Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/220

 The Independents were the first section of the Dissenting community to erect a chapel for their members, which they accomplished in 1808. After being in use twenty or thirty years, this place of worship was closed, and not re-opened until about ten years since. In 1819 a chapel was erected by the Wesleyans in Back Street, and in 1861 the building was enlarged. At the Breck there is a Roman Catholic chapel, which stands back some distance from the road leading to Skippool, and is approached by a long avenue of trees. The chapel is a plain brick building, with three unstained windows on each side; and above the entrance has been placed a square stone inscribed with a verse from the Psalms—"I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy House, and the place where thy Glory dwelleth,"—and the date of erection, " 1813." Within the edifice the pews are open and arranged in three rows, one running down each side, and a double set occupying the central portion of the body. The solitary gallery at the end opposite the altar is lined with seats, and contains a harmonium, whilst the altar itself is handsomely and suitably decorated. The chapel is dedicated to St. John, and on the east and south sides lies the burial ground, wherein may be seen a stone slab carved by an eccentric character of Poulton, named James Bailey, whose remains are now deposited beneath it. The upper surface of the stone is ornamented with the outlines of two coffins, recording respectively the demises of Margaret Bailey, in 1841, and James Bailey, her father, in 1853. Between the coffins, and severing their upper portions, is a cross, with a few words at the foot, on each side of which are the representations of a scull and cross-bones. Other specimens of the sculptural genius of Bailey are lavishly, if not tastefully, scattered over the remainder of the slab. The residence of the priest is attached to the chapel, and in Breck Road are the elegant Gothic schools connected with it. Until the opening, in 1868, of these schools, which have since been extended by the erection of a wing, a loft over an outbuilding facing the priests' house, received the Catholic children of the parish for educational purposes.

We now come to speak of Poulton as a port, and in this respect our information, it must be acknowledged, is very scanty; the harbours of Poulton were situated at Skippool and Wardleys, on opposite banks of the Wyre, and it was to the cargoes imported