One of the earliest acts of the new commissioners of 1853 was to provide for the proper lighting of the town by the erection of Gas Works, which they accomplished in their first year of office; for some time it had been evident that the season was seriously curtailed by the absence of any illumination along the promenade and thoroughfares during the autumn evenings, but private speculation had for some reason held aloof from so important an undertaking, although the question had been much discussed amongst the inhabitants. Here it may be stated, in order to avoid reverting to the subject again, that in 1863 there were 650 consumers of gas; in 1869, 1270; and in 1875, no less than 2,000; the miles of mains in those years being respectively 5, 7, and 12.
In 1856, the promenade, which had suffered much injury from frequent attacks of the sea, and perhaps from some amount of negligence in not bestowing due attention to its proper maintenance, was put in better order and extended from its northern extremity, opposite Talbot Square, along the front of Albert Terrace as far as Rossall’s, formerly Dickson’s Hotel. Four years later a portion of this walk opposite Central Beach was asphalted and sprinkled over with fine white spar. The Infant School-house in Bank Hey Street, was opened in 1856.
The Roman Catholic Church, situated in Talbot Road, was erected in 1857, from the design of Edwin W. Pugin, Esq., and at the sole expense of Miss M. Tempest, sister to Sir Charles Tempest, Bart., of Broughton Hall, Yorkshire. It is in the Gothic style, the exterior being built with Yorkshire flag in narrow courses, hammer dressed and tuck pointed. The church comprises a chancel, north and south transepts, two sacristies, confessionals, nave, aisles, south porch, and central western tower. The chancel, which is separated from the nave and transepts by a richly decorated and moulded arch, contains four side windows in addition to a large one at the east end. The nave is divided into five bays of fifteen feet each, with massive arches ornamented with deeply cut mouldings. The tower is of great solidity, and rises to a height of one hundred and twenty-four feet. Almost the whole of the windows are filled with richly stained glass; and the altar within the chancel is beautified with elaborately carved groups, designed by J. H. Powell, of Birmingham, of the “Agony in the Garden,” and the “Last Supper;” whilst that in the lady chapel is adorned, from the pencil of the same artist, with illustrations of the “Assumption of the Virgin,” and the “Annunciation,” all of which are exquisitely carved by Lane. This church is dedicated to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and was the first one ever erected in Blackpool for members of the Roman Catholic Faith, service having been previously celebrated in a room in Talbot Road. In 1866 an excellent peal of cast steel bells was added to the tower; and ten years afterwards a magnificent organ was opened in the main building. Attached to the church, and within the same enclosure, were placed day and Sunday schools, as well as a residence for the officiating priests. The cost of this magnificent pile, without the internal decorations, amounted to £5,500.
The foundation stone of the Union Baptist Chapel, in Abingdon Street, was laid on the 9th of April, 1860, and on Good Friday in the following year it was opened for divine worship by the Rev. Dr. Raffles. The main building, 80 feet long by 49 feet wide, is of brick, and finished with moulded and polished stone dressings in the Grecian style of architecture. The principal or west front is surmounted by a bold cornice and pediment, and contains the two chief entrances, which are approached by a long range of steps and a spacious landing. The interior is fitted with substantial open pews of red pine in the body, and similar seats are placed in the two end galleries, the whole being capable of providing accommodation for about 650 persons. The communion floor, under a portion of which is the Baptistry, is enclosed with an ornamental balustrade. The edifice is well supplied with light through plain circular-headed windows. A Sunday school was added in 1874, and an organ also purchased during that year. From 1858 to the completion of the chapel the Baptists worshipped in the room formerly used by the Roman Catholics in Talbot Road.
In 1861, the progress and improvement of the town was well shown by three events which occurred at that date—the first sod of the Lytham and Blackpool coast line was cut at Lytham Park, on the 4th of September; a large Market Hall, raised on South Beach, by Mr. W. Read, for the sale of useful and fancy articles was completed; and the original Christ Church was opened on Sunday the 23rd of June, by the Rev. C. H. Wainwright, M.A. This church, which stood until the erection of the present one, was built of iron by Mr. Hemming, of London, at a cost of £1,000, which was advanced by eight gentlemen, who were subsequently reimbursed by contributions from the public and collections from the congregation at various times.
The population of Layton-with-Warbreck in 1861 amounted to 3,907 persons, of which number Blackpool contributed 3,506.
