Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/257

 been given, on much the same conditions, to the town.

During the year 1862 the town, which for some time had lain dormant in a commercial point of view, evinced unmistakable signs of returning animation; trade was more active, rumour once more hinted at the probable commencement of docks at an early date, and ninety-five houses of moderate size were erected. In the earlier half of the following twelve months no less than thirty-seven more dwellings were added to the town, the foundations of several others being in course of preparation. A branch of the Preston Banking Company was also opened for a few hours once in each week; and during later years has transacted business daily.

On Tuesday, the 20th of January, 1863, a storm and flood, such as has seldom been witnessed on this coast, arose suddenly and raged with fury for about twenty hours. The whole of the wall under the Mount, which had been brought to light by some gales in the previous November, after having been buried in the sand for long, was utterly demolished, not one stone being left upon another. In addition, the breakers penetrated with destructive violence, several yards inland beyond the line of that barrier throughout its whole length, from the west end of the Euston Barracks to the further extremity of Abbot's Walk. A wooden battery of two 32-pound guns at the foot of the Mount, belonging to the Coastguards, and used for training the Naval Volunteer Reserve, was undermined and so tilted that its removal became a necessity. The marine fence, which had been constructed at an immense cost, between the Landmark and Cleveleys, was almost entirely swept away, leaving the adjacent country open to the inundations of the sea, which rushed over and flooded all the land between the points just named, extending eastward even to the embankment of the Preston and Wyre Railway. Several of the streets at the west side of Fleetwood were under water, as also were the fields about Poulton road and the highway itself. The proprietor of the "Strawberry Garden," off the same road, and his family, were compelled to take refuge in an upper storey of their