1 qr. 2 bushels; barley 24 qrs.; beans and peas 18 qrs., which were considered enough for seed and for the food of the house; oats 200 qrs., also sufficient. The stock of oxen for the ploughs was 24; cows 22, with 2 bulls; younger cattle, 36; sheep and ewes, 78; lambs, 36; pigs, &c., 14, with 2 boars. Money in hand and due was considered enough for the creditors. In later years much more detailed statements were compiled; see those printed in Hist, of Lytham (Chet. Soc), 73–93, from the Durham records. The site of the priory with the lands attached was valued at £8 8s. in 1535; the rents, &c., in Lytham amounted to £22 11s., in Estholme £3 7s., Medholme £7 2s. 8d., Pillhouses and Bankhouses 12s. 11d., other lands 42s.; in all £43 8s. 7d.; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 305.
  • 33. Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 94, 106, 147. Their names were William Snape, James and John Harrison, Robert Bennett, Henry Fletcher, Ellen Smith and Roger Charnley.
  • 34. Quoted by Fishwick, Hist, of Lytham, 37.
  • 35. As far as is known neither plan nor sketch has been preserved; ibid. 38.
  • 36. There is an illustration from a watercolour drawing, ibid. 37.
  • 37. Capt. Latham, Desultory History of Lytham, in Whittle, op. cit. 43.
  • 38. Thornber, Hist. of Blackpool, 341.
  • 39. Ibid.
  • 40. Terrier of 1778, quoted by Fistwick, op. cit. 45.
  • 41. The Rev. Walter Ruthven Pym was appointed assistant curate at Lytham in 1880 and served till 1882.
  • 42. Lancs. Parish Reg. Soc. Publ. xxxiii (1908). Transcribed by Henry Brierley.
  • 43. The terrier of 1778 has a note to this effect: 'The church yard fence is very ordinary, being composed of earth which falls in frequently and is impossible to be repaired without loss to the churchyard. There are stones enough left from the rebuilding of the church which would repair the worst of it, but that the parishioners are against it. I mean the Papists and some who are set on by them.'
  • 44. De admirandis B. Cuthberti virtutibus (Surtees Soc. i), 280–4.
  • 45. A Roger son of Wlfiet occurs in 1184–5; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 56.
  • 46. This story was written after the foundation of the priory, for the old altar was 'outside the circuit of the new monastery,' yet nothing is said of the gift of the church to Durham.
  • 47. Cum lumine pervigil oravit.'
  • 48. These miracles should be compared with a slightly varied series (ibid. 138– 48) said to have happened at 'Lixtune,' a place 'in Coupland' according to the heading, but 'in the furthest part of Cheshire, on the very edge of the seashore,' according to the text. The place had a little church, founded in honour of St. Cuthbert, which though but a mean country chapel was a baptismal church. A boy who climbed to the roof, damaging the crazy walls in doing so, in order to destroy a crows' nest, found his hand clenched so that the nails pierced through. A great man of the district, whose face was horribly distorted by some illness, on appealing for the saint's help was cured, and in thanksgiving pulled down the old church, vimine fenoque contectam, rebuilt it of stone, and bountifully endowed it. The only son of another great man of the district was carried to the church almost dead and made whole. A wayfarer going into the church to pray first thrust his spear into the ground of the cemetery, and a thief seizing it could neither move it nor release his hand from it until the owner came. The priest's steward saw a little sparrow fly down from the church roof and caught it, though it took refuge by the church door; and he wandered about the cemetery all the afternoon unable to get out. These and other stories were told to Reginald by the priest of the place and his neighbours who made a pilgrimage to Durham in 1165.
  • 49. Roger de St. Edmund, Archdeacon of Richmond (c.1200), confirmed to God and St. Cuthbert the grant of the church of Lytham made by Richard son of Roger of good memory; Lytham D. at Durham, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 8. Morgan, another archdeacon, also confirmed it 'for the maintenance of their monks dwelling at Lytham'; no. 9.
  • 50. This grant may not have been needed for any supposed dependence on Kirkham; it appears to be the release of one of the Shrewsbury monks, Robert de Stafford, for whom Richard son of Roger had asked in order to make him head of the monastery he proposed to erect at Lytham; ibid. no. 11.
  • 51. Ibid. no. 28.
  • 52. The Archdeacons of Richmond appear to have made several inquiries as to the position of the removable Prior of Lytham. In 1347 it was formally declared that the priors might, as had been accustomed, by themselves or by secular chaplains hear the confessions of the parishioners, absolve them, minister the sacraments to them, &c., as deputies of the Prior of Durham it would seem; 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 18. The Priors of Lytham were instituted by the archdeacons or their deputies just as rectors of the church would have been; ibid. no. 39. About 1265 the priory had a staff of three, the following attesting a charter: S. the prior; S. his socius; and Simon the chaplain; ibid. 3 a, 2 ae, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 44.
  • 53. Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 309, 327. The goods of the Prior of Lytham were valued at £11 6s. 2d. A testimony by Hugh, cantor of York and archdeacon, names the payment of an ancient due of 6d. called chrism pence (denarii crismatis), and says that a further payment of 1d. to the synod or to the fabric of the mother church of York had been refused in the time of Thomas the elder (1070–1100), formerly archbishop. The chrism pence were remitted by Archbishop Thurstan; Lytham D. at Durham, 2 a, 4 ae, Ebor. no. 6.
