St. Anne's on the Sea Land and Building Company was formed in 1874 and played an integral part in the development of the new town of St.Anne's on the Sea from 1875. The company had its roots in the Rossendale area and the most significant investor was William John Porritt, a woollen manufacturer from Helmshore. His money contributed to the building of St Anne's and restored confidence in the project after some early problems.
The Clifton Family of Lytham Hall, owners of the Manor of Lytham in Lancashire, guided by their land agent James Fair began planning for a new town in the area as early as the 1840s. During the 1850s they invested in the railway between Lytham and Blackpool which was
opened in 1863. In the early 1870s a road was laid from what is now Fairhaven to the present St Anne's Square and a further road continued to the Parish Church of St Anne which was built in 1872/3 and funded by Lady Eleanor Cecily Clifton. The church gave the name to the new town of St Anne's on the Sea.
In 1874, the St Anne's on the Sea Land and Building Company was formed by eight Rossendale men led by the chairman Joseph Wood Whitehead. This company negotiated 999 year leases with Thomas Fair who had succeeded his father James as the Clifton's agent. This company sought to develop what became known as the Square Mile in the centre of St Anne's. The architects for the project were Maxwell and Tuke of Peel Chambers, Bury. James Maxwell himself came from Haslingden in Rawtenstall and these men later went on to design Blackpool Tower.
The ambitions for an exclusive and select resort can be seen in an early company document which states, "of late years Blackpool has become so much the resort of Excursionists that a decided want is felt for a watering place which, whilst possessing the same bracing atmosphere and commanding position, shall secure a more select and better class of visitors"! [1]
The first lease between the Company and the Clifton estate was signed on 14 December 1874. Work began on the development of the Promenade and the St Anne's Hotel in February 1875 and the foundation stone of St Anne's on the Sea was laid in the hotel on 31 March of that year. [2] At the ceremony Joseph Whitehead commented "..perhaps many would be surprised at the scheme being taken up by Rossendale people. After relating the circumstances which led to the negotiations with Col. Clifton, he said that an arrangement was made with Mr. Fair by which 82 acres of land had been secured upon a long lease, a portion of which they had been upon that day. The company was floated and had succeeded beyond their expectations. It was their intention, as a large sum of money had been subscribed, to build as quickly as possible." [3]
Perhaps the most important Rossendale influence on the development of St Anne's was William John Porritt who was born in Ramsbottom in 1828.
Working with his father Joseph in the firm of Joseph Porritt and Sons he built Sunnybank Mill in Helmshore in 1866 and bought Higher Mill in the same town in 1880. He was present at the laying of the foundation stone of St Anne's and soon after joined the board of the Land and Building Company, being the chairman from 1881 -1896. The success of the scheme to develop St Anne's on the Sea wasn't guaranteed. In the 1880s and 1890s it was struggling financially and various factors such as the opening of the pier and, most significantly, the continued investment of William Porritt ensured its success. He is particularly well known for the 'Porritt Houses' that were built north of the pier.
It's thought that he built property to the value of £100,000 in St Anne's – by today's standards he invested millions of pounds in the area. [4]
As well as these prime-movers who wanted to invest in and oversee the development of St Anne's on the Sea other Rossendalians came to live and work in the town during the early years of its development. Some of these were evidently men of business and their families but a look in the census records also reveals many 'working' people including several individuals who came to work in the building trade in the newly developing town.
The 1890s Ordnance Survey map shows the town in the early stages of its development – the town centre is taking shape and the pier and promenade are in place. There are several churches and chapels and the Porritt houses on north promenade have been built.
The subsequent maps for 1911 and 1932 show the rapid extension of the resort with new housing going up, the expansion of the promenades, more churches being built along with the Carnegie Library and Technical School and the development of Ansdell and Fairhaven between Lytham and St Anne's.
After Porritt's death in 1896 the company continued to prosper although from the late 19th century its role became less one of development and was more concerned with leasing land and collecting ground rents. In 1951 the company was purchased by Amalgamated Investment and Property Company. This company went into receivership and ceased trading in 1979. [5]
Lytham St Annes is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 census was 42,695. The town is made up of the four areas of Lytham, Ansdell, Fairhaven and St Annes-on-the-Sea.
The Borough of Fylde is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It covers part of the Fylde plain, after which it is named. The council's headquarters are in St Annes. The borough also contains the towns of Kirkham, Lytham and Wesham and surrounding villages and rural areas.
Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town had a population of 15,969. The town is surrounded by high moorland; 370 m (1215 ft) to the north; 396 m (1300 ft) Cribden to the east; 418 m (1372 ft) Bull Hill to the south.
Warton is a village in the civil parish of Bryning-with-Warton, on the Fylde, in the Fylde district, in the county of Lancashire, England.
