The Fylde Coast Part 4: Fleetwood

Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of Fylde. It sits on the coast on the western bank of the river Wyre.

Early History

There is evidence of an Iron Age settlement at Bourne Hill, just south of Fleetwood. There is also written evidence to suggest that Fleetwood could have been the site of a Roman port. This is coupled with evidence of a Roman road that seems to lead in that direction.

16th Century

In the time of Henry VIII a manor house at present-day Rossall in the Southwest of Fleetwood was in the hand of the Allen family. The Allens were a prominent Roman-Catholic family and Henry VIII repossessed the land during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The  House was sold to Thomas Fleetwood, controller of the Royal Mint. His son Edmund, expanded the house into Rossall Hall. The land remained in the Fleetwood family for 300 years.

19th Century

It was a decendant of the Fleetwood, Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood who first laid plans for a port town and resort on the western bank of the river Wyre.

He envisaged Fleetwood as the transfer point between the rail and the steamers to Scotland