And make the needy poor lament.”

It has usually been affirmed that the side galleries were not erected until several years after the new church had been finished, but the annexed extract from an old document discovered in 1875, shows that authority to build them was obtained in 1751, whilst the church was levelled with the ground; and as the parchment also discloses that a number of seats in these galleries were allotted to certain gentlemen of the parish in the ensuing year, there is ample evidence that the rebuilding of the church and their erection were carried on simultaneously:—“25 June, 1751. On the Certificate and request of Roger Hesketh, Esq., Patron; the Rev. Robert Loxham, Clerk, Vicar; and the Churchwardens of the Parish Church of Poulton; a Faculty was Granted to John Bird, John Birley, and Richard Tennant, all of Poulton, Gentlemen (for the better uniformity of the Parish Church of Poulton, which was then taken down and rebuilding) to take down the Gallery over the Chancel in the East of the said Church, which was then very irregular and incommodious, and to rebuild the same with a convenient staircase, stairs, and passage leading thereto, of their own expense, in the west end thereof to adjoin to the north side of the gallery there then standing, and to be made uniform therewith, and to make satisfaction to the several owners of the seats in the said Gallery for the damage sustained in removing the same and altering, and lessening the seats therein; and to erect a Gallery on each side of the said Church, with convenient staircases leading thereto at the north-east and south-east ends of the said Church, if necessary, according to the form of the said Certificate annexed, and also to remove the Pulpit and reading desk from the place where the same then lately stood, near to the place where the Churchwardens’ seat was then lately situate, as it would greatly tend to the conformity of the said Church and to the benefit and advantage of the Inhabitants of the said Parish, and also that they might have liberty to sell and dispose of the seats to be contained in the said intended side Galleries, to such persons within the said Parish as should stand most in need thereof, to reimburse themselves the charges and expenses they would be necessarily put to in building the said intended galleries and making the alterations aforesaid.”

The present edifice is of stone, plain but commodious, and comprises a chancel, body, and embattled tower, with buttresses supporting each corner. Formerly a small shed stood on one side of the tower, and was used as a repository for the sculls and other osseous relics of humanity, which were unearthed during the process of making fresh graves; this house was pulled down some years ago, and its numerous treasures returned to the ground at the south-east corner of the yard. The chancel now standing was erected eight years since, mainly through the exertions of the Rev. Thomas Clarke, M.A., the vicar, who died in 1869. On the exterior of the building, over a door at the south-east corner of the body is the inscription:—“Insignia Rici Fleetwood Ari Hujus Eccliæ Patroni Ann Dni 1699”; above which is a circumscribed uneven space formerly occupied by the arms of the Fleetwood family. Within the church the quarterings of the Heskeths and Fleetwoods are hung against the walls in frames. At the west end of the building there is a wooden panel into which the following names have been cut:—

From the way in which the holders of similar offices are arranged at present it is surmised that these gentlemen respectively represented the townships of

On the south side of the church is a mural tablet to the memory of the Rev. Richard Buck, M.A., of Agecroft Hall, Pendlebury, born 1761, died 1845, also Margaret, his wife, and Margaret, his daughter. Another monument bears the names of Frances Hull, born 1794, died 1847; William Wilson Hull, born 1822, died 1847, in the Queen’s service, at Bathurst, St. Mary’s Island in the river Gambia; Henry Mitchell Hull, M.A., born 1827, died 1853; John Hull, M.D., born 1761, died 1843—“left the eldest of the three children of John Hull, surgeon; an orphan at six years of age, poor, friendless, by the best use of all means of education within his power, by unwearied industry, by constant self-denial, he duly qualified himself for the practice of his profession[73]”; Sarah Hull, died 1842; William Winstanley Hull, M.A., Fellow of Brazenose College, Oxford, and Barrister-at-Law, eldest son of John Hull, M.D., F.L.S., born 1784, died 1873. Here also was the old churchwardens’ pew, removed in 1876, having a brass plate inscribed thus:—“Thomas Whiteside, Jno Wilkinson, Jno Whiteside, Thos. Cornwhite, Jno Hodgson, Churchwardens, 1737”; also the old pew formerly belonging to the Rigbys of Layton Hall, on the door of which are carved the letters “A.R.,” a goats head, and the date “1636,” being the initials and crest of Sir Alexander Rigby, of Layton Hall. Until last year, when they were removed to afford space for more modern seats, the two family pews of the Fleetwoods and Heskeths stood on this side. The pews were walled in laterally and in front by a high ornamental railing of oak, and in the larger of the two traces of a crest were visible on the wall. Near this spot there are many very ancient pews, one of which has the date and initials “17.TW.02” carved upon it, whilst on the floor of the aisle close at hand is the gravestone of “Edward Sherdley, gentleman, dyed 21st September, 1744, aged 71,” and almost adjoining lies another stone, surmounting the remains of Geoffrey Hornby, who died in 1732. On the day of the latter gentleman’s funeral the west side of the market-place was destroyed by fire, and as the procession passed the scarves of the mourners were scorched by sparks driven by a high wind in showers from the conflagration. On the north side of the church is a pew bearing the date ‘1662’; and near to are the old pews of Burn Hall, Little Poulton Hall, Mains Hall, and Todderstaff Hall, above which, fastened to the wall and marking the resting place of several members of his family, are the arms of Thomas Fitzherbert Brockholes, esq., of Claughton, the lord of Little Poulton, etc.

The chancel contains a monument in memory of Bold Fleetwood Hesketh, died 1819, and his nephew, Edward Thomas Hesketh, died 1820; also of Fleetwood Hesketh, of Rossall, who died in 1769, aged 30, and Frances Hesketh, who died in 1809, aged 74, all of whom were interred beneath the Communion. In addition there are two recent tablets, one being to the memory of the late Thomas Clarke, vicar of the parish; and the other in memory of Francis Wm. Conry, only child of F. A. Macfaddin, surgeon, 47th regt. Within the Communion rails are two antique and elaborately carved oak chairs.

In the south gallery are mural tablets inscribed in remembrance of Edward Hornby, died in 1766, and Margaret, his wife; Edward Sherdley, died 1744, and Ellen, his wife; Giles Thornber, J.P., died 1860, and his wife; Geoffrey Hornby, died in 1732, and Susannah, his wife; Richard Harrison, vicar of Poulton, died in 1718, aged 65; and Christopher Albin, curate of Bispham, died in 1753, aged 56, on a pew door opposite to which is a brass plate engraved:—“Introite et orate, cælo supinas si tuleris manus sacra feceris, malaque effugies.[74] Christopher and Margery Albin 1752.”

At one time a sounding board was suspended over the pulpit. An ancient font, formerly belonging to the church and now the property of the vicar, the Rev. William Richardson, M.A., has carved upon its exterior the date 1649, the letters M.H., a cross, and something, in its damaged state difficult to trace but betraying some resemblance to a crown. The successor to this font was removed several years since to make room for a new one presented by the daughter of the Rev. Canon Hull, of Eaglescliffe, in memory of her sister Frances Mary Hull, who died in 1866, aged 20 years.