The Preston and Wyre Railway (P&WR) was built to connect Preston, on the London and North Western Railway West Coast Main Line, with the port of Fleetwood, at the mouth of the River Wyre. It opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to the company, changing its name to the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. Passenger business was more buoyant than expected, and the company built branch lines to the nascent resort of Blackpool and Lytham that opened in 1846. At that time the line was leased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and later the London and North Western Railway took a share in the lease which was later converted to outright ownership. The Preston and Wyre Railway continued to be jointly owned as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway.
Helmshore is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, two-down terraces, top-and-bottom houses and a few surviving back-to-back cottages. Between the 1970s and 2020 new housing estates have proliferated.
The A583 is a primary road from Preston to Blackpool in England, via Kirkham. It runs a distance of 17 miles (27.4 km), and was previously the main route into Blackpool until the construction of the M55 motorway.
South Shore is an area of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It forms the southern part of the town for two miles along the Promenade from Rigby Road to Starr Gate. Its inland boundaries run along Rigby Road, Queen Victoria Road, Ansdell Road, Hawes Side Lane, Common Edge Road and Squires Gate Lane.
The A584 is a road in Lancashire, England, that runs from Clifton, near Preston, to Little Bispham, in the north of Blackpool.
Musbury Tor or Tor Hill is a flat-topped hill in south-east Lancashire, England. It overlooks the village of Helmshore and separates Alden Valley to its south and Musbury Valley to its north. Mainly consisting of farmland and pastures, its summit is 340.1 metres (1,116 ft) above sea level. The hill is a prominent landmark and can be seen from much of Helmshore and is often colloquially referred to as ‘the Tor’ by the local population. 'Tor View' is a name shared by several houses and a local Special School.
The Alden Valley is a small valley on the eastern edge of the West Pennine Moors, west of Helmshore in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. In the 14th century it was part of the Earl of Lincoln's hunting park. By 1840 it was home to about twenty farms, largely involved in cattle rearing, although most inhabitants were also involved with the production of textiles, which quickly developed during the Industrial Revolution into the building of textile mills. These have now been demolished and the valley is dominated by sheep grazing, with three working farms and a number of smallholdings.
The Carnegie Library is in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. The foundation stone of St. Anne's Library was laid in August 1904 and the building was officially opened on 10 January 1906. The land was given by the St. Anne's on the Sea Land and Building Company, and Andrew Carnegie paid for the building itself. This was the first library in the town. There is also a library at Lytham.
St Annes Pier is a Victorian era pleasure pier in the English seaside resort of St Annes-on-the-Sea, Lancashire. It lies on the estuary of the River Ribble. The pier, designed by Alfred Dowson, was completed in 1885 and was one of the earliest public buildings in St Annes, a 19th-century planned town. The pier was originally intended to be a sedate promenading venue for the resort's visitors, but attractions were later added. Changes made to the estuary channels to improve access to Preston Dock left the pier on dry land and ended its steamer services to Blackpool and Liverpool.
Lytham Windmill is situated on Lytham Green in the coastal town of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is of the type known as a tower mill and was designed for grinding wheat and oats to make flour or bran. Since commercial milling on the site ceased in 1921 the mill has belonged to the town and is operated by Fylde Borough Council, who open it to the public during the summer. The mill also contains a museum run by the Lytham Heritage Trust which explains the history and practice of flour milling.
Lytham library was built originally as a Mechanics Institute. It included a small library of books and a reading room and opened on 30 August 1878. The building was extended in 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, including a new reading room, gymnasium and classrooms. The extension was opened by the Duke of Norfolk. In 1922 the library became part of the Municipal Borough of Lytham St Annes with the amalgamation of St Anne's on the Sea and Lytham Urban District Councils. In 1974 the administration of the library was taken over by Lancashire County Council. In Buildings of England Hartwell and Pevsner describe its 'Dark red and yellow and black brick dressings, including dentil sill bands and 'quoins'. Steep coped gables with jaunty finials, and lancets. Bay windows of yellow brick'.
Lytham Pier, a pleasure and working pier, was opened in the seaside town of Lytham, Lancashire, England in 1865, in the face of reservations from local residents. The pier underwent several renovations during the 1890s and early 1900s before being badly damaged by a storm in 1903, during which two barges collided with the structure and split it in two. A fire in 1928 resulted in extensive damage to the pavilion, which was not rebuilt, although the pier itself was reopened several months later. Following a period of decline it was closed to the public shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. The pier was demolished in 1960 despite the protests of thousands of local residents.
St Annes's Public Offices is a municipal building in Clifton Drive, St Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, England. The building, which was the headquarters of St Anne's-on-the-Sea Urban District Council, is Grade II listed.
Lytham St Annes Town Hall is a municipal building on the South Promenade in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. The structure, which is used as the headquarters of Fylde Borough Council, is a locally listed building.
Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Station was created in 1931, with the amalgamation of two Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) branches, Lytham (1851–1931) and St Annes (1881–1925).
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