POULTON-in-the-FYLDE, a parish in the hundred
of AMOUNDERNESS, county palatine of LANCASTER,
comprising the market-town of Poulton, the chapelry of
Marion, and the townships of Carleton, Hardhorn with
Newton, and Thornton, and containing 4031 inhabitants,
of which number, 1011 are in the town of Poulton, 21
miles (S. W. by S.) from Lancaster, and 235 (N. W. by N.)
from London. This is a small and very ancient port
under Preston, situated near the mouth of the Wyre, in
an extensive district called the Fylde, and much frequented
in the bathing season. The inhabitants are
chiefly employed in agriculture. The market is on
Monday; and fairs for cattle, cloth, and other commodities,
are held on February 6th, April 13th, and November
3rd. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the
archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester,
rated in the king's books at £7 16. 8., endowed with
£ 400 private benefaction, and £ 600 royal bounty, and
in the patronage of Peter Hesketh, Esq. The church,
which is dedicated to St. Chad, occupies the site of an
ancient structure, which, having stood for nearly seven
centuries, was taken down in 1751, with the exception
of the tower, which was rebuilt in the time of Charles I.,
and remains attached to the modern edifice. There are
places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents,
Wesleyan Methodists, andRojman Catholics. A free
school was founded, in 1717, by James Baines, who
endowed it with land now producing an income of £69
per annum; a master and an usher are elected annually,
and the number of children instructed varies from eighty
to one hundred and twenty. The founder likewise bequeathed
land, of the present value of £ 100 a year, for
apprenticing poor children of this parish.