Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/358

 of their visitors in matters of household convenience and accommodation, and to render their sojourns by the shore productive of pleasurable, as well as healthful, sensations, were manifestly well appreciated by those for whose benefit they were intended. The daily crowds parading the recently-erected pier were satisfactory evidence of the high estimation in which that elegant addition to the attractions of the place was held, whilst the thronged thoroughfares during the heat of summer bore witness to the growing affection which Blackpool was gaining for itself in the hearts of the million. Active exertions were necessary on the part of the builders to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for more extended residential provision, houses being scarcely completed before the eager tenants had established themselves in their new domiciles. The greater portion of the Clifton Arms Hotel was pulled down in the autumn of 1865, and rebuilt on an enlarged and improved scale, being finished and ready for occupation in the ensuing spring. On the 20th of June, 1865, the first members of the Blackpool Volunteer Artillery Corps, amounting to about 60 men, took the oath customary on enrolment, and at the same meeting appointed their officers. Ten years later a commodious drill-shed was erected for their use.

In 1866 the temporary iron church, to which allusion has been made in a late page, was superseded by the existing substantial one in Queen Street, bearing the name of its predecessor. The edifice was opened for divine service on Thursday, the 3rd of May, by the Rev. E. B. Chalmers, M.A., of Salford, but was not consecrated until 1870. The architecture is an early and simple style of decorated Gothic, with thick walls and prominently projecting buttresses. The east and west ends are lighted respectively by four and five-light traceried windows and lancets. The steeple, which is well buttressed, has in its upper stage a belfry for six bells, and is surmounted by a vane. Until recent additions were made, the church contained sittings for 1,000 persons. The building originally comprised a broad nave, with a central aisle and two side passages giving access to the seats, all of which were open benches with sloping backs; north and south transepts with galleries, lighted by bay windows; a spacious chancel, with north and south aisles, the former being fitted up as a vestry, and the latter used as the organ-chamber; a spacious porch at the