The Parish of Heysham in the County of -- Lancashire --

HEYSHAM, a township and parish in the barony, division, and polling district of Lancaster, poor law union of Caton, and south of the sands portion of the Hundred of Lonsdale, comprising 1,668 acres. There are two villages, Lower and Upper Heysham, 5 ½ miles W. S. W. of Lancaster. There were formerly tumuli on the rocky fields above the rectory. A manorial court may be held – the manor is in 16 shares. There are slight remains of a monastery at Upper Heysham. The church existed 1080, dedicated to St Peter, living a rectory, patronage variable, annual value £504; there is here a remarkable piece of Saxon sculpture, several ancient stones and rock coffins, the ruins of St Patrick’s chapel a Saxon edifice, and in the church a massy Norman arch. - There is a Wesleyan chapel. Agriculture and fishing are the prevailing employments. The population in 1801 was 365; 1811, 464; 1821, 540; 1831, 582. There is a national school slightly endowed: in 1833 there were 3 daily and 2 sunday schools. There are stone, limestone, and pipe clay here – yellowish boles are discoverable – and there is a small cave. Heysham Moss is large. Two-thirds of the land is arable, average rent per acre £1. 10s. Annual value of property 1815, £3,851; 1829, £2,760.

“A Statistical Sketch of the County Palatine of Lancaster (1841)”, by Edwin Butterworth, facsimile reprint 1968, by the ‘Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society’. With grateful thanks to the Society.

	Ruins of St Patrick's Chapel, Heysham Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young

	Open Viking rock graves at St Patrick's Chapel, Heysham Photograph supplied by and © of Brian Young