Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/438

 The present church was erected in 1749, and is a plain white washed building, without a tower or any attempt at architectural display. Attached to the south wall within are three tablets inscribed thus:—

"Beneath this marble are deposited the remains of Mary Ramsden, daughter and heiress of the rev. Christ^{r.} Westby Alderston, late vicar of St. Michael's in this county, and wife of Rowland Ramsden of Halifax. She was born Aug. 17^{th,} 1768 and died Nov. 6^{th,} 1764."

"Sacred to the memory of George Bickerstaffe of Hambleton, gent., died May 3^{rd,} 1766; Jenny Alderston, his granddaughter, died May 16^{th,} 1770; and Agnes, wife of the rev. Christ^{r.} Westby Alderston, widow of Rich^{d.} Harrison of Bankfield, and daughter of George Bickerstaffe, died March 14^{th,} 1820."

"Sacred to the memory of the rev. Thomas Butcher, B.A., for 39 years the respected incumbent of this chapel. Erected by the voluntary contributions of his parishioners."

On the aisles of the church are three gravestones, bearing the following incriptions:—

"In this aisle lie the remains of the rev. John Field, B.A. and minister of this place, who died 21st April, 1765; also his wife and children."

"Here lies the body of Dorothy, wife of Richard Carter of Hambleton, who died 14th May, 1807."

"William, son of James Norris of Liverpool, buried the 29th of June 1692—Though Boreas' Blast and Neptune's Waves have tost me to and fro, yet a spite on both by God's decree I harbour here below: Here at anchor I doe ride with many of our fleet, yet once again I must set sail my Generall Christ to meet."

In earlier days, when the church was held by the Roman Catholics, the burial ground was evidently of much greater extent than at present, and surrounded by an immense moat, between six and seven yards wide, and of a considerable depth. In a field lying to the east of the church can now be seen the ancient limits of the ground in that direction, bounded by a long stretch of the old moat in a very fair state of preservation, but of course somewhat contracted by accumulations of vegetation; and in another plot of ground to the west, may be traced by a slight depression the course of the same trench, marking the westerly extent of the yard. The northerly length of the moat passed behind the present churchyard, and a portion of it, about two yards wide, is still to be seen there, the remainder of its breadth being filled in