An Album of Thornton-Cleveleys by Catherine Rothwell F.L.A

Introduction

Many people, residents and holiday-makers alike, seeing the area covered with modern bungalows and houses, believe it to have little history. From a place mentioned in the Doomesday Book this is natural enough. William the Conquerer surveyors recorded "Torenton". Cleveleys was formerly called Ritherholm and that name almost certainly derived from the rivulet that flowed into the sea there.   Cleveleys Tram station at Victoria Square     Thornton's Four Lane Ends in about 1930 Branching antlers and animal bones from species long extinct, plus flint instruments, were found in 1928 on the river banks behind the Illawalla, Little Thornton Sea pebble boundry walls once attached to Ritheram Farm are now under the sea. Searching at low tide opposite Cleveleys for the Sixteenth century village of Singleton Thorpe, an experditon in 1893 discovered the remains of a cobbled building with roof and wooden lintel. At that time old boatmen could recall where a wall had existed nearly a mile from the shore. Like Fenny, Carr Houses Farm finally had to be abandened for the sea to swallow it up, the geologist C.E Rance in his survey reporting its horse troughs and shippons full of seawater in 1877. River traffic, linked with the sea, also has its history.Safe and easy with Wyre water was a phrase that had passd into the sailors language long before Peter Hesketh, in considering a site for a port set alight much controvery. Industrialist William Birney, in an 1839 court case, flousished document proving that Wardleys Creek belonged to his family as far back as 1747. The Lord of the Manor of Stalmine then gave evidence that large vessals could not reach Wardleys. Timber had to be chained together and floated up with the spring tides which were extremly useful to Wyre commerce. The hard shores at Thornton were ships could land legally were the earliest points which could be used for the unloading of cargos. Illigally , smugglers from the Isle of Man, like Captain Johnson in his wherry, landed at night. The customs officers had to keep a sharp watch and it was said that a secret tunnel from the Rossall Gazebo was one means of connecting with the shore to facilitate smuggling. Most of the photographs on these pages are culled from the Local Studies Collection of Thornton-Cleveleys Library, but for the loan of some early examples and information i would like to thak the following people: Mr F Anyon   Mr C Ashton  Mr A E Coppock  Miss F Dommett  Miss L Glaister  Mr F Greenwood  Mr W Heapey  Mrs P James  Mr A Lees Rev F C Morgan  Mr B Oakley  Mr W Ruddle  R & A Smedley  Mrs A Ward  Mr W Yates