Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/238

 previously. The former is a tall circular column of painted stone, having an altitude of about 90 feet above high-water mark. The base of the column is square, each of the sides being 12 feet high and 20 broad. The focus of the lantern is 104 feet above half-tide level, and outside the reflector is a narrow, circular, stone gallery, guarded by an iron fencing. The cost of the column was £1,480. The other lighthouse is much smaller, and stands on a slightly elevated plot of ground. Each side of its base forms a recess, furnished with seats, and supported above by round stone pillars. The centre of the lantern is 44 feet above half-tide level. The whole fabric, which is built throughout of finely cut stone, was erected at a cost of £1,375.

We have now reviewed the general appearance of the town in 1841, including brief accounts of all the more important buildings, but accidentally omitting to state that gas works were amongst the early erections, and before proceeding with the history of its further progress and increase, it will be convenient to revert for a moment to the railway and matters connected with it, leaving, however, the harbour, wharf, and shipping for separate examination towards the later pages of the chapter. The railway, consisting of a single line throughout the whole extent, was carried over a portion of the estuary of the Wyre, along an embankment and viaduct of huge wooden piles, running from Burn Naze to the west extremity of the wharf at Fleetwood, near to which the station is situated. In 1846 the traffic, both in passengers and goods, had increased so rapidly that the directors determined to have a double line without delay. Instructions for that purpose were accordingly issued to the engineer of the company, and at the same time he was directed that, in order to afford space and facilities for the construction of the proposed docks to the westward of the existing railway piling, the double line should diverge at Burn Naze, run round the Cops, and terminate as before. The programme here stated was not fully carried out, and the double line extended only as far as Burn Naze, from which point a single line ran along a semicircular embankment, lying west of the old one, to the terminus at Fleetwood. This embankment was the means of rescuing from