Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/299

 Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Lytham Hall, by exchange. John Talbot Clifton, esq., of Lytham Hall, a descendant of Sir Cuthbert, and the son of the late Thomas Clifton, esq., of Lytham, is the present owner of Great and Little Marton. As the moss and mere of Marton, perhaps the most interesting objects in the township, have been fully described in an earlier chapter, devoted to the country, rivers, etc., of the Fylde, we refer our readers to that portion of the volume for more detailed information concerning them. In this place we must content ourselves by stating that the mere was at one time a lake of no inconsiderable dimensions, having a fishery of some value attached to it, and that from the number of trunks of trees, discovered on the clayey soil beneath the original moss, which extended six miles by one and a half, there is conclusive evidence that in ancient times the whole of the wide tract was covered by a dense forest, composed chiefly of oak, yew, and fir trees. So enormous were some of the trunks discovered that it was impossible for one labourer to grasp the hand of another over them. The hamlet of Peel, situated within, but close to the Lytham border of the township, contains in a field called Hall-stede, traces of the ancient turreted manorial mansion of the Holcrofts, of Winwick and Marton, and the remains of a moat out of which about sixty years ago a drawbridge and two gold rings were taken. The old lake of Curridmere, mentioned in the foundation charter of Lytham priory in the reign of Richard I., was also located in this neighbourhood, the site being indicated by the soil it once covered bearing the name of the tarns. A little more than half a century since the tarns formed nothing but a trackless bog, and beneath its surface a husbandman discovered the remains of a small open boat, which had doubtless been used in earlier days on the waters of Curridmere.

About 1625 the inhabitants of Marton petitioned, that in conjunction with "Layton, Layton Rakes, and Blackpool," the township might be constituted a separate parish, stating in support of their prayer that the parish church of Poulton was five miles distant, and during the winter they were debarred by inundations