Heysham

Heysham, a seaport in the Lancaster parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, on the south shore of Morecambe Bay, served by the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 3381. Under powers obtained from parliament in 1896, the Midland Railway Company constructed, and opened in 1904, a harbour, enclosed by breakwaters, for the development of traffic with Belfast and other Irish ports, a daily passenger-service of the first class being established to Belfast. The harbour has a depth at low tide of 17 ft., and extensive accommodation for live-stock and goods of all kinds is provided. Heysham is in some favour as a watering-place. The church of St Peter is mainly Norman, and has fragments of even earlier date. Ruins of a very ancient oratory stand near it. This was dedicated to St Patrick, and is traditionally said to have been erected as a place of prayer for those at sea.