Market Place (Poulton-le-Fylde)

Market Place is a public square in the English market town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. Dating to the Middle Ages, it has historically been a site of weekly markets, today taking place on Mondays (except Bank Holiday Monday).[1] It is now mostly used as a shopping precinct, along with the adjacent indoor Teanlowe Centre.

Market Place
The square on a market day in 2014, looking north from Blackpool Old Road
Maintained byWyre Borough Council
LocationPoulton-le-Fylde, England, UK
Coordinates53.84671°N 2.9925°W / 53.84671; -2.9925
North
  • Church Street
South

It is bounded by the pedestrianised Church Street to the north and Blackpool Old Road to the south. A Grade II* listed church, St Chad's, stands beyond the square's northeastern corner, while in the square's centre is the town's war memorial.[2] At its southern end is (in line, from north to south) the whipping post,[3] fish stones,[4] market cross[5] and stocks (each Grade II listed).[6]

Other notable buildings and structures in Market Place include (clockwise from the north) 2 Market Place (the former custom house),[7] a K6 telephone box,[8] 25–31 Market Place (featuring the arms of Alexander Rigby, who built the precursor to today's terrace in 1693)[9][10] and Old Town Hall. All except Old Town Hall are Grade II listed.

The first municipal building in the town was a building known as the Moot Hall, which stood at the southern end of the square, just in front of the market cross, in late medieval times.[11][12]

On 5 March 1732, a fire broke out in the square, resulting in the destruction of all of the properties on its western side.[13] Most buildings at this time had thatched roofs, as described by Henry Fishwick in his 1885 book Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, Volume 8.[14]

The first purpose-built police station in the town was erected on the eastern side of Market Place in 1895, using the shell of the former home of the Walmsley family. The building was demolished in 1898, and replaced two years later by a Masonic Hall. Poulton Freemasons originally met at the Bull Hotel in Market Place.[15]

A second incarnation of the police station was built at 12–16 Market Place, with a second floor added in 1960.[16]

The square was open to vehicular traffic until at least the 1960s.[17]

  • A c. 1920 postcard of Market Place, by A. R. Quinton. The building in the centre is no longer standing
    A c. 1920 postcard of Market Place, by A. R. Quinton. The building in the centre is no longer standing
  • View from in front of Old Town Hall, looking southeast, 2019
    View from in front of Old Town Hall, looking southeast, 2019

References
  1. Poulton, Visit (18 January 2019). "Poulton Market • takes place every Monday - Visit Poulton-le-Fylde". Poulton-le-Fylde. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. "Poulton-le-Fylde War Memorial, Non Civil Parish - 1467921 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  3. "Heritage Gateway - Results". www.heritagegateway.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. "FISH STONES, Non Civil Parish - 1072404 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. "MARKET CROSS, Non Civil Parish - 1072405 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  6. "STOCKS, Non Civil Parish - 1072406 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  7. "2, MARKET PLACE, Non Civil Parish - 1204609 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. "K6 TELEPHONE KIOSK OUTSIDE MIDLAND BANK, Non Civil Parish - 1073157 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  9. "25, 27, 29 AND 31, MARKET PLACE, Non Civil Parish - 1072408 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  10. Baines, Edward (1836). History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, Volume 4. p. 435.
  11. Transactions. Vol. 20. Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. 1903. p. 188.
  12. "The Great Fire to Modern Times". Poulton-le-Fylde Historical & Civic Society. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  13. A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 184
  14. Fishwick, Henry (1885). Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, Volume 8. Chetham Society. p. 34.
  15. A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 387
  16. A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 271
  17. "Historical images of Poulton-le-Fylde take you back to a long lost era". Blackpool Gazette. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
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