The passenger traffic on the Blackpool and Lytham Railway commenced on the 6th of April, 1862, and between that date and the 30th of June over 35,000 persons had taken advantage of the line and been conveyed between the two watering-places. In 1862 a handsome Police Station and Court-House sprang into being in Abingdon street, including residences, lock-ups, offices, magistrates’ room, etc.
The streets of Blackpool no longer presented the meagre and broken lines of earlier days, but were in most instances well filled on each side with compact blocks of houses. In December, 1861, a few of the townpeople assembled at the Clifton Arms Hotel to consider the advisability of erecting a pier, to extend westward from the promenade opposite Talbot square; and on the 22nd of January, 1862, the memorandum of association was signed with a capital of £12,000, being immediately registered. Plans were examined on the 10th of February, and the design of E. Birch, esq., C.E., selected, that gentleman being also appointed engineer. In April, the tender of Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow, to construct the pier for £11,540 was accepted; and a grant of the foreshore required for the undertaking having been obtained from the Duchy of Lancaster for £120, and £7 paid to the Crown for the portion beyond low-water mark, the first pile of the North Pier was screwed into the marl on the 27th of June, 1862, by Captain Francis Preston, the chairman of the company. A violent storm in the ensuing October damaged the works to some extent, and induced the company to raise the deck of the pier three feet above the altitude originally proposed, at an expense of £2,000. On the 21st of May, 1863, the pier was formally opened by Captain Preston, the auspicious event being celebrated by general rejoicings throughout the town and a procession of the different schools and friendly societies. The dimensions of the erection at that date were:—Approach, 80 feet long; abutment, 120 feet long and 45 feet wide; main portion, 1,070 feet long and 28 feet wide; and the head, 135 feet long and 55 feet wide, giving a total length of 1,405 feet available as a promenade. The entire superstructure was placed upon clusters of iron piles, fixed vertically into the ground by means of screws, those at the abutment and main body being wholly of cast, and those at the head partly of cast and partly of wrought iron. The largest of the cast-iron columns measured 12 inches in diameter, and 1⅓ inch in thickness, each column being filled in with concrete. The piles were arranged in clusters at intervals of 60 feet, and firmly secured together longitudinally, transversely, and diagonally, by rods and braces. The main girders, of the sort known as plated, were rivetted on the clusters in lengths of 70 feet, and formed parapets, presenting a pleasing appearance and constituting a most efficient wind guard to the pier. The tops of the girders were turned to useful account by converting them into a continuous line of seats. Next to the chief girders were fixed transverse wrought iron girders, upon the top of which the planking of the deck was laid, being arranged in longitudinal and transverse layers, so that no open spaces were left to admit the passage of wind or spray. The head of the pier, rectangular in form, was raised 50 feet above low-water mark, and leading from it to ample landing stages below, was a flight of steps 10 feet wide. The limits of the pier shore-wards were defined by ornamental iron gates with lamps, immediately inside which were the toll houses. Upon the main portion of the pier were erected several ornamental shelter and refreshment houses of an octagonal shape, and standing on side projections. Another ornamental shelter house of much larger dimensions was placed, within a few months, on the head. Lamps were provided along the entire length of the pier. In 1867 the directors determined to erect an iron extension or jetty, and in less than two years the work was accomplished at a cost of £6,000. During the month of May, 1869, a tender for the formation of the present entrance for £2,700 was accepted, and the agreement promptly carried out by Messrs. Laidlaw, of Glasgow. In October, 1874, the company arranged with the same contractors to enlarge the pierhead by putting out two wings, from the designs of E. Birch, esq., C.E., at an expenditure of £14,000. On the north wing it is intended to build a pavilion, 130 feet long by 90 feet wide, in an eastern style of architecture, and estimated to hold 1,200 persons seated. The edifice, around which there will be a promenade, is to be supplied with an orchestra, refreshment rooms, etc., and used as a concert room and fashionable marine lounge. The south wing, which is about 130 feet long, contains a bandstand, capable of holding 30 performers, at the further end, and on the east and west side two other buildings 62 feet by 27 feet each, the former being designed for the purposes of a restaurant, and the latter for the sale of fancy goods and other commodities. The unoccupied space, nearly 100 feet by 80 feet, will be provided with seats in the centre, the remainder serving as a promenade. The contract for the foregoing erections was let in 1875, to Messrs. Robert Neill and Sons, of Manchester, for nearly £12,000. In 1863, the capital of the company was raised to £15,000; in 1864, to £20,000; in 1865, to £25,000; in 1874, to £40,000; and in 1875, to £50,000.