  • 54. Inq. Nonarum (Rec. Com.), 37. The reduction was accounted for by 20s. altarage and 20s. loss by the destruction wrought by the Scots.
  • 55. Valor Eccl. ut sup.
  • 56. Lytham D. at Durham; printed in Hist. of Lytham (Chct. Soc), 29.
  • 57. Thomas Dannett by the lease of 1539 was bound to provide an able and honest priest to celebrate divine service; Piccope MSS. (Chet. Lib.), iii, 38.
  • 58. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 9.
  • 59. Visit. P. at Chester Dioc. Reg.
  • 60. Commonw. Ch. Surv. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), 156. An allowance of £40, increased to £50, was decreed in 1646 out of the lay rector's sequestrated tithes; Plund. Mins. Accts. i, 40, 45.
  • 61. Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 446–7. There were two churchwardens.
  • 62. A board in the church stated that the Countess Dowager Gower gave £150 in 1765 and Queen Anne's Bounty £200; this was invested in the purchase of Ryheads in Goosnargh in 1768. About £1,300 was given between 1801 and 1814.
  • 63. Manch. Dioc. Dir.
  • 64. Visit. Lists at Chester. Thomas Primett, priest, of Kirkham, in 1564 bequeathed his velvet cap, &c., to George Lorimer; Richmond Wills (Surtees Soc.), 172.
  • 65. From his presentment of recusants in the Consistory Ct. papers, Chester.
  • 66. Visit, papers, Chester.
  • 67. Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs, and Ches.), i, 69; Visit. Lists.
  • 68. Ibid, i, 124; he was at Bispham in 1622; ibid. 69. The will of Robert Brodbelt of Bispham, clerk, 1674, is printed in Fishwick's Bispham (Chet. Soc), 43. He may have been a Royalist, as he does not appear during the Commonwealth period.
  • 69. Plund. Mins. Accts. i, 40, 141. He had been curate and schoolmaster of Kirkham; Misc. (Rec. Soc), i, 68, 124.
  • 70. In the Visitation List of 1691 he is stated to have been ordained in 1663; he may have been at Lytham the whole time. He was the 'minister' in 1678 when a collect on of £1 3s. 8d. was made for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Cathedral, Sir Thomas Clifton and Mr. James Threlfall heading the list with 5s. each; N. and Q. (Ser. 5), x, 164. He was 'conformable' in 1689; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 229. He bequeathed £2 used for the school, the date being given as 1702.
  • 71. In 1707 the minister did not wear the surplice; Visit, returns.
  • 72. Nominated by the University of Cambridge. The vacancy was caused by the death of the preceding incumbent; Chester Dioc. Reg. In 1725 the sacrament was administered thrice a year.
  • 73. Nominated by Alexander Osbaldeston of Preston, who also nominated the next incumbent. Went to Bispham.
  • 74. Buried at Lytham, 1758; Hist, of Lytham (Chet. Soc.), 61. In 1745 the holy sacrament was administered five times a year; Visit, returns.
  • 75. Nominated by Abigail Clayton of Lark Hill, Blackburn, as widow and executrix of Thomas Clayton, executor of Alexander Osbaldeston.
  • 76. Nominated by John Clayton of Little Harwood.
  • 77. He was nominated by Thomas Clifton. He died in 1872; there is a memorial tablet in the church, subscribed by parishioners.
  • 78. Hon. Canon of Manchester, 1891.
  • 79. Porter, op. cit. 446.
  • 80. A district was assigned to it in 1877; Lond. Gaz. 26 Oct.
  • 81. Porter, op. cit. 445.
  • 82. Ibid. 439; the original small chapel, holding about thirty worshippers, was opened about 1820.
  • 83. Nightingale, Lancs. Nonconf. i, 106–9.
  • 84. In tliis is a memorial brass for W. J. Porritt, who is regarded as the founder of St. Anne's.
  • 85. As usual there are practically no records of the 17th century. A list of priests in charge from about 1615, compiled by Mr. Gillow, is printed in Hist, of Lytham (Chet. Soc), 47–54.
  • 86. It is now a lumber-room.
  • 87. a Misc. (Cath. Rec. Soc), v, 188–90.
  • 88. b Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xviii, 218. There was a priest at the hall in 1712; Tyldesley Diary, 37. The Jesuits had charge of the mission, and m 1701 Ralph Hornyold alias Gower was in charge with a salary of £10. In 1750 there were 200 general confessions and 230 'customers,' while in 1793 there were 250 Easter communicants and 75 persons were confirmed; Foley, Rec. S. J. v, 320–5. About 1794 a Benedictine succeeded the Jesuits, but remained only a short time; Trans. Hist. Soc. (new ser.), xiii, 166. The secular clergy have been in charge since 1803.
  • 89. There is a description in Whittle, Lytham, 10, 11.
  • 90. Liverpool Cath. Annual. There is a cemetery with a mortuary chapel at Saltcotes.
  • 91. Ibid.
  • 92. End. Char. Rep. for Lytham, 1900. The original endowments, though small, were invested in land near Blackpool which has become valuable.
  • 93. The income is derived from a piece of meadow in Freckleton, called Hanning's land.
  • 94. An old charity founded by Thomas Cookson, for books for poor children, is supposed to have been merged in the school fund.