Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, it had a population of 18,115.
There is evidence of human habitation in the area from 12,000 years ago, and several archaeological finds from Roman Britain have been found in the area. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Poulton was a small agricultural settlement in the Hundred of Amounderness. The church of St Chad was recorded in 1094, when it was endowed to Lancaster Priory.
By the post-Medieval period, the town had become an important commercial centre for the region with weekly and triannual markets. Goods were imported and exported through two harbours on the River Wyre. In 1837, the town was described as the "metropolis of the Fylde", but its commercial importance waned from the mid-19th century with the development of the nearby coastal towns of Fleetwood and Blackpool.
Poulton has the administrative centre of the Borough of Wyre and is in the parliamentary constituency of Fylde. It is part of the Blackpool Urban Area and approximately from Blackpool town centre. There are rail links to Blackpool and Preston, and bus routes to the larger towns and villages of the Fylde.
Poulton has a library and two secondary schools: Baines School and Hodgson Academy. There is a farmers' market once a month, and since October 2011 there has been a weekly market on Mondays in the centre of the town.
History
Early history There is evidence of human habitation in the area around Poulton from 10,000 BC. In 1970, building work in nearby Carleton uncovered the 12,000-year-old skeleton of an elk, along with two bone or antler barbed points close to its hind bones. At the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, the area was inhabited by a Celtic tribe called the Setantii. A 4th-century hoard of 400 Roman coins was found in the area, near Fleetwood. Other finds have been made in Poulton and Skippool; in addition to coins, these have included a medal of Germanicus and a hipposandal (similar to a horseshoe).
Although there is little archaeological evidence of Anglo-Saxon activity in the area following the departure of the Romans, local place names incorporate Old English elements like tūn (farmstead), suggesting that they were founded in that period. Nearby examples are Thornton, Marton and Carleton. Poulton was recorded in 1086 as Poltun; the name is derived from the Old English words pull or pōl + tūn meaning "farmstead by a pool or creek". In later years, it was recorded variously as Pultun, Polton, Potton, Poolton and Poulton. The affix le-Fylde ("in the district called the Fylde") was added in 1842 with the arrival of the Penny Post, to distinguish the town from Poulton-le-Sands, a village that is now part of Morecambe.
Poulton is one of seven ancient parishes of the Hundred of Amounderness. Prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066, Amounderness was in the possession of Tostig Godwinson, the brother of King Harold II. Tostig died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and his lands were subsequently taken over by the Normans. Between 1069 and 1086 William the Conqueror gave Amounderness to Anglo-Norman Baron Roger the Poitevin. In the Domesday Book of 1086 Poulton's area was estimated to contain two carucates of arable land. The survey recorded three churches in Amounderness though not by name. Later documentary evidence suggests that they were probably the churches at Poulton, Kirkham and St Michael's on Wyre. The dedication of Poulton's church to 7th-century Anglo-Saxon saint Chad of Mercia lends weight to its pre-conquest foundation, although it is possible that it was built between 1086 and 1094.
In 1094, Roger the Poitevin founded the Benedictine priory of St. Mary at Lancaster, as a cell of the Norman Abbey of St. Martin in Sées. He endowed the priory with the church and land at Poulton. Roger was eventually banished from the country and his lands returned to the possession of the Crown. In 1194 King Richard I granted the Hundred of Amounderness to Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland, who held it until his death in 1206. In 1268, King Henry III granted the wapentake of Amounderness to his son Edmund Crouchback, who became the 1st Earl of Lancaster around this time.
The amount of land in Poulton owned by St. Mary's Priory increased during the 12th and 13th centuries and caused conflict with local landowners over whose land the tenants and monks of the priory had to cross. In 1276, Sir Adam Banastre and his supporters assaulted the prior, Ralph de Truno, as he travelled to Poulton. He and his attendants were taken by Banastre, beaten and imprisoned in Thornton. An investigation into the incident was instigated by the king; no record survives. In 1330, a compromise was made when two roads were built through Banastre's land which enabled the prior and his tenants to travel freely to Poulton. During the 13th and 14th centuries, much of the land at Poulton was given to Cockersand Abbey in Lancaster and rented back to local farm workers. Much of the land in the Fylde was donated either to Cockersand Abbey or Whalley Abbey. To efficiently manage and farm these lands, granges were built at Singleton and Staining. When the alien priories (those under control of religious houses abroad) were dissolved in 1415, the church at Poulton was conveyed to the Syon Abbey in Middlesex.