About the period when the North Pier was constructed, and for years previously, the visitors to Blackpool could certainly complain of no lack of ordinary amusements during their brief residence by the sea. Horses, donkeys, and vehicles were ever in readiness to administer to their entertainment, either by conveying them for short drives to explore such objects of interest as the country afforded, or translating them for the day to the seaport of Fleetwood, or the neighbouring resort of Lytham. Bathing machines abounded on the sands, and during suitable states of the tide were busily engaged in affording ready access to the briny element to numbers, who were anxious to experience the invigorating effects of a bath in Neptune’s domain. In the evenings theatrical representations were frequently held, since 1861, in the spacious room of Read’s Market. The Crystal Palace, formerly the Victoria Promenade, was also devoted to similar purposes, having long been diverted from the use for which it was first intended. The Number 3 Hotel, under its old name, but in a more modern building than that described by Mr. Hutton at the close of last century, still flourished, and proved equally attractive, not so much, however, on account of its “fine ale” as the wealth of strawberries and floral beauties adorning its gardens. Carleton Terrace was built in 1863; and on the 10th of March in that year the marriage of the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, was celebrated with many manifestations of loyalty and joy. Flags, banners, and ensigns were suspended from the windows of almost every house, whilst sports of various kinds were held on the sands during the morning, after which the school children, belonging to the different denominations, and a body of Oddfellows, amounting in all to 900 persons, assembled in Talbot Square, and sang the national anthem, previous to forming a procession and parading the streets of the town. Subsequently the children were regaled with tea, buns, etc. The Preston Banking Company established a branch at Blackpool during 1863; and in the month of January a party of gentlemen purchased the whole of the land lying between the site of Carleton terrace and the Gynn, for the purpose of laying it out in building plots and promenades, the main feature to be a large central hotel standing in its own grounds. The contracts were let by the company in October, 1863, for embanking, sewering, and forming the necessary roads and promenades on their estate, and shortly afterwards an agreement was entered into for preparing the foundation of the hotel, the work in both instances being promptly commenced. The magnitude of the scheme far exceeded that of any undertaking which had ever yet been attempted in Blackpool, but undisturbed by the speculative character of their venture the proprietors carried the enterprise through its various phases with a liberal and vigorous hand, succeeding in the course of time in creating an acquisition of incalculable beauty and benefit to the town. The Imperial Hotel has its station on the highest point of the land, now called Claremont Park, and is a palatial edifice, surrounded by elegant lawns and walks, walled off from the park outside. In 1876 an extensive enlargement, consisting of a south wing, containing 39 bedrooms and 6 sitting-rooms, was made to the establishment. The cliffs fronting the estate, formerly rugged and uneven, were sloped and pitched to form a protection from the inroads of the tide, whilst a broad marine promenade was made along the whole length of the park, about a mile, and fenced with an iron railing on its open aspect. The main promenade of the town was continued round the west side of the park as far as the Gynn, but on a lower level than the walk just indicated. Shrubs were planted and toll houses, with gates, fixed at the entrances to the estate, all of which was enclosed with railings. The splendid residences denominated Stanley Villas, Wilton Parade, Imperial Terrace, and Lansdowne Crescent were not dilatory in rearing their several heads in a locality so congenial to their aristocratic proclivities, the foundations of the last being prepared in 1864.
In 1864 the Lane Ends Hotel was levelled to the ground, and the present handsome structure, in the Italian style of architecture, raised on the site, being re-opened again two years later. The foundation stone of the United Methodist Free Church was laid in Adelaide Street on the 30th of March, in the year specified, by James Sidebottom, esq., of Manchester, service being held in the building in the course of a few months; whilst the newly-arrived lifeboat was launched, and the first supply of the Fylde Waterworks Company passed through their pipes to Blackpool on the 20th of July. The station of the lifeboat, named the “Robert William,” is situated near the beach at South Shore, close to the Manchester Hotel; and here we may mention that this boat, under the skilful and intrepid management of its crew and coxswain, has been instrumental on several occasions in affording aid in time of shipwreck. Amongst these instances may be noted the rescue of a crew of fourteen persons belonging to the barque “Susan L. Campbell,” wrecked on Salthouse Bank on the 11th April, 1867, assistance being rendered also to the barque “A. L. Routh”; and the rescue of the crew of the schooner “Glyde,” stranded on the South Beach on the same eventful morning. The annual expense incurred in the support of this valuable institution is defrayed by voluntary contributions.