In 1767 a petition was presented to the House of Parliament, setting forth that within the manor of Layton and parishes of Poulton and Bispham there was situated an extensive tract of land containing about 2,000 acres, called Layton Hawes, and begging on the part of those concerned, for permission to enclose the whole of the common. The document states “that Fleetwood Hesketh, Esquire, is Lord of the Manor of Layton aforesaid; and Edmund Starkie, Esquire, is Impropriator of the Great Tythes arising within that part of the Township of Marton called Great Marton, within the said Manor of Layton and Parish of Poulton, and of One Moiety of the Great Tythes arising in that part of the Township of Bispham called Great Bispham, within the said Manor and Parish of Bispham; and Thomas Cross, Esquire, and others, his partners, are proprietors of the other Moiety of the Great Tythes arising within Great Bispham aforesaid; and Ashton Werden, Clerk, present Incumbent of the Parish Church of Bispham aforesaid, and his Successors for the time being, of the Great Tythes, arising within the Township of Layton-with-Warbreck, within the said Manor and Parish of Bispham. Also that the said Fleetwood Hesketh, Thomas Clifton, and other Owners and Proprietors of divers ancient Farms, situate within the Manor of Layton, and the towns of Great Marton, Little Marton, Black Pool, and Bispham, have an exclusive Right to turn and depasture their Beasts, Sheep, and other Commovable Cattle, in and upon the said Waste or Common, called Layton Hawes, at all Times of the Year; and the Parties interested are willing and desirous that the said Waste or Common should be inclosed, allotted and divided, and therefore pray that the said Waste or Common called Layton Hawes, lying within the Manor of Layton, may be divided, set out, and allotted by Commissioners, to be appointed for that purpose and their Successors, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders, regulations, and directions, as may be thought necessary.” Leave to carry out the object contained in the prayer was granted to the petitioners, and within a comparatively short time the work of dividing and apportioning the soil accomplished.

The greater part of the township of Layton-with-Warbreck being now absorbed in the borough of Blackpool, to which the ensuing chapter will be devoted, there is little further to notice beyond the ancient seats of the families of Rigby and Veale. Layton Hall was probably the residence of the Butlers, of Layton, previous to the opening of the seventeenth century, when it was sold to Edward Rigby, of Burgh; at least that gentleman was the first of the Rigbys whose Inq. post mortem disclosed that he held possessions in Layton. The Hall remained in the ownership and tenancy of the Rigbys until the lifetime of Sir Alexander Rigby, who married Alice, the daughter of Thomas Clifton, of Lytham, and died about 1700.[126] The original edifice, which was taken down and a farm-house erected on the site about one century ago, was a massive gabled building. At the bottom of the main staircase was a gate, or grating, of iron, the whole of the interior of the Hall being fitted with oak panels, etc., in a very antique style.

Whinney Heys was held by the Veales from the time of Francis Veale, living in 1570, until the death of John Veale, about two hundred years later, when it passed to Edward Fleetwood, of Rossall Hall, who had married the sister and heiress of John Veale.[127] The Hall of Whinney Heys was embosomed in trees and presented nothing of special moment to the eye, being simply a large rough-cast country building of an early type. It was partially taken down many years since and converted to farming uses.

“The village affords,” says Mr. Thornber,[128] “an example of covetousness seldom equalled. John Bailey, better known by the name of the Layton miser, resided in a cottage near the market-house. His habits were most frugal, enduring hunger and privation to hoard up his beloved pelf. Once, during every summer, his store was exposed to the beams of the sun, to undergo purification, and he might be seen, on that occasion, with a loaded gun, seated in the midst of his treasure, guarding it with the eyes of Argus, from the passing intruder. Notwithstanding all this vigilance, upwards of £700 was stolen from his hoard; and this ignorant old man journeyed to some distance to consult the wise man in order to regain it; his manœuvre to avoid the income-tax also failed, for although he converted his landed property into guineas, concealing them in his house, and then pleaded that he possessed no income, but a capital only, the law compelled him to pay his due proportion. In the midst of his savings, death smote this wretched being, and even then his ruling passion was strong in the very agony of departing nature. His gold watch, the only portion of his property which remained unbequeathed, hung within his reach; his greedy eye was riveted upon it; no he could not part with that dear treasure—and, with an expiring effort, he snatched it from the head of his bed, and it remained clenched in his hand and convulsed fingers long after warmth had forsaken his frame. Alas! His hidden store, all in gold, weighing 65lb, was discovered at the close of a tedious search, in a walled up window, to which the miser had had access from without, and was carried home in a malt sack, a purse not often used for such a purpose.”

CHAPTER XI.
BLACKPOOL.

Blackpool is situated in the township of Layton-with-Warbreck, and occupies a station on the west coast, about midway between the estuaries of the rivers Ribble and Wyre. The watering-place of to-day with its noble promenade, elegant piers, handsome hotels, and princely terraces, forms a wonderful and pleasing contrast to the meagre group of thatched cabins which once reared their lowly heads near the peaty pool, whose dark waters gave rise to the name of the town. This pool, which was located at the south end of Blackpool, is stated to have been half a mile in breadth, and was due to the accumulation of black, or more correctly speaking, chocolate-coloured waters,[129] from Marton Mere and the turf fields composing the swampy region usually designated the “Moss.” It remained until the supplies were cut off by diverting their currents towards other and more convenient outlets, when its contents gradually decreased, finally leaving no trace of their former site beyond a small streamlet, which now discharges itself with the flows of Spendike into the sea, opposite the point where the Lytham Road branches from the promenade. The principal portion of the town stands a little removed from the edge of a long line of cliffs, whose altitude, trifling at first, considerably increases as they travel northwards; and from that broad range of frontage streets and houses in compact masses run backwards towards the country, covering an annually extending area.