In the 17th century Civil Wars, townspeople of Poulton fought on both sides, although more men from the Fylde were on the side of the Royalists. No battles occurred in or close to Poulton but the area was affected with the rest of the county by the widespread poverty that resulted from the wars. In 1643 interest was stirred in the parish when a large Spanish vessel dropped anchor off the coast at Rossall. The ship made no movement for several days but fired its guns occasionally. Locals initially feared an invasion, but eventually realised that the crew was in distress and had been signalling for help. The vessel was carrying ammunition for the Parliamentarian forces and the crew had become sick and feeble. The ship was brought by Royalists into the mouth of the River Wyre and the Earl of Derby marched from across the River Ribble. He ordered the ship to be burnt and the Spanish crew to be set free.
The port of Poulton played a role in the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century, with at least four slaving voyages setting off from Poulton between 1753 and 1757.
In the 18th century it was the custom for the wealthy in Poulton to bury their dead at night, following a lamp-lit procession through town. This tradition lasted until 1810. In 1732, during the procession preceding the funeral of Geoffrey Hornby, strong winds caused sparks to fly from the lighted tapers carried by mourners. The buildings on the west side of Market Place, low cottages with thatched roofs, caught fire and were destroyed. After local fund-raising the houses were eventually replaced with brick buildings with tile roofs.
19th and 20th centuries
Poulton became an important centre for trade in the area. With harbours on either side of the River Wyre, at Skippool and Wardleys, it was able to import goods from as far away as Russia and North America. Flax was imported from Ireland and the Baltic, timber came from across the Atlantic and tallow from Russia. Records from 1806 to 1808 show that Poulton imported limestone from Ulverston, oats from Ulverston, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries, Wigtown, Whitehaven and Liverpool, and coal from Preston. Cheese was exported to the same places. By the 18th century, markets for cattle and cloth were being held in the town in February, April and November, with corn fairs every Monday. It is unclear at what point Poulton began life as a market town; it was never granted a market charter and so markets were held by prescription. The market cross probably dates from the 17th century.
The linen industry was widespread in the Fylde during the 18th century and Poulton's importation of flax was essential. There were large warehouses at Skippool and Wardleys, owned by linen merchants from Kirkham. By the 19th century, craftsmen in Poulton were an important part of the industry. In the early part of the 19th century, there was a significant decline in the craft industries because of increased mechanisation, as well as increased demand for labour. In contrast to neighbouring Kirkham, Poulton appeared to suffer from a lack of enthusiasm for new industrial techniques and opportunities among its industry leaders.
Poulton's commercial importance was affected by the growth in the 19th century of two nearby coastal towns. In 1836 the first building was constructed in the new, planned town of Fleetwood, north of Poulton, at the mouth of the River Wyre. Fleetwood was conceived by local landowner and Preston Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood as a major port and a link for passengers travelling from London to Scotland. To achieve these ideals, a rail link was needed and the new town soon heralded the arrival of the railway to the area. A line connecting Fleetwood with Preston was completed in 1840, with Poulton as one of the stops. Although Fleetwood immediately superseded Poulton as a port (the customs house was quickly moved to Fleetwood), Poulton initially benefited commercially from the rail link. The importation of Irish and Scottish cattle through Fleetwood enabled a fortnightly cattle market to be held in Poulton. At the same time, Blackpool was developing as a resort and for a few years, visitors travelled by rail to Poulton and then on to Blackpool by horse-drawn charabancs or omnibuses. A line between Poulton and Blackpool was completed in 1846. As Fleetwood and Blackpool's own commercial capabilities developed, and Kirkham's prominence in the linen industry continued to grow, Poulton's importance declined.
Mains electricity was brought to Poulton-le-Fylde around 1928.
Governance
Historically, Poulton-le-Fylde was one of seven ecclesiastical parishes of the Hundred of Amounderness, an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, with a total area of . The parish included the townships of Poulton, Carleton, Thornton, Hardhorn-With-Newton and Marton. Poulton was governed by a parish council until 1900, when the parish was superseded by Poulton Urban District. The urban district council was based at the old town hall.
Today, with respect to civil parishes, Poulton is unparished. In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Poulton Urban District merged with those of Preesall and Thornton-Cleveleys, the municipal borough of Fleetwood and the rural district of Garstang to form the borough of Wyre. The town has the borough council's administrative centre, with its offices in Poulton Civic Centre.
The town is governed locally by a two-tier council system, being a part of both Lancashire County Council and Wyre Borough Council with both councils having different responsibilities for the area. Elections are held for Lancashire County Council every four years with elections to Wyre Borough Council also taking place every four years, but two years after the county elections. For borough elections Poulton contains four wards: Breck, Hardhorn, Highcross and Tithebarn. All four wards elect two councillors each to Wyre Borough Council. Poulton-le-Fylde is also a county division for the Lancashire County Council elections which is made up of the majority of the four wards and elects one councillor to the county council. At the most recent borough election in 2011 the town's four wards each elected two Conservative Party councillors, including the mayor of Wyre for 2011 David Bannister and the current leader of the council Peter Gibson. At the county election in 2009, the town elected a Conservative Party councillor, Geoffrey Roper.