BLACKPOOL, a chapelry and bathing-place, in the
parish of BISPHAM, hundred of AMOUNDERNESS, county
palatine of LANCASTER, 4 miles (S.W.by W.) from Poulton,
and 25 (S.W. by W.) from Lancaster, containing 800
resident inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy,
in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of
Chester, endowed with £600 private benefaction, and
£1700 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of
P. Hesketh, Esq. The chapel was built in 1821, at
an expense of £1150, and the Incorporated Society
for the enlargement of churches and chapels granted
£200 for defraying the expense of a greater number
of sittings. Blackpool, which acquired its name from
a boggy pool at the southern end of the village, was,
until within the last eighty years, an inconsiderable
place; but, owing to its eligibility for bathing, it is now
frequented every summer by a crowd of visitors, for
whose accommodation commodious hotels and lodging-
houses have been erected. The beach slopes gently
from the site of the houses; the sands are smooth
and firm; and the air is highly salubrious. The parade
forms an agreeable promenade, from which there is an
extensive view of the fells in Westmorland and Cumberland,
and the mountains in North Wales. Excellent
regulations have been introduced for the convenience of
bathers; a news-room and library have been established,
a theatre erected, and assemblies are occasionally held
at the different hotels. Every alternate Sunday during
the season the inhabitants of the surrounding district
assemble at Lane End, and join in various rustic sports.
The sea appears to have encroached considerably on
the shore; a large, stone, called Penny-stone, lying on
the sands, about half a mile from the shore, is stated by
tradition to mark the site on which a public-house
formerly stood. A free school was established in 1817,
which is conducted on Dr. Bell's plan.