WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

WALKS AROUND HEYSHAM

INFORMATION ABOUT HEYSHAM

The area best known for it's Nettle Beer was recorded as "Hessam" in the Doomsday book although a settlement has been present since Saxon times. It was originally a fishing village and only became a port in the 19th century. It is still used as a port today with ferries to the Isle of Man and Ireland.

A local legend tells of how St. Patrick was supposedly shipwrecked at Hesham and this is why the church of St. Patrick's was built. He was escaping from slavery in Ireland in the 5th century. However historians claim that the church was from the 7th century and that it is therefore unlikely that the story is true. Next to the church are graves cut out of the rock with a hole for a cross in each. The skeletons were dated to no earlier than the 10th century. Excavations in 1993 found over 1200 artefacts on the land below the graves many dating back over 12,000 years. The area also has a burial mound from prehistoric times.

The church of St. Peter has records going back to 1080. The doorway is Saxon, but there have been many additions and alterations since then. In the south aisle, is a Viking hogback gravestone which has Christian and pagan carvings on it. It is thought to be the best preserved in the country and was brought out of the churchyard in 1961. There is an Anglo-Saxon cross by the path to the porch bearing a carving of Lazarus and further along is a stone coffin.

Heysham Tower was built in 1836. It was originally Heysham Hall, the home of the Fleetwood-Hesketh family. Beyond the beach is Heysham Power Station. This nuclear station produces enough electricity for all Lancashire and is set in a 25-acre nature reserve.

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