Market Place is a public square in the English market town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. Dating to the Middle Ages, it has historically been a site of weekly markets, today taking place on Mondays (except Bank Holiday Monday). It is now mostly used as a shopping precinct, along with the adjacent indoor Teanlowe Centre. It is bounded by the pedestrianised Church Street to the north and

Blackpool Old Road Blackpool Old Road is a street in the market town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. It runs for about , from Poulton Road and Garstang Road in the south to Queen's Square, Poulton-le-Fylde, Queen's Square and Hardhorn Road to the northe ...

to the south. A

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

church,

St Chad's ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, stands beyond the square's northeastern corner, while in the square's centre is the town's war memorial. At its southern end is (in line, from north to south) the whipping post, fish stones,

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosse ...

and

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

(each Grade II listed). Other notable buildings and structures in Market Place include (clockwise from the north) 2 Market Place (the former custom house), a K6 telephone box, 25–31 Market Place (featuring the arms of Alexander Rigby, who built the precursor to today's terrace in 1693) and

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

. All except Old Town Hall are Grade II listed. The first municipal building in the town was a building known as the Moot Hall, which stood at the southern end of the square, just in front of the

, in late medieval times. On 5 March 1732, a fire broke out in the square, resulting in the destruction of all of the properties on its western side.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 184 Most buildings at this time had

thatched roofs Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of t ...

, as described by Henry Fishwick in his 1885 book ''Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester, Volume 8''. The first purpose-built police station in the town was erected on the eastern side of Market Place in 1895, using the shell of the former home of the Walmsley family. The building was demolished in 1898, and replaced two years later by a Masonic Hall. Poulton Freemasons originally met at the Bull Hotel in Market Place.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 387 A second incarnation of the police station was built at 12–16 Market Place, with a second floor added in 1960.''A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre''
– Nick Moore (2018), p. 271 The square was open to vehicular traffic until at least the 1960s. File:Poulton-le-Fylde nr. Blackpool, A. R. Quinton.jpg, A postcard of Market Place, by

A. R. Quinton Alfred Robert Quinton (28 October 1853 – 10 December 1934) was an English watercolour artist, known for his paintings of British villages and landscapes many of which were published as postcards. Quinton was born in Peckham in London in ...

. The building in the centre is no longer standing File:Poulton-le-Fylde 2019.jpeg, View from in front of Old Town Hall, looking southeast, 2019

References

{{Borough of Wyre buildings Poulton-le-Fylde Squares in England