Non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.”

This scholastic institution is in the Gothic style of architecture, and the principal front, facing into West Street, extends over a distance of seventy-one feet. The interior of the building contains separate school accommodation for boys and girls; and at the east end there is a comfortable residence for the mistress. The school is surrounded by an extensive play-ground, and enclosed by a brick wall, surmounted anteriorly by ornamental iron railings. Since the building was completed the provision for the reception of boys has been greatly increased by the erection of a new wing, by private munificence, abutting at right angles with the east end of the original structure.

In the spring of 1845 a handsome promenade and carriage drive was completed along the border of the shore from the North Euston Hotel to the west extremity of the Mount Terrace. The pathway, which ran on the inner side of the drive, was flagged throughout its entire length, whilst the outer margin of the road was connected with a substantial sea-wall of square-cut stone by a broad and well-kept grass plat. Subsequently this elegant walk was extended round the south side of the Mount, along Abbots’ Walk, and so on by the side of the shore to the Cemetery Road. Very little of the portion first constructed is now to be seen, and that remnant is in such a dilapidated condition as almost to be impassable. Huge stones which formerly protected the green sward and road from the waves are now lying scattered and buried about the beach; whilst the westerly end of the promenade has not only suffered utter annihilation itself, but serious inroads have been made by the water into the ornamental gardens fronting the houses of the Mount Terrace.

Strenuous efforts were put forth during the autumn of 1845 to prevent the visitors forsaking the town immediately the long evenings had commenced; pyrotechnic displays took place each week on the plot of land lying to the north of the Upper Queen’s Terrace, and designated the Archery Ground. Sea excursions to Blackpool, Southport, and Piel Harbour were liberally provided for by the steamers of the port; a military band was hired for several weeks, and played daily either on one of the pleasure craft or near the new promenade; foot races, wrestling, and cricket matches were arranged and contested at short intervals. But all in vain, for towards the end of August the reflux of visitors had thoroughly set in, and by the middle of September the shores were almost deserted. During that brief period of excitement it was proposed amongst the inhabitants to erect a large public building to be ready for the ensuing season, which should combine all the advantages of a reading and news room, public library, bazaar, ball room, and theatre; but either the ardour of the people cooled during the winter months or they failed to discern a fair prospect of dividends from the investment, for the summer of 1846 discovered that the idea had vanished with the closing year, and

“Like the baseless fabric of a vision,

Left not a wreck behind.”

Perhaps, however, it is going too far to assert that no trace or vestige of the comprehensive project remained after the first ebullition of enthusiasm had passed from the popular mind, for we find that, although no noble hall graced the town, a Mechanics’ Institution was modestly established on the 18th of May, 1846, by the opening of a reading room in one portion of the Estate Office. This office formerly occupied the site of the present Whitworth Institute, and was a small, lightly constructed, Gothic edifice. Subsequently a larger and more convenient place for the purposes of the Institution was engaged in Dock Street; a library was provided and arrangements made for lectures and classes to be held on the premises. In the report of the establishment, issued twelve months after its foundation, it was stated that the members at that date amounted to 184, being 138 full members, 20 females, and 26 youths and apprentices; and that since its organisation 213 persons had availed themselves of the privileges offered by the society. A considerable number of cottage houses were erected in different parts of the town, and not only were these tenanted directly they were completed, but the demand for further building was still on the increase. A public abattoir, or slaughter-house, was constructed in 1846 on the outskirts of the town, and a notice issued, prohibiting the slaying of any cattle, sheep, or swine anywhere except within its walls, under a penalty of £5 for every offence. A Wesleyan chapel was also in course of erection in North Church Street, then open warren, and finished the following year, divine service being first conducted in it on Monday, the 24th of May, by the Rev. George Osborne, of Liverpool. As the town gradually developed in size and population, the attendants at this place of worship outgrew the space provided for them, and lately, in 1875, it became necessary to enlarge the edifice. The west gable-end was taken out and the main building extended in that direction. Galleries were placed along the two sides and across the east wall; the old-fashioned pulpit was superseded by a platform situated at the centre of the west end, and extending to within six feet of the galleries at either side. The new sittings resemble the old ones in being closed pews, and not open benches. The chapel is now capable of containing double the congregation it could have held previous to the recent alterations.

In the month of February, 1847, an extraordinary high tide, rendered more formidable by strong westerly winds, did great damage on the coast from here to Rossall; the Landmark was so far undermined that its fall was hourly expected; an embankment raised on the shore from that point to Rossall suffered severely, large portions being completely washed away; and the outbuildings of a farm called “Fenny” were overthrown and destroyed, serious injury being done also to the land in the neighbourhood. The more immediate vicinities of the town escaped with comparatively little loss, the most important being that resulting from the inundation of several fields and gardens near the Cops, and the levelling of a few wooden sheds for labourers’ tools and other outbuildings.

A failure in the potatoe and grain harvests of 1846 spread fearful distress and famine throughout the United Kingdom; bread riots and disturbances amongst the starving poor of Ireland were of frequent occurrence, and it was to assist in alleviating the sufferings of those unfortunate people that a subscription was started in Fleetwood during the latter months of that year. Donations purely from the inhabitants of the town were collected, and in January, 1847, the sum of £105 was forwarded to the sister country. In consequence of the severe national affliction, Her Majesty ordained that Wednesday, the 24th of the following March, should be observed as a general fast-day. On that date all the shops in the watering place, with one or two exceptions, were closed; the public-houses and streets were quiet; and stillness and solemnity everywhere apparent. The church was crowded to overflowing; every seat was packed, and forms were brought in from the Sunday school and placed in the aisles to create extra accommodation, so excessive was the congregation which assembled to join in the special service for divine intervention.