Page:History of the Fylde of Lancashire (IA historyoffyldeof00portiala).pdf/451

 and a quarter in circumference, in the fields to the north-west of the church; and close at hand were excellent paddocks and stables, filled with a considerable stud of fine blood horses. The residence of the trainer was an elegant villa near the stables, surrounded with a shrubery. Two steamers plied daily in the season between Preston and Lytham, but the larger share of the company arrived by the road, the journey having a few years previously been rendered more direct by the opening of a route across the marshes, past Freckleton, instead of the former circuitous one through Kirkham. In 1801 the population amounted to 920 persons.

During the ensuing twenty years Lytham made steady, if not rapid, progress. Buildings of modern and pretty designs sprang up along the beach, whilst others of substantial workmanship were visible in the lines of various thoroughfares, especially in Clifton Street. The two hotels already specified, underwent enlargements, owing to the growing pressure on their accommodation, and a fresh inn, the Commercial, was erected on the land behind the present Market Hotel, the front and main entrance of the house having an easterly aspect, overshadowed by several lofty trees. A little beyond the north gable end of the inn, in an westerly direction, were the old gates of the park attached to Lytham Hall, near to which, on the road side, was stationed the pinfold, constructed of cobble stones, in a quadrangular form, with an embattled tower rising about eight feet above the height of the walls. A small Baptist chapel, having a school-room connected with it, also existed, standing on part of the ground now occupied by the premises of Mr. Edmondson, draper, the remaining portion being covered by the residence and shop of that gentleman's father, who owned the chapel, and acted as its minister. The chapel would hold about thirty worshippers, and contained three or four rows of forms and a pulpit; whilst the school-room, of equal dimensions, was let to a person for a private day seminary.

During the summer months, hundreds of day visitors, in addition to the more permanent ones who constituted the company, found their way in carts, waggons, or lighter vehicles, to the coast at Lytham, from Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, and other inland towns, for the pleasure of enjoying once, at least, a year,