Fleetwood, England
| Fleetwood | |
|---|---|
 Marine Hall and Gardens from the Mount |
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 Fleetwood
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| Fleetwood shown within Lancashire | |
| Population | 25,939 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SD333479 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FLEETWOOD |
| Postcode district | FY7 |
| Dialling code | 01253 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Fleetwood is a town and civil parish within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 people at the 2011 census. The site of the town has been continuously inhabited since the Middle Ages. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal landowner Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, High Sheriff and MP, conceived an ambitious plan to re-develop the town to make it a busy seaport and railway spur. He commissioned the distinguished Victorian architect Decimus Burton to design a number of substantial civic buildings, including two lighthouses. Hesketh-Fleetwood's transport terminus schemes failed to materialise. The town expanded greatly in the first half of the 20th century with the growth of the UK fishing industry, and passenger ferries to the Isle of Man to become a deep-sea fishing port.
Decline of the fishing industry began in the 1960s, hastened by the Cod Wars with Iceland, though fish processing is still a major economic activity in Fleetwood. The town's most notable employer today is Lofthouse of Fleetwood, manufacturer of the lozenge Fisherman's Friend which is exported around the world.
Ptolemy's Geographia in the 2nd century AD records a tribe known as the Setantii living in what is believed to be present-day West Lancashire, and a seaport built by the Romans called PORTVS SETANTIORVM ('the port of the Setantii') abutting Moricambe Aestuarium (presumably Morecambe Bay). There is also evidence of a Roman road running from Ribchester to Kirkham (12 miles (19 km) southeast of Fleetwood) which then makes a sharp turn to the northwest. Together, these suggest that Fleetwood may well have been the location of this Roman port. No direct evidence of the port has been found, but in 2007, an Iron Age settlement was discovered at Bourne Hill, just south of present-day Fleetwood, suggesting the area was populated in pre-Roman times.
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Wikipedia