Everyday life

The area round Moorland Road, being close to the River Wyre and low lying, including Little Poulton, would have been where local people gathered rushes and cut wood to be put to various uses in their homes and the church – rushes for the floor, wood for furniture, agricultural tools, etc. The lack of any large areas of woodland left the land  of the coastal Fylde unprotected from the salt winds and the bleak outlook was increased by the starkness of the great mounds of black peat stacked by each cottage to be used as fuel.    

The properties on the right of the photograph were built after the fire of 1732. Life in Poulton would have been very hard for the average family. Most of the population, probably in the region of 300 around that time (climbing to 769 by 1801 when the first census was held, including part of Skippool and Little Poulton), would have lived in small cobble-built cottages with mud floors and thatched roofs which huddled round the Market Place and the six streets leading off it. Parish registers and gravestones show the high death rate, particularly amongst children. Poulton was badly hit by a ‘plague’ in the winters of 1622-24 during which many people died; it decimated the population of nearby Kirkham and caused havoc throughout the north west. Poor living conditions and an unhealthy diet meant people were unable to withstand any epidemic and many would not survive a particularly harsh winter.

People living in Poulton during the Civil War would have had divided loyalties as men from Lancashire were drafted into the armies of both Parliamentarians and Royalists, and this was more complex due to a high population of Roman Catholics.   In 1642 a ship of Royalist supporters was stranded in the River Wyre.

Most inhabitants of Poulton at this time lived close to the Market Place, with a small pocket of cottages in the nearly hamlet of Little Poulton.  Each cottager  would have a small piece of land where produce for the family’s  use would be grown and a few animals kept.  Common grazing land situated  on the outskirts of the town would be used in the summer months, probably the origin of ‘Higher Green’ and  ‘Lower Green’, known in  the 19th century simply as ‘The Green’.

During the 18th century improvements were made in methods of agriculture across the whole country which helped to raise the living conditions of the poorer people. Food prices stabilised, methods of farming improved and the devastation  caused by epidemics lessened.  Life in Poulton also improved for its inhabitants.

In late medieval times a Moot Hall (or town hall) stood at one end of the Market Place and stalls ran down each side selling food and other produce. Stepping stones enabled people  to cross the unpaved streets without stepping into the mud. Small  cottages surrounded the Market  Place, with the exception of the few grand three storey town houses with their slate roofs, built by local gentry such as the Walmsley and Rigby families.

The buildings on the west side of the Market Place (to the left on the photograph) were erected all at one time, in contrast to those on the opposite side. The awful events which necessitated this rebuilding must have remained in the memories of the inhabitants who witnessed it all their lives. As the funeral procession of Geoffrey Hornby passed through the Market Place to the church on March 5th, 1732, sparks from tapers set fire to the thatched roofs of the cottages on the west  side of the Market Place resulting in the destruction of all the property. It was several years before the present buildings were erected in their place. A national collection was organised – known as a ‘brief’ – and the estimated cost of rebuilding was put at £1034. Timber that was re-used after the fire of 1732 was re-exposed when re-roofing work was being carried out on a shop on the west side, and has been preserved.

James Baines

James Baines, a wool merchant whose house overlooked the stocks and whipping post, left money in his 1717 will for free schooling and apprenticeships  to be provided for poor boys of Poulton, Marton and Thornton. All three schools still exist today.

James Baines’ house was originally larger with six bays (or windows) but when the site next door became a bank a section of Baines’ house was absorbed.  The house, with its handsome front door,  stands at the south end of the market place; it is unusual in having two crucks on the second floor.

Street names

A tithebarn, a station and a chapel have all come and gone in Poulton, leaving only street names to remind  us of their presence. The tithebarn was replaced in 1969 by a car park. Its position so near to the centre of the town suggests it was an ancient site.

Poulton’s original railway line opened in 1840 running between Preston and the newly built town of Fleetwood, with the station at the corner of Station Road and the Breck. In 1896 it was rebuilt in its present position at the top of the Breck near to the town centre. The original Methodist chapel stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Queen’s Square until a new one replaced it on Queensway in 1968.

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Poulton streets at the start of the 19th century were either streets, lanes, alleys, or parts of a square or place. The name Street implied that the area was fully developed as housing or shops; Lane implied that it was probably undeveloped when named, either connecting two more major thoroughfares or leading to something such as a farm; Alleys were very narrow but with a number of buildings; Squares and Places, were not streets as such but closely-grouped buildings that were usually accessible from streets. Parts of a street name were usually separated by hyphens with the only capital letter being at the start, such as Ball-street.

A road usually connected one developed settlement, be it town, village, or hamlet, to another. Most roads were not named but known as the settlement to which they led. For instance, the Blackpool Road would lead you from Poulton to Blackpool, but if you were in Blackpool you would call it the Poulton Road.

The list below has been compiled from records including street lists from 1825 to 1841:-

Back Lane, later renamed Station Road

Back Street, later renamed Chapel Street, the renamed Bank Street before reverting to Chapel Street

Ball Street, for a little while known as Golden Ball Street before reverting to Ball Street

Breck Street, renamed as part of Breck Road

Bull Street, renamed as part of Blackpool Old Road (formerly Blackpool Road)

Church Street

Green Street, leading to the Green, now known as Higher Green and Lower Green

Market Place

Mill Street, possibly now part of Poulton Road in Carleton

Potts Lane, or Alley,later renamed Chapel Street Walk

Sheaf Street, sometimes known as Wheatsheaf Street, now renamed as part of Hardhorn Road

Vicarage Lane, later renamed Vicarage Road

Workhouse Square, renamed Queens Square, possibly following the 1838 coronation celebrations for Queen Victoria

Other streets were either unnamed or were developed in the latter half of the 19th century. One such unnamed street was Burlington Avenue, a ramshackle row of buildings to the east of the King’s Arms Inn, which was at the top end of the west side of Market Place (where it meets Church Street) and is now Chadwick’s Insurance and a Vape shop. The avenue was demolished to build the Teanlowe Centre.

The Port of Poulton – Skippool

Poulton had two ports  one on either bank of the River Wyre, on the south side at Skippool and on the north side at Wardley’s in Hambleton.   During the 18th century this was an important  trading facility for Poulton, having its own customs house, dealing in mahogany and flax with Baltic ports and coastal trade with farm produce to Liverpool, Lancaster and Cumbria. The rise of Glasson Dock and Fleetwood ended Skippool’s importance as  a port. It then became a popular venue for sailing.

The crocuses

Poulton continues to grow and attracts many visitors  throughout the year. In early spring the churchyard is a carpet of purple and yellow crocuses.  A series of historical plaques have been placed on various sites and buildings in the conservation area, although not all of them remain, and a town trail help the visitor to learn more of Poulton’s history, and both the Council and this Society are engaged in finding new ways to expand this.

Page last updated 22 Aug 2024

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