an urban district and watering-place in the Blackpool parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, on the north shore of the estuary of the Ribble, 131 m. W. of Preston by a joint line of the London & North Western and Lancashire & Yorkshire railways. Pop. (1901) ' 7185. It has a pier, a pleasant promenade and drive along the shore, and other appointments of a seaside resort, but it is less wholly devoted to holiday visitors than Blackpool, which lies 8 m. N.W. A Benedictine cell was founded here at the close of the 12th century by the lord of the manor, Richard Fitz-Roger.