page_title: St Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde / History
caption_attribution_description: English: St Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. The Norman Revival apse was added in 1868.
context_page_description: St Chad's Church is an Anglican church in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn and the archdeaconry of Lancaster. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. A church on the site was built no later than the 11th century and may have existed prior to the Norman conquest of England. The tower dates from the 17th century, and much of the remainder of the building from a major renovation in the 18th century, although some of the fabric of the original structure remains. Further renovation and additions took place in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
  Soon after the Norman conquest, Poulton was granted to Lancaster Priory. In the 15th century, the church was given by Henry V to Syon Monastery in Middlesex. It returned to the Crown following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and from the 16th to the 20th century, the advowson belonged to the Hesketh/Fleetwood family.
  The red sandstone building is faced with grey ashlar and consists of a nave, chancel, square tower and a Norman-style apse.
context_section_description: There has probably been a church on the site of the present St Chad's since before the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and there is written evidence of one from 1094. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentioned three churches in the hundred of Amounderness, although they were not named. 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.
  The first documentary evidence of Poulton's church dates from 1094. After the conquest Amounderness, which included Poulton, was among the lands given by William the Conqueror to an Anglo-Norman knight named Roger the Poitevin. In 1094, Roger founded the Benedictine priory of St. Mary at Lancaster, as an offshoot of the Abbey of St. Martin in Sées, Normandy. He endowed the priory with the church and land at Poulton, approximately 20 miles (32 km) away. Roger was eventually banished from the country and his possessions reverted to the Crown. In 1194 the hundred of Amounderness was given by King Richard I to Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler who became the High Sheriff of Lancashire. Though the advowson of Poulton (the right to select a parish priest) had been granted by Roger to the monks of Lancaster, Theobald initially thought that it should be included in his entitlements. In 1196 he relinquished his right to Poulton (along with that of Bispham), although he kept the advowsons of Preston and Kirkham.
  In 1275 the Lancaster monks installed a vicar at the church. In 1291, taxation assessments made on behalf of Pope Nicholas IV valued St Chad's at £68 13s 4d—the third richest church in Lancashire. In 1345, repairs to the chancel were ordered in a letter from Simon de Bekyngham of Richmond to Sir William, the dean of Amounderness.
  In 1415, King Henry V dissolved the alien priories (those under control of religious houses abroad) and the church at Poulton reverted to the Crown. It was given by Henry to Syon Monastery in Middlesex. At the time of the English Reformation in the 16th century, St Chad's became the Anglican parish church. Originally, the parish included Poulton, Carleton, Thornton, Hardhorn-with-Newton and Marton. The Syon Monastery was suppressed in 1539 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries and St Chad's again returned to the Crown's possession. In the reign of Elizabeth I (after a brief restoration of Syon by Mary I), the advowson was granted to John Fleetwood of Penwortham. The Fleetwood family remained the patrons of St Chad's until the early 20th century.
  Some time in the 17th century, the present tower was built, possibly during Charles I's reign. In 1751 the church was extensively renovated. It was previously thought that the old church (except the tower) was completely demolished but recent evidence indicates that the "new" building still contains the outer walls of the previous structure. These original walls, of red sandstone, were faced with grey ashlar. The nave was rebuilt in 1753 with money from Richard Hesketh of Meols and his wife Margaret (the daughter of Richard Fleetwood).
  By the 19th century, the graveyard was full and had become a public health concern. It was overrun with rats, and dogs chasing the rats, both of which were damaging the churchyard. Finding sufficient ground for new burials was increasingly difficult and bones were often removed to a nearby charnel house. In 1849, an extra charge was put on burials of people from outside the parish. In 1884, the churchyard was closed to all burials and a cemetery was opened in the town.
  A round Norman-style apse was added to the church in 1868, the architects being the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin. The incumbent, the Rev. Thomas Clarke, paid for this addition, but died before its construction was complete. Architect J. S. Crowther oversaw further alterations in 1881–83; a baptistery was built, the organ was moved and choir stalls we
caption: The apse of St Chad's, added in 1868
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