1850 Guide page 13
Of the early history of Lytham little is known, except that
Richard Fitz Roger, as before stated, founded and endowed a cell
here for a prior and Benedictine monks, dependent on the priory
of Durham. This foundation was made in the latter part of the
reign of Richard I. 1188, and King John granted a charter of
confirmation about the year 1200. At the suppression of
religious houses, its annual revenue, according to Tanner, was
£53. 15s. 10d. In 32nd Henry .VIII. it was granted to Sir Thomas
Holcroft, Knight., and his descendant, Sir John Holcroft, is
said to have sold Lytham, in 1606, to Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of
Westby whose descendant, Thomas Clifton, Esq., of Lytham, is the
present lord of the manor and owner of the parish.
The name may be a corruption of Lithe-ham, Lethe being a very
ancient name for barn, and ham, a Saxon word, signifying a place
of abode; or it may be derived from litus, the Latin for shore,
and ham: it is' called Lidun in the Domesday survey. Dr. Leigh
says that there was a village of Saxon fishermen here, and that
Cross slack was originally termed “Churchyard Slack," from
there having been a religious oratory and cemetery there. This
is supposed to have stood between the present church and the
sand hills, in a direction towards the common side. Lytham Pool,
which is about a mile east of the town, is nearly formed into a
natural dock; large enough to contain a fleet of men of war, and
at its northern extremity is a small graving dock. |
