difficult and bones were often removed to a nearby charnel house. In 1849, an extra charge was put on burials of people from outside the parish. In 1884, the churchyard was closed to all burials and a cemetery was opened in the town. A round Norman-style apse was added to the church in 1868, the architects being the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin. The incumbent, the Rev. Thomas Clarke, paid for this addition, but died before its construction was complete. Architect J. S. Crowther oversaw further alterations in 1881–83; a baptistery was built, the organ was moved and choir stalls were built in the chancel. Some work was done to the interior of the tower in 1908. Renovations in 1955 included the addition of a central aisle and the removal of some of the church furnishings. The Victorian pulpit was replaced. A small extension was added north of the tower in 2005. The advowson to Poulton, which had been in the possession of the Fleetwood/Hesketh family for approximately 400 years, was sold in 1934 by Major Charles Fleetwood-Hesketh to the Diocese of Blackburn. Architecture Exterior The outer walls of the church are constructed of red sandstone with grey ashlar dressings; the roofs are slate. The church plan consists of a nave, with a square tower to the west and a chancel and apsidal sanctuary to the east. There is a clergy vestry at the south-east corner of the building. The tower at the west end of the church dates from the early 17th century. It sits next to the south-west corner of the nave, aligned with the south wall, because the former church plan included a north aisle; the north wall of the tower meets the nave at its roof ridge. It is castellated and constructed of coursed roughly-dressed stone. It has two diagonal buttresses, two angled buttresses and four corner pinnacles. There are slate belfry louvres on each side of the tower and clock faces on the north and south sides. A small stone porch towards the east end of the south wall leads to the Fleetwood family burial vault. The doorway is inscribed with "Insignia Rici Fleetwood an hujus eccliae patronis, Anno Dni 1699". There are two more doorways on the south side of the nave, both have been restored and have Tuscan columns, triglyphs and pediments. Above the doorways are oval windows, added in the 19th