Leyland's Charity represents the sum of £60 left by Elizabeth Leyland to trustees, in 1734, in order that it might be laid out, and the annual revenue therefrom devoted to the assistance of the poor, either in relieving the elderly, or providing instruction for the young.
St. Annes-on-the-Sea. The locality in which the new
watering-place is rapidly developing was indicated in the
foundation charter of the Lytham Benedictine Cell as Kilgrimol.
It has been suggested that the peculiar orthography of the word
Kilgrimol points to there having been at some era a religious
settlement, presided over by Culdees, the priests of Columba,[1]
but it is more probable that the name is derived from the two
British words kilgury, a corner, and mul or meol, a sand-hill. At
a later epoch the district was known as Cross or Churchyard Slack,
and tradition records that an oratory existed there until such time
as it was swallowed up by an earthquake, long years ago. Mr.
Thornber, in discussing the statement, advances the following fact
as some evidence in favour of its veracity:—"Churchyard Slack
is situated in a hollow, having on the north side a rising ground
called Stony-hill, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile a
similar elevation, though not so marked. On these ridges are
found innumerable small boulders of grey granite, having apparently
been acted upon by fire; but it is particularly remarkable
that not one can be found amongst them entirely whole. Similar
stones in less quantities are discovered in the intervening space,
all more or less broken."
On the immediate outskirts of the embryo town is the small hamlet of Heyhouses, at which a school was established in 1821, and enlarged in 1853; and it was there that Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton erected a church, in memory of the late James Fair, esq., of Lytham, on a site presented by her husband, the lord of the manor. The foundation stone of the edifice was laid in June, 1872, and on Wednesday, the 6th of August, in the ensuing year, the church and burial ground, occupying jointly 2-1/2 acres, were consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The interior contains accommodation for 300 persons, 145 seats being appropriated, and 155 free. The roof is of red tiles instead of slates.
- ↑ See pages 15 and 16.
