Thursday Tour : today we're in Fleetwood

Fleetwood is a small seaside town on the Lancashire coast, at the mouth of the River Wyre. It may have originated as a Roman port, but no firm evidence of this has been found. However, there is evidence of a Viking settlement on the eastern side of the River Wyre.

By the 16th century, there was a manor house at Rossall, in the south-western part of the present town. It originally belonged to the Allen family, but was sold to Thomas Fleetwood in the 1530’s. The Fleetwood family owned the hall for about 300 years.

In the 1830’s the owner of Rossall Hall, a descendant of the Fleetwoods, decided that the sheltered harbour could become a busy sea-port. He hired an architect to design what would be the first ‘planned’ town of the Victorian age. The port was built, the railway was brought to the town, and Fleetwood became the only town in the British Isles to have three lighthouses.

By the 1860’s the port increased its activities, with pleasure and commercial services to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. The fishing industry also grew as ships were able to expand their catchment area from the Irish Sea into the North Atlantic.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Fleetwood was one of the three main fishing ports in England. More houses were built for the fishing industry employees, a tramline to nearby Blackpool was constructed, and the seafront area was developed into a fashionable resort.

The town began to decline in the 1960’s with the advent of package holidays abroad, and in the 1970’s the fishing industry collapsed due mainly to the ‘Cod Wars’ with Iceland. The last deep sea trawler left the town in 1983.

Since then, the town has reinvented itself. The dock was developed into a marina, and Freeport, a large retail centre, was built next to the marina. The town is now a pleasant seaside resort, popular with those who prefer somewhere less brash than the neighbouring Blackpool.