Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/205

 preserved, one being in the possession of a late priest at Breck chapel, and the other in the Catholic chapel at Claughton. The upper halves of the windows, including the east one, were semi-circular in form. In 1622 the old chancel was repaired by the Rev. Peter Whyte, the vicar, and a stone, two feet in length and one foot and a half in depth, bearing the name "Peter Whyte," and the date "1622," in raised letters about six inches long, was placed over the east window. This piece of masonry now occupies a situation in the south-west corner of the edifice. The churchyard, which is reported to have been usually in a filthy and disgraceful state, was partly surrounded by a moderately wide ditch, on the brink of which three or four fine sycamore trees flourished, but were cut down when sundry alterations and improvements were effected in the ground. In 1751, after the old church had been standing six centuries and a half, it was determined to demolish it, and erect a more commodious building on the site. The tower, however, was retained, as, being of more recent date, it evinced none of those symptoms of decay which had rendered the body of the edifice dangerous to worshippers. An opinion prevails that the tower was built about the time of Charles I., and such a view is upheld by the discovery on the removal of the pulpit in 1836 of a square stone, having on its face the raised letters TB. WG. in the first line, IH. TG. IH. in the second line, and WG. 1638 in the last line. It is supposed that this stone, which is now fixed in the wall at the south-west corner of the church, was carved in commemoration of the erection of the tower, and the raised letters are the initials of the churchwardens then in office, and the date when the work was accomplished. Between this stone and the one previously referred to, there is a stained-glass memorial window to "Robert Buck, born 1805, died 1862, presented by his sister, C. D. Foxton." Mrs. Catherine Dauntesy Foxton, the lady here indicated, is the representative of the family of Bucks, of Agecroft Hall, Pendlebury, and inherited considerable property in the neighbourhood of Poulton. During the time the new church was in course of building, divine service was performed in the tithe-barn, and the ceremony of baptism at the residences of the parents. The funds required for carrying out the important undertaking were doubtless chiefly supplied through the munificence of a com